Tag Archives: Anime

Bloom Into You – Episode 4

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Hey folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m thrilled to continue our journey through Bloom Into You, a show that’s only been impressing me more each episode. Bloom Into You has already convincingly sculpted both of its leads into flawed, multifaceted, and totally sympathetic characters, each with their own compelling sources of insecurity and reasons for relying on the other. Their relationship is based on a give and take that feels totally understandable – Touko’s support gives Yuu the confidence to accept her own nature and become a more generally expressive person, while Yuu’s trust gives Touko a place where she can admit to all her insecurities, letting down the mask she bears around everyone else. The two of them are stronger together for convincing and well-illustrated reasons, and possess a chemistry that makes them inherently fun to watch together.

Beyond that, there’s plenty else to enjoy here, from the show’s thoughtful reflections on how narratives shape our personal expectations, to its visual elegance and compassionate engagement with sexual identity. And with Touko having won her student council race, it feels like the show may just now be settling into its principle dramatic mode. Let’s see what’s in store for our hapless teens in the next episode!

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Fall 2018 – Week 11 in Review

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We’re nearly at the finish line now, folks! With all of this season’s various contenders handing in their eleventh or twelfth episodes, it was climax time for this week in anime… or at least, it would have been, if two fifths of my viewing schedule weren’t continuing into the winter, and Tsurune basically adhering to its own personal two-weeks-late timetable. Nonetheless, we still had plenty to celebrate all through this week’s episodes, from the subtle pleasures of Run with the Wind and Tsurune to the bombastic insanity of Thunderbolt Fantasy and JoJo. I’ve actually got a whole bunch to talk about, so let’s skip the lengthy preamble and get right to it. It’s time to run down another Week in Review!

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Why It Works: Anime Every JoJo Fan Should Watch

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Today on Why It Works, I’ve got a pile of recommendations for lovers of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures. While I’d recommend any of these shows on their own merits, the first two in particular feel so precisely JoJo that I genuinely feel if you’re watching any of these three, you’d almost certainly be a fan of the others. Whatever your feelings on idols or puppets, Symphogear and Thunderbolt are JoJo As Fuck, and deserve your full attention.

Anime Every JoJo Fan Should Watch

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha – Episode 9

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Buckle up folks, it’s time for another episode of Nanoha! The show actually seems to be moving towards its endgame at this point, as Nanoha joins up with the space force and Fate recommits to gathering those dang jewel seeds, each of them all the more strongly resolved to succeed. It frankly feels like we’ve only been with these characters for a very brief time, but Nanoha has never been a show that’s busy with overt narrative happenings – it focuses steadily on a variety of small, incidental moments, and tends to only have one major “plot event” per episode. That’s a perfectly reasonable narrative style, and last episode’s phenomenal conversation between Fate and Arf easily demonstrated its value.

Arf’s efforts to save Fate from her mother’s abuse have turned out to be Nanoha’s most poignant and well-observed material so far, offering a stark and well-written counterpoint to Nanoha’s own happy and mutually trusting family. Meanwhile, Nanoha’s recent engagements with the space force have expanded the show’s dramatic scale, and established a universe so primed for adventure that it seems strange we’re almost at the finale. Obviously shows actually get sequels because they turn out to be successes and the investors decide a second season’s worth the effort, but Nanoha’s world in particular feels like a story that’s practically begging for sequels. But before we can get to any of that, we’ve got Fate and Nanoha’s epic clash to witness. Let’s get right to it!

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Ojamajo Doremi – Episode 42

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Get in the car losers, we’re watching Doremi! Doremi’s last episode saw a return to the show’s most classic and venerable form, where Doremi and her friends use their magic to help some classmate solve an important personal issue. Taniyama’s passion for shogi was relatively specific, but his struggles with his parents were universal, and as usual, the show’s solutions turned out to be sensible and sympathetic throughout. Leaning on their teacher Seki-sensei for a problem that involved changing the minds of a classmate’s parents was an excellent choice, and the use of a Bad Card meant that magic was only necessary to solve magical problems; for the personal problems of their classmates, simply being a good friend and supporting their passion was the key.

Episode forty one was classic Doremi all around, but I’m guessing we’ll be returning to witchier conflicts now – not only are Onpu and Majo Ruka still up to no good, but Doremi also has to make up her level three test. The level three test episode was one of the most visually inventive and generally engaging episodes of this show so far, so I’m ready for a reprise whenever Doremi is. Whether it’s sympathetic classmate stories or fanciful magic adventures, Doremi always offers something worth celebrating. Let’s see what this week’s episode has to offer!

