Category Archives: Episode Writeup

The Flying Phantom Ship

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am thrilled to announce we are returning to the venerable archives of Toei Doga, this time exploring the 1969 feature Flying Phantom Ship. By the end of the ‘60s, the methods of film production had already changed significantly within the young animation studio; from the humble beginnings of Hakujaden being key animated largely by two artists, the Toei team had expanded to the point where they were generally producing two animated films at the same time.

This means we sadly won’t see Yasuji Mori’s hand on Flying Phantom Ship, but never fear – we’ve got Hayao Miyazaki here to console us, who was apparently responsible for designing and animating this film’s giant robot. Miyazaki is here accompanied by a battery of Toei mainstays, from original veterans like Reiko Okuyama to key Puss ‘n Boots collaborators like Sadao Kikuchi. Additionally, animation director Yoichi Kotabe is a legend even setting aside his Toei Doga work; he’d follow Miyazaki from Toei to first Heidi, where he’d serve as character designer and animation director, and then onward to Nausicaa, before “settling down” to become the animation supervisor of decades worth of Pokémon cartoons. The further we travel through Toei Doga’s catalog, the more obvious its creators’ various post-Toei adventures become – but for now, let’s savor the pleasure of seeing all of them in one place, as we journey through one more classic!

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Trigun Stampede – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re embarking on a brand new adventure, although technically it’s a refurbished rendition of a beloved ‘90s classic. Yep, we’re checking out Trigun Stampede, and seeing what those talented folks over at Studio Orange have cooked up for our boy Vash.

I’ll admit, I don’t have the most extensive experience with Trigun. I caught snippets of it back on Adult Swim when I was first falling in love with FLCL and Cowboy Bebop, but Trigun’s comedy didn’t quite seem like my thing, and I never saw enough to get a grip on its universe. Obviously “cowboys in space” has proven itself a robust genre niche, and my experience with Blood Blockade Battlefront has more than demonstrated mangaka Yasuhiro Nightow’s creative abilities, so I’m looking forward to examining the story with fresh eyes.

Beyond the source material, I’m also intrigued to see how Studio Orange realizes Nightow’s world. I always associated Trigun with an aesthetic of dust and grime that seems inherently hostile to CG recreation, but Orange’s team have impressed me at every turn, and director Kenji Muto seems like an excellent match for a rip-roaring adventure. A resume comprising Rage of Bahamut, Garo, Punchline, and Land of the Lustrous is basically an ideal education for Trigun; I can see why he was picked for this project, and look forward to admiring the result. Let’s get to it!

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Spy x Family – Episode 30

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re gonna be hopping back over to Spy x Family and checking in on those wacky Forgers, because goddamnit, I’m in the mood for a cheerful and very silly time. Our last sojourn was classic Spy x Family all over, as Anya waged war for The Cookies That Make You Smarter while Yor assisted in a preposterous cat-hunting expedition. Not exactly the most revelatory adventures, but nonetheless vintage Spy x Family, making innovative use of Anya’s telepathy and Yor’s agility to add a flourish of insanity to their everyday lives.

As for what’s to come, it appears we’re now in for a Yor-focused multi-episode arc of some kind, which sounds perfect to me. Yor has always been the weakest link in Spy x Family’s main cast, due primarily to two main factors. First, she lacks the multifaceted motivation of someone like Loid; his internal battle between pragmatic, “greater good”-focused spy training and increasing prioritization of individual children gives him both a compelling origin story and a clear evolutionary path, and Yor learning to forgive herself for her “failings” as a mother can’t really compete with that. Secondly, her active characterization tends to frame her as a total ditz, making it difficult for her to learn, grow, or express complex feelings about her various escapades. These might seem like serious detriments, but in truth, the line between insufficient and satisfying characterization in a dedicated comedy like Spy x Family is pretty thin, and one good arc with her would go a long way towards resolving her scripting issues. Let’s see if this new arc can manage it as we return to Spy x Family!

