Category Archives: Episode Writeup

86 – Episode 8

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At last, the awful truth has been revealed. After working for months to improve the conditions of Spearhead’s lives, and assuring them that reinforcements must surely be on the way, Lena’s subordinates finally informed her of her unit’s true nature. Spearhead isn’t just the most dangerous combat unit: it is explicitly designed as a death sentence, where soldiers endure unending frontline action until they ultimately expire. Lena’s attention is well-meant, but ultimately meaningless; in the end, every soldier she is commanding is going to die.

This reveal colors Shin’s reputation as the “Reaper” in a new light. He mentioned early on that he’s been the last survivor in the past, but given the nature of Spearhead, it’s likely he’s survived through multiple iterations of this execution-by-combat, carrying the hopes of his companions with him. The Republic established this unit specifically so the 86 could not build heroes and legends; through Shin’s work, he is quietly rebelling against that desire, and insisting his friends be remembered.

This knowledge will also undoubtedly impact Lena’s perspective, dashing any lingering faith in the righteousness of her homeland. The Republic is not blind to the conditions of the 86; in fact, it established Spearhead specifically to “address” those conditions, by executing any 86 who stretch too close to freedom. The Republic explicitly designed this system, and having learned its true nature, I can’t imagine Lena will be able to sit comfortably in her gilded palace. The Rubicon has been crossed, and I’m eager to see Lena’s next moves as we return to 86!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 50

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am more than eager to return to Pokemon Sun and Moon, having at last resolved some issues on the back end to actually allow me to continue (why oh why does Netflix only have dubbed episodes). I generally treat myself to a Sun and Moon every couple weeks, but it’s been over a month now since I last visited Alola, and the cracks are beginning to show. With the chill of a New England January keeping me mostly confined to my house, I’m hoping a fresh helping of Sun and Moon will at least keep my heart warm through the weeks to come.

Of course, it doesn’t seem like we’re in for any fun-in-the-sun vignettes at the moment. The Aether Foundation is currently experiencing a dramatic power struggle, and with Elton John having revealed his nefarious machinations, I’m guessing we’ve got a few more episodes of frantic conflict ahead of us. With Lillie having finally faced her trauma, let’s see how our heroes face off with the Rocket Man!

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Ranking of Kings – Episode 2

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Confession time: between the last Ranking of Kings article and this one, I took the time to watch the entire goddamn series, in preparation for 2021’s year-end article. This turned out to be a remarkably easy process; Ranking of Kings is a delight from start to finish, and its story winds in such unexpected yet ultimately satisfying ways that it’s easy to one-more-episode your way through the entire first season.

Bojji’s adventures feel simultaneously iconic and personal, with the show using its ostensibly archetypal characters to ultimately reveal the irreducible complexity of any one person’s experience and perspective. It’s simultaneously a work of fantastical invention and poignant humanism, a combination that describes many of the very best works in anime. It’ll take until the show’s second half to determine if Ranking of Kings stands among them, but for now, I’m happy to once again experience one of 2021’s greatest productions!

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Star Driver – Episode 1

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be embarking on a new journey, as I at last dig into one of the few modern anime remaining on my must-watch list. It’s time at last for Star Driver, that variably beloved collaboration between writer Yoji Enokido and director Takuya Igarashi.

This pair have spent the last decade mostly slumming it on the mediocre action/comedy Bungo Stray Dogs, but there was a time when they were each key contributors to some of the greatest anime of all time. Yoji Enokido wrote scripts for Revolutionary Girl Utena and Evangelion, along with spearheading the writing of stunning GAINAX projects like FLCL and Diebuster. And Igarashi has been a legend since the ‘90s, shifting from Sailor Moon to Ojamajo Doremi and Ashita no Nadja, while more recently finding time to direct cult favorites like Ouran High School Host Club.

Enokido and Igarashi’s talents are beyond question, but I have almost no experience with Star Driver – I basically just know “it’s a giant robot show where teen hormones power the robots,” and also “it’s far less acclaimed than you’d expect given its key creators.” Conjecture is cheap, so let’s waste no more time pondering what Star Driver might be, and get right into the business of what it actually is. Onward!

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Bodacious Space Pirates – Episode 16

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Ladies and gentleman, we have finally arrived. After fifteen episodes of setup and space adventures, Bodacious Space Pirates has at last reached the promise of its title: an entire yacht club’s worth of high schoolers, let loose and in command of a majestic pirate ship. As much as I love the Bentenmaru’s usual crew, it is even funnier to see them wince and grind their teeth as the equivalent of a litter of puppies is set loose on their delicate machinery. The yacht club almost blew up the ship just sending it into hyperspace; god knows what will happen if they actually have to cross blades with an enemy ship, or really accomplish anything more difficult than progressing through empty space. This production’s sturdy scifi groundings and slice of life stylings have at last converged into beautiful madness, and I am pretty much vibrating in my seat in anticipation of the chaos to come. Let’s return to Bodacious Space Pirates!

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ODDTAXI – Episode 13

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It’s not that I go to art specifically seeking punishment, or anything like that. I understand the appeal of stories that simply sooth or excite us; these are noble causes, and any balanced art diet will naturally contain many cheerful and comforting stories, works that can serve as emotional candles in the dark. But ultimately, it is the works that test their heroes to the limits that most directly speak to me – the stories that acknowledge a genuine darkness in the world, and are both too smart and too earnest to answer that darkness with either platitudes or escapism. Even when the protagonists of such stories fail, there is a vitality in their striving that feels inspirational all the same. The more bleakly honest a narrative’s perspective, the more solace I can take in its heroes’ struggles, as they bravely face the unrelenting terror of existence.

