Welcome back to show Joe the ultimate intro to show Joe anime.
Look at me using that tagline for the first time.
Wait, is that our tagline?
The ultimate?
No, well, no.
Intro to, well, no.
Should I add ultimate to it?
Intro, I mean.
Show Joe intro to show Joe anime is what our cover art says.
Yeah, that's good.
If the ultimate feels like.
We're not ultimate yet.
We got it.
We're working towards it.
We're writing a check.
We may not be able to cash.
Okay.
Believe in us.
Oh, I believe in us.
Okay, that's good.
Just not the us right now.
You know, I think maybe in a while.
The future us.
We'll get the ultimate status eventually.
I don't think.
I don't think the second episode of an actual show, Joe.
Yeah, that's true.
Yeah, we're like the actual show Joe under our belts first.
Welcome.
I'm Sarah, your show Joe.
I wouldn't say expert, but like has watched a lot.
Yep.
Of show Joe and Joe veteran are novice or newbie beginner to show Joe.
I don't go here, but not anime in general.
He knows the stuff anime wise.
I know anime and it does bleed over.
Yeah, so that's the show.
This will be our second episode covering.
That's the show folks.
See you next time.
It's over.
Bye bye.
Okay.
Sorry.
So yes, I desperately need one.
I can't believe you just nap as like part of your.
It's not daily, but it is often multiple days a week.
I just can't follow stuff.
That is horrible.
It's like to live.
Well, okay.
So I went to a vintage sale expo thing today.
Yeah, this morning with my grandma.
So walked around, got cute necklace and pair of earrings and what color are they?
Gold is like the metal and then it's like a cute little encased.
I don't know.
White stone and then I don't know.
I I know because one lady is trying to talk shop with me and I was like, dude, I don't
know.
I just it's gold looking.
I don't know the difference in jewelry.
But yeah, I'm just a cute pair of like these little diamond shaped white studs with like
a little intricate design.
Yeah, because I don't wear very much jewelry, just earrings and necklaces.
Basically, if I wear a ring, it feels like it's like my hand isn't my own hand anymore.
Like it feels weird.
So the ring is like taking over you.
Yeah.
It's like the green lantern.
Yeah, something like that.
It's like I'm being possessed by my amulet, but it's like a ring.
Yes.
It's I don't know.
I don't I don't really love it.
That's a pretty good way of thinking about jewelry, though.
Like if you're going to be a different person, I'm going to this is my this is my power ring.
I put this on and I am no longer Sarah.
I am now Sarah.
Sarah.
That's if I'm a superhero.
If Sarah and my power is like black canary by just sigh in that like.
I first sound or whatever.
Because I.
Hypersonic size.
No, whatever the like screaming and everything shatters, whatever.
But it was you sighing.
Is it like I imagined sighing as like warm air.
Because black canary does like the little shriek thing.
Yeah.
It's just a sighing version of lower frequency, maybe.
Maybe it just makes other people tired.
It like it's like nocice in Pokemon, but I just make people fall asleep with my size.
Oh, you're like jigglypuff.
Yeah.
And then me and my grandma, while my grandma went with me and then we went to the farmers
market and I got this pretty sick.
They had like normal produce farmers market and then right next to it was like kid run
like kid made and run shop.
So this one kid, I think his family has a 3D printer.
So it's like this cool, slinky, like it kind of moves dragon.
I'll take it.
I'll take a photo and send it to you.
It's pretty sweet.
Yeah.
Way better than the shitty friendship price.
It's this other kids were hawking.
Oh my God.
We're at the section of the show where we ruthlessly critiqued like children's products, like
products made by children.
Well, did you at my elementary school?
I think in fifth grade we had to do like where you paired up in teens and had to come up
with a product to sell and like.
Oh, I hated that.
Okay.
It's essentially that, but I guess maybe they're doing it by choice.
Yeah.
It seems like they actually want to do this.
Yeah.
But and then I went and checked out my mom's new place that she moved into fancy ass house.
Nice.
Yeah.
So there's a lot of like, oh, not a lot.
Like 30 whole minutes under the sun has exhausted me.
You're depleted.
You're like the opposite.
Yeah.
You're depleted by the solar energy.
Nope.
You're like a week.
Like you're like half vampire or something where you're like, ah, the sun.
It's draining me.
That's something like that.
How about you?
What have you been up to?
Let's see.
Last night, one of my friends, boyfriend had a birthday.
So we like went to a like, I guess it's like a burlesque club, I guess, in like a, the
second story of a pizza place.
For some reason, a lot of places near me have hidden bars and clubs in pizza places.
I don't know what's up with that.
But we went to that last night.
So that was interesting.
Yeah.
Is it one of the friends I met?
Yeah.
Shout out.
Yeah.
This is Taylor.
Oh, I mean, it went with both of them.
Oh, okay.
Nice.
Yeah.
I met that last night.
That sounds cool.
A burlesque show?
Yeah.
Like getting wild clothes flying everywhere burlesque or like clothes stating on it.
It was just performative.
They, they took them off, but not like all of, you know, in a space.
Gotcha.
Yeah.
They're definitely like a dude with like a base and another dude with a saxophone,
like walking around.
Ooh, that's cool.
That's cool.
Yeah.
They had a lot of performance.
They had like a zip line.
They could like go down.
Damn.
They could like hang off of.
It was interesting.
On top of a pizza parlor.
Yep.
How big was this place?
Uh, it wasn't that big.
It was like a big room.
But you have to have a zip line.
Imagine a big room.
Oh yeah.
The zip line like didn't really, like it's more of a like gets you, moves you.
Yeah.
Make 15 feet over.
Maybe.
Yeah.
I mean, like it's not, it's not like a long zip line.
It's just like a hook in from like a ladder and then you swing down kind of thing.
That's cool.
But I did watch, I did watch some, some anime.
Who is anyone with another damn mech?
No, I'm still okay.
I'm 40 episodes into victory Gundam.
I'm almost, I'm approaching the end of victory Gundam.
It's gotta be hard to keep track of them.
It's all this fat Gundam.
Like, I mean, I watched them in a row.
So it's not that hard because it's like, I mean, the names don't help, right?
So you have the original mobile suit Gundam.
So like if someone was trying to approach the series, they wouldn't know where to start
this.
So really based off the names.
Well, I'm watching them all in order and like for the most part, they're all like alternate
universes.
So like you don't like the thing that happened last doesn't carry in.
That's not true for the first four.
Like the stuff I'm watching is all in a row.
You don't really need to pay attention to it that much.
I mean, the first three you do because they're like direct sequels that like aired one after
the other.
So, but most of the time in Gundam, you could just watch like one show and it's self contained.
You don't really need to know anything else.
Other than like the broad themes of like, sometimes there's a big space laser.
Sometimes, you know, the Gundam shoots things from the back of the look like wings.
That's the thing that happens.
You get new type flashes because everyone's psychic now.
So like there's, you know, that's those are like general things that keep happening, but
you don't need to like watch them to like understand the plot or anything.
So I'm almost I'm almost through that.
But the movie I did watch, I watched Millennium Actress, which is another film.
It's such a movie made perfect blue and Africa and Tokyo.
Paprika is the only one I was familiar with.
Oh, I feel like I saw ads.
I haven't watched it, but I feel like I saw a lot.
Maybe it was like early on Netflix or something.
I just remember seeing it a lot.
Yeah, there is some scenes in that that like inspired inception, basically.
Oh, OK.
So maybe that's why you heard about it because like people talk.
No, I wouldn't say I'm super into inception either.
I watched it.
As we've learned, I'm not interested in what's going to make me think a lot necessarily.
That's why we're doing this podcast, which is a lot about stuff.
No, it's about being like, oh, my God, there's so cute.
Mm hmm.
Or I'm bringing I'm bringing that and you're bringing the thinking about stuff.
Yeah.
You contemplate.
We play our we play our underselling it.
I make conspiracy theories.
You're always expensive.
Is this happening in the economy of this show?
I mean, in this episode, someone buys a drink that's 120 yen, which is like a dollar.
And he bought like the economies and shambles now compared to that.
I could never buy something from a vending machine for a dollar.
No, never.
Absolutely not.
It's coffee.
Yeah.
God, what the heck, man?
Never ever.
The past used to be so much better.
The prices for lower.
That's the only thing about the past that was better is prices for lower.
Is that it?
Everything else but the past kind of sucks.
Yeah.
I mean, that's turning out that styles were cute.
Oh, sure.
Yeah.
Our animals weren't endangered yet.
Things like that.
They definitely were.
What?
