Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Simoun – Episode 26

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And so it ends. Having long held the future of Simulacrum on their shoulders, the era of the Simoun Sybillae concludes in acrimony and hope, Neviril and Aaeru soaring off in pursuit of the Emerald Ri Majoon and whatever realms await the eternal maidens. No longer is Neviril seeking to undo the past, or Aaeru to prove her worthiness; they believe in themselves and each other utterly, and this final act is an expression of that belief. Simulacrum’s faith may well have been an arbitrary set of strictures draped over a fundamentally value-neutral phenomenon, but the course of Simoun has proven that faith has a power of its own, regardless of its genesis. Even as Neviril’s companions accept their transition beyond this stage, they are still inspired by her actions – and in that faith, a point of commonality is found between them and their new priestly order.

It has been a poignant and rewarding journey riding alongside Chor Tempest, and though I’m sad we’ve arrived at the end, I’m happy it’s ending with such conclusive, elegant finality. Simoun has always possessed a grace of execution that belies its absurd thematic complexity, and thus it seems appropriate that the story ends where it begins: Neviril and her pair in flight, seeking the infinite in the fulfillment of their love.

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Spy x Family – Episode 20

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to get back into Spy x Family, and see what ridiculous nonsense the Forgers have been up to in our absence. Our last episode proved an intriguingly frictious experience, pushing against the presumed boundaries of Tatsuya Endo’s spy drama sandbox. Spy x Family is a situational comedy first, a found family drama second, and a war drama a distant third, and though it can usually juggle those aspects with relative grace, there are inherent tensions in its premise that will undoubtedly surface again. I’m particularly intrigued to see how Endo handles the characterization of Desmond’s father, whose narrative position naturally draws together all of Spy x Family’s contradictory instincts.

But for now, I assume we’re in for some more immediately gratifying shenanigans, and I’m absolutely ready for them. Genre tensions aside, Spy x Family remains immensely entertaining, Endo having proven himself a master of slapstick, deadpan, and anticlimax. Let’s see what lunacy awaits as we return to Spy x Family!

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Thunderbolt Fantasy S3 – Episode 3

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am pleased as punch to be returning to Thunderbolt Fantasy, as its third season most recently introduced one of the franchise’s most delightful characters: Chao Feng, the sadistic murder princess of Bewitching Melody of the West. Chao Feng effortlessly won my heart through her twin enthusiasms for music and murder, and I am thrilled to see her getting upgraded from a side story antagonist to a main series threat. While I can’t imagine we’ll be getting a repeat of Bewitching Melody’s guitar duel murder brawl, simply having her around and craving Lang’s performances is sure to add a delightful note of chaos to our proceedings.

So far, our heroes have spent this season mostly stumbling into beehives, seeking one enemy only to trip headfirst over another. They’ve attracted the ire of evil swords, corrupted monks, malevolent cults, tyrannical rulers, and the entirety of the demon realm, making Lin Xue’s yearning for a decent nemesis seem perhaps a touch premature. I’m eager to see what our terrible princess makes of these new arrivals, so let’s dive back into Thunderbolt Fantasy!

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Bocchi the Rock! – Episode 7

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Heyo folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’ve got my ticket in hand, and am eager to shuffle into Starry for Kessoku Band’s first four-member performance. Well, technically they performed a trial song that one time, but playing for two people is quite a different experience from playing for an unruly live crowd. Fortunately, Bocchi’s recent street performance clearly did some work in bolstering her confidence, and in particular helped her towards a key personal realization: your crowd is not your enemy, they actually want you to succeed.

For most of her musical career so far, Bocchi has essentially treated her desire to play music and connect with fans as something to apologize for – like listening to her music is inherently an imposition, and thus she has to either hide her identity or trick people into paying attention. But with one eye opened towards the street crowd, she is beginning to realize that people actually want to hear her music, and that the experience of playing live is inherently a conversation between musicians and audience.

Many artists struggle with the contradictory desire to be heard and terror of being known, but the reason that struggle is worth it is that nothing can compare to the feeling of seeing someone’s eyes light up in response to something you created, and knowing your ideas and emotions enriched or spoke to them in some way. Now that Bocchi has experienced a brush with that feeling, I’m hopeful it will inspire her to greater confidence on the stage, but would also be perfectly content with more lovingly animated Bocchi freakouts. Let’s get to it!

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The Demon Girl Next Door S2 – Episode 9

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Hello folks, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. Today is a good day: the sky is clear, the sun is shining, and we’re checking in on the continuing misadventures of Momo and Shamiko. Yes, it’s time for The Demon Girl Next Door, which most recently offered up a refreshingly low-stakes zoo trip. After all the propulsive and fantastical drama of season two’s first half, it was lovely to see Demon Girl return to the core dynamic of Momo and Shamiko at rest, still battling with their personal anxieties, but doing their best to improve for each other.

Frankly, it seems like the show has largely elaborated its underlying “what demons and magical girls represent” metaphor at this point, leading me to suspect future drama will lean more into the show’s character relationships and comedy. Ogura’s intimidating appearance at the end of last episode seems to support that guess, promising an episode of chaotic science and questionable ethics to come. Let’s see what the gang is up to in a fresh episode of The Demon Girl Next Door!

