Tag Archives: Anime

Thunderbolt Fantasy S3 – Episode 8

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the bombastic battles of Thunderbolt Fantasy, as Shang and his allies attempt to thwart the various schemes of Xing Hai, the Divine Swarm, the Murder Princess Chao Feng, and presumably the newly introduced Count Azibelpher. Having tracked Xing Hai back to her time-manipulating portal-ridden Void Junction, Shang and Lang swiftly found themselves flung into the demon realm itself, where they were forced into battle with resentful survivors of the last demon war.

Not a great situation, I gotta admit. Fortunately, while their enemies are vicious and great in number, they are not exactly unified in their intentions. Jun Po’s alliances to both the Divine Swarm and Murder Princess are unstable at best, while Xing Hai and her sister are clearly only aligned with the Divine Swarm out of momentary convenience, and both Lou Zhen and Azibelpher possess distinct secondary motivations. While the straightforward Shang likely can’t make much use of this fragility, this whole situation is basically catnip for Lin, who Xing Hai rightly defined as a “sadist who takes sick pleasure in the suffering of villains.” I’m thus expecting some gleeful machinations from the Enigmatic Gale as these forces collide, and am eager to find out who he gets his kicks from next. Let us return to the battlefield of fate!

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Shoushimin Series – Episode 9

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Turn. Today we’re returning to the adventures of Jogoro and Osanai, as they recuperate from a potentially devastating moment of crisis. Moving far beyond questions of who ate which cake, their last adventure found Osanai outright kidnapped by a group of drug-dealing students, and almost stabbed by their leader. It was only through the swift intervention of Jogoro and the police that Osanai was rescued from a dangerous situation entirely beyond her control.

Though of course, it wasn’t entirely beyond her control. As Jogoro subsequently pointed out, it seems likely Osanai provoked this situation intentionally, knowing she would be kidnapped in the process. This forms a natural parallel with the sixth episode’s conflict, wherein Jogoro intentionally misled Osanai about her cakes in order to provoke a fun mystery – but the clear differences between these two scenarios emphasizes the wildly differing stakes of their “becoming ordinary” mission. For Jogoro, indulging his allegedly “anti-social nature” means slightly misleading a friend in order to instigate a battle of wills – for Osanai, it means picking fights with criminals who are known to employ violence and intimidation, purely for the thrill of the conflict.

That is not a safe, sustainable hobby, and it points to a destructive instinct that clearly must be either denied or at least guided towards a different, less dangerous form of fulfillment. As Jogoro is our perspective character and Osanai generally keeps her own council, we haven’t had that many opportunities to dig into the psychology of the wolf, but we’re clearly reaching a breaking point. Let’s see how the pair handle this latest backslide towards the extraordinary!

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Takopi’s Original Sin – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking out a fresh and fairly recent production, as we explore the first episode of last year’s Takopi’s Original Sin. Even before there was any hint of an anime adaptation, I was vaguely aware of Taizan 5’s original two-volume manga, whose reputation ranged from “a stark, unflinching portrayal of childhood’s genuine tragedies” to “basically just misery porn.” And given a variety of my own favorite stories are often uncharitably described as misery porn, I’m quite curious to see where my feelings on the material land.

As for this adaptation, I’ve heard nothing but effusive praise regarding Shinya Iino’s take on the material, as well as the brilliant animation conjured by character designer Keita Nagahara and his top-notch team. The small staff list and extensive support of young, digital-native animators seem to imply a labor of love embodying anime’s increasingly global talent pool, making me all the more excited to see what painstakingly sculpted horrors await. Let’s get to it!

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Apocalypse Hotel – Episode 2

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re taking a trip downtown to the Gingarou Hotel, where I’m told the accommodations are lavish and the shampoo hats are in abundant supply. Yep, it’s time for a fresh episode of Apocalypse Hotel, wherein we will rage at the dying of the light by providing top-notch service for our theoretical clientele.

Apocalypse Hotel’s first episode did a fine job of balancing its unique combination of fatalism and whimsy, echoing the post-apocalyptic embers of shows like Girls’ Last Tour and Kemurikusa. As our own world lurches towards climate disaster, global conflict, or worse, it is oddly reassuring to imagine how life will continue beyond us, and what strange creatures might find comfort in the bones of our once-proud society. You might think post-apocalyptic media nihilistic, but I tend to find it the opposite; stripped of the artifice of civilization, such stories often zero in on precisely what makes us human, the dignity, compassion, and determination that can survive even in the harshest of climates. Let’s see how our staff put their best feet forward today!

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Journal With Witch – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking out a brand-spanking new production, as we explore what sources tell me is the first essential series of 2026. Its premise alone certainly sets it apart; based on a manga by Tomoko Yamashita, Journal with Witch catalogues the relationship of antisocial novelist Makio Kōdai and her fifteen-year-old niece Asa Takumi, who Makio takes in after the death of Asa’s parents. So yeah, a down-to-earth narrative about ordinary people attempting to navigate grief, socializing, and the idiosyncrasies of everyday life? Sign me the fuck up!

Beyond its refreshingly grounded concept, I’ve also been hearing excellent things about this adaptation’s take on the material. Director Miyuki Oshiro appears to have a balanced background in both animation and boarding, with significant experience in particular on Natsume’s Book of Friends, which seems just the right sort of education for a reserved, intimately human narrative. Meanwhile, series composer/scriptwriter Kohei Kiyasu apparently composed the entirety of Run with the Wind, an overlooked yet utterly fantastic 2019 sports drama. It seems we might have something truly special here, so let’s not waste any more time bloviating, and get right to the story!