Well, I mean, some health that are now after you think it.
I don't know.
Like I saw quite animals were doing better than they are now.
Uh huh.
A couple hundred years.
I don't know, it depends on the area.
Okay.
A couple hundred years definitely sucked worse today.
Well, yes, for people.
Yeah.
I kind of live here without air conditioning.
I would.
Dude, they didn't know that like washing your hands was a good idea.
Like, yeah, that's true.
Fast as a rope.
Anyway, I watched Millennium Actress.
It's a cool movie about a these guys interview this actress and she like goes through her
life and talks about like like the story arc of her life that she's kind of like narrated
by herself or about herself, you know, where she is like, oh, yes, I was doing all this
stuff.
I was like chasing this guy.
I was like into clearly that's like metaphor for like her ambition.
Oh, man.
Living beyond her life and stuff like that.
But they frame it like that.
And like the whole time they keep that framing and like the like her life story passes through
like the movies she's in.
So there's like these really cool transitions where it's like you're in like something is
happening and then you realize that this is actually a scene from a movie because like
the guy in her film will be like, oh, I loved that scene or something.
And it's like very interesting and a little surreal to like keep track of like what part
is the movie and what part is like actually a narrative about her life.
Yeah.
And it's cool.
It's cool movie.
You should check it out.
Should I?
Do you think I'd like it?
Yeah.
I mean, it looks really good.
It looks great.
Okay.
I was like, if it's pretty, I can get you.
You like animation.
Yeah, it's really pretty.
It's like really fun.
I mean, I'm not sure like movies or like reminiscent of like famous Japanese movies.
So it's like kind of cool to see that stuff portrayed.
Okay.
They do like the fake fighting.
It's fun.
I'm like, you ever let's see, for example, in high school, I had to read a book called
I am the cheese and I walked in on exam day and then people were talking about it like,
you know, trying to share info and someone was talking about some aspect and I was like,
wait, what?
That's what this book is about.
Like I did.
I went over my head.
That would have been my head.
Because essentially it's like a story going on adventures, but I guess he was in like
an insane asylum.
And I was like, oh, damn.
Well, wait, that sounds like fly.
That doesn't sound like a cheating thing.
That's just like the plot of it.
Well, like he's, I don't know.
Maybe I just like, did you skim it?
Did you like skim it?
Because like, you know, I read, I read.
I read.
I'm doing air quotes.
I read books for school, which is like, I'm pretty sure I looked at all the words could
not be bothered to read old man the sea, even though it was like the tiniest book ever.
I was like, oh, my God.
I think that book is fine.
It's news.
That one.
The one, the one book I didn't read is like, I didn't read all of Frankenstein, which is
weird.
It seems like I would like that, but it was really boring.
I picked it for like a thing for AP English because it was on a list and I knew my sister
already owned it.
So I was like, okay, cool.
I don't have to find you.
But as you'd already annotated it.
So I didn't have to.
So it looked like I did the work of annotating the book for to the teacher, but I did it
is for my sister.
So I did not read that either.
I did read Dracula and that book is great.
That book.
I remember you talking about it or him or maybe you had the books when we were in high
school.
I feel like I remember.
Yeah.
That's like I did my senior project thing of that.
It was like that book and I did check one hide.
It's all about like Victorian era.
People need to repress all of their feelings to fit in with society.
And what if that turned you into a cool monster and I'm like that owns.
That's what Anna Karina.
Like I have read Anna Karina, which is also like, ah, yes, I have to adhere to my societal
standards.
You know what that book needed?
A monster.
Just throw a monster in.
Right.
And Fred, you just throw in a monster.
It'll make it better.
I don't remember that either.
I really liked the count of Monte Cristo.
And then in cold blood, which was semi kind of based off a real story.
I think part of it was kind of fudge, but yeah.
Reading.
If only I had time.
Well, you're you're reading like three books simultaneously.
I am a two book love.
So you are reading books.
Yeah, the book of reading a woman book was is very we all hate it.
It's very funny.
There's no like everyone has to vote and then we can ditch this book.
We don't have to finish it.
Well, we're so close to finishing it like because we talk about it every week and we
only have three more weeks left.
And it's like, we only have like a hundred pages left.
We got to just get through this.
Yeah, it's pretty funny.
Sometimes it's fun to like be miserable with all of your friends collectively.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's funny.
It's a thing you can share with your friends and speaking of just going to get them.
You can share with your friends.
That's actually not what these episodes are about.
I don't know why that was my transition.
This is about if you're friends with somebody or not.
Themed.
Do you really have friends?
Are you really friends?
If Saloko simply started a book club, this would solve all their problems.
What is the ghost story?
Regaining Club.
The ghost story.
The ghost story reading club.
Well, you want to get into it.
Sure.
So we watched episodes four, five and six.
So keep me to know.
Okay.
So the two of us are basically resolving the thing with the rumor that happened at the
end of last episode and also confirming that everybody does want to be friends with each
other.
And, you know, it ends on a pretty high note at the end of it.
Yeah.
Although we don't figure out who blonde girl is.
So fluffy girl.
Fluffy girl.
Yeah, we don't get her.
She remains the shadowy villain in the background.
What if she's not?
What if she's just like a random character that has nothing to do with this?
No.
I don't think that's happening.
No, she's definitely evil.
Okay.
All right.
So episode four is called rumors.
So if you remember last time, actually we'll just go scene by scene, whatever.
So it goes at home and her parents ask her how things are at school and she says it's
fun and they're like, you always say that, but this time I believe it's real.
And then they're like, maybe she's in love and her dad breaks a cup.
Yes.
Her faces are more lazy face drawings.
Her mom has to like dot those for eyes and her dad just has glasses where you don't see
the eyes.
Yeah.
Like, Samaco's pretty.
I don't see the resemblance to either of her parents.
Maybe they're not her real parents.
Oh, maybe they're ghosts.
Maybe this is like a Beetlejuice situation.
I haven't seen that.
I should probably watch that movie.
Let's see.
Samaco's in the bath and thinks about how much better her life is now that she has friends.
So that one time, Kasehio was like, I'm going to monopolize you.
What could that mean?
I don't know.
She does.
She doesn't know.
She remembers it though.
We all know.
Something that washed over her, but she's like, what could he mean by this?
Yeah.
Who knows?
It's a mystery to everyone.
Well, she knows that it's something she's not understanding and she's not taking it.
For like a for a couple of episodes that are really about overthinking, she is really
under thinking this one.
That's true.
Back at school, she's a ruin IA.
I keep having to confront girls spreading rumors about them by like leaning into the
rumors where they're like, ah, she's already beat up like a hundred dudes.
And she's like, yeah, it was it was crazy.
Ever getting KOed to those losers like nothing or whatever.
Like they're leaning into it.
Yeah.
They talk about how annoying it is to keep having to deal with this, but they have no
doubt that Savaco did not spread it.
Yeah.
And that's a fact to the last episode, like the ending of that scene, basically, where
she's like, it's Savaco.
And they both like laugh at that because they're like, that's ridiculous.
And they did not believe it.
So good on them.
You know, a worse show would have had them believe it.
Like these the whole conflict I think is handled pretty well.
Then they have, let's see, blah, blah, blah, blah.
It's before class and Savaco says hi to them.
They decide to tease her by telling her the rumors about themselves.
And Savaco's like, doesn't understand what they're talking about, but plays along anyway.
Love that for you.
They decide that she's not guilty.
And then she gives a cheese notes and she just makes it sound like I'm saying cheese
or map.
She's who was map anyway.
Then she made she made cheese notes for the midterm and asks Ayane for a recommendation
because she's going to rent some horror movies to get better at telling scary stories because
this is her hobby now.
You know anything to say about this?
Oh, now I'm just thinking about you saying cheese.
Cheese.
Cheese is map.
That is definitely.
While she lends out the notes and everyone's like, hey, hey, let me in on that action.
Give me, let me copy the notes.
That's true.
Everybody wants that.
Because that makes sense for cheese.
But then Ayane, like I feel like she in particular isn't that into ghost stories, but that's
what Sawako has decided to like associate her with as like what she can do for her as
a friend.
Yeah.
I mean, we get we get a reveal later on that she like Ayane joked about.
Yeah.
Sawako learning ghost stories because it's like, oh, you could just like lead into your
whole ghost girl thing.
That'd be funny.
But like, she didn't think she would take it seriously.
I actually don't know how into horror Ayane is.
Probably not that into it.
But you know what?
Jokes are just flying right over Sawako's head.
Yeah.
Not landing.
Sawako is taking things pretty literally.
Let's see elsewhere.
