AWTY 92 - Eat Dirt (A Place Further Than the Universe)

Music.

Hello and welcome to our we There Yet in exploration and education and anime. I'm your anime idiot, patrick dugan.

I am an anime expert, dana hollander.

And I'm brennan mccullough. Your anime I forgot to come out with one today this week, so I'm going to say Carl sagan anime. Carl sagan. What's that about?

You want to bake an anime pie?

What? What is he, a baker?

Higgins, the space man?

Yeah, he had a thing. If you want to bake a pie from scratch, you have to invent the universe. I forget the exact quote, but it's a thing anyway.

It was just a turtleneck of fission, otto, I didn't know really much more about yeah, I forgot to come up with one this week. So that's the quality you get flying.

By the seat of our pants this week.

Fun stuff. Listen, I got boba tea. I'm all spurnt up. I don't know what I'm doing anymore.

Well, what we have going on this.

Week this week we're watching a listener recommendation from hattie cosplay. On Twitter, and they recommended a place further than the universe. I know nothing about it. I'm guessing space with the title checks out. They recommended it based on our laid back camp saying, like, hey, if you like cute girls doing a bunch of fun stuff together, having a good old time, watch this one. I was like, sold. I'm in. Done. That's all I need.

Good. That sounds about as much as I can handle right now.

Yeah, that's the most stressful media I can stomach.

I burnt through laid back camp. So fucking I think I finished it that day, if not immediately, the next morning, we record it. Like, I fucking love that show. And there's like, absolutely nothing to it. It's just fun time with friends, and it's just so pure and funny sometimes.

That's all you need.

That's all you need. And I was like, well, this is happening right now, so I'm going to need that again. I wouldn't need another pick me up.

I like that you just say this, like gesturing vaguely everything. This is happening, so we need something light and cheerful.

Yeah.

Also, real quick, I said last week I would update you if I finish beastars. I have not.

Here we are.

Shocking. I know.

Not surprised. Hey, dana. how's Given going? How did you finish Given?

I still have episodes left, right? I saw a spoiler, so then I was just like, well, now do I even want to watch it?

Yes, it's good. Finish it, you two. dugan, don't get out of this. Do your homework.

But I've already seen them kiss. What else do I care about? What?

There's more.

Follow the journey.

Okay.

Back on topic. Do you guys know anything about journeys further journey beyond this podcast? Do you know anything about this show?

No.

I feel like I've heard of it.

But I looked it up. I thought it was newer, original, run was 2017. So newish in the grand scheme of kind of shoes. We watches from the so. Yeah, it's newer, so, yeah, fresh off the presses and, like, sat on the shelf for a while, but we got around to it, and it's still good.

Just a thin layer.

Those are just recommendations anyway. They have no legitimacy to them.

Yeah.

I used to work in produce. It's a lie.

Don't trust the government, man.

Oh, God. We had, like, meat, and the meat went bad faster, so they put, like, discount prices to try and sell the meat quicker. Like, if it was closer to expiration date and so and be like, hey, this meat is within in a week. Is it? And I just slap, like, 50% off sticker on it. I'm like, There you go. Get out of here.

That one's on me.

If you talked to me when I had those stickers in my hand, you got a discount. I don't care what it was. I slapped that thing on a bottle of milk. It's gone.

Who needs it?

Who needs it? Get in. This light bulb is expiring. Get out of the cage. It's still fresh. Delicious. We're a little punchy this opening because we just have no context for this show all over the place.

I'm excited, though. I like a chill time with cute girls.

Yeah, they should be fun.

Shall we dive on in?

Let's explore. Shoot for the stars.

Finally, I've collected all seven Dragon Balls. Now to make my wish shed Long, come forward.

What is your wish? I wish that there is a podcast that combined Dragon Ball with improv comedy that is beyond the scope of my power. Yeah, I figured, because this podcast you seek already exists.

What?

But I'll let these two hosts explain more.

Thank you for the introduction shedlong.

We're comedy house party. I am Aaron. I'm vince.

And we are the only improv comedy.

Dragon Ball podcast in the universe. We go through every iteration of the.

Dragon Ball franchise episode by episode.

We've covered the original run of Dragon Ball and we just started Dragon Ball z. But don't worry, you don't have to start from the beginning. Because each week we do a 1 minute roundup where we summarize everything that has happened in Dragon Ball thus far.

New episodes come out every Tuesday.

Wherever you get your podcast, a new episode just dropped. My wish has been granted.

That's much closer than beyond the universe.

Yeah. That ain't been nerd. That ain't been lied to.

Me.

False advertising fucked up.

I fucked up. We don't want to spoil ourselves, so we don't research it. And sometimes we're just super wrong universe.

Space. Got it.

Got it. That makes sense. antarctica. That's in the universe.

Interesting. When I hear laid back laid back camp, but with space, I imagine, like, astronaut girls, like, camping on planet.

Yeah, that'd be great.

That's not what this was, but, you know, still good. Still delightful. Most sense, for the most part, still.

Makes sense because I was like, how are they going to get into space and camp? I was like, yeah, it makes sense that they would make sense that it's not about space at all.

That's all realistic.

Yeah.

