AWTY 149 - Goose Springsteen (Odd Taxi)

Springsteen.

Springsteen.

Bruce springsteen. Hello and welcome to are we there yet? In exploration and education and anime. I'm your anime idiot, patrick dugan.

I'm an anime expert, D hollander.

And I'm brenda mccullough. Your anime bd. Joe.

Bd Joe.

Bad Joe.

Bad Joe.

Big dick chitna. I don't know what it stands for.

Oh, shit.

That is genitalia focused. Brendan, we need to have a team meeting. We need a team huddle to discuss your performance. The energy you put out right at the top.

Yeah, the show could get a little horny, but we don't vince, that for you.

Listen, the hair is gone. I'm wet and wild. I'm cutting loose, I'm getting weird.

You cut your hair and you turned into I was going to say a chad, but chads are supposed to be a little nicer.

Yeah, all that weight off your brain, it's like, oh, no more rockly ankle weight.

It's like samson. Instead of my strength being lost with my hair being cut, it's my morality and ethics. They're just gone. Or like donkey Kong from that episode of donkey Kong the Animated Series. There's a donkey Kong animated Series Three DC It's bad. It's gross looking.

Yeah, I've never seen a full episode. I've only seen like YouTube poop of it.

They look like action figures. You can see the ball joints and the sockets and stuff because it's like early cg. It's nasty looking. Anyway, we're not here to talk about donkey, tonk.

For once we're talking about different animals. Isn't that right, dee?

Yeah, we are. We are watching Odd Taxi today, which, as I said last week, is the Mystery furry Show or Furry mystery, I should say.

Mystery furry is like, which furry we're going to get?

Who's this furry? It's lego.

Shit. It's always a hot one.

Why am I so attracted to this? That's the mystery.

But yeah, I heard about this show from a YouTube channel called Mother's Basement and watched the first episode a while ago and I was like, this is pretty neat. And then I didn't keep watching it because my attention span is garbage TikTok. Yeah, but Paul watched the second one and I was kind of snoozing through it, but that was because I was tired. But he really liked it. He was like, you should really watch the second episode again. And I was like, okay. But yeah, this is super new. Yeah, it started in April.

My brain shorted out when you gave a month. And I was like, what is this month? How long is April 2021?

And now it is July 2020.

Okay.

First off, the math for future listeners.

Those of you listening in 2040, don't.

Listen to this in 2040. You got better stuff to do.

Yeah, all these tapes will self destruct in one year.

Oh, thank God.

Listen to them while you can and then we can live guilt free for the rest of our lives.

Hooray. Have either of you heard of this one.

No, naturally, I know nothing perfect.

I've heard a bit about this, but mostly just people saying, hey, it's pretty good. And I know it's about, like, animal people and that's about all I know. So I don't know much about it, but I've heard good recommendations of it and people whose opinions I trust me, like, yeah, it's pretty neat. It's kind of interesting. So I was excited to watch this, but figured we'd probably get to it eventually, so I held off.

Yeah, I think most people, when they talk about it, they don't want to give too much away because it is a mystery, so they don't want to say too much.

I didn't even know that one.

Yeah.

What's the twist? I hope it's like baconau, where they're on a train and there's just 5000 characters.

Weird immortal shit going on.

Let's not break bacon.

Well, I guess we'll find out now, shall we? We're going to watch the first three episodes.

Let's do it. Taxi.

Taxi.

This show is a pretty good venn diagram of a Brendan show.

Oh, shit.

I kind of got worried watching it because I was like, ooh, I'm getting Duke roberto vibes, which means I like it and Dugood will hate it. Well, we'll see.

So, episode one, we get the opening right off the bat, which is a killer opening, both visually and the music is super good. Nice lo fi beats.

Yeah, it's kind of interesting because the animation styles seem to be changing per character. Not like a ton, but some of them were kind of like a watercolor, sort of like painted style. And then some were typically animated and somewhere like I don't want to say South Park because that makes it feel gross, but kind of like the paint papery, like cut out sort of thing. It was interesting.

It was cool.

Yeah. So after the opening, we see something being dropped underwater. Looks like a body.

Uhoh uhoh.

And then Walrus Man jolts awake in his taxi dream.

We haven't had that in a while.

Oh, yeah. Or is it a flashback? Or is it a dream at all? Or a memory?

Too many.

So, yes, he wakes up and the news is on the radio talking about a missing high school girl. And he changes the station to some comedians. And they read a listener submission that tells them they're not funny. And then they're like, let's just play some music.

Got to go cry real quick here's. Rebel, rebel my radio dreams falling apart.

So while the music plays, we get a montage of animals around the city. We see a monkey, janitor, a gorilla doctor, and I'll pack a nurse and a doggy idol that is performing the song that's on the radio. And the walvish drives on and he picks up a hippo.

Our first customer doggy idol is my kk slider cover pan.

So the hippo is staring at his phone, just scrolling. They drive for a minute. And he asks the walrus to turn off the radio because he's thinking. He's like, hey, has anything happened? Anything interesting happened to you lately? And the Walrus is thinking about it, but he can't think of anything. And then after a moment, the hippo is like, I don't care anymore.

Took too long if you really got.

To think about it that's way. Too involved for this small talk.

Yeah. So the walrus says that when someone asks him a question, he thinks of five answers and then decides on the one that will offend them the least, which is scary walrus man.

Too much thought.

Yeah. And then he says, you seem like the kind of person that doesn't think before you speak. And the Walrus asks why he asked him that. And the hippo says that he's trying to go viral. Yeah. His friends have gone viral, so he wants to also. And he talks about how likes show a person's worth. And I liked in the opening, there was this visual of there was, like, the phone and then the walrus not the Walrus, the hippo. And his, like, head was like, on an inflatable thing. And every time the phone lit up, his his head got inflated. I was like, oh, that's so fun and cool. Yeah, because I knew this guy already from watching it the first time.