Pin is holding Kazehaya hostage in his office to tell him about a time he got drunk and
imagined a bunch of like the borrowers running around his cup.
Oh, yeah.
Like little tiny guys.
Secret life of Ariadne.
Yeah.
Kazehaya tells him that he doesn't care about this and Pin asks him, did you think it's
because he stared at Sawako that one time?
And Kazehaya is like, that's stupid.
And also I also looked at Sawako and I just saw a positive and sweet girl and pins like,
why'd you say that?
Are you guys like dating or something?
And Kazehaya gets embarrassed and runs away.
So cute.
So sweet.
Why is Pin like talking to Kazehaya about this stuff?
Yeah.
Well, right.
Pin does.
I don't remember what it is, but yeah, like he's not that much older than they are.
So I don't remember, but maybe they knew each other before he was a teacher or something.
Okay, because like he doesn't seem like he, because he's the baseball coach, but Kazehaya,
I don't think is on the baseball team.
It seems like Ryu is on the baseball team.
Yeah, but maybe he used to be.
Maybe.
Or something.
Yeah, maybe they just used to be friends or something.
It's just weird.
Yeah.
Poor Kazehaya.
Kazehaya sit there and listen to his dumb teacher's story.
I literally don't care about this.
Hi, dude.
I'm in high school.
Don't tell me you're getting drunk every school night.
I think that scene pins by himself being like, isn't Sawako like being a weird ghost girl
like too specific of a thing?
Yeah.
Yeah, that was funny.
It's very funny.
Let's see.
Kazehaya joins the crew in class and Sawako notices that his hair is parted differently
and keeps like looking over at him and he's like, ooh, she's looking at me and he gets
embarrassed about that except she's just trying to check out his hair part.
We get a voiceover of Sawako telling us that she wonders if she's Unaeane, enjoy her presence
and she really hopes that they do and while she's having this voiceover, the scene is
them feeding each other food at lunch.
So I'm going to go on to live and say, yeah, they probably do.
Yeah.
Why are they feeding each other?
Because she's just like, oh, this is so wonderful.
And I made a note like, yeah, it really, because I didn't discover the joy of like groups of
friends until high school as well.
So I had like one-on-one friends and then I just happened to kind of bleed into the
whole posse you hung out with.
And I was like, wow, it's fun to hang out with like a bunch of people at once.
Yeah, that's squad.
It's cool.
I know.
I even stayed, I think I stayed out till three one night and my mom was like, why are you
doing it?
And I was like, but I'm socializing.
Be happy for me.
I'm being a teen.
Yeah.
That seems pretty funny because she's like Sawako's like, I hope they like it.
I like hanging out with me as they feed each other.
Yeah.
I think they do.
Let's see.
Later on, two girls who I recognize, but I don't have the names for because I'm not paying
that much attention.
Classmates.
Yeah.
Eventually I'll learn their names.
They come up to Cheezoo and Ayane and they're like, hey, we've heard these rumors about
you.
And they're like, yeah.
And they're like, yeah, and they're escalating.
Cheezoo, now you've beat up some old man.
And Ayane, now you are like pimpin' out your other classmates.
Yeah.
And they're like, just like absurd escalations.
And then they're like, yeah, and we hear that it's like Sawako's spreading these, but
none of them actually believe that because they're like, yeah, but that's stupid though.
And the two girls are like, yeah, it doesn't really make any sense.
So escalating rumors.
Sawako gets the feeling that everybody is more afraid of her than usual.
Her friend, like her childhood friend, Shino, runs into her in the hallway.
Yeah, I don't think she'd show up again.
Yeah.
And she's like, hey, I want to talk to you for a second.
You know, there's these rumors about you and Sawako is like thinking these are, she's
talking about the ghost rumors.
Yeah.
Oh, no, that's just like a misunderstanding.
Like, my life's pretty good recently.
And she was like, oh, cool.
Like, yeah, you're like hanging out with Cheezoo and Ayane, right?
And Sawako's like, or it's like you guys are friends, right?
And Sawako's like, no, right?
As Cheezoo and Ayane turn the corner and they totally hear her say that she doesn't, that
they're not friends.
But before they can keep listening, Pinn shows up and he's like, I need you to run errands
for me and he drags them away so they can't eavesdrop.
Adult.
Uh, Sawako clarifies that friendship is like the thing that they have with each other,
but she's not close to them like that yet.
So like they kind of aren't friends, but she wants to be that.
So she's going to like try to be friends with them, which like, we don't get Cheezoo's reaction
to this really.
But I feel like she would just be like, okay, that's weird.
Like if someone said this to me, I'd be like, I don't know, man, it sounds like you're already
friends with them, but okay.
I mean, she's not saying it.
So she's, she doesn't know that.
Yeah.
But you know, Sawako, confusing, uh, like being besties with like normal friendship.
I mean, cause even Ayane and Cheezoo have only been friends since high school and I
think they're first year.
So at most just a few months, but yeah, well, they've had one semester already.
Yeah.
So they're friendly enough.
Yeah.
So I think Sawako could only dream of in her imagination hobby.
The drama of them turning a corner right at Sawako is like, no, you're not my friends.
Yes.
This is incredibly like typical showjo, misunderstanding vehicle.
Like this is how it goes where you hear something.
But then normally it's like, oh, that I've heard enough.
I'm going to walk away, but they were like, wait, let's hear what she has to say cause
they believe in her, but then pin drags her away or drives him away.
Oh, we're going to get a, I've heard enough and walk away in a second.
Yes.
That happens quite a bit.
So Cheezoo and Ayane are frustrated that they couldn't hear the rest of the conversation
and they're like, we should just ask Sawako directly if we're friends or not.
They're like, yeah, that's the plan.
Cheezoo very seriously says that, um, or like Sawako comes in and they're like, I'll sit
down Sawako.
We have something to talk to you about and she's like, dang, they're being real serious.
And she's, uh, she's very seriously says that they like her and asks her if she likes them.
And Sawako's like, uh, well, like is kind of a strong word.
It's more like I have a feeling that's like, but before she can finish, Cheezoo and Ayane
have already admitted defeat and they're like, no, it's cool.
You don't have to keep going.
Sorry to bother you.
But it's not cool.
So sad.
Goofy.
This is pretty funny.
This is, this is, this is, this is, this is only the beginning of Shojo, but it's such
this is like not, not real barriers are, you know, like normal people would just talk through
the thing and this wouldn't be a problem, but in Shojo, we all like only half finished
our sentences.
Don't listen to each other so that there's dramatic misunderstandings.
It's kind of like the perfect storm of things where like both, uh, Cheezoo and Ayane are
like expecting to get rejected.
So they just like let it happen immediately as soon as they don't hear what they want
to hear.
And also the fact that like Sawako is not going to assert that she like finished her
thought.
Yeah, that's true.
And right, it was like, hold on, let me finish.
She doesn't have that capacity to do that.
So we end up in weird limbo.
So that's too bad for them.
Uh, Sawako is like, what the heck just happened?
She goes to the bathroom and overhears some girls gossiping about her using Cheezoo and
Ayane as backup and like Kazehaya as her man servant or something.
She comes to the conclusion that they were being weird because being around Sawako is
wrecking their reputation.
She spirals, uh, and decides that being around her friends is going to ruin their lives.
So maybe she should like start avoiding them until she can figure out what she should do.
Yeah, it's really sad because right now she's just become used to people talking about her
this way.
But, you know, and she became accustomed to it.
At some point, her, her feelings, so she knows that she doesn't want these people she likes
so much to go through the same thing and be ostracized.
So she's just, you know, like, as you like to say in the first episode, opportunity to
be a murder and just like, you know, fall on the sword for everyone else in her mind and
just disassociate with them so they can continue being happy and she'll just go back to being
on her own for their sake.
Yeah, like this, this episode and like, you know, this is kind of what this whole thing
is about.
And what I've been listening with Kazehaya about this is like, she's not, she's very
considerate of other people, but she's not forget it like actually empathizing with them.
Right.
Because like in her value system, like she projects onto them, right.
Because like to her reputation is super important because her reputation is bad and it's like
destroyed her whole social life.
But like to them, like Ayane and Pichizu don't really care about their reputation that much
because like whatever.
But she like cannot imagine that they would not care about that very much.
And so she ends up like proactively trying to do things to help.
I mean, she did this in the first episode with like the protecting Kazehaya's reputation
too.
Yeah.
Or he's like, I don't care about this.
Gotta empathize people.
You gotta think about other people's values.
And her mind, she's like, oh, they would never say that to me because they're so nice.
