Author Archives: Bobduh

Zoku Owarimonogari – Episode 2

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Alright folks, let’s get right back into it. Araragi’s stuck in a mirror world, Shinobu’s nowhere to be found, and Hachikuji is having altogether too much fun being Araragi’s big sister. Monogatari’s victory lap has so far been just as self-aware and indulgent as I expected, and I’m eager to see which mirror-shifted companion we run into next. Nisio Isin can’t help but embrace his goofy idiosyncrasies as a writer even at the most serious of times, so I imagine we’re in for at least another episode or two of shenanigans before he brings the hammer down.

As far as themes go, this mirror world is providing a clear externalization of Araragi’s internal discord, as he seeks to solidify both his own identity and his relationship with others now that he’s no longer a high schooler. Araragi is no longer certain of his place in the world, and in classic Monogatari tradition, that uncertainty is now defining his external reality. Let’s see if Araragi gets any closer to figuring his shit out, as we dive back into Zoku Owarimonogatari!

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Spy x Family – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we’d check out a new production, both in terms of the site and the world at large, by diving into this season’s much-loved Spy x Family. I’ve been hearing lots of positive buzz about Spy x Family, and am well acquainted with the show’s larger genre space – so much so that I even jammed out a recommendation article for any recent arrivals to the adorable daughter subgenre. For my part, while it’s the exceedingly rare anime comedy that appeals to me, I’m a sucker for charming family dynamics, and hope to find this show slotting comfortably among anime’s many found family dramas. The hype was high even before this one came out, owing to the much-beloved manga, and given this production’s animation director Kazuiki Shimada handled that same duty on FGO Babylonia and a bunch of Cinderella Girls episodes, I’m assuming the show will offer plenty of its own aesthetic flourishes. Let’s check it out!

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Spring 2022 – Week 10 in Review

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. You all doing okay this week? I’m personally feeling fan-fucking-tastic, having knocked out a couple of anxiety-provoking appointments late last week, and also just reveling in all the great shows we’ve been munching through recently. Anne of Green Gables and Sherlock Hound are simply wondrous slices of pre-Ghbili goodness, Star Driver embodies all that thorny thematic density that first enthralled me in anime, and even the ongoing Spy x Family is proving to be more charming and hilarious than I expected. You subscribers are treating me very well at the moment, and I only hope I can return the favor by suggesting some awesome films for you all. Without further ado, let’s burn down a fresh Week in Review!

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Anne of Green Gables – Episode 8

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Hello everyone, and welcome to Wrong Every Time. Today I’ve got all sorts of anxieties plaguing me, and thus have decided the perfect thing to clear my mind is a visit to Green Gables. When last we stopped by, Anne had just celebrated her adoption into the family by declaring war on the neighbors, affronting Rachel Lynde with such venomous barbs as “how would you like it if someone called you red-haired and freckled!?” Lynde was deeply scandalized by this display, but fortunately, Anne is as good at melodramatic apologies as she is at cutting insults, and thus peace was eventually restored.

When all was said and done, the ultimate result of Anne’s misadventure was actually a deepening of her bond with Marilla. Anne’s reluctant caretaker is at last beginning to feel a sort of motherly affection for her charge, and you just know that Anne’s going to be testing that bond with relish. Let’s see what nonsense she gets up to this time, as we return to the blooming hills of Green Gables!

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Hugtto! Precure – Episode 30

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Hello everyone, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to announce we’re returning to Hugtto! Precure, a show that most recently tore my heart to pieces with the introduction of Hana’s grandmother. Last episode’s reflection on the cruelty of time, and how we can age out of the things that define us, was an unexpected but very welcome compliment to Huggto’s usual optimism. There was no great victory Hana could achieve to dispel last episode’s worries, no villain to defeat in order to restore her grandmother’s youth; aging is just tough, and I always appreciate when a children’s show handles such difficult aspects of life with both sensitivity and frankness. We cannot hope to stop the clock or turn back time; all we can hope for is to age with grace, and not miss out on future happiness by lamenting the things we’ve lost.

Episodes like that demonstrate the emotive potential of great children’s media, stories that trust their audiences can handle complex and difficult topics. Most children are not foreigners to loss, and can appreciate media that acknowledges and helps contextualize the hard moments in their lives. That said, I’m also a big fan of Hugtto’s goofier content, and I’m guessing an episode that heavy demands an extremely silly followup. Let’s see what we’ve got!

