Activate glitter job.
Hello, and welcome to our weed There yet. And exploration and education and anime. I'm your anime idiot and fire, Prince Patrick dugan.
I'm an anime expert living on what looks like Mars. dana hollander.
And I'm brenna makoa, your anime confetti black ops units digging its way through the trenches of hell.
Wow.
So, yes, we are all on the West Coast. We are all embracing the new era of fire that is starting. I'm embracing my ancestral inheritance, being the son of a Fire Chief. So I am Fire Prince, and I'm using this as an opportunity to stake my claim for all of the West Coast. I'm not playing a lot of crusader Kings Three, so I have domination on my mind.
All hail Prince dugan. I'm in.
I was wondering how 2020 could get worse, and then the Fire Nation attacked.
Yeah. I mean, dugan being the fire prince.
That's not it. Where are we at?
The only time we'll tell, no one will know what the smoke is doing to our brains. We'll see how corrupted I become just.
Getting ready for that nuclear winter. Just prepping with this whole lack of sun and never leaving my apartment ever again.
I mean, you've been studying on that field for decades.
So you have a master's degree? It's my life's work, but yeah.
So what do we have going on this week?
This week we got a listener recommendation from Ribbonquest on Twitter, so I figured we had a good time with some dogs. Let's trust our listeners to guide us into another good show. So we're watching Glitter Force.
Yee. So this is a series from 2012. Is this something either of you have heard of?
No.
Perfect. Same.
Well, I've heard of Pretty Cure, and this is an offset of pretty Cure.
Yeah. When I looked this up, I got very confused. And there's another name for it. Smile precure.
Yeah.
And then when I looked in the wikipedia page for that, it says it is the 9th installment in the Pretty Cure meta series featuring the 7th generation of cures and can you guys hear that? Yes.
Yes. Is there an ice cream truck?
Let me tell you, I think I found out about this person when I came to look at this apartment. This person.
I'm sorry, couldn't.
While they're driving away now it's a car.
Yeah, sorry. Before it drove away, I wanted to.
Get that clean, just a clean cut.
So it was like I think the property manager told me it's like she was like a nurse in Ohio and she just, like, dropped everything to move here and have a snow cone truck. I think that's who that is, because that's not the first time that they've come through. And the truck is like it's an experience to look at.
I am amazed. It's the first time we've talked about it.
I forgot about it, kind of.
I'm so glad we caught this. This is just delightful.
Some ragtime piani to raise our hopes with the entertainer and some snow cones.
I'll chase her down one day and buy one.
We need feedback.
We need a review.
Anyway, at one of my old apartments I lovingly refer to as the Broken Glass Factory, there was a neighbor who had a kukaracha car horn at least once a day. You would just hear in the distance.
It was delightful.
The only good thing about living there.
Where I'm currently living, every now and then I'm woken up in the morning by my neighbor's cat vomiting.
How do you hear that?
The walls are real thin, and I'm sure they fucking hate how many podcasts I do.
That's fair.
If you have to wake up to their cat vomiting, they can deal with you speaking for 4 hours every weekend.
I don't know. My dad stayed with me one time and he could hear me from the stairwell, so I think I'm pretty loud.
Everybody. Now all of China knows you're.
Turns out we got a lot of listeners. They're all in my apartment building and they don't want to be listeners anymore.
Unwilling listeners.
Hostile audience that's who's review bombing us on itunes, told us king to shut up.
Well, anyway, yes.
This is like the 9th generation of Pretty Cure and like the 7th group of them, I know nothing about this. So when I saw those numbers on the wikipedia page, I was very intimidated.
Yeah, we're not deep enough into the lore and oh God, I don't think we will ever be.
I don't like hearing the word metaverse in any regard, especially about anime.
It's a dangerous field we walk on.
I've spent my time with It Marvel, and they're bullshit multiverse. I can't deal with it anymore.
Well, shall we jump on in?
Let's get sparkly.
We're watching episodes eleven through 13 of the dub because apparently that's important. Two new dinosaurs, 60s. We're in the era of Fire and now the era of five kids.
It really did have the four kids vibe to it, but for the next generation.
Viscerally, I was like, are we sure this is from 2012? Because it just reeks of 90s anime.
The animation looked better. The writing, it looks too good to.
Be it was from Ben.
Yeah, definitely cleaner, but plot wise and character wise, it was just so four kids.
I saw the opening, had seban, the title card or the production card, and I was like, getting that Power Rangers energy in there. Let's see what that Power ranger merchandising budget bought us. 20 years later. Oh, boy. Yeah, but glitter Force, we start off glitter Force start off at episode eleven, so I'm not going to bother learning anyone's names. They're magical girls. They're just going to be colors. So you open up with yellow.
I agreed. I thought about it for a second and I was like, it's not worth it.
Doesn't matter. I might know their magical girl names. I sure shit don't know their real names.
I learned their magical girl names in like, the last five minutes of the lap.