So I got to do it in their stead, cutting myself off.
Right.
And putting people on a pedestal.
Yeah, that's true.
Yeah.
Very much so.
I mean, these are like her first friends ever, I guess.
So you know, this is the thing you have to learn how to do.
And you know, that's the whole episode is her kind of learning how to do this.
I don't really know.
Like at the end, she's like 100%.
Like I have learned empathy now, but it's better.
The next several episodes.
Essentially the three we're covering today.
No, these three that we're covering today are all very a whole little mini art, I guess
within the story.
You know, like problem starts and all that.
Within three episodes.
But look at to that.
Let's see.
Okay.
So the next morning, Ayana and Chizu run into each other.
They both been crying and laughing.
Yeah.
And they laugh at each other for like having red puffy eyes or having.
Yeah, they're so real.
The puffy eyes are insane.
Like your whole face hurts.
It's hard to hide it.
Oh, man.
I don't know.
I never cry because I'm too.
Yeah.
Okay.
I can relate.
The way you say that is like, oh, I was, I watched a really sad movie last night or something
if anyone asks.
That's what you say.
Uh-huh.
Oh, God.
Yep.
And they walk together and they're like, you know, really like, you don't think Saloko
could be spreading rumors, right?
Come on.
But also like yesterday, she said that she didn't like us.
So like, no, maybe, maybe there's something there.
I don't think so.
I mean, I don't think so.
But like somebody could think that.
Yeah.
Yes.
Uh, they come to the school entrance and Saloko is there.
She apologized to them for making them unhappy.
And they're like, what?
But before she can follow up, Saloko sees some people approaching and she runs away because
she cannot be seen around them anymore to protect their reputation.
So he's going to run away anytime another person is there.
They're like, why was she apologizing?
And then they get all sad because they thought that she liked them.
Saloko decides that she needs to fix everyone's misunderstandings, so she tries to find the
girls spreading the rumors, but like she's just kind of like aimlessly wandering around
creeping everybody out.
It like doesn't work.
So that does not get resolved.
After class, Kazai Haya runs after Saloko and he's like, hey, you looked like you were
crying earlier in class and also you've been like avoiding me all day.
Are you like mad at me or something?
And she tells him that she will never, ever hate him ever and then runs away when another
student appears.
It's like, okay.
Her voice over tells us that if she stays around her friends, it will cause trouble for
them and she doesn't know what to do in the meantime.
So she's like, I gotta avoid my friends.
It's about fix this, but I don't know how to fix this.
So I guess I'm just going to avoid my friends.
And then the episode ends.
Yeah.
I do like, I mean, this is the first actual show Joe were covering here, but something
different about this one than a lot of others.
Or maybe this is just like a lot of when show Joe was popular was before we were more, there's
more going on as far as what's being portrayed in anime.
You know, it was a lot more straightforward and simple back in show Joe's prime, but that
this show like it's nice because it is a romance, but there's a lot of emphasis in plot and
character development of friendship as well, which especially makes sense for someone who's
socially awkward that she would first need to learn how to do that before anything else
could happen.
But it's nice, you know, like there's, we don't see this much like interest inside
characters and their feelings and, you know, female friendship and show Joe as much, I
don't think or at least they don't get this much screen time dedicated to them.
So it's just nice.
Yeah.
I mean, I think it's a pretty smart move to like go from the first three episodes, which
are kind of like, I like this boy kind of to pivoting to like, okay, this is about like
having friends.
What is it like to have friends?
What is it like the process of making friends?
Like what does that kind of mean?
How does that kind of work?
Especially if you don't like have things in common necessarily because like if they had
some activity they were doing, I don't think this would be as much of an issue because
you can like do the thing.
But because they are like friends and just kind of a general sense, it's not clear.
Like it can still be kind of unclear if you like somebody or not because, you know, like
they're not hanging out.
Is it just because it's proximity that you're talking about because you actually want to
be together?
Like this is a real thing of like, this is a person that I want to be friends with,
but I don't know if I like am because this is like someone I talked to in class, like
I don't hang out with them outside of school, right?
They don't hang out with each other outside of school.
So this does feel like a real ambiguous kind of position here.
I mean, it's less ambiguous when they're all feeding each other lunch, but when they're
all hanging out in class.
Have you not seen that scene?
Yeah.
That's a little bit like, so okay.
This is, I mean, you wouldn't know this, but this is not normal.
Yeah.
And like everybody in these episodes are like acting pretty like reasonable.
Like nobody is being like cartoonishly like misunderstanding a thing, right?
Like they kind of went out of their way to be like, these are reactions that people can
have if they are like overthinking things or like this is like a situation that could
arise in real life to a certain extent, which I do appreciate.
Like it isn't just some like over the top melodrama stuff.
This actually feels like actual drama.
Yep.
Yeah.
That's pretty good.
Good stuff.
Episode five is called resolution, which is funny because this is not the episode where
things resolve.
No, not really.
This isn't the resolution episode.
Internal, internal resolution.
Yeah.
It is the internal resolution.
Sawako is spacing out while eating dinner.
She tells her parents that midterms are tomorrow and that's why she was spacing out, but really
she was worried about her friends.
We learned that everybody has to sit in alphabetical order for the midterms and Ayane is in Sawako's
desk that she normally sits in and Sawako has to sit like in the front somewhere.
She gets sad about how much effort Ayane and Chizu put into their relationship with her
and how she can't return those feelings now because she is like a curse.
So she sits down at her desk without saying good morning to them.
The midterm start and instead of taking her test, Sawako keeps thinking about her friends
and how nice they are and how their friendship might be ruined now and the whole time the
only thing I could think of is, girl, take your test.
For real.
Take your test.
She starts crying on her test.
You're getting the payback.
I can't grade that.
I've definitely cried on math test before.
Girl, this is the midterms.
You got to take your test.
I was like losing my mind.
I don't understand what's like to be wrecked with tears during school.
The teacher is like, no, I can see you.
The test starts and like Sawako is like just starting to write her name and she gets a
little flashback of like, I met Kazehaya and everything was great.
And then she like writes the next character in her name and then she's like, and then
I was friends with Ayane Chizu and things were great.
And she writes another one and they're like, they were so nice to me and then she writes
another character and I'm like, this is so much time.
You're not going to have enough time to answer the questions.
Yeah.
And then she cries and I'm like, dude.
Oh, God.
I can't show my eyes.
Listen, you got to get your head in the game.
No, some of us don't want our heads to be in the game for school.
Yeah.
Well, being good at school is one of the things Sawako's got going on for her.
That's true.
It is like her soul ambition.
Her soul hobby.
Up to this point.
Yeah.
Okay.
So after class, Sawako is sadly walking home, but there's Kazehaya waiting for her and
she's like, oh man, he's doing this again where he's waiting for me.
And he's like, hey, that thing you said to me last time didn't make any sense about like,
you never ever hating me and then leaving.
So like what's actually going on?
And Sawako is like, I have to tell him not to talk to me anymore.
She's like, you need to not talk to me anymore, but she can't do it.
Like she can't get the whole phrase out.
It seems very funny.
Actually.
She starts like wailing instead.
Yeah.
And Kazehaya is like, wait, what?
He can't understand what she's saying because she's crying so much.
Yeah.
You need to stop crying so you can hear what you're saying.
She's able to tell him.
Yeah, it's pretty good.
Like this is pretty good.
Like just like the voice actor for Sawako is doing.
Yeah, she did a very good job.
Really good job here.
Yeah.
I mean, she's always doing a pretty good job.
I think we talked about this before in terms of like the way she says stuff when she's
a conversation versus like when she's in her head is different and like this is very good.
Like crying, talking.
Yeah.
Well, it's a good depiction because I think a lot of people by default, you speak formally
and normally like you have to have an understanding to speak more casually.
But so we only hear her speak formally and then her internal dialogue is a different
tone.
And then her crying is like super different.
It's so good.
Very good voice actress.
Yeah.
And this also is good because like before she's cried in front of Kazehaya and they're
all like beautiful.
It's subtle cries like silent weeping and this is straight up falling her eyes out.
Yeah.
Like normally it's like she's like with Misaki wailing in the rain.
Like kind of beautiful crying.
And this time she's like sobbing.
It's like.
It's like, let's see.
She's able to tell him that she's making him less popular by being around him and Kazehaya
is like, dude, I literally don't care about that.
Also that's like my problem.
So I don't know why you care about that either.
And like I want to be around you.
So like don't worry about it.
And Salah goes like, oh, he's so nice.
And then she thinks about how this is what she always wanted it like to have people who
care about her.
