AWTY 197 - Pluckin' on Biwa (Inu-Oh)

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

I'm an anime expert, dee hollander.

And I'm brenda mccullough, your anime repo. The Genetic Opera.

Nice. I know that one. Haven't seen it, but I know it.

It's fine. I know it's got a cold following. It's fun and candy, but like, I don't want to watch it again.

The stuff comes in a little glass vial.

Yeah.

You got any goth drugs for me, Brendan?

Love goth drugs.

I got these cloved cigarettes laced with ecstasy, but it's like dark. It's like I dyed a black hole.

I wrote these cloved cigarettes with Hot Topic receipts.

I hope you I got these tabs of acid, but I got Jack skellington's face on it.

I can taste the pierce the veil t shirts.

I can feel the little squeezy farm animals. And they got the little poop come out and you put them on a keychain. It's like, ha. Why is this a hot topic?

That's before my Hot Topic time.

Back when malls were still around.

Or at least not empty because they're still here.

Yeah. Speaking of large empty corporate locations, we're doing something weird. This is technically your pick. Do you want to talk about this movie and how you found it?

Yeah. So here's what happened, everybody. I woke up at six in the morning or whatever, like someone who can't sleep does. And I was looking at my phone, I was looking at Instagram when Ian Jones cordy of Steven Universe and okko tell you, he posted in his Instagram story some theater that was a masaki uasa tribute. And I was like, oh, that's cool. I wonder what's going on. And then the next post in his story was a poster for something called Enuo. And I was like, what the fuck is that? So if it had anything to do with masaki uasa, I had to know. So I looked it up and Google said that this is a new Mothakiwasa movie that is a fantasy musical. And I said, I need to see that.

I'm in done.

So I bought this was last weekend and it was coming out. So today is August 14. That's the day we're recording. And it came out this came out two days ago. So this is hot, hot stuff. Yes. My hands are a burning. So I bought a ticket for me and Paul because of course I did.

I bought tickets for Brendan and I because I am of course, to the content.

Well, I wasn't even thinking like, oh yeah, we should do this for the podcast. I just wanted to see it. But then I think one of you said like, oh, we could all see it and do it for the podcast. And I was like, it is my pick next week. Oh my god. So that's what we're doing. We all are going to go to the movies and see something brand new.

If you could believe it.

I had this realization as I was getting to the theater. This is the first movie I've seen since joining Brendan to see Cats in January 2020. So this was a big momentous occasion for me.

I have been to the theater since that time. It was also to see anime the, to choose a kissing movie. I am a onenote caricature of a human being. I can't imagine anything living up to that cat's 2019 experience because, oh, boy, that just changes the literal world for me after seeing that.

I have since been to the movies probably too many times, but I like seeing movies in the theaters. And we also have a movie theater near us where tickets are only $8 all day.

What the hell?

I know, right? That's not the one that we're seeing Enewo at, but still.

I think I paid like, over 30 to see the latest tomb raider movie. When that came out, like, four years ago, it sucked ass. That's just the price. The movie was terrible. But anyway, it was just a very expensive theater.

I would ask if either of you had heard of this before, but that's impossible. No, but this did. Apparently this came out in Japan like a year ago in 2021, and this is just the Us. Release. So I'm very excited as a masaki wasustan. Cannot wait to watch this film.

Yeah, I'm honestly surprised that for something that has been out in the world, like the Internet still exists, that it wasn't on your radar even like, if it's Japan only and that it was the Us. Release, because I know you keep your.

Fingers on someone on this show. Has to. Neither of us, I guess.

I don't know. I'm not usually looking up new anime. I kind of just like, stumble upon them. And especially I don't know, I guess movies, especially unless it gets, like a big ad campaign. Like I feel like Bell did. Yeah, or if it's someone like because the thing, too, is that masak yuasa, in my opinion, is like, criminally underrated in the anime zeitgeist. So people aren't out here talking about his stuff, but with makato shinkai, I found out about his new movie that's coming out in November, like, as soon as the teaser trailer dropped. Because people love makato shinkai. And so do I. But yeah, people just aren't talking about this man. And they should.

We love this man.

Yeah, but this isn't even like I don't think this is going to have a dub, but that's not being released, dubbed. So I don't know. But, yeah, I'm excited.

