AWTY 178 - Blonde Car (Great Pretender)

Hello and welcome to our week there yet in exploration, in education, and anime. I'm your anime idiot, patrick dugan.

I am an anime expert, the hollander.

And I am brenda mccullough, your anime Jr. tolkien.

Leave us a tail.

Oh, not that long of a tail, though. We know what you can do, Jr. This is an hour show.

After seeing all the movies and then finding out there's a thing called the Enchiridian, which is just all the extra, I was like, oh, no. Please, god, what a man. Prolific, but he was also a great pretender.

Getting right to it, baby.

You know, it's a good joke when you have to explain it.

But yeah, this kind of jumping right into it. D, you brought the creeper gender. What's that?

Well, I just wanted to watch something that would be good. I know very little about this show other than I've heard it's good, so I just picked it. I was like, really struggling to pick something, and I was like I just eventually went on Netflix and was just scrolling the anime section, and I was like, oh, I heard that was all right. So here we are.

Take the gamble with it.

Yeah. Have either of you heard of it? Sorry.

Yes, I've heard and already watched this.

Okay.

This one I have experience with any opinions about, but I'll save.

I'll see. Yeah. My only exposure to this was, I work with casar Mohammed, who is the voice of abby in this. So I heard about this at launch and was like, oh, yeah, this sounds really good. Too bad.

Here we are.

Too bad. I don't trust anime.

I trust you, but I've been burned too many times.

Hey, dugan, you got an anime podcast? You'll probably like this. I'm going to stop you right there. Just don't.

Yeah. First, your first mistake is thinking I would ever admit I have an animate.

Contact with pulling teeth.

Yeah. I only reveal that information to select.

Few people I need to know they can hang and immediately flip the switch in their brain that goes, oh, this person garbage list. We no longer talk.

Even saying that you have a podcast in this economy, this society is like, oh, you have a podcast? Which I get honestly. Don't talk about me.

Absolutely. As a podcaster. Don't tell me about your podcast.

Yeah.

And I know I cannot tell you about mine. So that's the deal.

I tell you about mine, you don't tell me about yours.

We're in La.

Acceptable. Don't ask, don't tell.

We're in La. It's kind of assumed you got a podcast. You don't have to say it. So you guys don't want the business cards I got for all of us that talk about the anime podcast? I can just burn those.

I mean, I would burn them anyway.

Saving a status.

Same result.

Just speeding up the process.

Well, it seems that's all we have in us right now. Shall we watch the first three episodes?

Yeah.

Hey, we finally got an La show, baby.

Recognizable landmarks.

I finally understand the locations.

Finally a whack. donald's for in and out. It's all we needed.

Excellent. I like that.

Knockout.

All of them were legally dissimilar, but they got envy. Out.

In z out. Now I can wait 45 minutes in a drive through line for fast food and anime as well.

The dream is realized. But how do we get there? I'll tell you. So in episode one, we open with a young man hanging upside down off the Hollywood sign. Cool. That's a way to start.

Thursdays, write a passage. When you move to La. You get strung up.

See, I was born in Southern California, so when I was, like, six months old, they had me doing that, and it was.

Yeah, instead of getting baptized. This is the la. Version. All babies have to do this or else they're not allowed in the film industry.

Hollywood pinato.

So he calls for help, but then we get flashed back to Japan, where we see an older man trying to convince an older woman to get a water filter for her sink because there's some water contamination. And he says he's from the Water Works bureau. But she kicks him to the curb, she goes back inside and she has a paper on her fridge warning to beware of impostors. Specifically what's the word I want to say? Impostoring pretending to be water works bureau workers.

Very specific warning.

Yes. So she gets what seems to be a more reputable young man to come check her water. And he tells her the same thing about water contamination, but he tests her water and says, yours is, like, legally safe. It is within a safe range. But then she's like, oh, but my daughter brings her one year old around here all the time. Would it be safe for him? And he's like, well, you could get this water filter. So they were in cahoots. They're con men, so they share the money. And the young man gets a little figure from a gotcha machine, and he takes it as a sign that he's meant to take over Japan. Cool.

There's a Japanese historical figure.

Yeah. And then we get the opening, which is a very good opening. I love the style of this show in general. And this opening is very, like, cowboy bebop vibes. Like, not as iconic, obviously, but, yeah.

I actually looked up the composer because I'm like, this sounds a lot like Tank, but just very similar.

No, not the same, but yeah, lots of silhouettes and stuff. So we move on to our next con. Our duo is trying to con a blonde, foreign or.

Blonde four door car.

We usually call it yellow, but there.

