Don't see where they forgot. Hello, and welcome to our weave there yet in exploration and education and anime. I'm your anime idiot, patrick dugan.
I'm an anime expert, dana hollander.
And I'm brenda mccullough. Your anime old McDonald ei.
Eio on that farm. What? What do you possess, Mr. McDonald?
On the farm, we got, like, half a tire and, like, some old sewage pipes. I got ripped up and, like, I haven't been here for, like, 50 years. This guy handed down to me through my uncle. I can apparently own the property if I stay one night here, but I think it's haunted or something.
Oh, yeah.
Told me to fix up the farm and then the carpenter will come down and build me some farm buildings.
Right.
But don't worry, you have three years to finish that up.
Yeah, my buddy linus helping me out.
The specter of your grandfather comes and judges you.
I approve. Thanks, Grandma. What fuck are you doing? Thank you. It's a lot of chickens. You need them. Any chickens? Hey, don't judge, old man.
Why are you filling a swimming pool with mill?
That's a real star to Valley of just like, oh, here's your burden you have to deal with. Cool. Who wants this? I'm selling it to the first person I talked to. I'm out of this shit hotel.
I found out that my grandmother, she had a farm and she sold it to somebody, and I am so upset that she didn't. That could have been me, boy. That could have been me. I would not do well on the farm. I will say that. But it seems like a dream.
My great grandma had a dairy farm in good old rhode Island.
My grandpa doesn't have a farm.
I love that.
My grandpa was born and raised in philly, and when he got old enough, he said, fuck this, and moved out to lancaster with all the amish people. So he's still within a town, but no one bothers him because he's the only one not amish.
Perfect.
Anyway, we're talking.
That is a ballard introvert move. Like, I'm going to be a part of society, but they're not going to let me into their society.
You're, like the one guy's awesome. You're the one guy not in the cult. If an emergency happens, there's an ambulance and a hospital nearby, but otherwise no one talks to me.
The dream.
He's got shit figured out. I won't deny that. I do envy that. Anyway.
Yeah. Why are we talking so much about farms?
We're just sick of the city. Just sick of the smog and just got to get out of it for a while. So this week we're watching Silver spoon. It's about farming. Yeah.
This is something that's been on our list for forever, since we started the show. So yeah. How did it come about? How did you find this?
I found this because it's from the same creator as Full Metal alchemist. Which is one of my favorite series of all time. So I'm just like, well, I like her other work. Let me give this one a shot. And surprise, surprise, I quickly fell in love with it.
Oh, weird.
Yeah, it's weird when a creator is consistently good. How odd. And they don't just like, fuck up a Star Wars movie or something. That's how I found it. Do you guys just know anything about it?
Yeah, you are my entire frame of reference. I'm sure there's going to be some fucked up demon in here somewhere.
Well, Promised neverland was also about farming, so it's like a farm bill on that side. It's just orphan meat. No. Since you know nothing about it, now that I have some context, it kind of feels like laid back camp. And I understand why I love it because it's just like it's simple. It's not world ending. There's no weird fighting tournament. It's just like, hey, this is nice. And it just dedicates time to the beauty of simplicity. Or just like everyday life. It's just done. Well, I just really enjoyed it.
Mind if I fuck around and have no drama for an hour?
I've been sick. The last few days have been rough for me, so I'm excited to not have some bullshit, get all snuggie, get.
Some comfort, and just watch some farm. We've been running dugan reagan with the last few shows. Some intentional. intentional.
My guard is up so high right now.
We got to lower that.
There's going to be some, like, horse god that tries to possess the body. If he doesn't, like, ace his farming class or whatever.
We got to lower those walls down so that way I could sucker punch you again with another one like gams.
Damn.
Well, we're watching the first three episodes. Will we fuck? I've been blowing it so hard for so long.
No, you got this. You got to take it out there. Try it again. Take it. Shake it up. Here we go.
Well, I don't want to milk this intro for too long, so let's get right into the show.
You really did it.
Let's quit forcing around to get on.
Wake up. It's the crack of dawn. Got to start talking about the farm anime. We got to go authentic. I woke everyone up. It's 04:00 A.m.. We're ready to go. It's field.
It's my day off. It's like the one day no, I got two days off, but it's like my two days off dragging out of bed for this shit.
Too bad. This is what you signed up for.
So that's true.
I'm chillin.
Yeah, you you know what's up.
You got the audience knows we're all roommates, right? Like, we all share a dorm room. Like, we're all like bunk beds, right? We've said that before.
Yeah, we all sleep in the same room.
Yeah, we have a triple bunk bed.
We're recording this in bed. We just have mics pulled from the center of the room up to our bunks. Yes.
We can't look each other in the eyes. So we have to record from our own.
We're introverts. That's why we have a podcast. We can't make any icons first.
The only time we ever speak to each other.
Yeah.
It is radio silence when we are not recording.
It's very professional.
All right, so diving in. We start out seeing a bunch of people on a farm. This is the Department of Dairy Science at I missed the actual full name of the Agriculture School farmville.
We're not going to say the whole name. It's a big name.
Yeah. farmville Academy. So they're talking about, hey, welcome. It's your orientation. Here's some cows.
Look at all these cows.
Look, you signed up for Dairy Science, so here you go. And we see one kid with glasses being totally out of his element.
The eda.
Yeah. He's our main character. Hochikin he is so uncomfortable with the smell. A little calf walks up to him and bites his jacket. So he's freaking out. They are getting the stall ready for this cow. And he's like, I got to hold onto it or I'll still run away and inadvertently chases it out of the barn. And the teacher is like, what a fucking age.
God damn it. He just had to lure it in with some food.
What a noob?
What a farming amateur.
Why would this idiot need to go to school?
He's clearly a master.
And then we get the opening credits, which are delightful.
Yeah.
The song is so good. This might just be me. It's poppy as fuck. And I might just have associations with it because I like the show, but ooh, this is a bop, in my opinion.
Yeah, it's good. I'll say. I prefer the closing song because it is a hoot.
I do, too.
But we'll get there.
We'll get better. We just started, so yeah.
Hachikin chases his new cow friend out into the woods and they're both lost, even though there's clearly footprint tracks that they could go back following. But that's fine. It's fine. He's a city indoor kid. Who am I to judge?
He's a city mouse.
