Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Spy x Family – Episode 29

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am suffering in the grip of my first winter cold, with snuffles, a sore throat, and a persistent headache all collaborating to bring me down. I’d say I’m “under the weather,” but frankly the weather today is also pretty miserable – as such, I have decided there is no recourse to lighten the mood but to indulge in a fresh episode of Spy x Family, and see what those wacky Forgers are up to.

Our last episode was actually quite light on Forgery, concerning itself primarily with Yuri’s investigations of a potential political dissident. Forgunately (okay, I’ll stop), with Yor out of the picture, we were able to see a somewhat less one-note portrait of Yuri as well. Like his sister, his dedication to his mission stems from a fundamental conflation of family and country, and when he’s forced to reckon with how his “enemies” are just as dedicated to their own families, his resolve immediately wavers. The siblings are essentially both child soldiers who’ve grown into adulthood without abandoning their naive ideals of binary justice, making them perfect tools of political suppression. That certainly makes them unusual stars of a wacky romantic comedy, but that’s really Spy x Family all over, isn’t it? Let’s get to it!

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Skip and Loafer – Episode 5

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to check back in on Mitsumi and the gang, as we charge through another delightful episode of Skip and Loafer. Last episode saw Mitsumi adding yet another foundling to her rapidly growing collection of confidants, this time pulling student council superstar Takamine into her inner circle. Having joined Takamine on her extracurricular errands in order to learn from her studious example, Mitsumi instead found herself serving as an inspiration to Takamine in turn, convincing her of the necessity of slowing down and smelling the roses from time to time.

Of course, that’s little surprise to us in the audience. Mitsumi has proven herself a quiet inspiration to her peers time and again, drawing characters like Shima and Suzuki into her orbit through her earnest, curious, and eminently considerate personality. Through their interactions, Skip and Loafer demonstrates how thoughtful character dramas need not be centered on those whose lives are defined by psychological torment; the trials of Mitsumi and her friends catalog the scope of human interaction in gentler form, offering a story that is no less poignant or insightful for its fundamental warmth of perspective. Let’s see what awaits our crew next!

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The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You – Episode 3

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we’d stop back in with Rentaro and the gang, and see how his sacred mission to acquire one hundred girlfriends is proceeding. Look, it’s not like he’s a cold philanderer or anything; as has been clearly established by the suspiciously convenient worldbuilding, all of those girlfriends are doomed to perpetual unhappiness if he does not find them and date their worries away. It’s a heavy burden, but given Rentaro’s deft navigation of his first two true loves, I have every confidence he’ll be able to manage it.

Rentaro’s woes aside, 100 Girlfriends continues to be an altogether charming, entirely ludicrous riff on romantic comedy convention, persistently innovating on its core joke of “what if we played this fantastical polycule entirely straight, complete with soaring string arrangements accompanying each ridiculous romantic threshold.” It doesn’t seem like there’s much of a larger point beyond the comedy yet, but comedies don’t necessarily need a thematic backbone; the faces are good and the gags are snappy, making it an energetic watch regardless. Let’s see how Rentaro fares with his third destined love!

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BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! – Episode 11

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m once again overcome with curiosity regarding the fortunes of our woebegotten bandmates, meaning it’s time for another episode of BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! Our last episode served as at least a partial reconciliation after the suffering of the previous two, with Tomori’s solo confessions eventually gathering Raana, Taki, Anon, and even Soyo back to her side. Everyone except Raana has at some point tried their hand at leading this band, but ultimately, it was up to their emotional heart to guide them back under the lights. At Tomori’s side, they were reminded of what they actually founded this group for – to claim a place where they belong, where their voice is valued, regardless of whoever else is listening.

That spirit of community was made clear by their ultimate performance, where they were clearly playing for each other more than any external audience. And god, what a show! Their tearful reunion was the goddamn definition of catharsis, each musician baring their heart on stage and finding their feelings treasured and echoed by the girls beside them. Between episodes three, seven, and ten, MyGO is racking up a preposterous slate of all-timers, and I’m eager to see how they formally reconcile in the wake of that shared moment. All right, I’m most eager to see how the other bandmates razz Soyo for her late return, but still! It’s a credit to how well-characterized this show’s cast are that it’s such a pleasure simply watching them interact, letting their complex, thorny, and ultimately sympathetic personalities spark friction and understanding in equal measure. Let’s get to it!

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Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 16

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After a season and change of cloaking its personal inquiry in the trappings of a more or less traditional, episodic giant robot anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion’s sixteenth episode represents a formal casting off of its genre pretensions, in favor of directly interrogating the psychology of its forlorn protagonists. This is less dramatic of a transition than some might argue; given the overwhelming focus on cast psychology that has characterized these writeups, you wouldn’t be surprised to learn I see this process as more fulfillment of the show’s lurking ambitions than a genuine shifting of its trajectory. But premeditated or not, this is undeniably the moment when Evangelion fully strayed from its design document, embracing a prioritization of psychoanalysis that to Anno seemed the only way to fully respect the characters he’d conceived, the audience he was seeking, and the hope of happiness he still carried for himself.