Yeah, after watching it the first episode and then seeing the opening again with the episodes two and three, I was like, oh, wow, this is a very easy and quick way to summarize like, hey, this is this character. It's very well done.

Yeah, I was into it. So Walrus asks, what kind of posts go viral? And the hippo says, oh, like heartwarming stuff, funny stuff, or Foreigners Perspectives on Japan. And he reads off a recent viral post of an overheard discussion at a coffee shop in which the poster mentions that they were at the coffee shop to work on a manuscript. So the walrus is like, that's probably fake. And this person just wanted to say they were working on a manuscript. And the hippo was like, yeah, so what? Everybody knows these stories are fake. So then the hippo gets an idea. He wants to take a selfie with the Walrus and he does so. And then he posts it with the caption, I told the taxi driver I was having trouble finding work, so he took my phone and took a selfie of us to cheer me up. So that's his attempt at going viral on Twitter lies. Yeah, and then everybody clapped. So then walgreens is like, Why didn't you blur any faces? And he's like, oh, I'm sorry. Did you not want me to post your face? And he's like, well, you're own too. And then he's like, oh, you're saying I'm ugly. And then later, still on this drive, walrus gets stopped by some cops and they know him, and he tells them to hurry it up. Like why'd you stop me? And they show him a picture of a baboon. And Walrus is like, you're friends with him to one of the cops. He's like, Why are you asking me? You know, this guy and that one. He said, you're friends with him? Tells the other cop this Walrus is crazy. He's talking nonsense. Let's just let him go. And he then says that he's a liar and an awful guy. And the other cop is like, yeah, you're right.

You're a boss.

Why would you ever lie to me about being friends of the criminal? Cops aren't corrupt.

Yeah, these are two meerkat brother cops. And it's a very interesting dynamic that the older one is corrupt, and the other one's, like, new to the force and is like, my big bro is no criminal. We're policemen.

Yeah.

It comes up in a later episode. He's like, yeah, don't believe anything that taxi Driver says. And the younger brother is like, yeah, filthy taxi Driver. Is he racist against taxi drivers? What the fuck is this? Like, prejudice?

Fuck this.

But it seems like there was backstory.

And then they drive off, and the hippo says, he should have taken a picture of the event. And the Walrus is like, I don't like those guys. Fuck cops. And then the hippo is like, Why don't you, like cops? Do you, like, worried about your license? And he's like, no, I'm fine with my license. I lied about the vision part, though. And the hippo is like, that doesn't make me feel great.

Don't worry about nighttime blindness. It is night.

He's just so dry. You're like, I can't tell if you're fucking with me or not. Please.

And then he asks why the Walrus became a taxi driver. And we get some scary, creepy looking flashes. They're, like, all red and sketchy, and they look like humans. And we see two people, and then, like, one body lying down. It's unclear, but so that's him thinking. And then Hippo is already like, time's up. Doesn't matter. Don't tell me. And they arrive at his destination. So he pays and leaves, and the wall resides, and he drives off, listening to those comedians from earlier. They talk about the missing high school girl again. And Hippo left his phone in the car. So he calls it. Yeah, he calls it. Walrus answers. He's like, oh, how's my post doing? And Walrus looks, and it's going a little viral. His notifications are going crazy. And when Walrus looks at the photo a little closer, he sees the baboon that the cops were searching for walking in the background, talking. There are pieces. I was going to say they're coming together.

They're not yet the pieces are setting down. We're seeing what the pieces are starting.

To take the jigsaw puzzle out of the box.

Start with the border. Always start with the borders. The easiest part.

Yeah. Find all the corner pieces, and we see the Baboon in an alleyway speaking to someone. Then it's the next day. We see a news broadcast talking about, you guessed it, the missing girl. Walrus turns it off. He's sitting alone in his house. And he asks aloud, are you happy? You can leave whenever you want. Why did you come here? Are you hungry? And we get a shot of, like, the closet door just open a little bit, but there's no response. And then he's like, okay, well, I'm going to leave. You can go if you want to. So mysteries abound. Yeah. He leaves for the clinic. He is having a casual conversation with the doctor and nurse. I love this doctor so much. This giant gorilla doctor, very much my.

Flavor, my brand, so many of these characters. I was like, yeah, this is very much for D. Just big, slightly grumpy dudes.

I was like, yeah, check.

So they're talking about, like, a character or something. And the nurse says that she has an eraser of him and she gives it to the walrus. And then she says, it must be hard for you to go to sleep with your intrusive thoughts. And the doctor asks the walrus what he looks like, and he says, you look like a gorilla. And the alpaca nurse laughs, and the gorilla says, well, you're not wrong. So this is like our first little hint at that. Maybe we're kind of seeing the world through this walrus guy's eyes and that maybe not everyone is animals and that maybe the walrus guy is just kind of going nuts.

My only note for this part is, I don't know what the fuck they were just talking about. This went over my head.

Yeah, I mean, they're just having a very casual conversation about just stuff, and then that happens and it's kind of like interesting reaction. So they go on talking. Now they're talking about cassette tapes and how kids don't know what they are nowadays. Kids these days. Kids these days. The doctor asks Walrus Man why he's not married yet. They talk about Bruce springsteen. So they wrap up the appointment, and the doctor prescribes him a stronger medicine. And he tells him not to take it yet because he's going to go to work before he leaves. The walrus's eyes linger on the nurse. And then he goes out to the car, and the corrupt meerkat cop is there saying that he got info that he, the Walrus, might be involved in the missing high school girl case. So he opens the door to the taxi for the cop, and he gets in and he sees that the taxi has a dash cam. And he asks how long the recordings are kept. And the walrus says that they're kept for two weeks. So the cop takes the memory card, believing that the girl will be in a video on it, and he tells the walrus not to go to the police. And the walrus says, what will happen if I do? And he says, oh, I don't know, it might just so happen that an armed criminal shoots you or something. I don't know.

