Hello and welcome to our week. There yet an exploration and education in anime. I am your anime idiot, patrick dugan.

I'm an anime expert. dana Holland.

I'm brenda mccully. Your animate Joseph Smith, because I'm just about as religious as he is.

Wow.

Shot fire.

Okay. Wow.

So scam.

I'll apologize to our mormon listeners if we have any. My best friend is mormon.

Anyway, one thing to address before we get too deep into it, this is the first time we're all recording in the same room.

We've never been in person before.

Yeah, we were internet strangers.

I found you guys on craigslist.

Oh, no.

Hey, who wants to talk about anime?

A bunch.

That's probably the second most terrifying craigslist that I've ever seen.

Oh, wow.

So, yeah, we have a little bit of an unusual choice for today. We are in the thick of the holiday season. So we figured let's get topical. Let's stick to it for the month of December, or at least starting this week, because last week was not at christmassy.

He had the holy spirit in him.

That was an alien let Jesus inside me.

That's why he should have named that little worm dude. But look at you do. So this week, what are we watching?

We're watching St. Lee young Men, which is what I always call it, but apparently it's just st young men.

Yeah, I like our version better.

Yeah. Also I said last week, oh, we're going to watch the first three episodes without knowing that it's not a series. There are 220 minutes, they call them obas and then a movie. So we're going to watch the movie.

To be fair, though, the movie I have heard is kind of broken up as if it is three episodes. So it'll work like it is a show.

Yeah.

We'll jury regret and get it to be good forethought.

Planning ahead.

Honestly, I don't have any experience with this at all. Just that I've seen stuff on tumblr and been like, that looks silly.

Brendan, have you seen any of this.

Or I've seen snippets and images of it when it first came out because it's just like Jesus the anime. So everyone was all on board, but that's about all I know.

All right, so it's not the first time we've all gone in blind, but it's still nice to all be going.

In level playing field.

We'll have the Lord to guide us. He'll be our shepherd.

Oh, wow. This is going to get weird.

Going to get religious real quick. Well, let's watch the film and dive on in. We get those nice Christmas Eve. I wasn't expecting that from the buddy God movie.

This is like the freshest breath of air I could have ever taken. My brother once asked me what it must feel like in overwatch when people get health packs when they're on really low health.

I thought you were gonna say this is what it feels like to chew five Gum. This episode is brought to you by Five Gum.

Go buy some gum flavorize. I don't know.

Put Buddha in your mouth.

That's a bad gum. But yeah, this was much more wholesome than I thought it was going to be because I am so used to like, oh, it's cartoon religious figures. Let's make a maraunchi and family guy. It up in here. But this was just straight up delightful spoiler. I really like this.

Much more pure than I was expecting of just like not even like the standard trophy slice of life, like, quote, drama happens that, like, to make a show interesting, they always say you need conflict of some kind. There really isn't much, and when there.

Is, it's just absolutely stupid.

Yeah, it's silly.

Like a sitcom.

Yeah. All surprised.

It's nice to not have the stakes be like, sky High and actually get some sweet friendship stories.

Yeah, we should watch Sky High sometime.

We already watched My Hero like a danger shit.

Too late. So yeah, let's dive in there's like the main premise of it that we can just throw out there of Jesus and Buddha who are friends up in heaven, I guess.

Yeah. I don't know where Buddha hangs.

The vague idea of heaven where all gods are. They wanted a vacation, so they decided, hey, let's go down to Earth. Let's sneak out for a year and let's just live human life for a little bit. Let's see how that goes. Yeah, it apparently went fine for Jesus last time.

But yeah.

So they are in tachikawa city in Japan. They just get an apartment at the beginning of the year and decide they're going to stay until New Year's.

Yeah, I love it. I'm just going to say it now that I love that it's broken up into seasons and that each season has like that little end card of like, we had a nice time in spring and it's just like so cute.

