Author Archives: Bobduh

CITY The Animation – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am delighted to announce we are starting on a new yet likely nostalgic journey, as we explore the first episode of the ongoing CITY The Animation. Based on a manga by Nichijou scribe Keiichi Arawi, CITY is also being adapted by the singular team at Kyoto Animation, with Taichi Ishidate serving as director. In predictably KyoAni fashion, Ishidate has spent his entire career at the studio, serving as a key animator since all the way back in their Inuyasha outsourcing days, and more recently directing such lush spectacles as Beyond the Boundary and Violet Evergarden.

Nichijou is probably the best anime comedy that exists, and Kyoto Animation is possibly the greatest animation studio of all time, so my expectations are pretty high for this followup. And so far, I’ve seen no reason to temper those expectations – the previews have all been delightful, embodying that same mixture of warmth and surrealism that made Nichijou so special, and the art design looks incredibly appealing. Nichijou adapted Arawi’s style to something closer to KyoAni’s house aesthetic, but CITY appears to be embracing the comic book stylings of its source material, presenting a world of warm pastels, chunky lines, and flat yet strangely voluminous scenery. It has been far too long since I watched Kyoto Animation flex their powers (alright, it’s actually only been like four months since my last Euphonium binge), so let’s not waste another moment. Onward to CITY!

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The Summer Hikaru Died – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re embarking on a brand new adventure, as we explore the first episode of an ongoing production, The Summer Hikaru Died. Based on a manga by the whimsically aliased Mokumokuren, the story is apparently centered on two close friends, one of whom goes out into the woods alone and returns as a different creature entirely. It’s a classic horror template that I’m quite fond of, one that plays into both our often self-deluding maintenance of social propriety, as well the fundamental folk-horror allure of spirits within the wilderness, beings so wild that even to witness them might prompt terrible transformation.

Wendigos, werewolves, vampires, and vourdalaks all play in this conceptual space, which here seems combined with another favorite topic of mine: the steadily depopulating Japanese countryside, a persistent topic of animated drama which has furnished the narrative of productions like Rainbow Fireflies, Sakura Quest, and even Dagashi Kashi. So yeah, as a rabid fan of folk/cosmic horror and a sucker for melancholy pastoral dramas, I imagine there’ll be plenty for me to dig into here. Let’s get to it!

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Yuki Yuna is a Hero (Hero Chapter) – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re embarking on another long walk off a short pier, as we commence the third season of Yuki Yuna is a Hero, the aptly named “Hero Chapter.” Once again, a squadron of compassionate, idealistic young girls will be thrown into relentless battle, fighting and dying so that a dispassionate divine entity can continue its war against the forces of entropy. There is no victory in this battle; the only certainty is a continuous escalation of conflict, to the point where our heroes will eventually sacrifice themselves willingly to give humanity one more day, one more hour of peace under the boughs of the Divine Tree.

Yeah, it’s a pretty brutal franchise on the whole, made all the more so because it’s so effective at illustrating the poignant bonds between its leads, and how their civic-minded decency could do so much within their own communities, if they weren’t being consigned to such an arbitrary, anonymous fate. Though it could easily come off as exploitative, its genuine celebration of all that is good about its protagonists makes it feel far more angry, angry that they are forced to live in such a world, that just like in our own, the light of human kindness can be so grossly exploited by social convention, patriotism, and religion. Battered and beaten as we are, we still work to make the load lighter for each other, still practice charity in the face of oblivion. Let’s return to the fight!

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Summer 2025 – Week 3 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week has seen me burning through a diverse grab bag of anime selections, as with my housemate away, I am once again free to watch whatever the fuck I feel like. I had the clear goal of “consume the entirety of Sailor Moon” in mind for last time, but I have yet to find such an obvious guiding objective for my current rampage, and thus my picks have been a touch more eclectic. I caught up on the first season of Dandadan (reasonable, not my thing), munched through the Ruin Explorers OVA, and have most recently been dabbling in the various adaptations of Masamune Shirow’s manga, including the ‘80s Appleseed adaptation and Dominion Tank Police. Let me know if you’ve got any recommendations I might like below, but for now, let’s burn down the week in films!

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Yuri is My Job! – Episode 11

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re scrambling for good seats at Cafe Liebe, just in time for Yuri is My Job!’s Blume election results to be revealed. Our last episode offered something of a breakthrough in the Sumika-Kanoko drama, though the two are still far from friends. Kanoko was unwilling to abandon her love of Hime, but made it clear to Sumika that it would never be more than that. Kanoko seems to understand that, like the ornate bonds of Liebe Girls Academy, her form of love can only live as an implication; there is no substance to it beyond the fantasy she has invented, and thus she will content herself to live forever in Hime’s shadow.

It’s not exactly a healthy approach to romance, but it at least ameliorated Sumika’s concerns regarding the fate of the cafe. And beyond that, through her conversation with Nene, Sumika was able to mentally redefine Kanoko from a threat to a victim, a girl whose one-sided romance would only end in tears. As she’s so often done in the past, I imagine that’s something Sumika can work into the Cafe Liebe narrative – in fact, isn’t one of the core roles of the elder Schwestern to comfort their little sister, to embrace them and dry their tears after their innocent dreams are denied? I could easily see us proceeding towards a conclusion where a flourish of genuine honesty from Kanoko ends up integrating into the kayfabe of Cafe Liebe, but first, we must crown our new Blume. Let’s get to it!

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Trigun Stampede – Episode 7

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to Trigun Stampede in a moment of crisis, as the Sand Steamer carrying our heroes to JuLai has come under attack from both  Wolfwood’s old companion Livio and a small army of bandits. Confronted with this shadow of the boy he once sought to protect, Wolfwood’s alleged cynicism has been put to the test, as he struggles to uphold the same cutthroat critiques he has leveled at Vash’s idealism.

