Author Archives: Bobduh

Monogatari Off/Monster Season – Episode 6

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we are concluding Nadeko’s quest to pull herself back together, and hopefully come to love all the divergent personas that brought her to this point. Having recaptured Flirty Nadeko and Wrath Nadeko, she now finds herself facing off with God Nadeko, the medusa that once threatened all life in her town. With neither Kaiki’s guidance nor Yotsugi’s Unlimited Rulebook to assist her, she will have to confront one of the most powerful creatures in Monogatari history, and somehow convince her to help with Nadeko’s embarrassing romance manga.

It’s not unusual to come to hate your own past self. In fact, it can often be quite comforting to blame your former identity for all the failings of your current life, or to at least feel embarrassed regarding the ignorance, insecurity, or audacity that inspired your prior forms of self-expression. The passion that inspired one era of your life can seem embarrassing or naive from a further vantage point – but as Kaiki told Nadeko once before, passion is inherently embarrassing. Commitment is embarrassing. Staking your claim in the world, stating what you truly desire and how hard you’d work to acquire it, is always kinda embarrassing. We cling to indifference or even nihilism as defensive measures, knowing only that to admit we care is to invite mockery, to let others poke holes in our shameful ambitions.

But that’s no way to live. To truly thrive we must embrace the embarrassment of committing fully to our passions, and to understand ourselves we must forgive and embrace our past selves, knowing that their passion is still a part of us. The girl who used meekness as a shield, the girl who danced for the crowd’s applause, the girl who hated that crowd for their shallow adoration – all of those were earnest forms of Nadeko, each trying their best to get along in a world that tells us the only true crime is to wear no mask at all. If Nadeko wants to create stories that speak from the heart, she must first learn to embrace her own – and in forgiving these rambling Nadekos, she might just see the path forward a little more clearly. Let’s return to the final battle!

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Summer 2025 – Week 1 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ve hit the first week of the summer anime season, which of course means we’re in truth a third of the way through summer, because the year actually starts a month into winter and nothing truly means anything. Regardless, this occasion marks the perfect time to take a glance at the contenders of last season, whose glimmering early potential has at this point solidified into cold, uncompromising reality. It seems folks aren’t so hot on Shinichiro Watanabe’s latest, but I’m looking forward to checking out our latest Gundam, and have been hearing nothing but positive things about Apocalypse Hotel. Clearly more investigation will be needed, but for now, let’s run down our latest film contenders in the Week in Review!

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The Fire Hunter – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we return to the fraught, entrancing world of The Fire Hunter, as Touko begins her pilgrimage to the capital, hoping to redress the crime of a fire hunter’s death by shepherding his dog Kanata home. She has said goodbye to the village she has known and the adopted mother she loved, climbing aboard an imposing forest-bound train that embodies both the technological sprawl of this series and the dangers lurking in the wilds. What awaits her is unknowable; in this world where fire sparks death, the terrors of the deep woods must surely be beyond our comprehension.

As you can probably tell, I’m having a great time so far. Rieko Hinata’s world is distinctive and fascinating, and the show so far is revealing its secrets with the offhand confidence and measured pacing of a master storyteller. The show’s art design is also distinctive and compelling, offering a landscape both melancholy and beautiful, and populating it with characters rich in expressive flourishes of body language. Stillness, anticipation, and grief; there is a charged, mournful aspect to Touko’s story, like a dark cloud promising a cold rain. Let us see where the journey takes us as we return to The Fire Hunter.

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Big Windup! – Episode 17

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am delighted to announce we’re returning to Big goddamn Windup, as our Nishiura boys charge into the fourth inning of their contest with Tosei, the returning summer tournament champions. So far our team has secured one precious early run, and have so far succeeded in defending that lead through Mihashi’s distinctive pitching. However, the storm clouds gathering overhead might well be an echo of Nishiura’s fortunes, as a team with every other advantage chips away at Nishiura’s crumbling element of surprise.