Yeah. I didn't realize how episodic it was going to get seasonally and I figured it would more of a plot would develop because they're like, oh, we have to be stealthy, we have to stay undercover. And you sort of get the hints of people saying, hey, something's going on here. But we didn't get what I assumed would be like, the neighbors are all up in arms. The government gets involved somehow, or something like that.

But I was definitely expecting bump into each other at the supermarket romance blossoming with one of the characters and then they have to hide the fact of like, no, lose the person that's interested in you. They can't find out we're gods.

Yeah, I kind of I love that that didn't happen only because they're both religious figures and it's not canon for them to do something like that. And I like that they didn't make it. Even though they are like young men, they're not given those gross characteristics. They're still just absolutely wholesome.

They're pure.

Yeah.

But yeah.

So one of the first things that they go and do is they go to Tokyo Disney or oh, the girls.

In the convenience store, johnny depp.

Sorry, I skipped over that.

It's completely inconsequential, but so funny.

There is a callback later, but it definitely has a worst taste to it as a joke now that Johnny depth just gone full blown off the deep end recently in the last season. But it is funny because when he hears that Jesus starts speaking in English to the court, he's like, excuse me, I'd like to purchase this magazine. And it's about Johnny death. Like, it's a movie magazine. So it is funny how he just kind of, like, leans into it hard. I'm just like, yeah, so he's already silly.

I think I am a celebrity and not the Son of God.

And then Buddha goes out and tries to get some attention. I think that's why he goes out. And then when he gets back, he's like, people thought I was Buddha.

Weird.

Not wrong.

He gave it away.

The earlobes, the dot, the weird hair.

That's a running charge movie.

Anyway, we'll get there.

So yeah, they decide to go to, quote unquote, Tokyo Disney, or I think it was just Tokyo USA Land.

Perfect.

With a rabbit mascot.

Yeah.

It was just so good. I can't say much else beyond it's just so nice. Jesus tricks Buddha into going on to Black Thunder Mountain, which is just like the Splash Mountain Drop thrill ride. And Buddha is not at all down for thrill rides and wants to get out of it immediately, but they've already waited in line. Jesus is so excited for it that he decides to be a good friend and just make it through.

Whenever I go on Splash Mountain, I'm always like, I like this ride, right? And then as it's going, I'm like.

Oh, God, what have I gotten myself into?

Oh, yeah.

Fun animals.

The laughing place.

The smart thing, too, of telling him what the ride is right as they're about to get on. He is home before no, too late to get on now.

Like a real friend.

Yeah.

Also, the, like, ride attendant, once they, like, get in and are strapped in, is like, oh, by the way, you shouldn't be on this ride if you have a heart condition, if you are over 80 years old. And buddha's like, several thousand years. But it bugged me more that she said it once they're all already on. And then she was like, all right, don't ride this if you're old or have heart condition. By just sends the ride.

I thought I was like, oh, it'd be obvious if they were over 80, like, even though they're God's. And it's not that's the joke, but I was like, yeah, I guess a heart condition wouldn't be obvious if you just dress on. And I'm like good luck. That's a lawsuit.

Imagine someone just being like, I'm out of here. Excuse me. pardon me, please. You already sent it. Sorry.

Don't move my body.

So Buddha is so freaked out. He goes into, like, a meditative state and just starts chanting to himself to get him through it. And Jesus is like, hey, you're freaking out everyone on this ride. What are you doing? And just seeing Buddha in this, like, tranquility after he was freaking out, jesus starts to really get anxious as they go up the hill, and then they drop. And the photo everyone's admiring Buddha because they're like, he looks so calm. That's the most relaxed I've ever seen someone on this horrid.

He must be a coaster enthusiast.

I think it's just he's fully embraced the idea that he'll die at this exact moment. It's like, all right, I guess this is happening. And that's exactly when the picture got taken.

It's lovely.

I think he was chanting. They said a sutra, which I believe is like a buddhist. I think it's kind of like a death prayer to help the passage of.

The dead, which is why the people.

Behind him were also paranoid of like, oh, that's a very specific prayer. That guy in front of us is chanting, are we going to die? So it wasn't just praying for the sake of praying. It was a specific passes on our way.

