Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I thought we might take a stroll down to Seiren Academy, and see what fresh hell our students are enduring this week. After the revelation that Miya-sama is actually Saint Juste’s older sister, our last episode seemed to revel in the callous contrast between them, framing every luxury or cruelty of Miya-sama against the deprivation and agony of her sister’s experience. Living alone in a shadowed hall of mirrors, Saint Juste is surrounded by ghosts, from the lingering memories of her porcelain doll to the hated reflections of her own face.

All of this misery served to raise a further question of what it means to be close to one another, and what responsibilities arise from love or affection. Kaoru sees her “friendship” with Saint Juste as a vow of trust, a pledge to be at her side until these storms eventually pass. Though their bonds seem destructive, Shinobu at least sees something vital in that, believing that there could be nothing more romantic than a pledge of mutual self-destruction. Is it possible to commit yourself so fully to love without losing yourself, or is it that act of surrender that defines love in the first place? Let us hope Nanako at least draws something more life-affirming from her bonds, as we return to the tragedy of Dear Brother!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today the bells are calling from the tower of Seiren Academy, where Saint Juste is presumably even now flinging daggers at the wall, lost in a reverie of abandonment and exquisite squalor. Down below, Kaoru-no-Kimi confronts the imperious Miya-sama, their forms concealed beneath the wafting bows of the sacred elm. And all along the windows and walls, voices chatter and eyes lurk, each confrontation a feast for their ravenous peers.

So, you know, classic high school stuff. Yes, we are indeed returning to Dear Brother, and at a moment of uniquely fraught drama no less. Incensed by her heartless treatment of Saint Juste, Kaoru has called Miya-sama out, and revealed at last that Saint Juste is actually Miya-sama’s younger sister. Considering this drama’s consistent focus on lineage and propriety, I imagine that their relationship in some way echoes Nanako’s fractured family life; and given Saint Juste’s current residence inside that alienating apartment, I would assume it’s not just Miya-sama who has abandoned her. Let’s see what fresh revelations await as we return to Dear Brother!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. I hope you’re all on your best behavior, as today I’ve booked us a visit to the hallowed halls of Seiren Academy, where the young Nanako continues to navigate the larger-than-life hurdles of her high school education. Strung between three dazzling upperclassmen and bound to the will of the Sorority, Nanako is navigating a labyrinth with no certain exit, her scholastic hurdles paling in comparison to the social spiderweb entangling her.

Lording over all these affairs stands the cruel, imperious Miya-sama, a tyrant whose chief pastime is inflicting random acts of cruelty on the obsessive Saint Juste. Granted, it seems the only person harder on Saint Juste than Miya-sama is Saint Juste herself, who made no less than three suicide attempts as Nanako dragged her home. Whatever Miya-sama represents to Saint Juste is clearly something she values more than her own life, but with her delirium now conflating Nanako with whatever “little doll” haunts her past, we might at last get a chance to illuminate her nightmares. Regardless, I am sure Ikeda and Dezaki have more bombastic, lushly illustrated horrors to share with us, so let’s get back to the campus!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today it is time once again to iron our uniforms and dry our tears, as we return to Seiren Academy for a fresh episode of Dear Brother. In the wake of Shinobu’s harrowing birthday party, our last episode saw the poor girl embarking on some kind of friendship hunger strike, hoping to regain Nanako’s affection or literally die trying. But after a stern lecture from Kaoru regarding the value of her health, as well as a visit from Nanako to her hospital bedside, it seems like Shinobu may well be at peace for the first time in her melodramatic existence.

This is certainly great news for Nanako, who has worries enough without a self-destructive stalker haunting her steps. Instead, we now have the girl who once memorably called Nanako’s bully a “child of a rat-dog” back on her side, ready to escalate basically any confrontation into a manic spectacle. Dear Brother strikes at real anxieties regarding adolescence and our roles in society, but it does so with a melodramatic flare that can always benefit from Shinobu’s exceedingly bad ideas, and perpetual willingness to embody the “my friend got mad at me, so now I am going to starve” intensity of teen emotions. Thank you Ikeda, thank you Dezaki, and thank you readers for joining me on this delightfully histrionic adventure. Let’s get to it!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am happy to announce we are returning to the tormented halls of Seiren Academy, as Nanako endures a fresh collection of schemes and crashouts and ornately illustrated sorrow, all so she can achieve a god damn high school education. Do they even have classes at this school? I can’t imagine where they’d find the time for them, what with all the backstabbing and plotting and hopelessly draping themselves across school furniture all the students pack into their schedules.

Nanako is certainly receiving an education in something, though. As our last episode demonstrated, she is becoming a key fixture in the lives of both Kaoru and Saint-Juste, a confidant and tether maintaining their connection to this fragmentary, floating world. Though Nanako sees herself as perfectly ordinary, her ability to pierce the veils enshrouding Seiren’s three icons nonetheless makes her a unique quantity, as the one person able to see them as normal, reachable fellow students, rather than visions of Icarus that can only be glimpsed from a great distance. And in Dezaki’s hands, both the luxurious splendor and woeful melodrama of these stories is brought vividly to life; rather than abstracting Ikeda’s cast into caricatures, this adaptation simply realizes their feelings at the tenor they are experienced, offering the delightful two-cakes pleasure of both indulging in wild dramatic excess while still enjoying a story about recognizably human characters.