All of this has of course made for a rich, aromatic tactical stew served to us in the audience. Big Windup’s mixture of psychological analysis and game strategy was engaging even before we reached the field, and now the show is blooming into a vivid tactical simulator of impressive scope, factoring both the skills and mindsets of the various players into its ongoing drama so gracefully that it’s all parsable as a collective, coherent evolving conflict. Between the individual character reflections and the ongoing commentary of Abe, Momoe, and Tosei pitcher Takase, the knuckle-biting turning points of this conflict are apparent on both a micro and macro level, leaving us with the inescapable impression of Nishiura playing aboard a sinking ship, desperately attempting to secure runs before Tosei’s superior training shuts them out entirely. Let’s get to the game!

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BanG Dream! Ave Mujica – Episode 5

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we drop in on Ave Mujica in a moment of chaos and catastrophe, with our improbable quintet once again on the verge of dissolution. What had seemed like a brief unity of purpose has proven just a mirage – for it was not Mutsumi who was gabbing gracefully with bandmates and interviewers, but the alter ego Mortis herself. Having been shamed and abandoned by everyone she once relied on, Mutsumi has retreated inside herself, leaving the manic, pattern-matching Mortis to face the outside world.

Worse still, in the wake of Mutsumi entirely abdicating control of her own body, Sakiko was the only one who noticed anything was wrong. The other girls were simply happy to have less band drama, with Uika and Umiri favoring whatever created less discord, and Nyamu actually seeing Mortis’ shape-shifting talents as evidence of Mutsumi’s professional genius. A band that is incapable of recognizing when one of its own members is mid-psychotic break couldn’t possibly serve as an emotional sanctuary – but from the start, Ave Mujica has been an act of projection and deflection, a way for Sakiko to abstract her emotions rather than embrace them, to find validation through the public embrace of a theatrical project that means nothing to anyone but her.

Obviously, such an act of performative denial was never going to make her whole. But at this point, Sakiko may no longer be able to stop what she has started, or to rescue Mutsumi from the protective clutches of Mortis. And frankly, I’m quite enjoying Mortis as an addition to the cast – she’s essentially serving as a translator between Sakiko’s melodrama and her bandmates’ professionalism, demonstrating how their various masks all conceal a common urge for unity and understanding. Let’s see how negotiations are fairing as we return to Ave Mujica!

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Spring 2025 – Week 13 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This past week saw me returning to my Anime Classics investigations with a vengeance, as I burned through the entirety of the original Super Dimensional Fortress Macross. The series was a delight on the whole, serving as a somewhat more whimsical counterpoint to Gundam’s stoic war drama. It was interesting to see how the production’s focus on music over mechanical innovation (presumably echoing its intention to sell albums rather than models) impacted its dramatic structure; with songs taking the place of new weapons, the show swerved and soared at the pace of Minmay’s emotional narrative, painting a sad portrait of an icon who is too beholden to everyone to carve a space for herself. Plus the lead pair of Hikaru and Misa actually possessed excellent chemistry, making them easy to root for as the world collapsed around them. I can see why it’s such a beloved franchise, and I’m looking forward to continuing through its various successors. But for now, let’s burn down the week in film!

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Shoushimin Series – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re going to be continuing our investigations of the intriguing Shoushimin Series, originally written by Hyouka scribe Honobu Yonezawa, and adapted by the accomplished Mamoru Kanbe. The series’ first episode demonstrated both of these artists at their best, with Yonezawa offering a fresh collection of intriguing, multifaceted adolescent stars, and Kanbe bedecking their stories in a singular combination of lush background art and sterile, alienating intimacy.