In Japan, they call it blonde Foreigner at a little bar. And the young man's name is Edamura. And so he goes up to the blonde man and offers him a wallet with a bunch of money in it. And the older man, his con buddy, is standing there, and he's like, oh, that's mine. That's my wallet. To encourage the blonde man to take it. So the blonde man takes it and then hugs Edamura. And so there was supposed to be a swap, but did it get swapped? Really? kan and a khan. So back at their apartment, they're discussing their success and how tourists expect Japan to be safe. So they let their guard down. Edamura notices it's. His name kudo. I didn't write it down.

Yeah, kudo.

Kudo is the older man, and he says, kudo, that's a nice watch. And he's like, yeah, I was able to get it thanks to teaming up with you, buddy. And then Edamara pulls out the wallet and finds that it's the con wallet with the fake bills that was supposed to go to the blonde man. So they realize they themselves have been conned.

Con. And the con. It's a concon.

Okay.

Listen, we're at 170. Some apples. You know what's happening here?

So they're in their apartment. The fuzz shows up.

The cop shit.

Graham boys. Yeah. They grab what they can and run. Edamura sees the foreigner getting in a cab and hops in, and he's like, hey, you took my wallet. You're a swindler. Blonde man says, I'm a trader, not a swindler. So as payment, the blond man gives him some candy and says he owes him for earlier. And Edamura is like, So where are we going? And he says the airport and then Los Angeles. So they get to the airport. Edamura plants a knife on somebody in order to get his spot on the flight.

Jeez.

And then they're in La. Cool.

We missed the 20 1 hour flight, or however long it is.

Thank goodness. Actually, Japan to California might not be that long.

That's a long I don't know. Probably it's a while. Yeah, it's over five, which is too long for any flight for me.

I wish the whole first episode was.

Just them real, real time flight.

Yeah.

Instead of powering up for an anime fight, they have to power up their cell phones while on the plane.

The real challenge.

So blonde man is, like, trying to part ways. He's getting into a car, but then Edamara just gets on in, and they're sitting in La. Traffic. Classic.

That's us.

That's us.

I do that.

I do that. So blonde man is like, how long are you going to follow me? He says, Until I get my money back. He's like, I'm the best con artist in Japan, and I will not let you get away with scamming me. And then the blonde man calls Edamura's. English accent funny. And then Edimer gets mad. And I have neglected to mention that even in the English dub scenes in Japan are still in Japanese and subbed. And the blonde man and Edamura do speak accented English to each other. And then it is from this point on that it would either be in Japanese and subbed, if that's what you're watching, or English dubbed, if that's what you're watching. And I think that's very interesting and cool.

Yeah, it was a neat touch.

I was very confused in the beginning because I was like, all right, set up watching the English dub. And then the first few scenes are just in Japanese, so I had to check the settings, like, five times. Are you just not loading or what? And you got to this point, it's like, all right, stylistic choice. This is cool. I like it.

Yeah. I wonder if they do keep brendan, you watched it. Do they keep doing scenes in English if you watch it in Japanese, or.

Did you watch it? I watch it all dub.

Okay. The dub is also real good.

Yeah, I watched the dub the first time. I was like, that's good. I dub. Just put it on. My eyes are tired. I don't feel like reading.

Yeah. The accident in this dub is really, really good. So they hear on the radio that a film producer, Eddie casano, just got out of jail. that'll be relevant later. Traffic finally moves, and Blonde Man says he's glad for it because he's got an appointment, and they make a deal. Edamura says he'll sell whatever he's got at a higher price to his client. And if he can, the blonde man has to work for him. And if not, Edamura becomes Blond man's assistant. So they go to I believe it was macy's. Not macy's.

All right, another one. Check it off.

Yes. And they get snazzied up, they get some suits, and Blonde Man finally introduces himself. His name is Laurent because French, he is sexy.

Add him to the list.

He is a very handsome man, and his voice is very nice.

Or in high school. Host club kid growing up.

Oh, fuck. I definitely have a type you look at, like Tomaky this guy, and like, Victor Nakivarov. They're all the same brand.

Also, unrelated, I feel like making someone work for you over a bet should be its own trope Square, because I feel like that adds a lot, specifically in anime.

Yeah.

Also, real quick, before we move on, laura High School Host Club.

Okay, just say it out loud.

One more thing. Good one, tegan.

Oh, what a nice genuine moment.

Hey, real quick, before you move on.

Yeah.

Thank you, Brendan.

Oh, I wish I was a student. You guys are great. Anyway.

Real quick, before we move on, doing a great job with this description.

Of the episode so far.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay, one last thing.

I think we can end this bet. Go ahead.

I think so, too. Oh, my God. My cheeks hurt. Of laughing. Okay, so they go to a big old mansion. Some tough guys come over, and Laurent is like those are real gangsters, and he kind of convinces them to let him and Edamura in. Turns out this client is the producer from the radio earlier, and he's got a bunch of hot girls around his pool.

