Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I’m still in end-of-year catch-up mode at this point, and am currently munching through the sunshine and cicada shells of The Summer Hikaru Died. I’m also looking to devour outstanding anime films from any era in order to furnish my year in review post, having found myself in the unique situation of doing so much writing in the preceding year that I’ve actually fallen behind on my film viewing. I checked out Inu-Oh last week and will likely finally get to The Colors Within next week, but feel free to let me know what other gaps in my education could use some addressing. In the meantime, let’s burn down the Week in Review!
Author Archives: Bobduh
Yaiba: Samurai Legend – Episode 6
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to check back in on the freewheeling adventures of Yaiba, Sayaka, and their increasingly bizarre companions, as we screen a fresh episode of Yaiba: Samurai Legend. When last we left off, Onimaru’s ominous octet of oni had been largely dismantled, mainly owing to the fact that none of them were particularly threatening or malevolent in the first place. Seriously, a sea cucumber? Onimaru, I don’t know what you were expecting.
All of that felt perfectly in line with Yaiba’s fast-paced, lighthearted spin on shonen drama, a style that calls to mind the rambling, playful early days of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball. With much of modern shonen aspiring to a self-seriousness their narratives cannot begin to justify, it’s refreshing to see a show that’s just having fun with the template, offering endearingly non-threatening villains and then eagerly inviting them to join the good guys. And of course, all of this is made far more appealing through the kinetic animation and lush background design of Takahiro Hasui’s impressive adaptation, which is clearly and effectively conjuring the nostalgic aesthetics of ‘80s anime. I’m all for this reappropriation of dormant yet enduringly compelling styles, and eager to see what nonsense Aoyama cooks up next. Let’s get to it!
CITY the Animation – Episode 4
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today the sun is shining on a crisp October day here in the city, the kind of day that invokes a natural yearning to get out there and savor the countless tiny stories of a community in motion. Well, I gotta finish this here article before I do that, but fortunately we are today visiting another of my favorite cities, as we return to the aptly named CITY the Animation.
The combination of Keiichi Arawi’s madcap storytelling and Kyoto Animation’s utterly breathtaking adaptation have so far made for one of this year’s greatest and most distinctive pleasures, a perpetual celebration of community, creativity, and the fundamental joy of motion. The clear enthusiasm this team has brought to this production is infectious, elevating every ridiculous pratfall and non-sequitur into a fond salute to life’s incidental, unexpected pleasures. Let’s see what new soft-hearted silliness they’ve got in store for us as we head back to the city!
Fall 2025 – Week 10 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. We’re truly entering the holiday season now, which tends to be a period of profound self-recrimination to me personally, as I attempt to make up for missed family time and finish off a year’s worth of outstanding ambitions. But I’m trying to take it easy on myself this year, and it’s certainly helping that I’m about to pass the hundred page mark on my ongoing fantasy story. I’ve been writing dubious fantasy novels since middle school, and it feels incredibly validating to be back in that space and making steady progress, actually chasing my ambitions rather than admiring them from afar. I only sorta half-believed in this DnD writing to traditional fiction pipeline when I started off, and it sure is nice for something to turn out right for once. Anyway, enough navel-gazing for now, we’ve got some movies to break down. On to the week in review!
BanG Dream! Ave Mujica – Episode 9
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the sumptuous nightmare that is Ave Mujica, as Sakiko and her companions seek love and validation in all the worst possible places. When last we’d left off, a reunion performance by CRYCHIC had threatened to actually improve our characters’ mental health, allowing them to venerate and say goodbye to their past passions while charting a new way forward. Well, we clearly couldn’t have that, so Umiri swiftly suggested a reunion for Ave Mujica as well, having recently developed a taste for meaningful, mutually fulfilling group performance.
Umiri picked a heck of a time to propose this plan, and perhaps the least likely group to propose it for; even with her alleged thirty bands, I imagine the least healthy among them is still in better shape than Ave Mujica. Her words sparked a hope of survival in Mortis, who frankly also deserves better than all of this nonsense, and thus we are again off to the races, with Umiri promising to teach Mortis the guitar and make her “real” in the process. And while Umiri’s “dark side” turned out to be no more than the yearning for connection that defines all of these girls, we’ve still got an Uika-shaped time bomb ticking away, undoubtedly prepped to explode into a fresh field of psychological shrapnel. Let’s see who snaps first as we return to Ave Mujica!
Rock is a Lady’s Modesty – Episode 6
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re storming the gates of high society with a battalion of rebellious rock tunes, as our heroines Lilisa and Otoha continue their dual lives as elegant young ladies and sneering rock gods. When last we left off, the two had just secured a pair of key victories, guiding a mild-mannered symphonic group into a rousing performance that affirmed their stage-ready skills. This in turn won Lilisa the support of her stepsister Alice, who was dazzled by the confidence and authenticity Lilisa could evoke in her true element.