So, on a scale of one to ten, we have seen some extremely hyper specific anime. Where do you think this show is about? Planning for an expedition to antarctica? I think we're at least about seven, but I don't I don't know. I feel like there we're going to see much more hyper specific stuff down the road, and I don't want to skew the rating system.

I'm trying to think of what Ten would be right now. Would it be like silver spoon?

I don't know. I mean, silver spoon specific, but I don't know if it was that specific. I'm thinking Sarasonme was, like, real niche.

But I'm thinking, oh, it's about mythology, though. It's about a Japanese myth. That's true.

Chapas.

Yeah, it's about the same as a show being about hades and persephone someday.

I love them so much. I think we have to keep in mind of, like, the realism gauge of, like, stuff that's actually feasible for a person to do versus magic. Because the magic stuff can always get so much more specific. Yeah.

I think specifically with it being in realism, because if it's like, I'm a wizard, I'll send you to antarctica real quick. That could be an episode that's not a hyper specific show.

That's the wizard beach.

Yeah, it's like, okay, this series is about one boat trim.

Yeah, I put it up there. I can't think of what Ten would be, but yeah, Ten is uber specific.

Yeah, I think at least a seven.

Probably about a seven. Yeah.

Well, let's get into it.

Episode one starts out, got a girl talking about how she's interested in stagnant pools of water and how she likes to see them overflow and all the water rush out. I don't know what this show is about at this point, and it was very confusing.

Oh, I'm sorry. That is the most hyper specific animal.

Just about Thai pools. That's all it's about.

I would watch that.

There's the audience.

The marine biology anime. Does that exist?

I feel like animation studios are just like, hey, Jeff, what are you really into? And then let's make a show about four cute girls bonding over that and then going on an adventure to do that. And that's just what this genre is. And, like, I am super on board for that genre. So she's talking about the stagnant pools of water and turns out it's a dream or a memory. And it cuts to a woman going up to a girl laying upside down on bed, sleeping. And she just takes a wet washcloth and puts it over the girl's face as she begins to clean up the room. And the girl freaks out and wakes up because her mother tried to waterboard her. And we've all done that in the shower once or twice, right?

Yeah.

Okay. Just me and mom's mad her room so dirty until we start cleaning up and wake up on time and she's sleeping in. And then the girl finds a diary, and when she starts looking through it, she sees it was a diary. She started, presumably, in middle school, and it was what she wants to do in high school. And now it's her second year in high school. She's looking back on it, and it was like, first one, start a diary check. Thing two, go somewhere you're not playing. You don't plan to just go on a journey anywhere. Step three, play hooky from school once. That's about it. It's a short to do list for high school.

I have modest dreams.

Really grounded. And so far, she has only started that diary. And then the last one is, like, to make the most out of her youth, which it's a lot of pressure to put it on yourself in high school, truly. And when she sees that, she starts crying because she's realizing, like, I ain't done any of this, and I'm wasting it. I'm wasting my youth. And then we get the opening, which is just a montage of girls going on an expedition and doing a bunch of activities in antarctica. I like, it surrounding this point. I was like, uhoh, that ain't space.

Whoops are they on the ice planet?

Whoppers but still on board? And then we see the girl after the opening, we see the girl talking to a friend of hers. She's wasting her youth, and she wants to make the most of it. And she said she's going to play hooky tomorrow and skip school, and she's going to go to Tokyo and just do something she doesn't know. She's just going to get out of school. And friends like, all right, yeah, cool. She's like, what? But I'm playing hooky. Like, I'm going to be skipping school and, like, not doing my worry. And she's like, yeah, what? No one cares.

Everybody else has done it.

Yeah. She's like, no, but, like, I am skipping school. It's like, yeah, literally, everyone else, I've done it. Everyone's done it. It's not that big of a deal.

But me a nerd.

A nerd. I'm not cool. She's like, yeah, this isn't cool. And so we find out the main girl's name is kimari, and, yeah, she's just real nerd. Just real big old dork. And she goes home and is all excited, planning her trip and packing a big gym bag for extra clothes so she can change out of her school uniform at the train station. And the next day, it's raining a bit. We see her get to the station, and we see a little cutaway of her, like, talking to her friend on the phone, saying, like, yeah, I'll tell the school some story of why you're not in. And then if your parents call me, if you stay overnight somewhere, I'll tell them like, oh, you stay to my place and give you a story. She's like, all right, cool. Thanks, bud. And then it cuts back to kamari, back in school with her friends sitting at the desk. Me like, the fuck you back here for? She's like, I got scared. I'm nervous.

It rained. It's going to be wet on the outside of the train. I'm in.

She starts coming up with excuses, but in the end she's like, I'm a baby. I'm baby. I just got scared that'd be me. She's like, well, you always overthink things. You just figure out, like, every possible scenario, what could go wrong, and you think like, oh, well, if that's going to happen, why even bother? And you end up psyching yourself out of stuff. She's like, that can be good. Like, you're very precautious, and you try to avoid bad things. She's like, yeah, but I also fucking hate that because then nothing happens and I never do anything.

Wow. Checks out at me.

Next time, anxiety. Our old friends back.

I was just thinking about how even when I would decide to not go to class one day, like, even at community college, I would justify it to a lot of people. I would like to tell my parents. I would tell Paul. I would tell myself over and over again, it's okay. I'm doing really well and I really don't need to be there and I don't feel well. blah, blah, blah.

