Symphogear XV – Episode 5

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Hello everyone, and welcome the fuck back to Wrong Every Time. You all ready for some SYMPHOGEAR??? It’s been altogether too long since Hibiki last punched somebody, and I think we could all use a little righteous fury right now. Plus, we’ve at last reached one of my favorite supergroup staples: that part where your financial/political backers betray you, and you find yourself a bunch of wanted outlaws.

It’s a pretty handy dramatic conceit, for a variety of reasons. A betrayal like this introduces a great deal of uncertainty into the narrative, making the cast seem far more vulnerable than before, and thus creating a greater sense of challenge for the tasks ahead. Additionally, robbing the cast of their institutional backing forces them to reckon with their own values, as they are forced to choose between personal justice and society’s preferred justice for the first time. That personal struggle will in turn inform this season’s thematic trajectory, as the wielders challenge the nationalist rhetoric of Kazanari. And of course, it’s also just fun watching a team like this cope with less-than-optimal conditions; seeing the wielders deployed as a scrappy guerilla group is a payoff in its own right, demonstrating how their strength has nothing to do with their institutional power.

So yeah, I’m pretty pumped for this turn in the story, and excited to see just how badly Kazanari fucks this up. Symphogear villains have overreached in the past, but with the architects themselves in play, I’m guessing Kazanari’s reenactment of this meme will be the show’s most satisfying to date. Let’s get to it!

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Anne of Green Gables – Episode 2

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to return to the animated classic that is Anne of Green Gables, as Anne and Matthew finally arrive at the gables in question. I say “finally,” but I should clarify that I am actually delighted by this show’s pacing. Modern slice of life anime frequently present life as a sort of shimmering snow globe, a place outside of time or context, presumably to help the audience feel distanced from their mundane concerns. In contrast, Green Gables simply presents the world as a whole at a meditative pace, allowing for the moments of rest, reflection, and even boredom that define life as it’s truly lived. It is delightful to me that we are following an episode named “Matthew Cuthbert is Surprised” with an episode called “Marilla Cuthbert is Surprised” – after all, it clearly takes at least forty to fifty minutes to properly convey two people processing a slight shock.

Of course, the actual reason this show’s pacing works so well is because the world it portrays is so lovely. Simply spending time in Takahata’s imagination is a gift, and given he both scripted and storyboarded Anne’s first four episodes, I imagine this episode will be just as charming as the last. With World Masterpiece Theater mainstay Ken’ichi Ishibashii subbing in on background art, it seems we’re in great hands as we return to Green Gables. Let’s start the show!

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Summer 2021 – Week 12 in Review

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week saw us experiencing the full consequences of catching up with One Piece, as hours upon hours of dedicated One Piece time were instead all poured into feature films. We watched a tremendous number of features this week, and I even finished She-ra alongside them, so this week’s gonna be something of a cinematic lightning round. There were old films, new films, red films and blue films, with everything we watched ranging from at least passable to genuinely fantastic. We’ve got a lot of Content to get through, so let’s not waste any more time, and charge through another Week in Review!

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86 – Episode 4

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to return to 86, where Lena has at last received the violent comeuppance she’s been approaching all season. After three episodes of ingratiating herself with the 86, and attempting to prove she is fundamentally unlike her privileged compatriots, the death of Kirschblute made the distance between her and her subordinates undeniably clear.

The 86 don’t need her paternalistic sympathy. Does she want a medal just for acknowledging them as human? Regardless of her lofty rhetoric, Lena still enjoys the full safety of her position, guarded even from political sanction by her powerful friends. And as her subordinates bitterly point out, though Lena pats herself on the back for her kindness, she hasn’t even learned their real names. She is a tourist in their world, her sympathy more a vehicle for her own satisfaction than genuine political change.

So then, the question becomes: what does Lena do when confronted with the truth? Will she retreat into the privilege of her position, and give up on connecting with the 86? That wouldn’t make for a particularly satisfying narrative, so I’m guessing we’re going the other route: Lena must prove she is a genuine political ally, and put her own life on the line the way her subordinates are perpetually forced to. Either way, the reckoning has arrived, and I’m eager to see how Lena faces it!

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Oregairu S3 – Episode 6

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Alright Hachiman, what’s the plan? You’ve wormed your way back into the prom preparations, but how are you actually going to triumph over the full power of Yukino’s mother? You’ve largely dealt with children or peers in the past, using your understanding of adolescent psychology to manipulate the actions of those around you. That’s clearly not going to work on an adult woman with institutional power, who knows exactly what she wants, and has no obligation to entertain the whims of teenagers.

His one real piece of leverage, which he was quick to point out last episode, is that the PTO wants the student body to voluntarily abandon their plans. If he can rally the students to his side, he could possibly create a conflict of a scale that supersedes Yukimom’s authority. If he can turn this conflict into a liability for her reputation, he might just win out.

Of course, even if he does that, it’ll still be an embrace of the old, limited methods he’s always employed. In fact, as of this moment, it feels like all three of our heroes are backsliding. Hachiman’s once more acting as a lone avenger, Yukino is refusing to relinquish her pride, and Yui is sacrificing her own happiness for the sake of her friends. It’s clear they’re all trying to reach a certain level of independence as high school ends, but it was their mutual friendship that made them strong, and without it, they’re relying on the same old habits as before. Can they successfully stand apart while still embodying the honesty, empathy, and humility they’ve learned together? Let’s find out!