I did not pick up on that.

Mythology class is paying off.

Finally.

I drove to hang for a college. Anyway. Oh, I did want to point out when we're walking around the amusement park, we do see a very iconic parody of the walt Disney statue. And he's holding hands with mickey and Rabbit, but the walt Disney characters and just a full on elvis suit. Super glamorized.

It was nuts looking because they were going for just vague.

Yeah.

This is america.

That's true. So they get off the ride.

Yeah. And Buddha wants to get a souvenir. But the night parade is about to start.

Classic Disney dilemma.

Oh, she has to say, when they were waiting in line for the thrill ride, jesus even said, I've had a few angels come to me from rides like this. So straight up admitting, yeah, people die on me. Just, like, not helping Buddha at all.

Yeah. But Jesus, being the good friend he is is like, yeah, we can go look at souvenirs. Because in his mind, he's like, I made him go on that ride he didn't want to go on. And they go into the souvenir shop, and then Jesus just is wigging out, and he starts bleeding from his face.

It's his stigmata acting up again.

I'll make that cut.

And buddha's like, oh, man, you wanted to watch the night Parade because you.

Could have to endure. For me, Jesus is just like, no.

I've been too selfish already. This is all because of me. I want you to have fun, too. And buddha's like, hey, because you're selfish. You are the one who said that we should go on this vacation. I'm following you. You have the fun instincts, because in the traditional Odd Couple, buddha is the uptight, very frugal one, and Jesus is just down to party and do all.

The fun stuff, and I just love that.

Yeah, we find out that I thought it was whenever he lied, he started bleeding from the head because he's still wearing his crown of thorns, which is a weird choice. Yeah, I know. That's part of Jesus's whole lore in history.

Lore? Jesus lore.

Yeah, you know, like a dnd character. But yeah, I was surprised to see that. I guess it's an easy way to identify, but yeah, they played into that, where it's whenever he's stressed out, I suppose, or, like, paranoid, he starts believing and everyone sees it, so yeah, they end up going to the parade, and it's, you know, a Disney parade.

Yeah. I don't know if you guys have ever seen the Main Street Electrical Parade. It looks like that they pretty much.

Just did that, and I forget what Buddha was talking I think it was when Buddha was telling Jesus, like, you wanted this vacation. I'm following you. Your selfishness, like, what you saw, the selfishness was actually helping us unwind and leading us to a better time. So it's actually good that you did this. And he's kind of being I guess I forget the word virtuous is what he's called. And I guess in buddhism, like, when he's very virtuous, he close and his head just starts lighting up and it starts drawing a lot of attention since that night. And it's very obvious now, is this.

Part of the parade, people say, and.

To cover up so they don't blow their coverage, jesus just takes a plastic bag from the superhero shop and just throws it over buddha's head, like, hey, Jesus, don't do that. That kills people.

I know when you were last year.

Plastic wasn't a thing, but I got a deal.

Be very careful with it. There's a lot for you to learn.

So to try and stop him from glowing, he's thinking, like, I got to make him less virtuous. How do I do that? And he's looking around, and they're both God, so it doesn't come naturally for him. And he sees one of the performers on the floor in a tinkerbell costume, and he just gets kind of a sheepish and leans over to Buddha and says, the tinkerbell costume is true to the original length, like her skirt. And they both get just very bashful, and the glowing stops. So Jesus is a filthy berm.

No, he's resourceful.

That's a better way of putting it, I guess.

Trying to help his friend.

But I like, that was the first thing he could find, and yeah, then they just ride back on the train back home in complete violence.

Yeah. Not looking at one another.

No, don't talk about it.

So next we get a glimpse of their everyday life. The neighbors are a little bit suspicious because these are two men who just don't work. And they pass the landlady, who's like, are you going to your job? And they're like, no, we're both on vacation.

Okay, bye.

So this is where the seeds of oh, a subplot is a brewing. That's where I thought it was heading. And then it's fine.

It's all plant the seeds. And the seeds promptly die.

