Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Star Driver – Episode 13

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Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am beyond eager to dive back into Star Driver, because goddamnit, what is happening in this show!? The last episode saw the narrative seemingly tensing for a whole-scale board flip, with Kanako demonstrating the variable subfactions and distinct priorities within Kiraboshi, even as Sugata slipped ever closer towards proud villainy. Having shifted from just sort of being a generally creepy guy to receiving private lessons on arrogance from Head, it’s clear that Sugata is now headed down a dark road; even if he’s currently using the King’s Pillar simply to assist Takuto, I can’t imagine he’ll stop there. After all, as Head says, power is gifted by the gods, and the gods intend us to use our gifts.

Meanwhile, the drama of both Kanako’s makeshift family and the You sisters is demonstrating a variety of awkward fault lines both within and adjacent to the Kiraboshi organization. Both Kanako and Marino seem more dedicated to protecting their loved ones than progressing the organization’s central cause, so I’m hoping we might see some defections in the near future, which could shed some light on how this organization came to be. Regardless, with Igarashi and Enokido at the helm, I’m sure we’re in for a fun and fascinating time. Let’s get to it!

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The Demon Girl Next Door S2 – Episode 3

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am happy to report that we’re diving back into The Demon Girl Next Door, and continuing the squad’s investigation of Sakura Chiyoda. Their attempts to trace Sakura’s final known activities have reaped both strange rewards and further mysteries, with the biggest victory so far coming in the form of Momo’s newly acquired Combat Fork. An apparent relic of her father’s, its appearance at Mikan’s old family factory seems to draw a line between Mikan, Sakura, and the fate of Shamiko’s dad. But what could it all mean?

Well, I’m sure these mysteries will unveil themselves in time. As you might have guessed, I’m more intrigued by how these developments will impact the story on a personal and thematic level, rather than that of pure plot. The fact that Shamiko only heard a voice guiding her to the fork after thinking back on a time when Momo seemed happy feels significant; after Momo spent so much of the first season looking after Shamiko, developments like Momo’s move to Banda Terrace seem to be leveling out their relationship, and giving Shamiko more opportunities to take care of Momo instead.

All of this serves as a direct challenge to one of Momo’s greatest weaknesses: her inability to admit weakness, or to accept the help of others. As such, Shamiko’s acquisition of the Combat Fork feels like a validation of both her personal progress in becoming someone who can support Momo, and also an illustration of how Momo is becoming more willing to be supported, and not take all the weight on herself. I expect we’ll be seeing more negotiation of their evolving dynamic in the wake of this victory, and I’m eager to get to it. Let’s return to The Demon Girl Next Door!

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Spy x Family – Episode 11

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Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to return to the preposterous drama of Spy x Family, which most recently blessed us with its funniest goddamn episode so far. Anya’s high-stakes volleyball game was a symphony of playful animation and outrageous punchlines, elevating the manga’s excellent comedic fundamentals with generous visual embellishments at every turn. It was intelligent in its pursuit of humor in ways both subtle and obvious; sometimes a joke would emerge simply from the camera’s framing relative to Bill Watkins, and sometimes it would stem from the luxurious executed anticlimax of an incredible power-up animation leading into a super-deformed faceplant.

The episode was so funny that I didn’t even mind that it was only funny, with no real family drama to speak of. I often struggle to maintain interest in pure gag comedies, and tend to require some sympathetic human element to supplement the appeal of a comedy-centered production. For twenty minutes of lunacy, Spy x Family’s last episode proved the exception to that rule, and if this is a sign of Tatsuya Endo gaining more confidence in his writing, I can only imagine what madness lies ahead. Let’s dive back into Spy x Family!

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Bocchi the Rock! – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am excited to announce that we are embarking on a new journey, and exploring a show that has been lighting up the internet for the last few months. That’s right, it’s time to check out Bocchi the Rock!, wherein social anxiety meets musical passion with hilarious results.

In a season that by all rights was destined to be dominated by Chainsaw Man, Bocchi has gone above and beyond in distinguishing itself, offering an impressive mix of thoughtful direction, impressive character acting, and regular feats of imaginative animated fantasy. Though I checked out the first episode near the beginning of the season, I’ve since then merely been admiring its theatrics via the excerpts posted by friends, and am eager to see for myself how all this nonsense comes together. Additionally, I also love performing music and frequently suffer from overwhelming social anxiety, so I’m sure there’ll be plenty to dig into on a more personal scale. Let’s quit with the rambling and get with the rocking then, as we explore the thunderous misadventures of Bocchi the Rock!

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Star Driver – Episode 12

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re going to be continuing our examination of the fascinating Star Driver, which as of now appears to be settling into the rhythm of its second act. After a tumultuous climax wherein Sugata first activated his King’s Pillar, the show rapidly shifted gears, introducing first Mizuno and then Marino as fresh dramatic irritants. But now that both sisters have been reasonably established, it seems we’ve reached a point of relative stability, allowing for the reintroduction of more tangential side stories like last episode’s Simone vignette.

Still, it’s clear that larger forces are rearranging themselves beneath our surface drama. Last episode’s most potentially consequential moment was undoubtedly the meeting between Sugata and former Kiraboshi leader Head, wherein Sugata’s misgivings about his power were ameliorated by Head’s assurance that “talent is bestowed on us by the gods for a reason. To not use it might be a sin.” These words gave Sugata the confidence to activate the King’s Pillar during the ensuing battle, which was lucky for Takuto at the time, but will likely incur more significant long-term consequences. The flipside of “talent is bestowed on us by the gods for a reason” is “my actions are righteous because I am a chosen vessel of god,” which aligns alarmingly well with both Sugata’s self-righteousness and his preordained role in this island’s ritual structure. Takuto and Sugata were able to settle their differences with some old-fashioned roughhousing last time, but with Head whispering flattering devilry in his ear, I imagine there’s trouble in store for our core trio. Let’s check it out!

