Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. We have got a lot to get through today, and a bunch of it is actually anime-related this time! I finally checked out the Given movie, filled in one of the great remaining gaps in my Gainax knowledge, and even watched Netflix’s Death Note movie – along with which, of course, there was plenty of the usual horror and One Piece. Our One Piece momentum has slowed down just a tad, but we were still able to bound through the Sabaody Archipelago, while leaving more room to return to my crawl through cinema history. We’ve got a lot to break down and I assume you’re supposed to be working or studying right now, so let’s get right to the Week in Review!
Tag Archives: Given
Top Ten Anime of 2019
Hello all, and welcome to the end of another year in anime. This has been an undeniably difficult year, both in the world at large, and within our smaller sphere of Japanese animation. The Kyoto Animation arson stole dozens of lives, leaving a studio that embodied all the brightest hopes of this industry in ruins. From its artist training programs to its full-time employment opportunities to its gorgeous and moving productions, Kyoto Animation is a shining star in anime, and I can only find solace in the massive groundswell of support its employees have received, and its leaders’ commitment to maintaining their irreplaceable vision and place in the industry. This has been a year of tragedy, but I pray that we can end it with hope, and seek to right some of these terrible wrongs in the coming months.
This has also been a year of anime, and that’s what I’m actually here to share with you. My tastes have changed to some extent over the last year, but I still tend to value the same basic things in art: rich characters, engaging thematic arguments, inventive, expressive art design, and a sturdy narrative center. Not all of my top ten shows this year embodied all those qualities, and some of them were frankly just a really fun time, but I enjoyed all of them, and I hope you find something to enjoy among them too. I tried to at least check out every show I thought had a chance of making it into this list, but as usual, a couple fell through the cracks – in particular, I still need to catch up on O Maidens in Your Savage Season, burn through Symphogear’s final seasons, and get started on Beastars. Those aside, I at least checked out nearly all of this year’s shows, and have plenty of thoughts to share with you all. Without further ado, here’s Wrong Every Time’s Top Ten Anime of 2019!
Summer 2019 – Week 12 in Review
Alright folks, pile in, pile in. The summer season isn’t technically over yet, but we’re basically there – Granbelm and Carole & Tuesday still need to pop out their last episodes, but Given is already over, and the fall premieres are just a week ago. That’s frankly a terrifying thought to me, as I feel like I’ve been perpetually trying to catch up this entire season, and have no idea how I’m going to power my way through O Maidens and Vinland Saga. But hey, that’s a problem for another day – for now, I’ve got plenty of rambling thoughts on the week’s cartoons to share with you all. Without further ado, it’s the Week in Review!
Why It Works: Given is One of the Best Anime Dramas of the Year
No subterfuge or trickery in this title; Given has concluded, it’s absolutely one of the best shows of the year, and I felt duty-bound to sell it as hard as I possibly could. I say “one of” in the post title, but honestly, there’s not really any competition for that title; it just is the best character drama of the year, full stop. Incredibly convincing dialogue and rich, vulnerable characters, terrific layouts and bold, uplifting dramatic turns; Given was altogether stunning, and I’m thrilled it ended so well. By the last few episodes, I’d transitioned fully into “as long as they don’t fuck up, this will be a classic” viewing, and guess what, they didn’t fuck up. If you haven’t watched Given and you like the sort of stuff I tend to like, you should probably give it a try. If not, maybe one more article will convince you!
Given is One of the Best Anime Dramas of the Year
Summer 2019 – Week 11 in Review
We’re arriving at the season’s endgame now, as all of our summer contenders marshal their forces for their assorted finales. As misunderstandings are cleared up and final stakes are clarified, shows often reveal their most fundamental natures here – the conflict, relationship, or central idea they hold most closely, and are willing to stake their last and most consequential episodes on resolving. Given has turned out to be most fundamentally a romance, surprising no one, while Carole & Tuesday continues to use its efficiently sketched human characters to reflect on modern society in general. And Granbelm, well…
I guess we should start with that one.
Summer 2019 – Week 10 in Review
We had two hits and a miss for this week in anime, and boy do I ever have a lot to talk about. While Granbelm continued to flounder in its attempts to make sense of its own wibbly-wobbly worldbuilding, both Given and Carole & Tuesday turned in truly astonishing performances, with Given in particular offering the episode we’ve been awaiting all season. I’m pretty sure both of those shows are going to end up in my top five anime of the year, and I’m loving the fireworks as each of them move towards their hopefully satisfying conclusions. Apparently Given is actually based on a still-ongoing manga, but I could easily see at least this arc resolving itself somewhat cleanly; meanwhile, Carole & Tuesday only seems to exude more and more confidence as it strides towards its end. Let’s get to it and break down some shows!
Summer 2019 – Week 9 in Review
To the likely surprise of no-one, I spent last week desperately assaulting a fortress of professional responsibilities both fresh and familiar, and have at this point come to terms with the fact that I’m probably not catching up on O Maidens before the end of the season. Fortunately, the shows I’m still sticking with offered more than enough to ramble about, and Given in particular is turning out to be one of the most unexpected gems of the year so far. Though the show’s visuals are a little restrained, its richness of character and acuity of dialogue run circles around most anime, with each episode leaving me even more impressed with its scripting, and even more invested in its stars. It’s definitely my breakout pick of the season, so let’s start with that one, as we run down one more Week in Anime!
Summer 2019 – Week 8 in Review
With a massive backlog behind me and a whole bunch of reader-funded projects and various other freelance works ahead of me, it’s been hard to find time to watch anime for my own enjoyment this week. I wasn’t actually able to get to O maidens in time for this Week in Review, but fortunately, I had more than enough thoughts on this week’s other productions to make up for it. I’m actually watching a lot less seasonal anime than I used to, but the thoughts I’m producing on those shows are both lengthier and better-informed, so that’s an okay tradeoff, right? WATCHING ANIME IS HARD, OKAY.
Alright, enough excuses. Let’s break down what I actually did watch in one more Week in Review!
Summer 2019 – Week 7 in Review
Well folks, it was time for the Week in Review about an hour ago, and I’m just now typing this introduction, so I’ll keep things brief. The shows I’m watching are very good, and this week offered a bunch of very good episodes – Granbelm pulled off another totally stunning action spectacle, Given retained its sharp emotional acuity and believable characterization, and Carole & Tuesday offered another top-tier vignette that managed a surprising balance of comedy and sympathetic drama. The summer season continues to be extremely strong, and I’m happy to enjoy a crop of shows that could all conceivably be top picks within a less impressive season. Let’s get to the breakdown!
Why It Works: Drama with All the Senses: The Rich Storytelling of the Anime given
Jeez, these titles don’t really work when my crunchyroll title also contains a colon, huh? Anyway, today on Why It Works, I dive into the excellent use of visual and sound design in this season’s terrific given, specifically breaking down the tonal tricks and visual metaphors of the fifth’s episode most important scene. Let’s get to it!
Drama with All the Senses: The Rich Storytelling of the Anime given