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Star Driver – Episode 4

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to get back to Star Driver, where we most recently watched Kanako attempt to defeat Takuto with the power of horny, and then send her servant Takashi into battle with him. That battle’s outcome will likely damage Kanako’s standing within the Order, but interestingly, Takashi himself didn’t seem bothered. In fact, judging by his final conversation with the Order’s president, Takashi doesn’t even need a bier to activate his robot – he has an emblem of his own, and can graduate to his “second phase” with the same ease as Takuto.

All that plot and mystery stuff is well and good, but you know me; I’m more interested in Star Driver’s thematic and psychological content, and much of that remains obscure. Kanako’s entire personality seems to undermine any possibility of the Order being defined by its conservatism; in fact, between her and Benio’s behavior, the Order seems more willing to embrace thoughtless or transactional sexual agency than their opponents. And yet, their rituals are steeped in the language of traditional gender roles, speaking often of “caged birds” and shrine maidens as symbols of purity. I’d love to dig into their philosophy further, but in the immediate sense, I’m mostly hoping for more texture and history from our hero Takuto. Either way, I’m sure Star Driver will find new ways to delight and impress, so let’s dive right into the fourth episode!

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Spring 2022 – Week 9 in Review

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Hello everyone, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. You all doing okay? I’m frankly feeling a bit lethargic at the moment, but fortunately, my current tasks are largely mechanical ones. Just gotta write this here opening paragraph, find some screencaps for the week’s features, and plug it all into the CMS – perfect lazy afternoon work, after which I’ll be clearing my head with a nice jog. My own micro-moods aside, we’ve got quite an interesting collection of films this week, ranging from another Hitchcock classic to the original Top Gun. I can’t imagine I’ll be adding anything to the Top Gun discourse that hasn’t been rehashed a thousand times already, but I’d be a terrible reviewer if I let my intellectual redundancy stop me from opening my big fat mouth. Let’s start off with a tragic misfire from one of my favorite directors, as we burn through a fresh Week in Review!

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Sherlock Hound – Episode 1

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we’d do some exploring of another classic anime production, as we check out the first episode of Sherlock Hound. From what I understand, the show is acclaimed as one of the highlights of TMS Entertainment’s early years, combining the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with a light steampunk garnish borrowed from the works of Jules Verne. Given this particular blend of aesthetics, as well as the fact that he’d just finished directing his first film Castle of Cagliostro at the studio, it should come as little surprise that Hayao Miyazaki directed some of this show – unfortunately, rights issues stymied the production, and so he was ultimately only in charge of six episodes.

We won’t be hitting the Miyazaki material until episode three, but I’m nonetheless eager to see how this production tackles the material. I read a great number of the Sherlock Holmes stories as a teenager, and warmly remember Holmes himself as an eminently unlikable magician with a nasty opium habit. I can’t imagine those qualities will translate to his family-friendly animated identity, so let’s see precisely what sort of Holmes we’re dealing with, as we check out the first episode of Sherlock Hound!

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Bodacious Space Pirates – Episode 18

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today the sun is shining, the birds are trilling, and Marika is instigating another pan-galactic political incident. Having apparently not contented herself meddling in the affairs of Serenity’s royal succession, she has now gone and instigated an interstellar trade war, by “kidnapping” the heir of the Hugh and Dolittle Interstellar Transportation empire. Meanwhile, her actual pirate crew are still recuperating from a bout of space pneumonia, meaning her ship is being staffed by a bunch of teenagers.

All of this would be cause for panic for any conventional high schooler, but Marika has proven she is far more than that. Marika is confident yet largely without ego, quick to learn, and blessed with just the right dosage of piratey madness. With Chiaki, Jenny, and Lynn at her side, she’s got a team that would be the envy of many a pirate crew, age notwithstanding. Having cut their teeth on a conventional piracy appointment, I’m eager to see Marika’s Irregulars handle something just a tad more ambitious. Let’s get back to the battle!

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The Legend of Vox Machina – Episode 4

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be returning to the Legend of Vox Machina, for a very simple reason: I’m having a great fucking time. My own apartment’s progress through our D&D campaign has slowed to a crawl, leaving me profoundly malnourished and desperate for some gamified high fantasy drama. I have quibbles about Vox Machina here and there, but the show’s enduring strength is that it damn well captures the feeling of a tabletop adventure, striking a difficult balance of earnest fantasy and gamified mechanical design.

So far, it’s actually been better at capturing the feeling of D&D than illustrating a narrative of its own, but I expect that to change as we move beyond the tutorial phase. The introduction of the Briarwoods has given our team a personal stake in the drama, so I’ll be interested to see how the show manages its earnest drama versus its verging-on-out-of-character quipping going forward. Either way, I’m sure there’ll be plenty to talk about, so let’s get right to the action!

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