Category Archives: Episode Writeup

The Legend of Vox Machina S2 – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am just pleased as punch to be returning to The Legend of Vox Machina, and continuing alongside the DnD-derived adventures of our intrepid heroes. The first season proved to be a delightful experience on the whole, with the party’s confidence as a unit seeming to echo its players’ growing confidence in guiding them, all leading up to a dynamite fusion of resolving player arcs and murder-rich visual theater.

That season also offered me plenty of food for thought regarding my own nascent dungeon mastering, though I’ve of course still got a long, long way to go. Humility established, I’m also quite proud to have completed the first act of my own campaign, having guided my players from unknown adventurers to local heroes of the realm, with a continent on the brink of war now stretched out before them. Having spent much of December and January plotting out upcoming quests, I’m eager to see how my players confound my expectations and muck up my best-laid efforts. We literally just conducted the first session of act two last week, so this seems like the perfect time to hop back into Vox Machina, and see how Mercer and his crew grapple with the peculiarities of this collaborative medium. Let’s get to it!

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Star Driver – Episode 15

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we arrive at Southern Cross Isle in a moment of crisis, with Kiraboshi having at last discovered the identity of their missing shrine maiden. Though Marino did everything she could to hide the secret identity of her sister, the fact that she denied seeing any western maiden with Ayingot’s eyes nonetheless gave the game away. All of the maidens are assigned within a year of the king’s birth, so if Marino can’t see the western maiden, that simply means she’s lying – and who, if not Mizuno, would Marino be lying to protect?

As such, I imagine Mizuno will soon be drawn into the active Kiraboshi drama, and be forced to grapple with greater obstacles than finding the courage to smooch Takuto. I’m eager to see how integrating Mizuno into that side of the narrative will change our overall group dynamic, and also keeping close tabs on Sugata’s evolving relationship with the newly reinstated Head. All signs seem to point to an approaching act two climax, so let’s not waste a moment more, and dive back into the evolving drama of Star Driver!

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Dear Brother – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome to Wrong Every Time. Today I am delighted to announce we’re checking out one of the most essential anime series I’ve yet to see, Osamu Dezaki’s adaptation of Riyoko Ikeda’s Dear Brother. Both of these names are legends in their own right, who can rightfully be said to have shaped the course of their relative mediums. Ikeda was one of the key mangaka of what has been retroactively dubbed the Year 24 Group, a collection of female mangaka who elevated the ambitions of shojo manga, introducing new complexities of storytelling and pointed themes regarding sexuality, politics, and much else. Alongside Dear Brother, Ikeda also wrote the massively acclaimed The Rose of Versailles, a story set alongside the French Revolution that counts among the great works of shojo history, and even earned her a Legion of Honor from the French government.

And then, of course, there’s Osamu Dezaki. One of the greatest, most iconic directors in anime history, a man who essentially pioneered a visual vocabulary of melodrama. Dezaki’s influence on anime ranges far beyond individual techniques like his “postcard memory” freeze frames. His visual philosophy of drama, his deft employment of abstraction, and his manipulation of the frame via splitscreens, dutch angles, and shadows would all go on to influence countless future artists, from Tomino to Ikuhara to Shinbo. Any anime education is incomplete without a healthy dose of Dezaki, so I’m eager to dive into this beloved work.

As far as Dear Brother itself goes, my understanding of its narrative is “elite boarding school melodrama,” and I’m content to let the show itself flesh out that impression. Let’s get to it!

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The Demon Girl Next Door S2 – Episode 5

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be checking back in on The Demon Girl Next Door, wherein Shamiko most recently acquired a new part-time job, and is currently serving as a waitress in the most demon-haunted cafe in town. Fortunately, the demons in question seem like the agreeable sort; Shamiko’s tapir boss is at the very least utterly harmless, and while her Huli Jing coworker’s food might occasionally send her into an amnesiac stupor, that’s ultimately more a result of oblivious negligence than malice. In spite of Momo’s worries, Shamiko’s infiltration mission has been a clear success, and the team now have a direct line to this town’s demonic community.

The story could theoretically rush straight ahead towards more revelations about Sakura Chiyoda, but I’m guessing that, like with Mikan’s introduction, we’re presumably in for an episode or two of adjusting to these new arrivals. Even Shamiko simply hanging out with Mikan tends to inspire some jealousy from Momo, so I’m mostly just holding out for more adorable possessiveness from our least sincere of magical girls. Let’s dive back into The Demon Girl Next Door!

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Bocchi the Rock! – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to jump back into the misadventures of Bocchi and her friends, as we explore the second episode of Bocchi the Rock! Well, I say friends, but truthfully you couldn’t call them more than acquaintances at this point. Bocchi simply lacks the confidence or comfort level to interact on any level more familiar than a hostage negotiating with its captor, and so it’s a little tough for real camaraderie to develop. And that itself is one of the things I loved best about that first episode: it wasn’t simply “wacky girl finds friends,” it was “girl with painfully realistic portrayal of anxiety finds people willing to tolerate that for the sake of a successful performance.” Some of my favorite moments from the premiere were those that genuinely acknowledged how Bocchi’s nature would impact her life, as when Nijika briefly considered abandoning her, or when Bocchi herself turned down a post-performance chat because she’d simply used up all her social energy.

