The Weight We Carry: Spirit Circle, Volume 3

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As Kouko drives him forward and Rune cheers him on, it’s becoming more and more clear that our young Fuuta is beginning to come apart at the seams.

This is not really Fuuta’s fault. At this point, he’s carrying the regrets of three past lives with him, all of whom lived longer lives than Fuuta himself. The vast majority of Fuuta’s memories are now inherited, and as he goes through his daily life, old selves float like intrusive thoughts to the surface. Sometimes, even Fuuta himself doesn’t notice the change; Spirit Circle frequently employs sequences of panels where Fuuta slips between selves without warning, with only the audience truly understanding his flickering selfhood. At other times, his past lives trudge behind him like a sad caravan, a burden he must carry wherever he goes.

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Summer 2020 – Week 4 in Review

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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!

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Why It Works: What Are Your Favorite Musical Cues in Anime?

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This week on Why It Works, I dug into the power of a great musical cue, something I personally am an absolute sucker for. Nearly all of my favorite moments in anime take strong advantage of a impactful music drop; music possesses an ability to immediately evoke an emotional state like few other art forms, and can hit us on a level that entirely bypasses conscious, reasoned response. I greatly enjoyed writing this one, and hope you have a nice time reading it too. Let’s get to it!

What Are Your Favorite Musical Cues in Anime?

Kaguya-sama: Love is War – Episode 2

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! Today I’ll be continuing a journey through one of the most acclaimed recent shows that I haven’t already seen, as we explore the second episode of Kaguya-sama: Love is War. So far, Shinichi Omata’s creative, energetic direction has been Kaguya-sama’s strongest feature by far, with nearly every gag earning itself a unique style of visual embellishment. Building off the base color scheme of Kaguya’s own design, Omata has created a spy-versus-spy reminiscent aesthetic that gives the whole show a sense of cohesiveness and cool, acting as a perfect tonal counterpoint to the show’s absurd conflicts.

Visually, I don’t really have any complaints. However, the show’s initial premise already feels it’s wearing thin for me – meaning for this episode, what I’m really hoping for is some expansion in terms of the show’s scope, and particularly in terms of its emotional punch. I know Kaguya and Miyuki like each other, but I don’t really know them well enough to know why they like each other, or see their relationship as something to actively root for. I’ll forgive a lot in a show if it has a compelling central romance, and if Kaguya-sama can match its stellar visual execution with some endearing character writing, I’ll probably be hooked. Let’s see what’s in store in the second episode of Kaguya-sama!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 15

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Over in the real world, COVID is still ravaging the globe, protests are raging worldwide in response to my country’s racist, murderous police force, and government officials are calling on the military to cut down citizens with absolute impunity. If these aren’t the end of the days, they are the very least a brutal crucible through which all of us must pass with tremendous hardship, emerging into a future that bears little resemblance to the untenable past.

In light of all that fire and brimstone, I think we could all use a brief trip back to Alola. Staying involved and fighting for a better future is important, but we have to keep our spirits up as well, and recently, very little has given me as much joy as Pokemon Sun and Moon. Both Sun and Moon’s heroes and villains are utterly charming characters, the islands themselves are an inherently relaxing destination, and every episode demonstrates the strengths of this production’s animators in new ways. Last episode was entirely taken up by Lillie learning how to pet a Vulpix named Snowball, and I’d be perfectly happy with an equally fuwa fuwa premise this time as well. Let’s set aside the concerns of the day for just a moment, and enjoy some Pokemon Sun and Moon!

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Toradora! – Episode 6

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“Are you tired of being nice? Don’t you just want to go ape shitt?”
– Anonymous

It’s a little ironic that Ryuuji and Taiga initially bonded over their mutual inability to truly express their feelings. Though they have the same fears anyone might have about directly confessing to their crush, in a general sense, Ryuuji and Taiga are both unusually transparent, straightforward teenagers. Ryuuji would never lie or manipulate to get ahead, and Taiga wields her emotions like a rhinoceros driving a go kart, crashing through social niceties with the force of her feelings. And though they can’t really appreciate this, it’s actually that transparency and sincerity that their friends like about them. Kitamura respects Ryuuji for his straightforward decency, and Minori regularly lets Taiga’s rage be the vehicle for her own feelings. Our heroes envy their friends for their seemingly effortless cool and grace, but those friends in turn understand their own actions are in part performances, while Ryuuji and Taiga are always, unabashedly themselves.