They said them enough.
I checked out during the transformation sequence. I was like, all right, here we go again. So, yeah, it starts off with the yellow girl showing everyone her art, and then this small monster appears out of one of their purses. And I was like, oh, I hate this monster.
You call it a monster? It's just cute.
It's a little pixie thing and oh, boy. Oh, no. Oh, who's.
That voice sounds so familiar.
The dulcet tones of Zach Bell.
Oh, God. You think that would have endeared me to it. No.
Now you know how I feel.
My zach bell. I feel this way about this character as you guys felt thatchbell you understand. It's not that I never understood, it's that I just don't care.
I just need you to feel how I feel.
So, yeah, this little creature pops out. Surprisingly, the only character whose name I remember is the creature, and their name is Candy, because my episode is just revolves around Candy. So little creature pops out. It's like this it's hard to even explain. She kind of looks like a clown. Like all white with, like, pink around the eyes and a big yellow puff balls. And then like, a weird pink frilled collar.
I don't know, she's my oc.
And the girls are all talking about making their travel diary. And that the girl in yellow showing off the COVID she drew as turns out it's for a school field trip. Where they're going to go to? Already forgot. They're going to go to a city.
For the Pacific Expo.
Yeah. So whatever that is. Some sort of expo about Asia Pacific. And they're talking about like, oh, boy, I can't wait to go on this overnight field trip, which I never did. Have you guys ever did done an overnight field trip?
I did overnight field trips with, like well, at least one with band, like when I was in marching band.
That makes sense.
Yeah, same thing, like, through orgs, rather than just yeah, the whole class is going here. Okay.
I never did anything in high school, so that probably explains it.
We did one time take a bus trip to New York, but we were back the same day, so not like overnight trips.
Yeah, I never did overnight stuff except for like, ski club or, like language clubs going international or something, but never like, just a class. That always strikes me as odd when we see this in an anime because it seems to be kind of common. Yeah, I'm jealous. I wish that was me. I wish I could do a five page book report on some weird city I've never been to.
I wish that were me right now.
And yeah, so they're talking about the field trip, and Candy is talking about, like, trying to get involved, like, oh, boy, I can't wait to go with all you guys. And the blue girl is the nerd, so she's the EDA, and she reminds everyone, like, God, don't forget about her book report that I'm sure excited to do. And they're just like, oh, buzz kill.
Shut up, hermione.
No one asked you, nerd. And so then Pink tells Candy I'm just reflected in our colors. Tells Candy that monsters are creatures aren't allowed. pixies aren't allowed.
Stupid freak aren't welcome.
Only human, specifically in the permission slip.
No abominations on the bus. And Candy just starts screaming because, great, it's also a little monster and a child, apparently, and just starts throwing a tantrum. And then we get the opening. We get the opening. And this is a magical girl. All right. This is magical girl as hell coming back. It's all coming back to us.
No, I mean the.
Kids. Anyway, lock those doors.
Just ignore that and make everyone aware that that's happening.
Dude, you keep this in the whole time I'm talking. It feels appropriate for the show.
Oh, absolutely. No, it foreshadowed this show very well, because there's a strong carnival aesthetic.
There is. That kind of really caught me off guard.
Get back out onto the street, snow cone truck.
Do your duty.
Look out. It's a buffoon.
Hold on. I got to go out onto my balcony and salute my troops.
Boys in blue. So while Pink is asleep, candy contacts her brother, who was a lion creature.
Oh, yeah, I already forgot.
Yeah, same pops up once and then never.
I was like, oh, is this the yellow one? Do they all have little creatures? No, I guess this is just someone from her home planet or something. And she's like, I want to go on the trip, but they won't let me. And he's like, don't worry, sis. You just got to toughen up, and you got to protect the city from the Shadow realm forces. Great. We're tied to yukio. I love this. And while he's like, lecturer, you got to be the protector of the city while the glitter forces you're already asleep. Cool. You're asleep while I'm talking. Why am I here?
Yes. I'll go fuck myself.
And then we cut to a furry, an old little witch, and a big, dumb ogre. And real talk, this is us. Pick who you are, because this is us.
Well, I want to be the clown man.
All right, you can get the fourth option.
Yes, I will be troll ogre.
All right. I'm the little witch.
Just leave the furry.
Yeah, no one wanted to be the furry. No one wanted I was super sure one of you were going to pick furry.
I would, but I just love this clown man.
Yeah, because if there wasn't a clown boy, that's the obvious. Pick. Anyway, furry old witch and ogre are playing cards, and then they're like, Ha ha. I win. It's like, how do you win? You change the rules every time. It's like, because I win. It's like, great. I love it. Just nonsense. And then yeah, the clown boy explodes out of the cards onto the table. And he says, ha ha. I've been collecting negative energy to revive our master. It's like, great love. It very simple, easy to follow. And he says, I've been slowed down by the clear force, though, so I'm going to give you these steroids. I mean, blue noses.
