Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Adachi and Shimamura – Episode 2

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Hello all, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to continue our journey through Adachi and Shimamura, whose first episode demonstrated a nuance of characterization and grace of imagery that seemed to indicate it is Exactly My Sort Of Thing.

On the character front, both Adachi and Shimamura seem like complicated and pleasingly messy people. There’s a frankness to their characterization that gives the show a real sense of impact – Adachi isn’t just a loner, she’s a genuine outcast, while Shimamura isn’t just disaffected, she acts on that dissatisfaction by openly mocking her alleged friends. Their feelings and the contexts of their lives feel petty and human, making it easy to invest in their awkward emerging relationship.

In visual terms, AdaShima combines KyoAni-reminiscent tricks like partial body shots and exaggerated soft focus with an emphasis on visual geometry, making great use of sets like the girls’ ping-pong table to visually illustrate its conflicts and relationships. It’s basically all good stuff so far, and considering the sharp edge the show already possesses, I’m eager to see how messy things get. Let’s check it out!

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Kaguya-sama: Love is War – Episode 4

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Hey folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to keep moving on one of our more recent projects, the goofy and visually enthralling Kaguya-sama: Love is War. If you’ve been following these articles, you probably know my overall impressions at this point – I’m constantly finding new things to rave about regarding Shinichi Omata’s direction, but haven’t yet been hooked by the show’s cast, and am generally just kind of whelmed by its comedy.

That’s not unusual for me, of course. It’s a rare anime comedy that can keep my attention for long, and altogether, I think Nichijou is the only one I’d count as a personal favorite. I’ve discussed before how comedy, like horror, is built out of the element of surprise – and in order to cultivate that surprise, it relies on an assumed set of common cultural assumptions. The more complex and ambitious a joke is, the more it must assume its audience is drawing from a specific cultural and knowledge base – and as a dude from New England, I don’t really possess the experience to parse genuinely clever Japanese comedy. What is left is the stuff that’s universal – slapstick, silly faces, and everything else that translates without translation.

In the end, this means that the anime comedy which I might find genuinely clever is frequently untranslatable to me, while the stuff I do understand feels simplistic and repetitive. Honing the fundamentals can certainly ameliorate this effect (Nichijou and Sun & Moon are strong examples of that), but ultimately, I tend to watch these shows more for the characters than the jokes. So here’s to hoping for more meaty character moments, as we explore one more episode of Kaguya-sama!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 30

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We’ve made it, folks. Thirty episodes in, and Pokemon Sun and Moon is still pulling off delightful new vignettes every episode, and still demonstrating animation flourishes that put much shorter shows to shame. One of Sun and Moon’s principle themes is “it’s not about victory, it’s about the journey,” and that maxim comes through clearly in the show’s episodic design, as it offers adventure after adventure with no clear destination, but plentiful fun moments that serve as their own inherent reward.

At the same time, Sun and Moon’s laid-back, slice of life style is serving an ongoing dramatic purpose, the same as it does in any great, atmosphere-focused slice of life show. Through sharing adventures with these characters at the steady pace of their own lives, the audience is also being integrated into Alolan society, coming to understand its rhythms, and gaining a sense of belonging within the familiar walls of Kukui’s cabin, or the Pokemon School. The more time we spend in Alola, the more friendly and familiar it feels; ultimately, while slice of life shows frequently lack lateral narrative movement, they exchange that for a greater sense of texture, solidity, and belonging in their chosen location. The end result is that returning to a great slice of life show feels like returning home – so let’s celebrate that home once more, as we explore another episode of Sun and Moon!

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The Big O – Episode 9

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Hello all, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eagerly awaiting our continued explorations of The Big O, a show that has impressed me anew with almost every new episode, marrying gothic grandeur and neo-noir smolder to dazzling effect. I say “almost” there as a specific nod to the show’s last episode, which was unfortunately a bit of a step down from the show’s standard; a little more monster-of-the-week than usual, and also a bit less impressive in terms of its overall storyboarding.

But of course, as we hopefully all understand at this point, an anime production isn’t really a singular, cohesive organism; it is a composite of many individual artists, all of whom tend to leave a definable signature on their work. And in this case, one of those artists happens to be Akihiko Yamashita, co-architect of the astounding Giant Robo, and one of The Big O’s most accomplished storyboarders. With him on boards and series mainstay Ikuro Sato on direction, I’m expecting great things from The Big O’s ninth episode. Let’s get to it!

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Oregairu S3 – Episode 3

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. We return to Oregairu at a particularly improbable moment, as the show establishes a point of connection between two deeply incompatible people: Yukino and Iroha. Yukino is a brittle pillar of integrity, determined to embody her ethos by living as a righteous example – meanwhile, Iroha is an incorrigible gremlin, always eager to foist her work on others, and most comfortable hiding her feelings behind an insincere smile.

