Bodacious Space Pirates – Episode 13

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we are presented with a vast and glittering starscape, offering a call to adventure as insistent as anything in fiction. There is no trepidation now, no fear of the unknown; Marika has won the support of her crew, and now has an improbable fairy tale of an adventure under her belt. Instead, this is the calm, comforting peace of the professional lull, as the Bentenmaru and her crew prepare for the storms to come.

With the Golden Ghost Ship arc now completed, I’m guessing we’ll be returning to Sea of the Morningstar, and reuniting with both Chiaki and the yacht club. The last set of episodes have served as a fine introduction to the Bentenmaru’s crew, and now that we’ve got a feel for these characters in their natural habitat, I’m eager to see them try and negotiate with Marika’s high school friends. Marika’s greatest talent might be her ability to naturally integrate into any community, and actually make the people around her feel more comfortable for her presence – but that gift certainly won’t extend to characters like Coorie or Schnitzer, so I’m expecting some charming awkwardness ahead. Either way, the slate is empty and the skies are clear as we return to Bodacious Space Pirates. Let’s see what the heavens hold!

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The Big O – Episode 14

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to return to The Big O, where we last left Roger staring out at an approaching wave of Megadeus. After a full season of slowly chipping away at the vast mysteries of Paradigm, The Big O’s first season ended in a flurry of ambiguous revelations, and ultimately offered far more questions than answers.

And for two years, that was it. With the producers discouraged by poor viewership numbers, The Big O’s original 26-episode run was cut in half, leaving only this open question of a finale. It was only two years later, buoyed by additional funding from Cartoon Network, that The Big O would finally reach its conclusion. Based on the show credits, it appears that The Big O’s second half might be shifting in an even more cerebral, ambiguous direction over its second half – after all, Chiaki Konaka wrote every script for the second half, rather than splitting duties with a variety of other writers. Fortunately, the show’s surfeit of excellent directors remains, with this first episode featuring Ikuro Sato, a Sunrise/BONES mainstay who also directed The Big O’s first season premiere. I don’t know what to expect and I couldn’t be happier for it, so let’s not waste any more time, and dive into The Big O’s second half!

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Summer 2021 – Week 3 in Review

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How the hell do these articles keep getting so long. The movie reviews were supposed to be quick reads, just a paragraph or so! I’m pretty sure they started as blurbs, but like all of my projects, I eventually start writing until there are no more words to write, and doubling my workload for no particularly good reason.

Well, I’ve got a meaty one for you all this week, full of diverse movie reviews, as well as the requisite dash of One Piece. Having spent most of the year so far powering through dozens of episodes a week, it’s a little unnerving to consider that I’m less than a hundred episodes from the finish line. Fortunately, Wano is such a visual upgrade for the series that I really can’t watch at the pace I used to, and am now forced to actually appreciate each episode with my full, undivided attention. “One Piece has gotten too beautiful to speed-watch” is a pretty nice problem to have, so I’ve few complaints as we enter the show’s current arc. In the meantime, let’s burn down some fresh films!

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ODDTAXI – Episode 5

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Well Odokawa, what will you do now? In spite of the man’s apparent desire to lead a quiet life, trouble just keeps managing to find him. This latest catastrophe isn’t even his fault, really; after all, could any of us be blamed for wanting to escape the grey doldrums of their daily life, and spend some time with a friend like Shirakawa? But purposefully or not, Odokawa has now attracted the undying hatred of Tanaka, a man who, having failed to acquire his dodo jpeg, truly has nothing to lose.

ODDTAXI’s last episode was a tapestry of alienation, a character study as pointed and convincing as anything in the medium. In a show that’s already captured the loneliness of modern society from a half-dozen angles, Tanaka’s story felt like a journey to the heart of darkness, the dislocation of a story like Taxi Driver transposed to the predatory mechanics of mobile games. Tanaka’s antisocial tendencies, addictive personality, and inferiority complex all latched onto Zooden with glee, dragging an already-unhappy man to the point where his self-worth lived and died alongside a digital dodo. When you’re as emotionally distanced from the world as Tanaka, simply becoming an instrument with purpose can seem like salvation – and with his dodo gone, the blue flame has awoken in Tanaka, telling him his purpose is Odokawa’s destruction. Let’s see how all these lonely souls survive another gripping episode of ODDTAXI!

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The Girl in Twilight – Episode 11

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We’re truly in it now, folks. After already having consumed Seriousuka’s home dimension, the Emissary of Twilight has journeyed on to Asuka’s own world, and revealed itself to be a third Asuka altogether. Except this Asuka is tiny, so I guess that makes it Chibi Asuka? Smolsuka? I like Smolsuka, I’m going with that.

Anyway, as my cavalier attitude might indicate, I’m not terribly worried about how this whole King of Twilight conflict plays out. The show itself has rarely hung much dramatic weight on its scifi trappings; instead, we get goofy stuff like Cowboy World, playful venues for our heroines to go on adventures. The solidity of the fantastical trappings has been consistently loose because the show’s dramatic bedrock lies elsewhere: in the utterly convincing friendships between Asuka and her friends, and in its consistent reflections on what it means to assume a mature identity. One by one, Asuka’s friends have had their preconceptions about their identities challenged, and emerged stronger for it – but for Asuka, embracing a new self feels like a betrayal of her lost brother. At this point, I’m holding out for Yu still somehow reaching her – but either way, I’m eager to see how her journey ends. Let’s get to it!