But they are looking for a supermarket because Buddha, who is being extra frugal with their vacation budget, is looking for this amazing sale where you can get tissues for ¥98.

Yeah, I was like, oh, is like the whole store having a sale? Are they going to get groceries and stuff? And then they got there and I was like, just tissues.

Just tissues.

He only went there for tissues.

But it's a sale. Oh, earlier, before they left for the market, jesus is just like lying on the floor. And it's kind of like rolling around on it. He's like, oh, man, it feels great. And I'm like, she's just high. Like, is he just like super out there? And like, oh, man, everything feels great.

See, I thought they were going with he is very drunk right now because he also turns his water bottle into wine.

Well, that's the thing. I guess Buddha makes a pun accidentally, accidentally saying like, oh, that doesn't match her because Jesus is rolling around on the mat. And then Jesus starts laughing and points it out. And when he gets excited and makes the pun, jesus's thorn crown, sprouts and roses. And then that's when he turns his water bottle into wine. And I was like, when Jesus makes puns, miracles happen. For me. It's a miracle if I don't make the pun.

It's a miracle if you don't get punched.

It's a bigger concern now that we're all recording. Person punch, punch, punch.

I'm going to hit it. So they are off looking for the supermarket. They get lost because there are just so many similar shops in this neighborhood they're in. And we pass by these kids that Buddha sees previously in that first scene when Buddha goes out to get his recognition after the Johnny, apparently some kids were bullying him and like pressing the spot on his forehead. And he runs into the kids and he gets super scared that they're going to keep bullying. And this grown adult God is just so terrified that the retailer's size that they're going to beat up on.

Oh, they also stop by a vending machine. My interjections and notes are mostly just dumb observations, not really relevant to the plot. So sorry in advance.

I mean, there's not much plot. It's all dumb observation.

They'll say my points of interest aren't much better. They see vending machine and they just see like this weird crank in there. And I looked it up as, like, moto dare, which is like a sweet, thicken soy sauce used for, like, soup.

It's like the bronze of, like, soups a lot.

And that's why they were kind of like, do people just drink this? And they were kind of, like, wondering about it. And I guess it was just like a quick vending machine of like, hey, you want to make ramen real fast? Here you go. But I made a note of it because the price of it was $400 and ¥20.

Are they looking at the drink or are they looking at the 420? I didn't look it up. So I literally have a note that just says, I don't understand the joke.

Yeah, I let it go. I was like, some Japanese thing. I don't get shopping. That's most of the stuff I watch. That's this piestyle.

They ran into that old man at that shop, and he was like, if you eat these buns, you'll reach salvation or whatever. And they're like, we're good.

We've done that.

But they're pretty gullible, oblivious, naive on earth that they are sucked into the gimmick.

But they get a tasty treat. Yeah, but Buddha is just getting super anxious because they're super late to the sale.

Yeah. And the children just make it worse.

So in order to pass by the kids without them noticing, buddha triggers a miracle where he makes, as they pass by a pet store, all the fish in the shop just, like, jump up out of their tanks in unison. And everyone is so amazed by these jumping fish that they sneak past.

We got to keep our cover low. But also, I don't want to confront any children, so I'm going to cast a miracle real quick as a divergent.

Just give me a SEC. Hold on. They make it to the grocery store or market, whatever.

Yeah.

And unfortunately, the tissues are gone.

All sold out.

All sold out. And Buddha blames himself because he was also looking at a nintendogs type game. And he was like, oh, I've always wanted to play this.

And then Jesus got distracted by the little gotcha pond vending machines. Come on, me rider. And I was just like, Jesus is a weeb. Confirmed.

Confirmed.

I mean, if you read the Bible, I'll look up some weebly scripture that we can post with this episode.

Oh, God. You know, there's a Jesus body pillow out there that exists. It's got.

Anyway.

Supermarket.