Yeah. So he's lost and then a big scary horse comes out of the woods, but there's a girl on the back of it, so it's not going to eat him. Brendan yeah.
I love the show horses.
Brendan yeah. Let's unpack this, because I still don't understand.
It's a testament to the quality of the show that I can still love it despite it being filled with, like, 70% horses. I don't like horses because they have the strength of an ox and the temperament of a squirrel. I don't like anything that will get skittish if I walk behind it and they kick me in the jaw and paralyze me from the neck down.
But how often are you interacting with horses where that is a daily concern?
If you interact with horses at all. That's a concern.
People are afraid of sharks, so, like, I think friend is allowed to be afraid of horses.
Mike.
I know, but there isn't a long legacy of people being friends with sharks.
I just try to think of a movie that doesn't happen in a movie. It's always like, fish that are friends with sharks, not people. Yeah, my cousins had horses growing up. My cousins were the rich cousins, so they dealt with horses a lot. And by proxy, I'm terrified of them. Anyway, back the animal.
Got you.
They're horse girls.
So, yeah, horse Girl, which is what I just call her throughout. Her real name is mika J.
Just thought of that.
But yeah. No, she's horse girl.
That's fine.
She's like, hey, just saw you just dart out of the barn and I followed you. Let me guide you back. So we meet her. She's talking about how she's in the equestrian club and she's riding this giant ass draft horse and she wants to eventually run the family business. And that's why she's all horse crazy. Horse crazy.
It's too big. Shouldn't exist. It's an abomination.
Fine. We'll switch scenes so you can chill the fuck out. We go into a classroom. This is their home room. And the teacher is like, all right, welcome to farmville Academy. Let's introduce everyone. By which I mean just the main characters. And then a couple of people get up, introduce themselves. Their names are going quickly, and I did not get them, and they don't really matter. So the important people, mostly, they're like what they want to do. We have a vet who shockingly wants to be a vet. We have a dairy farmer who's also on the baseball team is Big old jock. I called him baseball. We have a woman who wants to become, like, the manager of farms, and I just called her Boss bitch. She is just like the typical foreman of like, yeah, you do the work, I'll watch from the sidelines.
I'll say if someone has continued watching the series and read the magazine, that's a very appropriate name for her because she changed. No shit and pulls no punches.
Perfect. We have a Cheese Girl, wants to make cheese from her dairy farm. And then Chicken Boy is going to run his family's poultry farm bagh. So they split the class into eight teams so they can sort of split up and do different farm duties together. And surprise, almost all these people are on the same team. Wow. Who would have thought?
Weird.
What?
But also, as everyone's going around talking about their dreams in the future and all that, hachi Ken is like, oh, wow. Everyone but me seems to know what they want to do. Weird relatable.
That was me in high school.
So they wake up the next day, it's 05:00 A.m., and Hachikan is like, oh, fuck, I'm so hungry already. And one of his roommates is like, hey, here's a protein bar. You're going to need it because you're a little baby right now.
You'll be confirmed. Put this in your mouth and shut up. So I go back to sleep.
So they go out, they're about to meet their teacher, but they get recruited because a bunch of chickens have escaped the coop. No, these are the sorts of high stakes drama that you're going to get.
With the show, basically. Yeah.
So, yeah, they go pick up the chickens. The, like, third year students are like, hey, awesome, thanks, and start butchering them in front of them. And they're like, yeah, we're going to give you some smoked chicken later on as a thank you. And everyone is nauseous and concerned because they just wrangled up all these chickens and they were immediately killed. So then they go into a chicken coop and start collecting the eggs. They're talking about how this is sort of like a factory farm set up and it's all about the efficiency and all that. And we get hot chiken seeing an egg made on the spot coming out of a chicken. And he's like, hey, chicken boy, where do the eggs come from? And this is where we get a little lesson on the cloaca. Yeah, it's all the holes in one.
It's the Swiss Army knife of orbit.
He didn't know this.
Yeah.
Like, why is he so shocked about doesn't he know that things lay eggs?
I think it's just the disconnect of, like, a teenager. You don't you know, chickens come from eggs and chickens make eggs, but you don't realize, like, oh, they have to come out of somewhere. They don't just dissolve through the membrane of the chicken.
You don't put a grain of hay under a chicken pillow and have an egg be there the next morning.
Yeah. Especially if you're a city boy who don't really think of this stuff.
Yeah. Because we sort of don't get a clear explanation for him until later on. But since he has no life plan, he just got sent here because he wanted, like, a boarding school away from home. So he is completely out of his element. He's not going to become a genius chicken man overnight.
Not overnight.
I also have to say that in all these scenes with the chicken coop, all I could think of was that one part of napoleon dynamite where he was working on the chicken farm and he was like, do the chickens have large talents? What all I could think of the.
Whole time, the only thing I could think of, and the only note I have is eggs are stored in the ass.
They're up there.
They're deep way out there.
So, yeah, he's all grossed out. And of course, we then go to the dining hall for breakfast and everyone is eating eggs and he is so disgusted because it came out of a butt.
It came out of the hole only.
Kind of came out of a butt, but it came out of the poop shoot.
Come on.
Yeah, he's having issues with that. He refuses to eat it, gives it to his roommate, who gave him the protein bars payback. So that's fine. Also, we can get some delicious cartoon food here. Check. And we go into basically, this first episode is just bouncing to other classes to be like, wow, he's out of his element. So I'm going to go through it a little quick. He is in, like a math class, and he sees that the textbook is super tiny. And he's like, oh, it's all basic math. All these farmer boys don't need to know, like, calculus and shit. So he's like, I'm going to nail this, but I'm so scared of livestock science. Because he studied a textbook over spring break. And then the teacher coming in is like, yeah, those are like averages, but our cows are bigger. So here's a different set of statistics and pulls out like five bigger textbooks. So he is thrown off and scared. And also, everyone else is like, hey, math is fucking stupid and I don't know how to do it. Can you teach me? Yeah. He's like, oh, god, all these farmer hicks don't know how to do math. God, these fucking idiots. I'm going to have to teach them all. And then as he starts trying to tutor them, they get sidetracked, talking about the latest genetic cloning stuff for science and farming and breeding of livestock and all this, like, high tech science shit. And he's completely lost. He's like, oh, fuck. They're smarter than I thought. These farmers know about farming. Oh, no.