We've seen stuff get dubs at our musicals and have done it well. But it's always more work when it's a musical rather than just like, dialogue in a show or movie. But, yeah, we liked tatami Galaxy and Ping pong and keep your hands off the Ezukin. bangers all around.

Got to watch his other movies. I haven't watched his other movies. I have to.

Well, we'll knock one off the list right now as we're going to watch Enewo.

Yay. Get your popcorn.

Oh, God. It's $25.

Recite the tale of the liberated avian creature.

We didn't see. nope.

Hidden. So I don't get it.

I'm sorry.

Nope is an alien movie.

I know nothing and I'm excited for it.

It's a really good movie. But that's not we watched a different film. We all went to the movies. Brendan and dugan went on a date. They held hands, stole me a little. How long?

Only at the scary parts in the bucket of popcorn.

I don't know why you insisted that.

Got to keep your love a secret.

Don't tell him that you listen to the podcast. Shut up. Stop it.

Point.

But Paul and I saw it together and we were lucky enough to be in a theater where there was nobody else. So I was able to take out my phone and take notes as the movie was going on. But I was like, focusing on it. So they're not extremely detailed like our other episodes will be. I'm so sorry.

Be a little loosey goosey. We know we're a pinnacle of journalism professionalism.

You know, where all our mental states have been recently. It wasn't going to be a tight episode anyway recently.

But so we open on like a city street, and there's a narrator telling us that this story takes place a long time ago. Think long longer than that. Specifically 600 years ago. We see a lady giving birth to a weird little thing.

Love him, big fan.

He's a fun shape. We see a kid swimming around in the ocean. Looks like he's trying to find something. We find out that this is Tamona and he and his dad are like divers. It's like what they do. So some guys come and offer him and his dad money to go diving to look for a specific treasure. They row out and it's pretty easy to find. The guys that pay them are pussies.

City mice.

Yeah. City slickers. So they find it. It's a box. What's in the box?

It's Gwennet paltrow's head. Finally, troupe is dead.

Tamona's dad opens it. And the guys who paid them are like scared. Like, he pops the lid and they're like and it's a sword. And as Tamona's father unsheathed it, it releases this ring of light. Tamona is blinded. And the dad I thought he just got sliced in the stomach. We see later. He was cut in half.

Fully the split.

Yeah.

Makes you not being blind.

Isn't that bad.

Yeah.

Comparatively. Straight in the eye and didn't cut your head off.

Yeah.

And the men scream that they're sorry. So they knew that this sword was like cursed or whatever.

I'll jump a little ahead of here. I thought that sword was going to come in at some point ever again. It does not it seems like a big deal.

I think it's the sword that we see every once in a while just as, like, an indicator of things going on.

If something spiritual is happening, it just vibrates wherever it is.

In a closet. That's what that was.

Yeah, I think. Okay, so, yes, Tamona is blind. His mother is very upset that her husband is dead and her son is blind. And we get this sequence of timona walking through a forest, and we're introduced to the visuals of how he sees things, and it's very cool. It's in, like, this painterly style, and wherever the sound is coming from is, like, colorful, and everything else is gray, and it's very good. And he hears a man singing, and he goes up to this man, and he is a biwa priest, and it turns out he has stumbled upon a whole community of blind biwa priests. So good fortune, convenience. Yes. But I loved that moment where the oh, I forget his name. tenichi. The old man that, like, mentors him. I think that's tenichi. tomona says, oh, I'm blind. And he says, oh, so are we. And then up until that moment, he only has perception of tenichi. And then all of the other BUA priests, like, pluck a string on their BUA, and then he, like, sees everybody else. I love that moment.

They all appear.

Yeah. And then time passes. Two years specifically, Tamona has been traveling with tenichi, and they're trying to find the lost stories of the Haiki people. So the, like, underlying plot is that there was, like, a big battle between the haki and another army.

There was a civil war. The other one's irrelevant.

Yes. So the bwa priests are essentially trying to uncover these lost stories of the haki, and they find out that whoever finds these stories are being killed. So there's somebody out there trying to keep these stories from being told. And then we're back with the weird baby from the beginning. Yes.

Goblin energy.

Love.

Yes. He's hanging out with the dogs and.

Stuff, the movement, because it's not like, oh, he's a little gremlin guy. It is like a gourd mask for a head. And then you see his hand, and you see, like, a very long bendy leg. It's a wild body shape.

