Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Yuki Yuna is a Hero: Hero Chapter – Episode 5

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we are returning to the tragic tales of Yuki Yuna and her companions, as their sincere love for each other is once again co-opted by the machinations of the Divine Tree, an organism which views its most faithful acolytes as pure fuel to burn. Having further developed its forms of manipulation from the religious fervor of Togo and Nogi’s trials or the plain duplicity of Yuna’s first run, the Divine Tree has learned how to turn their desire to protect each other into one more manipulative weapon, forcing Yuna to suffer and die lest her friends experience the same.

Fortunately, Yuna’s friends are far too attuned to her feelings to let this torture regimen go undetected, and have recently learned the full truth regarding her private suffering. Thus we find ourselves at last in the thunderous payoff segment of the season, as Togo leads the charge against a deity that has misled and betrayed its acolytes at every turn, consuming them to perpetuate a war that cannot be won. Are these “fires of creation” just one more convenient invention of the Divine Tree, or will this be the moment when the walls finally crumble, and all the horrors of the cosmos descend on our humble city? Regardless, this false peace based on perpetual suffering cannot last; if Yuna’s torment is the only way to maintain this world, then let the curtains fall and a new world be born. Onward!

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The Apothecary Diaries – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to check back in on the reluctant adventures of our unfortunate Maomao, as we explore the second episode of The Apothecary Diaries. Having suffered the initial indignity of being abducted and sold into the emperor’s service, she has since committed the grave mistake of demonstrating her aptitude for poisons and remedies, thus earning herself a position as the favored Gyokuyou’s lady-in-waiting. And with that annoyingly handsome eunuch Jinshi peering over her shoulder, it now seems increasingly unlikely she’ll be able to live out her term of service in any sort of peace.

All of that sounds like nothing but trouble for Maomao, but certainly a gift to us sadists observing her suffering. Maomao has already proven herself a charming, multifaceted heroine, while Hyūganatsu’s storytelling has gracefully guided us into familiarity with the contours of her world. Additionally, Naganuma’s adaptation is doing a fine job of illustrating Maomao’s journey with bright colors and alluring visual motifs, alongside a wide array of excellent aggrieved expressions. The Apothecary Diaries has firmly announced itself as a compelling story told with professional confidence, and I’m eager to see what it subjects Maomao to next. Let’s get to it!

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Toradora! – Episode 14

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Toradora!’s thirteenth episode brought us the terrible culmination of Taiga’s attempted reconciliation with her father, leaving Ryuji and Minori to help her pick up the pieces. And yet, for all this ultimate fallout was both calamitous and predictable, and for how deeply Ryuji misunderstood both Taiga and her father’s intentions, their ultimate reconciliation came swiftly, the two rekindling their friendship alongside the festival’s roaring bonfire. That’s kinda the thing about youth; we bruise easily, but we also bounce back, so long as we are given the room and support necessary to regain our footing.

The episode’s last sequence in particular, as the fire dimmed and the festival drew to a close, felt like it was drawing on something fundamental and ineffable – that sense of vital, floating ephemerality that attends monumental adolescent thresholds. It is a strange thing to be observing your own life like a bystander as it passes by, but in moments of such clear temporal passage as that, it comes naturally to see your life through an outsider’s eyes.

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Alien Stage – Round 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to a novel recent production, as we check out the second episode or “round” of Alien Stage, the apocalyptical musical web series pitting hapless singers against each other in a contest to entertain their capricious alien overlords. The prize for victory? You get to keep singing, keep dancing, and keep competing for the adoration of a heartless crowd. The cost of failure? Well, I think you can guess.

The series’ first episode did a fine job of laying out the terms of this reality, as well as offering a sprinkling of vignettes illustrating the close bond between its two unfortunate contestants. A story illustrated in such brief snippets must necessarily gesture rather than fully articulate; through odd details of their shared history and the fragmentary explanation of their world at large, Alien Stage has articulated a world where artists must bow and scrape for fundamentally hostile overseers, competing for scraps rather than helping each other shine.

