Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I ran through a diverse grab bag of films this week, including a few recent features, an old horror classic, and some genuine bullshit. I generally prefer silence when I’m not actively watching something, but one of my housemates is most relaxed when there’s some sort of background noise in the environment, so we tend to compromise with films that categorically could not command our attention: The Meg, G.I. Joe, etcetera. Along with that, I’ve also been surging ahead through One Piece, and have now blown entirely past Thriller Bark. It was a productive week and I’ve got plenty to talk about, so let’s get right to it and dive into the Week in Review!
Why It Works: How Usopp the Liar Became a True Hero in One Piece
You all knew this One Piece rampage would inspire some articles eventually, right? Well, here’s the opening salvo, as we explore the journey of my current favorite One Piece character. Usopp’s journey was fascinating to me for several reasons, but the article’s right there, so you might as well click through. I really enjoyed writing this one!
How Usopp the Liar Became a True Hero in One Piece
Horimiya – Episode 3
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’d like to dig back into Horimiya, which has so far proven to be a compelling but lopsided production, with some clear strengths and weaknesses. On the positive side, the show’s character writing has proven quite good so far, with its main cast offering nuanced, multifaceted personalities that incorporate not just goals and attitudes, but also a variety of personal quirks, interests, and anxieties. Combined with the show’s refreshingly grounded dialogue and general avoidance of melodrama, the overall package feels remarkably true to life, an earnest and unpretentious exploration of adolescent feelings.
On the negative side, the adaptation so far has felt awkwardly disjointed, with clear break points delineating each episode’s mini-conflicts, rather than any sense of congruity or ongoing, escalating drama. Because of this, it’s hard to really sink into the fiction of their daily life; it frequently feels like they’re performing a set of skits, rather than simply living through day-to-day interactions. Additionally, while Masashi Ishihama is doing a fine enough job directing, it’s becoming clear that Horimiya will offer far fewer opportunities for his expressive compositional flourishes than something like From the New World. Ishihama might simply be better suited to works he can storyboard from the ground up, rather than adapting manga panels; either way, this adaptation’s conservative approach is limiting it in a few ways, so I’m hoping the staff embrace a little more flexibility going forward. With all that in mind, let’s poke through the third episode of Horimiya!
The Girl in Twilight – Episode 10
Well team, I don’t think we’re doing so great. The group’s journey to Seriousuka’s home dimension played out in the worst possible way; not only did they fail to prevent the King of Twilight’s attack, but it was actually Yu herself who let their enemy in, leading to the wholesale destruction of Seriousuka’s sanctuary. Now Asuka and her friends have to carry the weight of failing an entire dimension on their backs, have lost their most competent ally, and are still no closer to preventing the corruption of the multiverse. I have a feeling the time for dress-up tea shop digressions is entirely behind us.
Things may be going terribly for our heroines, but in narrative terms, all these disasters sound like great news to me. So far, Asuka has spent this entire series running from responsibility. Her personal character journey of taking adulthood seriously has been mirrored by the larger scifi narrative, as each of her friends in turn come to some key realization about their goals and identity. In the face of all this growth, Asuka has steadfastly held on to her childlike identity – but now that this girl who was like a sister to her has suffered because of her team, can she really continue to take things so lightly? You know I like putting characters through the crucible, so I’m ready for an identity crisis of some kind as we storm towards the finale. Let’s get to it!
Hugtto! Precure – Episode 22
Hello all, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m happy to announce we’re returning to Hugtto! Precure, though frankly, I’m a little intimidated by the kind of episode we’ve presumably got coming. Apparently the franchise is celebrating its ten year anniversary, which in practical terms means the original Pretty Cure have just popped out of the sky, ready to celebrate their formidable legacy. Unfortunately, I haven’t actually watched any of that legacy, so I’d ask you all to please bear with me, as I’ll likely be out of my depth for any major callbacks to earlier seasons. That said, given this franchise’s general focus on accessibility, I’m sure there’ll be plenty to enjoy even for the more recent Cureheads in the audience. Let’s check in with the Precures of Old, and learn what wisdom we can glean from their vast Precure knowledge!