Yeah. So when he's a baby, he's kind of just a blob. And then he has one hand that's pretty much just on his face, and then he has one long arm with a hand on it, and that's just his baby form, like, no legs, just using the long arm to get around.

Real asymmetry on the body. I'm just like I love it. It's a freaky little goblin. I'm a big fan of this guy.

Yeah. So we find out that he is from a family that performs these dances, and I forgot to write down the family name until later, but dance and fam. Dance and fam. So we see his father yelling at his brothers because they can't quite get it down. And then one day he decides to go off and do some dancing on his own. And he does some sick ass moves.

And then he grows legs by the power of dance.

Yes. We see these, like pink little light orbs just like swarm around him. And then he just fucking shoots up like a sprout. And he takes the opportunity to run through the town and freak everybody out.

Again. Fake goblin energy I really enjoyed. Like, hey, I can move now. I'm going to fuck things.

Yeah. And he like, show off.

Got to show off.

Before this moment, he hasn't spoken. So like, presumably this is also when he got the ability to speak. So he's just running around the town being like, fuck all you guys. I'm going to steal your toes. So yes, that's happening. And Tamona is in this town with tenichi to get approved to be a biwa priest, essentially. So he's given his priest name, which always has ichi in it. So he's tomoici. And we see that he speaks with his dad, like the ghost of his dad. And his dad is like, if you change your name, I won't be able to find you. Your name is the only thing that like, keeps me attached to you. So that's a little thing that happens.

I like his dad the whole time. I was like, you have to avenge me. And Tomo just like, nah.

No, he never does.

He has no goal. Like, I'll avenge you. I'll kill the men that made us find that sword. He's just like, I don't know. I'm blind now. I'm doing my own thing.

Yeah. I'm just trying to live my life, man.

Yeah.

I was blinded and then didn't investigate for several years. The trail is as cold as it will ever be.

I'm so sorry.

I was a child.

We were in a boat on the water. There's literally no way to go back to the location we were at because I don't know.

I also can't see now.

Yeah. Got to find those two men that I can no longer see.

So he's like walking after his little name ceremony thing. And he smells fire. Because presumably this boy has lit fire to something. And he walks up on this bridge and he senses the goblin man. gord Boy. That's what I was calling him before they say his name. And so they like, meet. And gord Boy is like, I'm going to freak you the fuck out. Look at my face. And Tamona is like, I'm blind. Would you take off your mask? I'm blind. Boy is like, oh, you have a Bwa. Can you play it? And Tamoona is like, I sure fucking can. Listen to this.

Check this shit out.

And they kind of have like a jam session on this bridge. So he's just playing his beewa. And Gordboy starts doing his cool moves to funky Moves, and then, once again, time just moves on. So timona is now, like, officially a Bwa priest. He shaved his head, and he, you know, is doing prayer songs with all these guys, but he still seems, like, inspired by that Gourd boy that he met.

Little imp.

It turns out that they still see each other, and they find out that Gourd boy is surrounded by Haiki spirits. And those, you know, those are the stories that timona was trying to find. So they decide that they're going to go around performing together and telling the stories of the Haiki soldiers that hang around him. And it's at this point we are explicitly told that Gordoy is titular enuo, that's his name means King of the dogs.

Yeah.

Which makes sense because he used to.

Run around with the little used to.

Hang out with the pups.

Yeah. Honestly, we've seen the family. He made off better with the dogs. The family sucks.

Yeah. And they find out about the hayky spirits by simona calling on his dad. And his dad's spirit is really tiny now because he's been, like, drifting away. And we find out Tomona's mother has also passed, so, like, nothing is really tying him to this world anymore. And so he just called on his dad to be like, hey, I know we haven't talked in a while, but could you tell me about this freaks, like, whole deal? So, yeah, it's at this point, we get a long musical sequence. So tomona is essentially the opening act for Enuo telling these stories. And I also saw someone on TikTok talk about the movie, and he said that the I think you guys probably feel the same as the musical numbers go on for too long, but I if this whole thing was sung through, I would have been living for it because whoever I don't know that actor's names, but simona's voice is really, really good. The way he sings is really great. I am in love with Inuo's singing voice. I think it's so beautiful. So I was just sitting there like, yes.

Yeah. inu is Avuchan and Tamona is mirai moriyama.

Cool.

I'm unfamiliar with either, but very talented.

Yeah.

But yeah, like, these songs, the problem is the pacing of them. I was fully entertained through, like, all of these songs except for the one.