Wink when he showed them to to this group, and they were like, what are those? And he went, blue. I was like, don't, don't.
Don't do it. Do it.
Don't do it.
Don't do it. Blue noses.
Thank god.
Thank you.
Dodge that bullet. I really thought they were going to put them on. Like when we kill them, I was like, oh, they'll put them on and get powered up. Like, that's how this works. And I was pretty disappointed. That's not how it works. Yeah.
I was so excited to just have an army of clowns. I mean, technically, they kind of were the villains, but I just wanted an army of them. Just a bunch of weird monsters just in clown makeup.
I wanted to see that little old witch clownified. Just what would that be like? Anyway, he said the clownboy says, like, while they're all fighting the clitter force with those blue noses, I'll instead focus on getting the miracle jewel and looking it up. Because some of the voices sound familiar in the dub. Keith silverstein is like three fourths of this villain group. He voices everyone but the little old witch.
Oh, damn.
Yeah, he just covered a whole, like half the cash right there. Clown them up, furry clown. Ogre. Got it. I'm in. keith's your boy. And then we cut back to a brainstorming session in the classroom about what they want to do on the field trip. And this punk ass kid named Ian suggested he suggests they have a pillow fight. And it's at this point, I was like, how old are they? What great are these kids? Yeah, what's happening here?
They have enough autonomy to go wander around a strange city alone for the day. But they're like, let's have a candy and pillow fight.
Yeah. I was like, if this is high school, my high school is like, let's get fucked up. It's like, what? It's like, I'm going to buy liquor in a different country when my chaperone was not looking. It's like and then these kids are having pillow fights. It's like, okay, but kids show makes sense. And everyone just starts suggesting stuff that only they would like. It's like, let's go to the museum. It's like nerd. It's like, let's go to this international food court. And it's like fatty. And it's like, no, that one sounds good. Yeah, he's smart.
Perfect. It's an extra dream.
Got to get all those different flavors. And then everyone starts getting loud, and then Candy pops out and yells, like, hey, everyone stopped fighting, and everyone turns to look at her, but then quickly, EDA grabs her and puts her away because she's got a high, because you can't know about the sentient toys. And then they break up in the groups to discuss what they want to do as a small group. And for five minutes, Candy just keeps yelling. They keep smothering her, and everyone looks over like, what was that? And it happens, like, three or four times, and it's just like, get it?
It happened three times because of comedy.
It's the rule, right?
You know that famous comedy rule? Make the same exact joke three times?
Yeah. And then we see the girls go off after school, and they start working on their travel diaries. And then in my nose, this Jimmy neutron sounding ass motherfucker keeps yelling and spilling tea everywhere. We do find out that Candy is indeed voiced by debbie dairy. And then, yeah, Candy runs off because she spills tea on everything and ruins everyone's travel diaries. And then EDA goes running off after her to comfort her. Even though EDA is not her parent, Pink is. I guess they have shared custody. They're mormons. They all raise the child together. Candy says she's feeling useless as a pixie, which is the first time I realized she was a pixie and not just some horrible abomination. And then while she runs off after talking to the furry, catches her and puts her in a little cage. And he's like, yeah, you're pretty useless. You're so useless. Let me brag to you and explain my entire plan, because nothing will come out of this. And, yeah, he just rants about the blue noses and what they'll do and how the monsters created with it will be immune to the glitter force magic. So they'll just burn out their energy, and he'll defeat them.
Like, this scene hit me so viscerally in the four kids spot of my brain that I was like, it's a Saturday afternoon. It's about 70 degrees. I'm about to go hang out at my grandma's house for the afternoon because my parents are working. It was like that level of, oh, shit. This is four kids.
This is both four kids and four kids.
Yes.
He monologues and builds his whole plan. And then after he does that, he captures her and then runs off. And then next, we see all the girls buying snacks for the field trip, and it takes this long for Pink to realize, like, hey, wait a minute. Candy is not here. I haven't heard screaming coming on my purse every five minutes for the last 2 hours.
I'm weirdly calm and not stressed. where's my good friend?
And then while they're in the store, the furry appears outside and challenges them. And then he activates this book where he just slaps, like, oil in, and then everyone in the vicinity gets sad and just like, collapses. He's like, ha ha. I'm absorbing all of the negative energy. He's like, and now you'll have to fight my blue nose buffoon.
The real villain is depression.
Maybe that's the twist of the show.
Oh, boy.
We overcame all of our problems through the power of therapy and explaining how we feel. So uses the blue nose, and I guess it just grabs something that's nearby. So grabbed like, a little capsule toy vending machine and transforms that into a big old blue buffoon nose monster. And sure enough, the furry then explains the whole plan again to the glitter force of how he's going to defeat them. And they all transform, which they all guess I guess they all transform through their makeup. What is it? Like powder?
Compact.
