After several episodes spent exploring the individual human tragedies fomented by Kaiba’s system of purchasing bodies, wherein debt slavery can steal not just your time and labor, but your very ability to interact with the world, episode five brought us to the bleeding edge of transhumanism. The promise of new limbs and healthy bodies for those suffering from disease or injury has been discarded; after all, what good is a customer who purchases your product and is then content, with no desire to make future purchases? No, the customers for this miracle technology must be perpetually discontent, always purchasing the latest in body-morphing innovations, and never satisfied with the results. The future of capitalism is a donkey chasing a carrot on a string, while consistently paying his masters for the privilege.
Author Archives: Bobduh
The Legend of Vox Machina S2 – Episode 5
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into Vox Machina, wherein Vax just received a grim premonition regarding some world-ending calamity. With the continent already beset by a horde of dragons, adding some additional apocalyptic threat just seems like poor sportsmanship, but I’m sure Mercer’s got a plan here. Either way, last episode also provided plenty of useful lessons regarding both hiding the inevitability of a conflict that’s largely on rails, as well as splitting the party between two simultaneous conflicts, so I still had plenty to munch on.
As for my own campaign, I am happy to report that we’ve had two outstanding sessions since last I checked in, as my party journeyed west to gather allies for their own calamitous conflict. The first session was a uniquely tricky one, as it involved the party stopping by the family estate of one of my player characters, thus necessitating a fair amount of side prep with that player. I was worried introducing a whole family at once would be too busy and that some characters would get lost in the shuffle, but the event turned out to be a total hit, and we actually ended up running long just because people wanted to see the ending. I think I’m generally getting a better handle on the exact degree of prep writing necessary to smoothly direct a quest, and am thus able to channel all my energy into crafting atmosphere within the moment, making my prepped work land with that much more impact. But I’ve rambled enough about my own efforts – Vox Machina have a quest to finish, and I’m eager to see them through it. Let’s hunt some dragons!
Bocchi the Rock! – Episode 5
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be returning to the trials and tribulations of Bocchidom, in the wake of an episode that actually saw Bocchi earning some key victories. After first attempting to write a set of generic lyrics in order to please some imagined general audience, Bocchi received some key advice from Ryo, who told her that there’s no point in playing music if it means abandoning your uniqueness. Music has always been Bocchi’s creative outlet, and behind the guitar is where she is most authentically herself – why give up what makes music worth pursuing simply because the world might not resonate with your sound? In fact, playing music authentically is one of the best ways to find your people, to send out an earnest signal and see who resonates with your heart’s cry.
With that pep talk behind her, Bocchi reemerged with a flurry of Bocchi-authentic downer lyrics, and was rewarded for her bravery with a stack of band photos. Sure, maybe wallpapering her room with those photos was a little much, but two steps forward one step back is ultimately still one step forward. Let’s see how her journey fares as the band construct their first song!
Spring 2023 – Week 3 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I write to you from the midst of a spring cleaning embodying mind, body, and home, as dusting and vacuuming are accompanied by a renewed commitment to a regular exercise regimen. I know, I know, I say this every spring, but I really mean it this time! And don’t worry, this alleged commitment to self-care hasn’t gotten in the way of vegetating in front of various media objects. I’m actually over halfway through Dennou Coil at this point, and though the start was a bit slow, I’m at last fully engaged with its rogue-data-as-folklore episodic conceits, as well as its quiet lament for the death of neighborhoods that facilitate such idyllic childhoods. It’s got both Patlabor The Movie and Rainbow Fireflies vibes, and that is a very good place to be. Anyway, I’ll have more composed thoughts on Dennou Coil once I’ve finished. For now, let’s charge through a fresh collection of feature films!
A Tropical Fish Yearns For Snow – Volume 1
It’s funny, but often the hardest things to criticize are those which are simply Nice. Not wildly ambitious in their formal construction, not instructive or at least humorous in their variable failings, but simply a very pleasant time with some likable characters. So it goes for A Tropical Fish Yearns For Snow, whose first volume charmed me utterly, while also leaving me with little to offer beyond an earnest “I just think they’re neat.” But I will try my best to explicate that feeling a little more, as we explore this gentle and charming love story.
