Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 31

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It is currently November 18th where I’m sitting, a day which I until five minutes ago was mentally categorizing as “the day before Thanksgiving.” As it turns out, and you may already know, Thanksgiving does not fall on November 19th this year – in fact, it would be temporally impossible for Thanksgiving to ever fall on a November 19th, so I’m not really sure what I was thinking.

Anyway, the long and short of this is that I’ve been stressing about an event that I have no good reason to stress about for at least seven more days, and I’d very much like to calm down a bit. And considering there’s no better show for relaxing than Sun and Moon, it seems to me like the clear, obvious choice is to head off to Alola, and once more enjoy a lighthearted adventure in the sun with our delightful pokemon companions. That sound okay to all of you? I mean, presumably you’ll just close the tab and wait for my next article if it’s not okay, but I like to preserve the illusion of choice here. Let’s assume you agree, then, and ship off for a fresh episode of Sun and Moon!

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Adachi and Shimamura – Episode 2

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Hello all, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to continue our journey through Adachi and Shimamura, whose first episode demonstrated a nuance of characterization and grace of imagery that seemed to indicate it is Exactly My Sort Of Thing.

On the character front, both Adachi and Shimamura seem like complicated and pleasingly messy people. There’s a frankness to their characterization that gives the show a real sense of impact – Adachi isn’t just a loner, she’s a genuine outcast, while Shimamura isn’t just disaffected, she acts on that dissatisfaction by openly mocking her alleged friends. Their feelings and the contexts of their lives feel petty and human, making it easy to invest in their awkward emerging relationship.

In visual terms, AdaShima combines KyoAni-reminiscent tricks like partial body shots and exaggerated soft focus with an emphasis on visual geometry, making great use of sets like the girls’ ping-pong table to visually illustrate its conflicts and relationships. It’s basically all good stuff so far, and considering the sharp edge the show already possesses, I’m eager to see how messy things get. Let’s check it out!

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Fall 2020 – Week 8 in Review

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. You’ll be pleased to learn that I ran through an absurd collection of features this week, in both live-action and animated varieties, and even finished a full anime series in the bargain. I also checked out the first two Heaven’s Feel movies, along with the usual assortment of horror features ranging from compact new thrillers to an Italian classic. It was actually such a productive week that I’m saving a couple of this week’s films for next week, so if you’ve been following my twitter and are wondering why Magnetic Rose or Touch of Evil don’t show up here, don’t worry. More reviews are assuredly coming, but in the meantime, let’s break down a fresh stack of features in the Week in Review!

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Kaguya-sama: Love is War – Episode 4

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Hey folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to keep moving on one of our more recent projects, the goofy and visually enthralling Kaguya-sama: Love is War. If you’ve been following these articles, you probably know my overall impressions at this point – I’m constantly finding new things to rave about regarding Shinichi Omata’s direction, but haven’t yet been hooked by the show’s cast, and am generally just kind of whelmed by its comedy.

That’s not unusual for me, of course. It’s a rare anime comedy that can keep my attention for long, and altogether, I think Nichijou is the only one I’d count as a personal favorite. I’ve discussed before how comedy, like horror, is built out of the element of surprise – and in order to cultivate that surprise, it relies on an assumed set of common cultural assumptions. The more complex and ambitious a joke is, the more it must assume its audience is drawing from a specific cultural and knowledge base – and as a dude from New England, I don’t really possess the experience to parse genuinely clever Japanese comedy. What is left is the stuff that’s universal – slapstick, silly faces, and everything else that translates without translation.

In the end, this means that the anime comedy which I might find genuinely clever is frequently untranslatable to me, while the stuff I do understand feels simplistic and repetitive. Honing the fundamentals can certainly ameliorate this effect (Nichijou and Sun & Moon are strong examples of that), but ultimately, I tend to watch these shows more for the characters than the jokes. So here’s to hoping for more meaty character moments, as we explore one more episode of Kaguya-sama!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 30

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We’ve made it, folks. Thirty episodes in, and Pokemon Sun and Moon is still pulling off delightful new vignettes every episode, and still demonstrating animation flourishes that put much shorter shows to shame. One of Sun and Moon’s principle themes is “it’s not about victory, it’s about the journey,” and that maxim comes through clearly in the show’s episodic design, as it offers adventure after adventure with no clear destination, but plentiful fun moments that serve as their own inherent reward.