Yeah, I never skipped high school. When I did, it was like fake sick days. So I just hung out at home. But I never skipped class or anything because I'm like, no, I'm going to get in trouble.

No, I never worried about getting in trouble. But I always was worried about how much work I was going to have to catch up on. Because then you have two days of work to catch up on. I was like, I just don't want to do that. And then sometimes you're an mmo wedding at City Heroes till three in the morning. You're like your mom. I'm out. Sometimes I just casually just like, I'll sick all the time. Anyway, I had an excuse built in. It's called bad genetics. Anyway, as we see kamari going home that day from school, she's hopping on the train to go home, and she sees a girl run by. And as the girls running by, she drops a little envelope. kamari picks it up. She's like, oh, wait. Excuse me, miss. You dropped your envelope. And the girl's already on the train and gone. She's like, all right, well, let me see what it is. Oh, shit. Just money. Just a fat stacksy yen. Just stupid money. We see her the next day at school showing her friends, and she's like, it's a million yen. That's a lot of quiche. That's some real dough.

That's a lot of money to be carrying around.

That's like, what, $10,000?

It might be 100. Okay, yes, it is 10,000. Well, it's 9200, but, you know, it's a lot of money.

Yeah, so it's like $10,000. So yeah. Don't want to just drop that at a train station, that's for sure. And like, all right. She go to the cops. She's like, no, I got nervous because I got anxiety. Right. Okay, I forgot.

Remembered dork nerd.

Nerd can't confront anyone ever. And she's like, all right, fine. Do you remember what the girl looked like? She's like, I think she had a school uniform for our school. So I think she goes here. I don't know the grade. She had long hair and she had good like her hair smelled nice. And her friend is like, cool. That's weird. Why is that what you remember?

Not helpful.

And she's like, all right, we can start looking around, and there's going to be a lot of girls with long hair, but I guess we can just try to find her. She's like, okay. And we see kamari, like, immediately start looking around, and we see a girl walk by with long hair and goes into the bathroom. kamari follows her in there, and the girl goes in a stall and just starts freaking out and slamming at the door and kind of screaming like, a million yen, a million yen. Then we hear her crying. kamari is just like, yo, I'm going to just chill out here for a second and not let her have her moment. And when the girl comes out of the stall, you see she was crying. And kamari comes up to her and is like, oh, money. And it doesn't really find the right words. And the long haired girl just flies into her up in her face and gets real intense, and we find out she's panicking. And then the girl starts, like, sobbing on her shoulder, thanking her so much for finding her money and stuff. And it cuts to them on a balcony before it cuts to them, it cuts away to a commercial bumper. And we see kamari's friend just going around sniffing other girls. Yeah, I thought that was a fun little cut away. And then it comes back to kamari and the long haired girl on a balcony outside of the classroom. And she's talking about the long haired girls, talking about her mom and saying, like, my mom wrote a book called A Place Further Than the Universe. Ha ha.

Wink.

There it is. And it's all about antarctica. And she has all that money because she's been working a lot of part time jobs. That's all she does in her free time outside of school, is working various part time jobs to earn enough money to finally afford a trip to antarctica, because that shoot is expensive and rare. And then we find out the girl's mom actually went missing on an expedition to antarctica. And that's what she wrote the book on. So that's why this girl is kind of, like, obsessed with it. And her mom was never found. So dead parent club, question mark.

Oh, you know, she's holding out hope that she's alive.

I was wondering that because we've had later episodes of like, I'm coming to antarctica, Mom. I'm coming to find you. And I was like, hey, sweet, sweet honey. It's been three years. No, she's an iceberg. She's not there.

I can't tell if the show is going to have like, oh, I got stuck in this abandoned research station. Ha ha, you found me. everything's okay. But in real life, she's super dead. Super dead for two years. And.

I feel like they wouldn't do that. I don't know, though.

I think it's more of like, I'm coming to antarctica, mom, like, in your name, like, in your spirit to do what you did to the place you loved sort of thing. Rather than, I'm going to find your frozen body, mom, and I'm going to bring you back to Japan because she.

Says, I'm going to find my mom. She's specifically going to look for her.

Yeah, I don't know.

I think she's just hopeful. She's just like, there's no proof that she's dead, so she's alive. Am I right, fellas?

We've seen the case.

She's a high schooler, and she's in denial.

Yeah, I get it.

But she is dead.

She's super dead.

I have a feeling that this show would not be unrealistic enough to be like, here she is. You found her. But who knows?

It is animal after all. I figure that's also a reason why a lot of animations and just shows in general are about high schoolers and teenagers. They're dumb enough to believe this. Yeah, lara Frost tomb raider movie, the recent one where her dad just on this island for, like, 70. Anyway, I got problems with that movie. I won't get into it. So, yeah. She says my mom was never found, but I'm hoping to find her one day. And that's why she's saving up the money and then cuts to kamari and her friend at, like, convenience store. And she's kind of just gushing about the long haired girl. She says her name is kobushi Azawa Sharasi. shirazi going to get that one. shirai. She's just kind of gushing about her tour friend of like she's so determined and impressive and cool, and she earned all that money, and she's got a goal in mind, and she's doing something crazy like I wanted to do in high school. That's so memorable. And I envy her. She's so cool. And we even got, like, a little reaction shot for the cashier. I'm like yo. And at this point, I was like the gay question where I'm like, yeah, hold off. We don't want to burn that square right away on the bingo card, but depends over it. And her friend is saying, like, oh, yeah. Sharace is only known about she's known as antarctica because that's all she talks about. And she's kind of a weirdo. So people kind of give her shit for it.

