Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Simoun – Episode 20

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It is with great expectations and more than a little fear that we return for the twentieth episode of Simoun. On the one hand, this show is brilliant. It started off by introducing an imposingly broad main cast, but has successfully humanized every single member of Chor Tempest, and built them into something very much like a family. At the same time, the show has consistently emphasized how all of Chor Tempest’s feelings are reflective of far larger conflicts within their society, with various characters’ loyalty to or emotional reliance on their patriotism, religious faith, or whatever else that moves them directly feeding back into their personal conflicts.

Simoun is one of those stories that demonstrates how thematically driven fiction can engage with complex, universally relevant subjects in a way that a direct essay or argument never could. By framing its thoughts on war, duty, and religion in the context of characters we’ve come to know so well, it demonstrates the true human complexity of these situations, and the paralyzing reality of discovering your country or faith was only a walled garden, and not the world itself.

On the other hand, Simoun has been really friggin’ mean! A few episodes ago we lost Limone and Dominura, who probably both fell within my top five characters in the show. Just last episode, we lost Mamiina, who was easily my favorite remaining character in the show. At the rate we’re hemorrhaging favorites, I expect the show’s final episode to focus on a heated argument between Bridge Adviser C and Overwhelmed Soldier E, with every actual named character having heroically sacrificed themselves. I’m impressed and annoyed at the same time, but either way, it’s time to move. Let’s see what tragedies await in Simoun’s latest episode!

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Chihayafuru S3 – Episode 3

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Alright everyone, we’ve not a moment to waste here. Chihayafuru’s third season has begun, and within two brief episodes, we’ve already found ourselves in the midst of one more tournament arc. While Chihayafuru is very comfortable executing on training arcs, episodic vignettes, and sequences focused on propelling its central relationships, it is undoubtedly most comfortable, and most entertaining, in the midst of its regular tournament arcs.

And why not? When it comes to stories based around one-on-one competitions like karuta, and particularly ensemble productions like this, the tournament arc is the most natural venue for compressing all of a narrative’s strengths into a concise dramatic structure, complete with naturally rising tension and a continuous feed of fresh antagonists. No need to find some contrived excuse for gathering and battling all your prior enemies: they’re there for the tournament, and that’s explanation enough. The trajectory of your protagonist can be balanced by the journeys of their friends, while the natural winnowing of a tournament’s progression means that as the active battles get more intense, the in-show audience is filled with beloved characters to cheer them on. As Nishida just demonstrated, even one-on-one tournaments don’t have to feel isolating: our heroes are fighting together, and given how well this show has built up all their relationships, I can truly believe in their camaraderie and mutual trust. Let’s dive back into Chihayafuru’s pre-Masters tournament!

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Princess Tutu – Episode 26

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As Gold Crown Town falls under the shadow of the Raven, and Rue is drawn back into her father’s malevolent clutches, I still can’t help but feeling total elation at how far our heroes have come, and how fully they have surpassed their roles in Drosselmeyer’s story. Rue has broken free of the raven’s influence, and declared a love for Mytho so sincere that it broke him free of his own shackles, and reversed his transformation into the Raven’s puppet. Fakir has accepted his role as storyteller rather than knight, and guided his friends towards an ending he hopes might save them all. Mytho has rejected the narrative of falling in love with Princess Tutu, and instead pledged himself to Rue at any cost. And Ahiru has accepted she might never be with the prince, but can feel only the slightest tinge of regret at that; after all, her feelings of distant adulation for Mytho were only ever the pangs of adolescent infatuation, combined with her own desire to express herself so freely and beautifully.

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Girls’ Last Tour – Episode 10

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You all ready for some charming adventures on the brink of oblivion? Well I certainly am, and I’m the one who picks what order these posts get released in, so I hope you’re ready too. It’s been a few weeks on my end since we last watched an episode of Girls’ Last Tour, but my love of this show certainly hasn’t diminished – in fact, I think the show’s ninth episode was far and away one of its best so far.

Chi and Yuu’s robot companion turned out to be a charming and poignant addition to the cast, and his adventure served as a tidy illustration of the vaguely defined and ephemeral nature of life itself. Conversations about language and empathy led naturally towards a genuine action setpiece, and the episode resolved on the painfully frank “the fish and I will live for a little longer now. Though we will all die one day.”

