Bodacious Space Pirates – Episode 17

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. You all doing okay today? I’ve personally got an appointment later that I’m a little nervous about, and so it seemed like the right time to indulge in one of our lighter ongoing projects. And what could be lighter than Bodacious Space Pirates, the show where a girl who has three different puppy hats can steer a pirate ship and wear a sugar plum fairy costume (complete with puppy hat)? The majesty of space can be alienating, but it sure doesn’t have to be; with the right crew in tow, even the vastness of the stars can make a fine after-school club room.

Having successfully completed their first pirate operation, Marika’s yacht club friends have already averted the risk of the Bentenmaru losing its pirate license. However, it seems president Lynn has another mission in mind: the kidnapping of Jenny Dolittle, her own presidential predecessor. There’s no point speculating on Lynn’s motives when she’s right here to explain them, so let’s settle into our seats, and kick back for another episode of Bodacious Space Pirates!

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Winter 2022 – Week 10 in Review

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I come to you today directly from the Elden Ring mines, having been laboring on FromSoftware’s latest since literally the moment it was released. Elden Ring is the biggest Soulsborne yet, and with two other housemates also vying for playtime, it will surely be a while still before any of us return to civil society. Sixty hours in, the game still feels too good for this world; too perfect an articulation of the best virtues of open world and combat gameplay, too close to the “theoretical perfect game” I’d theorize by combining the greatest aspects of four masterpieces.

As a result of Elden Ring’s all-consuming perfection, our selection of films this week has largely been guided by the principle “can you follow this film over your shoulder during your turn on Elden Ring.” Light selections are the order of the day, but we still managed to scrape together an interesting collection of viewings. Let’s storm down the Week in Review!

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Star Driver – Episode 2

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive right back into Star Driver, having been thoroughly impressed by its first episode. The show has offered beautiful character acting and storyboarding so far, while also demonstrating the thematic complexity and clarity that you’d expect from an Enokido production. That first episode threw a lot of fantastical variables at us, but they all seemed to fit within a thematic paradigm centering on adolescence, sexuality, and sexual agency in particular.

Both the language of the masked actors and the prominent cage imagery seemed to frame the shrine maidens as passive figures, objects to be “acted upon” by their male controllers. The correlation of that patriarchal perspective with the traditional figure of the shrine maiden surely isn’t a coincidence; moving forward, we can probably assume that Takuto and his companions will be providing a more progressive counterpoint, where female agency and desire is respected just as much as male power. I’m also interested in seeing if the last act’s aesthetic debt to Utena signifies more of a structural parallel to that series, but all of this is likely getting a dozen or so episodes ahead of ourselves. For now, let’s see what Star Driver’s second episode has in store!

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Anne of Green Gables – Episode 6

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to return to the rolling hills and shimmering seas of Green Gables, where Anne has at last succeeded in winning over the obstinate Marilla. To be fair, Marilla put up quite the battle, and likely would have ruthlessly abandoned any lesser children. But Anne made swift work of her through a multi-pronged attack, demonstrating both her intense personal charm and tragic backstory on the ride to Miss Spencers’ place, and then capping that off with the looming threat of alternative adopter Blewett. Seeing Anne’s look of despair at returning to her childhood of suffering was too much for Marilla, and thus both our heroines made their way back to Green Gables.

With the initial trial of simply earning a space at Green Gables behind us, I’m looking forward to seeing the show settle into some sort of comfortable rhythm. Though Gables’ pastoral beauty and meditative pacing make for an inherently slice of life-reminiscent experience, its origin as a young adult bildungsroman means it’s unlikely to simply luxuriate in any one tone; there is conflict and momentum, it is simply illustrated at the pace of life in Green Gables. With this episode boarded by Masterpiece Theater mainstay Fumio Ikeno and scripted by Takahata himself, I’m guessing this will serve as a fine indicator of the road ahead. Let’s return to Anne of Green Gables!

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The Demon Girl Next Door – Episode 5

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today it seems past time that we check back in on The Demon Girl Next Door, and make sure Shamiko hasn’t fallen into a pit or been cornered by a scary dog or something. It really doesn’t take much to best our local demon girl; really, if you leave her to her own devices for a few days, she’s liable to best herself somehow.

Fortunately, Shamiko now has Momo to protect her, and the two have been getting along better than ever. In spite of being allegedly destined foes, their burgeoning friendship seems to be the most rewarding element of either of their lives at the moment. That’s not too surprising; with each of them feeling poorly represented by their assigned identities, the only person they can actually relate to is their equally miscast counterpart. The very system that’s supposed to build them into rivals is instead forcing them to find common solidarity, making for a natural commentary on the inherent injustice of this system (and through their class disparity, further tethering that commentary to the caste systems of the real world). But beyond that themey-wemey stuff, the two are also just ridiculously charming together, so I’m eager to get back to their nonsense. Let’s return to The Demon Girl Next Door!