Tsurune S2 – Episode 3
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re charging back into Tsurune in the midst of the regional tournament, with our Kazemai heroes having just secured sixteen hits in their first round. Meanwhile, old bonds and new rivalries are emerging and asserting themselves across the board, from Kaito’s reunion with his old teammates to Minato crossing paths with two separate former rivals. It’s a busy narrative stew, but in the hands of director Takuya Yamamura and his incredible team, all of these threads have been interwoven with incredible grace, conflicts often requiring no more than a pointed expression or juxtaposition of storyboarding to clarify.
Through its elegance of form, Tsurune has been consistently demonstrating how formal beauty of animation or boarding are not simply their own reward – they are tools through which novel forms of storytelling are made possible, allowing a theoretically dense narrative to come across as light and effortless. Relationships like that of Minato and Shu can be clarified with a glance and a gesture, rather than engaging in laborious and unnatural acts of exposition. A work like Tsurune demonstrates how the inherent intentionality of every drawn choice in animation can make for a uniquely resonance-rich drama, with every aesthetic element facilitating the story in its own way. Let’s see what new treasures this team offers as the tournament continues!
Thunderbolt Fantasy S3 – Episode 1
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m happy to announce our commencement of a new project, which is also technically a return to an old favorite. Having brushed up on Lang Wu Yao’s history with the altogether excellent Bewitching Melody of the West, today we’re breaking into the third season of Thunderbolt Fantasy, and seeing what the long-suffering Shang Bu Huan has been getting up to.
It certainly hasn’t been an easy pair of seasons for our curmudgeonly sword-snatcher. Thunderbolt Fantasy’s first adventure saw him handling basically all the legwork for Dan Fei’s mystical journey to the aptly named Demon Spine Mountains, all while suffering the persistent mockery of weed wizard Lin Xue Ya. Season two only ladled on more sources of frustration and indignity, ranging from that smarmy hunting fox Xiao Kuang to a sentient, malevolent sword known as the Seven Blasphemous Deaths. It’s been a bumpy ride, but also a highly entertaining one, offering dazzlingly realized battles and plenty of Urobuchi’s reliable wit. I’m sure our Edgeless Blade will have ample new troubles awaiting him this time, so let’s dispense with the recap, and dive right into Thunderbolt Fantasy’s third season!
Spring 2023 – Week 2 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! Today I am typing this up in my running shorts, as spring has finally decided to grace us with its presence, and bless us with something more hospitable than sub-fifty temperatures. As much as I am loath to admit that every doctor and gym teacher I’ve ever had was right, it is undeniable that regular jogging improves how I feel both physically and mentally, and so I’ll soon be off rambling my way around the neighborhood. But before that, I’ve got a fresh collection of films for you all, with this week’s selections offering an even split of horror and martial arts cinema. Look, I know I’m predictable, but after a long day in the anime mines I frequently just want to sit back and watch something terrible happen to somebody else. Let’s see what we’ve got!
Intimacy’s Vanguard: Kaze to Ki no Uta
Modern anime convention rests upon a scaffolding that has been built up over decades, a series of aesthetic and narrative conventions established one seminal work at a time. The more I explore this scaffolding, the more I find to appreciate in modern anime; as such, I was eager to check out Kaze to Ki no Uta, the film adaptation of one of the earliest and most influential works of shounen-ai manga. The manga’s explorations of sadomasochism, incest, and other charged topics made it controversial from the start; in fact, author Keiko Takemiya’s editors waited seven years from her first conception of the story to actual publishing. And its release was a lightning bolt; a hit from the start, it would help popularize shounen-ai more generally, opening the door for manga and anime’s subsequent explorations of queer identity.
Spy x Family – Episode 17
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager as heck to get back to the adventures of the Forger family, having finally posted enough of my existing writeups to feel justified in jumping back to the series. Spy x Family has indeed become one of those shows that I can’t help but gorge myself on given the opportunity, and thus I’ve had to ration my viewing as judiciously as possible. Well, the rationing has transpired, and at last we’re here!
Our last excursion with the Forgers proved to be Yor’s finest hour, wherein the basic gag of “Yor can’t cook” was somehow expanded into an exploration of how food, family, and memory are naturally entwined, concluding with Yor finding a crucial link between her time with Yuri and her days with the Forgers. Touching on her core anxieties, her feelings about the past, and her dreams for the future, episode sixteen offered some vital texture to Yor’s personality, while further emphasizing her thematic alignment with the rest of the Forgers.
With Yor’s anxieties assuaged and Bond settling into the family home, I imagine we’re in for some Anya adventures over at the academy. But Spy x Family is full of delightful surprises, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy whatever madness awaits. Let’s get back to the Forgers!