I do love that. I wrote down a quote from Chicken Boy just saying, don't underestimate how dumb I am. And God, if I don't want that. Just on a jacket, please.
So after that, they go to gym, where they have to do a lap around the campus. But the campus being farmland, is a 20k race, 12.4 miles.
Terrible.
Yeah, too much. Too big.
It's a lot.
Afterwards, everyone's exhausted, and they meet up with Horse Girl and baseball Boy, who are old friends. So they're meeting up again, and they also tell them, well, I'm in the equestrian club, and he's in the baseball club. You have to join a club by the end of the week. And there's no academic clubs. It's all athletic based. So good luck, you skinny nerd.
Sucks so much.
What fresh hell is this?
Yeah, I feel like there's other farmer based stuff they talk about, like culinary science and stuff like that. So I was like, can I just take, like, a cooking class, know what to do? Let me learn how to make some cheese. That seems better.
You got to fight for it. You got to earn your place.
Please. I just want to be a cheese boy.
But then there's also, like a martial arts class that like the chicken boy joins. It's like, all right, that one's weird.
It's like, sure, all right, fine. But yeah, later on, they finish collecting the eggs. Everyone's exhausted and about to go to the dining hall. And they get recruited because a giant windstorm started and it tore up a greenhouse. So they got to start patching it up. So they go over there. Everyone's thrown around in the strong winds. Everyone's trying to hold these flaps down. But they managed to get it done just in time for the dining hall to close. So they're like, fuck, I'm going to starve. And have to be up in like 8 hours now. But the teachers being so appreciative, bring them some food. It's big ol pot of rice and more fresh eggs. So he starts off being grossed out. Like it's from a butt, though. And dado yeah, eventually he digs in. He stomachs it. He's like, wow, this is so fresh. This is delicious. And he that's a baller egg.
Yeah.
He is so exhausted, he will eat an egg from the poop shoot. He's like that's. Fine. I'll take it.
But the whole time he's eating it, he's like, cursing it too. He's like, Damn you, anus. Which is like an actual line. It's like, that's a good quote out of context for any show. But this show, if they don't make just eggs, rice, and soy sauce, like the most delicious thing on the fucking planet, god damn.
Yeah, it was unfair.
I was eating, like, fucking bagel Bites over here.
I watched Terrace House. And on the first part of the most recent season, tokyo 2019 2020, there's this girl that tries that for the first time, like rice, and just like, egg broken into it. And I personally cannot get into that because I just do not like yolk. But if it doesn't look delicious, my goodness.
Oh, that looked extremely like my shit. I kind of want to try it now.
It's good. Yeah. tasty. But it's a lot of egg.
I'll take it. I eat a lot of egg anyway.
Yeah. I don't like runny yolks. I love the aesthetic of them, but I don't like the taste.
Yeah, I could steal that.
But yeah, after that, they have like 15 minutes of room for, like, washing up in bath time. So they're like, shit, there's no time to relax. This sucks. And it keeps going back to Hachikin, being like, wow, everyone has a dream for what they want to do but me. And that's episode one.
And then yeah, the ending song.
Yes. This is fantastic. It is a country song in Japanese. And it is so fucking good. It's just so pure. It's so nice. I love it. It's so good. That sweet. Country tang in a Japanese accent is so pleasing.
I like the visuals of it too, because it's just really simple. It's just like him walking through a field. But like, it changes because it's like, the seasons changing. And I love that.
Yeah, it's everyone running past them and so good. So good.
Love it.
Episode two.
Yeah. So, episode two, we start with a flashback that actually turns out to be hatchy's dream. But he's talking with someone about being bad at sports and not wanting to join a club. And then the person is like, well, if you, like, join a club or like an extracurricular, it looks better to high schools. And then he wakes up and Chicken Boy is his top bunk bud. And he comes down and he's like, your alarm is too loud.
Not super relevant, but it's a different character. They do look similar, though.
Well, he looks the same.
Yeah.
And he acts the same.
Yeah.
I thought it was the same character, too.
Now that guy's family has a potato farm.
Anyway, great. So the A crew is walking to do their morning stuff, and Hachi is so tired, and he's like, how did these other kids have so much energy? And then boss bitch tomaco the reason I remember her name really is because tamago means egg, and they talk about eggs so much, so I just remembered that her name was Tommaco.
I don't know.
Sneak.
Yeah, but she gets dizzy, and he's like, oh, I'm not alone and being tired. And then in her brain, she's like, oh, I didn't eat my snack.
Yeah, because we also see, like, Baseball Boy drinking, like, a juice buck or something on the way. So it implies they're all snacking because they still got to work, like, 6 hours before breakfast.
Yes. And they're back to collecting eggs, and they don't want to break the eggs because the instructor is like, you'll be suspended for a day. And then Hachi freaks out about it, and he's like, I'm kidding. But also, please don't break the eggs.
Where we make money.
And then hatchi is like, so we're less than the livestock here. And then the instructor is like, ha, you're all slaves to the livestock, baby.
They run their lives. idiots. This is what you signed up for.
Yeah.
And then Hachi is asleep in class when Chicken Boy comes up and he's like, look at my math quiz I did. Okay, I got it. The double digits. But he still didn't do very well.
Got 10%.
And then they are meeting in the fields for class today, and it shows them working in the field that it shows them doing pe. And then there's more of the livestock stuff. And Hachi after all of that, he's always so shocked that Baseball Boy isn't too tired to go to his baseball club. And then they're back in the dorms, and they see imada, who is a third year, and he's one of the guys that they helped grab the chickens.
He's got those luscious lashes.
He brought them a piece of smoked chicken. Yeah, he's very pretty. He brought them some smoked chicken like he promised but Hachi keeps having flashbacks to him cutting off the chicken's head. And honestly, if this anime isn't anything else, it's just vegan propaganda. It's interesting because it's like, support local farms, support local farmers, whatever. But it's also like him having all this trouble by seeing eggs come out of chickens and seeing chickens get killed and stuff.
Yeah, I like it because it definitely feels like a love letter to local farms and stuff because the creator of it grew up on a dairy farm, so it's very personal for her. But I feel like it also doesn't hide the grittiness of farms, of like, yeah, you got to kill the animals, and that's what the meat is. So it doesn't try to, like I forget I don't know the right word. But trying to whitewash, trying to clean it up, of making it all sugarcoat it. Sugarcoat it. Yeah. They don't sugarcoat it. No. It's a farm, dude. This is what happens.
