Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I write to you from deep in the midst of my Sailor Moon marathon, having completed the show’s first two seasons and first film, and just recently started on Sailor Moon S. The show’s got a pretty steady formula, but it’s a good one – the main cast are charming and bounce off each other well, and both the direction and character acting remain exceptional, which is no surprise given its absurdly distinguished core team. Funnily enough, it’s actually when the show tries to do serious, multi-episode drama that I generally tune out; the fantasy action is repetitive and seasonal arcs kinda weightless, so my interest tends to ebb whenever the stakes start to rise. Fortunately, each new season offers a reset back to sailor guardian infighting and cat episodes, so there’s always something fun just around the corner. I’ve also been munching through some interesting films as of late, so let’s turn our attention to those, as we burn down the latest Week in Review!
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 24
The words of Cruel Angel’s Thesis speak of a boy on the threshold of greatness, the wind of destiny wafting through the open door, wings only waiting to be unfurled adorning his shoulders. And yet the boy hesitates, “desperate for that gentle touch,” his gaze focused solely on the protector beside him. Generations of audiences have interpreted this metaphor of awakening in their own ways, whether to point out Anno’s clear antipathy towards the perpetual adolescence of fandom, the ways in which Evangelion echoes and reifies the heroic journeys of prior mecha pilots, or Evangelion’s own obsession with human connection and distrust of “adulthood.” Of course, Anno did not write Cruel Angel’s Thesis; if he did, I somehow doubt the song would proceed with such confidence, such assurance that any hesitant boy will one day learn he has the wings to take flight.
Anne of Green Gables – Episode 16
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to return to Anne of Green Gables, wherein our young heroine is still embroiled in a brave battle against public education and its attendant indignities. With both the peabrained Mr. Phillips and intolerable Gilbert Blythe arrayed against her, it is no wonder Anne simply cannot countenance the thought of returning to her public studies. Fortunately, Marilla has been largely accommodating of this moral crusade, clinging to the perhaps unwise hope that Anne will at some point get over herself.
Sadly for Marilla, Anne is nothing if not stubborn, and I doubt even the shame of having served their guests a dead mouse for tea will have convinced her that some time out of the house might be for the best. Still, between Diana’s pleading and Gilbert’s continued demonstrations that he’s not actually the tyrant she has made of him, a hope remains that she might return to the world of socialization and scholastic achievement. With tempers flared and stakes high, we return to the delightful Anne of Green Gables!
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You – Episode 6
Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we’d drop back in on the drama of 100 Girlfriends, and see how Rentaro’s faring with his rapidly expanding collection of girlfriends. Our last adventure saw the reticent Nano joining the crew, who in spite of her professed preference for “efficiency” was unable to deny our boy’s earnest, compassionate affection. And thus our polycule gained its latest addition, furnishing the shy Shizuka, tempestuous Karane, and eternally horny Hakari.
As with the addition of Shizuka, Nano’s arrival necessitates another cooldown adventure, as the expanded group work to discover their new collective social dynamic. This is not simply a way to space out the addition of supplementary girlfriends, nor a method of “dragging out” the story – these intermediate escapades actually embody the heart of 100 Girlfriends, which is fundamentally dedicated to ensuring partners don’t feel simply like prizes to be won and then forgotten about, but new arrivals to an active and collectively loving community. It is as important that Nano feels just as comfortable with Shizuka, Karane, and Hakari as she does with Rentaro, and I’m guessing this poolside nonsense will affirm exactly that. Let’s get to it!
Summer 2024 – Week 7 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week my housemate has set off on a trip to Germany, meaning I get to watch all the classic anime I couldn’t successfully pitch as group viewings. This has in practice translated to around three hours of Sailor Moon a day, which has by all accounts been a deeply enriching experience so far. Sailor Moon has one of the strongest core production teams of any anime in history, with Junichi Sato, Kunihiko Ikuhara, Takuya Igarashi, and plenty of other legends all elevating the tales of the charmingly unheroic Usagi and her brave companions. The show’s mostly been about the surface pleasures so far, but with a team this good, even the most frivolous of premises offers plenty of strong gags and ridiculous faces. And of course, all this Sailor Moon has been accompanied by a steady diet of cinema as well. Let’s break down some films!
Wonder Egg Priority – Episode 12
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we dive into the last chapter of a tangled and frequently devastating drama, with the final plus-sized episode of Wonder Egg Priority standing before us. There is much left to resolve, but after our triumphant preceding episode, I have more hope than ever that Ai will be able to reach and rescue her friends from whatever fate Plati, Frill, or the wonder egg arbiters have in store for them. Isolated within a demeaning, misogynistic culture that seems all but indifferent to their pain, Ai and the others briefly found community in each other – but in the wake of Frill’s rebellion against her cruel parents, their bonds have frayed and left each of them painfully alone.