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Yuri is My Job! – Volume 5

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to return to the adventures of Hime and her compatriots at Cafe Liebe, as we bound beyond the confines of Yuri is My Job!’s anime adaptation, and onward to the trials of the Miman-penned ongoing manga.

It’s certainly a pleasure to be back – after all, the original premise of this work is inherently fascinating to me, digging directly into the complex relationship between the genres we love, the characters we idolize, and the ways we formulate our own identities. From the parasocial complications of performing selves for an assumed audience, to the inherent commonalities between stage performance, adolescent identity-forming, and the nuances of crafting a public façade that feels both amenable to others and authentic to one’s own feelings, this story has been digging into core questions of both authentic self-expression and finding yourself through art, topics that could not be any closer to my own heart.

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BanG Dream! Ave Mujica – Episode 11

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m happy to announce we’re diving back into the musical mayhem that is BanG Dream! Ave Mujica, as our girls continue to poke each other with sharp sticks in the hopes of either dying or making a very important point. Our last episode saw Ave Mujica reunited at last, and actually seeming to reach a healthier point of collaboration both in their personal and professional relations. Of course we can’t have that, so our post-credits stinger came through with a fresh point of conflict, potentially floating Uika and Sakiko as long-lost sisters or whatnot.

We’ll deal with that salvo of soap opera silliness when we get to it, but for now, I have to admit I’m impressed with how well episode ten brought these character journeys together. It has at times been difficult to see why any of these characters would want to collaborate on anything, but that performance saw them all reaching towards a collective goal for their own coherent reasons – Sakiko to repair the damage she’s done, Mortis and Mutsumi-chan to declare their collective right to exist, Umiri to embrace sincere dedication to her craft and group, Nyamu to transcend her superficial divahood by chasing Mutsumi’s ascent, and Uika to stay by Sakiko’s side, whatever it takes. That resounding, defiant chorus of “still alive,” relevant to each of them in their own ways, binding them to the declaration of resilience that Ave Mujica has always been.

Everyone except Uika is in a far healthier place than they were several episodes ago, so I suppose it’s only right that it falls to her to burn everything down. Let’s see what torment awaits as we return to Ave Mujica!

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Big Windup! – Episode 21

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to the bitter battlefield of high school baseball, as Abe, Mihashi, and all of their Nishiura compatriots seek to topple the first-seeded Tosei team. After some fortuitous early innings that saw Nishiura pulling away by two runs, Tosei rallied back in force, gaining two runs in quick succession, and then a third when Mihashi stumbled in the rain. With two innings to go, opportunities are swiftly dwindling for Nishiura to somehow topple Goliath.

Of course, that sober articulation of the scoreboard can’t begin to express the frantic battle of wills and talents that has brought us this far. Nishiura has scrambled for every possible inch of advantage in this matchup, exploiting a wealth of pre-game pitching data, effectively manipulating the Mihashi surprise factor, leaning on Tajima’s remarkable eyesight, and ultimately even exploiting the temperamental heavens’ looming stormclouds. And though their efforts have required the dedicated support of every team member, at this point it seems to all point to one question – does Mihashi have the strength to finish this game?

After practically collapsing in exhaustion multiple times so far, he seems to have gained one last boost of energy from the knowledge that his old teammate Kanou is pushing through to the next round. Big Windup! has consistently emphasized how baseball is in large part a mental game, but when your body is actively failing, can your mind really carry you to victory? Let’s find out!

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Winter 2026 – Week 9 in Review

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re striding forth boldly into March, though sadly, here in New England that still means it’s the middle of winter. Though I seem to recall the existence of spring and fall from my childhood, lately it’s felt like there’s only two seasons around here: the blessed summer of May through October, and the hateful winter of November through April. Fortunately, we’ve still got plenty of stories to tide us through the cold, and I’m personally excited to be cracking the seal on a whole slate of new features. Having finished Fallout, Moribito, and the delightfully soapy Sandokan, we’re now returning to the Tomino well with Aura Battler Dunbine, while also looking forward to the upcoming second season of One Piece’s live-action adaptation. I’m frankly eager to get back to Dunbine right this minute, but first, let’s run down the week in film!

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CITY The Animation – Episode 6

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we are returning to the bustling streets of CITY The Animation, after an episode that casually offered one of the defining sequences in twenty-first century animation. That’s not a claim to make likely, but it seems inevitable that episode five’s screen partition medley will be referenced and celebrated for years to come, a visual articulation of CITY’s “every community is a living organism” theme that astonishes both as a feat of sheer animated manpower, and also as a somehow cohesive, easy-to-follow master class in visual direction.

Episode five also offered the show’s first continuous narrative, taking advantage of its compelling venue to articulate a tale of hospitality deferred across a distinctive series of preposterous non-challenges. Given all that, I’m expecting we’ll be returning to the usual skit-based fare this time, if only because episodes like that last one must be a strain on even KyoAni’s incredibly healthy project scheduling. Fortunately, “a standard episode of CITY” is still one of the best things you could possibly experience, and with every episode we watch, more amusing/endearing bonds between its sprawling cast reveal themselves. Let’s see what’s going on in the city today!

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