Given the art-hostile progression of global capitalism and increasing integration of artist-displacing artificial intelligence, as well as the parasocial, possessive dynamics of modern indie production, it’s certainly not hard to draw parallels between this contest and the struggles faced by artists in our own world. And until capitalism fits its own collars around our necks, the best we can do is support each other, practicing solidarity in the face of a world whose every institution demands we embody the selfishness of our billionaire butchers. Let’s get to it!

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Blue Reflection Ray – Episode 14

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the battlefield of Blue Reflection Ray, as our brave heroines do their best to prevent some kind of dimension-collapsing apocalypse. While Hiori, Ruka, and their companions seek a happier union between conscious identity and emotional trauma, Shino’s red reflectors pursue an all-or-nothing approach: either our emotions must be banished to allow us freedom from sorrow, or our world and the collective consciousness of the Common must merge, ensuring total mutual understanding forevermore.

It’s certainly a fatalistic philosophy, but to those who have suffered like Niina, or made others suffer like Mio, both the assurance of Shino’s confidence and the escape she promises can seem like a light in the darkness. Fortunately, Niina appears well on her way to joining our crew, and is currently kicking all sorts of emotional ass in her defiant antihero arc. Meanwhile, our girls’ trip to the unconscious Momo has introduced a pair of mysterious new characters to the mix, the supremely Uranus and Neptune-coded Ryoka and Amiru. Things are moving quickly in the wake of Shino’s aborted apocalypse, and I’m eager to see how these new additions complicate the situation. Let’s return to the fight!

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Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26 – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking out the first episode of a somewhat unusual anthology, as we screen the premiere of Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26. If you’re reading this, you’re likely aware of Fujimoto as the creator of Chainsaw Man, alongside a variety of acclaimed shorter manga like Look Back and Goodbye, Eri. The man has essentially solidified himself as the modern bridge between popular and prestige manga, earning himself a passionate shonen audience while also prompting creators as distinguished as Kiyotaka Oshiyama and Hirokazu Kore-eda to adapt his work.

I’m certainly on the Fujimoto train myself at this point; everything I’ve seen of his work has impressed me greatly, and I consider him one of the most insightful, authentic voices currently working in manga and anime. Fujimoto brings a sneering irreverence to his dramas that somehow naturally co-mingles with a profound sincerity of human expression; his distaste for expectations seems to serve as a defense of his characters’ distinct humanity, as he challenges his readers to understand both the messy complexity of human behavior and the insufficiency of genre staples’ ability to capture that complexity. He’s a bit of a genius, I think, and this potentially premature canonization of his pre-breakout works only underlines how eager we all are to watch a worthy artist take flight.

Anyway, this is indeed a collection of Fujimoto’s works from the age of 17 to 26, opening with “A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin’ In The Schoolyard,” directed by Seishirō Nagaya (a key animator turned director, with the notable credit of unit direction on The Colors Within). Let’s see what baby Fujimoto’s got!

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Ojamajo Doremi Sharp – Episode 18

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m thinking it’s right about time to check in with our ojamajos, and see how the hair-raising project of raising a witch baby is progressing. Our last episode was actually a great victory for the team, as they rallied from the disgrace of their last monthly check-in with a standout performance at the witch baby olympics, steering Hana and her companions through an obstacle course that involved labyrinths, treacherous ball pits, and even a raging river.

It was a terrible display of parental responsibility for the witch authorities, but a triumph for our girls, who earned a double stamp for successfully keeping everyone’s babies alive. And with that high-octane drama concluded, I imagine we’re now in for a more subdued episode, as we perhaps return to the poignant personal concerns of Doremi’s classmates. Regardless, this show is always a rewarding fusion of pathos, whimsy, and visual beauty, so I’m sure we’re in for something special. Let’s get to it!

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Rock is a Lady’s Modesty – Episode 9

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking back in on Lilisa and the gang for a fresh episode of Rock is a Lady’s Modesty, as our group prepares for their first performance as a quartet. The stakes are high for this endeavor, as the show is actually a winner-takes-all Battle of the Bands, with ace guitarist Shiro sworn to join whichever group emerges victorious. Who will win, and whose skulls will pave the road of their opponents’ rise to glory!?