Yeah, I think it is good to put into perspective, like, hey, by eating meat and stuff, know that this is what you're signing up for.
This is where it comes from.
It's not just a piece of pinkish material in a supermarket. No, you got to remember, this is what goes into it.
Yeah, he drops off the chicken.
He bites the chicken anyway, and it's delicious. It tastes like there's nothing added to it. And then imada is like, exactly. That's why it's good. And he says that he thinks Hachi would be good for the Food Sciences program. And then tomaco comes out and sees him imada, and she calls him Big Brother. So they're like, oh, wow. What? And then they look at their face, their two faces together, and they look exactly the same. And then we get that stick. Oh, you'd be so hot if you slim to dad, tomaco. Because she's fat.
Yeah.
I get it. It's a different culture. Whatever. But she's cute anyway. I love her.
It's just weird. Because they aren't terrible to her in general. No, because she always takes charge.
Just.
Because this comes out of the blue. It's like, oh, you're being pretty chill out. Up until this point. She's not like the fat punching bag joke punch line.
I'll say there are still a few jokes throughout the series, but it is more or less like they have a few episodes of just her highlighting how good she is and how because, like, managerial she is. She's about the business of farms, and she is very good at it. So they definitely encourage and highlight. She's a great character, too.
Love it. And then they go play ping pong in the recreation room. That's something that happens.
That's her club activity.
And then it's the next day, and Hachi is cleaning up the chicken coops, and he's thinking about how he needs to pick a club, and he's like, oh, yeah, horse girl told me to join the equestrian club. Maybe I should do that. And it's the last day that they have to do the livestock thing so they don't have to do it, at least for the rest of the month. yay. They don't have to wake up at five anymore. And then how she's thinking about clubs again when he walks past this group of boys in a bar looking at a magazine that we presume is dirty because they're like, oh, look at the tits on that one. Oh, I love her waistline. And then they noticed him and they pulled him into look. But they're looking at cows.
Yeah. This was the exact time that Sam walked in to ask him a question. And just seeing boys on screen being like, check out those titties. Sam was like, what the fuck are you watching that's anime.
That's the anime experience.
It didn't help that my answer was no. They're talking about cows.
There are other mammals tits.
But they're the holstein club and they breed cows to take them to fairs.
They're really into it.
They're really into it. And Hachi doesn't want to join. And then he's saved by the instructor of the equestrian club. And he takes Hachi away on horseback to the horses.
Yes. And this man is definitely not buddha.
Super not buddha.
And then they get there and he's like, horses might not be so bad. And then he gets, like, a good look at the instructor's horse and he's like, oh, that's an ugly horse. And then it walks up to him.
And knocks him down and bought them.
It's a beautiful horse.
Someone tells him, like, don't look down on horses, because they could tell. And that horse girl comes and she's like, oh, I'm so glad you came to visit. And they go to see the horse that she used in the first scene of the first episode. And she's like, I'll feed him Mccarrott, and he has, like, this vision of the horse biting off his hand.
Super relatable.
In reality, the horse just very gently takes the carrot off of his hand. I get the fear of horses just because they are very big and very strong, but they are really chill. Like, I have a friend who has some horses, and I've never really been around horses in my life, but I went there to film something once and I just like, went up to one and touched its nose and it licked my hand. Just felt like a dog. The size, I get it. The size of a horse is intimidating.
But they're literally just a big, weird dog. They've literally been bred for hundreds of years to just be pure power, and they're too skittish.
Do you ever think about their legs, though? Their legs?
I can't stop thinking about their legs.
Has anyone ever told you that?
Oh, yeah, they're like, evolved. Yeah, they're not arms. They're like the fingers that evolved and got wider, and then the other fingers like, shrunk. Up, further up in the leg. They're monsters. It shouldn't exist anyway.
But she actually says that. She says, like, yeah, horses are intimidating, but they're actually timid and delicate and they get scared really easily. Shut up. Focusing on the negative.
Don't just be a lesson, Brendan. Don't look down on horses. One is on its way to headbutt you right now. Just bought a plane ticket, so your attitude better change before it arrives.
Buster Brown it's like it follows. Brendan there's always been a horse following you your whole life because you're so afraid of them.
That is my biggest fear. That's why I live on the second floor of a building. They can't navigate the stairs. There's a turn in them.
When you're born, there's a horse with your name on it.
You better die before it finds you. Oh, I plan to, buddy. I plan too.
But she thinks what's so good about horses is they care about their kind. They look out for each other. And she really wants hatchi to join the club. And he's like, riding a horse would be nice. And then he applies to the club.
Yeah.
And it's time for the first club meeting. And he's like, yay, I don't have to wake up at five anymore. And then the instructor is like, you got to take care of your horse, so you have to wake up at four.
Shit sucks.
Yeah. And then he has a fantasy of him riding horses with with horse girl. It's beautiful. But while he's dreaming of that, he's cleaning up poop. Horse poop.
A lot of poop.
And then they're eating breakfast and he's like, oh, I wonder. He's like, oh, it's delicious. And then he's like, I wonder what's for lunch. And then he realizes that all he has to look forward to is food. And I'm like, Boy, wow.
Relatable content.
That's me at work.
If that ain't depression, I don't know what is. But also relatable.
Depression is relatable. Oh, no.
What does that tell me about me?
And then he's heading to the club when Vet Boy sees him. And he's like, oh, I'm going that direction too. Let's go. And then he's like, oh, what club are you in? And then vet boys like, I'm in the weird cow club. And he's like, yeah, I know the upperclassman and the club are really weird, but it's actually, like a good club. I get to look after the cows. And then hachi is like, oh, yeah, you want to be a vet, so why would you pick a farming school? Like, you should have gone to a regular high school for academics. And he said that at this school at farmville Academy, they do research on cloning and transporting fertilized eggs and that if students want to, they could participate in the work. And he wanted to get that hands on experience as soon as possible. And I think that is so cool.
He's smart. He's a smart boy.
He knows what's up.
Yeah, well, I just mean, like, these specified high schools, I know they exist, and I think that shit's so cool that people got to do this stuff and actually have experience in their field.
