Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am at last feeling optimistic about spring’s theoretically imminent arrival; in fact, I’m actually sitting here typing this in my running shorts, waiting for the thermometer to inch its way up into the fifties. I know I really should get a gym membership or something for the winter months, but it’s just hard to beat the convenience of stepping outside my door and jogging off in whichever way I choose. Anyway, I’ve finally written up some of those recent anime I’ve been yammering about, so today you all get some thoughts on Outlaw Star and Berserk in addition to our usual cinematic ramblings. Our assault on classic anime shows no sign of stopping, either; we’re currently charging through Dragon Ball at breakneck speed, which has been both a delight in its own right, and also a welcome education in the roots of modern shonen convention. More to say on that later, but for now, let’s run down the features of the week!
Category Archives: Week in Review
Winter 2023 – Week 11 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I hope you’re all doing well and acting suitably wary on this Ides of March, whether you’ve attracted the enmity of the Roman senate or not. Personally, I’m feeling close to the opposite of perforated with treacherous daggers: work on articles has been proceeding smoothly, our movie screenings have been largely rewarding, and my house is continuing to munch through episodes of supplemental anime in between the feature films. With Berserk now concluded, we’ve been charging full-time through Dragon Ball, and I’m thinking I’ll next add Dennou Coil into the mix. Catching up on One Piece was truly a game changer; where I once would have taken months to get through one of these personal enrichment projects, I can now happily sit down and watch through ten episodes without fidgeting. I’ll have more collected thoughts on these supplementary anime soon, but for now, let’s break down some feature films!
Winter 2023 – Week 10 in Review
Hey folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am frustrated to admit that spring still offers no sign of its allegedly imminent arrival, but I’ve been making do the best I can, and putting all this time inside to work on various media projects. Admittedly, one of those projects was just “play the shit out of Pokémon Violet,” but I’ve also been dedicating myself to several more reputable endeavors. Alongside our usual film viewings, we’ve also started on two more anime projects: the original Dragon Ball, as well as the ‘97 adaptation of Berserk. Both have been engaging in their own ways, though Berserk’s unrelentingly grim tone has made for necessarily staggered viewing. Fortunately, what Berserk lacks in cheer is more than made up for by Dragon Ball, which has so far proved itself to be just as joyful and significantly more horny than I remember. Anyway, I’ll likely have more to say about those journeys once I’m further in, but for now let’s run down the week’s feature films!
Winter 2023 – Week 9 in Review
Hey folks, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. I hope you’re all staying warm through these interminable winter days, and am happy to report I’ve got a sturdy pile of film reflections ready for your perusal. I’ve also been continuing my journey through anime of the past; after subjecting my housemates to eighty episodes of Tomino, I figured it was time to call for suggestions from the crowd, and thus Outlaw Star served as our latest anime endeavor. I last saw Outlaw Star in episodic fragments after school on Toonami, so it was quite a blast of nostalgia to return to its crew, and even more satisfying to realize Outlaw Star is just a damn good time. I’ll probably rustle up some composed thoughts on the show soon, but for now, let’s run through a fresh selection of feature films!
Winter 2023 – Week 8 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. It’s been a highly productive week on my end, as I surged through the last act of Space Runaway Ideon, and topped off the series with a viewing of its apocalyptic concluding film Be Invoked. That screening served as a fine trail marker for a project that I’d initially assigned myself as research: filling out my understanding of Tomino’s style and the classics of the ‘70s and ‘80s, starting with the original Mobile Suit Gundam. Of course, as anyone who’s actually seen the original Gundam knows, the show is actually thrilling even for modern audiences, and hasn’t really aged poorly in any way beyond the mores and production constraints of its time. And the ways it goes beyond most modern anime, both in its ambition and its maturity, make it no surprise that Gundam has become such an enduring franchise. Anyway, I’ve clearly got Opinions on these shows, so let’s get to it!
Winter 2023 – Week 7 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. I hope everyone’s been having a reasonably agreeable week so far; as for myself, I am happy to report that after a couple yanks on the chain, my dormant DnD campaign has leapt back into action, with our second post-break session proving one of the most exciting of the campaign so far. My intent was to create a Seven Samurai-style quest wherein the players fortify and then defend a village against bandits, and things went off swimmingly – the players clearly felt invested in their various defensive arrangements, my attempt to define separate front and rear battlefields succeeded without issue, and the session ended with players brimming with future ideas for their characters, which is always a heartening sign. We also went for five and a half goddamn hours, so apparently my dungeon mastering stamina has not suffered greatly from my time away from the board. But don’t let all this ecstatic table talk mislead you into thinking I’ve neglected my cinematic duties! I’ve got a pile of gooey features for you all, so let’s not waste any more time, and get right into the week’s selections.
Winter 2023 – Week 6 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. We’re somehow halfway through the winter season at this point, meaning airing shows have now produced a meal-worthy chunk of episodes, which suits my modern viewing habits much better than weekly releases. That means I’ll probably be checking out The Fire Hunter soon enough, but in the meantime, I’ve been following up my rewarding journey through Mobile Suit Gundam with a dive into Tomino’s followup, Space Runaway Ideon. I’ve repeatedly heard that Ideon is an essential pre-Evangelion production, but to be honest, the first dozen or so episodes were fairly underwhelming. Ideon’s conflict and characters remained static for quite some time, but the show’s fortunately been gaining momentum in its middle stretch, so I’m looking forward to a more positive report next week. Tomino aside, the movie screenings continued as always, with this week’s viewings spanning westerns, sea dramas, and one of the most improbable revenge films I’ve ever seen. Let’s get to it!
Winter 2023 – Week 5 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. How are you all holding up as we march into February? It’s been a busy week on my end, as I’ve been hammering a bunch of ambitious drafts into shape, and trying to keep this streak of long-form essays going. A few months ago I couldn’t have imagined maintaining this sort of pace, but rearranging my schedule and simply embracing the challenge has carried me through so far, and I frankly feel a lot better mentally now that I’m tackling all these major projects.
Work aside, I’ve also continued storming through the original Mobile Suit Gundam, and at this point have just a handful of episodes to go. The show continues to impress me at every turn; by now you can really feel the weight of exhaustion hanging over the whole crew, making each new battle feel that much more desperate and unpredictable. I’ll likely take an opportunity to ramble about Gundam at length sometime soon, but for today, let’s explore a fresh selection of films. It’s time for the Week in Review!
Winter 2023 – Week 4 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’ve got a touch of sound and fury for you all, as the week’s screenings included a film I hated with every single fiber of my being. Yes, we did indeed watch Favreau’s detestable Lion King remake, so you all get to enjoy a dash of that naked fury that I only direct at things that make the world worse. Fortunately, the rest of this week’s screenings were much more fortuitous, ranging from a distinctive artifact of anime’s digital transition to a just plain excellent slasher film. Let’s start with the bad and push on through the good then, as we run down the latest Week in Review!
Winter 2023 – Week 3 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’ve got a diverse selection of films for you all, including a pair of Disney features prompted by my house’s recent Kingdom Hearts adventures. We’ve currently got three separate housemates running through the franchise, for which I humbly assign myself only partial credit: after one of those housemates abandoned the first game in disgust, it took my patient wading through that game’s countless crimes against game design to reach the fulfillment of its excellent combat system, and thereby convince the house to follow in my slipstream. We’re now happily plowing through the generally superior Kingdom Hearts 2, and our traversal of those worlds has gotten my whole house in a Disney classics sort of mood. All that and more, as we charge through the latest Week in Review!