Author Archives: Bobduh

Apocalypse Hotel – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking out a fresh spring production that earned a pile of positive buzz, as we explore the first episode of Apocalypse Hotel. The show is an anime-original production (always a good sign) set in a post-apocalyptic world, where humanity has disappeared and only robots tend to our crumbling monuments, including our protagonist and current hotel manager.

It’s really no surprise we’ve been receiving a glut of apocalyptic media lately. Even a cursory glance at global politics will demonstrate that our present world order is in its endgame, and that if humanity survives both this reactionary social moment and our climate crisis, our societies will look significantly different than their current late-capitalist formation. Popular art reflects the psychological consequences of this understanding; some choose exodus from an intolerable reality (isekai), some cling to nostalgia (endless franchises and remakes), and some seek peace with a future that might not include humanity at all, as foretold in apocalyptic travelogues like Girls’ Last Tour and Kemurikusa.

The third of these perspectives seems the most clear-headed to me personally, and I’m thus happy to be embarking on another journey that accepts humanity might not be here much longer. As for our staff, director Kana Shundo appears to be taking a leap from primarily key animation-focused roles, while series composer Shigeru Murakoshi has written extensively for shows ranging from GARO to Zombie Land Saga. The team in general seems well-tuned for a character acting-heavy slice of life/comedy, and the show’s reputation seems to have borne that out. Let’s get to it!

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Summer 2025 – Week 8 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week I concluded my journey through Slayers’ first three seasons, which I am led to understand is basically the conclusion of the “classic series,” barring some scattered film and OVA appearances. I’ll likely check out the film next (it was quite a surprise to learn the amply chested lady everyone loves doesn’t even appear in the main series), but in the meantime have since been munching through The Owl House, Dana Terrace’s entry in the post-Adventure Time western cartoon renaissance. The show is unsurprisingly delightful; I don’t know how Terrace got Disney to greenlight “lesbians hang out in the dreamscapes of Hieronymus Bosch,” but I am absolutely here for it. Anyway, films!

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Direction and Atmosphere

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I was recently asked to write a piece on direction and atmosphere in anime, in line with my previous piece regarding the priorities of Laid-Back Camp and similar shows. I initially struggled with the concept, as that older piece is largely self-contained, and focused mainly on evangelizing for shows that don’t prioritize narrative action. A lot of my pieces at Crunchyroll were basically predicated on the question of “how do I get someone who’s only watched Naruto or Demon Slayer to enjoy Hyouka,” meaning they were content to end on the suggestion of branching out and letting their readers arrive at their own conclusions. But you folks are a very different audience; anyone who is interested in my thoughts on Wong Kar-wai probably doesn’t need to be convinced dramatic minimalism can be compelling, so I won’t waste your time with an entreaty on slow cinema’s behalf.

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Yuki Yuna is a Hero (Hero Chapter) – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am frankly hesitant to announce that we are returning to Yuki Yuna is a Hero, as calamitous events surely draw closer to our long-suffering heroines in its ongoing Hero Chapter. You often hear that it’s always darkest before the dawn, but Yuki Yuna would strongly disagree – in fact, I hear it’s been working on developing a new, even darker night it calls “Night 2,” which will be taking the place of the dawn moving forward.

Of course, it’s not like we’re in a great spot to start with. After a mere half-episode of idyllic hero club shenanigans, our girls soon realized that something was terribly wrong, with Yuna and Nogi leading the charge in recalling their missing friend Togo. Having suffered through two sequential processes of fighting for the Divine Tree and watching her friends fall beside her, Togo has now disappeared from their lives altogether, presumably offering herself as a perpetual sacrifice to ensure no one else need suffer.

As ever, the Divine Tree has exploited Togo’s genuine commitment to her community, and frankly unwarranted guilt regarding her actions in the prior cycle, in order to make a feast of her better nature. It is not to gods or kings that we should declare our loyalty; it is to each other, to the people with whom we share our lives, and the community we hope to build together. Let’s get to it!

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Galaxy Express 999 – Episode 12

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am pleased as punch to announce that we’re shipping out aboard the Galaxy Express, joining Tetsuro and Maetel in their continued explorations of the sprawling and mysterious universe. What we may find is anyone’s guess, though we can be assured our investigations will uncover both fanciful scifi invention and sobering moral commentary, reminding us that the cruelty of society and tragedy of human ambition are constants wherever the tracks may take us.

