Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Rock is a Lady’s Modesty – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we might check in on Oushin Girls’ Academy, and see how new arrival Lilisa is managing to uphold the tenets of dignified high-class ladydom. Having crawled up from the ranks of the peasantry through her mother’s union with the distinguished Suzunomiya family, Lilisa is determined to become the academy’s Noble Maiden, and thereby secure a lasting future for herself and her mother. And it won’t take much – just abandoning her current personality and her most precious memories, including her conjoined love of her father and the guitar.

So yeah, that probably wasn’t going to happen. Nonetheless, it took the intervention of fellow young maiden and born blue blood Otoha Kurogane to shake her poise, calling her back to the guitar and the earnest, unvarnished feelings it represents through the time-honored challenge of “what are you, chicken?” Along the way, Rock is a Lady’s Modesty has presented a bevy of charged visual motifs, defining life at Oushin as a series of cages and mirrors, barring true expression while consistently allowing glimpses of humanity to seep through in fountain pools, painted glass, or the sweat of pure, reckless passion. I’m at this point most curious to learn of Otoha’s “true self,” or whether she has actually managed to integrate the duality of propriety and rebellion more gracefully than Lilisa, but I’m down for whatever this team has to throw at us. Let’s get to it!

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Monogatari Off/Monster Season – Episode 6

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we are concluding Nadeko’s quest to pull herself back together, and hopefully come to love all the divergent personas that brought her to this point. Having recaptured Flirty Nadeko and Wrath Nadeko, she now finds herself facing off with God Nadeko, the medusa that once threatened all life in her town. With neither Kaiki’s guidance nor Yotsugi’s Unlimited Rulebook to assist her, she will have to confront one of the most powerful creatures in Monogatari history, and somehow convince her to help with Nadeko’s embarrassing romance manga.

It’s not unusual to come to hate your own past self. In fact, it can often be quite comforting to blame your former identity for all the failings of your current life, or to at least feel embarrassed regarding the ignorance, insecurity, or audacity that inspired your prior forms of self-expression. The passion that inspired one era of your life can seem embarrassing or naive from a further vantage point – but as Kaiki told Nadeko once before, passion is inherently embarrassing. Commitment is embarrassing. Staking your claim in the world, stating what you truly desire and how hard you’d work to acquire it, is always kinda embarrassing. We cling to indifference or even nihilism as defensive measures, knowing only that to admit we care is to invite mockery, to let others poke holes in our shameful ambitions.

But that’s no way to live. To truly thrive we must embrace the embarrassment of committing fully to our passions, and to understand ourselves we must forgive and embrace our past selves, knowing that their passion is still a part of us. The girl who used meekness as a shield, the girl who danced for the crowd’s applause, the girl who hated that crowd for their shallow adoration – all of those were earnest forms of Nadeko, each trying their best to get along in a world that tells us the only true crime is to wear no mask at all. If Nadeko wants to create stories that speak from the heart, she must first learn to embrace her own – and in forgiving these rambling Nadekos, she might just see the path forward a little more clearly. Let’s return to the final battle!

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The Fire Hunter – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we return to the fraught, entrancing world of The Fire Hunter, as Touko begins her pilgrimage to the capital, hoping to redress the crime of a fire hunter’s death by shepherding his dog Kanata home. She has said goodbye to the village she has known and the adopted mother she loved, climbing aboard an imposing forest-bound train that embodies both the technological sprawl of this series and the dangers lurking in the wilds. What awaits her is unknowable; in this world where fire sparks death, the terrors of the deep woods must surely be beyond our comprehension.

As you can probably tell, I’m having a great time so far. Rieko Hinata’s world is distinctive and fascinating, and the show so far is revealing its secrets with the offhand confidence and measured pacing of a master storyteller. The show’s art design is also distinctive and compelling, offering a landscape both melancholy and beautiful, and populating it with characters rich in expressive flourishes of body language. Stillness, anticipation, and grief; there is a charged, mournful aspect to Touko’s story, like a dark cloud promising a cold rain. Let us see where the journey takes us as we return to The Fire Hunter.

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Big Windup! – Episode 17

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am delighted to announce we’re returning to Big goddamn Windup, as our Nishiura boys charge into the fourth inning of their contest with Tosei, the returning summer tournament champions. So far our team has secured one precious early run, and have so far succeeded in defending that lead through Mihashi’s distinctive pitching. However, the storm clouds gathering overhead might well be an echo of Nishiura’s fortunes, as a team with every other advantage chips away at Nishiura’s crumbling element of surprise.