Well alright, I suppose it’s not quite that extreme. Nonetheless, this battle of the bands typifies what I’ve come to see as a fundamental philosophical disagreement between myself and Modesty’s original mangaka Hiroshi Fukuda. To him, rock music appears to be a battlefield, a place where violent personalities clash in pursuit of utter domination. He seems to view rock as something you can “win,” and I could not disagree more; I see rock as a place of solidarity, defined by community rather than individualism, where all contributions are valued in their own way. As such, a character like Shiro just seems utterly repellant to me, embodying values I see as alternately superficial (“rock is about raising a middle finger to society”) and antisocial (“rock is about proving how I’m the best”).

I can at least understand where Fukuda is coming from; the “rock” of this production is set up in direct contrast to the forced social propriety of Oushin, and that conflict maps reasonably well to a more general contrast of “individualism versus collectivism.” But I feel like sanding off the nuances of each of these philosophies has resulted in a selfish, somewhat juvenile rock ethos, where personal rejection of propriety is the highest goal, rather than the project of collective liberation embodied by rock’s greatest firebrands (which would in turn fit so well into the larger cultural divides this show occasionally gestures towards). My hope is that Fukuda knows this as well, and that our leads are intentionally being characterized as myopic in their perspective, with a revelation on the horizon regarding rock’s genuine liberatory potential. But for now, let’s grind Bitter Ganache into the fucking dirt!

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Monogatari Off/Monster Season – Episode 11

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re continuing our journey through Monogatari’s Monster Season, as Araragi’s investigations of the high school basketball team take him first to Mayoi’s shrine, and then deep into the underworld. Emerging in an alleged hell that looks a lot more like paradise, he is confronted by the Beautiful Princess, an apparent echo of Shinobu’s former life. Will this doppelganger lead him to the blood pond, and if so, is Araragi even right to sate the hunger of the amoral Deathtopia?

It’s certainly a messy stew of questions, and a flight of fancy only grounded by this arc’s clear parallels to Kizumonogatari. Back then, Araragi’s lack of self-worth actually made these questions easier; he would have sacrificed his life for anyone, and freely consented to a cursed existence in order to save Shinobu while preventing her from killing others. Logistics aside, he is not that person anymore – he knows how much his life is worth, has come to embrace even the rejected parts of himself, and looks confidently towards a future shared with the people he loves. It takes a certain kind of madness to persist as an oddity investigator, and with Araragi’s future now accounted for, it seems like we may have to dive into Shinobu’s past to find a remedy for her first savior. Let’s get to it!

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – Episode 17

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m feeling the call of the open road, and am eager to rejoin Frieren and her companions as they soldier on through the forbidding northern plains. Although frankly, their journey through the allegedly demon-haunted north has actually been quite pleasant so far; aside from Aura’s gang, they’ve mostly just encountered rolling hills, scattered villages, and melancholy reflections on the enduring value of any mortal life.

In our last excursion, the question of mortality was most directly considered through the character of Old Man Voll, a dwarven friend of Frieren who had committed himself to guarding a humble farming community. Voll’s spark had almost extinguished, and indeed, it was clear through conversation that senility was already robbing him of his memories. What kept Voll attached to this world was actually a pledge to the dead – a promise to his human wife, to protect the village she had loved. In spite of his longer lifespan, it was his ostensibly short-lived wife who maintained his spark of purpose, demonstrating how a life is defined far more by its vitality and impact than its length.

This subject was then teased at again through a Frieren staple, the interrogation of statues as symbols of enduring identity. Though we erect statues to honor specific heroes, that meaning is contained within the observer, not the stone itself, and fresh eyes will find their own meaning in mossy, untended marble. Eternity is a fool’s wish, yet our grasps towards it see us creating relics that nonetheless inspire those who follow – an odd form of immortality, but likely the most healthy we can hope for. Let’s see what fresh reflections await as we return to Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End!

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