Alongside its refreshingly frank portrait of anxiety, that premiere was elevated tremendously by its manifest production strengths. The layouts which, through their management of character blocking and overall spatial configuration, managed to visually convey Bocchi’s journey from isolation to a vast new world. The energetic character animation, boasting infinite ideas for contorting Bocchi into shapes that better articulate her mental state. Heck, even the show’s moment-to-moment sense of timing and visual-aural synchronicity is remarkable, whether it’s applied to something like using a Bocchi original to score a sad montage, or to illustrate how Nijika and Ryo are in mental sync on the stage. Bocchi the Rock! hit the ground running with an altogether remarkable premiere, and I’m eager to see how our anxious heroine develops. Let’s get to it!

Episode 2

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Land of the Lustrous – Episode 7

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Day by day, Phos’ quest for purpose and identity reaps fresh disappointments. The most common, unquestioned identity for these gems is “warrior,” and so Phos throws themself into battle, hoping to earn the praise of their fellow lustrous. Even as Phos’ actual strengths and virtues (a kind heart, an inquisitive mind, an effortless ability to make their friends laugh) solidified their bond with Amethyst, they struggled to lift a sword and run a patrol route, desperate to prove they could somehow overcome the fundamental reality of their atomic structure. And in the end, the results were disastrous. Struck silent by the terror of the Lunarians, Phos proved utterly incapable of aiding Amethyst in battle, and was ultimately rescued by the increasingly exasperated Bort.

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Spy x Family – Episode 13

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Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to return to the ongoing drama of the Forger clan, and see what new troubles await in the wake of Loid’s successful Penguin Operation. The show seems to have arrived at a comfortable narrative neutral at this point, with Anya’s successful integration into school life leaving time for ambitious larks like the dodgeball episode or aforementioned penguin shenanigans. That’s fine by me; I’m interested to see how this story develops, but Spy x Family is most fundamentally feel-good comfort food, elevated not by the wild twists of its narrative, but by the skill and polish with which it executes comedy beats and family moments. A tale’s intrigue is largely defined by the facilities of its teller, and between the strong base material and exceptional adaptation, this production is a tale-teller I have come to trust. Let’s see what nonsense our makeshift family’s been getting up to!

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Star Driver – Episode 14

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Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to catch the ferry to Southern Cross Isle, and resume our investigation of the fascinating Star Driver. We’re now a solid stretch of episodes into the show’s vaguely defined second act, which was essentially delineated by the activation of the King’s Pillar, and Takuto’s subsequent clash with Sugata. Though they allegedly resolved their differences via the Fists of Friendship, it’s clear that Sugata is no longer satisfied with the status quo as realized in the show’s first act. Encouraged onward by his troubling friendship with Head, Sugata is slowly learning to embrace his power, as well as a philosophy that frames power and righteousness as one and the same.

Meanwhile, Takuto’s been busy hacking away at a fresh fleet of Cybodies, and dramatically undercutting Kiraboshi solidarity in the process. For both Kanako and Benio, it seemed like contributing to Kiraboshi was initially the only way they could gain power and, through that, perhaps some fragment of agency in their lives. In defeat, each of them actually seem far happier than they were before, and more willing to embrace their conventional teenage desires.

With Sugata embracing conservative hierarchies just as Takuto dismantles them, it’s clear we’ve got a collision awaiting some time in the future. But considering we just reached this act five episodes ago, I imagine there’s still some time for shenanigans between then and now. Let’s see what wonders await as we return to Star Driver!

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Hugtto! Precure – Episode 35

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Hello hello hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am delighted to announce that we are returning to Hugtto! Precure, after far too long away from our unlikely heroes. It’s been several months since we last checked in with Hana and the gang, but I’m hoping to make up for lost time with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. And we’ve certainly got reason to expect greatness; last episode’s exploration of Gelos’ insecurities about aging, interwoven with Hana’s steady demonstration of how heroism need not follow some strict aesthetic template, proved some of Hugtto’s most poignant and insightful material so far. Whether we continue in that vein with the newly punked-up Gelos or counterbalance it with some delightful nonsense, I’m eager to return to this most cheerful and charming of shows. Let’s dive back into Hugtto!

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The Demon Girl Next Door S2 – Episode 4

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’d like to embark on a journey back to The Demon Girl Next Door, and see what nonsense the denizens of Banda Terrace are getting up to. Last episode saw Shamiko exploring the wonders of the internet for the first time, which ultimately resulted in the acquisition of a grand prize: Momo’s fiercely protected ChitChatterer profile. With this secret True Name in hand, Shamiko will surely uncover all of Momo’s weaknesses, and defeat her utterly come their next battle!

Or, more realistically, this will simply help the two of them grow closer through idle conversations, with the mediating barrier of the internet working its usual magic in facilitating carefree, low-stress communication. That’s sort of been a theme for this season: gradual steps towards more honest communication, as Shamiko learns to more clearly assert her desires, and Momo learns to earnestly confess her fears. It’s always charming to see these two attempt a normal conversation, so let’s not waste any more time dithering, and jump right back into The Demon Girl Next Door.

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