Compact compound. That's the word. Thank you. And yeah, they all use their compacts and transform into the magical girls. In my notes, I say I refuse to write down the names. They fight this capsule machine monster, but it can't stay down because it's absorbing all of their powers. And then it throws out capsules and captures everyone except for EDA, who is, I guess, the only one smart enough to dodge it. And while EDA keeps coming up with no, it was during the fight, EDA keeps trying to come up with a plane of like, hey, guys, this isn't working. Maybe we should try. And all of them just ignore her and keep running in and shooting at it, and nothing happens. It's like, wow, just listen to the one person trying to come up with a strategy. And then the castle monster captures all of them except for EDA. So the furry reveals the whole strategy of like, yeah, you'll waste all of your energy, and then I'll capture you. And then the whole time, it keeps cutting away back to Candy, like, trying to escape from her cage, like rocking it back and forth. And then we see the EDA tries to freeze the monster to slow them down because she's got ice powers, because she's blue. That's how this works. And Candy was able to break free out of her cage, and she just drops down out of the sky and says, watch out, guys. The blue buffoon is immune to all of your powers, and he's going to just try to burn away your energy so he can capture you when you're all tired. It's like, yeah, that already happened. You're super late. And he already told us this. We couldn't know anymore. So it's just like, I know how the episode ends. I know. They're like, Candy, you're one of us. You helped us. Like, you are so useless, Candy.
And actively hindering the team.
And every step, they even ask, like, Candy, you know all about this. You're a pixie. What can we do? And Candy is like, beats me. It's like, wow, really?
Come on, you try. Go fucking yourself.
Why are you even here. And then the furry just starts shitting on Candy. Yeah, you are useless. We all agree. You don't need to pile on anymore. That's why I'm here.
Hey, it's assumed, but not set out loud.
It's the unspoken rule here. And then Candy starts crying, and ida stands up for her like, no, you're part of the team. We're all in this together. And all the girls cheer, cheer up. Candy saying nice things. And then all of a sudden, they break free of the capsules for reasons. And through the power of power of friendship.
Brandon.
Thank God.
I should have known. And then, with the power of friendship, candy is able to give them Glitter charms, which powers them all up and gives them tiara mode.
Okay, sure. It's like their regular mode, except it works this time.
This time it works. Why? So they all attack the blue pafoon together and then to feed it, and the furry runs away. And it turns out the clown boy was watching this whole time. He's saying, maybe this Candy creature can help me find the miracle jewel. And then we cut to all the girls walking home, reflecting on how they all beat the monster through teamwork and working together. And they said they couldn't do it alone, so they always have to work as a team. So they learned their lesson. They super learned their lesson, and it won't keep coming up for two more episodes. And they say, you know what, Katie? You can come on the field trip after all, because you're the part of the team. We're the glitter. Four, six.
We're at this point so afraid you're just going to abandon us and run away. We need to include you at this pivotal moment.
You're the only reason we defeated that monster. It's weird that you held off on that power up until the 11th episode of our adventure. Okay, yeah, this feels I don't know.
Doesn'T feel like we missed anything.
That's about it. And then we get the ending, and before the credits, the credits are just still imaging in the credits. But before the credits, there's this very uncomfortable 3d model dance sequence with all the girls, and they look lanky and weird and dead in the eyes, and it's just like I hate it. This part may be real and cultural.
I'm going to learn the dances, going to rule TikTok. But that paired with the song, it had this, like, very strange like, going into a minor key at just, like, weird parts. It felt a little ominous.
Haunted.
We had a haunted vibe.
It felt like madoka magico, where it's like, after a certain episode, the Sandy is going to be different, and they're going to be, like, hollowed out black eyes, and blood is going to be pouring from them, but they're still gonna be dancing and be like, this is terrible. Like, it felt very stiff and awkward, and I was like, I don't like this.
I love it.
Okay, that's episode eleven.
So on episode twelve, they're on their way to the expo. They're so excited they're on the train. Pink is probably the most excited of them all. She goes to pull some snacks out of her bag, but Candy ate them all.
That's why they call you candy's reaction.
When they make the wrong jokes.
But Pink is like, I'm not going to let anything ruin this trip. And then they get there and the teacher gives them a few rules and then just lets these twelve year olds go.
Yeah, they just wander along like they bump into chaperones, but they're never with a chaperone. I was like, who gives kids this much free rein on a field trip in a strange city?
I guess they think they're responsible enough.
I guess they are.
Super. And they see a replica of a Japanese temple and Blue is the one who knows what it is. She's like, I read a book about it, I could recite some chapters. And they're like, dweeb, we're not on.
This field trip to learn idiot dummy.
And then Pink is like staring down into the pond at some koi fish. And then she notices that Candy is like on her shoulder or something, and she's like, oh my God, no, you have to hide. And she like freaks out and she falls into the pond.
Oops, no.
Boy, I feel like should just be played throughout this entire recap.