Yeah, I called her auntie in my notes, jayanti, to honor that and not laziness. Because I missed her name.

This is my uncle and this is my auntie. And the next day we see kamari goes to the library and looks at the book that shirazi's mom wrote. She's looking through it looks like it's a photography book. So there's a lot of pictures of antarctica. And she just gets enamored and sucked into it right away. Then it cuts to sharazi getting bullied by her bike rack bullies being like, maybe you can get your bike out. Maybe you can. Maybe if you talk to me about 50 bones, we can talk about this. Because the rumor got out that she had money. She had a million yen when they were looking to give it back to her. So people know she's got that cash. And kamari runs around the corner being like, oh, hey, Sharon. Teacher is looking for you. You better go talk to that teacher real quick before they punish you. Like they could punish us for any given reason. wink trying to scare the bullies off. And just like as fucking they walk away. So it works. And kamari says she wants to encourage she wants to encourage her to go. She wants to encourage her to go because she gets scared so easily by doing stuff and, like, chickening out at the last second. She's like, no, I want to encourage you to do this. You're not a weirdo. I want to support you in this. Because it's also kind of my dream of doing something big like that while I'm still in high school. And she says, like, oh, yeah, people say they want to support me before, but they always back out. They always chicken out. She's like, kamara's like, no, I'll come with you. I'll go to antarctica with you.

She's like, I've heard that before.

Don't break my heart.

You wouldn't believe how many people if.

I had a million yen.

I could have led my own expedition to antarctica.

I wouldn't have had to work so many goddamn jobs. And she says if she's really serious about her and supporting her, come to this location. Gives her, like, a pamphlet. She's like, come to this dock tomorrow so that will scout out this shipping vessel that's going to go on an expedition to antarctica. I'm going to be there tomorrow morning. If you show up there tomorrow, I'll take you seriously. And then we see a little montage of kamari looking at stuff and looking at the pamphlet and looking up stuff about antarctica online and Flip loving whether she'd have to actually go or not. Because now she's about to chicken out like she usually does. And her sister goes to wake her up on saturday morning. And when she pops her head and like, you got to wake up, she's gone. She's already awake, and she's out of the house. She's going to that boat. And at the train station, we see another little montage of her going from train to train and finding her route that she has to go on. And we see her getting nervous and thinking about backing out. Maybe it's not too soon to run back home. No, got to stick with it. And when she gets on one of the trains, she runs into shiraze. She's like, oh, well, looky here. And we get the ending credits going over while all the train sequence stuff plays out. And we see them sitting together on the last train. And yeah, like all these, like, cute little shots. Like, they're trying to get a picture of, like, Mount fuji on a guy's heads in the way they were looking at, like, train lunch someone bought. And they bought, like, the whole menu or just a lot of food. And they're, like, trolling over it. And we see Sharazzi, like, pulling out her money, like, the million she has. It's like, no, I can't, but I'm hungry and I need to. We see them splitting a lunch, and then we see her falling asleep on kamari's shoulder and putting her head there. So I feel like that should be a bingo card.

That's enough. I think that's gay.

That's enough for me to shift. I feel like that should be a bingo card on the bingo card because I feel like I say it every episode now. And then we get after the credits go and the song ends and get shot to them running down the docks and seeing the boat. And we see the boat is named Shraze, so it's got her name on it, too. I don't know if that's just coincidence or if it's like, her mom named the boat or like, what? But, like, destiny.

Wow.

And it ends with the and then trussi. kamari asked you something like, oh, how are you going to get on? tracy is like, you leave that to me. And she smiles. And then kamari's head, she's like the way her ends of her lips curled around when she smiled got me all excited. I was like, all right, there it is. Gay, gay. Shit.

Yeah.

I was like, that's. If you're feeling something when she smiles at you, that's gay.

That's gay.

And at the very end, we get, like, very little clips at the very end of the episodes. Not super important, but we had a shot of a convenience store girl named sonata looking at the globe in the convenienceaur and looking down at the bottom of antarctica. I'm, like, sparking her interest. So that's episode one.

We pick up episode two. So their game plan, that ship leaves later that year in November. It sails down to antarctica. Of course it sails to antarctica. Australia stops to refuel and then finishes the trip to antarctica. So they're like, okay, so we're going to meet it down there in Australia in December. Hop aboard, and then it'll take us down. So they're like, okay, all we need is money for a plane ticket to Australia. Easy peasy. kamari is looking for a part time job, trying to find something that will pay for the flight. Is looking at, like, escort escort service, but looking for the hospitality market. Being like, they're looking for high school girls. But her friend is like.

Don'T do that job.

Yeah, don't. But also, like, are you really going to antarctica, too?

Really?

And as she's doing research in class, she's seeing like, okay, the last expedition. I should also say that they're going down as part of a civilian expedition group because it's like the first one in a few years. So as kimari is looking into it, she's learning about the last expedition, which was super dangerous. I believe this specific one was the one shirai's mom was on. So they're like, odd people went missing. They lost their sponsors. So it's a troubled trip at this point.