Bunch babes.

Yeah. So Laurent says his film production is a front, and he's actually in the mafia, and he is here laurent is here to sell him some candy for $5 million. So Eddie the man comes over and calls down to one of his girls, abby, to get them champagne. And he says she's very pretty but can't act or speak English very well. And they turn to Edamura, who is acting as the creator of this product, this drug. And Laurent pulls out a baggy of powder, presumably a substance drugs, and explains that it needs to be processed because in this state, it is too strong. So he gives abby a piece of the candy, and she goes fucking nuts.

Truly cuckoo for cocoa, possibly.

Hopping around the backyard until jumping in the pool and floating on her back with this blissful look on her face. So Laurent says he'll sell it to Eddie exclusively for $10,000 a box, $5 million altogether, as he said before. And he says more stuff to try to convince him to buy it. Laurent offers some to the other girls before shoving a piece into Edamara's mouth, which would be bad if it was real drugs.

Wow.

Again, that's important for later.

Tuck that one away.

So Edamura notices the watch that Laurent bought him, notices that Laurent is wearing the watch, too, and realizes that his old partner, kudo, also had that watch, as well as the older woman in the first scam from the beginning of the episode in the house. So this is a clue to us that he's been scammed from the beginning.

Why Laurent has a whole ring within a con.

Yeah. So Edamura freaks out, grabs ah hold of a gun and shoots it to distract everybody as he runs away. He manages to hop the fence and darts off, and the gangsters get in a car to go after him as Laurent seals the deal with Eddie, and Laurent follows Edamura and brings abby with him, Edamura gets upset that Laurent used him to transport drugs and tries to attack him. But then abby kicks Edamura in the face, and Laurent is like, what was that? And she's like, A crane kick. Very, very funny. Delivery. And then we see kudo back in Japan with the wallet full of money and then the older woman leaving the house from before as the real homeowners return. So that just confirms it for us. And then we're back at the beginning of the episode, where Edamura is hanging from the Hollywood sign, and abby and Laurent are standing below him. And then we get the fucking ending, which is real good. Get some cats doing a little sing song. Singing song. Dance. And the song is sung by freddie.

Mercury, which is that's, like, budget went real cool.

I mean, this show must have been a big, huge budget because the animation is real good and really pretty also.

Yeah, the environmental and background art is what caught my eye immediately because it's very stylistic. And like, every scene is gorgeous. Like, just the backdrop of like any scene of just I'm talking is really well done. So, yeah, production values just throughout the whole show. And then we get episode two starts off with them, right, where episode one stops at the Hollywood sign. And Lauren keeps calling him edamame. And I know that's going to slip in, but I know it's Edamora. Just get in front of that now because it will probably happen to me. And Lauren is there telling him like, all right, if we cut you down, make sure you're not going to run away. If he does go after mabi, and she's like, the muscle. So they go to cut him down. And we get a flashback of Edamura talking to his mom in the hospital. She's in bed, sickly, dead parent club. I don't know if I check this.

One off later on, don't we?

Later on? Yeah, I already lost myself. He's giving her some tea that he got a new job at a tea company. And he's giving her some of the product. She's like, oh, wow, it's so great that you got a new job. And she drinks the tea. It's like, this stuff is vile. It's like paint varnish or wood varnish, woods paint varnish, paint thinner. That's it. It's both. I don't know what it is, but I've been huffing it and it's making my words cantaloupe. So she's proud of him for getting a job. And she kind of hints, like, even though the struggles brought on by her father, you're still able to get a respectable job, and I'm proud for you. It's like, wonder what that's alluding to? And she tells him, like, make sure to never give up. Even if, you know, no one else believes in you. Believe in yourself. And we see him give her a little, like, cat figurine, a little trinket because she likes cats. And then we cut to him on the street selling the tea to a crowd at a little stand. And he's talking it up, saying like, you'll lose weight. You'll be healthier to create your immune system. It helps you sleep better. Just literally anything to sell it. This tea does all of that stuff in the crowd.

Miracle. elixir weenie Todd fans out there.