And then Yellow sees like a fortune telling kiosk thing. So they all go and they get their little fortune slips and they all have good luck. Except for Pink. She has bad luck.
No way.
All and all the girls are like, don't worry about what that fortune says. You're glitter lucky. And she's like, yeah, I am. That's her glitter sona. Because the other ones represent elements. But she's pink.
Yeah, it's just a very strange assortment of what their powers are. Like one's spring, one's sunny, one's peace, one's locked peace.
But she's lightning.
Yeah, some of them do have clear elemental things of like spring is like.
Yes, nature, green grass, fire, wind, water or ice.
But yeah, it's weird.
I mean, what's more peaceful than lightning?
Yeah.
Oh, real quick. When Pink gets her bad fortune, there's just a crazy camera angle on her face of like oh yeah, it's like.
The insane anime person angle. Yes, I love it.
A wide fisheye lens, but then from her chin looking up and I'm just, good, you really caught me off guard. I'm like, what the hell is this? Because nothing else we've seen is like that.
It's something new. I'm into it. And they're hanging out near this bridge and they ask someone to take a picture of them, but in the first one, Pink is cut off. And then they just keep asking people to take pictures, but they're blurry or it's too bright or whatever, so they're like, oh, let's just take a selfie. But then they blink and they're like, let's try one more time. But then the camera dies. It's pink's camera. Bad luck. And then they go to a gift shop, and she tries to get the attention of a shopkeep, and he turns around and knocks a bunch of dolls over on her. And then they're eating ice cream. I thought this was so funny, when they the rest of them are eating their ice cream, and then Pink goes up to them. She's like, oh, you just started eating without me. That's cool, I guess.
Yeah, that line kind of threw me off. I was like, oh, she's really hurt by that.
Some of the adaptation things do hit in that four kids way of, like, this is very clearly not even close to how they tried to do it in the original, but they are like, yeah, fuck me, I guess. Okay, just like just very slice. There's points where they're just like, Sorry, what? And then it just cut away to different conversations, and it just hits in that they did need to americanize it in that for kids way.
Yeah, we had to just fill time. The translations shortened the words, and we had to just fluff a bit.
But so she goes to eat her ice cream, and then some kid bumps into her. So she smashes her ice cream in her face, and then they're like, in a bamboo forest, and something happens with Candy, and she yells at her and flails around. And as she's flailing, she throws a bag that she got from the souvenir shop and has a doll inside that she got for her mom. And they're like, oh, gosh, hope it didn't break. And they look it out and they get it out, and it seems fine, but then the hair piece cracks off, and now it's bald. And honestly, still good. I love it.
One improvement out of everything to break off of it. It was like something that was, like, pseudo of an accessory. Like it didn't destroy the whole doll. It's still a doll.
It's still good.
Yeah.
And they're back at the hotel, and all the kids are eating dinner, and then they get ready for bed, and Pink is sulking, and her friends are like, Cheer up. And then they have a pillow fight. And then amidst the pillow fight, they, like, knock a kettle of tea over, and it like they're, like, volleying it around the room, and Pink catches it above her head. And as she does so, the teacher opens the door, and she pours the tea all over the teacher.
Shoot.
And now it's dark in their room, and it's Truth or Dare time. And they're like, oh, Pink, what boy do you have a crush on? Is it this boy? Is it this boy? And then she's just like, I'll tell you I have a crush on Peter Pan. It's my most private secret. blah. Blah, blah. And I'm just like, are they really going to make fun of you for having a crush on a fictional character?
Because you are a fictional character.
Well, I just mean yeah, who doesn't? Anyway, once again, I remember I took a human sexuality class, and we did anonymous survey things where he gave us, like, clickers and we would answer questions, and then he would show us the results. And the question I wrote was, have you ever been attracted to a fictional character? And there was, like, a 16 year old in the class taking it for a college credit. And with that question, she was, like, ill, and she was the only one that said, no, you're just trying to be cool.
The kids are not okay.
Get over it.
The kids are horny for a cartoon.
I do think she expected more people to say that they hadn't, but it's.
Like, no, we've all except that they're old. Yeah, we've all seen minerva minks. We all know it's hot. Back in my day, I had so many white.
So they do that, and the teacher comes and yells at them, and Pink is like, I'm sorry, guys, and bad luck. And then they're like, oh, your luck will turn around. And then it's villain time, and it's just the big red troll guy, and he's watching TV and he sees an ad for the expo, and he's like, whoa, look at all those people there. I'm going to go wreak havoc. Someone knocking on my door. I swear to God. Leave me alone.
Irene snow coned.
Irene'S encrypted.
Wait, is she a yeti? That explains why she needs to stay cold.
I've seen this before.
