Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Kemonozume – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m thrilled to announce we’re embarking on a new adventure, as we explore the first episode of the ‘06 production Kemonozume. This series was actually the first TV production written and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, who has at this point proven himself not just anime royalty in his own right, but also one of the most important figures in the medium’s development across the 21st century.

Yuasa’s freewheeling visual style and piercing narratives have brought him international acclaim and legions of devotees, and his cofounding of Science SARU with Eunyong Choi resulted in a near-decade of legendary features, including series like Ping Pong the Animation and films like The Night is Short, Walk On Girl. From his directorial debut Mind Game through his Golden Globe-nominated Inu-Oh, Yuasa has built a canon that would be the envy of any director, and undoubtedly inspired a generation of similarly restless artists, people who wish to bring something genuinely new into the world.

I know little about Kemonozume specifically beyond the broad strokes of its premise: a violent love story in a world with shape-shifting carnivorous monsters. The fact that Yuasa both wrote and directed this one is pitch enough for me, particularly when he’s collaborating with regular character artist/animation director Nobutake Ito (Kaiba, The Tatami Galaxy, etc). After spending so much time appreciating Yuasa’s later work, I’m eager to see the distinct quirks of his first TV production, the apparent link between the ecstatic creativity of Mind Game and the honed thrust of Kaiba. Let’s get to it!

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Yaiba: Samurai Legend – Episode 4

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking back in on the adventures of a feral swordsman and his reluctant chaperone, as we explore a fresh episode of Gosho Aoyama’s Yaiba: Samurai Legend. When last we left off, Yaiba and Sayaka had taken to the hills, in pursuit of a sword worthy of matching Onimaru’s demonic Fujin. Swiftly encountering its counterpart Raijin’s beetle-shaped protector, Yaiba attempted to tame the demon blade, only to prove incapable of containing its power.

Given that embarrassing defeat, I imagine we’re due for an honest-to-goodness training arc, at least if this fresh adaptation’s breakneck pace will allow for it. That’s fine by me, as frankly, one thing I’m particularly curious about here is how anyone demonstrates they’re stronger, smarter, or better-prepared than their opponent. Yaiba’s battles have so far been kinetic spectacles heavy on flash and trickery, making me assume Aoyama isn’t really a “power systems” kind of guy, but a shonen without some sense of personal martial progression tends to have difficulty sustaining itself. The alternative is basically “perpetual episodic invention” (as demonstrated by early One Piece and Dragon Ball), but as far as that goes, Aoyama also seems focused on a singular, continuing narrative rather than a procession of rambling adventures. Thus we find ourselves at a crossroads, with the fundamental nature of Yaiba’s narrative progression an open question. Let’s find our answer!

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CITY the Animation – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to announce we’re checking back in on CITY the Animation, and finding out what preposterous nonsense our locals are getting up to this week. The first episode introduced our presumed main trio of Midori, Niikura, and Wako, but as with its predecessor Nichijou, CITY is a proudly ensemble production, boasting dozens of characters who might jump in for a quick pratfall or surreal non-sequitur. The title does not lie; it is the city itself that is the protagonist of this production, a living organism whose many inhabitants all enrich each other’s lives in countless tiny ways.

So far the production has proudly, painstakingly emphasized that active coexistence, opening with an absurd flex of the entire city in motion, and continuing to link its various skits via their spatial proximity and shared cast of characters. CITY’s impressive loyalty to Keiichi Arawi’s original designs not only creates a uniquely charming, almost cut-paper-reminiscent world, it actually facilitates a union of traditional and CG animation that in turn enables the production’s frequent, ambitious junction of narratives, as stories ramble beyond their own sets to coexist with the ongoing stories of others. And this in turn underlines that core theme: that we are all in this together, and that every city is a collective promise, an investment in the love and support we owe to each other. Let’s get to it!

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Dear Brother – Episode 12

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I hope you’re all on your best behavior, as today I’ve booked us a visit to the hallowed halls of Seiren Academy, where the young Nanako continues to navigate the larger-than-life hurdles of her high school education. Strung between three dazzling upperclassmen and bound to the will of the Sorority, Nanako is navigating a labyrinth with no certain exit, her scholastic hurdles paling in comparison to the social spiderweb entangling her.

