After half a season of rambling episodic tales with diverse thematic takeaways, Kaiba’s eighth episode finds itself falling victim to that enduring foe of metaphorical fiction: narrative continuity. With our protagonist’s fate uncertain following Vanilla’s heroic sacrifice, our story turns to the planet highlighted in the show’s opening, the planet of rule and rebellion. Here, the tyrannical Warp rules from on high in a body that’s strangely familiar, while Lord Dada foments rebellion below, aided by his chief accomplices Popo and Neyro. The course of this episode resolves as so many dominoes tumbling into place, the falsehoods of both Warp and Dada breaching the surface as the friends Kaiba has long grasped towards make their final stand.
Yuki Yuna is a Hero – Episode 3
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’d like to check back in on Yuki Yuna and her continuing heroic escapades, with the team having just secured a victory against three simultaneous invaders. Yuki Yuna’s second episode answered some questions and raised others, affirming and expanding on its internal mythology while leaving the mechanisms and larger motivations of this conflict conspicuously vague. This ambiguity stands in contrast to the show’s highly specific sense of place: as one of my readers helpfully explained, Yuki Yuna is specifically grounded in the city of Kan’onji, on Shikoku Island.
Aside from overt reveals, last episode’s emphasis on Fu and Togo reconnecting, as well as the gamified resolutions of its final battles, made it clear that explicating personal bonds and illustrating strategically grounded conflicts are also among the show’s top priorities. I’m a little wary of the show’s emphasis on “national defense” (no Togo, high schoolers are not deserters if fighting monsters seems outside their comfort zone), but we’ll have to see if that’s an ongoing thread or just a few odd turns of phrase. We’ve got Vertices to bash, so let’s get to it!
Skip and Loafer – Episode 2
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I think I’m gonna treat myself to another episode of Skip and Loafer, a show whose premiere proved delightful in basically every respect. Our protagonists Mitsumi and Sousuke are already demonstrating themselves to be both inherently charming and satisfyingly multifaceted characters, endearing apart and adorable as a unit, each with clear lessons to learn from the other’s example. Rather than simple, formless infatuation, it feels like we’re moving towards that “each provides what the other lacks” sort of relationship that tends to define the best anime romances, from Toradora to Spice and Wolf to Oregairu.
And alongside the show’s strong writing and characterization, director Kotomi Deai’s production is providing a perfect aesthetic compliment to the show’s narrative fundamentals, offering art design and animation flourishes as nonchalantly accomplished as the show’s character drama. The color work is light and inviting, the character acting is playful and expressive, and even the sound design is working hard to accentuate the key emotional moments. Skip and Loafer is proving itself as charming and skillfully realized as I could hope for, and I’m eager to get back to it. So let’s do that!
Summer 2023 – Week 11 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. This has been a hectic week on my end, with a family wedding consuming my general film-screening time, but I’m fortunately sitting on a massive buffer of reviews to ensure you all receive your regularly scheduled ramblings. And frankly, I really can’t blame the wedding for my negligence – the genuine fact of it is that I’ve been splitting my evenings between thrilling Armored Core battles and binge watches of Dragon Ball Super, which has risen from a rough start to prove itself altogether superior to Z. Super has fully revived the mix of comedy, character drama, and action that made the original Dragon Ball so engaging, and I’ll be sure to have a full report for you all as soon as we munch through its pan-universal martial arts tournament. But in the meantime, lemme just rummage around in my sack of movie reviews for a moment, so we can break down a fresh collection of films!
Planetes and the Dignity of Garbage Collection
Planetes’ fourth volume begins with an accounting of our heroes’ trials, all framed in relation to the profession that once united them. Hachimaki is en route to Jupiter, “committed to never again collect garbage in space.” Tanabe is now Mrs. Hoshino, and “currently collects garbage in space.” Fee “might be sick and tired of commanding a team that collects garbage and space.” And the thoughtful, quiet Yuri seems content with his lot, and “will perhaps always collect garbage in space.”
BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! – Episode 2
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into the thorny drama of BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!, after a premiere that seemed to promise far more tears and resentment than starry-eyed musical performances. MyGO opened on a band breakup and continued more or less in that vein, as the scattered members of CRYCHIC all went about their separate ways, some eager to pick up the pieces, others hesitant to invite such pain again.