And of course, the crowd is not buying it because it's too good to be true. And then we see kudo in the crowd saying like, yeah, if it's so good, why are you selling it at such a crazy price? He's like, fine, I'll sell for cheaper. He's like, yeah, I'm not buying it. Fine, I'll sell it for even cheaper than that. It's like, sold, and then the crowd starts buying it. And then immediately, we cut to both of them in an office surrounded by a bunch of people in an office building celebrating, like, hey, we made a big sale today. Yeah, I didn't think that would work. And kudo says, oh, when people think they're getting a sale they're more likely to buy than if they just told them that flat price at the beginning. So they trick you by saying, oh, it's discounted 80%. That's what the base price is. People do it all the time. It's dirty. And he says he says he wanted to give the kid a chance. He he wanted to give him a chance at the company. And, you know, despite what his dad did, he's like, I'm not going to hold it against you. It's like, again, what is that about? And then while they're celebrating giving a little cheer, some dudes and suits kick open the door as the cops are like, all right, you're arrested for false advertising. You're just blatantly lying about everything that this tea is. Who's responsible for this? kuda is like, don't worry, buddy. I got this. And we see him walk over to the cop, and we get a shot of just Edamora kind of, like, freaking out and breaking down. And we hear, like, voiceover from kudo being like, let the kid off easy. It was his idea, but he doesn't know any better. Kind of clearly placing the blame on Edamora because kudo sucks. And then we see Edamora arrested, and it's being interrogated, and the cops says, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And we see it sentenced to three years in jail. And I think it happens because then it just cuts to other stuff right away. We don't see him in jail, so I think you spent three years in there.

Yeah, I believe so.

And then I think we see him visiting his mom before he goes to jail. He's talking to her, saying, like, hey, people, fess up. Don't think your world's ending just because you made a few mistakes, just because you're going to jail for a few years. Kind of trying to talk him up, and she's like, don't worry. I still believe in you, even if no one else does. And then, yeah, I think he goes to jail. And we see him applying for new jobs, and everyone's like, oh, you got the criminal record. No, thanks. Can't trust you. You got the rest of her being a con artist. And then we see times past. It's winter now, and mom's dead.

This was quite, like, jarring, almost real.

Whiplash just in there with yeah, it's in the span of, like, five minutes. Like, here's the mob. She's dead. Okay, wow. Quick. And he's holding on to the little cat trinket he gave her before. And then we see him walking down the street, running into kudo. He's like, hey, I've been looking for you. And he's like, oh, shit, I didn't realize you were out. I'm on parole myself. You're not going to hurt me, arya. He's like, nah, I figure if everyone thinks I'm a con artist, why not lean into it? You want to partner up? And that's where their partnership begins. And then cut back to present day. I will say this show does jump around a lot, like flashback. And it's not always the clearest because Edamora looks the same all the time.

Yeah, it does. True. Like, heist format stuff of like, we're going to make something seem like a magic trick. Anyway, here's the explanation of how we were able to pull it off. So they're just already in format, like, yeah, time narrative is whatever.

Yeah. So we come back to present day at the Hollywood Sign. The three of them, Lauren, abby, and Edamora, go out to dinner. And while they're walking by, edamora bumps into a dude with, like, a wine glass and spills the wine all over him. And he's like, oh, my God, I'm so sorry. I'll take it. But he's like, no, it's fine. It's like, let me pay for the dry cleaning place. No, that's fine. And then they keep walking. And then the three of them have their dinner. Lauren tells them that their plan is to con the mob boss with the rumor of this soccer magic drug. And eda Morris all pissed off that Lauren forced the drug on him. He's like, no, that's the con idiot. It's just can it's literally candy. He throws another one in his mouth. He's like, oh, well, what about abby? She was, like, freaking out. And then abby does the manic laugh again. It's like acting weird. Con artist. That's the gimmick.

I will say this is delicious cartoon food. The dinner they're having.

Yeah, lobster covered in butter. And yeah, abby is like, I thought you were in on the con, and that's why you reacted that way. I didn't realize you thought it was real. And you're an idiot. Thank you, abby. And Lauren says he's the one who actually started the rumor about the sakura magic drug. So he spread the rumor, it got to the mob boss, and then the mob boss reached out to him to then make it, or you get in contact with the guy who can make it. So the problem is a Japanese drug. So he needed a Japanese con man to be the doctor to make the drug. And then we get some casual racism from abby. Thank you, abby. Thank you. And then Lauren says he scouted out Edamora, and Edamor is like, what are you talking about? No one scouted me out or screamed me or anything. And then he remembers the water filter lady with the watch that Lauren and kudo both had. lauren's like, yeah, she's working for me. She's the one who scouted me out. So you didn't con her with the water filter? She conned you with, testing you.

I do think it's, like, funny that that watch moment really was for the audience, and it wasn't Edamura actually realizing it because this is when he realizes it. So it's like, oh, he's stupid, okay.

He's kind of a dumb dumb, isn't he? Yeah. So he realizes. He's like, oh, so then if the old lady was in on it, he's like, yeah, kudo was in on it too.

He's like, God damn it.