Or at least, so they believed. Our last episode offered a quiet, insistent challenge to that feeling, that understandable instinct to crawl up within yourself and reject all external stimulus, determined to at least avoid the pain of judgment and disappointment. It is a cruel contradiction that in the depths of depression, it actually becomes all the more important to open ourselves up to potential pain, to seek the validation and unconditional support that might remind us of emotions beyond self-loathing, fatigue, and certainty that life will always be this way. For Ai, that realization came in the form of her own alternate self, the version of her who never found a friend with whom to share her feelings, and thus never wavered from the path towards self-annihilation.
To this new Ai, our own uncertain heroine seemed like a figure of confidence and wonder, a model inspiring her to genuine hope for her own future. And through those unclouded eyes, the Ai we’ve followed was able to recall the gentle, unerring support of her mother, who pledged to love her daughter no matter what path she chose. Spurred on by these unexpected allies, Ai vowed to believe in her own future, knowing that it is only through that irrational, desperate hope for tomorrow that she can find the strength to protect those she loves. With Ai’s own personal trials completed, let’s charge towards the future!
Galaxy Express 999 – Episode 2
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am beyond excited to be embarking on the Galaxy Express, and once more exploring the sights of Leiji Matsumoto’s fantastical adventure. The first episode proved more action-packed than I would ever have predicted, with our young hero Tetsuro responding to the death of his mother through a fit of righteously murderous fury, destroying the contemptible Count Mecha and fleeing the police with the mysterious Maetel. Escaping the earth as fugitives, the two now rest aboard the Galaxy Express itself, ready to experience the wonders of the universe.
Alongside the obvious excitement of so much immediate dramatic commotion, it’s also clear that, in spite of its fantastical embellishments, Galaxy Express is deeply concerned with the inherent injustices of modern society. Both Megalopolis’ stratified pleasures and the allure of cyborg bodies serve as clear illustrations of capitalism’s cruelties; the hope of “work hard and you’ll succeed” was immediately proven a false idol through the death of Tetsuro’s mother, emphasizing how class is for most people an inescapable life sentence. Whether Galaxy Express continues elaborating on that theme or uses its rambling structure as a vehicle for new meditations, I’m eager to experience whatever wonders are up ahead. Let’s get to it!
Yuri is My Job! – Episode 1
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re embarking on a brand new adventure, as we check out the first episode of Yuri is My Job! I doubt I need to explain to any of my readers that “yuri” generally refers to lesbian romance in anime or manga. Yuri has a long and storied tradition in these fields, with the early 20th century Class S dramas that were often focused on all-girl schools informing the works of the Year 24 Group in the 1970s, including such enduring classics as Riyoko Ikeda’s Dear Brother. These stories influenced the next generations in turn, with ‘90s highlights like Maria Watches Over Us and Revolutionary Girl Utena paving the way for modern, somewhat more grounded stories like Bloom Into You or Adachi and Shimamura, as well as lighter romcoms like The Demon Girl Next Door.
Anime and manga have often been a haven for society’s outsiders, realizing the hopes and aspirations that would invite censure in a rigid, conservative culture. And even as we’ve begun to break the shackles publicly inhibiting expressions of homosexual love, yuri dramas have continued to evolve with the times, even hopping aboard the isekai boom through stories like I’m In Love With The Villainess. Yuri is My Job seems to fit neatly within the modern self-aware paradigm, with its genre-savvy title and heroine whose name is literally Hime, meaning “princess.” It apparently takes place at a cafe themed after those classic Class S dramas, making me curious as to both how it might comment on genre convention, and how it will express earnest character drama in its own right. Let’s find out!
Summer 2024 – Week 6 in Review
Hello folks, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. As the summer heat continues to bear down upon us, this week saw my house concluding our run through Victory Gundam, which has left me scrambling to find a proper followup production. I definitely need to take a break from Gundam, but I’m not really sure what else I can rely on for group viewings – we’re currently watching through the highlights of the modern isekai boom (Log Horizon and Grimgar), but I’m still in the market for a new longer-term project. Maybe the Hajime no Ippo adaptation, or possibly Sailor Moon? Anyway, I’d welcome any suggestions from all of you, but in the meantime, the conclusion of Victory was of course accompanied by plenty of old-fashioned film screenings. Let’s break ‘em down!
Common Faults and Monsters
Like most films by Hirokazu Kore-eda, Monster begins quietly, tracking the shoes of a child as they silently navigate a grassy embankment. The movement is furtive, hesitant; the boy we are following seems uncertain of his destination, yet cordoned in his wandering by fear of reprisal. Beyond him, electric lights glimmer in reflection upon a dark river, while the sirens of the city howl in the distance. We pull up: a firetruck, a bustling crowd, and a great burning building looming in the distance. How can such an aberrant form coexist with this gentle moment, this private odyssey of youth on the riverbanks? Odd how a panning of the camera can change a scene so utterly, make beauty into ugliness, or the terrible glorious to behold.