Well, except maybe Shinobu, that girl is something else. But that is also why we love her, and I’m eager to see what nonsense Nanako’s self-assigned nemesis is plotting as we return to Dear Brother!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today the sun is shining and bells are tolling atop Seiren Academy, as we return once more to the gorgeous and obscenely entertaining Dear Brother. Our last episode saw this drama’s insanity ratcheted up to heretofore purely theoretical levels, as Nanako was invited to her dear friend Shinobu’s birthday party. Upon arriving, she realized Shinobu had rented out a hotel’s dining room entirely for herself, her mother, and her eternal bestie Nanako, and things only got more unnerving from there. With the night ending on Shinobu’s friendly declaration to “kill you and then myself” if Nanako ever left her, Nanako was left to flee Shinobu’s home in tears, traumatized anew by her terrifying classmate.

For all the absurdity of that gathering, given the course of Dear Brother’s drama so far, it actually felt perfectly in line with my expectations for a Shinobu birthday party. Possessive desperation has been the girl’s MO this entire journey, with her initial apparent confidence in Seiren’s quirks and traditions swiftly clattering to the ground, revealing itself a mere embellished frontispiece introducing a tomb of madness. And that’s really how it’s gone for most of Seiren’s standards, from the false dignity of the Sorority to the fragile public personas of characters like Saint-Juste and Miya-sama. I frankly don’t know how anyone makes it out of this school alive, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Let’s get back to class!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am delighted to be returning to the operatic and perpetually thrilling Dear Brother, as Nanako continues her trials at the magnificent Seiran Academy. After half a dozen episodes of increasing torment and isolation, our last visit at last provided a measure of relief for Nanako, with her best friend Tomoko finally returning to her side. In spite of the machinations of the delightfully devious Shinobu, some friendships are beyond even her ability to foul things up, and a last gasp of cruelty from Misaki proved just the thing to restore Tomoko to her side.

Along with that reconciliation, Nanako has been further bolstering her position through her connections with Saint-Juste and Kaoru, the latter of whom seems to have accepted Nanako as a personal project. Such alliances will surely become necessary soon, as there are greater threats at Seiran than the petty attacks of Nanako’s fellow freshmen. It’s a rare show that gets me so caught up in the tempestuous wanderings of episodic drama, but Ryoko Ikeda’s combination of inventive individual setpieces and looming intrigues more than qualifies, to say nothing of Dezaki’s dazzling adaptation. Let’s see what trials await as we return to Seiran Academy!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive back into the nest of vipers that is Seiran Academy, as we bear witness to Nanako’s continuing misfortunes in the marvelous Dear Brother. The injustices of last episode, including the continuation dissolution of Nanako’s friendship with childhood confidant Tomoko, seemed to actually push our beleaguered heroine to a breaking point, prompting her to consider abandoning the Sorority altogether. Unfortunately, Miya-sama appeared to sniff out her intentions even before she did, offering her a pledge of loyalty that seemed to carry an undertone of yet another ominous threat.

So basically, it was just another day at Seiran, as larger-than-life titans like Kaoru and Miya-sama strode across the wreckage wrought by their tectonic movements, and underlings like Shinobu and Misaki scrambled for purchase upon their lofty, trunk-like garters. Riyoko Ikeda’s drama continues to wind in delightfully tortured directions, and Dezaki continues to elevate her tale with all manner of distinctive animated embellishments. It seems we’re on the cusp of Nanako beginning to seize her own destiny, rather than simply spin in the eddies prompted by larger forces, and I’m eager to see whatever fresh horrors await her. Let’s return to Dear Brother!

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m delighted to be returning to the tangled drama of Dear Brother, wherein Nanako has found herself isolated from basically everything that once brought her comfort or security. Thanks to Shinobu’s expert manipulation, Nanako’s best friend Tomoko has abandoned her, and now refuses even to answer her phone calls. Through the cruel performances of Miya-sama, it has become abundantly clear that the Sorority is essentially a kind of cult, with Miya-sama as its tyrannical leader. And even at home, the secrets her parents are keeping regarding Henmi’s identity mean they can no longer serve as confidants. The last shot of our preceding episode made Nanako’s position wincingly clear, casting her as isolated in shadow before a veil of tearful raindrops.

All of this is a real bummer for Nanako, but an absolute dramatic feast for us in the bleachers. Riyoko Ikeda is clearly a master of melodrama, spinning a variety of narrative plates with grace while ensuring Nanako’s experience feels tense and propulsive rather than simply hopeless. And Dezaki is the perfect director for this tale of woe, with his evocative compositions and clever manipulation of lighting raising Nanako’s trials into a decadent realm of visual theater. I’m frankly not sure what else Nanako still has to lose, but I’m eager to find out. Let us return to the imposing halls of Seiran Academy, and see what our unfortunate teens get up to next!

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