Yeah.
And she explains kind of more why what's going on, right?
Like the go to sit.
And apparently Kazehaya has not been hearing these rumors.
How is that possible?
All the school does.
You boys not boys ears can't pick up on the rumor channel.
Yeah.
I mean, like they don't.
I don't think like I feel like a lot of guys are going to be like, were you who just like
don't care?
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
That's true.
And like it wouldn't surprise me if stuff didn't get to kind of because like he know
it like they he sits near them, right?
So they maybe want to say that to him anyway.
Kazehaya by Sawako, a canned coffee to calm her down.
She hands up a dollar in a pretty good scene.
Yeah.
Pay for it.
It's pretty funny.
She thinks about how Kazehaya makes the knot in her heart untangle, which is like kind
of the opposite of the thing your crush should make you feel.
I feel like it should put you with knots, but I guess he's untangling it for her.
So that's good.
Well, he's comforted.
Well, she's already so anxious anyway.
She couldn't possibly handle it amping up.
Yeah.
It's one of these things where it's like, like he's he has a calming effect, but that's
kind of the opposite of having a crush, which is like you're kind of getting nervous.
That's because she doesn't realize that's what it is.
Yeah.
But I'm also like, does she not have like a crush on him?
Did she like I always trying to figure out if she actually has a crush on him or not.
And she may not at this point.
You know what I mean?
I don't think so.
I don't think she knows what that means to feel.
So no, she's just grateful for him.
Yeah.
So I don't think she has a crush on him.
Yeah.
At the moment.
Just admire her.
I don't think she wants to kiss him.
You know what I mean?
No, not at all.
Yeah.
Too bad, Kazehaya.
One day.
I know.
Just keep at it.
Yeah.
You got you got two more seasons, you know, it'll happen eventually.
Kazehaya suggests that Sawako put herself in her friend's shoes for once and Sawako
has a revelation.
She decides that she's going to talk to Chizu and Ayane after all and like finish the thing,
the sentence she was going to say before about not liking them, but feeling something else.
And that she's going to try to become their friend.
And he's like, yeah, go do it.
I'm cheering you on.
Pretty good.
After school, Ayane and Pint run into each other on the stairs and he's like, it's after
school.
Go home.
And she's like, I'm here to study, dude.
It's the midterms.
And he's like, oh, I didn't know you were a nerd.
I hate when this is a thing in AMA where like they pick their ear or nose to indicate that
they're like only half heartedly listening, you know, to be more blasé, disinterested.
I hate it.
I like it.
Who does bad in real life?
I don't know.
Yeah.
Just misuse.
I think it's pretty good.
No, I hate it.
Then she gets mad at him for yesterday and he's like, number one, you can't go blaming
other people for your problems.
Number two, I don't even know what you're talking about.
Number three, even if it's technically my fault, like whatever, I don't care.
I'm a teacher.
And he tells her to solve her own problems.
She goes to the library and sees that Sawako has like checked out a bunch of books about
ghost stories.
And this is where we get the reveal that she just like, this was a joke she said one time.
Yeah.
But that she like took it seriously.
So she thinks that's very funny and thinks about Sawako and then we transition over to
Chizu who's sitting outside of her house and then post workout where you comes walking
by and is like, oh, you're sitting outside your house like where you normally sit when
you get kicked out and pow and you need me to come like console you or whatever.
What's going on this time?
He's like, are you mad about the rumor about you beating up an old man?
She's like, no, it's because people are saying Sawako might have spread those and he's like,
Sawako, the girl with no friends spreading rumors to herself.
She's like, oh, yeah, she has no friends.
There's no way it could be her.
And he's like, and she's like, oh, but she didn't say that she like doesn't that she
doesn't like us.
And we was like, what?
She's like, yeah, we were like, hey, Sawako, we really like you.
And then she didn't say that she likes his back and we could and we was like, why'd you
use the word like?
Doesn't that like meet a lot of different stuff?
It's not really what that word means.
It could mean like anything that she doesn't say that.
And she's just like, oh, and we was like, yeah, maybe you should let her like finish
her sentence.
But if it goes badly, I'll be there to comfort you.
Yeah, and he's a very cool being like, and if she rejects you, I'll come console you
like for real this time and then he leaves because we use great.
Yeah, he's great.
I love this kid.
The only guy who's not overthinking his relationships.
Really barely thinking at all.
Barely thinking at all.
We'll see.
I mean, it's not his.
These aren't relationships with his personal stakes.
He's not like when the stakes could hire for him personally.
But in this situation, pretty good.
They should be coming to him for advice.
Oh, dude, I really hope Ryu and Sawako become friends and she like comes to him with questions
about like, hey, what did this mean?
What did cause a high of mean when he says he wants to monopolize me and we was like,
come on.
That'd be funny.
Cheezoo checks Sawako's notes later tonight to like study for the midterms and she sees
like a little drawing that Sawako made and she like laughs at it.
And she thinks to herself that there's no way that she could make these notes if they
weren't friends.
Ioni calls Cheezoo in the evening and they talk about Sawako.
They like realize how ridiculous everything's been.
And are basically like, yeah, like there's no way.
Sawako, we like her.
We think about her all the time outside of school.
So like clearly this can't be anything, you know?
Yeah.
So we get that.
Well, essentially they're just thinking about how much they enjoy being with her and that
it must be the same on her end.
And so she couldn't pause and they wouldn't say such things about her.
So vice versa.
Right.
I mean, this is like a big like kind of a big thing with this is that everybody is putting
too much emphasis on like the labels of their relationships.
Well, it is a big thing there.
Right.
Like everything's very formal.
So they're labels and determining things verbally are important in Japan.
I mean, I guess so.
But again, like labels are supposed to be descriptive, not like prescriptive.
You know what I mean?
Like it's not like, oh, now that we say that we're friends, we can act like friends.
It's like you say you're friends because you've already been acting like a friend to them,
that kind of thing.
Like that's how it's supposed to be.
But they're kind of getting it backwards here, which is like pretty normal.
Don't do that in real life.
Just have whatever relationship you want with somebody and then you can add a label to it
later.
It's the next day.
Sawako is freaking out in the bathroom because she needs to have this important talk with
Ayane Chizu, but it's also the midterms.
They probably need to like study.
So like, when's she going to have this conversation with them?
She takes too long and a bunch of bullies come into the bathroom talking about the rumors.
Sawako hears this and like, she's like, oh, this is my chance to correct everybody's
misunderstandings.
She comes out and is like, oh, you guys, this has all been a big misunderstanding.
These rumors are not true.
And they all just laugh at her because sometimes things aren't a misunderstanding.
Sometimes people are just mean and they start to like overtly bully her this time as we
cut the credits.
Yeah.
That's what I was saying last time.
Like you were saying, oh, everyone's bullying her.
And I was like, oh, well, it's typically much more confrontational when things are being
referenced to as bullying.
This is exactly the kind of thing with the like cornering them against a wall and ganging
up and all, you know, last time this is so like, yeah, they're doing like real mean girl
shit.
Yeah.
Before they were doing like subtle mean girl shit, which is like spreading rumors, right?
Which is still bullying.
It's just not more passive.
Yeah.
But now she's getting straight up bullied for real.
Yeah.
Well, everything's escalating.
It's wild how much stuff happens in an episode of the show, right?
So much happens.
Like I have to write like 300 bullet points.
Yeah.
Well, it's wild.
It makes you wonder like, damn, why does it take so many episodes for anything to happen
and show an end?
Like it's so.
Okay.
Hold on.
I guess it's just a lot of monologuing and showing.
What?
The joke is how many episodes does a Dragon Ball fight?
Yeah.
But that's more about production.
That's about the fact that they have to have an episode out every week.
That's not about like the actual going on thing.
Like now everything is only 12 episodes and everything just flies.
That's true.
And like they should take more episodes.
This is just a production thing.
I don't think this arc needs to be three episodes necessarily.
Like a lot of stuff happens, but a lot of it is just people rehashing the same stuff
over and over again, which is like very real in terms of like what happens in reality.
But also like, I don't know if the show needs to rehash it over and over and over again
every time.
You know what I mean?
Like this doesn't bother me so far.
But like if it keeps doing this forever, it would eventually get on my nerves.
You know what I mean?
Yes.
Like how many flashbacks do we need of Sawaka thinking about how her friends are nice to
her?
You know what I mean?
Like, we get a lot of those.
She hasn't gotten over it yet.
People are talking to her.
I mean, it's fine for these like entry stuff.
I feel like if we're doing this on episode 26, I'm going to be like, all right, guys,
we need to start moving along a little bit faster.