At least, that’s who they used to be. Over the course of Oregairu’s first two seasons, Yukino has learned to be far less judgmental, and gained a sense of humility and closeness among her friends that has disarmed her originally unapproachable nature. Meanwhile, Iroha has realized she’s genuinely good at a lot of things, learned to take pride in her efforts, and decided she too wants the genuine connections Hachiman is seeking. Through each of their journeys, they have arrived at a point where Yukino can recognize Iroha’s shared desire to assert her competency and independence, and want to help her achieve her dreams. Whether attempting to organize a prom while also renegotiating her familial duties is wise is another question entirely, but Yukino’s tendency to overexert herself isn’t likely to disappear overnight. Without further ado, let’s see what our crew get up to next!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 29

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It’s currently raining outside my house; a cold, grey rain that promises no clear skies or emotional catharsis, but simply the inevitability of more storms, as I endure one more damp and dreary New England winter. Rain is a useful dramatic tool, but a lousy weather condition; though perhaps that’s a contradiction in terms, as it is only our personal experiences with rain that give it such strong narrative resonance. Either way, the short of it is that the weather here sucks, and I am once again employing that as an excuse to ship off to the shores of Alola, where it only rains when the drama absolutely demands it. Without further ado, let’s see what Ash and his companions have been getting up to this week!

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The Girl in Twilight – Episode 7

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to one of our more unusual projects, as we explore the next episode in the hilarious and highly imaginative The Girl in Twilight. So far, the show has turned out to be a unique mixture of some very disparate priorities. On the one hand, it’s a high-concept timeline-hopping science fiction adventure… but in practice, the show frequently seems less interested in exploring the mechanics of its timelines, than it is in simply celebrating the personalities and friendships of its main cast, as well as the ways different worlds play off their “natural” temperaments.

As someone who generally cares a whole lot more about characterization than worldbuilding, this has been absolutely all right by me – and with endearing, multifaceted characters and a great script, The Girl in Twilight has consistently made the most of its unique dramatic balance. Additionally, Tomoyo Kurosawa is just plain killing it as our heroine Asuka, and proving she clearly needs more starring roles as soon as possible. However the secrets of our current world play out, I’m looking forward to spending more time with these idiots in another The Girl in Twilight!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 28

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. It’s friday for me right now, and though the particular conditions of my employment mean I don’t have a “work week” so much as an unending stream of content production responsibilities, it still feels nice to end the theoretical week with something lighthearted and fun. And I’m guessing you all know what that means: we’re heading back to the Alolan islands, back to the Pokemon school, and back to the adventures of Ash and his exuberantly animated friends. Last episode finally introduced Gladio into the show’s lineup, progressing the show’s actual, overarching narrative enough to clearly earn a retreat back into goofy episodic shenanigans. But whether this episode offers comfort or continuity, I’m confident we’ll all have a resoundingly pleasant time. Let’s get back to Sun and Moon!

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Symphogear AXZ – Episode 11

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You folks ready for some Symphogear? When last we checked in, Hibiki and Kirika had concluded this season’s “let’s do some off-brand Symphogear pairings” conceit with fabulous fury, as Kirika unleashed a Climax Song in order to protect St. Germain from her betrayal-happy superior. We always knew Adam and Tiki were huge assholes, but at this point their dickery has exceeded even my most jaded predictions, and I am beyond ready to see our team initiate some countermeasures.

In terms of narrative structure, it also feels like we’ve at this point basically resolved all of this season’s individual character conflicts. The season’s first half was essentially dedicated to Maria and Chris’s struggles with accepting their former lives; Maria resolved that through her trial with Elfnein, and then paid that assistance forward by assisting Chris with her conflict with Sonia. Then Shirabe and Kirika each received a boost from Tsubasa and Hibiki, leading us to a point where the cast can hopefully communicate more confidently and honestly among themselves. Hibiki herself has actually taken a bit of a backseat in terms of emotional development, but given she carried the bulk of season three’s drama, it makes sense to put her on the backburner for the show’s penultimate season. But anyway, that basically catches us up to now – let’s dive on in then, and explore a new episode of Symphogear!

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Dorohedoro – Episode 4

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Hello everyone, and welcome once more to Wrong Every Time. Today I come to you in a spirit of contrition, as my motives for this current article could not be more impure. We’re going to be continuing Dorohedoro, largely because I… I… I want to know what happens next.

I know, I know. I’m the one who always says that plot is details, and regularly spends a good third of my articles rambling about layouts, and who generally only addresses narrative events insofar as they’re relevant to character journeys or thematic arguments. But Dorohedoro’s world is just so damn interesting, and pretty much every time it offers an explanation for one of its magic tricks, that explanation blossoms into five new questions demanding an answer. I’m also genuinely invested in the fates of both our humans and our sorcerers, and also simply eager to see more of Hole’s beautiful architecture, as well as Hayashida’s marvelous narrative inventions. Most plots are not so fascinating that they offer much more than a template for genuine craft to shine, but Dorohedoro’s story has me genuinely intrigued, and I’m prepared to follow this alarming instinct where it leads. Let’s check back in with our friends in Dorohedoro!

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