Lording over all these affairs stands the cruel, imperious Miya-sama, a tyrant whose chief pastime is inflicting random acts of cruelty on the obsessive Saint Juste. Granted, it seems the only person harder on Saint Juste than Miya-sama is Saint Juste herself, who made no less than three suicide attempts as Nanako dragged her home. Whatever Miya-sama represents to Saint Juste is clearly something she values more than her own life, but with her delirium now conflating Nanako with whatever “little doll” haunts her past, we might at last get a chance to illuminate her nightmares. Regardless, I am sure Ikeda and Dezaki have more bombastic, lushly illustrated horrors to share with us, so let’s get back to the campus!

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Galaxy Express 999 – Episode 13

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to announce we are returning to the endless cosmos, as we rejoin our companions aboard the Galaxy Express 999. Across a fantastical sprawl of distinctive planets, we will see love and toil in all their forms, the endless striving of all living beings to survive, prosper, and scratch their mark on the world. And like a terrible wave falling upon them, we will witness the indifference of fate and amorality of capitalism scatter their labors into dreams and driftwood, the cruelty of the world we have constructed forever limiting the scope of our ambitions.

Most recently, that terrible wave has come in the form of a celestial cloud of fossilizing gas, which turned the guardian of our latest planet’s beloved home into a statue garden of lost friends. With that guardian captured by pirates and a fresh cloud of lethal gas en route, Tetsuro and Maetel face a harsh clock as they attempt to retrieve Tetsuro’s boarding pass. Oblivion draws near as we return to Galaxy Express 999!

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Rock is a Lady’s Modesty – Episode 4

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re barreling through a fresh episode of Rock is a Lady’s Modesty, as Lilisa continues to balance her determination to become the Noble Maiden against the burning fire of her Rocker’s Soul. Though she tried her hardest to abandon the guitar and the spirit of rebellion it embodies, Otoha’s entreaties eventually broke through her defenses, forcing her to admit that rock is simply too essential, too intrinsic to her identity to be tossed aside.

Thus our heroes find themselves in a fledgling rock band, with their single agreed-upon rule of mutually respectful discourse not even lasting through their first official practice. But given the restraint they must exercise in their every public appearance, I suppose it’s not too surprising their collaboration has become a vehicle for exorcising all their violent, uncharitable feelings alongside their melodic fury. Though there have been gestures towards the inherent class-conscious ethos embodied by rock and roll, our girls have mostly embraced it as a vehicle for personal indulgence, a passion Otoha has specifically defined as “for her own satisfaction.” But is it truly possible to separate rebellious art performance from genuine rebellion, to seek excellence in the court of nobility even as your soul sneers at its every value? Let’s find out!

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Big Windup! – Episode 18

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the field for a fresh episode of Big Windup!, as our boys from Nishiura struggle to defeat Tosei, the first-seeded team of the summer tournament. Our last episode was an absolute nail-biter of an inning, with Tosei dominating the bases and nearly running away with the game altogether. Though they failed to score in the end, their run of hits and smart manipulation of the bases demonstrated a team in realignment, now prepared for Mihashi’s pitches and ready to crush their unpracticed opposition.

That this inning could provoke such intensity without even touching the scoreboard is a credit to both Asa Higuchi’s tactics-rich writing and Tsutomu Mizushima’s thoughtful adaptation. Higuchi has laid out both the mechanical and psychological conflicts of this match with such clarity that each new twist feels a domino falling naturally into place, his narrative capably demonstrating the strategy underlying each shift on the board. And Mizushima has proven himself one of the most gifted directors of grounded, tactics-rich visual drama, turning concepts as fanciful as “girls in an after-school tank club” into feasts of stratagems and counterplays. With Tosei now snapping at Nishiura’s heels, let’s return to Big Windup!

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BanG Dream! Ave Mujica – Episode 7

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am delighted to announce we are returning to the three-band pileup that is BanG Dream! Ave Mujica, as the non-MyGO remnants of CRYCHIC continue to flounder and gasp for air like fish dumped on the sidewalk. Both Sakiko and Mutsumi have sunk so deep within themselves that it’s uncertain if they’ll ever reemerge, each devastated by the hurt they caused the other, neither believing they deserve a chance at happiness.