ODDTAXI’s heroes have all struggled to make peace with that terror, and I love them for that all the more than if they’d somehow “figured it out.” There is no “figuring out” the modern intersection of technology and capitalism; we live in an era where we’ve all been redefined as products, and humanity is, in a very literal sense, not built to handle the pressure of society’s collective surveillance. All we can do is find some peace within this paradigm, holding close to the people we care for, and understanding we are far more than our retweets or viral posts or dating profile cachet. The world can attempt to commodify us, but to the people we love, our worth will always be beyond measure. Here’s hoping at least a few of ODDTAXI’s lost souls come to see their true worth, as we return for the last time to this poignant production.

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Anne of Green Gables – Episode 5

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to return to Anne of Green Gables, a shimmering jewel of a show, and one that has been thoroughly brightening my weekly schedule. I say this in spite of the show’s last two episodes serving as a delicate lesson in heartbreak; even when Anne is down in the dumps, her personality remains vibrant and idiosyncratic, making for delightful company. Meanwhile, the world around Anne is painted in a dazzling array of colors, with distant towers and forested alleyways promising adventure around every turn. With one of anime’s greatest appreciators of pastoral beauty at the helm, Anne of Green Gables illustrates the beauty and allure of the natural world like few features I’ve witnessed – and most of those also in Takahata’s oeuvre.

For this episode, Takahata will actually be stepping back a bit, as we’re moving into the first episode he didn’t personally script and storyboard. This episode’s scriptwriter Seijiro Koyama is a regular on Anne, but otherwise only worked on the Tom Sawyer masterpiece adaptation. On the other hand, storyboarder Fumio Ikeno is a masterpiece theater mainstay, having boarded or directed on over a dozen of the block’s properties. Let’s see how Takahata’s collaborators illustrate this generous production, as we return to Anne of Green Gables!

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Big Windup! – Episode 8

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Our boys have done it! After nine agonizing innings of tense gameplay and fraught psychological drama, Abe and his teammates have secured victory over Mihashi’s old team. Of course, a great part of that victory came from accepting that Abe is not the undisputed leader of his team. It took Tajima’s support to get Mihashi back in the dugout after failure, and it was actually Mihashi himself who made the crucial discovery regarding Oda’s batting strategy. As a fellow control freak, I can sympathize with Abe’s desire to micromanage every aspect of his victory – but ultimately, his perfect team can only flourish through him letting go, and trusting his players as much as his own instincts.

The results of that trust are already clear to see. When offered the opportunity to return to a repentant Mihoshi, Mihashi unambiguously declared his new allegiance, and then passed out for his first peaceful sleep in a week. Abe believing in his teammates means they will believe in him, too, and play far better for it. With our heroes having secured their first victory and consolidated into a true team in the process, I’m eager to see where their journey leads us next!

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Oregairu S3 – Episode 9

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What the fuck is wrong with you kids? Why can’t you let yourself embrace happiness for one goddamn second? Why you always gotta be martyring yourself for the sake of social conventions you don’t even fully understand? What is so wrong with having a good time with the people you love!?!?

Jesus cripes this show drives me crazy sometimes. The challenge to Yukino’s prom has been circumvented, yet our heroes are actually even more distraught than before, more certain they’re doomed to majestically drift apart. Kids, you’re only seventeen, you could fuck up for the next five years straight and still be ahead of the curve. And why would you take advice about relationships from a woman who’s destroyed all of her own personal bonds, anyway? Sometimes I feel like Ray dealing with Little Nephew when it comes to these anxious little devils, but it’s hard to fault the realism of teenagers thinking they don’t deserve love. I’m really hoping this is the low point of their journey, but I’ll be sticking by them regardless to the end. Let’s dive back into Oregairu!

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The Demon Girl Next Door – Episode 4

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Hello everyone, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. Y’all ready for some Demon Girl Next Door? After two episodes of ineffectually stalking her magical girl prey, our last episode saw Yuko discovering that her family has never, ever won against a magical girl, at any point in history. Yuko isn’t just a scrappy weakling: she is the inheritor of a perpetual weakling legacy, with her weakling ancestors stretching back into prehistory. For untold centuries, Yuko’s people have been bravely sallying forth to fight magical girls, and have gotten their shit kicked in every single time.

Yuko’s ancestral uselessness is a fine joke in its own right, but also serves as a natural continuation of Demon Girl’s interrogation of the magic/demon girl binary. Purely because of the conditions of her birth, Yuko has been destined for poverty, devilry, and failure from the start. Though her ancestor urges her to succeed where others failed, it’s clear that this system is designed to produce specific winners and losers; self-determination is simply a lie that demons tell themselves, in order to cope with the underlying hopelessness of their situation. When given a chance to truly express her own wishes, Yuko’s feelings don’t seem particularly demonic at all: her main wish is “I hope we can all be friends.” But society demands heroes and villains, and so Yuko is forced to play a role she’s unsuited for, destined for a failure that’s been predetermined all along.

Meanwhile, the last episode also got terrific mileage out of brilliant concepts like Yuko is Short, or Momo is Bad at Cooking. With the show’s comedic and thematic layers each shining in their own way, let’s return to The Demon Girl Next Door!

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