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Summer 2020 – Week 3 in Review

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! Last week I just barely managed to scrabble together enough airing shows to return to my traditional streaming-focused Week in Review model, but since then, my circumstances have taken a couple major turns that make that style significantly less tenable. For one thing, I’m dropping God of High School, because it’s not a good show and I don’t really enjoy watching it anymore. But more importantly, and far more positively, I’ve received some extremely generous reader donations directed towards Oregairu S3 writeups – meaning that from here out, I’ll hopefully be jamming out full weekly Oregairu articles, just as soon as I marathon the entirety of the first two seasons to refresh myself.

Considering the only thing you can really say about God of High School is “animation good, story bad,” hopefully all this counts as a net positive for you folks. And meanwhile, after a slight cooldown period to rekindle my engine after Preview Week, I’ve resumed munching through classic films in earnest, and have plenty more reflections to share with you all. Let’s dive into another Week in Review!

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Bodacious Space Pirates – Episode 5

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You folks ready for a space battle? Today we’re returning to Bodacious Space Pirates on the brink of the team’s first genuine combat engagement, with Marika having developed a daring plan in order to trick their adversaries. Taking advantage of the apparently elite skills of team hacker Lynn, Marika hopes to fool their attackers by letting them take over a dummy duplicate of their own ship’s systems, only to turn the tides when the enemy moves in for the kill. With both Chiaki and team leader Jenny Dolittle on her side, Marika is riding high at the moment – but the fact of the matter is, Marika’s skills have yet to be tested by anyone who doesn’t actually want her to succeed. So far this has all been a fun intellectual exercise, but clashing with real pirates can invite real consequences, and it remains to be seen how Marika will handle the pressure of mid-battle command, or accepting the potentially fatal consequences of her decisions. With her first live fire exam about to commence, let’s return to the starry seas of Bodacious Space Pirates!

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The Girl in Twilight – Episode 5

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! Today we’ll be returning to the rootinest tootinest reality in all of the multiverse, as we continue The Girl in Twilight’s exploration of modern fantasy cowboy Japan. From the relatively straightforward social commentary of Twilight’s first arc, the show has now bounded forward into wild, fantastical farce, presenting a world that is as unique as it is hilariously anachronistic.

At the moment, Mia is doing her best to succeed as a new deputy, while her friends Chloe and Nana have found themselves hogtied and captured by Bounty Hunter Asuka, and our own Asuka and Yu are being convinced to rob a bank. In total, it seems like we might have members of the main crew from four different realities all represented here, between our original party, the Cowboy World locals, the missing Seriousuka, and the Yu who actually summoned the girls into this world. I’m not sure precisely how many Asukas any given world can handle, but I’m eager to find out as we continue this seriously entertaining production!

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Hugtto! Precure – Episode 15

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Hello everybody, and good to see you here at Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be continuing our journey through Hugtto! Precure, which is always a wonderful time, but which I’ve also currently got even more reasons to be excited for. For one thing, we’re still right in the middle of the “Lulu Infiltration Arc,” as Lulu pretends to be Hana’s long-lost cousin in order to get more info on the Pretty Cures. Of course, Lulu herself is far from impervious to Hana and the other’s charms, and it’s been wonderful to see her developing both affection for Hana specifically and more emotions in general, like her absurd baby-knowledge rivalry with Saaya.

Beyond that, I’ve also been told that this episode will serve as the triumphant return of Emiru, The Precure With Anxiety. I relate to Emiru heavily, as I am also deeply self-conscious and generally certain I’m about to die, so I’m eager to see how she fits back into the story, and particularly what she makes of Lulu. Let’s get back to the Pretty Cure!

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