From Yuu and Chi themselves to the architects of their dying city and beyond, nearly all of Girls’ Last Tour’s human characters fret about impermanence. Whether it’s through capturing their existence in a stone monument, leaving personal effects behind, or achieving a feat that cannot be matched or forgotten, they all wish to somehow survive this bleak moment, and at the very least remain in memory. But as Yuu and Chi have regularly demonstrated, monuments which last beyond their creators lose their original meaning, and gain new resonance in the lives of those who witness and inherit them. All things end; and in light of that, it’s important not to hang all your hopes on the future, and appreciate the moments of your life as you live them. Girls’ Last Tour is ultimately very sympathetic to Yuu’s worldview; she certainly needs Chi to survive, but as she trounces around this playful apocalypse, she is truly in her element. “If you keep living, something good will happen” might not seem like much, but it’s something. It’s enough.

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Chihayafuru S3 – Episode 2

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Alright folks, let’s get right back to season three of Chihayafuru! It’s currently Wednesday, and I just logged on to Crunchyroll hoping the new episode had been released, only to see that two new episodes have somehow already been released. That doesn’t make any sense to me chronology-wise, but I’m not going to look a gift Chihaya in the mouth, and am eager to get back to the karuta drama. Last episode served as a fast-paced but generally effective return to the series, using an early series of flashbacks to remind us of both the rules of karuta and the relationships between Chihayafuru’s leads, before diving right into Chihaya and Taichi’s training with the Fujisaki team. Their training under Sakurazawa went on to lay out a variety of threads for us to follow, from Chihaya’s quest for a more strategy-minded understanding of karuta, to Taichi’s Chihaya-bound relationship with karuta itself.

Though Taichi’s relationship with karuta has always been closely tied to his feelings for Chihaya, the consistent reiteration of that across season three’s premiere seems to imply that we’ll at last be directly addressing that fact, and moving him towards either a more honest relationship with Chihaya or a healthier one with karuta. At the same time, Chihaya’s new understanding of Taichi’s situation feels like a neat echo of her newfound interest in strategy. In both her personal and competitive life, Chihaya has always been propelled forward by her single-minded love of karuta, an instinct that at times has made her feel more like a narrative force than a fully realized person. Chihaya’s desire for a more thoughtful approach to karuta seems mirrored by her new awareness of Taichi’s feelings, as if in both karuta and her personal life, she’s finally taking a moment to step out of her enthusiasm and assess the world around her. I’m excited to see Chihaya taking steps towards greater self-awareness, and am expecting some gloriously thorny drama ahead for her and Taichi. Let’s see what’s in store in the next Chihayafuru!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! Can you feel the excitement? CAN YA FEEL IT? That’s right, it’s new series time, and today we’re beginning a series that I’ve been wanting to watch for years now. Just in time for the next generation of Pokemon, we’re diving back in to the last generation of Pokemon, and checking out the widely acclaimed Sun and Moon anime!

Though the Pokemon anime has been running consistently ever since its start back in the ‘90s, it’s traditionally been seen more as a series for young Pokemon enthusiasts than the “sakuga crowd” or whatnot. That’s not to diminish its importance, of course – on the contrary, Pokemon was one of the most important properties in introducing and normalizing anime in the west. I myself was a fan of pokemon specifically before I learned the appeal of anime more generally, and even saw the first Pokemon movie when it came out in theaters (it came with a free Pokemon card!).

But while Pokemon has always been a massively influential cultural force, its progression into a visually accomplished production has been significantly more gradual. Sun and Moon represents a serious break in this franchise in terms of its character designs, as designs that had remained relatively static for nearly two decades were reimagined with softer lines and rounded curves, making them far better suited to fluid character animation. I’ve already played the Sun and Moon game, and found its cast immensely charming there, meaning I’m very excited to see them in motion, and to return to an anime I haven’t watched since I was a child. Let’s check out the first episode of Sun and Moon!

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Land of the Lustrous – Episode 2

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Editor’s Note: My “episode one article” for Land of the Lustrous turned out to be more of an all-encompassing thematic overview of the show. The show’s themes obviously haven’t changed between episodes, so we’ll be diving into more of the nitty-gritty craft stuff this time. Let’s get to it!