So yes, we are currently deep in The Good Stuff, matching this production’s most complex action tableau with its most urgent contrast of Vash and Wolfwood’s ideals. Both of them are fundamentally humanists, and both of them are also to some extent hypocrites; Vash’s pacifist values require him to often ignore the second-order effects of his actions, while Wolfwood’s callous odes to self-reliance hide an underlying desire to protect those who cannot protect themselves. But it is neither Vash nor Wolfwood who is truly wrong; these are all simply the consequences of maintaining compassion in a fallen world, where human existence is so fragile that the better angels of our nature must fight to overcome pragmatism and hopelessness at every turn. Whatever shields our leads must develop to maintain that humanist hope, whether it’s Vash’s selective perspective or Wolfwood’s fatalistic facade, it is far better to find peace with hypocrisy than to genuinely harden our hearts. Peaceful coexistence might be an impossible dream, but we must seek it all the same; ultimately, it is only when we lose faith in each other that we are truly lost.

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Galaxy Express 999 – Episode 11

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to announce we’re returning to Galaxy Express 999, as Tetsuro and Maetel continue their journey toward the far reaches of the galaxy. When last we left off, they had just departed from the planet Trader, having seen firsthand the vast disparities inherent in their allegedly glorious future. The rails of the Galaxy Express are greased by blood, facilitated by a sprawling underclass that can only dream of the freedom and mobility Tetsuro enjoys.

But of course, that has been an assumption of Galaxy Express from the very first episode, when we were immediately introduced to the undercity attending its glittering surface. Rather than simply wallow in the reality of capitalism, our last two-parter instead told a quiet, personal story, as we joined Hanako on her “triumphant” return to her parents’ home. Having worked herself to the bone without acquiring either wealth or love, she was granted a chance by Tetsuro to at least calm her parents’ worries, offering a misleading but kindly meant assurance that her years of toil and absence were worth something. They can strip us of everything else, but they cannot steal our concern for each other, our tenderness towards our loved ones or our dreams of escaping this life.

Could that really be enough? At least in celebrating this small act of kindness, Galaxy Express demonstrates that we are not so alone, that we all suffer under the yoke of capitalism, but that in our dreams and compassion, we are one and the same. Let us hold tight to that hope in these dark times, doing right by each other and working towards a brighter future. Once more, all aboard the Galaxy Express.

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Summer 2025 – Week 2 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week I’ve been avoiding the summer heat by playing a whole ton of Death Stranding 2, which is proving both immensely compelling and also quite different from its predecessor. I can see why Kojima was worried that his playtesters were “enjoying it too much” – the franchise has largely abandoned the austerity of both form and function that defined its predecessor, that singular sense of loneliness and unending toil that made it a distinct emotional experience within the medium. In contrast, Death Stranding 2 embraces enough of Metal Gear Solid 5’s mechanics to offer a crowd-pleasing summation of Kojima’s career to date, meaning it’s less of a revelatory art experience than simply a damn good videogame. It has nonetheless got its hooks in me deep, but I still managed to spare enough time to sneak in some film viewings. Let’s get to it!

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Yaiba: Samurai Legend – Episode 3

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re bounding back into the ongoing revival of Yaiba: Samurai Legend, the bombastic shonen spectacle originally created by Case Closed mangaka Gosho Aoyama. Within our first two episodes, Yaiba has accidentally shipped himself from his mysterious jungle home to Japan, taken up residence with local girl Sayaka Mine, and found himself a destined rival in the form of kendo specialist Takeshi Onimaru. In fact, Yaiba has proven so intolerable to Onimaru that he was goaded into claiming a demonic sword, an artifact of the wind oni Fujin, which must surely be countered by Yaiba’s own acquisition of the matching Raijin blade.

The story has proceeded at a breakneck pace so far, demonstrating an enticing mixture of dynamic, Kaneda-style action posing and flexible, CG-facilitated storyboarding. The overall effect is one of profound kinetic energy in both framing and animation, yet I’ve nonetheless found myself particularly struck by the production’s moments of stillness, the predawn light cherished by Sayaka and Takeshi alike. Still, with a magic sword-bearing demon on the loose, I imagine we’re in for a hectic time as Yaiba reunites with his rival. Let’s get to it!

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Rock is a Lady’s Modesty – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we might check in on Oushin Girls’ Academy, and see how new arrival Lilisa is managing to uphold the tenets of dignified high-class ladydom. Having crawled up from the ranks of the peasantry through her mother’s union with the distinguished Suzunomiya family, Lilisa is determined to become the academy’s Noble Maiden, and thereby secure a lasting future for herself and her mother. And it won’t take much – just abandoning her current personality and her most precious memories, including her conjoined love of her father and the guitar.

So yeah, that probably wasn’t going to happen. Nonetheless, it took the intervention of fellow young maiden and born blue blood Otoha Kurogane to shake her poise, calling her back to the guitar and the earnest, unvarnished feelings it represents through the time-honored challenge of “what are you, chicken?” Along the way, Rock is a Lady’s Modesty has presented a bevy of charged visual motifs, defining life at Oushin as a series of cages and mirrors, barring true expression while consistently allowing glimpses of humanity to seep through in fountain pools, painted glass, or the sweat of pure, reckless passion. I’m at this point most curious to learn of Otoha’s “true self,” or whether she has actually managed to integrate the duality of propriety and rebellion more gracefully than Lilisa, but I’m down for whatever this team has to throw at us. Let’s get to it!

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