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Bodacious Space Pirates – Episode 25

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we stand at the penultimate episode of Bodacious Space Pirates, with Marika having assembled the remnants of Sea of the Morningstar’s once-proud pirate armada. From a position of strength so great they were once relied upon to maintain the region’s independence, these pirates have been winnowed down not by open combat, but by the steady erosion of the economic climate where they once thrived. Once proud privateers, they have been reduced to couriers and theme park attractions, more emblems of local flavor than drivers of martial destiny. And now, they are being targeted practically for sport, their existence deemed an acceptable loss for the cause of testing new weaponry.

It’s a dark day for pirates, to be sure, but they fortunately have the irrepressible Marika on their side. Though a life of piracy initially seemed far-fetched to our young heroine, she now appears to represent piracy’s future, or at least the hope of piracy having a future. With the implacable storm head of capitalism bearing down on her and the remaining stalwarts of piracy at her back, Marika stands ready to make history however this plays out. Let’s embark on a fresh episode of Bodacious Space Pirates!

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The Demon Girl Next Door S2 – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we’d check back in on The Demon Girl Next Door, which at long last is demonstrating some genuine honesty in titling. With both Momo and Mikan taking up residence in Banda Terrace, Shamiko is now literally next-door neighbors with her local magical girls, a development that is sure to accelerate her and Momo’s blooming relationship. With a full summer break ahead of them, our leads are certain to at least enjoy a bounty of shared home meals, if not necessarily make any progress on their larger quest.

And to be honest, I’d be totally fine with that. Between the first season’s last episode and this season’s premiere, Demon Girl has stuffed in more plot development in two episodes than the rest of the first season combined. With both their larger goals (the hunt for Sakura Chiyoda) and personal shifts in circumstance having been sorted out, I’d be happy to see an episode or two spent exploring this new normal, now that Shamiko and Momo are only separated by a thin apartment wall. With a bright summer stretching before our heroes, let’s see what awaits in The Demon Girl Next Door!

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Spy x Family – Episode 10

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. It’s currently a bleak and drizzly day outside, so I’m thinking we disperse these clouds with a sunny slice of Spy x Family. I have to admit I’ve been getting quite fond of the Forger clan over the course of these adventures. Spy x Family possesses just the right balance of deadpan comedy and character intimacy to appeal to me, with its initial hook of “look at these wacky characters in this outrageous scenario” swiftly making way for the firmer, lasting allure of people you know well doing their best by each other (while still screwing up plenty in the process). And with the last several episodes offering a closer perspective on Yor’s feelings, it’s finally starting to feel like all three of our Forgers are equal partners in this grand fabrication, collectively weaving a fantasy of the life that their circumstances have denied them. With Yor’s fears hopefully assuaged and the family closer than ever, let’s get back to Spy x Family!

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Rilakkuma and Kaoru – Episode 4

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July debuts in Rilakkuma and Kaoru with an explosion of color, as cut-paper illustrations extol all of Kaoru’s summertime fantasies. Stop motion is such a laborious mode of animation that its aesthetic boundaries are even less fully explored than hand-drawn animation; in scenes like this parade of dreams, we are presented with new horizons of mixed media animation. Felt and clay characters stand atop layered cut-paper compositions, with thick pieces of painted wood or cardboard creating an illusion of depth, as if we’re watching an animated pop-up book. In Kaoru’s dreams, hunks prostrate themselves before her, offering both whirlwind romances and tasty snacks.

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The Legend of Vox Machina – Episode 12

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to reach the conclusion of Vox Machina’s first season, and perhaps even more eager to share my own campaign updates. After several sessions of going on various adventures in and around the city of Yhaunn, my party was invited to a royal ball at the castle, necessitating more prep work than I feel entirely comfortable acknowledging. I had to build out the relationships of the royal family, then sketch out roles and personalities for all of the city councilors, then sculpt the personalities of the two delegates from each of half a dozen different nearby regions, then figure out how to give this mass of new characters some narrative structure, lest my party be entirely lost in directionless decision paralysis.

And yet, it worked! It all worked! That session was one of our most successful so far, the party never seemed overwhelmed by the opportunities in front of them, and they even made some personal connections with several of the country’s attendant luminaries. Lightly guided by the attendees they’d met previously, my players made a successful dive into this campaign’s larger political reality, with Captain Chaos himself actually forging some of the strongest bonds with my new characters. It was a clear and profoundly encouraging demonstration of how much my group and I have grown into a functional campaign, with the story finally starting to feel like something they are truly interwoven with, as opposed to something that’s merely being forced upon them.

So yes, I am feeling pretty proud at the moment, and eager to make use of all these new connections the party has made. I might end up posting some design docs eventually if people are interested, but in the meantime, I’m also quite excited to see how Vox Machina’s first season comes to an end. We’re in full boss battle mode at the moment; Vex and Vax have reconciled, Cassandra has been rescued, and Keyleth… well, Keyleth’s in a bad spot, I admit. Having her leap in front of a blast meant for Vex was an exceedingly noble conclusion to their mini-arc, but also very stupid, given she’s now the group’s only healer. Please, druids and clerics, do not leap in front of your damage-dealers, that is partially what they are there for. Let’s see if Keyleth ever gets the chance to make use of that lesson, as we explore The Finale of Vox Machina!

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