Yes, it does move pretty, pretty, pretty quick here.
Episode six.
Episode six is called friends.
We get a flashback of Sawako as a kid.
One time her friend, Shino, called her Sotako on accident and it stuck.
Then in middle school, I know it's funny that it's not even like a reference to the ring
girl.
She just says the name.
Then in middle school, she got brain as a ghost magnet.
I guess this is from the ring.
I think this is the point where that got stuck.
And then now in high school, she's straight up in apparition and people have stories about
her.
But she says that she was never absolutely miserable in the past.
So it was okay.
Then we're back at the-
All she ever knew.
That's all she ever knew.
Yeah.
But then we're back at the end of last episode and a bunch of students have gathered around
the bathroom entrance.
Kazahaya and Ryu are walking up the stairs and they see a bunch of people around the
bathroom entrance and they're like, what's going on?
And their friends are there and they're like, oh yeah, there's this big argument going down
in the girl's bathroom.
And Kazahaya is like, oh yeah?
And they're like, yeah, it's between Sawako and some random girls from class A.
And he's like, what?
And they're also like, yeah, also Sawako started it.
And Kazahaya is like, I don't think that's true.
That sounds not real.
But then Ayane and Chizu show up and they decide that they're going to go in.
They're going in to save a girl or to save their girl.
Ryu is like, Kazahaya, are you going to hang back and just let this happen?
And Kazahaya is like, yeah, we're going to let them resolve this because this is between
them.
I'm going to not be the main character of this episode.
Yeah, I like that.
No, it's good.
I mean, he's right.
He's not inserting himself where he shouldn't.
Yeah, just because he likes her.
He's not even allowed to go in the girl's bathroom.
Letting her develop on her own.
Not handholding her through everything.
So he's just going to stay in the back.
In the bathrooms, also, Ryu very clearly understands that he likes her.
Yeah, everybody does.
It's incredibly clear.
Except her.
He understands this, except her.
God, why don't Chizu and Ayane say anything about this to her?
I've got other stuff going on.
I'm sure they will.
It's probably next episode.
They're going to say something.
If they never say anything, I'm going to lose my mind.
In the bathroom, Sawako says that they're wrong about Ayane and Chizu.
And one of the girls like shoves her over and she falls down.
And then the girl is like, the girl is like, dude, I know.
Also, aren't you the one spreading these rumors anyway?
Why are you telling me they're wrong?
And Sawako freaks out because this is the first time she has heard that she's the one
spreading these rumors.
And she's like, but I'm not doing that.
And the girl literally steps on her.
Her foot is on her chest.
And she says that she's going to put her in her place because we're just straight up
like Sawako is about to get into a fistfight.
Throw it down.
Needs to summon some spirits.
Yeah.
So she's like, I'm going to put you in her place.
Also, Ayane and Chizu are probably talking shit about you anyway.
And like, honestly, we're just mad at you because you're hanging out with Kazehaya.
We don't even care about that other stuff.
So you know, like if you just go back to being invisible, you know, we're all good.
We'll all be good here.
We'll just leave you alone.
Sawako says that they need to take everything they've said back.
Well, basically, she doesn't care if they leave her alone as long as they leave them
alone or martyr.
Ayane and Chizu are great people and I don't like them.
Dot, dot, dot.
I love them.
God, so goofy.
Ayane and Chizu, who are watching this from the doorway, finally come to her aid and
Chizu intimidates them and they leave.
And Sawako is like, oh, thank you all for saving me.
Outside, Kazehaya is pissed off and he just has to wait there.
He sees the bullies leaving the bathroom and he very loudly says that he thinks people
who gossip are disgusting so that they can totally hear him say that.
Also, there's no way, yeah, I mean, he's like, there's no way Sawako would spread those
rumors anyway because she's like super nice and some girls.
The same girls.
No, the same girls come by and catch him up on what is happening in the bathroom and
everyone is like, oh, it's a happy ending.
Like the good guys won.
That's great.
This must be good luck for my midterms.
Everybody's happy about like having good luck for their midterms.
And Kazehaya is like, oh, Sawako would like this, that she's like cursing people in a
positive way.
She's like giving them a blessing, which is very funny.
Everybody's very weird.
Like, they're just like kids like announcing like what's happening.
Well, hot gas.
I know, but like it's also happening right in front of them.
Like there are scenes where like the girls are like taking pictures over like the divider
of essentially like how when the courtroom fills up for a big case where people want
to watch that they're all crowded outside waiting for the verdict to be read, essentially
is the vibe of this whole thing.
Yeah, nobody like good Samaritan trying to intervene.
Uh-uh.
Nope.
No, no interest in just like being generically nice to other people.
Back in the bathroom, Sawako gives her big speech about how she wants to be friends with
Ayane and Chizu and she loves hanging out with them and stuff.
And their response is like, did you not think we wanted that?
Like obviously we want to be friends with you and then they think they laugh at how ridiculous
this all is and Ayane hugs her and Chizu apologizes for ever doubting her.
They also love her and they're all friends and then they all hug and spin around.
Yeah.
The students are still gathered around and Kazehaya's friends announces to the crowd
that everybody made up and everyone's like, yay.
And then Ryu's like, yeah, of course it worked out.
This was ridiculous from the get go.
No, he's like, shoot.
I don't get to console her, I guess.
Oh yeah.
I guess so.
He does.
I don't think that's actually what he wanted to have happen.
Pin comes out of nowhere and rushes to stop the fight and he like bursts into the bathroom
and then he's pissed off and see three girls hugging and he's like, why aren't you guys
fighting?
I'm supposed to break up a fight.
Everybody get the heck out of here.
Everybody leave.
And he makes everybody leave.
As like Sawako walks out, she sees Kazehaya who congratulates her on doing a good job
of like making up with her friends.
And that's the end of that scene.
She smiles real pretty and then he blushy blushes or just little blackout.
Yeah.
He gets a nice smile.
But it isn't just for him because Ayane and Chizawa are also there.
So.
Well, yeah, he just gets to see it.
Man.
Pretty good.
I like how this works out.
Everybody's in front of like the fact that she's like, I don't like them.
I love them.
So it's the most like I could think about is the fire or the what like five ever meme
or whatever where it's like, oh, do you love me forever?
And it's like, no.
And then they die and they're like, I was going to say that I love you five ever or
something stupid like that.
You know what I mean?
Okay.
Yeah.
And then eventually they freaking finally call her Sawako.
Her actual name.
They do call her Sawako.
Instead of Sawako.
Woohoo.
Progress.
Maybe maybe they should have been doing that for the baby.
Maybe the reason she didn't think.
Now they're really friends.
I mean, by her name.
Maybe.
Yeah.
Like I only knows that she doesn't get her jokes.
Like you could be a little bit kinder.
That's true.
Have it.
Die hard.
Yeah.
And then we see everyone.
Fluffy blonde girl skulking about being like, well, because we hear the bullies being
sad.
But there's some more stuff.
There's some more stuff.
Okay.
Let's see.
The midterms are over and Sawako sucked it up and only got ranked 30th out of the
whole class because she failed all her tests on the first day.
Which is freaking out about her friends.
I told you girl.
I told you to take the test.
Don't cry in your test.
That's not bad still.
Probably.
Oh yeah.
Like I had a cheese.
I had a cheese that were like, dang you're 30th.
That's really good.
And she's like, yeah, I totally like didn't even take the first test.
So I'm assuming she's normally ranked pretty high.
Yeah.
Which I think would make her more popular.
But I guess not.
I know, right?
Well.
The thing that does make her more popular is that the rest of her class did unusually
well because her notes were so good.
There you go.
That should also improve her standing.
So things should be going pretty good for her.
Ion and Chizu invite Sawako to hang out after school.
This is bad for Kazehaya because that means he missed his chance to hang out with her.
Well, basically he's like, damn, now that they're such good friends, she's just always
going to be hanging out with them and there's going to be no time for me to get with her
by herself.
It's extremely funny.
But also happy for her.
Yeah, it's so funny that like the start of these three episodes is Sawako being like,
what did Kazehaya mean about monopolizing me?
And then this episode is like, oh, shit, I can't monopolize her now because she has
friends.
Yeah.
She smiles at him on the way out and he collapses like a heap.
I also have written down that Ryu just watches this happen.
Ryu is taking it all in.
Yeah, Shino sees the three of them after school and is like congratulates Sawako on making
some friends and then leaves.
So maybe this is the last time we see her.
Maybe, probably.
I see you have made other friends.
I can now move Ion.
Good.