Yeah, that also terrifies me, though, because I know from that when I started high school, my career path changed like eight times.
Yeah. Was it like the daria quote that's showing my age here? daria, I don't want to be 18 and make a crippling like decision and look back on it when I'm 60 and regret everything. It's like, yeah.
That'S true. And then hachi is like, oh, wow, this school is amazing. And then he thinks about how everyone has well thought out dreams, and he doesn't. And then he wonders if he'll look as cool as Horse Girl when he finally rides a horse someday. But for now, he's still cleaning the stables. And then he does a half assed job and he's like, no one will notice. And then he's walking out and a.
Small bald man is like, hey, like, very small.
Do you not like horses? Very small. And he's like, pop, booms. And then he says, like, well, you must not actually like horses because you didn't do a good job of cleaning the stall.
Calling him out.
Yeah, he calls him out, and then he asks him what he wants to do. And hatchi is like, oh, I'm sorry. I don't know.
I got another for you, bud.
That's okay. I look forward to working with you. And then he just walks off and he goes up to the instructor, and the instructor is like, oh, hey, Principal Man.
And hatchie is like, the principal knows I suck at cleaning stone.
He knows me by name of fuck.
And and it's finally time for hachi to ride a horse. And the instructor wants him to ride the one that knocked him down.
It's a pretty one.
And hachi, they help him up, but he's all hunched over and they're like, sit up. Come on, dude. And when he does, he gets a lovely view. And he says that even though it's high, he still feels connected to the ground through the horsey.
We're bonded you.
And then the instructor gets all philosophical. The instructor gets all philosophical about experiencing new things and new perspectives and that humans appreciate horses because they bring a new perspective. And I'm just like, okay, I guess calm down.
He really likes horses.
And then he kind of warns hatchi about taking good care of the stables. And then after club time is over, they're talking about how Golden Week is coming up, and the guy who was scheduled to clean the stables can't anymore because of a family emergency. So hachi volunteers to do it, and Horse Girl is going to be helping out too. And then it's bath time, and they're chilling in the bath. And then the big man, the big roommate is like, I have important information. The girl's bath is right above us.
That's it.
Oh, boy. They don't really talk about it at all. They just kind of stare up at the vent and then that's it. And I'm like, wow.
Well, one drop of water from the vent drips down into their pool and they're like, the dream.
You think it's going to go into this weird perverted peaking caper or something? It's like, no, just letting you guys know.
They're like, there's nudity right above us.
Right? Just out of reach.
I feel like that's enough for some high school boys.
Yeah.
Just to know.
Let's think about that together while we're all in the same back.
Hey, hangs, where's your hand? Look at me. Quit looking, boy. Oh, bingo. Related question. So we had the holstein club talking about them cows. Does that count for titties? Is that titties?
No, it does not.
Just double check it. Just making sure. Okay. The whole scene club really doesn't do much. They're just a punchline. But I love how just obsessed and weirdly perverted they are about cows.
Well, we do see utters and we do in the next episode get pig titties. Do we want to count those?
Didn't say human titties. It just says titties. But, I mean, that won't make bike for me, so I'm fine with not having them.
No one I'll give it to you.
Okay.
Wow.
Thank you, Ambassador. So episode three starts off with a Winston churchill quote, which I was not expecting from a farm anime. And it says, each instructor kind of has their own domain. Like, we have the teacher who's like for chickens, and he kind of looks like a chicken. He's got, like, a mohawk and the kind of pursed lips. And then we get the one instructor for, like, pigs, and I just called her military mom because she's just a military mom.
Yeah, military MILF milfitary milfitary military.
That's a title because it has no context to the rest of this show, but yeah. So she's just like, camo pants, like dark shirts, sunglasses, hat, just, like, kind of strict. And the quote is, dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, but pigs look at us as equals. And she's basically just saying, like, pigs are like the punchline for a ton of jokes, and allegories are like, oh, he's a gross pig. Like, he's a slob. It's like, no, they're smart. They have good memories, they have great sense of smell. And while she's saying that, we see hachi going over towards a pig like, oh, maybe I can put it. And it goes to nip at them. And she's like, oh, yeah, and they could also bite clean through a human's bones, so watch it. It's like, oh, okay.
It'll take down your thigh and a snap of its tooth.
Yeah. If anyone seen the movie snatch, that's how they got rid of bodies. They just fed them to pigs. So we get a shot of that. And then we see the lads just looking like, oh, what's that little box over there in the pen with the pig? I got a little hole and I wonder it's piglets. And they're precious. haji actually just holds one puppy. He's just like, how cute he is. And they're just all gushing over piglets for like a good minute. So then we get the opening. And then along with the horses, hajji is also taking care of the pigs during Golden Week. Just all the dairy sciences students that are there first years that are there during Golden Week have to take care of them as well. So he's got he's got duties during his week off, but so does everyone else. A golden week, pretty much everyone's from a farming family. So nearly everyone's going back home to help out with the farm because free labor.
So can I ask what golden week is? I feel like it's been addressed for a previous show, but I cannot remember.
It's basically just like a holiday week in Japan or just like it's the typical time because schools in Japan don't have the three months of summer like we do. So they'll have like, longer breaks during the school year.
It says golden week is a week. Well, this is just this year from the 29 April to early May containing a number of Japanese holidays.
Got you.
So I think for a lot of places instead of so it's just a week.
Yeah, it's just a week where there are three no, just kidding. Four national holidays within seven days.
Yeah.
Got you.
Instead of going to work and going to school, like once or twice or there's a break, they're just like, fuck, you get the whole week off. So work in school sort of how.
Like Christmas breaks are like, yeah, you get New Years and Christmas and Boxing Day and all those things just roll. Don't come here for a week and a half.