So buddha's like, it's fine. It's karma. Everything that happened led us to getting this also on sale dicon. So we'll cook this up for dinner. So of course, he leaves and sees a small food vendor across the street. And even cheaper, less on not even on sale is another cheaper dicon. And he is so hurt, so personally wounded, that he starts, like, praying in the streets because he'll only go to this grocery now. He will never stray too far.

And then, like, a little lady starts praying with him or something because he.

Is clearly being Buddha in the street.

Yeah.

Thank the Lord.

And it's just like, Buddha in the street, Jesus. But I wasn't sure because while he's, like, praying, jesus is trying to, like, shoe away the woman like, no, he's not working right now.

He's offduty.

He's literally saying that. And they're, like, trying to keep cover. I just did air quotes.

They saw it, but I think she might be the only one that actually caught on that they were actually gods. Or if she was just praying with him because she's buddhist, I wasn't too sure.

And then they're walking back and they see a bathhouse.

Exotic JUPAN exotic Japan.

Jesus keeps saying that throughout the are.

They going to go in the bath house? I hope they do, because they passed a barber earlier, and they were kind of talking about getting haircuts. And I was like, please.

There'S a running thing where since buddha's hair is so tight to his head, everyone's like, is that actually hair? Can that be cut? How does he do it?

Because I think they sell hats in similar styles of that. So people think because even at the Disney World amusement park, they buy little ears like animals. And the girl at the store keeps trying to scan buddha's hair, thinking it was like some sort of hat or something. But that's what surprised me, because Jesus says, like, oh, no, that's his hair. And then throughout the rest of the movie, Jesus will ask, is that really his hair? Or like, what's up with his hair? It's like, don't you already know?

You addressed it earlier.

Yeah, so that just gives me a bed.

Yeah, but they do go in the bathroom, and it's like, revitalizing. And they have such a nice time. And they walk home and they're just, like, holding their heads high, and they're just, like, completely relaxed.

And that'll do it for the spring.

They go flower viewing.

Sorry, that won't do it for the spring. I go flower viewing.

It's like my dream to go cherry blossom viewing. So this really did it for me. Yes, flower viewing.

Live vicariously through you.

That's what it feels like. And earlier, I think while they're walking to the store, there are just some scenes of them walking that feel very I've never been to Japan, but like, that feel very real. And it just all feels very, like, homey. And I just love it. It makes me want to go to Japan because it's just like, oh, this looks great.

When I saw them at the end slate of them at the flower peeling, when I first looked at me like, so much shipsies, too. So much. All this movie chips up the most delicious ship of all. The blasphemy ship.

Will send you to hell.

Absolutely confer in two religions, maybe more.

So that'll bring us to the summer. We get the little end slate of them being like, hey, spring was great. Here's our memories. And then we jump up to summer. You can tell because there is a man, like, walking a dog and like a tank top, and he is just sweating up a storm.

Too hot.

Hot damn. Wow.

Instinctual just like so quick on them. They naturally go to a pool to.

Cool off because there's like, no air in their apartment. So we get the stunning realization that Jesus can't swim.

Love it.

I mean, he doesn't need to, though.

He can walk on water. It's so funny.

Yeah, they specifically said, yeah, I walked on water because I can't swim. And that was just more practical than doing anything else.

Yeah, he saved some people on a ship and he's like, since I couldn't swim, I just ran there for 5 km. We don't know how far that is because we're American, but I assume it's far.

This was the thing that made me laugh the most. I think just the fact that Jesus can't swim. And he's just like, it's fine.

In modern baptism, we get a flashback of John baptizing him, and he's like, yeah, put your head under the water, Jesus. And he's like, can we do something else? I'm scared.

I can't do that. I'm not good with that. So John just pours the water over his head lightly. He's like, can I close my eyes too? And I'm like, yeah, okay. Be a baby.

So, yeah, I do love that this anime movie rewrote some scripture and how just Jesus works. This is how I'm doing this figure from now on. Just afraid of water.

He walks on water because he can't swim.

That's fair.

So Buddha, being the ultimate buddy, teaches him to swim in this pool.

Yeah.