All of this has of course made for a rich, aromatic tactical stew served to us in the audience. Big Windup’s mixture of psychological analysis and game strategy was engaging even before we reached the field, and now the show is blooming into a vivid tactical simulator of impressive scope, factoring both the skills and mindsets of the various players into its ongoing drama so gracefully that it’s all parsable as a collective, coherent evolving conflict. Between the individual character reflections and the ongoing commentary of Abe, Momoe, and Tosei pitcher Takase, the knuckle-biting turning points of this conflict are apparent on both a micro and macro level, leaving us with the inescapable impression of Nishiura playing aboard a sinking ship, desperately attempting to secure runs before Tosei’s superior training shuts them out entirely. Let’s get to the game!

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BanG Dream! Ave Mujica – Episode 5

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we drop in on Ave Mujica in a moment of chaos and catastrophe, with our improbable quintet once again on the verge of dissolution. What had seemed like a brief unity of purpose has proven just a mirage – for it was not Mutsumi who was gabbing gracefully with bandmates and interviewers, but the alter ego Mortis herself. Having been shamed and abandoned by everyone she once relied on, Mutsumi has retreated inside herself, leaving the manic, pattern-matching Mortis to face the outside world.

Worse still, in the wake of Mutsumi entirely abdicating control of her own body, Sakiko was the only one who noticed anything was wrong. The other girls were simply happy to have less band drama, with Uika and Umiri favoring whatever created less discord, and Nyamu actually seeing Mortis’ shape-shifting talents as evidence of Mutsumi’s professional genius. A band that is incapable of recognizing when one of its own members is mid-psychotic break couldn’t possibly serve as an emotional sanctuary – but from the start, Ave Mujica has been an act of projection and deflection, a way for Sakiko to abstract her emotions rather than embrace them, to find validation through the public embrace of a theatrical project that means nothing to anyone but her.

Obviously, such an act of performative denial was never going to make her whole. But at this point, Sakiko may no longer be able to stop what she has started, or to rescue Mutsumi from the protective clutches of Mortis. And frankly, I’m quite enjoying Mortis as an addition to the cast – she’s essentially serving as a translator between Sakiko’s melodrama and her bandmates’ professionalism, demonstrating how their various masks all conceal a common urge for unity and understanding. Let’s see how negotiations are fairing as we return to Ave Mujica!

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Shoushimin Series – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re going to be continuing our investigations of the intriguing Shoushimin Series, originally written by Hyouka scribe Honobu Yonezawa, and adapted by the accomplished Mamoru Kanbe. The series’ first episode demonstrated both of these artists at their best, with Yonezawa offering a fresh collection of intriguing, multifaceted adolescent stars, and Kanbe bedecking their stories in a singular combination of lush background art and sterile, alienating intimacy.

So far, what is most clear about our protagonists Osanai and Jogoro is that we don’t actually know anything about them. Jogoro is observant and Osanai is indifferent to her peers, but they are otherwise self-conscious ciphers, dedicated to a project of “becoming normal” that seems to imply a goal of becoming part of the scenery, making no waves and attracting no attention from those around them. It’s a particularly bleak variation on Hyouka’s pursuit of low-energy living, and its advocates are as strange as you’d expect, their idle exchanges betraying a callous disconnection from their environment. Such ambiguity might be worrying if presented by another team; but given Yonezawa’s understanding of characterization and Kanbe’s fluency in dramatic tone, I have every reason to suspect these mysteries are purposeful, and our leads are precisely as unknowable as this team wants them to be. Let’s delve into their dark hearts as we return to Shoushimin Series!

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Ojamajo Doremi Sharp – Episode 15

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we’d check in with Doremi and the gang for another ojamajo adventure, as our girls do their dubious best to prove themselves worthy witches. Our last outing was a fantastic slice of insanity, as Doremi’s exceptional and much-adored sister Pop took center stage, balancing the affections of her classmate and arrival of a handsome new teacher with characteristic grace. We even concluded on a reprise of Faithful Dog Doremi and her canine companions, always a clear sign of an upper echelon Doremi episode.

With our last two episodes having featured first cow and then sheep stampedes, I imagine we’re in for a quieter adventure this time, perhaps one that falls more on the emotional end of Doremi’s broad dramatic palette. We’ve certainly got the staff for it; after all, this coming episode is directed by Junichi Sato, the legendary director of Sailor Moon, Princess Tutu, and Aria the Animation. With our journey in such eminently trustworthy hands, let’s see what awaits Doremi and the girls!