Our last episode directly challenged Tetsuro’s pursuit of a metallic body, as he encountered creatures living formless lives with no stable bodies of their own. Their yearning for Tetsuro’s stability recalled to mind Shadow’s desperate coveting of her own abandoned form, raising a question of whether a new body can truly make us happy, or if we are simply doomed to feel forever insufficient with the form we are granted. And even if we do treasure our bodies, we must contend with the reality that nothing organic lasts – or refuse to, as the suicidal lovers of the episode’s end chose. Is it better to accept mortality or flaunt it through proud self-destruction – these and other classic children’s cartoon questions as we return to Galaxy Express 999!

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Summer 2025 – Week 7 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today the thermostat is inching its way towards one hundred degrees, a balmy temperature for the infernal planes, but clearly unacceptable for us soft-skinned, hydration-fueled mortals. The heat is almost making summer’s encroaching end seem less miserable, but damnit, I am a summer season diehard, and if that means dying of heatstroke for my beliefs then so be it. Anyway, these unlivable temperatures have unsurprisingly facilitated plenty of film and show screenings – I’m actually just a half-dozen episodes off finishing Slayers TRY, and have munched through as many movies in the past week. Let’s break down a few of ‘em in the Week in Review!

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Kiss x Sis OVA – Episode 3

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It’s 2017, and America is ruled by a mad king. I sit staring at my monitor, questioning what possible sequence of life choices has led to me reviewing Kiss x Sis.

It’s 2023, and the world is a plague-ridden wasteland. I sit staring at my monitor, questioning what possible sequence of life choices has led to me reviewing Kiss x Sis.

It’s 2025, and we voted for the mad king again. Science is illegal and America is a failed state. Fuck it, we ball.

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Rock is a Lady’s Modesty – Episode 3

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we’d take a stroll past Shoushin Academy, and check in on Lilisa’s continuing struggle between high-class propriety and raucous sincerity. Having endeavored for a full month to embody all the values demanded by both her academy generally and mother specifically, she has found herself no closer to genuinely, internally embracing those values. She has not learned to love Big Brother; it all still feels like bullshit to her, and that frustration has built until it demanded release, which she has found in the infuriating form of Otoha Kurogane.

Otoha appears to have no difficulty navigating this philosophical dichotomy, freely admitting to Lilisa that rock music is something entirely for her, a private fascination she can “lose herself in” before returning to the expectations of Shoushin. But is it truly possible for rock’s message of liberation to thrive in these narrow cages, or is she merely hoping to embrace rock’s indulgence while denying its ethos? Is the fire that rages in Lilisa’s soul nothing more than a costume Otoha can assume or discard at will? Let’s find out!

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The Fire Hunter – Episode 3

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to return to the melancholy journey of Touko and her charge Kanata, as the pair navigate the hostile, decaying world of The Fire Hunter. Having been assigned the treacherous task of returning a dead fire hunter’s dog to the capital, Touko hitched a ride aboard one of the mighty forest-traversing trains that connect humanity’s remote villages. Unfortunately, her selfless spirit again compelled her to leave the train in pursuit of the runaway bride Kaho, and her failure to heed the train’s rules has meant she will soon be dropped off, forced to brave the forest and its demons all on her own.

That’s perfectly fine by me; every moment spent exploring this world offers tiny treasures, from the ambiguous, evocative details of humanity’s downfall, to the humble human stories Rieko Hinata so skillfully weaves into its margins. Hinata writes with the confidence and precision of a master, and the show’s character designs and background art are doing a marvelous job of bringing her melancholy world to life. It’s already apparent that this production is having to stretch to make animated ends meet, but I’ll always prefer an ambitious failure over a mundane success, and The Fire Hunter is nothing if not ambitious. Let’s return to the journey!

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Summer 2025 – Week 6 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week I’ve continued to munch through the original Slayers series, though my progress has been admittedly slow of late. There’s a good reason for that, though – after initially setting a new year’s resolution of spending one day writing personal fiction per week, I’ve lately been upping my output dramatically, spending my evenings banging away at what is increasingly appearing to be some kind of actual book. It has been immensely fulfilling to get back into consistent creative writing, and I imagine I’ll have some updates on that front soon, but for now, we’ve got some films to explore. Let us conclude our journey through the Chuckyverse!

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