Tag Archives: Anime

Star Driver – Episode 20

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into Star Driver, and see what those schemers at Kiraboshi have been cooking while Wako enjoys her birthday. Our last episode served as a general referendum on Wako’s tenuous current position: suspended between childhood and adulthood, shrine maiden duties and personal ambitions, the long-destined Sugata and the upstart Takuto. It’s no surprise she’s hesitating; at this point, a step in any direction might close countless doors, resolving a horizon that’s glimmering with potential into one fixed destination.

We all worry about making the wrong choices as adolescents, but for most of us, we have enough room to try and fail, knowing there will be future opportunities ahead of us. For the children of Southern Cross, birth is destiny, and adolescence merely the affirmation of their roles within a society that sees them as tools rather than individuals. It’s little wonder Wako is so hesitant to grow up, but I’m curious as to Sugata’s true feelings; having gained the King’s Pillar but rejected Kiraboshi, he seems the only player with agency within the system, who might claim a destiny of his own without first fleeing the island altogether. As the day of reckoning draws near, let’s return to Star Driver!

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BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! – Episode 9

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to return to the apocalyptic high school band theater of MyGO, wherein Soyo most recently had all of her dreams shattered into microscopic pieces. Having spent this entire series so far sculpting a new band purely to entice Sakiko back, she has now received the final word that Sakiko and CRYCHIC are gone for good. No more superficial smiles and steepled fingers; Soyo is now in absolute despair, her treasured dream in ruins, and her only companions now the bandmates she only saw as means to a greater end.

That’s probably for the best, honestly. Anon, Tomori, and Taki have all joined together out of genuine emotional need, finding in their shared performance the community, understanding, and validation that adolescence has otherwise denied them. For Soyo to move forward, she necessarily needed to rip off the band aid of her dependance on Sakiko – and though she’s hurting now, she is surrounded by people who care for her, and who know well the pain of being abandoned. If Soyo can let her shields down and become open to new sources of pride and companionship, she might find in this new group a more lasting, reliable source of identity than Sakiko could ever provide.

Or she might just take the whole band down in flames, letting her personal resentment poison the fragile bonds shared by the others. I’m sure it’ll be a great spectacle either way, so let’s dive right back into MyGO!

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The Leaf and the Giant: The Astonishing Animation of Akihiro Ota

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So, goddamn Wano, huh? It turns out I caught up on One Piece at an exceptionally good time. Over the past several years, the team at Toei have endeavored to make One Piece’s latest arc a landmark in the genre, a towering feat of animation offering film-tier feats of fluidity and scale on a nearly weekly basis. From the moment the Straw Hat crew set foot on Wano’s long-awaited shores, it was clear something was different; the arc immediately dispensed with One Piece’s traditionally thin linework and limited shading, offering instead bold splashes of ink and color emulating audacious works of traditional calligraphy. Yet at the same time, one of my favorite things about Wano is how loosely it treats its new art design mandate; its aesthetic is a suggestion, not a demand, and individual animators frequently stray far beyond the models and linework of Wano’s standard mode.

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Spy x Family – Episode 27

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured I’d treat myself to a fresh episode of Spy x Family, and see how the Forger family are holding up these days. It certainly hasn’t been easy juggling family life, professional cover stories, and clandestine operations, as last episode’s “Yor got shot in the butt” saga clearly demonstrated. As goofy a concept as that was, I appreciated how her troubles pushed her out of her physical and emotional comfort zone, prompting the sort of friction that might actually help Loid and Yor come to better know and ultimately trust each other.

There’s an obvious tension at the core of Spy x Family, in that its protagonists’ need to keep their secrets pushes against their efforts to become a truly unified family. Whereas most found family dramas consistently trend towards greater mutual understanding across their principle characters, Spy x Family’s alternating spy and family drama modes each resist subordination to the other, making it that much harder for the Forgers to truly connect. It is both the story’s core hook and also perhaps its limiting factor, and either way, I find the story’s efforts to juggle these contradictory instincts fascinating in action. Let’s see what our crew gets up to next!

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Ojamajo Doremi Sharp – Episode 9

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be returning to Ojamajo Doremi Sharp, after far too long away from this outstanding magical girl production. Doremi is simply marvelous in all regards, demonstrating both the creative playfulness and emotional insight of top shelf children’s animation. Whether it’s a thoughtful vignette regarding one of the girls’ classmates, a fantastical exploration of this show’s charming magical world, or a dive into the complex home lives of characters like Onpu and Aiko, every episode of Doremi offers something new and special, demonstrating animation’s ability to enrich the lives of viewers of any age.