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Princess Tutu – Episode 18

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A beautiful shot opens Princess Tutu’s eighteenth episode, as our latest fairy tale opens on an array of candles and swords, a shrine framed with the silhouetted town in the distance. The first words of our framing tale imply this will be a Fakir-focused episode, as we learn that “once upon a time, there was a knight.” Sworn to protect his kingdom, the knight “never faltered in his duty, no matter what it was. He did not even falter in taking the life of his lover. That was what he took pride in. But the knight could not do anything but carry out his duty, and even after his death, he still seeks a duty to carry out. They say the knight, who became a ghost and now haunts this world, holds in his hand the blood-stained sword that pierced his lover’s breast.”

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Fall 2018 – Week 10 in Review

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As we wind towards the end of the fall season, I’m happy to report this was another very strong week in anime. Though I’ve come to expect consistent greatness from Gridman and Thunderbolt Fantasy, it was actually my sports dramas that most impressed me this week. There have been times when I’ve felt a sense of distance or reservation regarding both Run with the Wind and Tsurune, largely because of their sometimes strict loyalty to genre convention. But between Tsurune’s perpetually captivating, beautifully realized tone and Run with the Wind’s consistent character development payoffs, this week saw both of them demonstrating they are indeed exceptional examples of the form. When a week in anime’s weak link is friggin’ JoJo, you know you’re in a pretty good spot. Anyway, all those thoughts and more as we scroll further down this very page, and sail through another Week in Review!

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Why It Works: Five Star Anime Directors of the Coming Season

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Today on Why It Works, I was hard at work hyping up some of the most exciting shows of the winter season. Though every season has its all star directors and staff, I felt this coming season was particularly stocked with S-tier directors, and so decided to highlight these terrific artists specifically. And hey, any excuse to use One Punch Man in order to trick people into reading about Kemono Friends and Rakugo is a good one. Here’s the piece!

Five Star Directors of the Coming Season

The Woman Called Fujiko Mine – Episode 4

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Alright folks, it’s time for more adventures with master thief Fujiko Mine. I’m happy to be more excited for this viewing than ever before, as the show’s terrific third episode went a long ways towards emotionally investing me in this overall narrative. I’m guessing a great deal of that simply came down to Goemon, who actually developed a pretty charming relationship with Fujiko, if a mostly one-sided one. While Lupin and Jigen both kept their emotional distance and generally acted like hard-boiled spy thriller props, Goemon was vulnerable and silly and honest at basically all times, making for a very endearing counterpoint to the show’s natural self-seriousness.

Granted, Goemon isn’t the main character of this show, but I feel like simply having Fujiko gain a real friend will make her own story that much easier to invest in. The Woman Called Fujiko Mine possesses a sense of overwhelming style and self-conscious Cool that makes it often thrilling to watch, but that style also tends to disallow any of the honest, intimate character moments that most appeal to me in fiction, and so my journey so far has been a somewhat bumpy road. Having Fujiko interact with people she quasi-trusts or considers equals helps, as will the natural escalation of the show’s drama, as we move from relatively safe and self-contained heists to ongoing narratives that consistently test Fujiko’s limits. And with the third episode ending on a shot of that ominous owl, I’m guessing we’ll be running into truly threatening foes sooner rather than later. Let’s dive right into another episode of The Woman Called Fujiko Mine!

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Ojamajo Doremi – Episode 41

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Folks, it is absolutely time for more Ojamajo Doremi. The show has become a genuine favorite of mine, and offers a desperately necessary slice of optimism in a unforgivingly harsh world. I won’t lie to you – these last few years have rigorously tested my own optimism, as well as my faith in my fellow man. With my own country led by a man who essentially embodies all that is small and cruel about humanity, and a global rise of nationalism and xenophobia accompanying him, it’s become more difficult than ever to believe the future will be better than the past. As Donald Trump’s every hateful pronouncement earns righteous cheers from his supporters, I have to question whether the average person is simply less kind and empathetic than I assumed – whether our public commitments to charity and kindness were only ever aspirational, and whether our fundamental nature actual trends more towards cruelty and selfishness.

Fortunately, Doremi’s skies are in no way clouded by these unhappy thoughts. Doremi’s characters genuinely care about each other, and for the most part do their best to be kind. I’m not so naive as to believe the real world could ever be like Doremi’s, but the optimism of Doremi and its creators gives me a little hope, too. Doremi is a show that believes in people, and the sincerity of its creators, the passion of its artists, and their collective love for these characters come through in every episode. People might not actually be as fundamentally decent as Doremi posits, but to think otherwise leads only to despair. We have to believe in each other, and do our best to honor that belief in others. Great, empathetic media can foster that hope, and Doremi is a shining example of the form. Let’s dive into another episode of this beautiful and profoundly necessary show.

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