Category Archives: Episode Writeup

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You – Episode 2

Posted on by

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am pleased as punch to be returning to The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, a show whose first episode proved its clear and compelling candidacy for the “heartwarming harem” subgenre. Though harem anime don’t exactly have the most sterling reputation, the field’s superior entries are actually quite endearing, featuring varied casts of characters who are all having an excellent, intermittently horny time together. Romance doesn’t need to be serious or melodramatic; it can also be energetic and silly, and shows like 100 Girlfriends demonstrate the clear merits of such an approach.

Perhaps most crucially, 100 Girlfriends understands that for a harem to be compelling, the actual nexus of that harem must be as engaging or endearing as their potential paramours. And indeed, Rentaro has proven at least as cute as his first two girlfriends, charting a charming course between “bewildered everyman” and “perfect boyfriend.” Let’s see what madness awaits him next!

Continue reading →

BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! – Episode 8

Posted on by

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am impatient to return to the thunderous drama of MyGO, in the wake of the casual all-timer that was the band’s first live performance. Like MyGO’s third episode, the seventh was a masterclass in focus and perspective, drawing the audience into the band’s precise headspace through its patient evocation of the tension in the green room. And then that performance! Their two songs proved a staggering celebration of how far our heroes have come, with Anon’s diligent practice and Tomori’s courage leading them through a genuinely impressive concert set. And unlike many musical dramas, it never felt like we were switching a flip into confident “performance mode” – these were the characters we’ve come to know on-stage, insecurities and limitations and regrets included.

Of course, some of our bandmates were carrying more regrets than others. This performance was a great victory for most of our group: Anon proved to herself and the others that she can actually keep up with them as a musician, Taki’s anxieties about leadership were put to rest by the success of the final result, and Tomori was able to affirm the validity of this new sunny spot, this Haru Hikage that sounds different, but still feels like home. But for Soyo, this band has never been its own reward. It has been a means to reunite with the members of CRYCHIC, a placeholder bearing stand-ins soon to be replaced by Sakiko and Mutsumi. With the new group’s rendition of Haru Hikage essentially confirming Tomori has replaced Sakiko, and Sakiko acknowledging this statement with a tearful exit, Soyo’s cheerful façade has shattered. Soyo’s out for blood, and I can’t wait to see the fallout; after all, one of my favorite character arcs is “guarded cynic learns their friends still appreciate their true self,” plus Anon’s sure to be delightfully unbearable about Soyo finally showing some earnest feelings. Let’s get to it!

Continue reading →

Kaiba – Episode 10

Posted on by

With Neyro and the Warp she knew as Kaiba tragically reunited, our tenth episode begins just before their first meeting, at the moment their story began. We open with Warp flying high above his planet of swirling canyons and grasping towers, his strange and claustrophobic kingdom. Dirt below and smog above; it is an oddly insular world, in spite of his position on the throne of this transhumanist empire. The more you seek to control your world, the more narrow that world will become; we cannot hope to claim ownership over humanity’s sprawling potential, only limit that potential to the point where it can fit within our grasp. Humanity can only express its true vibrancy unchained; we have seen the brightness of humanity struggling onward in the private margins of this world, but here in the seat of Warp’s power, there is nothing but refuse and resentment.

Continue reading →

Spy x Family – Episode 26

Posted on by

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am tossing and turning in the maelstrom winds of the apartment hunt process, which has understandably got my nerves a-frazzling. As such, I’m feeling hungry for some animated comfort food, and fortunately the second season of Spy x Family has arrived just in time to wrap us all in a collective blanket of familial cheer. Spy x Family’s first season was consistently funny, often surprisingly thrilling, and perpetually brimming with love for its awkward protagonists. Tatsuya Endo has proven to be an inventive sculptor of both spy and family drama, and the combined talents of Cloverworks and Wit Studio have made for a persistently generous animated adaptation. With last season having concluded on the fateful first encounter between Loid and his target Donovan Desmond, I’m eager to see both the continuation of Operation Strix and the Forgers’ further cohesion into something resembling a functional family. Let’s get to it!