Just get out of here. Yeah. So for Golden Week, most of the students would be going back home. Because it's a farming school. Most of them are just going home to work more. So it's not like spring break for us, where it's like, yeah, we're going off school. He's just like, all right, now to work. Instead of a teacher yelling at me, it's just my mom and dad yelling at me. But because hachi is a city boy and not from a farming school, he's just going to stay at the school and help out with the chores that need to be done while everyone else is gone. So he's doing that and we learn. Get a little pig lesson about nursing. So we get the pigs feeding off all the teats, and we find out that the runt of the litter, they fight for their position and the runt of the litter will get the last teeth at the end, which actually gives the least amount of milk because it's the furthest away. So it's kind of like an unfortunate way of like if you're the rent at the beginning, you're going to stay the run forever because you're going to get the least amount of food food or nutrients. And the teacher says like, oh, yeah, we'll give them like extra milk. But besides that, they're kind of on their own. And they said even if you pick them up and put them into another teeth, the pig goes back. And the teacher says once the pig makes a decision, it sticks with that decision even if it's detrimental to its own health. So she's like, don't be like a pig. Like in this one instance, pigs are great except for this one instance, don't be a pig.
Except when they're dumb idiots, pretty much.
So this episode is kind of during golden week and we see the school's a lot emptier. Like the few people that stayed are pretty much only staying for club and other activities, like taking care of the animals. So most of the people are gone.
It's like hogwarts during Christmas.
I went back up to my college because I'm still paying for an apartment during the summer. College town during the summer is great. I was able to accomplish so much stuff and not fight crowds. Big recommends. So while he's there so it was Horse Girl. So they're spending some time together, having meals together and stuff. And she asked like, oh, hey, after we're dunting out of the horses and all of our activities, do you want to go out? We can go to a place with like a bunch of gift shops and like mascots. And it makes people's dreams come true. And he's like, amusement park. Yeah, that's the mascots. That's the gift shops. The dream. Yeah, we'll definitely go there. And it would cut to it. And it's a horse racing track, so she's not wrong. But it's not disneyland because they got like a guy in a horse racing, like mascot uniform. And people's dreams come true because they're making a lot of money and there's a gift shop. So he's like, oh, cool.
I guess.
She's like, oh. She's like, oh, I wanted to come here because one of the horses from my family's farm is racing. So I want to see him and cheer him on and see how well he does because I love that horse. And he's like, all right, well, a date's a date. So it's me and Horse Girl just out of here on our own. So we'll make it work. This will be fun. Oh, what's that? Baseball boys here. Cool cocktailock. So baseball shows up and he's like, oh, yeah, I'm helping out with my family farm, but it's nearby. And also I'm her neighbor so I know the horse as well so far. Come along and enjoy the show. And while they're at the racing track, they also run into the questioning a teacher, because buddha's here has got a gambling habit and he's bad at it. So he talks to them like, oh, you guys aren't here to gamble. It's like no other minors. Oh, well, Mr. Teacher, can you tell them about bany racing? It's like ban apostrophe ei. I don't know how it's pronounced.
I think that was it, or at least close enough.
Yeah, I'm just thinking of bany's from our banyan band.
When you run and you win and you get a grand slam, you get a baseball boy.
Oh, God. It's after you have a one night stand with a horse and you go out and get no.
Bread.
Dead fanny.
You didn't want your horse fear recovery to go in this direction.
I either love them or hate them. It's not good for anyone, though.
Bad. Just bad.
Anyway, the teacher starts talking about this specific type of horse, raid racing. But he's in the gambling mode, so he gets way too into it. And he's talking about statistics and the probability and doesn't that so horse Girl takes them away. It's like, all right.
Anyway, he's having a moment.
He's having an issue. We'll let him calm down. So she pulls the two guys away and she's like, all right, I'll tell you about it. spanny racing was originally done by farmers back in the frontiers time. So it's not just horse racing to see who's fastest. It's a plow horse to see who's the strongest. So they pull these, like, huge sleds with weights on them. So that's why it's this specific type of old horse racing. And our family races, some of these horses that are used in these races. So that's why we're here. And as she's talking, she's like, oh, yeah, the horses in this race pull 480 kilos, which for the Americans is about £1058. And she says some of the higher end races, the horses can pull a literal ton of weight behind them, so it's intense. And as she's explained that, we see the horses come over a hill, which is like the first obstacle. And we see just the giant horses we saw earlier, like pulling these huge sleds with guys on them, like the jockeys, like pushing them on as they race. And they're encouraging her horse girl's horse like, come on, you can do it. And we see the teacher like, come on, you goddamn horse. I put everything on you. Oh, boy, he's in for a rough time.
I trusted my student too much.
So they're all cheering them on. And we see them get to another hill, which is a higher hill, and they all stop. And it's like, oh, no. Why did they all stop? And they're like, oh, they got to sink up and pretty much catch their breath again because they're pulling £1000 up a hill. It's a lot. So the horse is like all pause for a minute. And then they start going up the hill. We see Horse Girls horse going up, and he makes it to the top first. It's like, yeah. And then he collapses. Like, oh, no. It's like, yeah. He's struggling it's a lot. But we see him pull through, get his second wind, and gets to the finish line, but then stops right when he crosses the finish line. And they're like, oh, he won, right? We're good. Like, no, because it's for farmers, and it's all about getting your product from one place to the other. It doesn't count unless the whole sled is across the finish line as well. So just the horse being there is not enough. And we see the other horses catching up to him, and it's getting closer. It's like and it fades to white. And then we just see the three of them at a table having, like, a drink or a snack. Like, well, third place ain't bad. You know what? He just kind of stalled out there at the end, but he ended up getting third from it, so hutchikin's real bummed. He's like, ah, he was there. He's there first. He could have gotten first. That sucks. And Horse Joe is just like, I'm happy with third. He'll still live, so I'm happy with that. He's like, what's this now? Living? And Baseball Boy says, like, oh, yeah, the loser horse. If they get bad enough results, like, consistently, they get retired without mercy. So yikes.
That's horse racing horsey no fun.
Yeah, they say the loser gets turned into meat and sold at the market. And he's like, what? Even after taco Bell? Horse, meat glue factory, cat food. And hodgkin is like, cat food. That's something my parents used to tell me as a kid, how much would be weird.
Why?
My parents might have been a little fucked if you haven't found out from me. My parents might be a little fucked in that too.
Fair enough. Carry on.
But hodgkins, like, what they put in all that effort, like, those horses were struggling out there. They're really putting in the time. And they're like, oh, yeah, it's the same as farming. Effort doesn't mean shit. It's about results. You can put in as much effort as you want to grow crops, but if you don't have crops to sell at the market, you're losing the house. So it's all about the results. And baseball boy says the same thing. He's like, yeah, that chicken you ate yesterday, they got, like, butchered in front of us. Like a week ago. That chicken wasn't laying enough eggs, so they killed it and turned it into meat. That's what happens with livestock. And hodgkin is just like, oh, man, that's fucking brutal shit. Like, even though they're trying.