Don't worry about it too much.

Don't worry about it. And then we see the Monkey janitor from earlier. He's at a bar. He's like swiping on tinder and he's talking to the bartender saying that his back hurts. She asks him if he'll leave his job. And he says that they probably want someone younger than him at that job. And he looks at his profile and then he changes his income. So he lies about how much he's making. And then Dr. Gorilla comes in for a beer. Hell yeah.

The gangs, this monkey, it's cheers.

But animals?

No. He knows this monkey. janitor he asks him how he's doing. He says, oh, I'm feeling much better thanks to you, doctor. And then Gorilla doctor asks the both of them if they will talk to Walrus Man to suggest that he goes to a bigger hospital. Because the clinic that the Gorilla works at is like super small. It looks pretty much just like a house. So there is something clearly very wrong with this Walrus Man. So the Monkey janitor says that the Walrus has always been strange because his parents abandoned him when he was really young. So of course he's going to be a little odd.

Taxier.

I have to adjust my foot's falling asleep. So the Gorilla says that it's more than that. He thinks that it's more than that. Then Monkey Man says that he talks to someone the other day who says that Walrus might be involved with the missing girl and that people can hear him talking to someone even though he lives alone. So they switch gears to talk about dobu, who I think is the baboon from earlier, evil Baboon Man. They talk about how he beats people up, anybody. He's too strong, he's got to be stopped. And the doctor and janitor are like, that's hard to believe. I keep switching between their occupations and the animal that they are, but so Monkey janitor asks the bartender if she'll marry him. And she's like, no. And he's like, Is it about money? It's always about money. And he says that she just doesn't know about true love. And she's like, okay, name three benefits from marrying you.

And he's like, name any positive attributes.

Of you.

Because right now I just see a drunk trying to hit on me. So strike one, but not very appealing.

So yeah, they're just joking around, having a good time. It's clear that they know each other. They have a rapport. And then Dr. Gorilla gets a call from a hamster nurse. She tells him that some medicine is missing and that it went missing today. It was some psychotropic drugs, about 6000 doses. And she asks who worked there today. And then we see the Alpaca nurse getting in the taxi and you're like, oh. And Walgreensman recognizes her. And they talk a little bit. And then the taxi drives by.

Not a red herring.

Wow. I loved how hesitant you were with.

That when you were like, it wasn't worth it. And I was like, I got to get out of my head. It's just going to occupy my brain.

I know him on thin ice, but I got to get this.

So we see the taxi drive by. We see the criminal Baboon walking down the street, passing by, the cop that took the memory card. And he hands it to him. He hands off the memory card to the Baboon. And that's the end of episode one. They're really setting up a lot of stuff. We got to keep track of everything.

Which means, I loved it.

It's a very wordy show, but delightful nonetheless.

Yeah, the joke I made was stupid end up. But I do think they set it up to make it look like the alpaca is the one who stole the pills. When she's going to be the red herring, where it's like, no, she didn't. Someone else. I think it was the gorilla doctor, but that's just my theory.

I do think it's just the walrus. I think the Walrus is not doing well.

I think you smelt it. You dealt it. It's the hamster nurse.

There's going to be a whole episode about her later.

I hope her name's brushy from hampton. Episode two starts off with the monkey ends Walrus in a sauna, just like, sweating out, chatting like the old folks do. And the Walrus says, he picked up the Alpaca the other night and got her number. And monkey's like, what the fuck? What do you mean, got the number? He's really upset. He's like, I thought we were going to be like eternal bachelors forever. We're going to dial. He's like, I didn't agree to that. Why are you looping me in with you? The water is very just no nonsense. And the monkey is very exaggerated. And so it cuts back to a flashback of that night when he's driving around, driving her home. And they're listening to the radio show for a long time with the two comedians complaining about them not being funny. And then they bring up the missing schoolgirl again. I don't know. It was particular to Japan, but they keep bringing up this, like, one missing school girl, which is newsworthy, but like, I don't know. It just felt like it was, like, the prime focus of everyone's attention.

I mean, it could be the local news, maybe.

Yeah, I guess if it was local, it'd be more focused. So there's a link to that and eventually turns off the program. She says, Isn't it a little awkward, like, listening to this? She's like, oh, sorry. I just, like, out of habit, turned them on. So they're driving for a while, and they don't talk. And then she asked the walters, why he can't sleep. And he goes, oh, I forgot how to sleep. And she keeps trying to make conversation with him, like, oh, what about this? Or what about that? And he shuts her down, like, every chance he gets. He's just like, you got it. Got to work with me here, champ. You got to work with me on this. And he asks if she has any regrets, and she says she regrets having to take out a loan for school because she didn't want to rely on her parents. Took out a loan by herself. He's like, you got to pay it off. So she's like, no, I paid it off. And looked wistfully out the window.

How'D you pay it off back a girl?

All these bread crumbs all over the place.

Oh, God, I'm allergic to gluten. And he asked if there's anyone I think she's trying to, like, make conversation with him. And she brings up, like, are you interested in anyone? You're trying to get married? You know, you're like 41 or something? It's like, no. What about you? You like anyone? She's like, yeah, I like someone. He's kind of hard to describe, though. He's like, oh, but he got a picture of him, so I get an idea of what kind of person he is. She's like, yeah, sure. And she gives them her phone, and it's just the camera is turned on with the front facing camera. So when you look at it, it's just lame in the camera. I was like, that's clever. That was smooth as shit. Yeah, she's got it.

She's got the whatever it is.

She's got tusk fever.

Hill.