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Ojamajo Doremi Sharp – Episode 16

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to announce we’re returning to Ojamajo Doremi Sharp, which just recently broke my heart with its poignant Mother’s Day episode. Rather than the easy layup of simply celebrating the cast’s relationships with their mothers, our last episode explored the complicated emotions inherent in feeling isolated on such occasions, how to balance your painful grief with your desire to remember your lost loved ones, and how we can seek to connect with each other and collectively find joy in these bonds, whether our parents are together, divorced, or sadly passed away.

As always, Ojamajo Doremi soars by taking both its characters and its audience seriously, speaking without prevarication or metaphor about the genuine struggles that every child must overcome, and admitting frankly that such struggles are also faced by the adults in their lives. There is no facile assurance of “growing out” of the difficulties of coexisting; instead, Doremi offers a kindly assurance that we all face these difficulties together, that the adults we trust are all fighting their own sympathetic battles, and that through sharing both our joy and our sorrow, we can find a common humanity that is the essence of love itself, and the foundation of a compassionate society.

All that is basically the great work of artistry incarnate, but that episode also made me cry, so I’d be happy enough to cool down with goofy witch-world antics or something. Maybe a reprise of Loyal Dog Doremi? Well, whatever’s coming, I have absolute faith in this team, and am eager to get this show on the road. Let’s get to it!

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Blue Reflection Ray – Episode 9

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the battlefield of Blue Reflection Ray, after a slew of revelations left our heroes scattered and nearly without hope. In the wake of learning about her sister’s Red Reflector identity, Hiori chose to respond like she always has: by suppressing her feelings of hurt and abandonment, and acting like nothing is wrong.

Fortunately, Ruka is not the same girl she was eight episodes ago, when she lamented that she couldn’t reach out to those in pain like Hiori managed so easily. Ruka challenged Hiori to embrace her sorrow, to “realize how important your feelings are too,” and with that the dam finally broke. Just as Hiori was once able to express her pain regarding her mother’s departure to Mio, now can she express her true feelings regarding Mio to Ruka, a confidant who would never pity her.

With our lead reflectors now resonating like never before, I imagine it’s time for a counteroffensive against the increasingly audacious agents of Mio. They’ve accelerated from individual soul-stealing to app-based crowdsourcing to mass emotion-sapping weather phenomenon, and it’s up to our brave heroes to put a stop to it. Plus, with Hiori and Ruka making such positive strides, I’m hoping it’s time for Miyako to gain her own reflector credentials, and perhaps a sweet reflector weapon in the bargain. Regardless, the hour of conflict draws near as we return to Blue Reflection Ray!

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The Legend of Vox Machina S3 – Episode 7

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be returning to the Legend of Vox Machina, touching down in a moment of crisis and calamity for our poor adventurers. Having just secured a platemail vestige for Pike and beaten a dragon in the bargain, they returned to Whitestone to see it bathed in fire, the sky alive with Thordak’s nightmare brood. This attack marked the end of their alliance with the devious Raishan, and the beginning of a new quest: killing that asshole Anna Ripley.

So basically, it seems like we’ve surmounted the third act finale of Mercer’s overall campaign structure, in keeping with the villain-slaying standard of the Whitestone and Thunder Herd act finales. DnD is an eternal compromise between player agency and narrative necessity; stories aren’t structured arbitrarily, their rise and falls of drama are paced so as to cultivate reader interest, offer moments of release, and ultimately reward the reader for their investment. As such, while DnD campaigns are often more freewheeling than your average fantasy novel, a skillful DM will still infuse them with the structural momentum of a traditional narrative, drawing rising action together into cathartic peaks, and then humbling the party before starting that rise over again.

Incidentally, my party’s own ongoing campaign has just reached a similar point, having recently defeated the vampire Strahd with some kind of holy hand grenade. We’re actually in a much trickier spot, as the self-contained nature of the Curse of Strahd campaign means we’re now left with no dangling threads to pursue, and essentially have to reinvent a reason why we’re even traveling together. I’m doing my best to make some player-side sense of our ramblings, but have to admit I’m becoming increasingly nostalgic for my days of DM-side campaign control, as the richness of a player character is in large part a reflection of how meaningfully they can interact with the DM’s world. Let’s enjoy Mercer and Percy showing exactly how that’s done as we return to Vox Machina!

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