I had to get up. And.

This was awesome. This was great. Out of nowhere, we get our first song, and it's, like, 20 minutes, and it's just very unexpected. And you're like, okay, song. My expectation is, like, three minutes on average. It's like, no, let's tell this historical saga of blah, blah, blah.

Yeah. So we get, like, Enuo's whole performance of, like the thing is, the stories that he's telling don't exactly matter, so that's not something I took note of.

Yeah, they're not even his stories, per se.

Yeah, he's just telling the stories of the haki spirits. Kind of to release them. So this one specifically is about people that got their hands chopped off, I think. But his voice is beautiful and his moves are funky as fuck.

He also hides his really long hand and has, like, a prosthetic hand for the performance. And then at the end of it, he whips out his super long hand and it's just like, damn, that thing's, like, half a mile long. It's so goddamn long.

Yeah. And so it's mentioned that as he sings, he feels like a curse is being lifted. And after this performance that we see his long arm and the hand that is attached to his face are transformed into regular sized arms. So presumably, as he performs more of these hate soldier stories, he's going to be a normal boy. And then we see more of, like, Tomona's performances, and he's getting, like, really liberated with it. He's very much not a priest anymore.

He's very much like a hair metal rock star, but in this feudal Japan setting where it's like, you're very out of place here.

Yeah. Let's be fully clear. They fully invented rock and roll by talking to these spirits and like, hey, that's a cool song. What if we invented a genre about 500 years early and there's, like, rules through this sequence?

They're, like, performing in the same town that Enuo's family is performing in. So his father is still doing his performances and stuff. And you see people, like, leaving the courtyard where they're performing. They're like, hey, Enuo is about to go on. Let's go. And they leave mid performance.

They don't, like, sneak out. They're yelling it in the performance because.

It'S, like, very clear this town has, like, one set of performers that does the very traditional stuff. So anything new? It's like, oh, this is not only novel, it's sick as fuck, dude. People are breakdancing on this bridge.

It rocks.

This is the best show I've ever seen.

We've all seen foot loose.

I also noticed just, like, a little detail I liked was that there are a couple of crowd audience members featured doing breakdancing, and both of them have a physical disability. And I was like, that's. So yeah, because to me, it means not that they know that inuo is disfigured, but they're just, like, inspired by it. That's so cool.

Yeah, it shows.

I was a little confused by it because, as we just said, this is, like, inuo's town. So it seems like they kind of know him, but they're also like, oh, who's this mysterious stranger doing song?

If I saw a mazd dude and his body kept shape shifting every, like, three years, I wouldn't recognize him, I'd admit that.

I think the thing, too, is that he's introduced to the majority of the town as, like, gord boy, Gourd Gremlin. And now he's got more elaborate, pretty kind of costumes and a name, because before this, he did not have a.

Name and we've seen it time and time again, either in stories or in the history of performers. Starting off low for free and anyone who would want to come to see him. And entertaining the poor lower class and then rising up through the rank. With shakespeare, you start off low and then you build a gathering. The high end performance of like is only for the wealthy gets dismantled, and then you become that too. You end up performing for the upper class as well.

Yeah. So at this point, we see there's a huge crowd for Enuo's performance. People are singing and dancing along with him. They have projections and shit now. They've really stepped it up.

Dear hekai spirit, let me tell your story. What is your name? My name is ronnie James dio. Oh, hell yeah. Just these crazy ballads.

Yeah, they sing. This is the one that dugan went to the bathroom for. They say something about a whale.

I also defend. We get like, tomoshi doing his song and then it goes right into enos. So there are like two songs that are both pretty long, but bleed into one very long song. And the one about the whale is just like, they say the whale like 30 times. I don't know the story. I don't know what the hell it was cool to look at.

Yeah.

The song, though.

Yeah. And I liked that the audience was participating. So after this whale performance, we see that Inuo had scales on his back and they disappeared. So he's pretty much his body is like, completely normal now, but his face has not been yassified yet.

I do like that you see, because the gourd was like, misaligned, and you see his eyes in different locations. That stays consistent in all the other masks. He has like, one eye through the left eye hole and then the other eye in the mouth of the mask.