And then we cut back to the sauna where the lars finished recapping the flashback to the monkey. And there's just like a yakuza taper in the background. And this dude just took my full attention because he looks sick of shit. And the monkey's giving him crap, saying, like, yeah, we were going to be like, bachelor forever. What the fuck? He's like, well, do you like her? And he's like, no, not really. He's like, well, do you not like her? No, not really. I have no real strong opinion one way or the other on her. He's like, if I had to pick, I guess I like her more than I dislike her. It's like, wow, you're really sounded dear. And I'm like, well, imagine how happy your parents will be if they come back and see you again and you're married. And the Lawrence says, I don't really give a shit on my parents. I would rather if I want to make anyone happy, I'd rather make the people who helped raise me be happy. Monkey is like, oh, yeah, that support group that helps you out. And then they're changing in the locker room after the sauna, and the monkey even bites the waters out for drinks, but water has got work to do. And then while the waters has finished changing, monkey snaps a picture of him is like, hey, what the fuck? You can't take pictures in the changing room. He's like, yeah, no one else is here and you're fully dressed rules, man. And then while the monkey's looking at his phone after the picture, he gets a message on the dating app from an 18 year old girl who's interested in him. Dude, it's like 40. That gross.

Does it have anything to do with him saying he makes ¥20 million a year, then worry about it?

Who knows?

And he gets all swept up in that and it's kind of like all focused on that. And then we cut away to the hippo lad still trying to go viral. And we see he's even printed out his tweet with the Walrus and posted a possible as a motivational poster, which is really sad.

Yeah, this guy is we don't know a lot about him, but he is unfortunate.

Yeah.

I'm rooting for you, bud.

I'm not. We got to girl group idol group meeting fans after one of their shows, and you can tell us, like, the end of the show. So there's only, like, a few fans linking around still. So they're, like, shaking hands talking to him, like, oh, yeah, thanks for coming out and all this stuff, selling merch. And we see a skunk boy waiting there for him, and he's waiting to talk with the lead singer of the audio group, this little white dog girl. And he's like, a big fan. And she's like, I'm a little worried about our debut cd not selling too well. We didn't have as many people here tonight as I was hoping. And they kind of mentioned, like, oh, well, you're doing great. But the other two girls in the group that are forced to wear masks for some reason, that's kind of weird. Maybe they don't have to. And she's like, oh, no, that's part of the contract we signed. But the one girl is also streaming, and then she does a job and she comes up to this it was like her third thing she's doing today, so she's a little burnt out, so that might be a part of it. And then the manager comes up asking the two other kind of background backup singers that have to wear a mask. He's like, hey, we didn't sell that much merch. Your numbers are pretty low. Can you go out on the street and try and sell the rest of the merch before we leave? And I'm just like, wow, this fucking sucks.

But I guess we're glad your star doesn't need to join us out here doing all the labor, but whatever.

It's cool that I'm a sales rep that makes commission. I want it to be a pop aisle. So they get loud on the street and pretty sure she's got a mask on, but it's like a robin mask. It just covers the eyes, so it's not hiding much. Pretty sure one of them is the girl that messaged the monkey. Yeah, so that's like that's how she'll tie into stuff. And they're outside just talking about life and just being pretty much being like, hey, this fucking sucks. Yeah, it does. And then back inside, the managers talking with the lead singer of the pop group. And they talk about how the Skunk Boy has been pretty much following them since they started. Like he was one of the first five fans. They had their first show. And it's like, man, if only we could get more fans like him who would just throw money at us endlessly, we'd be set. And it's like, yeah, you got to get the whale. You got to get the one dropping a lot of money. And then while they're talking, the manager gets a call and he steps away and takes it.

He goes, who's this?

What's this guy's name? Oh, okay. What is he? Oh, he's a driver. And he's got a dash cam. Got you. I'll try and find him. It's like, what's going on here? What's happening here? And then we cut back to outside of the Skunk Kid waving down a taxi. Sure enough, is the only taxi in the city that we're aware of. It's the walrus.

This is definitely a small city that has two cabs because everyone's like, oh, the taxi. Oh, yeah, that Walrus guy, right?

Yeah, the taxi driver the only one. And when he gets in the cab, he's like, hey, can you take me this place? It's like, cool. It'll be this much. He's like, I don't have that much money. It's like, I'll take you as far as I can go then, but can't take you the full way. So while they're driving around, the Skunk kid's just gushing about the idle group. He's like, oh, she's great because she's this and the lead singer. And then the other two are here, and he's saying, like, I'm the one that first fans and I was buying a bunch of merch because with all the merch you buy, you get a ticket for a raffle. And if you win the raffle, you get like a polaroid with the lead singer. And I'm a big fan of her, so I could own a picture of her and I can't wait. And that's why I was at a concert.

Stan culture.

I tell you, boy, kids these days.

I'm concerned about watching this show because they're like, hey, this waller guy is kind of fucked up. I kind of agree with the Wallace on a lot of his opinions on this show.

He is definitely blunt, but he's like, can we just cut through this bullshit where we're like, yeah, social media, likes, actually mean stuff. No one cares. Come on. It definitely, in context, has this kids these days quality to it. But I'm like, he is right, though.

He's kind of got that robotic, like, pure logic sort of thinking where it's. Like, you're not wrong, but like, the tact in which you said that was pretty hard, so but the Walrus says, like, oh, well, if you're, you know, doing the lottery, if you're doing a raffle with them, you have to be pretty lucky to win that. And the kid says, like, oh, what about you? Are you lucky? He's like, well, I survived a pretty bad accident a few years ago, so I guess I'm pretty lucky because I survived that. And the skunk kid is like, well, if you're really lucky, you wouldn't have gotten into the accident to begin with. Like, well, yeah, fair enough. touche. And he drops them off at the spot, and skunk kid says, like, hey, if you're lucky, what are your favorite seven numbers? It's like and the Walrus pulls out his phone and looks at the picture of the monkey took in the changing room. And he's got all the lockers behind him for the changing room with the numbers on it. So he just looks over those and picks over seven numbers. And this kid runs off. He's like, cool, thanks. I'm going to go buy a lotto ticket horse. What? You had more money? Give me my what are you I.