So he starts by saying, yeah, just poke your head underwater. Open up your eyes. And then Jesus gets so stressed out that he starts to bleed. So there's blood in the pool.

I thought at first this was him turning the entire pool to wine.

That's what was happening.

Yeah, I thought they were going to do another one of those jerks, but they did. So then he gets over that. And then the next step is to actually putting his head underwater completely. And Jesus, I kind of give himself a pep talk and talking it over and kind of get himself psyched upward. He finally does. He takes a big breath and it just drops into the water. And it splits like Moses. It just separates the entire pool and up into 10ft tall walls of water. And I love that. To one guy, that was like swimming laps in the pool just like, falls out of it, looking around like, what the hell just happened? And buttigieg is kind of like, Jesus, come back. Or blowing our cover rocks, like, put it down.

Because Jesus has his eyes closed. He's like, this is so much easier than I thought. It would be, yeah, but it was.

Like, open your eyes. And he's like, no, I'm not ready for that.

But he's talking perfectly fine.

He doesn't question well. He's never had his head underwalk, I guess.

Yeah, he wouldn't know.

So they decide to get out of there before they get caught. They go into the sama, and Buddha is enjoying the community. And Jesus is also enjoying the community because he starts to befriend someone next to him with a big old Buddha tattoo on his back, which Buddha, seeing it immediately is like, Jesus, this guy is Yakuza.

Summer was so funny. This was so funny.

Yeah, this is just the peak. It is so good because naturally the Yakuza member is like, hey, I see your scars. What gang jumped you in?

He was just like, oh, this was when I got crucified. He didn't even lie about it. You got crucified? Like, what jail did you go to? And he was like, he said something along those lines. But he was like, oh, I got out in three days. And he was like, why? And he was like, it was the will of my father and the yacht. The member was just like, what?

You didn't tell me your dad was a mob boss that could spring you out of prison after three days. I'm so sorry to disrespect you. Please don't kill me.

I was losing it.

He's like, sorry for talking. So familiar with you thinking he was just another Yakisa thug. He's like, you got out in three days just because your dad wanted it? Damn, you're a head honcho. And he starts bowing. I'm sorry to be so disrespectful and casual. He's like, if you need to, please take my pinky, like to just cut it off. She's just like, nah, man, it's cool. Like, relax. And Buddha and everyone else in the song on our just freaking out because the guys of Yakuza member, they think.

There'S just going to be a gang war starting between these two people talking.

Oh, God. The yakuza take off. Jesus, let's make that movie.

That'D be so good.

Oh, God.

All the special effects. So that happens.

Yes.

And then they go back to their lockers to change into their clothes. And when Buddha opens his locker, he gets really upset. And Jesus is like, what happened? Did you forget your undies? And Buddha was like, no, it didn't. Give me my ¥100 piece back. That was the moment where I was like, wow, he is very frugal, very cheap.

I mean, he's Buddha. He's been so detached from all possession.

Well, he actually says, I wouldn't be as concerned about or something alongside. I didn't write it down. Something alongside. I wouldn't be concerned about it if all the offerings in my name actually went right to me. Kind of hinting at, like, maybe it goes to the temple first. And then whatever is left goes to him. So he's kind of saying. Like, hey, I'm not getting that much in offerings.

I am poor.

I'm kind of poor. And I think this is where they get their money from because they say they're on vacation, they're not working. So I was like, where do they get money? And I guess it's through offerings. So, yeah, because the temples kind of skim some maintenance fees off the top to keep the temple up and running.

Incense is not cheap.

It is not. So Jesus instead offers, like, hey, we kind of had a trouble in the pool. You were freaking out in the sauna kind of because of me. It makes you feel better. Take the hunch again, and I'll just buy you an ice cream for it. Yeah, so just says, like, I'll get that hunch again that you lost from a locker, and I'll just buy an ice cream with it and put it just on something. Well, if you're offering, maybe I can get a Buddha manga instead. And I was kind of like, all right, wait a minute. Jesus offers ice cream, and you try and level up into comics, slowly roll their Buddha.