Passing the baton on, yep.
Very funny.
Her, the one who got everybody to call them Sawako in the first place is Overpopped.
The OG bully on accident elsewhere.
The bullies from before are sad that Kazehaya hates them now, especially the main girl who
like the one stepping on her.
The one stepping on her because she was especially into him and she cries and runs off and then
we see the blonde chick who's like sitting around the corner like a real villain being
like, yeah, of course.
Like what?
You thought he was going to react positively to that?
All or all losers as we cut the credits.
It's very funny.
She's like, you guys are literally so stupid.
Well, what do you think is going to happen next with her?
Well, she's scheming.
As we can see, she's not, she's not dumb.
She's not a cartoon bully.
She is a methodical bully.
So I think she's going to, I think she's going to try to be sweet.
Oh, she's going to try to be Sawako's friend, isn't she?
Oh snap, you think?
She's going to like leech her way in like all of the stuff we were concerned about.
Like, oh, is this person, this person's pretending to be my friend?
Do they not actually like me?
Is what she is for real going to do.
Right as we begin not to believe that.
Right as we let her guard down.
No.
Oh man.
Oh no.
Well, hopefully Chizu and Ayane are looking out for her and more aware of these things
on her behalf.
Does nobody know this chick?
We'll find out, won't we?
I guess we'll find out.
She's pretty cute, huh?
She's blonde.
Well, she's like every like the pretty, there's such a difference between the like NPCs and
the main character designs.
The eyes being all shiny.
Yep.
So we'll see, we'll see how it goes.
I'm interested.
Yeah.
I like how we got a lot of new.
Oh yeah.
Don't worry, there will be plenty more for you to come.
Hell yes.
Well, you think so far.
Still, I enjoyed it.
I mean, like I think this was pretty good.
I do like how everybody was acting pretty reasonably the whole time.
I mean, it's kind of like what I was saying earlier in terms of like, yeah, a lot of like
kind of ridiculous, plotty stuff happens and like a lot of things could have been resolved
very easily had everybody just finished their sentence.
But like it kind of makes sense that they didn't finish their sentence.
So like I'm pretty satisfied with this.
This could have been like in a lesser show, this would have been way more cartoony.
And I think it's pretty good that it isn't, you know, I like the idea of I want to be
friends with somebody at the level.
I see them be friends with somebody else, but I don't know how to make that happen.
You know what I mean?
Like there's a little bit of a job of like depicting or making it easy for us to understand
how she doesn't understand these things.
But once to you know, for being like a wacko, she's like a relatable character kind of or
likeable character.
We need to.
So I got some feedback on our episode, our last episode.
People think we don't like Sawakow.
People think we're really mean about it.
Is this our mutual acquaintance who likes this show?
Yeah.
I've heard it from a couple of different people.
Oh, OK.
They do not think we like Sawakow, which is.
I like Sawakow.
Yeah, I like Sawakow.
When I say that she's like the dumbest girl alive.
I'm saying that I'm saying that.
Indearingly.
Yes.
It's a flattery, open parentheses, positive close parentheses.
No, she's a likable character for sure.
See, look at you getting feedback.
God, no one I know who listens to this knows what the hell's happening.
Your grandma didn't talk to you about it this morning.
No, she didn't.
Grandma.
Yeah.
No, I do like Sawakow.
I think I think this is like the character growth here is pretty good.
Like I think like learning to be empathetic and like thinking about other people's value
system is a thing you can only really start to do when you have other people's value systems
to think about like when you have friends.
So I think it's like pretty good to have that be like a main thing in here.
You know, I think getting caught up in language is also pretty good in terms of like, you
know, she doesn't say that she likes them and she's just like, why didn't she just say
that she likes his back?
That would have solved everything.
And like Ryu has to be like, you know, there's a lot of reasons why she didn't say that verbatim.
Like I don't think you should take that super hard.
Like it could be this could all just be a misunderstanding.
It could and it is because Sawakow is like, I love them.
I don't like them.
I think that's pretty good.
You know, I think people can get caught up in words if you don't think about like what
you're saying very specifically.
Typically, yeah, when you're fighting in particular.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, she's like socially awkward, right?
So she's a very precise in her language, which is like good.
And she can't interpret other language as well.
If it's bad, like it's good in terms of like, you can get across what you're saying.
It's bad because people interpret.
I mean, this is the whole the first episode where she's like, I admire Kazehaya.
He's great.
And everyone's like, dude, she has the biggest crush on you ever.
But it's right when she doesn't because her language is like too precise.
Yeah.
She's trying to say.
So that's pretty good.
Like I like all that stuff.
And that stuff like shows up here.
We like Sawakow to make it clear.
Sawakow.
We liked Kazehaya.
We like Cheezeroo and Iane and Ryu.
I love Penn.
I like Ryu.
Penn is weird.
It's a pretty good comedy.
I like the comedy with Penn.
I like how all of them hate him.
Yeah.
He's like, dude, leave me alone.
I'm a high schooler.
Jesus.
Oh man, it's good.
But I do.
I do wonder like what is what are like, what are they going to have in common?
Like what is Sawakow going to have in common with Iane and Cheezeroo?
I mean, I have like, well, not that I have that many friends, but sometimes it's just
more like shared experiences can be what bond you and not necessarily super similar interests.
Also Sawakow beggars can't be choosers.
She'll take whatever friend she can get.
No, I know.
But I'm like, why they like, she's doing the ghost story thing with Iane.
I don't know if that's going to stick because I don't really know what I actually likes
to do.
I guess we get that like, she's kind of a jock.
Although I don't know what she plays.
Yeah, well, we'll learn more about them individually.
Yeah, I just need, Sawakow just needs to adopt a hobby.
She needs a hobby.
I know.
She should be like knitting or I feel like something, I don't know, like paper mache.
She should be doing like the New York Times Crossword or something.
Yeah.
Like that should be her deal.
She needs to go people watching and just learn how to be human.
She needs to just watch some TV, honestly.
Yeah.
I don't normally recommend people watch TV, but she definitely needs to watch TV.
I mean, I tell people to watch anime, but like she needs to just, she's just sitting
in front of the couch and watch some TV.
That would solve her problems.
She's apparently like, but baking.
She made those cookies for them earlier.
That's true.
But that's not social.
She needs to watch like fucking Martha Stewart or something like at least something that's
like you could see some people interact.
Yeah.
Oh man.
Yeah.
That's our episodes for five and six.
Making our way through it.
Yep.
Pretty good.
They're friends now.
They're definitely part of the main cast.
That's good.
One day we'll learn the names of those two other girls whose names I didn't catch, but
they're not important enough.
Yeah.
Well, they're just, they're around.
They're not super important, but they are a round to serve different purposes.
The plot device girls.
Yep.
Okay.
So I want to roll into recommendations now.
Sure.
I've got mine.
Do you have one prepared?
In advance?
I do.
Yep.
I do.
You go first.
I'm going to recommend a video game because I just pre-played one.
So I have Game Pass, which is like the Microsoft thing that like lets you play games if you
pay a subscription, which I do on my PC.
And I was just looking on there.
I'm like, maybe I should play something.
I really want to play, or I never played Mirror's Edge.
Oh, I saw you play that the other day and I was like, yeah.
Yeah.
Which is the sequel to Mirror's Edge, which is a game I really liked that was in 2008.
Yeah.
It's like parkour, first person.
Yeah.
So I replayed the first one, which was, which was pretty fun.
Like it had been a long time since I played it.
I played it like a bunch when it came out because it was like one of the Xbox games I had that
like has really good replayability.
So the original Mirror's Edge is a first person, like free running parkour game.
So most of the game is about movement, where you are like jumping across buildings and
like vaulting off of things to climb on top of other like objects.
You're like grabbing onto zip lines.
Like it's all about like moving and getting from one place to the other.
It's like a very stylish game in terms of like you're in a city where everything's kind
of like bleached white and everything you interact with is like shown in red in terms
of like this is the direction you need to go.
So there's some very interesting like game design layout happening with this game.
The plot is very like kind of straightforward.
You play as Faith, who is a runner, which is like a smuggler kind of smuggler.
Yeah.
But like it's all based on like you're a courier carrying stuff by hand or like, you know,
like literally carrying it from one place to the other.
And you kind of work with this underground network.
And then your sister gets framed for a murder who she's like a cop and you are trying to
help get her name cleared.
And you know, it's like deals with conspiracy and all sort of stuff.
But like the levels are really fun in terms of like there are some levels that are just
about like, okay, you're at the bottom of a building and you need to climb all the way
to the top.