Here's where I wrote the name of his family's performing troupe. He's aewa. So we see his dad is freaking out, wondering how Inuo got these stories. And we also see the Bwa priest talking about tomona and how he wears makeup. He looks like a prostitute. He's not exactly a priest anymore. And the leader kind of speaks up and says, I want to see how far they're going to go, because I think it's cool that he's doing this.

He's accomplishing our mission better than all of us. We haven't spread any of these stories, so who are we to say?

In fact, they've actually had a few of the priests being killed. I think they might have missed that. But like, earlier when Tamonchi gets to the city, they're like, hey, watch out for priests and stuff because they're getting cut down in the streets.

Yeah. And we also see like tenichi, his mentor guy, he's still alive. He's an old, old man. So he's just sitting around listening to all of this.

He's one of those guys that looked like he was born at 75 and then keeps staying around somehow. It's like, how old are you?

Yeah. So we get a scene of Enuo. I forget, is he talking to the show gun in this scene, like, with the cherry blossom trees and stuff?

No, I think he's just talking to some, like, high ranking nobles of the city. Like, they're very fancy, but I don't think they were the shogun.

Yeah.

Oh, and Tomo chee is going by another new name. He's he's dropped a priesthood name, tomo Ryan. Tomo ari.

Something like Tommy tomo ari.

That's what this yeah, we're bad with names. And this guy has three alone.

Yeah. So we also have heard, like, earlier in the movie that there are certain performance troops that only perform for higher the elite. So, like, the shogun and nobles and stuff like that. So we're shown that this is where they're going to these guys, and they're like, oh, we hear you're very handsome under the mask. And he's just like, that's it.

Yes, you got it.

You got me. And tomaari is there, but not, like, talking to those guys. He's just off plucking in his biwa.

Which is not a euphemism, just shrinking in the miwa.

But so Enuo goes over to him and he says, in the beginning, I felt like this was a curse, but what I think it really is is the hagee soldiers just want their stories to be told. And the more I tell them, the more they rejoice. Like, I can hear them. And I was like, I love this. I love that moment, because he knew I was, like, coming into himself as a confident person and becoming pretty. And also these voices in his head are happy now. And that's great.

Yeah. I was very glad to see it's a short movie that I doubt they wanted to flush out too much, though. But I'm glad they didn't fall into the band trope of lead singer and lead guitarist splitting. You changed their friends throughout.

These boys are in love, whether or platonically. They love each other very much. Yeah, much like peco and smile in ping pong. I just thought of that. So Tomo ari says, we're going to take our performances all over the country by forming our own troop. And I think that's when he decides to change his name again.

Okay.

Because this will be the traveling band's name moniker. I'm not going through an identity crisis. Don't worry about it.

Yeah, so he's like, fine, we're Tomo ari, za got you. Or waza. Yeah. So, yeah, they're going to take their performances all over. There's going to be a troop. And now the shogun requests Enuo o to perform for he. Him I'm great. I'm doing great.

Him and his wife.

Enuo O is going to perform for the shogun and his wife, and they submitted this request to Enuo's father for whatever reason, and he has this advisor who kind of bends down and whispers to him, hey, the shogun's wife is pregnant, and seeing something upsetting might be bad for her, if you catch my drift. Wing, wing. So Enuo's father tells him that they've requested that he performs the last part of their act without his mask, and he agrees. He's just like, okay, if that's what the show gun wants, that's what I'll do. And we see the crowd that's gathered. They're all so excited about it. They know that he's going to take his mask off, so they're like, oh, we're finally going to see this performer's face.

Oh. And I think the two guys that brought the invitation were the two that went out to get the original sword 20 some years ago, I think.

I didn't notice me.

I kept my eye out. I'm like, they got to come back somehow, right? The henchmen, they're, like, the only antagonists.

We had at the beginning, they have.

So as they're entering the stage, inuo says the spirits are excited and that either way this goes, it could be the end for them, whether it doesn't go well and he gets beheaded or he gets to finish telling their story, or maybe it'll be both.

Look at me.

Yeah. And as they do this performance, we get a flashback to 20 years ago before Enuo was born. So we see his mom pregnant, like, singing to her tummy. His brothers have already been born, and his father is out practicing a dance, and he's really struggling with it when he hears a voice in his head asking what he desires. And we did see a little bit of this at the beginning, but I didn't get to write it down because it was just starting, and I didn't want to be taking notes right away.

Yeah. I also say the beginning is a lot going on. It's a lot of set dressing and world building. And then we get to the boys, and it's like, okay, here's the main story. This is calmer now.