Continue reading →

Yuki Yuna is a Hero – Episode 6

Posted on by

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we’d check in on the continuing adventures of Yuki Yuna and her hero club, and satisfy my intense curiosity regarding what exactly we’ll be doing with the rest of the season. You see, the normal procession with magical girls is generally one antagonist an episode, all leading up to an eventual showdown with the big boss somewhere near the end of the production. However, Yuki Yuna has casually flouted this assumed structure, piling the entirety of its remaining antagonists into its fifth episode, and having our heroes claim their grand victory before we’d even reached the season’s halfway point.

This is all quite exciting stuff to me, as you might guess. There’s nothing wrong with reliable narrative templates; sturdy scaffolding can allow artists to hone in on smaller details of presentation, characterization, or whatever else a story prioritizes. However, it is through breaking with convention that you often find new intersections of structure and dramatic impact, while unmooring your audience such that they experience your twists with the intensity of true surprise, no more certain of their destination than your characters. Let’s see what the horizon holds in a fresh episode of Yuki Yuna!

Continue reading →

Horus, Prince of the Sun

Posted on by

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am thrilled to announce we’re returning to the classic films of Toei Doga, and what’s more, we’ll be watching the film that’s generally considered the pinnacle of the era: Isao Takahata’s directorial debut, Horus, Prince of the Sun.

Though even the earliest films of Toei Doga demonstrate the talent of mainstays like Yasuji Mori and Yasuo Otsuka, it was Horus where a new generation of talents really came into their own, including Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. Bonded all the closer by the ongoing labor protests, Horus’ team would create a high water mark in animation that simultaneously served as a broadening of animation’s potential. As Miyazaki would describe it, Horus embodied the world of animation shifting from one of farce to “Chishu Ryu’s world,” widening the medium’s dramatic priorities and opening the door to thoughtful, meditative works that went beyond energetic escapism.

So basically, that strain of inquisitive melancholy that so fascinates me in anime was in many ways forged in the production of Horus, owing largely to Isao Takahata’s unique and far-seeing perspective. It’s the same thoughtful approach that would lend such gravity to his later Ghibli films, that would migrate out to inform generations of future animators, that would ring through to the modern era through the works of artists like Naoko Yamada. Otsuka would happily admit that this turning point was the moment anime as a medium stretched beyond his own ambitions, and that he’d rather “let the director direct, and have fun doing my own thing.” Miyazaki’s description of this change was humble as well, as he admitted that “only Yasuji Mori” understood the essence of Horus was the melancholy girl Hilda, not the adventures of Horus himself.

Even today, anime for the most part constrains itself to stories of adolescent adventure, indulgence, and bravado. But for the productions that reach beyond such topics, that struggle to depict ordinary happiness and everyday melancholy, the substance of lives as they are lived – for those stories, Horus was a guiding star, and a triumph of animation by any standard. Let’s get to it!

Continue reading →

BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! – Episode 7

Posted on by

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to jump back into the thorny drama of MyGO, as our fledgling bandmates continue to tumble over each other both literally and emotionally. Most recently, Taki’s attempt to live up to Sakiko’s band leader legacy has left her anxious and overwhelmed, with the specter of CRYCHIC clearly still haunting our new band’s every step. Taki has been holding herself to an impossible standard, so desperate not to lose Tomori that she nearly destroyed the band in the process. Fortunately, our as-yet-unnamed new group is not nearly so brittle as the last; our players may stumble, but Tomori will always be there with a bandaid for their skinned knees.

As always, MyGO has articulated the band’s latest fault lines with uncommon grace and thoughtfulness, quietly emphasizing the very different ways each member perceives this group. Soyo is still desperate to create CRYCHIC 2.0, and her increasingly vocal indifference to Anon’s presence, combined with Taki’s desire to push Anon out of the active composition altogether, have made it clear that the band is essentially composed of two discordant social groups. But Anon is not the flighty transient she once was; having committed to sharing her feelings with Tomori, she’s now genuinely invested in this group, as her retrieval of Taki well demonstrated. And Taki herself is nothing if not earnest; if she can get over her dislike of Anon, the group will possess an iron core strong enough to weather both Soyo’s machinations and Raana’s unreliable attendance. Let’s see how our heroes fare in a fresh episode of MyGO!

