The first word I’d use to describe Bloom Into You’s manga, particularly in contrast with its animated adaptation, is sparse. Panel compositions are often defined by their vast, empty spaces, leaving plenty of room for the characters’ lingering, unspoken thoughts. This is a fine choice for a story like Bloom Into You, a story so preoccupied with the sense of deficiency or emptiness that haunts its two leads. Emptiness is what Touko sees when she considers what the future might bring – a wholly empty sky, the nothingness where her voice trails off, and the blueprint of behavior left by her sister ends.
The Demon Girl Next Door S2 – Episode 9
Hello folks, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. Today is a good day: the sky is clear, the sun is shining, and we’re checking in on the continuing misadventures of Momo and Shamiko. Yes, it’s time for The Demon Girl Next Door, which most recently offered up a refreshingly low-stakes zoo trip. After all the propulsive and fantastical drama of season two’s first half, it was lovely to see Demon Girl return to the core dynamic of Momo and Shamiko at rest, still battling with their personal anxieties, but doing their best to improve for each other.
Frankly, it seems like the show has largely elaborated its underlying “what demons and magical girls represent” metaphor at this point, leading me to suspect future drama will lean more into the show’s character relationships and comedy. Ogura’s intimidating appearance at the end of last episode seems to support that guess, promising an episode of chaotic science and questionable ethics to come. Let’s see what the gang is up to in a fresh episode of The Demon Girl Next Door!
Eureka Seven – Episode 17
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be returning to Eureka Seven after far too long away, picking up after one of the show’s most impressive episodes to date. The combination of Sayo Yamamoto on direction and Chiaki J. Konaka on script made for a uniquely cinematic and psychedelic experience, with intimate, carefully boarded sequences like Renton overhearing Gidget and Moondoggie’s liaison bumping shoulders with tense, bewildering sequences of Eureka’s fraying mental state.
The episode was a perfect fit for both its key talents. Yamamoto is one of the few directors in anime who can evoke comfortable sexual intimacy, not just adolescent sexual preoccupation, making her the ideal choice for conveying Renton’s realization that he’s perhaps not quite prepared for what “joining the world of adults” really means. And Konaka has spent most of his career obsessing over fraying minds (most recently his own), making him an excellent choice for articulating Eureka’s mental disarray.
Ultimately, Renton was sufficiently chastened by his experiences to offer Eureka a genuine apology, and admit he’s still in over his head. Perpetual manchild Holland has made for an awkward role model, but Renton is fundamentally a good kid, more driven by his urge to connect than his need to impress. Admission of misunderstanding is the first step to true understanding; there is still much we don’t know about the Coralians, but if Renton can follow through on his pledge to earnestly engage with Eureka’s world, these two might just make it work. Let’s get to it!
Spring 2023 – Week 9 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. While most of our weekly screenings aren’t really driven by any sort of guiding theme, one of my housemate’s larger meta-projects lately has been to test one of my other housemate’s variable tolerance for action movies. We’ve basically pinned down that an emphasis on practical stunts, focus on at least vaguely human characters, and minimum of grating machismo are generally the key factors allowing our action-averse companion to enjoy some apocalyptic mayhem. And this week in particular, we discovered a franchise that somehow nestles within the overlapping circles of all our interests: The Fast and The Furious. As such, today I bring to you the fruits of a week and a half of fast and furious features, as we raced from the original film all the way through F9: The Fast Saga. Plentiful spoilers ahead, but you really can’t describe this franchise without referencing the audacity of its twists and setpieces. Buckle your seatbelts, folks. It’s time to get furious.
Land of the Lustrous – Episode 8
Through the course of their plaintive journey, Phos has tried again and again to reinvent themself, and reshape themself into some form that might be of use to their society. In spite of all their efforts, perhaps the only lesson that can be drawn from their journey is “not all change is good change,” as last episode clearly demonstrated. After having failed to be of use as a warrior even with their newly empowered legs, that episode saw Phos suffering yet another unjust separation from their companions, as they discovered their new body structure no longer required the low-light hibernation cycle employed by their fellow gems. Instead, they were forced to embrace a new degree of isolation as the unwanted apprentice of Antarcticite, the one gem assigned to protecting their sleeping companions.
Spy x Family – Episode 19
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be stopping in with the Forger family, and seeing what fresh madness is brewing in the world of Spy x Family. Last episode saw the franchise at its most delightfully farcical, with Loid being forced to play damage control for the worst spy in Ostania. Dashing superspy Daybreak immediately proved himself one of Spy x Family’s most entertaining side characters, and I hope he’ll return to torment Loid again soon.