Yeah, but so he pulls out this box that has bloody handprints on it, and there's this crazy spooky mask inside that's, like, purple and wrinkly, and the eyes are huge and have spirals in them, and there's, like an entity in this mask that's like, what do you desire? Tell me what you want. And he says, I want to be the biggest star. So the mask tells him of the hakis spirits and that their stories have yet to be told and that only the bwa priests know them. So we kind of before this anyway, the Shogun says some things that make you think that he is kind of the one, like, ordering hits on these biwa priests that know the Haiki stories because he wants to keep it, like, hush hush because it makes him look bad. But it's at this point, it's revealed that it is Enuo's father who was killing these biwa priests. Because he's convinced that if he does that this mask will somehow let him know the stories of the spirit it's instead. And he'll get to perform these songs and become a star. Yeah. So he's the one killing these guys. But even after that, that's not enough. So whatever entity is in the mask says he wants the innocence of his unborn child. So he gives it. And that's why he knew oh is so fucking ugly. That's why he looked like that when he was born. It's all his dad's fault. Isn't it always?

Surprise, surprise.

Ugly dad, ugly child. You know what they say?

Yeah. And the performance is going on and Enuo's father is kind of watching from a further building and he's upset. And he's like, why is this happening? Why is my weird kid becoming the star and I'm not? And the entity is like, do you want more? And he says, yeah, I want you to fucking kill that guy out there. Kill that monster. Kill my son. And the entity says, well, that would destroy what you've already given me. And that won't do. So instead, he just fucking explodes Enuo's father. It was gross that I loved it.

Inuo'S guardian Spirit, who also cursed him as a baby.

Yeah. And I had this moment because it.

Was like such a set up to, like ironic, like monkey pog curl because you didn't get the thing. And then it's like in your final ironic. Are you going to be a cursed spirit forever? No, you're going to explode in just.

A pool of blood.

I'm going to explode you with my mind. I had this moment when we were driving home after the movie where I was like, well, you know, like, the entity did give him the stories of the spirits. He just gave them to his son. And he didn't listen to his son. So it's his fault that he didn't nurture his son into being the performer that he could be.

And we did see he was the very famous performer of that town that the shogun went to and requested. So for 20 some years or whatever, he was the star. He was the most famous.

Yeah. So the moment is coming where Enuo is going to take off his mask. And literally just before he takes it off, he gets pretty hooray face.

He turns into the literal joker.

Yeah, he's got makeup on his face.

It's all white face paint and, like, green highlights and green spiky hair. I was like, oh, no.

So that's it. The curse is lifted. It's finished. His ugly curse. But after that performance, the troop is attacked and must be disbanded because the songs are in a front to the show gun. And there was, like an old man who was, like, telling his side of, like, the war. And they were like, these are going to be the approved texts for, like, the haki history, essentially. So they were like, okay, that guy's done. So now we have to get rid of these people who have been telling the real stories because we don't want that.

History is written by the victors.

So they're attacking the troop. tamona runs to the priests and asks what's going on, and they explain that only the approved Haiki songs may be performed. And he says, but these are Enuo's songs. Like, they can't take this away from us. And someone tells him that Enuo has already agreed. So they come grab him, but he won't give up. They try to stab him, but Tennisi is still there, and he hops in the way and gets stabbed instead.

Pretty stabbed now.

And Tomoari loses it, and the guys grab him and he's taken away. And I forget if this scene happens, I guess it doesn't matter the order, but we see that he's beaten really badly, his legs are broken, and they sit him in front of the whole village. They're all standing on the bridge, and he's below with the I don't even know what to call them, the shogun's hit men. And he's still trying to say, like, don't listen to the stories these people are going to tell you because they're not true. And they behead him in front of everyone in the village. And then we see like I said, I forget the order, but we see Inuo with the shogun, and the shogun tells him, like, you're only going to perform these approved haki songs now. And we can see that he's angry. So we understand that Inuo did not approve of that before. That guy told tomo ari that he did, but there's this, like, really chilling yeah. tomari is beheaded, and then it's completely silent, and there's this shot of Inuo performing with all of these cherry blossoms around. And in my head, I'm just like, oh, it's because his music is gone. That's how I interpreted it.

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. I didn't even put that together.

Yeah.