Into this tangled web of relationships stomped Anon Chihaya, who has no idea what’s going on, but goddamnit if she’s not gonna make it about herself. Anon is a delightfully self-absorbed heroine who exhibits none of the optimistic or inspiring qualities you’d expect from a music drama lead; she’s pursuing a band purely to fit in at her apparently band-obsessed high school, and has so far responded to the emotional troubles of her compatriots with a mixture of gossip-hungry curiosity and loud indifference. Basically none of the characters introduced so far seem to exhibit healthy relationships with their peers, which seems like a terrific recipe for some Rumors-style musical alchemy. Let’s see what they get up to next!
Bocchi the Rock! – Episode 10
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we’d check in on the misadventures of Bocchi and the gang, as our crew settles back into their school routine after a semi-triumphant summer break. Bookended by the shining victories of Kessoku Band’s latest performance and their trip to the beach, Bocchi’s vacation was otherwise characterized by a retreat to Bocchi’s familiar bedroom hermitage, emphasizing how personal growth is never quite as easy or consistent as we might hope.
That said, Kita has promised she’ll be paying more attention to Bocchi at school, so I imagine we’re in for a fresh run of socialization immersion therapy as classes reconvene. Can Bocchi square her desperate need to be seen with her paralyzing terror of being known? Let’s find out!
Summer 2023 – Week 10 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. The warm days of summer are currently ceding to chill winds and autumn leaves, which is normally a time of great existential terror for me, but I’ve frankly been so preoccupied by the day-to-day chaos of life that I can’t really bother to be scared about aging with nothing to show for it. Instead, I’ve been keeping busy with writing projects big and small, from breaking into the deliciously well-written It’s MyGO! to proofreading the last few quests of my DnD campaign. Also, the live action One Piece came out! My expectations were thoroughly muted after the disastrous live action Cowboy Bebop, but positive buzz and my abiding love for the material drew me back, and I’m happy to report that the live action One Piece is nearly as good as a live action One Piece could possibly be. What does that mean? I’m glad you asked!
We Are Not Fireworks: A Silent Voice
“I hope I die before I get old.”
– The Who, ‘My Generation’
A Silent Voice begins with an ending, as Shoya Ishida settles his affairs and prepares to end his own life. Saturated in a cold, otherworldly light, he runs through a list of final preparations: give notice at his part-time job, sell off his belongings, close his bank account, repay his familial debts. Trembling, uncertain piano keys offer a murmur of anticipation like slipping off into a dream; bathed in soft focus, he floats like a ghost towards his terminal destination. It is a somber moment, but also an oddly liberating one. After this moment, he will no longer struggle, no longer suffer, no longer labor under the weight of guilt and self-hatred and despair. Stepping up to the edge of the bridge, he prepares to reenact a familiar ritual of his childhood, leaping out into space in a final prayer of escape.
Tsurune S2 – Episode 5
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’d like to check back in on the boys of Tsurune, and see if Minato’s team can drag themselves out of their current funk. Having failed to compete as a true unit in their recent tournament, Masaki ordered all of them to figure out what they’re lacking, and that’s precisely what they’ve been doing. After most of an episode of morosely practicing off the range, Minato seems to have realized he’s lost sight of his team – and what’s more, that he doesn’t actually know what his own preferred style might be.
With the bold examples of Nikaidou’s team proving the variable nature of “correct form,” Minato isn’t alone in this uncertainty. Ryouhei is beginning to doubt the value and nature of “beautiful archery,” while Kaito is realizing for the first time how his own play inherently builds off the performance and mentality of his teammates. Their strategic concerns serve as natural echoes for the process of identity reassessment all adolescents experience; social pressure instigates a process of self-analysis that causes us to doubt our unconsidered modes of behavior, and perhaps consciously assign ourselves new patterns and perspectives. Given this, it’s little surprise that the already self-critical Seiya and highly emotionally intelligent Nanao are weathering this challenge with grace; after all, self-assessment is second nature to both of them. But our other boys will likely need a little help, so let’s see how they’re fairing in a fresh episode of Tsurune!