As far as actual character development goes, the threat of Anya’s midterms ended up facilitating both Anya and Loid’s personal growth. Inspired by Yuri’s pragmatic framing of education, Anya began to understand that school is not an obstacle to her advancement, but actually the vehicle through which she might grow into the secret agent she’s always dreamed of being. And though Loid took every measure possible to ensure Anya would pass, he was ultimately forced to concede that Anya worked hard and succeeded on her own, which will hopefully engender a little more faith in his daughter. The Forgers are growing both individually and as a unit, and I’m eager to see what lunacy awaits them next. Let’s get to it!
Simoun – Episode 25
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m happy to report we are at last returning to the skies of Simoun, and discovering the ultimate fate of all our brave pilots. Chor Tempest currently stands on the brink of dissolution, having surrendered their vehicles to foreign pilots and proceeded to the spring that will decide their fate. There, they find not Onashia, but their companion Yun – for having been inspired by Rea’s words, she has decided that saving Onashia is the purpose she has sought.
Yun might be one of the lucky ones. For all of its limiting strictures, the order of Simulacrum at least promised certainty, a knowledge of what you are and what you must do. But with their military superiority and religious authority crumbling at once, the people of Simulacrum are being forced to recognize their beliefs were ultimately arbitrary, the calcification of power and doctrine concealing the core truth of the simouns’ nature. And of course, none feel this shift more acutely than the sybillae, who have transitioned from living avatars of faith to redundant markers of a lost age.
It is entirely in keeping with Simoun’s thoughtful narrative approach that this be our final conflict – not the great battle for the fate of Simulacrum, but the painful necessity of moving on in its wake. With their past discredited and future uncertain, let’s bear witness to Chor Tempest’s final mission.
Spring 2023 – Week 8 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week has seen me and my housemates positively gorging on Tears of the Kingdom, losing ourselves in the realms of Hyrule at every possible opportunity. The game still seems plainly unrealistic; game worlds can’t be realized with such simultaneous breadth of experience and effortless nuance of character interactivity, all of these systems can’t possibly feed into each other to encourage such a robust and satisfying play loop, and jury-rigging machines together couldn’t ever feel so seamless, natural, and joyful. And yet it is, they do, and making weird contraptions has proven itself the natural evolution of Breath of the Wild’s call to creative action. They’ve even addressed what issues did exist in Breath of the Wild, from weapon durability (now you can always craft your own high-quality weapons) to rain (say hello to sticky tonics). It’s been hard to pull myself away, but don’t worry – we still found time for our scheduled film viewings. Let’s get into it!
Sanctuary, Destiny, and The Deer King
If you were to make a list of the most distinguished animation directors of all time, Masashi Ando would be one of the first names included. In spite of never serving as a director himself, Ando has collaborated with and elevated the works of practically all the greatest film directors of the past thirty years. Ando has worked as character designer and animation director on some of Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon’s most esteemed films, and has continued to cement his legacy by collaborating with the next generation of talent, with his guiding hand on animation direction contributing to Your Name’s global success. As such, when it was announced that Masashi Ando was working alongside fellow Ghibli alumni Masayuki Miyauji in directing a feature film, at least a touch of hyperventilating was in order.
The Legend of Vox Machina S2 – Episode 6
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be diving back into The Legend of Vox Machina, and seeing how our ragtag heroes are faring in the wake of their battle with an active volcano. Keyleth’s literal trial by fire proved an excellent vehicle for improving her confidence, with the distinctions in form between this task and the Briarwoods arc demonstrating the importance of tailoring your conflicts to the players they’re prioritizing.
Percy’s trial spanned a full arc, involved a massive amount of active roleplaying, and resolved in more of an emotional victory than a tangible, mechanical one: an ambitious demand for any player, and thus a challenge that could only be set before a particularly confident one. In contrast, Keyleth’s victory was more sidequest than main arc, its challenges mostly involved performing well in combat, and its conclusion was marked by the super-tangible awarding of fire mastery, all choices better-suited to a player who needs some encouragement, and perhaps doesn’t want to be put on the spot for big speeches. You can theoretically apply a generic adventure to any party, but the best adventures involve meeting your players where they’re most comfortable, and giving them the tools needed to shine in their own way.
Well, that’s the theory, anyway. I’ve been doing my best to apply that logic to my own campaign: my lore-focused player has been deeply integrated into the political tides of the region, my mechanics-focused player has been given lots of flexible combat abilities to express himself with, and my shy player has been afforded more skill-based abilities so they don’t have to roleplay as much. My only real problem at the moment is the player who thinks DnD is a comedy improv hour, and we’re, uh, working on that. But enough about me, let’s get back to Vox Machina!