With the shogun being he kind of swallows his pride, be like, Fine, I won't perform songs. I got other stuff, but I still got my buddy. He's like, Also, you're not allowed to see the beat up priest ever again. He's like, that's the breaking point.

Yeah. And then we're back to the beginning of the movie with this Japanese street, and we see tamari as, like this just disheveled, like, almost mummified looking spirit. And he's just sitting there like, I don't know how long it's been. How long have I been like this? And then Enuo spirit comes and finds him and says, I've been searching for you for 600 years, and he's still in his pretty form. But then they're, like, both young again, and he's back into his ugly gourd boy phase, and tomo ari is young again, and they do another little afterlife jam session. And that's how the movie ends.

Yeah. eno says he had trouble finding him because rita. tomo ari is about to be headed. He yells out, I'll always be tomo NA from this, like, seaside village. So he kind of reclaims his original name at the very end. That is why eno can't find him.

I've chilled again.

It's great. It's very well done.

This man Masahaki was up here doing it like nobody else. So, yeah, that's the movie. I'm really glad that we all saw it. How did you guys feel about it?

Yeah, right off the bat. Are we there yet? Yeah, it's rad as fuck. This is hell. Yeah. There are definitely those issues with pacing. And I feel like the linear narrative is just very jumbled, at least for an initial viewing, because there were at the very beginning, we get montage flashes. And as the movie went on, I was like, oh, from the beginning. So I assume round two is going to be much more coherent, but just going in and seeing it at face value, I was like, every time I thought I caught a thread of what the main story was going to be, they changed it. And I was like, Sorry, I don't really know what's going on until, like, the last bit of the movie, but it was a thrill the entire time. Just hard to follow.

Yeah, sure. And I meant to read this at the beginning, but the morning I found out about it, I watched the trailer and there's this review that they quote that says, brilliantly, intense and unhinged, the best feudal, Japanese hair metal, demonic Kerr, serial killer, political tragedy, rock upper of.

The year, and that he sent us that review. I'm like, I don't know what this is. I'm in whatever he said.

And, I mean, that's what it is. It's only like an hour and a half. But they do get all that in there.

Yeah, because at the beginning, they're like, there's two warring nations and both are trying to be Shogunuts, and they're trying to get these three magical regalia treasures. And if you can gain, like, some of the treasures, they all claim ownership of the shogunut and stuff, and it's like, okay, cool. And that's the civil war with the hika clan. That's all done in, like, four minutes at the very beginning, and then none of it really comes into play ever again. Like, because we just skip ahead 300 years later. So I'm just kind of like, oh, that's that's a dense beginning.

Yeah, because they introduce it like, the goal of the war is once these three artifacts are returned to either side, that side wins the war. It's like, okay, so that's the plot of the movie. Get the artifacts back to one side or the other. Right. No, you see some artifacts, but no, it doesn't.

Yeah, it still looks really good.

It's no surprise the man has phenomenal style, incredibly fluid, like, with eno's very long arm, and just his dance is just incredibly trying to think of the right word, like fluid with emotion and stuff. And just very there were times where I was noticing some people's faces where I'm like, oh, they do, like the little dot eyes and smile mouth. Like Adventure Time, almost, because we talked about it before with like ping pong or like, oh, it's not the prettiest aesthetic, but it's the most fluid animation style for the motion.

Yeah.

That they want to convey. The motion is the important part of this, I bet. And of course, they nail it.

The character designer for this is the same as the character designer for ping pong.

Makes perfect sense, 100%.

With his other movies like lou Over the Wall and The Night of Short Walk On Girl. Those look more like Tatami Galaxy. I feel like you can still tell it's masakiuasa, but the style is different. It's a little more like traditional anime pretty, but the proportions are more realistic. And there are ugly moments.

They're nursing, but it's like intentional. It's not lack of skill or quality.

Yeah. Like whenever tomona is singing, these close ups of his face and his teeth are like really detailed and not perfect showed on my spit. Not perfect. That's the thing.

Rotesque natural realism is like how I would explain it, where it's like it's showing detail into like, okay, these are real imperfections of a person. I'm going to draw this person with not the perfect set of teeth, and we're going to focus on it a lot, but we're going to spend so much detail and attention and fluidity to it. It's going to look beautiful even though it's not the prettiest picture.