At the same time, Sun and Moon’s laid-back, slice of life style is serving an ongoing dramatic purpose, the same as it does in any great, atmosphere-focused slice of life show. Through sharing adventures with these characters at the steady pace of their own lives, the audience is also being integrated into Alolan society, coming to understand its rhythms, and gaining a sense of belonging within the familiar walls of Kukui’s cabin, or the Pokemon School. The more time we spend in Alola, the more friendly and familiar it feels; ultimately, while slice of life shows frequently lack lateral narrative movement, they exchange that for a greater sense of texture, solidity, and belonging in their chosen location. The end result is that returning to a great slice of life show feels like returning home – so let’s celebrate that home once more, as we explore another episode of Sun and Moon!

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The Big O – Episode 9

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Hello all, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eagerly awaiting our continued explorations of The Big O, a show that has impressed me anew with almost every new episode, marrying gothic grandeur and neo-noir smolder to dazzling effect. I say “almost” there as a specific nod to the show’s last episode, which was unfortunately a bit of a step down from the show’s standard; a little more monster-of-the-week than usual, and also a bit less impressive in terms of its overall storyboarding.

But of course, as we hopefully all understand at this point, an anime production isn’t really a singular, cohesive organism; it is a composite of many individual artists, all of whom tend to leave a definable signature on their work. And in this case, one of those artists happens to be Akihiko Yamashita, co-architect of the astounding Giant Robo, and one of The Big O’s most accomplished storyboarders. With him on boards and series mainstay Ikuro Sato on direction, I’m expecting great things from The Big O’s ninth episode. Let’s get to it!

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Fall 2020 – Week 7 in Review

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Oh man, it has been a productive week this time, folks. I ran through live-action classics, horror standouts both cult and critical, and even continued my journey through Hayao Miyazaki’s remaining films. I also put in the ridiculous amount of work necessary to pull together a fresh Evangelion writeup, so you can look forward to that coming down the pipeline soon. I also re-stringed my guitar for the first time in longer than I’m comfortable admitting, so the echo of Mountain Goats songs has once again been haunting my housemates at all hours of the day. Getting a little off track here, so let’s loop back to the subject at hand – from Hollywood’s golden era to Canadian slashers to world cinema classics, it’s time to break down another Week in Review!

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Why It Works: One Perfect Moment – Atmosphere as Drama in Anime

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For this week’s Why It Works, I discussed anime’s laudable focus on atmospheric storytelling, and its ability to convey emotional truths or the precise tension of a moment through careful scene-setting. This also serves as a general “becoming a more active media consumer” lesson, as I once more encourage people to connect with art in ways aside from the purely plot-focused. I’ve come to accept I probably won’t singlehandedly instigate a sea change in how fandom engages with art, but I think I’m okay with encouraging just a few people to think just a little differently about storytelling. Anyway, let’s get to it!

One Perfect Moment – Atmosphere as Drama in Anime

Oregairu S3 – Episode 3

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Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. We return to Oregairu at a particularly improbable moment, as the show establishes a point of connection between two deeply incompatible people: Yukino and Iroha. Yukino is a brittle pillar of integrity, determined to embody her ethos by living as a righteous example – meanwhile, Iroha is an incorrigible gremlin, always eager to foist her work on others, and most comfortable hiding her feelings behind an insincere smile.

At least, that’s who they used to be. Over the course of Oregairu’s first two seasons, Yukino has learned to be far less judgmental, and gained a sense of humility and closeness among her friends that has disarmed her originally unapproachable nature. Meanwhile, Iroha has realized she’s genuinely good at a lot of things, learned to take pride in her efforts, and decided she too wants the genuine connections Hachiman is seeking. Through each of their journeys, they have arrived at a point where Yukino can recognize Iroha’s shared desire to assert her competency and independence, and want to help her achieve her dreams. Whether attempting to organize a prom while also renegotiating her familial duties is wise is another question entirely, but Yukino’s tendency to overexert herself isn’t likely to disappear overnight. Without further ado, let’s see what our crew get up to next!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 29

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It’s currently raining outside my house; a cold, grey rain that promises no clear skies or emotional catharsis, but simply the inevitability of more storms, as I endure one more damp and dreary New England winter. Rain is a useful dramatic tool, but a lousy weather condition; though perhaps that’s a contradiction in terms, as it is only our personal experiences with rain that give it such strong narrative resonance. Either way, the short of it is that the weather here sucks, and I am once again employing that as an excuse to ship off to the shores of Alola, where it only rains when the drama absolutely demands it. Without further ado, let’s see what Ash and his companions have been getting up to this week!

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