Shit'S rough.

So she gets called out in class for doing this research and given detention. And she's late after school. And she was supposed to meet charlese out and about so they can keep finding jobs and all that stuff. But she got stuck in detention. Her friends stuck around and was like, hey, really think about it.

Because I got to say, I hate this bitch. She is so discouraging. I get it. But also all she does is discourage kimari.

Shoot her down on stuff.

Yeah, I don't like her.

I mean, in episode one, she was like, yeah, I got you. If you're going to play hooky, yeah, go for it. And then was like, what the fuck? You didn't do it.

Yeah, I can't understand though, because it seems like she'll support her. Like, yeah, you can do this. Like, dumb little things, fine. And it's like, I'm going to a giant ice continent miles away. It's like, you couldn't get on a train yesterday. What the fuck? Yeah.

Where did this come from?

So I see it as more concerned, but she is kind of pessimistic with it, shooting it down. I was getting very big energy, like, laid back camp vibes from her because there's one friend in laid back camp who's with the dog we saw who's always at home for most of the season and then joins up later. Because I actually watched episode four. I went ahead, but it's not a spoiler. But we get a shot of her, like, seeing a picture, kamari says. And she kind of looks reluctant of like, oh, man, I wish I was doing stuff. So it kind of has similar fives of that.

She's not in the opening, though.

No. Yeah. So I don't think she actually joins, but I think she maybe will support. Her more maybe later in the series. kamari has got big fujiko energy of the golden retriever of just super passionate and just no idea what's happening.

But yeah. So friend is like, hey, this expedition, they're not going to just let high school girls join. Are you sure you can actually do this?

There's so much going on right now, like, in my neighborhood.

It's driving me crazy spooky. But yeah. So she meets up with Shiraze and is like, okay, sorry I'm late. shira is like, you can't be late. We have to be punctual in antarctica. And immediately is like, what are you doing? It's like, maybe this is why people don't follow through on the trip with you, because you immediately start yelling at them.

She's real intense. She's got to find her mom who's.

Super alive, but she's like, okay, I found some part time jobs. Here's this blah, blah, blah. I didn't understand what happened here. They were looking at the same job posting, like, go on walks with boys and get paid for it. And then they cut to a vending machine, and then they cut back and like, oh, I'm so embarrassed, and I don't understand.

It was kamari explaining to her what her friend explained to her about that job and saying, like, oh, you're essentially a paid once again, not an escort, but you're getting paid to date these boys and go on dates with them and walk around, and they're paying you to be their girlfriend for a bit. And sharazi gets embarrassed because they're kind of naive and didn't know that got you okay.

Because I was like, I thought these were mainstream enough that they would know what, like, a mead cafe is, but I guess not.

Okay.

They seem pretty clueless in general.

They're innocent.

Yeah, but yeah, they're walking down the street and kimari is like, hey, my friend said this crazy thing that we probably can't join the expedition, but you have that figured out, right? And sort of just, like, questions like, we can actually do this, right? And Trossey is like, I knew you were a fair weathered friend. We will never speak again because you asked me the question how? And I refused to answer.

Provoking our blood. What? I took your blood. But yeah.

So they part ways, and then they come back together, and it's like, okay, we're still in it. And then they pass the convenience store, and they see a sign for Help wanted. So kamari gets a job there, meets her new coworker and is like, hey, you're a high schooler just looking for money for a job for a trip. And coworkers like, to antarctica. I see. She's like, mind reader, but this is miyake. And she's like, oh, no, you're in the store a lot, and I hear you talking. You're very not quiet people. But that sounds rad. I am in because you seem like cool people. I want to hang out with and you're doing cool shit like going to antarctica. So kamari takes her to shirai to introduce her and join the team. And she's like, okay, but do you have money for the flights? Can you leave school? And she's like, oh, yeah, no, I have my ged equivalent in Japan. I forget what they actually said, but she's like, yeah, I'm 16. I have two years until college entrance exam, so I can dick around. That's fine.

I'm.

So they go into the city. They're looking to find the expedition team meeting. For whatever reason, this meeting is held in the red light district of the city. So they're like all these strip clubs and people asking if they want to hang out. Their super innocent children don't get it. And then they get to where the meeting is held, and Shirt is like, okay, now for my master plan. Someone goes, Seduce one of the boys. So they'll sneak us onto the boat. It's like, I'm sorry. All of this. We didn't know what hospitality jobs were, and now you want us to seduce strangers? I don't think so.

You don't have to do it recurringly like a job. You just got to do it this one time.

Just the ones for no money. So they push kamari out, and she awkwardly poses, like, hello, boys.

Her pose got a good cackle out of me. Because it's like, how are you doing, fellas? They're just like, what are you? And, like, the two other girls, like, behind a truck being like, what the.

Hell are you doing?

What is that.

Another gay moment? kamari is like, I don't have tits. Shiraase has the best one.

I've been checking you out.

So Shirafe gets pushed out and is seen by the group, and some people recognize her and are like, this fucking bitch again?

Aren't you a nerd?

So we have a pointless chase sequence where the girls go over to talk to her, and trousers like, run, they're about to murder us. Everyone split up. scatter.

Scatter.