While that performance was certainly a great success for our leads, it also has me wondering precisely what depths this series is interested in delving into, be they cultural, psychological, or otherwise. Rock here is defined largely as “authenticity,” or perhaps more specifically as a “lack of social propriety,” but rebelling purely because you don’t want to dress up and make nice is still defining yourself according to the expectations of your assumed social stature. You can’t make a character study out of two shallow veneers; if Lady’s Modesty wants to foster substantive emotional drama, it will need to dig deeper into the feelings and experiences that have driven its cast to their current perspectives. If, on the other hand, it wants to explore music as a unifying or even liberatory cultural force, it will likely need to elaborate on its philosophy of rock beyond “fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.” Regardless, Lilisa’s always a pleasure to hang out with, so I’m sure we’ll find something to talk about as we charge through Rock is a Lady’s Modesty!
Big Windup! – Episode 20
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today rain beats down on the first match of the summer tournament, as our boys from Nishiura strive to overcome the first-seated Tosei team. After managing to eke out a two-run lead across the first few innings, they were put on the backfoot by their technically superior opponents, who tightened their strategy to secure two runs of their own. With the score now tied as the innings dwindle, it’s looking like the surprise factor that carried Nishiura to early success has thoroughly run out.
Well, that’s at least one version of the story. Another concerns the growing confidence of Nishiura pitcher Mihashi, a certainty of his value that is proving infectious enough to raise the spirits and mutual trust of his entire team. Another version might prioritize the game’s information war; not only do Nishiura have far superior batting data, they also have an ace batter who’s figured out the opposing pitcher’s tells. And another might prioritize the shifting physical conditions of the battlefield; both the rain itself and its effect on the field’s texture, which has so far both inhibited Tosei’s pitcher and given Nishiura’s catcher more tools to manipulate. Asa Higuchi has constructed a marvelous multiplanar diorama of tactically grounded conflict, demonstrating the many hidden layers of this ostensibly straightforward sport, and through doing so offered us a competition that thrills and satisfies anew with each subsequent at-bat. Let’s get back to the battle!
Fall 2025 – Week 9 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week I’ve been writing up a fuckin’ storm; getting ahead on bounties, pushing forward on my novel, and even tossing off an indulgent side quest for my DnD party (we’re doing The Phantom of the Opera and The Taming of the Shrew simultaneously, which will absolutely involve were-shrews). All this feels like a genuine breakthrough for me, as I’ve traditionally found it extremely hard to write in multiple modes at the same time – it’s hard to think in terms of criticism when writing quests, hard to plot in terms of novels when writing songs, etcetera. Now it feels more like I’ve reached that vaunted position where work in one field actually inspires work in others; I was basically stuck at one bar scene in my book for weeks, but fiddling with quests seemed to unlodge something essential for getting momentum back. And yes, the film screenings have continued, alongside copious munching through the Brennan Lee Mulligan extended universe. Let’s break down some movies!
Monogatari Off/Monster Season – Episode 8
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re continuing our journey through what I can safely say falls on the “Monster” side of Monogatari’s Off/Monster Season collection, given both its protagonists are either alleged or self-defined monsters. On the one hand we have Deathtopia, an immortal vampire bound only by the proud weight of her own words. On the other, we have Acerola, an unwilling “princess” who brings ruin to all, and wishes only for a single life to save.
Whether they consider them a curse or blessing, both have clearly been isolated by their powers. Deathtopia had spent so much time in her lonely castle that it fell to her servant to inform her the kingdom had fallen, while Acerola’s quest for redemption has only brought more lives to ruin, raising the question of whether her existence itself is a curse. Yet in spite of the fantastical nature of their afflictions, their story echoes a familiar Monogatari refrain: the necessity of coming to peace with your own nature, of learning to love yourself, to accept all your sharp angles, and thereby reach beyond your own torment and positively impact the life of another. Let’s see how our vampire and death princess are fairing!
Alien Stage – Round 1
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking out something a bit different from my usual fare, as we screen Round 1 of Alien Stage, which to my understanding is a somewhat mixed-media but largely music video-driven narrative project centered around human singers being forced to compete for the entertainment of their alien overlords. These music videos are presumably then framed as stages within this competition, with each apparently offering insight into both its singer and the dystopian world they inhabit.
That all sounds pretty fun to me, and frankly probably something I’d be into myself if I’d grown up with Youtube already in full stride. I am a huge fan of the music video as an art form, enjoyed plenty of anime music videos as a teen, and am in general a sucker for emotional narratives conveyed through song. My list of favorite records leans heavily towards narrative-heavy concept albums – The Meadowlands, Hospice, Offerings, The Sunset Tree, and many more of my favorites are in part beloved because they rise beyond the confines of any given song, lending the emotional weight of a full dramatic arc to their final moments. Alien Stage seems intended to scratch exactly that sort of itch, so let’s see what this first round is all about!