And also, yet another example of Chicken Run is anime.
Yeah. Chicken Run is anime mel Gibson. And Chicken Run is my husband. Now, no monster. I won't say even as a chicken.
Well, his character isn't a monster, right?
A little bit.
He's a con artist. Yeah, but the baseball boy calls hodgkin out. He's like, what's with you in winning? Even when he got into school, you're about winning, and you want to do the best on all the tests and stuff. Like, you got this real obsession with winning. And then we get, like, a little flashback of him doing hodgkin, doing bad on exams, kind of saying he lost. Because I guess in Japan for middle school, you have to take an entry exam to get into certain high schools. So he was losing at those. He wasn't getting into the high schools, and it was, like, really beating him down. And he had a real hard time, and that's why he kind of came to this farm school, because his guidance counselor is just like, hey, here's this farming school. It's boarding, though, so you'll be away from your family. He's like, I mean, get me out of here. Don't want to talk to my dad. So hodge Can just took it just to get away from his family. But yeah, he feels like he effectively lost in getting into a good high school and a college. So that's why he, like, just settled for here, the minor league of schools. And hodgkin kind of snaps as a baseball boy, and he's just like, It's not fair. You're a farmer. You got into the school because you're a farmer. So your family got kind of a pass. And he's like, and then when you graduate, you're going to be another farmer, and you got your whole life planned out for you, and it's bullshit and not nearly as stressful as my life as the city mouse. And he's like, you got it easy.
First world problems are harder.
Yeah, I don't know anything about your personal life, but my life must be harder than yours.
He's a little shit, and baseball boy just kind of slams on a table and doesn't say anything, but he's just like, I'm going to smack those glasses off your face. Gets intense. And that's right when horse girl gets a text, and she's like, oh, hey, what if we didn't do this right now? What if we went to the horse stables to see the horses that raced? Because my uncle works there. And they're like, all right, we'll go do that.
Care to do anything else? Aggressive boys?
So when they get to the stables, she like, runs into her uncle. She's like, thank you. You saved us. So they go up to see they see her uncle, and her uncle's like, oh, baseball boy, I haven't seen jeez, look at you. You grew up real big. I haven't seen you since your father's funeral. He's like, oh, yeah. Hi, Mr. So and so. It's like, God, look at you. He's like, Are you going to be a farmer? He's like, yeah, I'm planning to take over to business after my mom can anymore. He's like that's a waste. You should go to college. Like, you're smart. You got that baseball skill. He's like, nah, we can't afford that. I'm going to be a farmer like everyone else before me. And we get a little shot of, like, hotch kid behind. I'm like, oh, fuck. I fucked up. Oh, boy. Oh, no shit. Put my foot in my mouth. And so they go to see the horse that raced, and it's like, oh, yeah, it's a big old fucking horse. She's like, oh, yeah, I raised him since he was a little foul. And like, you know, he still remembers me. And she like, petting him and stuff. And they're like, oh, let's swing by the horse clinic. Oh, boy. Horse clinic. And they get to talk to the vet who's got this good old cat just around his neck. And he's penned them the whole time. So I'm chicken that off his animal sidekick. He's around the vet the whole time?
Sure. All along. Also, is this just your worst nightmare? Seeing a place where sick horses go to get healthier and stronger?
There's no such thing as sick horses. There's healthy horses and there's dead horses and no in between.
Oh, my gosh.
Okay. It just got dark.
No, but it's true. When something is wrong with a horse, then people just fucking let them die.
Yeah, horses live a hard life.
Bread horse.
No sympathy. Absolutely no sympathy from me.
Terrible.
But yeah, the vet basically says that. He's like, horses get sick at the top of a hat. If their teeth are kind of messed up, they can get long lasting health problems. He's like, they're glass houses. They go down at anything. He's like, unlike cows, there's old saying that cows can have their brain rot out and the cows still live. Cows are like durable shit hatching and kind of gets like an awakening of like, oh, shit. You got to do a lot of different saw. I wasn't expecting his event. He's like, oh, my friend wants to be a vet. What's some advice you'd give him for, like, a vet? He's like, oh, you know the standards. You got to be smart. You got to pass all the tests. You got to have money. You got to pay for the school. And you also have to have the resolve to kill. What's this?
I'm sorry? That last one. The whole going against medicine and killing. What?
No, you got to kill. He's like, especially with large farm like animals and livestock, there's plenty of stuff where they'll have a condition or illness that will actually be more detrimental. And there's no cure, no real fix. So they'll just live their life, but they'll kind of be suffering from it the whole time. So he's like, a lot of times it's better just to kill them because you don't want them to suffer for however long. He's like, and some of the shittier vets won't kill them, and they'll make them live through all of that. Like some of those crippling issues and stuff. So he's like, sometimes you just got to put an animal down. And he's like, it sucks. He's like, it sucks a lot. But that's kind of what he got deals of that. So hodgkin kind of gets a rude awakening. He's like, uhoh, I got to tell my friend that God took so many notes. I didn't realize they go back out because they got a patient coming in. So as they're leaving the vet clinic, they see a weird arrangement of people on the side. He's like, oh, what's this? He's like, oh, they're having a funeral for one of the race horses. He's like, what's this? Some of the owners of the horses will pay to have these funerals to respect them. And he's like, oh, was this horse, like a really good horse? He's like, no, it wasn't really anything special. There was nothing super unique about this horse. It just lived his life, helped the owners out, and then died. So they're paying their respects for him because the farmers and horse racers I'll.
Be real with you fools. Yeah, this shit made me cry.
It's emotional, especially with the uncles.
I don't know.
Well, the uncle starts talking.
I don't know. The talks of, like, the animals and suffering, whatever.
Yeah, it's it's brutal. It's like I said, they emotional. They don't sugarcoat it. He's like, the farmers and resources, like their entire livelihoods are based on these animals. So, like, without them, they couldn't have their lives. So we got to pay respect for that. We also have to acknowledge we're kind of breeding these animals into a life and death existence. You live to be butchered or you live to be a race horse. If you do really well, you can get retired and then studied out to other horses and then live your life. But not all of them do. And a lot of them have to be put down. And different stuff happens. He's like, it's brutal. And it's sad. He's like, well, it's the life we have. So we have to pay proper respect to the animals that are helping us live this life. So it's just like a harsh reminder of like, this is what it is. We're not pulling back.