So they run through the city. kamari is like, wow, this rules. This feels like the rebellious youth that I was looking for. This is great. This is living. But this is truly just a filler chase because they all run into each other and just end up talking with the girls anyway.

So they go into fun.

Yeah, they go into it pretty yeah, it didn't serve a purpose because they were like, anyways, back to where we were. So they meet, and they're like, hey, look, no. I don't know how many times we have to tell you, but no, you know, we're adults, and we're trained for this and ready to go. And you're a high school girl. And she's like, but I hear me out. I have your sponsorship money. And throws down the million yen. And they're like, oh, cool. Still no Brad.

Good job. Got to say no.

Dad great. You can't give us $10,000 to have you die on our hands.

I mean.

But she's super dejected. She's like, this is the only thing I have in my life. I need this, blah, blah, blah. But they leave, and on the train back, they're all bummed. And miyake is like, okay, I propose you are fired as team leader because clearly you fucking suck at this, even though we've been fixating on it for three years. So you're no longer the leader. We will figure this out. Just not following you. And yeah, that's basically where we end up.

I did like during the chase sequence, miyaki breaks off on her own, and then she tries to just hide for a bit by sitting at a table with two drunk women. As the woman chasing her runs by, she's like, oh, I did it. She saw me. And the drunk women are like, I'll bye. See you later. Just like, you have no idea.

So in episode three, we see a girl with dark hair, and she has, like, one braid. And we actually saw her in the group that was having the little antarctica meeting. She's at a bus stop, and she's staying there. She says, I could just die. And I'm like, what's your issue, baby?

What's going on with you?

And then our main trio are at shirai's house, and they're doing some research, and that's when they find out that an actress their age will be going on the antarctica trip. And Shiraase freaks out, and she finds the number for this girl's agency, and she's like, Call them. Tell them I deserve to go.

I'm the star here.

She's like, since my mom is an explorer and all, come on. And then they're like, Why don't you call her? Call them. And she's like, I can't. I'm too nervous. And I'm like, Bitch, you're all talk. And so hinata. You were calling her what's her name?

Mihaki.

I kept calling her Ynata, man. She presses the call thing and holds it to shirai's face, and they have, like, a little tussle over it because shirai is like, I'm not doing it. But then they realize that this girl is right there. She's come to them.

She's been behind me the whole time, hasn't she?

Her name is yuzuki. And they're, like, looking stuff up about her while she's sitting there. And she's like, oh, my God, please don't. This is so embarrassing. But she's there to ask if she, rasay, would like to go to antarctica in her place because she doesn't actually want to go. And the only reason she gives is because she's sick of the cold.

I'm not sure if it was that scene, but there's also a moment where she's like, is it that outrageous that someone wouldn't want to go to a giant iceberg in the middle of the ocean? I was like, she's got a point.

And shira celebrates and kind of rubs it in the other two's faces, being like, I told you.

It would work very proud. And it slandered.

She's very hard. He susan mia.

Yeah.

And then the doorbell rings and yuzuki is just like, well, I'm going to go. I'm a head out. And then she runs into the woman that rang the doorbell. And it is her manager and mother. Oh, no, her name is Tommy Co. And her mother is kind of like, listen, I know you don't want to go, but it's also not your place to decide. And shira is like, I have to go though. Let me go in her place. And then Tommy Co is like, can you perform, though? She's going to be a reporter. Can you do that? And shira say, tries, but she cannot. And then hinata also tries. She does a better job. And then Tommy Co is like, can you be pretty? And I'm just like, damn bit. First of all, she is pretty. Second of all, shut up.

You're a grown woman.

Say that to a high schooler.

Shut your mouth. I think kamari is like, oh, God, that's so cold.

Yeah. So while they're kind of like being silly and showing off their, quote, talent, tommy Co sneaks Usuki out. And we see like a quick flashback of Usuki asking some girls if she can be their friend because she's texting them and they're saying, like, oh, can you come to this? And she's like, oh, I don't know yet. But so we realize now she just wants to be a normal girl, a normal high schooler. But her mother does not understand Hannah montana.

Well, kind of.

She does get to be a normal girl. That's the whole miley thing.

That's true. Yeah, I guess.

Yeah. So her mom says, like, oh, it's fine. You'll be back in time for entrance exams, for college or whatever. And she's just like, do you not understand that that's not what I want? And she like, gets mad and runs off. And then hinasa and kamari are at work and shira bursts in and she has Tommy co's business card. And she's like her mom came back to tell me that if we convince yuzuki to go to antarctica, we can go. Like, they'll take us with her. So who beat her? Aunt yuzuki would have, like, built in friends. And Sharace is like, come on, let's go see her right now. And then they're like, it's after 10:00 p.m.. Also, we should, like, probably have a plan.

Just want to storm in on a celebrity.

Yeah. And they're like, well, also, the only reason she gave us for as she doesn't want to go is because it's cold. Like, there must be some other reason we should find out. We should talk to her. And then we see Shiraase and hinata on the train. And Shirafe is like, I've been pretty selfish. And Hinassa is like, yeah, but it's okay. Obviously this is something you've wanted for a while.

What'D she say? Like, selfishness and like, a self assertion or like a thin line between yeah.

It'S just a sweet moment. And they lean on each other. friendships are blossoming. What? Oh, my phone. autocorrected glasses to gladders.