Did you a kindness.

You fucked me over. And then the Walrus gets a message from the apac and nurse saying, like, hey, let's meet up. And then Reds gets that message. The next customer gets in the walrus's car, and it's a buller and a horse. And it turns out it's the two guys he listened to on the radio, the two comedians that get yelled at for not being funny enough. And as they get in the car, they're looking up stuff, trying to figure out what to discuss for the show, like topics and stuff. And the bore is looking at the hippo kid from earlier who's doing a song cover on YouTube, and it sucks. Well, this isn't good. And the horse is kind of playing this, like, mobile game. He's like, oh, yeah, we can play with our fans. I use our branding and stuff to make sure people know who I am. He's like, yeah, but you're using your picture of stuff and we're on the radio, so, like, that might hurt us a bit. He's like, and if you got time to play games, you got time to write jokes. We're we're comedians. We got to be writing more material. And they're kind of going back and forth. And the warrior says, like, oh, yeah, I know you guys. I'm a fan of yours. I put you on it's. Like, oh, what do you think? He's like, well, I think one of you is not as committed to this whole comedian duo as the other one. And the bore floats out the idea. He's like, yeah, he's not wrong. What do you think? We dissolve this group. What would you say to that? And the horse is like, I can't blame it. I quit my part time job because my girlfriend's supporting me, so I'm just kind of coasting. But I don't know. I think you're funnier, and we've heard other comedians say that you're funnier, so you got more better material than I do, so I wouldn't blame you. And the board's like, no, you can't quit that either. You got to say, like, no, we got to stick to it. You got to be emotional. And he kind of starts pushing the horse's buttons, like bringing up personal stuff like, yeah, you're average in school. You're average in life. You're average dating. You're average in all the ways you got to be better than that. Trying to get the horse just emotional because it's funnier. He's funnier when he's just reacting and not overthinking everything. And the warners kind of agrees. He's like, yeah, the back and forth you have is funnier when he's higher energy. And then while that's happening, their manager calls them, and we get the one sided phone conversation being like, yeah, got you. Okay. And he hangs up. He's like, I got an appearance on a TV cooking show. That's great, but it's only for me. It's like.

The one we all agreed isn't into it and is the least funny of the two.

I'm not happy about the horseman get success, but that's just me. Anyway, the water strops.

Also, I did realize at this point that this is Anime bojack. This is Anime Bob.

And the water drops him off, and right as he drops them off, he's like, all right, time to go meet the pack nurse, whoop another customer. All right, I'll do this one customer. Oh, it's the baboon criminal man, and he's got a gun to the walrus'head. And then we see dooms, another walrus phone, and the alpaca nurse texted him saying, like, I'll wait for you at the park across from the hospital or from the clinic. That's where we end up with tension drama.

So we start out the next episode. I couldn't tell where the monkey was. He was in, like, a big waiting room, but I couldn't tell what I.

Think it's still at the sauna, but it's just, like, a different park because it looked like he was in, like, a massage chair, and he had, like, a beer and some snacks. So he might have just been, like, hanging out that day after the sauna got you.

Yeah, that makes sense, especially with the snacks guy. But I was just like, why is he in, like, an airport lounge?

Yeah, it did really look like that.

But he's chilling at the sauna, just relaxing, and we see the yakuza disappeared. Go and sit next to him, and he just starts talking. He's like, hey, what do you know about the girl that disappeared? Well, he ended up in the Walrus was taxi monkey's. Like, oh, really? Oh, shit. And it appears like, yeah, I think I might be the reason she ran away, but she's like, the boss's daughter, so we got to figure it out. All right, I need you to track her down, and monkey's like, I don't know. That's a lot of responsibility, man.

I don't know you.

But then he's like, all right, okay, goodbye. And then he stands up, and we see he was talking into a headphone. So the monkey was not involved at all. And just crumbles and shame, which very relatable.

Yeah.

So we're back with the Baboon and Walrus and the taxi, and we see flashback. tavir was talking to him, the Baboon, because he's the crime man, not the monkey. So we get the other side of that conversation, where essentially the girl that went missing is a daughter to a dad that is involved with the gang in some form. That's about as detailed as we get. And she didn't like it, so she ran away. So they need to track her down before anything happens to the big gang boss's daughter. Fair. But we see just being on the trail, tracking her down naturally. Talking with the corrupt cop. He got directed to the Walrus. So he's like, yeah, I have the footage. There's nothing really on it. It's made it seem like he watched it and the girl was not in the footage, but I don't know.

Yeah. Wasn't super clear. Yeah.

Taking notes for a subtitled show, this wordy, I had to pause every 2 seconds to make sure I didn't miss details, but I'm still missing details.

Yeah, that's a lot. Would you say it's an info dump? Because I feel like they didn't go, like, well, as you know, the city is blah blah, and I'm part of this organ, but it is just very dense.

Yeah, it's a fine line because this is adapted pretty well for an extremely wordy show. It doesn't feel like it's being info dumped every 2 seconds. This episode does have a lot of, like, hey, now we're settled in. Let me give you some more backstory. But it's not like, hello. I am crime baboon man. And being a money collector, it's never that blunt and upfront. The Walrus is the most blunt one here. This is just a nice balance of, like, hey, let's have actual wordy banter and dialogue that is translated well. It still works. Jokes still work. It's nice. But he's like, okay, so I have the footage. What I need you to do is say nothing to anyone, no matter who comes talk to you. And Walrus is like, but cops already came and talked to me, and they know you, so who would I talk to? But as all of this is going on, the Walrus changes the message on the outside of his taxi. He turns on his hazard lights and puts an sos on the top of his car. So he's trying to flag down anyone to get this gun wielding Baboon out of his back seat. We've all been there, right? So we get the background where the Baboon says genuinely he is not involved with the missing girl. So cool. But since he is part of this crime family, he is like a money collector. He suspects that one of the other more ambitious junior members who's trying to show the boss he's better than the Baboon, that he would have influenced the girl to run off. So he thinks it's a ploy to frame the Baboon or something. But he says he can't directly confront him because then that looks suspicious. So it's a big run around. But he warns the Walrus that this guy yano, the other money collector, is potentially going to be looking for the footage to track down this girl and be the big hero that saves her. So he's like, don't give him the opportunity. Don't talk to him. And the Walrus is like, okay, I see. All you want me to do is talk to no one.