So it's like, yeesh, pour one out for your horse. helveys.
Yeah. They all stand there, give a little prayer to the horse funeral as they see it. And they're just like, yikes. And as they're leaving, hodgkin pulls baseball aside. He's like, yo, man. Going to be real. I fucked up back then. He's like, I'm going to apologize for my behavior earlier. I was a full on asshole.
Sorry about your dead dad.
And yeah, baseball apologized to. He's like, yeah, I got a little rash. I didn't know where you're coming from. I don't know what life you've led before this. So I kind of snapped at you saying it was. Easier. Sorry about that. And the whole time horse girl was just like smiling like the cheshire Cat. Real smug of like.
Coming friends.
Yeah, exactly. She's like, I don't see people apologize a lot. I love it. He's like, shut up. Leave me alone. So yeah, we get that. And then we get everyone back for Golden Week. And we see all the students there. And he's like, welcome back. Who had fun at Golden Week? And everyone was like he's like, yeah, you're probably all working sucks. Anyway, get ready for work tomorrow. And they're like and they also have to turn in all their cell phones. So I guess it wasn't established earlier, but I guess they give their cell phones over during school hours because it is like a weird mix of schoolwork, like their employees. So the kids don't have their cell phones during school hours. They get all locked up in a cabinet. And when they're going to class the next day, hopkins start talking to his vet friend saying like, yo, you got to kill stuff. And it's brutal. And the vet friend's like, yeah, I'm not good with that stuff, so I might not be great at this. And he's like he's kind of like bumped because he's like, I kind of put all my eggs in this basket. I got to be good at it. So he's kind of getting hesitant. And then Chicken Boy says he's like, yeah, if like the avian Floyd Flu comes through and gets our livestock, we got to put them all down. And he's like and we're out like tens of thousands, if not millions of dollars. He's like, it's rough. And then when I get to class, we see hodgkin, like looking at the piglet again, worrying about him. He's like, oh, man, you're not packing on the pounds. You're not getting big enough. And the horse girl is like, oh, you're worried about him? He's like, yeah, he's the 8th one of the litter. And Hochikin has eight in it. I guess in Japanese, hachi is eight. So he's like and he's immediately like, oh, no, I'm not going to call him like, Hachi or eight or I'm not going to name him or anything. They're like, good. Don't name them. Don't get attached. This pig is going to be turned into meat, so don't get emotional. And it's just like, oh, man. He kind of like, forgot. And then they just got reminded of it. Oh, shit balls. And tomico says, like, if you're going to name him, name him Pork Bowl. Because it'll be a constant reminder of what he'll be one day. And you can't blame yourself for getting attached. And he's just like, fuck. She got a point, though. She's not wrong. So he ends up naming it Pork Bowl. And he's like, I'm going to raise you over the next three years to be the biggest pig. Like you're the runt, but you're going to arrival all of your other siblings. And you're going to be big and strong and you're going to be great.
One day you're going to make some Japanese skaters all horny for each other.
And adjust. It's like, oh, man. I think I'm going to raise you good in these next three years. And then raise he says that the seniors of the high school pull open the door. It's like, hey, teach, when are we going to turn those piglets in the bacon? And she's like, three months, yo. He's like, oh god. You see otter just pass out like in the Big Ten. He's like, I'm doing it. I'm going to turn against something great. And then we get ending shot of the principal getting a call from Hochikin's medical homeroom teacher.
What could they be discussing? All of his murders.
He had to flee the city for a reason. And that's episode three.
Well, I'll tell you, I had a swell time. This was the break I needed from.
Just the bullshit anime.
God, my guard can only be up so much. Boy, this was some good medicine. Fatal anime vet for giving me this sweet nectar of the gods.
Don't worry. We'll get the full male alchemist one day. Her other series and that's full of anime bullshit. This is the other end of the show. It's one of my favorites. dugan will hate it, though.
Statistically likely. Yeah.
Yes. But I like it anyway.
It could be an outlier.
Let's focus on the good fourth ball and these horses and cows and farm life.
But yeah, I also enjoyed it.
It was cute. It was fun. Again, start to valley. We can't say that enough in this episode. But yeah, this is good. I love it.
I know the manga is wrapping up, which I hate because it's very good. And I enjoy reading it. So I'm sad to see it ending. But the anime only has two seats and still like 24 episodes. So you can burn through pretty quick. And it's just this quality throughout. It's just if you like this, it just continues to be this good.
So very nice.
Strong recommends good stuff.
All right, well, what do we have going on next week?
Oh, boy, I'm really going for it. I've heard of this anime like last week and hardly know anything about it.
Oh, no, dana. You're not instilling faith.
The title cracks me up, so I'm going to give it a chance. We're going to watch the first three episodes of Haven't You Heard?
I'm sakamoto I haven't heard.
I'm here to learn.
Sokimoto.
One sentence. synopsis is like that. He's like the coolest guy in school and tries to live up to that expectation. So I'm ready for whatever bullshit that.
The cycle of anime is going to be. mine's going to be the chill one and dana's is going to be the bullshit.
Oh, no.
Who knows?
Maybe the polls have reversed comedy, though.
It's not convoluted bullshit. It's comedy bullshit.
Okay. Shenanigans.
Well, if you have shenanigans you'd like us to watch, you can send it. Any recommendations? To our email. Are we there yet@gmail.com? Or reach out to us on Twitter and Instagram at. Are we there yet? On both. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram at mrpatrick. 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, but it's much less interesting than anything else. So instead staying on brand with this episode, I'm going to recommend you follow M underscore crouton on Twitter.
Yeah, it's about a baby cow, and.
Then it's just a full animal sanctuary. And they're just like, here's some pigs today. Here's all of the farm dogs. And it's very good.
Wow. Keep that vibe going.
Thank you to camille ruley for artwork, and thank you to Louis zong for theme song stories off the album Beats. You can find all of louis's music at Louisong bandcamp.com. Thank you, and we hope you'll join us next week as we learn to live with anime.
I just love stardew Valley.
Love you, Lynn.