Our last episode was another top-shelf tearjerker, as we learned of the anxieties preventing Onpu’s mother from wholeheartedly endorsing her daughter’s next performance. Onpu episodes are always great, and that one fell into a particularly rich vein of Doremi Drama: the show’s sensitive articulation of its parental figures’ doubts and fears, a theme it has harnessed to remarkable effect in both Onpu and Aiko’s stories. Through its humanization of its adult characters, Doremi serves as a gentle guide for its viewers, leading them through the frightening realization that their own parents are not invincible – as well as the ensuing sense of pride and purpose found in giving back to your parents, and bolstering their slumping shoulders with your own emerging strength. I imagine we’re in for a lighter episode after that standout, but regardless of what’s ahead, I’m sure it’ll be an excellent time. Let’s return to Ojamajo Doremi!

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Winter 2024 – Week 1 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time, as well as to motherfucking 2024. I’m hoping this year will be an improvement on the last, which, considering that my house burned down, probably shouldn’t be that much of a struggle. Unfortunately it’s also an election year, meaning there’s a fair chance 2024 will conclude in chaos and total anarchy, but I suppose we must take the bad with the good. All we can really hope to do is improve our lives and those of our loved ones on a personal level, and with that in mind, I’m happy to have initiated a new weekly film-viewing regimen that will hopefully expand both the number and variety of my cinematic screenings. Let’s start the year off strong with a robust selection of features, as we ramble through 2024’s first Week in Review!

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Top Anime of 2023 (And Year in Review)

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Another year has come and gone, leaving us undeniably older and presumably wiser, though at this point it’s hard for me to tell if each new year of knowledge outpaces the mental erosion of aging. That phrase “they’ve forgotten more about subject than you’ll ever know” always seemed a bit strange to me – I mean, I’ve forgotten way more stuff than I’ve remembered, and I don’t exactly take that as a point of pride. I’m really good at forgetting stuff! It’s probably what I’m best at! It does not make me a better thinker or critic!

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Hugtto! Precure – Episode 41

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into Hugtto! Precure, as we race towards the conclusion of this heartwarming, far-reaching journey. After coming to know our heroes, their ambitions, and their whole larger community over the course of various adventures, our last few episodes have seen histories unveiled and secrets revealed, as we came to know the fate of Harihari Village, the true identity of Listol, and the nature of the bond uniting Lulu and Dr. Traum.

Beyond simply filling in our missing backstory, those episodes have also proven some of the most emotionally impactful of the show so far. Our last episode in particular was a major highlight, merging Lulu’s consistently poignant personal growth with Traum’s misguided yet deeply human desire to regain his lost daughter. The two of them struggling towards a shared idea of family was a painful, hesitant, and deeply sincere process – in other words, it was Hugtto at its best, hoping for a happier future while acknowledging the road forward is littered with hurdles and disappointments. Let’s see what awaits our crew next in a fresh episode of Hugtto!

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Skip and Loafer – Episode 4

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we’d stop in on the eminently charming Skip and Loafer, and see what stray child Mitsumi ends up adopting this time. So far her straightforward nature, positive spirit, and can-do energy have successfully charmed a varied array of foundlings, from the reserved but socially savvy Yuzu to the ball of screaming anxieties that Kurume. In the sea of insecurities that is high school, Mitsumi represents something rare and powerful: a person who knows who she is and who she wants to be, whose earnest pursuit of friendship and career goals assures others that they too might find such comfort in their own skin.

It’s been a delight watching Mitsumi integrate into her new school, as understandable anxieties have melted into her being the nexus of a new social group. Skip and Loafer’s articulation of warm friendships and veneration of everyday pleasures position it alongside the best slice of life productions, while its careful study of interpersonal dynamics offer the depth and insight of a dedicated character drama. It’s an altogether lovely combination, and I’ve wasted enough time already rambling about its effectiveness, so let’s get back to school!

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Star Driver – Episode 19

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am beyond impatient to get back into Star Driver, and see what fresh calamities are besetting the inhabitants of Southern Cross Isle. After a brief flash of normalcy guiding us into the story’s third act, the last episode saw us again off to the races, as fresh secrets were unveiled and Kate’s ambiguous role in our story came into focus.

As it turns out, Kate has been lying about basically everything to basically everyone. Her friends have little idea of her role within Kiraboshi, while her identity as a shrine maiden is a secret kept even from her Kiraboshi collaborators. And it’s little wonder why – shrine maidens here are not active actors, they are tools, beings kept both metaphorically and even literally in bird cages. It is the wielder of the King’s Pillar who acts, affirming the conservative world order that has caused one after another shrine maiden to flee the island, seeking their own identity outside of the confines of Southern Cross.

In this way too has Kate been an irrepressible liar, lying about her desires even to herself. Though she scorns Wako for holding onto dreams of stardom, her own yearning for that dream is clear in her rigorously practiced karaoke performances. And though she claims to have accepted Wako’s status as Sugata’s betrothed, her nightly visits with the King’s Pillar prove she has not given up on her first and only love. It’s an intriguingly anguished position she’s found herself in, and I’m eager to see what happens as her tangle of deceptions come to light. Let’s dive into Star Driver!

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