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Adachi and Shimamura – Episode 10

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Hello everyone, and welcome on back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into Adachi and Shimamura, as our beleaguered heroines continue to inch closer to each other. Valentine’s Day turned out to be an unmitigated success, with Shimamura’s feelings for Adachi coming across even more clearly in contrast. After a day of nostalgia and melancholy spent with her old friend Tarumi, retracing the same steps with Adachi fostered some very different feelings. Rather than introducing the prospect of a love rival, Tarumi ultimately ended up reaffirming how Adachi is genuinely special to Shimamura.

Of course, that was just one of last episode’s many rewards. The Tarumi meetup also offered an opportunity for Shimamura to reflect on her shifting identity, as she lamented the pain of reaching out to her prior, “incomplete” self. The person Tarumi sought was a stranger even to Shimamura – but ultimately, Shimamura decided that the friction of attempting to restore these once-sundered bonds was worth it. Where Shimamura would have once discarded both Tarumi and Adachi when they became an emotional burden, she is now making a genuine effort, and working to maintain the relationships that are important to her. That in turn reflects the fact that she cares now – these bonds providing genuine comfort, partially dispelling the grey malaise that has characterized her unchanging days. Shimamura has made tremendous progress, and I’m eager to see how her dynamic with Adachi changes now that she actually wants things again. Let’s find out!

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Summer 2021 – Week 11 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. With One Piece finally in the rear view, the floodgates were opened this week, as we replaced hours of dedicated One Piece time with even more feature films. I actually watched even more films than I had time to write about this week, but don’t worry! All the excess Content will surely pop up in next week’s article. In the meantime, this was a week of recent highlights, as we checked out two of 2021’s top films, as well as a magnificent work from 2020.

It’s difficult to express how exciting it is to feel my art critique muscles being stressed and rebuilt this rigorously; with every film we screen, I feel just a sliver of added context, and that much more attunement with the infinite tapestry of artistic form and influence. There’s just so much to see, so much I don’t know, and grappling with that is both exhilarating and kinda terrifying. The world of storytelling is vaster than any person could chart, but as long as I know more today than I did yesterday, I think I’m on the right track. But enough starry-eyed rambling, let’s break down some films!

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Scum’s Wish – Episode 1

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be embarking on a brand new journey, as we check out the first episode of the 2017 drama Scum’s Wish. I recall a fair degree of buzz regarding the Scum’s Wish manga, with the story making waves for its willingness to engage with the emotional and physical messiness of teenage sexuality. In a field that frequently sanitizes relationships to the point where a chaste kiss is the ultimate expression of sexual fervor, Scum’s Wish acknowledges that teens are horny, and often express that horniness in self-destructive ways.

As for the production, we’ve got Masaomi Andou serving as director, whose projects all tend to feature a few common signatures. The most obvious indicator that you’re in an Andou production is the proliferation of screen-in-screen shots, where a character reaction, physical action, or some other variable is illustrated through smaller boxes layered on top of the original image. This technique tends to create a distinct sense of flow in his works, as well as the sense of a “moving comic” that is a bit closer to manga than film. Andou balances this visual signature with an otherwise restrained, almost conservative approach to direction, generally favoring clear, wide shots over angled or aggressive cinematography. Given this is a manga adaptation, I assume that’ll all translate to a rigorously manga-loyal adaptation, with his flourishes almost recreating the paneling of the source material.

Alright, I think that covers everything I know about this property and production. Let’s get to it!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 46

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re going to be taking it easy for a little while, by returning to the proudly low-stakes drama of Pokemon Sun and Moon. In spite of Lusamine’s best efforts to introduce some genuine narrative momentum to this production, last episode mostly just involved Starcloud teleporting the crew to a bevy of island hot spots (some more literal than others), along with the requisite dollop of Team Rocket trying hard and failing spectacularly. Ash promised to raise this little eldritch beast, but it’s clear that not even Starcloud can control Starcloud’s powers, and thus the potential for disaster remains high.

That’s all fine by me! I’m down for adventure and also down for relaxation, so whichever way the wind blows, I’ll be sure to adjust my beach chair and continue enjoying the Alolan summer. Good company can make any activity a treat, and Sun and Moon’s crew is about the best company we could hope for. Let’s all lean back and enjoy another lazy afternoon beneath the Alolan sun!

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Toradora! – Episode 8

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Having survived Toradora!’s darkest hour, we arrive at an episode that announces itself with one of the franchise’s greatest assets: Minori Kushieda, and her inexhaustible inventory of weird noises.

Minorin’s Whole Deal is one of the most compelling ways Toradora! pushes back against anime romance convention. For as complex as they are, Taiga and Ami still resemble recognizable archetypes – in contrast, Minori is both weird and intelligent in ways that aren’t often recognized in anime, much less framed in the context of the “perfect romantic ideal.” Minori is always too unabashedly herself to fade into her narrative role, always doing things that push others out of their comfort zones, and steering the narrative when you might expect her to be stepping aside. As we’ve discussed, her play-acting is ultimately its own kind of defensiveness, but her behavior is unique in a way that makes her feel far more alive and distinctive than many romantic heroines.

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