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Scum’s Wish – Episode 8

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today it seemed like the perfect time to return to the tangled drama of Scum’s Wish, as I doubt even Hana’s storming emotions can dampen the glory of this fresh spring day. Though to be fair to our poor girl, it actually seems like she’s finally making some positive personal decisions. Her misguided quest to find satisfaction in the possessive, amoral cruelty of Akane has ended; just as Moca has begun to embrace her more mature instincts, so has Hana remembered that she is still innocent in many ways, still wishing on shooting stars and hoping for a fairy tale romance.

As a result of last episode’s awkward twin dates, both Hana and Mugi have come to a decision: before the summer is out, they will confess their crush to the actual object of their affections. Obviously there is no way those confessions can go well; Hana’s relationship with Kanai is more one of a surrogate little sister than an equal lover, while Akane seems too incapable of empathy to genuinely love anyone. But nonetheless, ripping off the bandaids of their lingering obsessions can only be good for their future relationships, so I can only hope summer doesn’t offer some fresh reason to conceal and marinate in their hopeless feelings. Let’s get to it!

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Skip and Loafer – Episode 6

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Hello folks, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m thinking we’re due for a return to the charming drama of Skip and Loafer, wherein Mitsumi has most recently adopted her most prickly companion so far. In spite of initially distrusting Mitsumi’s sunny disposition, Mika eventually found it impossible to resist sheltering our guileless little duckling, and even training her for the big field day volleyball tournament. And for her own part, Mika also added some welcome friction into this altogether cheerful narrative, emphasizing how many people simply lack the natural disposition to succeed in the ways Mitsumi has. Mitsumi navigates the invisible social minefield of high school by largely ignoring it; to someone like Mika, who had to change her look, her interests, and even her personality to fit in, it’s understandable that Mitsumi’s success would feel “unearned” in some way. 

Of course, the truth is that sincerity simply works. Some people will scorn you for being simplistic, some people will doubt your intentions, but if you stick to your own truth, you’ve a good chance of finding people who actually like you for who you are, and appreciate your earnest embracing of life’s pleasures. Most of us don’t have such instantly winning personalities as Mitsumi, but we’re not monsters; all we can do is speak as honestly as we can, share what compassion we can offer, and accept that we can’t please everyone. And fortunately for people like Mika, the Mitsumis of the world will always be there to lend a hand, if only we can keep ourselves from resenting them for being so dang upbeat and likable all the time. Let’s get to it!

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Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 17

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Rather than referring to some psychoanalytical concept or opaque descriptor of the drama to come, Neon Genesis Evangelion’s seventeenth episode is named, quite simply, “Fourth Child.” It is a name that refers to NERV’s conceptually vague yet tonally specific designations for the Eva pilots – Rei is the first child, Asuka the second, and Shinji the third, implying a fourth pilot has finally been secured. Like the use of “angel” as the designation for humanity’s enemies, explicitly referring to the pilots as children carries a certain implication; it frames their battles as something like a meeting of innocents, the curious yet inherently destructive angels reaching out towards the untested, unmolded fruit of humanity. As the previous episode revealed, it is unclear if these angels even mean direct harm to their opponents, or if they simply lack a vector for expressing their intent. If true, they are little different from Shinji himself, who has so much difficulty finding a common language even with his fellow human beings.

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Tsurune S2 – Episode 6

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to stop by the kyudo range, and see how the boys of Tsurune are coming along. After an embarrassing performance at their recent competition, our team has been forced to reassess not just their approach to kyudo, but also their self-image and personal ambitions more generally. Of course, this is nothing new for Tsurune; kyudo has long served as a metaphor for the bumpy adolescent process of finding your young adult self, whether that involves rising above the past like Minato, or reaffirming what you’ve always valued like Nanao and Kaito.

Those two spent the last episode battling it out in search of a new normal, having grown beyond the childhood roles each served in the other’s life. What they found was perhaps not surprising; as it turns out, their friendship was built on more than just offering each other protection, as their years together had sculpted each of them into an essential part of the other’s life. You can’t follow a simple equation to deduce the value of a personal bond – time spent together will inherently change us, and any bond we’ve cultivated will possess inherent, lasting meaning. As such, the question of who was “following” the other ultimately proved irrelevant; they’ve always valued each other’s presence, and having their hobbies be dictated by each other’s interests proved not a sign of deference or codependence, but of how much each was enriched by the other.