No, I refuse. Yeah.

And the Baboon is like, you know, the alternative is I kill you now. And Walrus is like, no, I don't care about you. So the Baboon pulls up the gun, but he does it in front of a cop car. The plan went off. So the Walrus starts to pull over and the Baboon is like, no, keep driving her. I kill you. And he's like, if you kill me, you'll get arrested anyway. So what's the matter? I'm pulling over.

Fuck you.

So they pull over and it's the mere cats. It's a 50 50 shot that an actual police officer is going to come over and talk to them. So we get the tension of the cop walking up, don't identify who it is. So they're like, what seems to be the problem? Morris is like, this man has a gun that you saw. Can you arrest him, please? He's like, have a good day, and just waves them off because it was a corrupt cop.

I feel like I'm realizing now I'm getting the very particular vibes of Richard scary's Busy Town, which is old childhood reference. But it's just animal people. And everyone in the town seems to have just one job. There's just one cop, there's one taxi driver. There's one doctor.

Excuse me.

Sorry. I know that reference a little old. I didn't think it was that dusty, though.

No, you're fine. I always refer to tukin birdie as horny Richard. Scary. That's where I'm at. But yeah. So the cop goes back to the cop car and the partner's like, hey, I heard the word gun. Why aren't we doing anything? And he's like, oh, yeah, taxi drivers can't trust him, right, because of the incident. Look out the window. So there has to be something going on. Is it related to the other accident that the Walrus man had? We might find out. I don't know. That's what I thought, but I could be wrong. So Baboon is like, all right, that was a pretty slick move, but what the fuck. So he tells him to drive off, and he's like, I threaten to kill you, and you don't seem fazed. What's up? And Walrus is like, oh, no, I'm terrified. I peed my pants already. But like, get involved in gang bullshit or die. The simpler option is die. So I'd rather you just do that. I know what I'm about. I don't really have much to live for. So you can just kill me. I don't give a shit, honestly.

That's such a good point, though. I'd rather be dead than have to deal with all the convoluted shit that goes on in the mob.

My chances for getting shot go up if I keep working with you. I like the odds of just knowing that I'm going to die. So I'll take that. I'll take the guaranteed thing.

I forgot a movie. It is a Christopher Walker movie where a guy has a gun on him. He's like, give me your money. It's like, no, but I have a gun. It's like, I don't care. It's like just that kind of attitude of like, I can kill you right now.

Just the confidence of like, yeah, fucking do it.

Yeah, and get it over with.

I don't believe you. I'm calling your bluff.

Well, dead body is a lot harder to deal with than just an unruly hostage.

But yeah. So they drive off, but Baboon is like, all right, so I can't threaten you because you don't give a shit. I guess there's people in your life I could threaten. How about a monkey man? He's like, he's also a piece of shit with no life, so it doesn't matter. You can kill him.

He's got nothing to look for either. It's like, wow, you're not wrong.

He would argue with you on that walgreens Man.

But then he is like, how about that Alpaca Nurse? Maybe he wouldn't want anything to happen to her. He's like, all right, you got me shoot you.

You are good.

You do your homework. I just love the dynamics in the show are so good, where it's like, I am actively threatening your friends, but we're just having some fun, banter filled conversation. I'm like, my film school side is coming out.

Oh, no.

I love this. But yeah. So he drops him off where he goes and buries his gun in a park because it's been compromised.

The gun died f in the chat for this gun.

But realizing he's super duper, late, Walrus Man rushes across town to get to the park. Almost hits someone very excited to get a rare thing in a nap game. Cool. But he goes and meets Alpaca Nurse right before sunrise. So the beautiful sun, we get some more delightful banter of them just being like, watching the lights and the sky. Oh, you kept me waiting. Blah, blah, blah. So charming and sweet. But he gets to the point where he's like, hey, I think it's a pretty bad idea that you keep hanging out with me, because people are starting to want me, and people I know dead, so it's a good time to get out now. And she's like, oh, don't worry about me. I know capuara gets up, chewy, kick. And she's like, yeah, I started it for fitness, but I got into it. So, like, I can kick a dude in the face. I don't give a fuck. But he's like, More banter, blah, blah, blah, playful will they, won't they? But while he's like, oh, no, you still shouldn't hang out with me. Like, you're also younger. I'm an old taxi man.

I'm not good for you.

She sits down and holds his hand. Very based on the way he was.

Talking about her, I definitely thought she was, like, fresh out of college. But she says she's 28. Not too bad.

He is a full adult, unlike the monkey with the 18 year old.

That's not right.

That's bad. But yeah. So she's like, okay, it's time for me to go back to the hospital. And he's like, I'll take you. I'll even turn the meter off.

I love you.

So he goes back to the bar. Later on, we see the comedian on TV just doing a dog shit job. Just cannot get the concept of his thing. But we see monkeys there already drunk, and they're chatting, saying, like, oh, you want to cut things off with Alpaca lady? how's that going? Walrus is like, fuck, I love her. Oh, man, I'm in too deep. Monkey is like, oh, yeah, you're so lucky. You don't get to die alone like me. But Walrus Man is like, yeah, I normally am not one for feelings and emotions. God damn it. I have several of them now, and I don't know what to do. And while he's saying that, he folds up a little Alpaca origami, oh, very cute, cute. Monkey is like, oh, okay. Yeah, you're so good because you have a girlfriend, but so do I. Check this out. And shows off the app and how he's been chatting with this girl, and everyone is like, 18 kind of gross. He's like, we've only talked. It's fine. But then naturally, they get to the point of like, what about you would attract a cute, normal seeming 18 year old? She's like, oh, I'm offended by the insinuation that something's up. So Walrus wrestles his phone away and knocks him to the ground, and he finally sees oh, yeah, it says you make $20 million a year. Naturally, she has an ulterior motive, but Monkey is like, fuck you. No, she's into me for me.