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Winter 2022 – Week 9 in Review

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. This week, I thought I’d take a break from our usual film medley, as the past month has clearly been more defined by videogames than cinema. Basically the entire would-be holiday release schedule was released over the past several weeks, with Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Dying Light 2, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Elden Ring all staking their claims to the open world throne. Given this bounty, my house elected to save Horizon for a future sale, but the other three have been consuming my life for some time now. Let’s take a moment to break down this marvelous bounty, before I’m inevitably dragged back to Elden Ring!

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Oregairu S3 – Episode 10

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After three seasons of personal revelation and emotional catharsis, is it really going to be Iroha who fixes everything? The girl whose name is a synonym for chaos, who has loudly and proudly declared her total self-interest at every opportunity, and who seems to take pride in never learning from her mistakes? The girl with the psychological profile of a common housecat, who will happily push your full glass off the table while maintaining eye contact the entire time? Iroha is going to save us?

Well, desperate times call for unusual heroes, I suppose. And to be fair, it’s clear that Iroha has been dedicating herself to genuine self-improvement all season long, having been genuinely inspired by the ambitions of Hachiman and his friends. Frankly, it seems like Iroha has actually raced ahead of Hachiman’s crew in self-actualization, unburdened as she is by their paralyzing weight of self-doubt. Yukino still sees herself as an appendage of her family, and Hachiman lacks the confidence to challenge her directly, so I suppose it’s Iroha’s turn to lead the drama for a change. With high school’s end approaching, let’s return to Oregairu!

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Symphogear XV – Episode 8

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the battlefield of Symphogear, just in time for one of its most distinguished Symphotraditions: the last-second arrival of a former enemy, now forming an unexpected rescue party for our intrepid heroes. Dr. Ver is dead-dead and I’m pretty sure the season four villains disintegrated into pixie dust or something, so it now falls to the once-ruler of the Autoscorers to hold strong. That’s right: Carol Malus Dienheim, Alchemist Extraordinaire and Murderer of Miracles, has joined the battle.

Given the simple fact that it’d be more exciting and dramatically meaningful for this season to end on  a reprise of Evil Miku, I’m guessing Carol’s last stand won’t be too effective in defending Hibiki’s wife. But Carol certainly knows how to put on a show, so let’s sit back and enjoy the fireworks, as we surge towards the final conclusion of SYMPHOGEARRRR!

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Sonny Boy – Episode 1

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’ll be embarking on a journey through one more of 2021’s most acclaimed productions, as we check out the first episode of Shingo Natsume’s original production Sonny Boy. Natsume has been one of the top anime directors to watch for years at this point, having risen from being a formidable animator in his own right to something like an “animator’s director.” Through productions like Space Dandy and One Punch Man, Natsume has proven uniquely capable of attracting and collaborating with the best artists and animators in the business, resulting in some of the most aesthetically impressive works of the last decade. And with his works spanning from action spectacles to tone pieces like ACCA and Boogiepop, Natsume has demonstrated a welcome diversity of aesthetic interests, including a cross-medium passion for art design that makes it easy to see why he and Shinichiro Watanabe were so quick to collaborate.

And now, after spending a decade repeatedly proving he’s one of the greatest working anime directors, Natsume is at last tackling his passion project. With Natsume both writing and directing this project, it’s clear that Sonny Boy is his baby. Even through choices like hiring Hisashi Eguchi as character designer, we can glimpse Natsume’s broader appreciation for art design. As for Sonny Boy’s narrative, I’m going into this almost entirely blind, with merely a vague impression that this story will be “my sort of thing” to guide me. I’m eager to see this story Natsume was so determined to tell, so let’s not waste another moment, as we dive into Sonny Boy!

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Winter 2022 – Week 8 in Review

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I think we’re over the hump now – February has nearly ended, the skies are clearing, and we’re even getting some occasional warm days to remind us that nature isn’t always a villain. Meanwhile, the COVID-delayed holiday release bounty is now in full swing, with Dying Light and Horizon already released, and Elden Ring looming in the near distance. So lush is this bounty that my house has actually decided to hold off Horizon, as there will likely be no time for anything but Elden Ring for the next month or so. Let me know if you’d all be interested in some game design thoughts for next week, but for now, let’s charge through some excellent films!

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