Yeah. Just stop trusting kudo. You'll be better off for it. He said, well, how did you convince my con artist buddy to portray me? He's like, he's a con artist. It was super easy. We offered him money, and he did it. And then he realizes that the cops that rated his apartment in episode one were actually the old employees from the tea company that kudo was in charge of. So he just brought those guys back. And we get, like, a flashback of them celebrating after the police chase that led Edamora to La. And Lauren says he wanted to show off a bit and show what he's capable of so he could train Edamora and impress him. And Lauren says, I even know why you've become a con artist. I know your tragic backstory.

I watched it at the beginning of this episode.

It was on TV. And then we see some of the mob bosses, like, thugs show up outside the restaurant. They're like, we should get going. And Lauren takes out a checkbook to pay for the meal. And Edmara stands up and takes a cheque and gives it to the waitress. And he's like, oh, that guy over there. And he points to the guy he bumped into with the wine earlier. He goes, he's going to cover our bill. And he waves the guy down, being like, hey, sorry about earlier. I'll pay for it. And the guy says, don't worry. I got it covered. Like tricking the waitress into thinking he's paying the bill. It's like, ah, he planned that from the beginning. And then they leave. Edamore says he doesn't want to owe Lauren anything, so he was taking care of the bill so he didn't have to owe Lauren money for dinner. And then later that night, leron fills him in on who the mop boss is. Eddie and that he's just a drug lord. And the movie producer, I think, is a front. Like, he makes the movies, but they're pretty heavily implied to be the equivalent of Steven segal shitty action movies. So he's like, yeah, they're all garbage. But it's an easy way to embezzle money and connect with them.

I like that. They're even called razzies the razzie series.

Yeah, the movie series are called the Razzies. And then they even won awards. Like the raspberry Awards says even poking fun of that. And he says, the drug boss gets everyone hooked on drugs. Then he controls everyone, and he's like, tearing through women and it's like, great. Just a real piece of shit. And they say he gets busted for tax fraud every now and then, but nothing ever sticks, and he never gets locked up for more than, like, a week. Real easy stuff. When your punishment for crimes is money, you're only punishing poor, that sort of stuff. And we see a flashback of him meeting Lauren for the first time, striking at the deal, being like, hey, what's this soccer and magic stuff? And Lauren then sets everything up from there. And Edamore says the mop boss won't believe him. He's a mob boss. He's gotten to where he is now because he's smart. He's not that stupid. And Lauren says they're in the business of selling people their dreams, but not fulfilling their dreams. If people are desperate and want enough, they'll believe whatever the person selling it. And Lauren reminds Edamora of their bet, that Edamore said he could sell the candy to the drug kingpin for $10 million. So he's like, if you're not quick, I'll finish the deal, and you have to be in my assistant. And on the way out, Lauren says, also like, oh, by the way, I paid for dinner. Because we only con crooks. We're Robin Hood. We only do the virtuous crimes.

I'm a good person sometimes.

Don't worry, audience. You can still root for us.

Yeah, basically, we only screw over and betray and commit crimes on other criminals. You're still a criminal. You do a lot of illegal shit, but I guess they don't. Rule of Batman. They don't use a gun or hurt anyone, so I guess it's fine whatever else they do.

Hey, you're in a fancy restaurant in La. Odds are that guy was a bad person too.

Edamara tries to sneak out that night, and abby grapples them and tackles them to the ground. She says they're not teams. He's like, oh, you teams up with Lauren? She's like, no, we're not a team. We're all independent. We just work together with the same goal. So she says, we have no loyalty to each other, and you're just dead weight to us. You're a pup. You had no experience, so you're better off just leaving. And while walking to the airport, we see Edamora pull out the little gotch bond figure. He got the little capsule figure, and we cut back to the next day with abby and leron talking in the morning, saying Edamora left. And leron is like, well, everyone has one true God given talent, and I'm pretty sure Edamora knows what his is, so he'll be back later today. Cut to later today. He's not there. It's like damn it. And we cut to I believe it's the next day. Lauren and abby show up at the mobsters mansion saying, like, hey, we got to renegotiate the deal. The doctor ran off and tried fleeing the country. And the mob boss was like, what? What are you talking about? The doctor is. Like, in the back in the pool with all the girls. It's like, what? And they run out back and you see Edamora swimming in the pool with all the babes playing ball. And the mob boss was like, oh, he also doubled the price, but I already agreed to it, so we're paying the 10 million. It's like, the deal, the bet.

The layers of conning continue.

Con with and con with and con within. Khan and we see edamoro says he gets out of the pool and talks to him off to the side. He says he's the best Japanese con artist there is. So he tosses them the little capsule toy and tells him about Hitiyoshi Tamatomi. And he was apparently a Japanese peasant who rose through the ranks and became one of the most powerful feudal lords in all of Japanese history. And it was his inspiration for coming back and going to become the best con artist in Japan, the very best.