And Jesus is like, that's not I.

Didn'T agree to that.

It's not as inexpensive.

And you've also read them, apparently.

Yeah, the buddhist is just like, I love the fresh feeling of getting it. It's like I'm reading it as it comes out.

Yeah, relatable.

So then they go to comedian store nearby to pick up their ice cream, and you see the shopkeep kind of freak out for a second, and he kind of goes with Buddha. You see him whisper in his ear for a bit. It zooms out, and Buddha is still in his towel from the pool. And sauna, he didn't actually get changed.

He got so distracted by the money issues that he's just walking around like a paraver.

I didn't have the slightest clue I was being an exhibitionist. And they kind of joke around saying, like, oh, I guess Jesus even says, I didn't even realize you weren't any regular clothes, because he had a towel around his waist and then over his shoulder, which is kind of the traditional garb of Buddha or how he's often depicted. So he's kind of like, I guess we were just so you see it looking like that. We didn't notice. But then we find out the shopkeeper even a little later, the shopkeeper seems to be the only one suspicious of them. And he keeps track of every time they come in, what their shirts say.

I love that.

And it's much later, but we find out that Buddha makes all of their shirts.

You just screen prints them because he doesn't want to buy any clothes.

Yeah, so it just says it's all in Japanese. So I didn't read most of them, but someone just said, like, babble, and there was, like, a fish and like a multiplication with Jesus. So I guess they're all just like religious related jokes. Yeah, something like that.

I love it.

Yeah, it's great.

I want all of them.

I'm sure someone sells them that's like.

In my hero academia, sometimes deku will be wearing a shirt with Japanese text on it and it says T shirt like that.

He's a very plain boy.

Yeah, but Buddha gets so embarrassed that he locks himself in the bathroom for 3 hours, which is again, relatable.

But yeah, he has to go into his Buddha state or whatever you want to call it, and just become so pleasant and give his Buddha smile and charm the shopkeep into not calling the cops on him for walking into the store naked.

Maybe naked. I assume he had the spoon trunks on underneath, but maybe still inappropriate.

No, they had showered.

That's right.

At the pool.

Because Buddha was watching his hair. And she's just like, I guess it is hair.

Talked more about hair.

Yeah.

Then they go to a festival, which is very nice.

Before we do that, we get another kid attack. And this is where we sort of introduce these kids as characters in the movie rather than vague people that walk by. So the kids now have a vendetta to just hit the spot on buddha's forehead and they have rubber bands on their fingers and they go in guns ablazing to get Buddha. But he literally matrix dodges and says.

It'S like that movie we just saw that old movie.

So he does like a backflip into like a crab walk. He's like, I dodged it. And then one of the kids die, just comes up and just shoots him with a squirt gun in his forehead. So he loses the bat.

Yeah, the children, I guess that one in particular. He's so bent on just ruining Buddha. That's not ridiculous.

I didn't know his name for a while, so I just kept calling him tintin because he said it's just a very simple face. Like the dot eyes. Yeah. And then they go to the festival.

Yeah.

Local shrine is having a festival.

And we see the kid is once again him and his two friends are bent on getting Buddha. And now they have actual rubber band guns that they've made with sticks. So we see like a good little small montage of them. Like Jesus and Buddha going around seeing the different stands while the kids are trying to shoot at him. And they keep missing. Or Buddha keeps happen stand chile coming out of the way, like right out of the brand coming at him.

My favorite part is when Jesus gets cotton candy stuck to his face because he thinks it's going to be like a cloud.

Yeah.

And then he says, this is judas level. The trial.

I wrote that down.

They kept doing this where the kids are talking to each other. I have the shot, I'm going in for it. And they're having a background conversation.

God damn Jesus.

Relax.

That one made me oddly like to fall when I was watching.

I love that.

There was another joke, another judas joke, when he was talking with the yakuza member where the yakuza guy was like, yeah, I went to jail, who one of my subordinates, like, ratted on me. And Jesus was like, yeah, I can relate.