Land of the Lustrous’ second episode opens with a history lesson courtesy of Master Kongo, who tells us that “six shooting stars once visited this world. All six of them fracturing, and giving birth to six moons.” He goes on to describe a mythology that seems equal parts biological and mystical, combining evolutionary changes with florid touches that naturally highlight the symbiotic relationship of history and myth, or our selfhood and our perception of the world. Illustrated through a background like a church window or illuminated manuscript, his words seem intended to assign purpose or destiny to the whims of evolution. Even his initial phrasing, that speaks of shooting stars “fracturing” as their route to rebirth, seems to imply a gemstone’s perspective. To a complex and seemingly meaningless series of biological shifts, Kongo’s certainty implies meaning, or at least a certain steadiness of direction.

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Chihayafuru S3 – Episode 1

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It’s time. It’s time! IT’S TIME! It’s been thirteen long months since I concluded my journey through Chihayafuru’s second season, and season three has finally arrived! SIT THE FUCK DOWN EVERYONE, IT’S TIME FOR CHIHAYA SATURDAY.

Alright, I know it’s probably a little inconsiderate of me to say “finally,” considering some of you have been waiting six friggin’ years for this season. But Chihayafuru is just such a fun, lovable property that even my much shorter wait has felt pretty interminable, and to those of you who’ve actually waited the full six years, I salute your fortitude. It has been far too long since we’ve spent time with Chihaya and the gang, and I couldn’t be happier to be back here with the karuta crew, and all of you as well.

When we last left off Chihayafuru, a great number of our key characters had just experienced a variety of major transitions. Arata at last returned to competitive karuta, and ended up beating Shinobu in his first major match, prompting immediate speculation about his path towards the master seat. However, Arata’s victory might have ultimately ended up impacting Shinobu’s journey more than his own, by pushing her another step closer towards embracing karuta as a communal activity. Meanwhile, Taichi at last earned his entry into Class A, and will be joining Chihaya for intensive training under the badass Sakurazawa. With all our leads on new paths and the rest of Chihaya’s team gearing up for fall tournaments, we’ve got plenty to look forward to from the season to come. Let’s return at last to the wonderful Chihayafuru!

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Hugtto! Precure – Episode 10

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Folks, it is well past time to explore another episode of Hugtto! Precure. I have been loving my first dive into the sprawling Precure universe, from its sensitive exploration of sympathetic characters like Hana and Homare, to its delightfully whimsical art design and often remarkably executed action sequences. Though not every fight is a highlight, the show’s storyboarders and animators seem to possess an understanding of weight and impact that make its marquee battles some of the more thrilling sequences in modern anime, where you can really feel the thundering consequences of each larger-than-life blow. And in between those aesthetic peaks, Hugtto offers a diverse array of charming episodic vignettes, all the while exploring the complexity of figuring out how your passions and personality will ultimately integrate into the adult world.

Huggto’s last episode introduced a girl who might already be my favorite character, the passionate and deeply insecure Emiru. Emiru is full of self-loathing and terrified of making mistakes, consistently and understandably wondering if her friends simply consider her a burden. Though she ended up being praised for her own talents at the end of that episode, her journey is far from over, and I’m very much hoping this episode continues our investigation of The Precure With Anxiety. Let’s see what awaits in the next episode of Huggto!

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Girls’ Last Tour – Episode 9

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Hey everybody, and welcome back to Girls’ Last Tour. This lovely show’s last episode concluded on one of its most beautiful and transcendent moments yet, as the discovery of a long-abandoned beer stash led to Yuu and Chi drunkenly dancing on the edge of the world. It was a terrific sequence that, like the girls’ earlier discovery of music during a rainstorm, seemed to embody Yuu’s philosophical defense against the harshness and unfairness of this world: “if you keep living, something good might happen.” The rational, day-to-day substance of Yuu and Chi’s lives is fundamentally hopeless; there is no better future waiting for them, and the threat of death is a constant companion. But any life, even lives like these, can occasionally erupt into moments of wonder and joy – and in between those moments, they still have each other.

Last episode was a very generous combination of basically all of this show’s strengths, from its beautiful shots of the city to its reflections on impermanence to that final dance. I’m not expecting another episode to match it so soon, but either way, I’m eager to see what’s in store for our girls. Let’s dive into another episode of Girls’ Last Tour!

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