Spring 2021 – Week 5 in Review
Hello everybody, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I’ve sadly got a pretty quick Week in Review for you all this week, as I didn’t actually get around to too many films. On the other hand, my house did push through a fair amount of anime, even beyond our continuing voyage through One Piece. I’m still keeping up with My Hero Academia, even if it seems like the world at large has moved through several Next Big Things since then, and we also made a final push through the last peaks of Bleach’s adaptation. Shonen series have basically consumed all the time slots I was previously dedicating to exploring western cartoons and prestige dramas, so while I feel a little guilty that The Wire and The Sopranos and whatnot have to wait, I simply cannot imagine I would be having more fun with them than the Straw Hats at the moment. You guys will get your turn, I just gotta see what Luffy does over the next seven hundred episodes first. In the meantime, here are my scattered weekly thoughts!
The Big O – Episode 13
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m pretty much bubbling over with excitement, as we’re about to explore the original “final” episode of The Big O. Though the production was slated for twenty-six episodes from the start, poor viewership numbers in Japan forced them to cut back to a lean thirteen. It was only a couple years later, after a successful Toonami run resulted in Cartoon Network co-funding the followup, that The Big O’s second half was produced; because of this, I assume this original thirteenth episode is going to attempt to serve as a “conclusion” to a story it cannot possibly conclude.
Roger has barely learned a thing about Paradigm’s history, and the last episode only just introduced the idea that Megadeus have some intrinsic connection with the city, and a will of their own. Fortunately, considering this is a noir-soaked property that delights in ambiguity, I imagine there won’t be any clumsy rush to tie up loose ends; I’m mostly just eager to see how such a talented team handled this unfortunate reality of the industry, and what Chiaki Konaka chooses to leave us with. Let’s return once more to Paradigm!
Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 41
Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I’ve spent the first half of today proofreading and messaging and formatting and emailing, and goddamnit, I’ve earned some Sun and Moon. As much as I love my work, the busywork inherent in being a full-time freelancer can get pretty stifling; fortunately, the upside of this is that my actual “core labor” mostly involves laughing and clapping at Pikachu. I’m eager to get back to that critical business, and hope you’ll join me for whatever delights Sun and Moon shares with us next. With most of Ash’s other companions having experienced some sort of trainer powerup over the last set of episodes, my idle prediction is that it’s Sophocles’ turn – but Sun and Moon is never in any narrative rush, so I could just as easily see us simply enjoying a day at the beach. Either way, the sun is out and the pokemon have been fed, so let’s go sample the sights of Alola!
Symphogear XV – Episode 1
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Are you all ready for some goddamn SYMPHOGEAR!? I took a little break after season four to catch my breath, but my tanks are more or less refilled at this point, and I’m ready to Blast Off Into The Starry Tomorrow of Forever’s Yesterday, or whatever other preposterous seasonal subtitle comes next.
Given that Symphogear’s fourth and fifth seasons were greenlit at the same time, it’s no surprise that season four ended us on a serious cliffhanger. As Adam was atomized by Hibiki’s fists, he warned that the “custodians will soon be descending,” implying some higher power that he, Fine, and others have actually been battling against. But the worldbuilding justification of More Punching was probably the least important thing about that finale – more relevant to the show’s own goals is that it’s already established an antagonist before the season starts, thus leaving more time in-season for roaring and punching. Let’s see how this delightful show tops itself next, as we soar into the final season of Symphogear!
Spring 2021 – Week 4 in Review
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I’ve once again got an oddball collection of films for you all this week, along with more reflections on my ongoing journey with One Piece. I’ve learned over time that you really have to tune down the amplitude of praise people apply to their favorite properties, as they’re generally speaking from a position of deep emotional attachment, and more expressing that than anything essential to the property itself. Because of that, claims of One Piece being some uniquely spectacular shonen kinda faded into the din of claims that every show is uniquely spectacular – thus, I have been completely blindsided by the fact that One Piece actually is as good as everyone says it is. It’s doing stuff in shonen that I’ve associated with Hunter x Hunter and literally nothing else, and I’ve found myself hooked on it with precisely that same HxH intensity, a need to barrel through episodes like I’m stuffing my face with delicious, narratively nutritious popcorn. But we’ll get to that soon enough – let’s first start off with some films, as we bound through the Week in Review!