She pegged me.

Get her out. Looks like a dog, but I'm pretty sure she's a catfish.

But he leaves, and while he's walking home super drunk, he finally gets a message from the girl saying, hey, let's actually meet up right now. I know it's raining, and 02:00 a.m., but I got to see you for the first time.

You are not you shouldn't be. It's very late.

So he rushes over, meets her at a very remote bus stop next to some woods, no red flags to be found, where she's very shadowy silhouetted in an alcove. And, yeah, I'm pretty sure this is one of the mast idol girls at this point.

Yeah, it is.

But she's like, oh, let's go get some tea. There's a tea house around here. So as they walk off, two mysterious thugs, two mysterious hot thugs come just walk out of the river. And they're like, oh, yeah, we're definitely robbing this guy. Right? Cool.

I am here.

Well, I think the one is the.

I don't know what it is. Yeah, one of the guys was her manager, so I don't know if maybe it will have something to do with that idle thing where idols aren't supposed to date or if it's going to be something else that mobs involved in. Who knows?

Yeah, I didn't pick up. That was the manager. I was distracted by the polar bear.

One danger.

I was like, oh, yes, violent thugs about to shake down this guy. Cool.

I think it's more mob related because if it was just the idle thing, I think it would just be the manager. But we saw the manager get a call saying, like, hey, find this taxi driver with the dash cam. So he's definitely involved with the missing girl. And it was the manager with a clearly dangerous thug next to him, like, going after this monkey. So it looks like they were waiting. And I think the girl was coerced into into it as, like, bait of, like, we're trying to find this girl. We think this monkey is involved. Can you lure him out and then we'll grab him after you meet up with them? That's my speculation because that's the end of episode three.

So much intrigue.

Here we are.

I like the bar lady, the kangaroo lady that ran the bar there.

Yeah.

She'll say esse.

So how are we feeling?

Are we there yet?

Yeah, like, art style alone. I saw the opening credits and was like, okay, I'm in. All right, you got me. This just looks charming as hell. I, to be completely honest, completely forgot there was a mystery element to this show. So when I started, I was like, oh, is this just a very delightful, very grounded slice of life of a taxi driver? And that's how it seemed for a little bit. I was like, all right, I'm down to school. I'm viving having a good time. Then they started introducing crime stuff in a good way that I liked, which is not very normal for this show.

I was going to say, do you just not, like, plot or just like, I want nothing happening. I want just, like, zero conflict, no.

Thoughts, brain empty, just yeah.

I think the aesthetic is deceiving. If you didn't know anything about it going in, you would see it and be like, oh, my God, so cute. And then you watch it and you're.

Like, I love San Rio.

But even just like, the character development and the way people are introduced, because episode one, we're like, yeah, there's there's a monkey that'll fucking kill you. In the opening credits, he's just demolishing like a punching bag. Like, this is a violent criminal that in any other anime would be introduced with a street fight. But when we actually interact with him, with our main character, it's a very charming taxi hostage situation. I was like, oh, they're really setting up. Yeah, this man is so dangerous. But that intimidation factor is enough. He doesn't need to be violent or anything. And he also has his own agenda. So it's like, okay, you're doing a lot. You don't need to be this competent at introducing crime elements. You could be like, oh, yeah, charming animals. It's cute. Don't worry about it. But no, you're actually making a great show, too, so I am very on board with this surprise.

Yeah, the writing in this is very good. Every interaction is very compelling. And I don't know, I feel like every time they introduce a new character, it doesn't feel like it's too much. And there are some characters right off the bat where it's like, okay, I can see how you're going to be involved in this missing girl case, but then there are other characters where it's like, you're going to tie in, but I don't know yet. But I'm interested. I'm interested in you. And we all know I like that. We know that it is all going to come back to this missing girl because that's even why the mob is involved, too. It's not like a separate mob conflict thing.

Oh, it's Twin peaks.

That's what that is.

It's Twin peaks, but with animals. Yeah, we get a lot of sprinkling layout of the characters throughout. But like you said, it's not for saying throw it in an info dump of like, I'm this character. This is what I'm about. My school student is just like, nah, like, you get a little taste, I think, even when the walrus is driving back to meet the alpaca nurse in the park. You said he nearly hits like a cat kid who is excited because he got a gotcha thing in a mobile game. I think that's a character that's introduced in the next episode, so he's going to be tied in that. So it's very much pulp Fiction, like, where everyone's got their own storyline and we see how they intersect. Which is why I'm surprised because that's very much Duvara's main selling point is there's a lot of characters going on, and we see how they interact and cross over a lot. So I'm surprised.

We'Ve done it before, though. I think it's the one main plot thing that brings everybody together that differentiates these kinds of things, because duara has all the characters and all of the stories going on, which can be interesting to if you're in it for the long haul and you want to see all those things come to an end. But this is only 13 episodes, so we know it's just going to be all about the missing girl.

Yeah. And I think with the show, it kind of starts at, like, a pseudo central point, are all pretty similar with all of their storylines, and then they'll branch out and probably back together at the end. But yeah, I would agree. Do robert kind of starts like everyone's at their own starting point, so there's, like, 14 starting points. It's like, that's a lot. That's a lot going on right away. So yeah, I won't argue at that point. Yeah.

These are all intermingled.

