Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Hugtto! Precure – Episode 40

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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!

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Oshi no Ko – Episode 1

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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!

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The Legend of Vox Machina S2 – Episode 12

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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!

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Dear Brother – Episode 7

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into the nest of vipers that is Seiran Academy, as we bear witness to Nanako’s continuing misfortunes in the marvelous Dear Brother. The injustices of last episode, including the continuation dissolution of Nanako’s friendship with childhood confidant Tomoko, seemed to actually push our beleaguered heroine to a breaking point, prompting her to consider abandoning the Sorority altogether. Unfortunately, Miya-sama appeared to sniff out her intentions even before she did, offering her a pledge of loyalty that seemed to carry an undertone of yet another ominous threat.

So basically, it was just another day at Seiran, as larger-than-life titans like Kaoru and Miya-sama strode across the wreckage wrought by their tectonic movements, and underlings like Shinobu and Misaki scrambled for purchase upon their lofty, trunk-like garters. Riyoko Ikeda’s drama continues to wind in delightfully tortured directions, and Dezaki continues to elevate her tale with all manner of distinctive animated embellishments. It seems we’re on the cusp of Nanako beginning to seize her own destiny, rather than simply spin in the eddies prompted by larger forces, and I’m eager to see whatever fresh horrors await her. Let’s return to Dear Brother!

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Skip and Loafer – Episode 3

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be returning to the charming and quietly thoughtful drama of Skip and Loafer, as Mitsumi continues to integrate into life in the big city. After receiving some contrasting advice from her new classmates regarding Sousuke and Mika, Mitsumi soon realized that second-guessing the motives of everyone simply isn’t for her; she is happy to be herself, and the classmates who can appreciate her earnest, exuberant personality will naturally congregate around her. Her first group karaoke outing was thus a roaring success, as she fostered new bonds and solidified old ones through her selection of a classic childhood anthem.

It’s frankly refreshing to watch a character drama that takes so much care in articulating the nuances of someone like Mitsumi, who is fundamentally a pretty normal, well-adjusted person. Anxious and neurotic people tend to spend a whole lot of time actively stressing over their emotions, which leads to a whole lot of fiction about anxious and neurotic people – but the fact of it is, anxiety and self-doubt don’t inherently make for any richer of an internal emotional life, they just tend to make their bearers more likely to scream that emotional life from the literary rooftops. I always appreciate when shows like Oregairu celebrate characters like Hayato, and I’m thrilled to be following Mitsumi as well. Let’s see where her journey leads next!

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BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! – Episode 6

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today there’s simply no avoiding a return to the delightfully messy band drama of MyGO, as I absolutely must find out what a genuinely inspired Anon might look like. Having spent half the series attempting to pull a band together for the most superficial of reasons, and ultimately fleeing when Taki called her out on her lack of conviction, we have at last learned of the great defeat that shattered her initial self-confidence. After easily gliding through the trials of middle school, Anon felt basically invincible, but the scholastic challenges and social isolation of England brought her crashing down. Since then, she’s steered clear of anything that’s seemed too difficult or too painful, hoping to construct a comforting high school life with none of the harsh edges of challenge or intimacy.

Unfortunately, the first classmate she established a bond with was Tomori, setting her on a rollercoaster ride of fraught emotions and desperate ambitions. While Anon could almost certainly have lived out a successfully superficial high school life, she instead found herself planted in the smoking ruins of CRYCHIC, with all of her anxieties and self-loathing laid bare. Sincerity might not come naturally to Anon, but having found an unexpected confidant in Tomori, she might just be the exasperated irritant this group needs to truly, honestly come together. Let’s find out!

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Kaiba – Episode 9

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Kaiba’s ninth episode begins much like its predecessor, with the alleged “King Warp” in the shower, gingerly dressing his wounds while his mechanical overseers question him on what went wrong, and why they can sense blood. As before, words that could theoretically be meant kindly are here known as anything but – though they masquerade as caretakers, his robot guardians are more like sharks, smelling weakness and circling for the kill. To stand at the pinnacle of this world is to surrender all privacy, all anonymity. He is in truth not actually the ruler of this world, but merely its most elevated cog: the crown-shaped screw adorning a machine that is fundamentally indifferent to all of its component individuals, knowing each of them are just parts that will eventually be replaced.

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Spy x Family – Episode 25

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we’d treat ourselves to a fresh episode of Spy x Family, and see what cozy shenanigans our diversely talented found family are getting up to. Spy x Family has proven itself a warm security blanket of a show on the whole, exploiting Tatsuya Endo’s keen talents for comedic timing and anticlimax in order to spice up a fundamentally heartwarming exploration of three strange outsiders discovering trust and community in each other.

It’s a show that never fails to buoy my spirits in difficult or anxious times, and that is an eminently honorable pursuit. I’m sure you all know I love the shows that break my heart, but equally precious to me are the shows that offer comfort in the storm, speaking to both our common humanity and the glory of talented artists celebrating all that is warm and beautiful in life. I’ve greatly enjoyed our time with the Forger family, and am thankful that our journey through Spy x Family’s first season has carried us all the way to these goofballs’ triumphant return. Let’s see what nonsense awaits at the end of Spy x Family’s first season!

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Thunderbolt Fantasy S3 – Episode 6

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to journey back into the harsh lands and bitter grudges of Thunderbolt Fantasy, as Shang finds himself with not one, but two separate demonic entities intent on his destruction. With Xing Hai and the Seven Blasphemous Deaths now reunited in form and focus, the Sorcerous Sword Index has never been in greater peril, to say nothing of the continuing efforts of the Divine Swarm, our recently cyborg-upgraded monk, or the murder princess and her courtly underlings.

All of this is nothing but a source of aggravation to our reluctant hero, though I imagine Lin is absolutely in his element. After so recently lamenting the lack of any good villains lately, he now finds himself at the fulcrum of a conflict featuring no less than four nefarious factions, and cozying up to an organization whose ambitions are only matched by their inflated sense of righteousness. Let’s see where his schemes lead him next as we check out a fresh episode of Thunderbolt Fantasy!

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Yuki Yuna is a Hero – Episode 5

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today it seems like we’re past due for a check-in on Yuki Yuna and her brave companions in the Hero Club, as they continue to fend off all who would do harm to the Divine Tree. In spite of lacking any high-tension battle scenes, Yuki Yuna’s last episode was undoubtedly my favorite so far, as its exploration of Fu and Itsuki’s unequal yet cherished bond felt thoughtful and convincingly true-to-life, grounding the generalities of the show’s genre structure in the specificities of one family’s circumstances. Believing in the distinct humanity of a show’s characters is what elevates sterile narrative beats into emotionally resonant drama, and episode four did a fine job of convincingly articulating that humanity.

Getting all this personal context was well appreciated, but judging by episode four’s dramatic stinger, the time for singing lessons and cat-ferrying assignments is now behind us. As expected, the death of the sisters’ parents was revealed to be linked to the vertexes, meaning Fu has ultimately dragged her classmates into a mission of personal revenge. Between that, her existing issues with leadership, and the ominous flipping of Itsuki’s death card, I expect some troubled times ahead for our young heroes. Let’s get to it!

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