That no one ever was.

Tells him his sister con artist. Man, that's episode two.

So, yeah, we start out episode three. How could this crazy turn of events happen? We'll find out after a quick introduction of new characters. So we see just a real shithead ordering in and out, just being a real jerk to the employees. And of course he's a cop.

Of course, dynam was it.

So it turns out he is Detective Anderson with the lapd, and he's leading the investigation on the mob boss. And they're staking out his home from an apartment building across the street from a big million dollar mansion.

It's okay.

Shitty looking apartment building also.

Yeah, La logistics aside. But they're watching the back pool area and sees, oh, no, our con friends are under investigation as well. But then we jump over to edamura and he's explaining how the con went. So when we see he left the group, he saw his little figure in his pocket and he was like, no, I'm inspired. I'm still going to be the best con man in Japan, in La. So what he decides to do is he goes to a movie store and rents all of the razzie movies and just takes extensive notes and just really studies this work. So he's doing his homework on Eddie the mob boss's pride and joy films. Then he gets dressed up and he goes to the airport where he was warned that they're surveilling it. So salazar, the like, head thug, the muscle for the ammo, said military, the Mafia, similar words, what's the difference? But he grabs him and is like, oh, you're not going anywhere, and takes him back to eddie's house. So he's brought and spilled out in front of Eddie, and he's like, all right, what's up? You got high and ran away from me and then tried to leave the country? What's wrong with you? And just in full con mode, Edamora is like, yeah, I'm I'm I needed to escape Japan. I was doing all this research into this drug. It was my life's work, and no one supported me. People were taking credit for my discoveries, so it was basically all wasted. And they're discussing more. The mob man is like, yeah, so do you know my work? blah, blah, blah. And he's like, oh, no, I just heard you use it for a cover. You launder your money through shitty movies you don't really care about. And the Bob boss gets offended at that. He's like, no. Oh, you just heard that? Well, I guess I got to show you my movies to show you what.

I'm capable of, to show you how shitty they are.

So he takes them into a private screening room and starts screening the movies. And Edamor is like, oh, my God, these movies you know, they were released under a different title in Japan, so I had no idea. These are my favorite movies. Oh, my God, you are a genius. I love your work. I'm sorry I disrespected you. I thought we were talking about different films and just really plays up, like, yes, you're a misunderstood genius. No one gets what you're going for. The adventurer always has to persevere and fight to the end. And eddie's like, yes, you get me. Finally, someone understands you.

Understand my cinema masterpiece.

And he's like, all right, so we both understand each other now. We both have our masterpiece work. Your films, my drugs that were underappreciated. So truly, only we know their true value. So on that, Eddie offers up himself. He's like, I totally get it. If you need more money for your drug, I will offer you more. And Ed Moore is like, oh, you're so kind. It's double. It's double 10 million. And eddie's like that's kind of ridiculous. He's like, what cost would you put on your child?

10 million. That's what I put on mine.

Yeah, 10 million. We just put a cost on it. You know that. He's like, all right, fine. I'll do it. And Edamore is like, all right. This is great. And in turn, I will also give you the recipe. And he hands him, like, a printed out document with just a bunch of bullshit. He was like, I just pulled a bunch of chemistry textbooks and stuff. It'll work for now, but as long as no one tries to make it right.

It was at this point that I was like, they're going too deep. This is a bad idea.

Yeah, edible is on that.

By edible, step too Far entire plan is just lie through his teeth and kiss this guy's ass. And I'm like, you got to realize there's a limit to how far that'll go. He'll use the drug.

Yeah, I feel like Edamara, he's used to conning, you know, civilians on the street, not a Mafia bus.

Yeah, yeah.

Situations where you're like, you're conned, but by the time you realize it, I'm gone. You're probably a tourist. You don't know Japan. It's like, you're the tourist here. You're bunching way above your weight glass. So we're back at the pool, back to the current time, and they see eddie's accountant arrives, and they're like, all right, perfect. Money time. But the accountant gets out of the car without any money, and they're like, oh, shit. I guess we aren't running away immediately like we thought with that additional plan of giving the recipe. So got to keep pretending.

Cool.

All right, great.

Pretending.

So they go inside, they have a lavish meal, and they're like, oh, yes, we're being very cautious with our investment. blah, blah, blah. I forget the fake doctor name that Edamor gave, but was it his real name? It was his real name got you.

Which is also stupid.

They're like, yes, we didn't want to do business with someone we knew nothing about, so naturally, we had to look into you. So, number one, if they actually looked into him using his real name, they probably would have found a prison sentence and served for fraud. But we'll go deeper into the cons.

