You folks ready for some goddamn Symphogear? I know I certainly am! Season four’s first episode didn’t so much conclude as it ran out of frames mid-sentence, with the Main Gears still in the midst of battle with some nefarious alchemists, while the Auxiliary Gears squared off against a giant magical sand worm. The gang hasn’t faced a giant magical sand worm yet, but I suspect they’ll approach it using a tried and true method: singing about their feelings while beating the shit out of it with various weapons, possibly with a transformation sequence or two tossed in there for flavor. Now that we’re all back on the same page, let’s dive right into the continuing adventures of SYYYYMPHOOOOOGEAARRRRRRRRRRR!
Author Archives: Bobduh
Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 10
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! It has been far too long since we visited the islands of Alola, at least from my perspective, and I’m eager to dive into another episode of Pokemon Sun and Moon. And we’ve got a genuinely climactic episode in store for us, as Ash at last takes on his first Grand Trial, and hopefully completes the first major step of his island pilgrimage. Last episode saw Pikachu and Rowlet teaming up to conquer this island’s Totem Pokemon, offering perhaps the strongest demonstration yet of this production’s ability to turn the rigid, turn-based combat of the Pokemon games into energetic, tactically rewarding action scenes. Given how well this show’s art design has elevated even its slice of life material, I’m eager to see how the show illustrates its major battles, and also just happy to check in with this show’s charming cast again. Let’s get to it!
The Big O – Episode 5
Hey everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m excited to be returning to The Big O, and once again exploring the world of Paradigm with Roger and his companions. Episode four actually shed at least a glimmer of light on some of this show’s core mysteries, as Roger’s search for a missing author led him to first encounter the mysterious Schwartzwald, and then ultimately discover both an ancient cityscape and a half-formed Megadeus in the bowels of Paradigm’s subway system. With even the subway system itself having long fallen into disrepair, it is clear that just as Paradigm’s residents are building new lives on a bed of buried memories, so too is the city itself constructed on the forgotten bones of an older world. Questions of memory and identity are baked into the core of The Big O, and whether this episode continues to tug at the threads of those mysteries, or simply offers another stylish and exciting neo-noir adventure, I’m happy to dive back into this excellent production. Let’s see what Paradigm holds in store!
Spring 2020 – Week 7 in Review
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week my house powered through a couple of esteemed series, including Avatar: The Last Airbender and a good chunk of Donald Glover’s Atlanta. I was frankly surprised by just how much I loved Avatar, and will be sure to return to the series at some point – it feels like one of those rare “lightning in a bottle” productions, doubly so in light of its disappointing followup. We’ve got plenty of rambling thoughts to get through, so let’s not waste any more time as we dive into another Week in Review!
Why It Works: Why You Absolutely Need to Check Out Pokemon: Twilight Wings!
As is often the case for Why It Works posts, the title says it all here. The new Pokemon shorts they’ve been producing to promote Sword and Shield are phenomenal, blessed by a terrific core team and the freedom to seemingly tell any sort of vignette within Sword and Shield’s universe. They’re a fantastic collection, and they’re each only about six minutes, so there’s not much excuse to check them out. But if you still need convincing, here’s my article!
Why You Absolutely Need to Check Out Pokemon: Twilight Wings!
Bodacious Space Pirates – Episode 4
Heads up folks, we’re returning at last to the starry skies of Bodacious Space Pirates. Last episode saw our heroine Marika seem to finally catch the space-faring bug, as her first space walk introduced her to the incredible grandeur and mystery of space. At the same time, Kane has been both testing and reinforcing her leadership abilities, while Chiaki seems to be slowly warming up to her chipper new classmate. But perhaps most importantly, episode three also demonstrated Bodacious Space Pirates’ satisfyingly thorough approach to conveying the mechanics of space travel itself, which seems like an excellent choice for a show centered on the dynamics of a ship’s bridge. I wasn’t really expecting such grounded, hard scifi storytelling from a show called “Bodacious Space Pirates,” but I’m happy to see it, and intrigued to find out how the show’s realistic and farcical elements continue to interact. Let’s get back into space!
Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 9
I’m sorry everyone, but nothing you can do will stop me from treating myself to another episode of Pokemon Sun and Moon. I personally feel like I’ve been very good these past weeks, and have been doing my level best to introduce more of the ambitious projects like One Piece, Evangelion, and Land of the Lustrous into my active writeup rotation. But along with those projects, anime to me represents comfort and adventure, and few properties embody those concepts more than Pokemon. Pokemon Sun and Moon is a lively, lighthearted day at the beach, a trip to get burgers with friends, a warm walk in the park; it is comfort incarnate, and blessed with flexible character designs and gifted animators, it’s also a lively visual adventure as well. I’m happy as ever to be writing for you folks, and hope you’ll join me as we explore another episode of this lovely show!
Toradora! – Episode 5
As teenagers, we should all probably be collectively forgiven for our trespasses in misunderstanding the feelings and identities of other people. Heck, even adults are constantly misunderstanding each other – and as an adolescent, it’s enough of a struggle to understand yourself, much less any other person. We cast around for a stable, reassuring identity, and when we fall in love, it is often not another person we are enamored with, but rather what we feel is missing from our own lives. So it went in Toradora’s fourth episode, which was ostensibly centered on the roots of Taiga and Ryuuji’s crushes, but ultimately revealed far more about how they view themselves.
Spring 2020 – Week 6 in Review
Hey folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! I’ve got quite the grab bag of a Week in Review this week, as my house checked out some Bollywood action-dramas, examined Justin Roiland’s new comedy, and at last watched the anxiety-inducing Uncut Gems. At this point, perpetual lockdown has turned this entire spring into one unending and largely featureless day, and checking out new media has become one of the only things separating what I did this week from what I did seven weeks ago. So please enjoy my attempt to maintain some sense of time’s passage as we all endure this stressful era the best we can. Take care of yourselves out there, and please enjoy the new Week in Review!
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! – Episode 10
Folks, I am beyond delighted to be returning to Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! I actually only watched up through Eizouken’s ninth episode as the show was actually airing, as other projects ended up getting in the way of me giving it the time and focus it obviously deserves. Determined to write a fresh article to document my first impressions of the whole last act, I ended up putting off new episodes until the new season began, and then… well, regardless, I’m here now, and suddenly find myself with three episodes left in what has easily been the most visually imaginative and intellectually stimulating show of the year so far.
Last episode saw Kanamori taking center stage once more, this time as the team’s financial manager, in an episode that explored the often maddening relationship between making great art and actually being paid for that art. In spite of making a film that both impressed their clients and dazzled general audiences, the Eizouken were left with almost nothing, save for a bunch of requests for other projects that also wouldn’t make them any money. The anime industry’s problem isn’t a lack of work – in fact, there’s an overabundance of projects that are already stretching the industry’s workers beyond their limits. The problem is a fundamentally predatory financial model that sees anime studios as interchangeable contract workers, as well as an established pay scale that assumes animators will work for a pittance, and either move up or burn out after their first few years.
Kanamori can’t fix the anime industry by herself, but she can do her best to make sure her friends are paid for their labor. Having secured a commission from the actual Shibahami Chamber of Commerce, Kanamori is dragging her friends towards financial stability, and I’m eager to see how Asakusa and Mizusaki bring their entire town to life. Let’s dive into another episode of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!