Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re going to be continuing our examination of the fascinating Star Driver, which as of now appears to be settling into the rhythm of its second act. After a tumultuous climax wherein Sugata first activated his King’s Pillar, the show rapidly shifted gears, introducing first Mizuno and then Marino as fresh dramatic irritants. But now that both sisters have been reasonably established, it seems we’ve reached a point of relative stability, allowing for the reintroduction of more tangential side stories like last episode’s Simone vignette.
Still, it’s clear that larger forces are rearranging themselves beneath our surface drama. Last episode’s most potentially consequential moment was undoubtedly the meeting between Sugata and former Kiraboshi leader Head, wherein Sugata’s misgivings about his power were ameliorated by Head’s assurance that “talent is bestowed on us by the gods for a reason. To not use it might be a sin.” These words gave Sugata the confidence to activate the King’s Pillar during the ensuing battle, which was lucky for Takuto at the time, but will likely incur more significant long-term consequences. The flipside of “talent is bestowed on us by the gods for a reason” is “my actions are righteous because I am a chosen vessel of god,” which aligns alarmingly well with both Sugata’s self-righteousness and his preordained role in this island’s ritual structure. Takuto and Sugata were able to settle their differences with some old-fashioned roughhousing last time, but with Head whispering flattering devilry in his ear, I imagine there’s trouble in store for our core trio. Let’s check it out!