They were really only, like, just at this facility, though.

Yes, we are trusting you. We sent our Japanese team to your old place of business, the lab where you develop this drug. Surely they'll know you there. Right? And at this point, Edamar is like, fuck. Oh, my God, I'm about to get shot in the face. This is the worst.

I can't believe they looked into me, this random jerk that came off the street and asked for $10 million. They had the gall to look into my background.

I've done interviews before. No one ever checks the references.

Well, yeah, that's true.

But we sorry. I got lost in my notes. So it turns out what happened was somehow the Ron knew his plan. Just everyone's outconning each other in ways that it's like, I I don't know how you put this together in five.

Minutes, but sure, definite levels of like, I knew you would do this, so I did this, which knew you would do that, which I do that, and.

It'S like 4d chess.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah. It's sort of the thing where you watch it in the moment and you're like, oh, that's sleek as hell, but in our classic fashion. Just recapping it. We're like, no, wait, actually, where did you find the time to put this together? But, yeah, so laurent called kudo and the water filter woman, and they pretended to be old coworkers of Edamara and just talked about, oh, yeah, he's such a diligent worker. He's always working. Oh, it was so weird. He went on vacation.

We don't know.

We'll see him soon and just leave immediately after that because they were in someone else's office.

How did he even get in there?

You can't ask too many questions.

Don't worry about it. But laurent is like, all right, now we're even. You got this one up on me, but you were very sloppy in doing so. Okay, we're square. So they want to do the deal now, but they know they are under surveillance from the lapd. So they're like, yeah, we're not dumb enough to do business in my home. That's so easy for us to get caught. Let's go to a second location, shall we? So we get a sequence where we see a limousine pull out of the house. And then we see the police go like, oh, follow that limousine. And then they do. And then we see another car come out, and the mobsters are all together and they're like, haha. They followed the decoy, but then the police follow them because they're what? Obviously that was fake. We're going to wait for the second car. And then it turns into a chase where they're driving on the wrong side of the road. The police are pursuing them and they just swerve out of the way the last second. But the cops crash, and eddie's like, oh, yes, that agent Anderson has been after me this whole time. I need to make a quick phone call. Hey, Anderson. How are you? And I hope that didn't hurt too bad, because officer Anderson is on his payroll and he's quote, unquote, leading the investigation into Eddie. And that's why he hasn't been caught, because the cop is purposefully not catching him.

Never a corrupt cop in La.

Los Angeles Police Department.

Why?

Now, I was going to say the car chase here is probably the most unrealistic thing we've seen in the show so far. But considering how long and bad La trafficking can be, it probably happens all the time. Because fuck me, how do you justify spending 4 hours in a 1 mile block of a city?

But yeah, they go to an abandoned factory turned drugmill and they're like, all right, let's hand over the recipe to Eddie. And eddie's like, oh, no, I know fine craftsman. I know you're a man of dignity, and you're a true artist, truly. We're having pretty literal Walter White stuff here of like, no, we have to cook. You have to be the chef. We can't just copy your thing. Only you have the magic touch. So there's a lot of cutting back and forth. I'll just go one story at a time just to avoid the confusion. So wrapping up the mafia story, we see edmura, they want him to start now. They're like, all right, make us some drugs. And he's like, these facilities, these are nothing like what I'm used to. The precision required. You don't even have accurate scales. And Lauren is also backing him up, being like, yeah, he had the most high tech facility in Japan. They just do a lot of generalizing about Japanese people to be like, yeah, you dumb Americans don't actually know anything about Japan. They're so meticulous and diligent, every single Japanese person. Oh, yes. And just getting really into why he can't cook. He needs the right lab. So eddie's like, okay, we will renovate this place to be an exact replica of your lab, and we will start immediately. Now, we can't have you running away or getting caught in a hotel or something. So you live with salazar now, roomies?

Yeah, they were roommates.

Oh, my God. They were roommates.

And this is where it turns takes a hard turn into a romance show between edamura.

Yeah, I did just have the silliest cursed thought of edamura. It's like a ratatouille situation where they find some.

Oh, my God.

Stupid.

Unfortunate, because the mob boss took an improv class and knows how to guess and escalate everything.

That's what it feels like.

He never just takes an answer. It's always like, no, we can go further. It's like, Christ, daddy, let it go.

But yeah. So we end up with Edinburgh trapped. He's stuck under the watchful eye of a former gang leader. So going back to our other story, we see Officer Anderson getting back to his stakeout spot all banged up because he was just in a major car accident. But when he gets there, he sees people working that he doesn't recognize. And when he tries to talk to them, they don't respond to him because they're above his jurisdiction. The FBI is on the case now, so we are introduced to Agent dickens, the legendary FBI agent who's taken down so many notorious crime families. So she's like, oh, yeah, so you suck at your job because you haven't caught him in so long. Also, lean in real close. Hey, I know you're on his payroll, so we're actually going to take him down. But I'll give you the credit because he's not who I'm after. I'm after these con men. And that's where we end episode three.