What's? Like gladder.

I don't know.

Kamari Museum, owl and Animal Crossing.

Yeah, that one gladder.

He loves bumps.

Yeah.

Kamari'S Glasses friend asks her if she wants to go out to get something to eat. And she's like, oh, no, I already have plans with my new friends. And that's when I'm like, glass's friend is jealous. So I wrote notes about how I don't like her. It's a different process. They go to USA Keys Hotel and they just so happen to get there as she's coming out and she sees them and they like, pushing knots out. And she's like, what a coincidence, you're staying here. I never would have guessed.

Hey, look at running into you here. What are the odds?

And then they go to a cafe together, the four of them. yuzuki is going out to study because since she doesn't go to school a lot, she has to catch up on her own. And she's like, I haven't convinced my mom of anything. And they're like, oh, we know, but we do want to know why you don't want to go. But they don't push her. I think this is what you're thinking of Brendan, when she's like, Is it weird that I don't want to go?

Yeah, I think this is the scene.

Yeah, but they don't pressure her. They're just like, no, if you don't want to tell us, that's cool. And then they just sit there for a minute. And then she says, I just don't think you'll understand. And then she goes into explaining how she's never had friends because she's been an actor since she was four. So even though she's, like, been going to school, she just doesn't have the time to, like, hang out and do extracurriculars and make bonding, friendship, have time, be a kid, live life, eat dirt, kid stuff. No, I did not. But so when she got to high school, she was like, this is it. This is the time I'm going to make real friends, and I'm going to do normal high school stuff. But then we see the rest of the flashback from earlier. That when she asked those girls to be her friend. They immediately got up and we're like, oh, my God, let's take a selfie together, dear celebrity, let's take a selfie.

Yeah, we saw earlier too, when she got first introduced, they're like, oh, can I get a picture of you? And she's like, no, that'd be against the usage of my image or something online. She gave some technical reason.

Yeah, but so she wants real friends. And then kamari gives her a big old hug, and she's like, I totally understand where you're coming from. And then Yuziki is like, no, I don't think you do, because, like, you guys, you're all best friends. And they all look at each other, and they're like, it's not that deep, baby. They kind of are. Like we're not that close. We're all trying to do this together, but we're not quite there yet.

But, you know, we've known each other for, like, what, a week now?

Yeah.

I think anata even says, like, we've known each other for a month. And, like, we don't hang out all the time, like, outside of school or weekends or anything.

So, like, yeah, there's like, friendship will form along the way, baby, but for right now. And they take her back to the hotel, and they're like, we didn't really do what we set out to do. And shira say is like, oh, if she doesn't want to go, they're just going to find another famous person to take her place. Our only chance of going is to convince her to go. And then we see Yuziki in bed, and she's remembering kimari hug her, and she's like, that's the first time anyone has done that. And I'm like, does that mean your mom? Do you I hope you mean in a friendly way.

I was thinking about that. I was like, oh, this gets sad.

Yeah. And she's like, Is that what it's like? Is that what it's like to have a friend? Human contact? Well and then she hears a knock on her window, and it's them on a ladder, and they're back to convince her to go on the trip. And then kamari is like, Take my hand. And then she takes her hand, and then the ladder falls, and then she wakes up. It was a dream.

I was very surprised by this. I was like, this better be a dream, because if that ladder falls, they're dead. She's on, like, the third floor.

Yeah. She wakes up, and she goes over to the window and laughs at herself. And she looks at her phone, and she sees that those fake friends that keep trying to hang out with her have just removed themselves from their group chat. And I'm like that's. Fine. You don't need them.

You zuki.

You're better than that bitches.

And then she hears a knock at the door, and that's real. And she opens the door, and it's her three new pals. And they're like, we heard you had a job in Tokyo, so we thought maybe we could go with you. And then she starts crying because she's just so happy to have friends.

They want to hang out with her.

It's very nice. I have moments like that where I realize that people are my friends. I just had one last week when dugan brought to you Love with Friends. Hey, but so they're like, oh, do you, like, have time before you have to leave? We should go somewhere together. And they go to the polar Science Museum.

Yeah.

And yusuki and Shiraise are freaking out over some penguins fussy.

Cute.

And they get into a model of a truck, and they're just looking around, learning. And they take a selfie together, and yuzuki is the one that initiates it. And I think that's so sweet because they didn't push her to take a selfie because they don't care that she's famous. They just want to be her friend and also go to antarctica.

Yeah, that's the biggest one. But the friendship is still a factor.

It's blooming on the way.

Yeah. I mean, they care about her, obviously. Like, after hearing her story, they're like, oh, I think, well, we can be your friends.

Yeah. I really like the restaurant I've seen, because it wasn't like, you're all best friends. Like, no, we're just not sociopaths. We just care about other human beings.

We have this thing called empathy.

Yeah.

And then they're in, like, a planetarium looking up at a display of the aurora, and they talk about how beautiful is and that not many people get to see it, but they will. And I thought it was so sweet that the episode started with USA Key saying, I could just die right now, like, in a negative context. And it ended with her saying it, like, happily. Oh, I didn't really full circle. Yeah, because she's like, I could just die right now. She's so happy.

Yeah, because it ended on that, and I was like, oh, that's a weird thing to end on.

