Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Wednesday has arrived again, and though my ostensible “Week in Review” posts are continuing their steady transformation into a shapeless, abyssal mass of unprompted media opinions, they’re still keeping me busy with plenty to write about. This week I watched through the first half of Steven Universe’s final season, caught up on the fascinating and beautifully executed Deca-Dence, and also tossed in a fresh film for seasoning. Deca-Dence has been so damn interesting that I’m almost certainly going to write some sort of long-form essay on it, but in the meantime, I can’t exactly let Tachikawa’s statement that “we were mostly inspired by Wreck-It Ralph” go unanswered. Without further ado, let’s explore some fresh new stories!
Category Archives: Week in Review
Summer 2020 – Week 6 in Review
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week I continued my journeys through two acclaimed American productions, as I powered through the last quarter or so of Breaking Bad, along with the fourth season of Steven Universe. They’re both fascinating shows with a great deal to cover, and though I’ve had my differences with Breaking Bad, the show certainly put its best foot forward in its final act. Beyond that, I also checked out a Schwarzenegger classic that I hadn’t seen since my childhood, and remembered once again that Schwarzenegger movies are pretty fun. We’ve got plenty of art to cover, so let’s not waste any more time, and get started on another Week in Review!
Summer 2020 – Week 5 in Review
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I actually didn’t get to any noteworthy films this week, but that’s largely because I’ve been devoting most of my free time to two acclaimed TV shows, both of which I attempted and failed to finish once before, and both of which I’m determined to complete this time. Powering through arcs of Steven Universe and Breaking Bad at the same time has made for a somewhat unorthodox media diet, but they’re both very interesting in their own ways, and it’s been illuminating getting a better grasp on the whole “prestige TV” genealogy. Meanwhile, Deca-Dence remains excellent, and I’m also continuing my rewatch of Oregairu, which you can follow through my first honest-to-god twitter thread. There’s plenty of media to break down, so let’s not waste any more time, and jump right into the Week in Review!
Summer 2020 – Week 4 in Review
Hello everyone, and welcome to another Week in Review. This week I’ve got a pretty diverse stew of films and shows to cover, ranging from the persistently fascinating Deca-Dence to new releases, old classics, and whatever my housemate could find on Netflix. The big hit this week was Do the Right Thing, which I’ve known by reputation as one of the most insightful and just-plain-excellent films on race in America, and which I’m happy to report is fucking fantastic, obviously. It turns out the entire film criticism community was right about that one, who would have guessed. Anyway, I’ve rambled about things I’m about to ramble about again for long enough, so let’s get right down to the Week in Review!
Summer 2020 – Week 2 in Review
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today, for the first time in over a full season, I’ll actually be offering some commentary on the latest episodes of several airing anime! I know, it’s been a while, and frankly, even this return slate is pretty limited – I’m currently just watching Oregairu, Deca-Dence, and God of High School, and fully expect my enthusiasm for God of High School to fall below the watchability line in the next couple episodes. Pure action spectacle married to bluntly atrocious storytelling just isn’t really my scene; fortunately, both Deca-Dence and Oregairu seem like unimpeachably solid contenders, meaning I might actually end this year with just enough shows for a top ten list. Let’s see what the season is offering so far, over the course of one more old-fashioned Week in Review!
Summer 2020 – Virtually Every First Episode Retrospective
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. With the summer season’s anime premieres behind us, it’s time to once again sort out the shining stars and cartoon crimes of the new season, and offer you all a mix of genuine recommendations and clearly exaggerated personal torment. As an understandable consequence of COVID’s continuous threat, a great number of anime were delayed from this summer season, meaning it’s actually the smallest anime season since I started cataloging them seven goddamn years ago. Personally though, as a grumpy old man with little interest in most shows, I tend to consider a season a success if it has even one show I’m extremely excited about – and with this season containing two such shows, hoo boy, I am ecstatic. Don’t worry about my deadpan phrasing, that’s just how I talk, I am actually super excited over here.
As usual, you can check out the full list of reviews over at ANN, or scroll below, where I’ll be breaking all of the season’s attractions down into handy categories from best to worst. If I end up panning one of your favorites, just remember that I’m making an implicit judgment of your personal character, and you should react accordingly (this is a joke, I’m joking, please do not do this). In the end, we’re all just watching anime to connect and feel something, and I hope I can make the task of finding a new show just a little easier for you all. Let’s get to it!
Summer 2020 First Impressions – Part One
Well folks, the summer season is officially underway at this point, though the vast number of COVID-prompted delays might not make that obvious. So far the only show that’s really impressed is God of High School, courtesy of its fabulous martial arts animation, but the season is still young, and all of the shows I’m actually looking forward to are still ahead of this. In the meantime, you can enjoy watching me suffer through the usual dregs of anime production, which this season includes a Mahouka knockoff and a tokusatsu team powered by horniness. Let’s get to it!
Spring 2020 – Week 13 in Review
Hello everyone, and a hearty welcome back to Wrong Every Time! I’ve got an eclectic collection of film thoughts for you all today, starting off with a Ghibli classic that could not fit more squarely within my wheelhouse. Incidentally, writing that sentence prompted me to look up what a “wheelhouse” actually is, and the answer is adorable: it’s a little cabin you build to protect whoever’s manning the wheel of a ship, meaning it’s a literal tiny house for a wheel. Fantastic.
Anyway! All my friends have been clamoring at me to get to Whisper of the Heart for weeks now, and unsurprisingly, I ended up absolutely loving the film. Along with that, this week featured a strange spread of films in a variety of genres, from vintage Arnold Schwarzenegger to a recent film that tries much too hard to be quirky. It’s an interesting mix of films, and I’ve got plenty to say about them, so let’s dive into another Week in Review!
Spring 2020 – Week 12 in Review
Another precious week has slipped through our fingers, but fortunately, by collecting my thoughts on the movies I watched, I can still affirm those lost days truly existed. I plowed through a pretty diverse set of features this week – one ’70s classic, one acclaimed recent feature, an off-the-beaten-track horror film, and the latest film by one of my favorite directors, Mamoru Hosoda. I’m actually getting pretty close to the point where I’d be comfortable writing an overall “best anime films” list of some kind, which is something people have been asking about for years, but which I haven’t felt well-watched enough to attempt yet. In light of that, feel free to recommend any essential anime films I should check out, and please enjoy this latest Week in Review!
Spring 2020 – Week 11 in Review
Hello everyone, and welcome back to my little corner blog. My media adventures were diverse and rewarding this week, as I explored films ranging from recent South Korean highlights to one of the very first noir films, along with a film that’s known mostly for introducing the world to the concept of Sean Connery in bright red underwear. I remember years ago, I’d frequently find myself paralyzed in choosing what films to watch by the inherent opportunity cost – as someone who didn’t watch that many movies, I didn’t want to “waste” any of my film-assigned time slots with a misguided pick. These days, I’m watching movies all the goddamn time, which actually makes me feel a lot more free to watch whatever comes to mind at any given moment. Let’s explore more of the treasures of this rambling journey, as we burn through another Week in Review!