I wish I've seen her. irene is just my crazy neighbor. Anyway, so it's a new day, and Pink thinks her luck has changed, but it hasn't. They go to a Gaysha village, and Yellow really wants to see a geisha, and they're like, oh, my God, where are they? And then Candy is like, Pink activate the lipstick charm, and then she does it. And then Candy puts on the lipstick, and she has a geisha costume, and she's like, I hate it. I'm right here. And then Pink is like, you know, guys, maybe I should just split up from the group because my bad luck is rubbing off on you guys. And then the big red Trollman is trying to harass some boys, but they think he's part of a show. But then he pulls out his book and sucks up the negative energy thing. And then the girls find him. And then pink's fortune paper blows towards him, and he laughs at her for having bad luck. And then he summons a buffoon, and it is the fortune paper. And here I was thinking we would get, like, fun, cool designs for every buffoon, but no, it's just the inanimate object with the same face. And then the girls transform, and it's time to fight and I tell you what, I noticed that the fights are always the last ten minutes of the episode, and at least five minutes of it is like the transformation sequence and then the tiara thing.
Yeah, there's so much transformation time. I left refilled. My water came back, and it was still blain.
It's absolutely wild.
Yeah.
So, yeah, they got to do the tr Mode to defeat the Blue Nose buffoon, but Pink drops her compact into the river. Shoot. She hops down to grab it, and then the other girls get attacked, and they're, like, weakened. And then before the buffoon can take them all the way down, pink comes back to help them, and the girls hype her up, and they're like, no, your luck is our luck, because we're a crew. And then the power of friendship brings her compact back to her, and then they go trim mode, and then they defeat the buffoon. Great.
Could have gone tr Mode immediately and defeated it real quick, but they forgot brendan, my apology.
And then after the fight is over and the Red Trollman leaves, the girls, they all laugh at pink's bad luck. And at first, she seems pretty upset about it, but then she's just like, okay, yeah, it was pretty funny.
You're right. I do suck.
It's so funny for you guys to make fun of me.
I'm not in a fragile place about you.
And then they see some geishas, and they're like, oh, maybe your luck has changed. And then it's over. That's episode twelve.
Sorry.
So, yeah, episode 13 a little bit different this time, but they're going it's, like the main day of the Expo. They're gathering up. They're on the bus going in, and the teacher is like, all right, everyone, you are middle schoolers, I assume, and we're letting you loose in a strange city. Just at least stick together, please.
Just to be clear, the teacher doesn't say I assume the teacher knows what school they're at. Hey, kids, I just wandered on this bus. I don't know what the fuck is happening. I guess you're on a field trip. Let's go. Let's have some fun.
Yeah, you're like, eleven or twelve or whatever dope get out there. Go rip up the town.
That's me. Whenever I see, like, a nephew or one of my cousin's kids like, what are you, 13 now? It's like, I'm four. It's like, yeah, that's the same thing.
Yeah, sure, here's a skateboard and some cigarettes. You'll figure it out.
I'm a terrible uncle.
Hey, someone has to fill the role.
Someone's got to be.
But, yeah, the teacher is like, if there's any problem, there are adult parent chaperones, so check in with them. Okay, cool. So the eda is like, all right, we need to be the first ones to do everything, so let's just blast through all these exhibits. I'm genuinely excited about them, so don't fuck it up for me.
This is my time.
Hey, it's learning time. I mean, my element. But they're like, yeah, let's get this out of the way so we can go eat and have fun. So they go and visit, like, a castle exhibit first, and Candy is like, hey, do you promise to do my hair? Let's do it right this second or else I'm going to reveal your secret that you have a little gremlin thing.
Love, Candy. Great character.
So they step away. Is it pink, red, yellow?
Pink and yellow?
Pink and yellow. I wrote it as red. Fuck it. Who cares? But pink and yellow step away so they can do candy's hair. But the rest of the group moves on, and immediately they're lost. They're separated. We then see that the witch enemy is looking for her slimy toad sourball candies, but she's all out of them toad balls. So she sees a TV report. These monsters just love staying up to date on their local news. And they talk about a candy shop at the expo that's selling mustard garlic taffy.
I try it.
I give it a shot. This feels very, like, hipstery of like, oh, yes, we're tapping into the, umami, taffy of the market.
We could probably find that candy shop somewhere here in La. Oh, absolutely.
But yeah, first off, I sort of skimmed over this before. When they're talking about all the food they're going to eat after it, they say like, oh, we're going to try all of the different countries foods. We can try Chinese food and Japanese food. I'm like, Wait, where are you?
Hold on.
Where is this fortune? They're in America and they took a train to Japan?
No. They took a train to the Asia Pacific Expo.
Oh, fair. Yeah. It is in monterey, California. Obviously. But yeah. So they're separated. They're like, okay, we'll just meet at the next place. Some parent chaperones find the two lost girls and they're like, oh, yeah, they probably went on ahead. Here's some candy. Take the boat to the museum, blah, blah, blah. A lot of this episode is them just missing each other and saying, okay, let's just go to the next place. So I don't want to get too in depth with it because it is just a lot of they go here, they don't meet up. They go to the next place. Oh, they just miss each other. They don't meet up. They go to the next place. So, yeah, they try going to a museum, a zoo, but they just keep missing each other. Pink and yellow keep stopping to eat food because they're like, we'll catch up eventually. While we're here, there's a food shop. So they're starting to feel guilty that they're eating when everyone else is waiting to eat together afterwards. Because the group of three are starving. They are dying.