Fortunately, after half a season of Ave Mujica poking each other’s emotional disorders with sharp sticks, MyGO has finally arrived to offer a firm yet compassionate “stop doing that.” Mortis/Mutsumi have found an unlikely friend in literally-a-cat Raana, while it seems Tomori, Anon, and Soyo are all preparing for a group rescue of Sakiko. It’s extremely rewarding to see all the bonding and emotional catharsis of MyGO being put to work, reflected in the confidence and trust shared by our lost girls as they prepare to extract CRYCHIC’s final survivors from the wreckage.

When you are down as low as Sakiko or Mutsumi, you tend to become your own worst enemy – the Mortis-Mutsumi dynamic is an extreme case, but it’s generally true that in the depths of depression and self-hatred, your internal voice will only be affirming your worst impulses. When you can’t believe in yourself, you need someone else to guide you to self-love; Anon helped serve that role for Tomori and Soyo, and with the sanctuary that is MyGO supporting them, they seem poised to do the same for Sakiko. Will a CRYCHIC reunion be the key that saves Ave Mujica’s most forlorn members? And if so, what will that spell for the remaining members of Sakiko’s gothic horror extravaganza? Let’s find out!

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Andor – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we’d take a quick jaunt to a galaxy far, far away, as we check back in on the harried Cassian and his adventures in Andor. Our first episode offered an anxious pressure cooker of a premiere, with Cassian’s unintentional killing of two empire sentries instigating a pan-galactic manhunt at the hands of one overzealous deputy inspector. Meanwhile, Cassian himself is basically cashing in all favors, his pursuit of his long-lost sister temporarily yielding to the necessity of surviving the next forty-eight hours.

It was a gripping, grounded premiere on the whole, articulating the lived experience of the empire for those huddling below, with no great destiny or magical powers likely to save them. And Cassian himself embodies that refreshing realism; he is not seeking to change the world, he is only pursuing his sister, hoping to carve out some fragment of peace and normalcy under the omnipresent but frequently indifferent gaze of their oppressive overlords. Cassian isn’t a “chosen one,” he’s just determined and unlucky, one of the countless nobodies that fate has thrust into a position to do some meaningful, lasting good in the world. We are not naturally destined to kick fascism’s teeth in, but when that jaw is presented, it is our collective duty to kick with all our might. Let’s see how Cassian fares!

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The Legend of Vox Machina S3 – Episode 9

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to Vox Machina in a moment of absolute catastrophe, which seems at this point to be the default state of our luckless party. Percival has straight-up died, which I must confess I never saw coming. Character death is the most extreme dramatic tool in the entire DnD kit, and as I’ve said in the past, more often tends to be narratively destructive than useful. Sure, you can always roll a new character, but that character won’t have the same connection to the campaign as your deceased hero, and premature character death can leave someone’s personal arc awkwardly unfulfilled. These issues can be mitigated through effective DM-player discussion (or ignored, if you’re just a bunch of interchangeable murder hobos), but nonetheless make character death a naturally fraught, generally discouraged possibility.

Beyond that, the team have also at last gathered their allies and sprung their trap on Thordak, only to learn that his trap involved manipulating their trap, thanks to that dastardly double agent Raishan. As such, their hard-won allies are now cooking in dragonfire while they assess a newly sealed secret entrance, having gambled their hopes on a dragon’s loyalty. It’s a fairly sticky situation!

As for my own DnD adventures, we went through a bit of a hibernation period over the end of the year, but that left me plenty of time to construct my next major questline. Having mostly written straightforward adventures that are pretty close to linear roller coasters, I decided to push myself to write something more open-ended, which resulted in the creation of a frontier town packed with four different intersecting subquests, culminating in a Seven Samurai-style town defense bringing all those subquests’ characters back into play. As a storytelling perfectionist who overwrites everything, I fear I may have simply created a different kind of linear narrative with lots of linking steps, but I’m doing my best to facilitate more unscripted, emergent drama, and I’m eager to see how this experiment plays out. Anyway, enough about me – let’s get back to the dragon fight!

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