Yeah, but even like you said, with the writing, like, you feel like a lot like, with so many characters, they got to be pretty trophy, and it'd be pretty obvious what they're going but even with the opacity nurse talking to him at the park, I could have easily gotten fives of it. Seems romantic because she says, Are you interested in a guy? She's like, yeah, I like this guy. And she does like, the trick with the phone. But other than that, I could have also seen it as she's concerned for his health as a nurse, or she sees it as like a father figure when she's talking to him at the park. And so I could have seen it going in multiple ways. It wasn't very clear. Like, yo, I want Ann on this wallrus, dude, I'm in. It wasn't overturned and obnoxious, but it was just written very well. So I was surprised. But that's with every character, the whole conversation with the gorilla doctor, they're talking about Bruce springsteen for a while and.

That I was kind of he's missing.

We didn't say that.

I just realized that, yeah, he goes missing, they'll come up.

But see, my theory is he's the one involved with the mob. He's the one that took the pills, and the answer is reporting to him because that's the hierarchy of work. Like, he's her boss, but I think he went missing because he's getting more involved with the mob. He's a black market doctor sort of thing.

Oh, boy.

Oh, boy. Yeah. And even going back to the multiple narratives with that, the introduction of this is a doctor gets a phone call saying, hey, something's up with our pill count, and they leave it at that for, like, an episode and a half. So it's like, Let me just drop this. I don't need you to memorize. We already established right off the bat that monkey man is running a drug ring, and he's hiding it so well. Or like, hey, just think about this real quick. Don't worry, it doesn't seem like a big deal. Anyway, back to taxi. And next update, monkey is missing. Oh, what? Okay, cool.

All right.

I like the just little drops of like, yeah, there's several things going on, but we're not going to info dump all of it and expect you to remember it between storylines. This is nice.

I will say I think I'm a little biased towards the bad boom gangster because he reminded me a lot of cool Borrow from Yuhaka show. And I was just very smitten. I'm like, this guy can't do anything wrong. He has a gun to the waters. He's a bad criminal person. I'm like, yeah, he's all right, though.

Yeah, I love him.

He's just a rat scallion. And I was like, Damn, no, he's not. Cool borough. Stop thinking he's cool. Borrow.

Yeah, but that's the thing. It's written so well. Even the guy, they're like, yes, this man is a killer with a gun. Immediately, the first scene he's in, you're like, sympathy. He might be in trouble with his gang boss. It's like, okay, all right.

I think for me, the most interesting thing is the questionable mental state of the Walrus, because while there are all these characters, he is the central focus. So he's a little bit of, like an unreliable narrator at times. So that's what I'm interested in seeing throughout all of it, to see how he goes. But yeah, this is good. I liked this very much.

I didn't even pick up on that until you told us in the recap of like, oh, I'm sure that was going to come up later, but I didn't pick up exactly what they were saying. So that adds another element of his relationship with the nurse, in my opinion of, like, the girl doctor seems to be like, send them to a bigger hospital we can't handle. And she might be like, oh, let me try and help as much as I can, going above and beyond, like, oh, that might be a different element of their relationships. I'm like, oh, it is interesting.

Yeah. Lots of lots of mystery, lots of fun things to think about.

Yeah. Even it did not cross my mind at all, the idea that was brought up of that he is just imagining that they are animals. There's human stuff going on. But then I started thinking, even just in this recording, the opening credits, the first interaction that they show is him bending down to interact with a non anthropomorphized cat, which I think is the only time we see that in this show. Yeah, because he also, like, wipes birdshit off his window in the opening credits, which, again, that implies something different if everyone's a living animal person.

Yeah, I don't think we see animal animals.

That's another clue.

Who's good.

They're dropping hints.

Love it.

And I think they're kind of hinting at of the person he's talking to in his apartment. In the closet is the missing girl, but in the. Opening. We see a closet door with a cat's tail sticking out. And, like, as it spins, it's the walsh's head something. And it might just be a stray cat, and it might be another, like, red herring of like, ah, he's got the missing girl.

The girl who went missing is a cat.

Yeah, that's another thing. It's like a black cat. We see.

Yeah. I mean, the beginning could just be symbolic, too, of him bending down to help that cat. Could just be symbolic of him taking in the missing girl. Who knows?

We clearly like the show. Yeah. Instead of just what's happening in our.

Day, we are now enthusiastically giving out fan theories. So we've moved on.

Yeah.

So this is a yes for me, definitely.

Right? Yeah. I'm going to keep watching this immediately after we finish recording.

Yeah, perfect. Well, what next week?

Next week I'm hoping it's going to be another similarly, like, brightly colored, stylized, fun show we're going to be watching Mr. Otsomatsu, so we'll see where that goes.

Is that the one with all the twins, or is that something six tuplets.

Okay. Six identical characters. Good luck with the name.

Oh, boy. All right.

They're color coded.

Okay. All right, good.

Because that's what we're going to be referring to them as instead of their name.

Yeah, they might as well be Power Rangers at this point. But if there's a show with color coded characters that will help us take notes, you can send those recommendations to areweebarriet@gmail.com or you can reach out to us on Twitter at are We There Yet? And also on Instagram. I lost the thread of the thing I say every week. I was like, I don't know how to recover. But you can find me on Twitter and Instagram at Mr. Patrick dugan. Kind of. I don't use them much these days.

You can find me on Twitter. No shit.

There it is. It's spreading.

You can find me on Instagram at honey. Period. D on Twitter at Honey D, eight and Honey dart. And on twitch at Honey underscore D. And Honey is spelled H-U-N-N-I-E. You can.

Find me on Twitter at abts. Brendan. It stands for Almost Better Than Silence, which is a video game podcast I.

Also do thank you to camille ruley for our artwork and thank you to Louis zong for themed song stories. You can find all of louie's music at Louisong bandcamp.com. Thank you, and we hope you'll join us next week as we learn to live with anime.

Time to get my red yarn and bulletin board ready.

Peppy, sylvia peppa.