Wow, so much has happened.

Yeah, I know you're corrupt, but I'm going to let you keep being corrupt and not expose you because we're both caps.

We got to look out for each other.

Everyone sucks in the show.

Sure enough.

This was a hoot. It is beautiful. As we mentioned, the art is gorgeous. It's so colorful and vibrant. Again, in discussing it, you're like, this plot point hit really well in the moment, but don't put it under the microscope. Just like, real fridge Logic stuff of like, yeah, don't deep think it, but, yeah, it's a lot of fun. It's nice having these sorts of crime shows. We see so many Murder detective animes, sort of in that true crime sense of like, yeah, where are the fun crimes? where's the goofy crime things? Con artist stuff is always a thrill. So, yeah, this is a good time.

Yeah, I think, like, part of I don't know, I think it is just, like, ridiculous. And that was the perfect description of just, yes, and it really is.

The whole show is escalating.

Yeah. Just everybody fucking outdoing each other in the most ridiculous way possible. And it is pretty hilarious to watch. But also it's getting to a point in this little episodes are like cases. So this is Case Los Angeles, and I know there are like two more maybe in Los Angeles. And so it's like, god, I'm scared this might be frustrating. It might get to a point where it's just frustrating of like, stop it.

Just stop talking.

I don't know.

At first it's like, I don't know if I want to buy these trucks from these guys. And that's close to I'm buying the drugs, I'm getting the recipe, and I'm building your own sterilized drug laboratory within an old hard cider factory just so you can customize. How did we get here and looked at watch 12 hours? Like, good God. Yeah.

I do appreciate that. They aren't like since this is like a specific case and there are others I do like that they are going to have some sort of resolution to this that is just a really drawn out, like, 1225 episodes whole season because yeah, like, this escalation, this has to resolve soon.

We're going to go to space soon.

Space trucks. There's no law in space with the cases. I think there's three cases in season one and then there's like season two, I think is its own big case. I think so, yeah. It is nice where it's broken up into more bite size arcs rather than a long running story throughout the whole season. So it's more manageable.

Yeah, but this was fun, especially if.

You'Re like, I'm sick of this La place. It's like, don't worry, new location coming up. You're good. So it does globe trotting and it's background, environmental works, fucking gorgeous animations, well done actors and acting on point.

Music is great.

It's production value just through the roof, but it very much is that high escalation of like, what if I do this? Bishop to rook four. Interesting move. What if I went here and just like that Death Note level of like, I knew you would know, and I knew that I knew you I eat it's.

A potato chip and I'll eat it.

Yeah, but like we said in the moment, it's like, yeah, this makes sense. And it's great. So it's good entertainment. It's rock solid. We bar there.

We bar there.

We made it.

Well, we got three good ones in a row.

How many weeks?

Yeah, we made it. To the most wonderful time of the year. Everyone holloween. yep, yep, we're there. Happy International Zoids Day, everyone.

Yes.

It's my birthday coming up. I got to use my annual right to get revenge on at least Brendan D. I'm sorry for collateral damage, but it's okay. We are beyond the zoid series that I've seen. So we're just finding other things with Zoids in the title. We're watching zoid's Guardian force. I have no idea what this is. And I can't wait.

I hope it's a different series entirely and it just got the IP to zoid somehow. This is going to be the best.

Show you've ever seen.

It better be. If there's a zoid show you would like us to watch, you can send your zoid's recommendation to us. Our email is are we there yet@gmail.com? Where you can send a Zoids recommendations and you can reach out to us about Zoids on Twitter and Instagram at are we there yet? On both. If you want to talk to us.

About Zoids, you can not talk to me about Zoids on instagram at honeyperiod or on Twitter at honeyd eight and honey d art. And honey is spelled H-U-N-N-I-E. Just try.

To talk to any of us about Zoids on social media. We'll block you.

I will block so fast.

So fast immediately. And normally I've avoided. I only did digimon the one time, but the way DUGAN'S escalating stuff, I don't know. I think I'm going to have to bring out the guns jokes on him. There's two new digimon series recently, let alone all the past ones. I can play the long game with digimon.

Oh, boy. Sorry. That just made me real sad. Anyway, thank you to camille ruley for her artwork. And thank you to Louisong for her theme 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 you learn to live with anime.

Later.

Skaters watch White Colony USA. It's pretty much the same promise. It'll is good up to the point.

Thank you.