Did you guys think the chaperones were going to be the villains?
The way they were acting? I was like, oh, God.
They keep running into them and keep setting them up. Like, Here, have some candy. I was like, all right. that'll poison the girls, and they'll have to recover from it or something.
Literally, a stranger giving them candy, and they're just like, no. Where parent chaperones don't identify what school they're from or whose parents they are. If I saw any school group, I could walk up to them and be like, hey, I'm a parent chaperone. Because, yeah, that's how it works. What other credentials do I need?
Yeah, I've always like, any field tribal. And it's like, oh, I'm like sarah's mom. It's like, okay. It's someone I actually know.
Yeah. What a schoolmate of ours is from Long Island, based on the accent, what's.
Going on from Tokyo.
But they keep running into the chaperones who keep giving them more candy and including some mustard Garlic taffy. And they're like, ah, I'm going to stash this for later and throw it away. So they keep getting lost. They decide, hey, let's climb this giant tower and see if we can spot our friends just out there in the city somewhere. Sound logic.
Yes. Cell phones aren't around at this time.
Yeah, in 2012, but yeah. So the witch arrives at the candy shop, and darn it, they're all sold out of the Mustard, Garlic Taffy. And she's like, for that, you will pay, and activates her negative energy, summoning.
Her sharring.
Bloodline limit.
But yes. So she starts siphoning some negative energy, and she sees the two girls in the tower, and she's like, oh, baller. Two birds, 1 st, and throws one of her blue clown noses and turns the tower into a buffoon.
I will say the witch's name is bruha, which I think is a fantastic name for a witch.
It's a little on the clown nose for me. Okay. So they're like, oh, shit. That building turned into a monster. I guess we got a fight. So everyone transforms, but pink and yellow are in the tower, so they can't fight it because they're inside. I mean, I assume you could fuck it up from the inside, but okay, yeah, but since it's a blue nose, they need all their powers combined to take it down. So they're like, okay, we got to get them out first, and then we can take it down. So Candy is like, hey, remember at some point, you probably got these butterfly charms? And they're like, oh, yeah, I guess we do have that.
All right. Shit. The whole time.
Cool. So they transfer that power, and the girls on the ground get the power of butterfly wings so they can fly around and be on the level of the tower. Convenient.
Plot relevance. Interesting.
So they are like, okay, we got to make the tower dizzy so hopefully it can fall down and they can just walk out of its mouth. They do it. They end up feeding it some of the mustard, garlic taffy, and it is so disgusted, it barfs up the girls.
I love spirited Away.
Delicious.
I really wanted just a very visceral shot of a giant tower vomiting in a city.
But it just like flooding the streets.
But it just spits just the girls out. It opens his mouth like it's going to barf. But yeah, it just goes like, poo. And it spits out just the two girls.
But yeah. So with them out, they unite and take down the buffoon. And they're like, great, we did it. Back to the field trip. We found each other. So then they're like, okay, fuck the rest of this shit. Let's just eat. Who cares? We already had to do combat. Let's fuck it. There's some takiyaki here. Let's do it. But yeah, and then we just get, like, picture screenshots of them having a fun time. The end. Except the musical number changed for this.
One at the end.
Okay. I wasn't sure if it was the same all three episodes or just this one because yeah, this one was weird.
Yeah, the first two episodes had the same musical dance number. This one was different. This one was the disturbing, like, minor key thing. This was just a pop song.
Yeah.
Girls type of thing.
Kept saying they're going to like it felt like the miley Cyber songs, like going to La and going to the beach. I mean, the lyrics don't say I'm going to get fucked up in La. But it had that vibe to it.
Party in the USA.
It feels like a club song. And I'm just like, this feels so off. Like, this feels so weird to me.
But yeah, these are three episodes.
The whole time I just kept looking at the green girl and I was like, I miss cabbage from Tokyo.
It's lettuce.
She turns into a dolphin. It's just purpose.
That just that exchange vanity. This show is so just out of context. I miss cabbage. It's lettuce. She turns into a dolphin.
My lettuce makes no sense. Welcome to Magical Girls. The genre.
But yeah. So how are we feeling about the reign of five kids?
Here's how I feel. We are three adults.
Debatable.
I think that this show was fine for children.
Yeah.
You know, I thought I mean, like, there's something about this that I much prefer over actual four kids.
Because it's not terrible, I guess.
Obviously, it's like extremely formulaic and whatever. And it's got all the transformation sequences and stuff. But I think it's fine. I think it's got clear lessons and friendship and four children. Sure.