Continue reading →

Hugtto! Precure – Episode 40

Posted on by

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into Hugtto! Precure, as we continue to soar towards its approaching endgame. It’s clear enough that the time for fun episodic larks is largely behind us; in fact, last episode felt very much like we were already at the climax, with its thunderous reveals regarding Harry and Risutol’s shared history clarifying much about Criasu’s relationship with the hamsters. Characters like Risutol and Bishin didn’t simply embrace evil, they were recruited via Criasu’s promises to save their dying village – and having embraced complicity and lost their homes anyway, they now hope simply to maintain whatever community is left to them on the other side.

Having shed some light on the origins of George’s final accomplice, I’m excited to see what the episode to come reveals about dear old Dr. Traum, who’s always struck me as one of the most charming Criasu collaborators. His ambivalence towards the future seems to come from a place of painful personal experience, while his creation of Lulu points to a fundamental disagreement with the Criasu credo. To have a child is to express a gesture of faith in the future, that it will be a safer, kinder place for the ones who follow you. As we approach the end, it seems Traum may be regretting his prior actions, and hoping to at least spend a little more time with his beloved daughter. Let’s see how this odd family is faring!

Continue reading →

Oshi no Ko – Episode 1

Posted on by

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be exploring the megasized first episode of a fresh production, as we check out the premiere of last spring’s Oshi no Ko. To be honest, I was perfectly happy to let Oshi no Ko come and go without any significant commentary on my end; the show’s premise felt too contrived and insular to really appeal to my interests, and beyond that, “an idol drama that’s also a critique of the idol industry” just feels unnecessary for me personally.

Not that the idol industry doesn’t deserve a takedown; on the contrary, “the idol industry is a predatory vessel that ruins the lives of its participants and trains its fans to treat artists as property” feels as provocative a statement to me as “water is wet,” an obvious, clear-eyed assessment of a self-evidently malevolent industry. My impression was that I’d be agreeing with the show’s negative statements while rolling my eyes at every “and yet, there’s something to that idol industry” concession, all while listening to music that I have failed to find interesting across a decade covering the genre’s most esteemed productions. Considering that “Perfect Blue is my favorite idol anime” is basically the anime version of “Die Hard is my favorite Christmas film,” it didn’t seem necessary to add my predictable commentary to the flood of Oshi no Ko reactions. Nonetheless, I’m sure I’ll find some points of interest within this unique production, and I always appreciate having a clearer impression of anime’s breakthrough successes. Let’s get to it!

Continue reading →

The Legend of Vox Machina S2 – Episode 12

Posted on by

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into the drama of Vox Machina, having last left the party in a moment of absolute crisis and defeat. Scanlan’s plan to leave an Immovable Rod (well, short sword, but same difference) inside a dragon has quasi-succeeded, while leaving plenty of room for an exciting followup question: how the fuck are he and Vax going to get out of this dragon’s stomach? And while they focus on avoiding digestion, their allies are presented with a different yet equally vexing challenge: how do you make a dragon fight you when it’d rather just fly away? Well, presumably it’s just going back to its lair, meaning our heroes will be facing off with both legendary and lair actions as they attempt to free their comrades from death by stomach acid.

I imagine Scanlan and Vax’s plan was a flourish of stupidity that even Mercer didn’t plan for, but I assume this battle is otherwise going pretty much how he predicted. The push and pull of player agency versus dramatic necessity expresses itself in some unique ways when it comes to major boss fights; you want your players to feel like they can gain a leg up on their opponents via clever strategizing, but also don’t want the fight to feel either formulaic or prematurely solved, necessitating a balance between controllable variables and chaotic in-fight twists. Mercer appears to have navigated this balance through the construction of a two-act fight: first this ambush, which the players largely engineered themselves, followed by a presumed lair fight finale focused more on his own scripted inventions.

Coincidentally enough, my own campaign is also currently transitioning between these moments, with the party’s planning of their allegedly final battle soon to give way to a bombastic scripted escalation. Our melee fighters are largely running on fumes and our sorcerer only has a single spell slot left, so I believe I’ve successfully calibrated the challenge towards a death-defying victory next session, and am eager to see how my players wriggle their way out of this one. I’ll get back to you on how that all plays out, but for now let’s enjoy the climax of Vox Machina’s second season!

Continue reading →