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Hugtto! Precure – Episode 24

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At last, our mysterious villain has shown his face. With the ultimately sympathetic Popple having been defeated and rehabilitated, Criasu Corp has extended its claws further than ever, introducing both Doctor Trauma and its actual president, George Criasu. As expected, the mystery man who’d always been accompanied by such evocative visual fanfare was George himself, a man determined to halt unhappiness and injustice by locking the world in a perpetual stasis. Fortunately, just as our nefarious foe unveiled his plan, Hana unlocked her own potential: the ability to end stasis, and drive the world into forward motion through the same cheerful, unerring support she’s always offered.

Hugtto as a whole is a story about the natural insecurities of growing older, deciding who you want to be as an adult, and taking steps to achieve that dream. This process is difficult and frightening, and there are times when all of us doubt our path or potential, falling into static cycles rather than progressing forward. In the face of this universal experience, Hana stands as the ultimate champion of forward progress, someone principally defined by her ability to encourage others and push them onward. With Hugtto’s narrative and thematic cores now fully aligned, I’m looking forward to seeing Hana embrace this power, while hopefully teaching her friends to offer the encouragement that she cannot offer herself. Can Hana truly accept that she is just as valuable and strong as all the friends she cheers for? Let’s find out!

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Summer 2021 – Week 2 in Review

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I’m proud to report that I was fully back on board the classics train this week, as I powered through three essential films that were all high on my to-watch list. One Piece still dominates a fair portion of the household’s viewing hours, but I’ve been making a point of setting some evenings aside, and should hopefully be back on a more reliable film schedule going forward. As for One Piece itself, we’re currently near the end of Whole Cake Island, meaning I will soon be watching One Piece’s incomplete, ongoing current arc.

That fact seems absurd to me. Just one year ago, One Piece was an implacable monument, a challenge I might get around to once I’d retired or something. I’d never have dreamed the show would evolve into something as gripping and dramatically complex as Hunter x Hunter – but here I am, emphatically wrong, happily equipped with the knowledge that there are two outstanding shonens in the world, and one of them is a legit fantasy epic. Anyway, let’s get to the movies!

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Wonder Egg Priority – Episode 9

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At last, the curtain has been pulled back, and the man behind it is a face we’ve seen before. Wonder Egg Priority has finally put its fantasy chips on the table, drawing a direct connection between Neiru’s Plati research and the wonder egg system itself. Acca and Ura-Acca have been revealed as the manipulators they always seemed to be, tormentors dangling salvation in front of these girls in order to either claim their power, or simply gather more research. Parallel worlds not only exist, but can be accessed through dreams – and by harnessing the powers of these dreams, Plati seems intent on mastering reality itself.

But all of that is ultimately secondary to what last episode was actually about. Confronted with the imminent death of her sister, Neiru turned to her friends for help, and at last shared the difficult personal circumstances that have made her who she is. Though she framed Kotobuki’s death in clinical terms, their last meeting proved just how much Neiru cared about her friend, and how difficult it was for her to let go. And as always, Ai was there to support her, sharing the guilt of freeing Kotobuki from her imprisonment, and reaffirming her kindness and emotional strength. Though Ai still grapples with self-hatred and a general feeling of disconnection with the world, her acts of kindness towards Neiru, Rika, and Momoe demonstrate a profound empathy and strength of character.

Of course, this is not your usual magical girl world. This is our world, where virtues like empathy are frequently reframed as weakness, and girls are abused and commodified by a nepotistic structure that assumes male superiority. It’s no surprise that Ai thinks she has no value; society has told her, and all of her friends, that the things which make them great have no purpose in this world. The only virtue they’re asked to perform is submission – but with Rika and Momoe having overheard the scheming of their enemies, I’m thinking the time for politely completing egg trials has passed. Can these four girls band together and fight for their right to happiness? I’m really hoping so; I’m not sure my heart could take it otherwise.

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Adachi and Shimamura – Episode 7

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Oh my god Adachi, what the hell are you doing. After a full episode of working herself up to asking Shimamura on a date, and another episode of screaming internally all through that date, she ultimately capped off Christmas by declaring her intent to become Shimamura’s… best friend. The girl is a mess, but Shimamura isn’t exactly helping. She can clearly recognize Adachi’s much stronger feelings, and isn’t really sure what to do about them. Paralyzed by indecision about her future course, she sees reciprocating Adachi’s feelings as a step too far – and if she acknowledges them without reciprocating them, their current relationship would collapse. The two are currently progressing by telling each other lies that they both know are lies, and if that’s not the proper foundation for a lasting relationship, I don’t know what it is.

However this mess plays out, I’m sure it’ll be as entertaining and thoughtfully observed as the road so far. Let’s dive back into the mess of emotions that is Adachi and Shimamura!

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ODDTAXI – Episode 4

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The rain hasn’t stopped for hours. When I first woke up, the sky seemed clear enough; but of course, I slept through my first alarm, and thus slept through my chance to start the day with some kind of head-clearing walk or jog. That failure heralded a cascade of other minor tragedies, as long-term wellbeing projects were once more shelved for the day, with the hope of “I’ll get to that tomorrow” tempered by the reality of all the tomorrows where I failed to get to them. For now, for today, let’s just focus on the job, and the maintenance required just to keep the lights on.

Welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be returning to ODDTAXI, a show which has so far captured the mundane adult experience with more acuity than virtually any anime I’ve seen. Its characters slump with the fatigue of professional fatalism and personal isolation; bereft of purpose or community, they cling to the hollow affirmation of social media, or simply accept that life will always be like this. These bedraggled misfits are my people – I also feel most alone when scrolling through tweets, yet can’t help crave that dwindling dopamine rush of online validation. It’s not the internet’s fault that we are all fundamentally alone; it has merely underlined the issue, and offered the opportunity to reinvent ourselves as brands rather than individuals. In a world as segmented and dehumanizing as this, perhaps that’s the best we can hope for.

Well, I hope Odokawa makes it out okay. Let’s return to ODDTAXI.

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