So yeah, Nanao and Kaito seem to have figured their shit out, meaning I’m guessing it’s time for Kyouhei and Minato to grasp towards a new relationship with kyudo of their own. Let’s get to it!

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BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! – Episode 12

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And so the perilous journey of MyGO’s musicians continues. Having weathered CRYCHIC’s calamitous breakup, Tomori, Taki, and Soyo have reunited in a group defined by genuine emotional sincerity, with even Soyo admitting to the desire for community that has long guided her awkward, earnest compatriots. And they’ve gained new companions along the way, friends who may lack the paralyzing magnetism of Sakiko or Ophelia-tier melancholy of Mutsumi, but who nonetheless contribute crucial dosages of stability and chill to their anxious collective.

Anon in particular has proven herself a crucial binding agent, in spite of both Soyo and Taki’s initial indifference to her presence. In a story brimming with rich characters haunted by the scars of the past, Anon’s “I am feel uncomfortable when we are not about me” ego and simultaneous sensitivity to the feelings of others made her an unexpectedly ideal mediator, her brash pursuit of self-centered ends almost immediately giving way to genuine concern for her would-be bandmates. The duality of Anon reflects the thoughtfulness of MyGO’s characterization more generally; none of these characters are a stable set of behaviors and desires, they are forever suspended between their best and worst instincts, their past hopes and present ambitions. Let’s see how they weather their second performance, as we return to the outstanding BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!

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Yuki Yuna is a Hero – Episode 9

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to return to Yuki Yuna is a Hero, after an episode that saw the other shoe plummeting to earth and leaving a devastating crater in its wake. As it turns out, the Taisha knew all along that our young heroes would be forced to fight again, that they would acquire lasting, debilitating injuries from this hero labor, and that they would eventually be reduced to utter dependency, as one after another of their limbs or senses were sacrificed as offerings to the Divine Tree. There are no old soldiers in this system; only used-up figures of worship, deified for sacrifices they never knew they were making.

As horrible as this is for our girls on the ground, it’s nonetheless a fascinating thematic turn, tethering Yuki Yuna’s magical girl and martial elements together through their common thread: how both young women and old soldiers are misused by society, ostensibly venerated but often materially denied and despised. Like so many other eager young patriots, these girls’ innocent love of their home has been turned against them, exploited for the sake of a system that consumes lives and produces martyrs, all to ensure the next wave of victims is properly motivated. It’s a rich and deliciously cynical turn, and I’m eager to see how our team responds to these shocking reveals. Let’s get to it!

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re setting off on a new journey, or more precisely beyond a journey’s end, as we check out the first episode of the recent and much-loved Frieren. There was a great deal of buzz surrounding Frieren prior to its release, and it’s not hard to see why; in this era of modern otaku being constantly flung into Dragon Quest-reminiscent worlds, an honest-to-god committed fantasy drama is an inherent and very welcome change of pace. And beyond that, Frieren’s novel twist on genre convention provides an additional pull: the allure of a more somber, reflective story, one primarily concerned with finding value and beauty in life after the great adventures are over.

That’s a hook that holds a great deal of appeal to me! It feels adjacent to my beloved “apocalyptic travelog” subgenre (think Girls’ Last Tour or Kemurikusa), stories where the chance for transformative, world-shifting change has already passed, wherein the great challenge lies in coming to a happier understanding of our place in a land at peace. It’s so appealing that I actually wrote a long-form variation of it back in high school, though no, I am not showing you my high school fiction. Anyway, Frieren is also directed by Bocchi the Rock’s fast-rising Keiichirō Saitō, and from what I’ve told, the production is a lush spectacle from start to finish. That’s a fine stack of reasons to be optimistic, so let’s see what we’ve got in the first episode of Frieren!

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