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Call of the Night – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to slink back into the shadows of Call of the Night, after a premiere that embodied the manifold strengths of author Kotoyama and director Tomoyoki Itamura. Anxious yet intensely felt sensuality, charmingly off-kilter protagonists, and a preoccupation with the “dead time” of our lives, the many moments between active concerns that accumulate into the collective tone of our private worlds – all things Kotoyama grappled deftly in Dagashi Kashi, and all represented with as much confidence here. Those concerns feel right at home married to Itamura’s aesthetic sensibilities; his Monogatari-forged methods of conveying character perspective neatly illustrate the difference between these characters’ self-assigned and outward presentation, while his emphasis on otherworldly landscapes suits a story about the allure of exploring the night perfectly. Let’s see what Ko and his strange new companion get up to this time!

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Solo Leveling – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking out a new property I was recently commissioned, as we explore the first episode of the currently airing Solo Leveling. To be perfectly honest, I’m not entirely sure what to expect from this one, or how exactly it might be my sort of thing; the synopsis seems to indicate it’s basically a post-Sword Art Online riff on similar concepts, and I didn’t really have anything positive to say about the original Sword Art Online. “We’re growing stronger in a world that’s essentially a videogame” is a concept that has very little appeal to me; I prefer my fantasy worlds to be realized as genuine places, and am of the wrong generation to get a thrill out of watching someone else be excellent at a videogame.

In general, I see these works as the consequence of fans not reading broadly, or really at all; if you only consume videogames and light novels, you are almost categorically incapable of writing something rich enough to keep my interest. As for the staff, neither director nor art director nor series composer have any noteworthy credits to their names, but I imagine we’re in for some bombastic musical cues courtesy of the ever-excessive Hiroyuki Sawano. With almost no idea of what we’re getting into, let’s check out the first episode of Solo Leveling!

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Yuki Yuna is a Hero – Episode 8

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m hearing the rumble of storm clouds on the horizon, as the peaceful days of the Hero Club’s summer vacation are swiftly coming to an end. In spite of having defeated the twelve vertexes and sustained a variety of lingering injuries in the process, Yuna and her friends are being called to battle once more, facing both an uncertain threat and an increasingly suspicious alleged benefactor. Though their tour of duty was explicitly framed as a clear and finite quest, it seems a hero’s duties are never truly ended – or at least, that our Taisha is far less certain of this venture’s scope than Fuu and the others expected.

This is all great fun for me, of course, as wandering into uncertain structural territory means Yuki Yuna’s thematic intent is now certain to reveal itself. For the first half of this season, Yuki Yuna presented a reasonably executed but generally familiar narrative, focusing on the magical girl genre’s common themes of finding community and developing self-confidence through adolescence. However, the show was always seasoned with an uncommon dash of fatalism – a quiet implication that its heroes were less “destined warriors” than “conscripted soldiers,” forced into mortal peril yet considered expendable by their distant overseers. Fuu’s bargain to protect her family, Karin’s maniacal focus on combat, Tougou’s fear of being called a “traitor” – all of these lingering peculiarities seem to at last be resolving themselves, and I’m eager to see where the show ultimately lands. Let’s get to it!

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Ojamajo Doremi Sharp – Episode 10

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive right back into Ojamajo Doremi Sharp, and see what else is new with our hapless ojamajos. Our last sojourn with Majo Rika’s mother only served to remind me just how charming and generous this production truly is; whether it’s embracing the goofy flexibility of animation for comedy or stabbing at the heart with another tearjerker, Doremi always proceeds with absolute confidence, riding high on its mixture of sensitive characterization and gorgeous execution.

With the witch baby Hana consuming so much of our young witches’ attention, Sharp has been developing a clear thematic throughline regarding the perils of parenting. With Hana at hand, our girls are swiftly coming to understand the extraordinary strength required to raise a child – and having recognized that challenge, they’re furthermore coming to appreciate the struggles their own parents faced, and how they might share such burdens in the future. It’s a characteristically nuanced portrayal of coming to know your parents not just as caretakers, but as fallible yet dedicated human beings, and I imagine more lessons in that vein are just ahead. Let’s see how our witches fare in a fresh episode of Ojamajo Doremi!

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Kaiba – Episode 12

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Kaiba’s final episode begins with the plant that is its namesake extending its tendrils through space, eager to consume all memories, to devour everything humanity has fought for and built. It is an omen, a warning, and perhaps an inevitability: if we do not tend carefully to the cultivation of human experience, if we do not seek to share what we have and create an edifice that can last into the future, all of our achievements will eventually collapse into the dirt. We will be as the ghosts of that abandoned moon, or even worse – simply an absence where our feet once tread, where we once strove and yearned for eternity, or merely for a better tomorrow. With the powers currently at our disposal, our capacity for self-destruction seems like it will naturally, inevitably overwhelm our capacity for self-preservation.

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