There are some that's like, you need to get past a bunch of enemies.
They're just going to be like pouring out and like chasing after you.
And you just have to like keep running as fast as possible.
Pretty good sequences.
I tend to like the ones that are just like you need to climb a thing really quickly.
And you, you know, you don't have enemies or anything like that.
So lots of cool levels.
It's really fun.
If you've never like played, it's like a different type of game than I think you would normally
kind of play even though it's like in a first person setting.
So you kind of have the toolkit of most first person games, but you're doing something very
different than what you would normally do in a first person game.
Yeah, I like God, I suck at it though.
So I never finished it.
I'm not very good at it.
But yeah, right.
Like dice did the sequel catalyst, I think it was called.
Yeah, that came out in 20.
I haven't played it before.
I'm looking forward to it because I like the first game is a little janky, like a lot of
stuff.
You'll just get caught on random things.
The first game in series typically that are trying something.
Yeah.
A lot of the time is like if you don't make a jump like perfectly or like a weird angle,
you'll lose and have to restart.
It's really easy to get like your legs stuck on something because like if they if like you
step on a thing that doesn't have like a like if the plane isn't perfectly in line, it'll
just kill all your momentum.
Like a lot of like annoying things can happen that are like frustrating.
So I'm hoping that stuff gets ironed out.
Like it seems like a game that would be cool in VR, but also like would make you terribly
motion sick with how quick-paced it is.
Yeah, cool.
Yeah, we love a lady protagonist.
Mm-hmm.
Oh, good recommendation.
I am recommending anime.
I don't know what brought it to my mind.
I don't know what it was because it's like a super random one that I don't know if you've
heard of it.
Let me pull up the screenshots so I can read off the just it's been years since I watched
it.
I really liked it.
It's gorgeous.
It's called a.
No, no.
I don't know if you've heard of this.
It's called a children.
Is it Children of the Whale or Children of the Whales or something like that?
And I saw a Netflix and watched it.
I'm going to read kind of the gist of what it is.
Okay, basically a world covered by oceans of sand, people living in isolation on a mud
whale, which is an island like ship, a drift.
People have certain people have these abilities and using those abilities shortens their lifespan.
So a lot of people pass pretty young and the protagonist boy kind of ends up meeting someone
new, which is the isolated community.
So like, you know, they don't get new folks.
And you know, blah, blah, blah, things happen.
There's only one season.
You should look at it.
It's like gorgeous.
And I really now I want to water now I want to read the manga like the way it looked.
The setting of stuff in particular kind of gives me like mortal engine spides like the
cool anime, pretty anime, how's dove has some was on Netflix when upon once upon a time,
not sure on status of where you can watch it at this point in time.
But yeah, just kind of like a fantasy setting, maybe a little bit of a downer in certain
regards, not not full blown like freaking whatever the show with the kids get eaten
thing.
What's that show called?
You know, the kids get eaten.
Yeah, it was the team land, neverland, neverland promise, neverland.
Yeah, that.
Yeah, bomber ass show.
That show is cool.
Not a happy show.
It's a horror show.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's bad.
I don't I guess I didn't realize when I said no, I mean like sad bad.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, but yeah, that's my recommendation.
Children of the whales.
Yeah, I liked it.
It's so pretty.
Yeah.
See, that's why I figured it wouldn't be as well known because I haven't ever seen the
manga on sale either.
There's a manga.
But yeah, like all the clothing are really pretty.
The powers look are animated.
Cool.
Yeah, I liked it.
It was, you know, only one season, so lots of unresolved things, but makes me want to
watch the or read the manga.
This one may I just like it because there's one guy in particular who's super pretty.
I just like looking at.
Yeah, it looks like this was animated by JC staff.
They do food wars.
Oh dear.
Well, don't it's not.
I mean, it looks nice.
I'm just I'm just saying like what else they do that like is in that style like this look
kind of like that style.
I don't know.
Food wars.
My sister liked it and she's oh my god, Joe, I had to tell you something.
They also did what?
Hold on.
They also did do ten.
Sorry.
Go ahead.
I was going to say I have a co-worker and she also said that she likes dialing in the
Franks.
So maybe for some reason it's just popular with girls.
I don't know why, which is weird.
You're like going to talk it up to a player.
We're going to have to watch it as like a bonus and I'm going to have to watch darling in
the.
It's fine.
I don't know.
I think I just did you look at how the robot.
I know.
What's your name?
Zero.
Two.
Yeah.
She's like a cool character design.
She's like pink.
It's fun.
She's a popular cosplay option because you just buy a little horse.
It's a great spotty suit.
Cool.
Well, that's our recommendations and you should write us on your podcast platform of choice.
Get us five stars.
We need more ratings to attract more listeners for a show that people can actually watch.
Pretty please.
Do it.
Yep.
You haven't done it.
Just take the time to do it.
We know who you are.
I do.
If you're selling it.
It's easy to forget.
It has it.
You know, yeah.
If you leave a comment, I will read it.
I knew the comments.
So just let you know that can happen.
Yeah.
And that's it.
You know, the best way of spreading things is word of mouth.
So if you've got any friends that like, keep it easy today, okay, and like want to re-watch
it for the new season, point them in our direction.
By the time we finish our run of the first two seasons, the third season should about
to be coming out.
So we can actually follow it along.
So that should be pretty fun.
So if they're looking to do a re-watch, we have tried to pace it out as best we could
with the announcement, which they just basically said it's coming out in a month, like a certain
month.
Yeah.
No specific date, which means like, we're trying.
We're doing the best we can.
So ideally if they started it in that first day, we would be able to hit it.
Or you want to wait in case they don't drop it all at once and you can just get caught
up.
And then by the time we get to it, you'll have a few episodes to binge.
But yes, I think you should watch it.
I think watching it a couple of weeks is better.
Yeah, that's true.
I was going to say, I watched season three of Bridgerton part one came out, which is
just four episodes and I had to wait another month for part two to come out, which I think
they do stranger things as well.
But either give me it all or give me it one at a time.
I am against binging things.
I think binging things like sucks.
I feel like everything I've ever binged, I've forgotten immediately.
So it's like, why don't I even watch that?
It's also exciting in the moment.
Like, oh, I can just watch it all.
But yeah, I like giving stuff out.
It lets you think about things.
You know, I feel like we can only are able to talk about this show and the last show
because we have some time to like think about our thoughts on these things.
Each episode gets more, you know, more attention as it deserves than if it's been changed.
Just think of it as a whole.
And then the internet can get all hyped together.
But back to what you're saying of, you know, spreading word of mouth.
It's not always good because as we learn, don't spread rumors.
Uh, those are bad.
Don't do that.
Don't spread rumors unless they're funny.
Then you can spread them.
I think saying that you're high school, you know, an old man is pretty funny.
Ion is pimping out her class.
Ion is escalation to her being like, oh, she's like a nymphomaniac.
She just like likes to.
She likes to.
Yeah.
And stop these guys to escalate to.
Yeah.
Actually, she's like running a side business and she's like pimping out other people in
our class.
Why?
What?
Oh man, whoever started this rumors has a wild imagination.
I do like the idea that like all this rumors are catching on.
What if I just escalated it to absurd levels that nobody could possibly believe?
Uh huh.
Yeah.
Endgame.
Uh, remember, uh, labels are supposed to be descriptive, not prescriptive.
Yeah.
Don't get too caught up in the language, folks.
Yeah.
If you're, if you're feeding somebody food at lunch, you're probably friends with them.
You don't need to make a big deal about it.
Unless the food's poisoned.
And then they just think you're friends, but you're not friends.
If somebody tells you that they don't like you, let them finish their sentence.
Yeah.
At least find out why they don't like you.
Then you can folly with your own diss.
Yay.
Okay.
Also, if you love somebody, don't, don't phrase it as an I don't like you.
I love you.
Just say the love thing first.
Yep.
That's true.
Did it.
Episode two.
Now I can finally go take my nap.
Yay.
Uh huh.
Yay.
You're gonna just look the evening.
You're just gonna go to sleep.
Yeah.
Well, no, I will wake up probably at nine.
Uh, and then be up till two would be my guess.
Okay.
I know myself well.
Uh, play more forbidden west.
Um, okay.
Uh, that's all folks.
Thanks for joining us.
See you next time for episodes, uh, seven through.
Seven eight nine.
We could count seven through nine, not 10.
Bye.
Thanks for listening.
Bye.
Wait, what?
Oh, I'm sleeping.
I'm tired.
Why are you tired?
What were you doing?
I don't know.
I had, I walked outside.
It was horrible.
This is just a smile.