She says it in the beginning.

Yeah, that makes more sense now.

Yeah, I know. I love a full circle.

Yeah.

And that's episode three.

Yeah. So, gang, are we there yet?

I think going into it with the expectations of Laid back camp hurt this for me.

Really?

Yeah, because I was like, okay. Not Space, but okay, antarctica, we're going to get there, right? And then it's three episodes about planning a trip, and it's like, I thought we were going to be outdoors and having fun, and we got let's find a part time job, blah, blah, blah. Let's do a bunch of tasks. And I was like, I went into it with the wrong expectations, so that's on me. But I wasn't the biggest fan.

I mean, they got built up to it. They can't just be like, hey, boom, antarctica, how are you doing?

I mean, Laid back Camp, there weren't, like, eight episodes of, like, okay, got to find the right tent. Going to rei all episodes. It's like, no, if you want to have a show in antarctica, we can just start there. But, like, I know they're doing a different thing and I have the wrong expectations, but, like, I this isn't what I signed up for. It's sort of my feeling.

Got you. I see it as, like, the build up until the eventual goal, like starty Valley or something, where you get the slow progression, and then when you finally get to the reward, it's that much more sweeter and more of a payoff rather than just, like, we're in antarctica and it's just them sledding for eleven episodes. Yeah.

I think the only way the show could disappoint me is if they don't get to go.

Just pull the rug out from one of these.

Because I really liked it. I thought there was something really cinematic about it, like the way it's animated and the way the shots are composed.

Oh, yeah. It feels like an indie film. It has that pacing, it has that tone to it. I would see this as eventually adapted into an indie movie or something like that.

But, yeah, I like all of them very much. I think these three episodes were good. I think we got, like, a good opener to the story, especially with all four of them coming together, because obviously they're the group. So I enjoyed it. I don't know if I'll keep watching it just because I don't think about it. I like to read. I'm into reading right now, but maybe I would if I thought of it, because it is really pretty. I love the part where I love the beginning when they're in antarctica and doing stuff. And I also love the part with the book, like, when they're looking at the book. I don't know why that gave me your name vibes. I guess from when they're, like, looking at pictures of the town.

Oh, yeah.

Just made me think of that. So I enjoyed it.

Yeah, it's more of like a very pleasant I don't know, the power cleanser, but it's just a very pleasant moment. But it's not one that leaves you lingering for more of like, I got to find out what happens next.

Yeah. And I think it's supposed to be less about a trip to antarctica and more about some girls becoming friends, finding each other and stuff like that.

Yeah, because having watched the next episode tell my opinion on it since I kept going, they do sort of like a training experience for, like, a long weekend where they go out camping and play with the equipment. Not play with the equipment, but learn how to utilize it and stuff with the rest of the expedition and stuff. So there is that camping element of that, of them coming together with it. They wake up in the morning and they see the sunrise and it's this beautiful shot stuff. But, yeah, I was on board with it just from the initial premise of, like, it's laid back camp. And then after watching and I was like, I'm still on board with this. This is exactly what I wanted and how I expected it. There's the one scene where they say, Shiraze can take her place on the antarctica position and she's, like, jumping around, cheering, like, yes, I know it would work. This is great. It's all coming together. And she slams her toe against the wall and just, like, curls on the feet of position. Just like, oh, no, it's just like in pain. I was like, I can't go anymore.

My one good time.

It kind of just felt also kind of karmatic because you were saying dana, where she's, like, bragging how, like, I knew this would work, and then she gets slammed her toe. It's like, don't get too high up on your horse there, buddy. Like, remember that you're panicking every 5 seconds.

You're a goof like the rest of us.

Yeah. And like, the chase sequence, I really enjoyed. There's just a few moments of them bumping into other people and just small man was right. Genuinely was laughing out loud. So that's a rarity for me. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I'll probably finish this by next week at least.

Well, yeah.

So thank you for the recommendation, heidi cosplay.

Yes, thank you.

If nothing else, this was a nice change of pace. It's a nice quiet moment to reflect and enjoy.

Yeah. I'll ask, what do we have going on next week?

Next week we will be watching it's a small indie movie. I don't know if a lot of people have heard about it, but we're watching the 1995 movie Ghost in the Shell.

Sounds familiar.

Never heard of it.

Impossible. So if there's a show you would like us to watch, you can send your recommendation to us. Are we there yet? On Twitter and Instagram or our email. Are we there yet@gmail.com? You can find me on Twitter and Instagram at mrpatrick dugan.

You can find me on Instagram at queen. Period weebu and on Twitter at queen underscore weebu and Queen underscore Weebu art.

You can find me on Twitter at aBTS brenton. That stands for Almost Better Than Silence, which is a video game podcast. Oh, and a quick shout out to Louis ong he's got a new album out called Pocket. He's kind enough to let us use this song for our theme song, so I forgive him a shout out too.

Yeah, we always shout out his bandcamp, but you can listen to his music on spotify. I do it at work sometimes and it's just a nice, pleasant, pleasant way to see the world crumble around. You.

Listen to levels it's not it's a good one.

Thank you to camille ruley and Louis zong. You can find all of louis's music at Louisong bandcamp.com.

Thank you.

And we hope you'll join us next week as we learn to live with anime.

We're going penguin sledding.