Yeah. And I think this ends ping pong. People will look at it and we've talked about this too. People will look at it and be like, immediately turned off. Because it's not I don't know. I understand why masakiwas'stuff like this isn't necessarily popular. Because for at least in America, the mainstream anime viewer isn't going to want to watch this just based on looks alone. Yeah, but people should really give it a fucking chance.

Well, you know that old saying, judge every book by its cover and never read it?

Oh, yeah. Because this is really good. And I stand by ping pong being like, the best anime I've watched. So. Yeah. I loved this. This was really good.

Yeah, it was really great.

And I do got to bring it up because I mean, you know what show you're listening to? This was fuck right?

Did you all queer anything? Yes. Queer. Yeah. When it was over, I looked at Paul and I said, that was gay.

The scene of them and the cherry blossom garden drinking the socket between each other and stuff. I was like, these boys love each other.

Yeah. And I think I did just notice the similarity between their love and smile and Peko's love as we were recording.

And I said, that even came with tatami galaxy because I ended up finishing that series. I forget both of the characters names, but the main character and the shitty one that was ruining his life in every scenario. I don't know. The shitty one, I think, has a girlfriend in every scenario. But the main boy, super, loves him. Yeah, it's very clear because he keeps coming back to this guy who ruins his life. But there's something pulling it back to him every time. So I'm like, yeah, it's a trend in his stories.

Yeah. And we're going to read it as them being like, in love because it's very easy to do so.

Yeah.

But even if it is just like a story that he's trying to tell of like surplus honor, like male male friendship, that's really important too. And it's so great, so great to see. I love this man at his work.

He's phenomenal.

For me, specifically, it wasn't even like romance between the two leads that I was picking up on specifically with how much focus is given to names and finding your identity and conflict.

Yeah.

What really caught me, like, okay, this is queer from the beginning was when tamona goes and joins the monks and then he has to change his name. And his dad goes to him and says, no, you have to honor us by keeping your birth name. And you can't change your name for the life you live now. And then immediately after that conversation, he meets Enuo and he's like, yeah, hey, what's your name? I don't know. I'm kind of between names. Do you have a name? He's like, yeah, I'm enuo. Everyone treats me like shit. I have to find my own identity because no one's going to give me a loving name. So fuck it. I'm going to pick the name that makes me happy. It's like, yes, great. Cool. And I specifically noticed the bwa priest referred to monica. Sorry, Chad. To go through the three lot of names with they them pronouns, even though most other people referred using hem pronouns. And we do see femininity start to be addressed after tomonari. So lots of that stuff I was like, oh, very explicit. Like, we get representation of inuo. We mentioned the disabled people break dancing and getting into it. Yeah. This is a show for us. This is the commoners show. We're all partying together. We're not pretty dancing, but we're getting the fuck down because we're having a good time. Yes, I love it. This is all great, good stuff. Very queer.

Yeah, this shit fucking ruled. And I don't think at the point this episode comes out, people might be able to see it in theaters anymore. But if you can go and if it's not in theaters anymore, like, keep an eye out.

Find it somewhere. Find them online or streaming somewhere.

It's definitely worth watching.

The whole time out. Whole time I was thinking, I was like, oh, what's your name? I don't know. My name is Kevin, but I'm thinking about changing it. What's your name? My name is Dogkin. That's sick. That's radical person.

I don't know who is fucking person I've ever met.

You're just like yeah, something like weird. You meet at, like, a bar at 03:00 A.m. In New York City. It's like, this person is my spirit guide.

My name's toe socks.

Fuck you. Hell yeah. It's great. It's absolutely wonderful. We bar there.

We bar there.

Guys, it's bangers or banger. No notes.

Well, if you got a banger you want us to watch, hopefully we don't need to pay money for it all the time on the street like this one. You can send those recommendations to our email, are we there yet@gmail.com? Or reach out to us on Twitter or instagram or TikTok at are we there yet? On all three. I'll get a new, less clunky way to say that in the future you.

Can find me on instagram and tik tok at honey. Period d or on Twitter at honey d eight and honey dart. And Honey is spelled H-U-N-N-I-E. Find me on Twitter.

Abts printed stands for almost better than silos, which is a video game podcast I used to do.

Thank you to kameo ruley for our artwork. And thank you to Louis zong for our theme song stories. You can find all of Louis music at Louisong bandcamp.com. Thank you and we hope you'll join us next week as we learn to live with anime.

The man's done it again. What will he do next?

He made queen. Plus pennywise.

Music. You.