So far, what is most clear about our protagonists Osanai and Jogoro is that we don’t actually know anything about them. Jogoro is observant and Osanai is indifferent to her peers, but they are otherwise self-conscious ciphers, dedicated to a project of “becoming normal” that seems to imply a goal of becoming part of the scenery, making no waves and attracting no attention from those around them. It’s a particularly bleak variation on Hyouka’s pursuit of low-energy living, and its advocates are as strange as you’d expect, their idle exchanges betraying a callous disconnection from their environment. Such ambiguity might be worrying if presented by another team; but given Yonezawa’s understanding of characterization and Kanbe’s fluency in dramatic tone, I have every reason to suspect these mysteries are purposeful, and our leads are precisely as unknowable as this team wants them to be. Let’s delve into their dark hearts as we return to Shoushimin Series!

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Ojamajo Doremi Sharp – Episode 15

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we’d check in with Doremi and the gang for another ojamajo adventure, as our girls do their dubious best to prove themselves worthy witches. Our last outing was a fantastic slice of insanity, as Doremi’s exceptional and much-adored sister Pop took center stage, balancing the affections of her classmate and arrival of a handsome new teacher with characteristic grace. We even concluded on a reprise of Faithful Dog Doremi and her canine companions, always a clear sign of an upper echelon Doremi episode.

With our last two episodes having featured first cow and then sheep stampedes, I imagine we’re in for a quieter adventure this time, perhaps one that falls more on the emotional end of Doremi’s broad dramatic palette. We’ve certainly got the staff for it; after all, this coming episode is directed by Junichi Sato, the legendary director of Sailor Moon, Princess Tutu, and Aria the Animation. With our journey in such eminently trustworthy hands, let’s see what awaits Doremi and the girls!

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Ojamajo Doremi Sharp – Episode 16

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to announce we’re returning to Ojamajo Doremi Sharp, which just recently broke my heart with its poignant Mother’s Day episode. Rather than the easy layup of simply celebrating the cast’s relationships with their mothers, our last episode explored the complicated emotions inherent in feeling isolated on such occasions, how to balance your painful grief with your desire to remember your lost loved ones, and how we can seek to connect with each other and collectively find joy in these bonds, whether our parents are together, divorced, or sadly passed away.

As always, Ojamajo Doremi soars by taking both its characters and its audience seriously, speaking without prevarication or metaphor about the genuine struggles that every child must overcome, and admitting frankly that such struggles are also faced by the adults in their lives. There is no facile assurance of “growing out” of the difficulties of coexisting; instead, Doremi offers a kindly assurance that we all face these difficulties together, that the adults we trust are all fighting their own sympathetic battles, and that through sharing both our joy and our sorrow, we can find a common humanity that is the essence of love itself, and the foundation of a compassionate society.

All that is basically the great work of artistry incarnate, but that episode also made me cry, so I’d be happy enough to cool down with goofy witch-world antics or something. Maybe a reprise of Loyal Dog Doremi? Well, whatever’s coming, I have absolute faith in this team, and am eager to get this show on the road. Let’s get to it!

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Blue Reflection Ray – Episode 9

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the battlefield of Blue Reflection Ray, after a slew of revelations left our heroes scattered and nearly without hope. In the wake of learning about her sister’s Red Reflector identity, Hiori chose to respond like she always has: by suppressing her feelings of hurt and abandonment, and acting like nothing is wrong.

Fortunately, Ruka is not the same girl she was eight episodes ago, when she lamented that she couldn’t reach out to those in pain like Hiori managed so easily. Ruka challenged Hiori to embrace her sorrow, to “realize how important your feelings are too,” and with that the dam finally broke. Just as Hiori was once able to express her pain regarding her mother’s departure to Mio, now can she express her true feelings regarding Mio to Ruka, a confidant who would never pity her.

With our lead reflectors now resonating like never before, I imagine it’s time for a counteroffensive against the increasingly audacious agents of Mio. They’ve accelerated from individual soul-stealing to app-based crowdsourcing to mass emotion-sapping weather phenomenon, and it’s up to our brave heroes to put a stop to it. Plus, with Hiori and Ruka making such positive strides, I’m hoping it’s time for Miyako to gain her own reflector credentials, and perhaps a sweet reflector weapon in the bargain. Regardless, the hour of conflict draws near as we return to Blue Reflection Ray!

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