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Eureka Seven – Episode 17

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be returning to Eureka Seven after far too long away, picking up after one of the show’s most impressive episodes to date. The combination of Sayo Yamamoto on direction and Chiaki J. Konaka on script made for a uniquely cinematic and psychedelic experience, with intimate, carefully boarded sequences like Renton overhearing Gidget and Moondoggie’s liaison bumping shoulders with tense, bewildering sequences of Eureka’s fraying mental state.

The episode was a perfect fit for both its key talents. Yamamoto is one of the few directors in anime who can evoke comfortable sexual intimacy, not just adolescent sexual preoccupation, making her the ideal choice for conveying Renton’s realization that he’s perhaps not quite prepared for what “joining the world of adults” really means. And Konaka has spent most of his career obsessing over fraying minds (most recently his own), making him an excellent choice for articulating Eureka’s mental disarray.

Ultimately, Renton was sufficiently chastened by his experiences to offer Eureka a genuine apology, and admit he’s still in over his head. Perpetual manchild Holland has made for an awkward role model, but Renton is fundamentally a good kid, more driven by his urge to connect than his need to impress. Admission of misunderstanding is the first step to true understanding; there is still much we don’t know about the Coralians, but if Renton can follow through on his pledge to earnestly engage with Eureka’s world, these two might just make it work. Let’s get to it!

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Land of the Lustrous – Episode 8

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Through the course of their plaintive journey, Phos has tried again and again to reinvent themself, and reshape themself into some form that might be of use to their society. In spite of all their efforts, perhaps the only lesson that can be drawn from their journey is “not all change is good change,” as last episode clearly demonstrated. After having failed to be of use as a warrior even with their newly empowered legs, that episode saw Phos suffering yet another unjust separation from their companions, as they discovered their new body structure no longer required the low-light hibernation cycle employed by their fellow gems. Instead, they were forced to embrace a new degree of isolation as the unwanted apprentice of Antarcticite, the one gem assigned to protecting their sleeping companions.

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Spy x Family – Episode 19

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be stopping in with the Forger family, and seeing what fresh madness is brewing in the world of Spy x Family. Last episode saw the franchise at its most delightfully farcical, with Loid being forced to play damage control for the worst spy in Ostania. Dashing superspy Daybreak immediately proved himself one of Spy x Family’s most entertaining side characters, and I hope he’ll return to torment Loid again soon.

As far as actual character development goes, the threat of Anya’s midterms ended up facilitating both Anya and Loid’s personal growth. Inspired by Yuri’s pragmatic framing of education, Anya began to understand that school is not an obstacle to her advancement, but actually the vehicle through which she might grow into the secret agent she’s always dreamed of being. And though Loid took every measure possible to ensure Anya would pass, he was ultimately forced to concede that Anya worked hard and succeeded on her own, which will hopefully engender a little more faith in his daughter. The Forgers are growing both individually and as a unit, and I’m eager to see what lunacy awaits them next. Let’s get to it!

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Simoun – Episode 25

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m happy to report we are at last returning to the skies of Simoun, and discovering the ultimate fate of all our brave pilots. Chor Tempest currently stands on the brink of dissolution, having surrendered their vehicles to foreign pilots and proceeded to the spring that will decide their fate. There, they find not Onashia, but their companion Yun – for having been inspired by Rea’s words, she has decided that saving Onashia is the purpose she has sought.

Yun might be one of the lucky ones. For all of its limiting strictures, the order of Simulacrum at least promised certainty, a knowledge of what you are and what you must do. But with their military superiority and religious authority crumbling at once, the people of Simulacrum are being forced to recognize their beliefs were ultimately arbitrary, the calcification of power and doctrine concealing the core truth of the simouns’ nature. And of course, none feel this shift more acutely than the sybillae, who have transitioned from living avatars of faith to redundant markers of a lost age.

It is entirely in keeping with Simoun’s thoughtful narrative approach that this be our final conflict – not the great battle for the fate of Simulacrum, but the painful necessity of moving on in its wake. With their past discredited and future uncertain, let’s bear witness to Chor Tempest’s final mission.

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The Legend of Vox Machina S2 – Episode 6

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be diving back into The Legend of Vox Machina, and seeing how our ragtag heroes are faring in the wake of their battle with an active volcano. Keyleth’s literal trial by fire proved an excellent vehicle for improving her confidence, with the distinctions in form between this task and the Briarwoods arc demonstrating the importance of tailoring your conflicts to the players they’re prioritizing.

Percy’s trial spanned a full arc, involved a massive amount of active roleplaying, and resolved in more of an emotional victory than a tangible, mechanical one: an ambitious demand for any player, and thus a challenge that could only be set before a particularly confident one. In contrast, Keyleth’s victory was more sidequest than main arc, its challenges mostly involved performing well in combat, and its conclusion was marked by the super-tangible awarding of fire mastery, all choices better-suited to a player who needs some encouragement, and perhaps doesn’t want to be put on the spot for big speeches. You can theoretically apply a generic adventure to any party, but the best adventures involve meeting your players where they’re most comfortable, and giving them the tools needed to shine in their own way.

Well, that’s the theory, anyway. I’ve been doing my best to apply that logic to my own campaign: my lore-focused player has been deeply integrated into the political tides of the region, my mechanics-focused player has been given lots of flexible combat abilities to express himself with, and my shy player has been afforded more skill-based abilities so they don’t have to roleplay as much. My only real problem at the moment is the player who thinks DnD is a comedy improv hour, and we’re, uh, working on that. But enough about me, let’s get back to Vox Machina!

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