Yeah. After watching this, after 100 episodes of our show, of watching various animes, we've definitely seen much, much worse. And we've seen better stuff. But yeah, this is like watching it. I'm like, I'm not interested in this. But it's not objectively bad. Like we said, the animation is done so much better than four kids animates were back in the day. Yeah. The writing is like, pretty schlocky on those. But yeah, it's clearly a kid's show. And I've mentioned how Medoca magica has ruined me for magical girls. Because the whole time at one point, Pink is like, I have a crush on a boy and he'll always stay a boy. I was like, oh no, he's dead. Ghost boyfriend, something. And she's like, it's Peter Pan. I was like, that makes more sense.
Darn it.
But yeah, there were moments where the lens had a weird dark filter on it and I couldn't really understand why that was happening. It seemed kind of inconsistent or maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention to when it happened. But yeah, I don't think there's going to be a crazy twist to it. Like yuki uni is a hero or badoka magica or something like that. I think this is just, like you said, a standard kids show. And it's the stuff we grew up with. It's just for the next generation. So it's just, you know, the techniques of drawing it are better. But yeah, it's a kids show. I'm not going to keep watching it. But I'm not going to say, like, this is garbage, getting it out of my face. It's not for me.
Yeah, I truly appreciated that there is a show being made that fits and fulfills the role of four kids that we had. It's oddly comforting watching this and being like, in 20 years, some kids are going to find this again and be like, this fucking sucks.
They have fond nostalgia for it and then rewatch and go, oh, no.
Yeah. Like, truly how we view four kids. I feel like kids now are going to look back and be like, oh yeah, this show sucks.
Cycle continue.
Yeah, it's just so comforting to have the cycle go on and not be like, no, this is an like, four kids will be an undecipherable experience for youth. It's like, no, there's going they have their own mediocre, get the job done kid shows, regardless of your age or era. It's great.
Yeah, I think it will change because it's not specifically Saturday morning, because back then it's like you have to watch it at this time or you'll never see it again. So it makes you feel like, I need to watch this just at context. But now everything is on demand. So it's like I feel like less people are going to watch it if it's at their own leisure versus catching this show before your favorite show comes on next on Saturday mornings. But yeah, God knows I've worked on some stuff like yokai Watch and we worked on that and that was its own group of headaches. But for the Christmas party at work, my boss got a yokai Watch, like the toy. And I'm just like, oh, it's like pokemon. And it's like, Good Christ. That toy is like so loud. It has like a sound clip in it. And it goes for like four minutes straight. Oh, no. Just became a nightmare at work. Anytime someone's like, oh, what's this? And activate it and then run out of the room, it's like, no, we're trapped. But, yeah, you're saying it gave me the same feeling of, like, oh, this is just the next generation of kids. pokemon or digimon or yeah, the circle continues. Time is a circle. We're all fleeting memories until we fade away into dust.
If it wasn't being rebuked booted, I would say this is this generation's Tokyo mumi.
That's going to be interesting when it's the reboots of a previous generation speeding with the new generation of the same thing. But, I mean, I feel like the.
Reboots aren't for people who watched it when they were kidding.
Yeah, but still, we won't watch it on the show. But there is currently a digimon reboot, which is just a reboot of the first season. And, yeah, watching it, I'm like, they're skipping through so much so fast. I'm like, this isn't for anyone coming into it new, this is for me who grew up with it. So, yeah, I agree with that. But, yeah, it's fine. We weren't there, but we were never going to be there.
Weeb can be wistful for the future.
It didn't leave a bad taste in her mouth, which is better than my pegs.
Yeah.
Well, thank you, ruben Quest, for this recommendation. What do we have going on next week?
Next week is my pick, but it is also our two year anniversary.
The paper anniversary. No wood board.
I don't know what two weeks?
The anime anniversary.
Anime anniversary. And we really burnt ourselves out last year with four kids. Upon this year, I just decided to go ahead and pick a gay.
I think we've earned it as a treat.
Yeah. Let me go and get some of the top shelf and that.
This is good. Yeah. So fingers crossed. We're going to watch. Hold on.
Here we go.
Hold on. It means classmates. I know. That's what we're watching the first three episodes.
Well, if there's a recommendation you, the listener, would like us to watch, you can send your recommendations to us. Our email is Are we there yet@gmail.com? Or you can reach out to us on Twitter or Instagram are we there yet? On both. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram at Mr Patrick dugan.
You can find me on Instagram at queen. Period weebu and on twitter at queen underscore weebu and queen underscore weebu art.
You can find me on Twitter at abts. Brendan. It stands for Almost Better Than Silence, which is the video game podcast I do sometimes.
Thank you to camille ruley for our artwork. And thank you to Louis zong for our theme song stories. You can find all of Louis music at Louisang bandcamp.com. Thank you and we hope you'll join us next week as we learn to live with anime.
I think I'm going to buy a toy of one of those compacts.