Yeah. So this is a great moment. And then after the cotton candy booty gets shaved ice, which has, like, the syrup on top, and it's strawberry flavor. So as he's eating it, the syrup is getting around his mouth, and it's leaving just like a red ring around it. A booty gets all freaked out, like, oh, people can't see me like this. I'll look embarrassed. Jesus calls him and says, like, oh, you look like a hostess. Hey, Jesus.

Wow.

You're wrong. Relax.

Yeah. And then Buddha somehow had gotten cotton candy in his hair, so he's like, I want to take this bucket into the woods and clean my hair off. And Jesus is kind of like, okay, sure.

Go do that.

And the kids follow him, and they watch him clean his hair, which he has now let down. And it is very long and lustrous and beautiful, but not in. Like, the kids see him, and they freak out because they just see his face in, like, a cloud of darkness.

Yeah. It's not like a shampoo commercial where it's like hair flowing. It's like a void that encompasses all space and light around him.

Void hair.

Yeah, it's like enough hair to fill a one bedroom apartment level of unleashing. The beef freak out, and the kids, before the festival, they sort of hint at their reasoning for hunting down Buddha is they know he's weird, and they think he is an alien head alien.

Yeah.

So they are trying to hunt him down because it is their duty to protect the Earth. For some reason, having this unleashed hair just flowing does not help the kids.

Just confirms that this kid is picking on someone because they're different, because kids are little shits.

Yeah. So the main kid died. His friends give up. They're like, no, too much. It's too much. He's weird, and I don't want to deal with it anymore.

I don't want to be as abducted by a real, 100% real alien.

Yeah. And I was just like, sorry, kid, that your friends don't want to harass this complete stranger anymore. They're crying at this point too, though. I was just like, where are your parents?

Someone should be watching it. Yeah, because they're crying. It's like an emotional scene. I was like, it gets a little shit. Like, I feel bad for yeah.

So Jesus and Buddha somehow, I think because Jesus wanted to they're carrying the shrine.

Oh, well, they actually bump into the yakuza member at the local shrine Festival because I guess the yakuza have a stand, and they contribute to the community, I suppose.

They recruit people, and they're actually the.

Ones that gave food to the water to help watch out the color and the cotton candy from his hair so that Jesus is just, like, hanging out with his buddy now. And they're like, oh, they gave him, like, a robe that all the yakuza members are wearing, too. The buddha's kind of like, hey, maybe we shouldn't be dressing up with known yakuza members. This might be a bad idea.

And then the kid, he puts on a mask. He's like, I'll do it myself. And he has this weird, like, hero moment where he goes out from the crowd and up to the shrine, and he's going to shoot he's going to shoot Buddha. But then the rubber band snaps.

Oh, well, there's one. He has two guns, and he shoots the first one. And Jesus blocks it without realizing it because Buddha locks eyes with a girl while he's carrying the shrine. She's like, ew, gross. We just locked eyes. He's like, no, I'm not flirting with you. And Jesus just leans in and goes, hello there. In English. buddha's like, in his eye.

Johnny depp.

Yeah, budapest. Stop trying to do your Johnny depp impression. And she's kind of like, hey, you should be flirting with someone because then no one would suspect your Buddha like, we want to flirt, so let's do that. And then yeah, the second rubber band breaks when he goes to shoot it.

Yeah. And one of the yakuza members sees the kid, and he's like, oh, you want to carry the shrine? And so he had to pretend that that was what he wanted and that he wasn't just being a malicious little.

Child and not attacking a friend of the yakuza. That tends to not go great for people.

Yeah, kids. And so he's, like, trying to reach up for the shrine, but he can't quite reach it. And Buddha notices, and he's like, hey, guys, let's lower down so the kid can hold it. And I was like, oh, this had a nice ending. I'm so happy. And then it didn't. I wasn't happy anymore.

Yeah. So after the festival, everyone's leaving. The kid goes up to Buddha, and he's like, hey, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't be firing rubber bands at you because a real man would fight you face to face. And then just while he's up face to face with Buddha, just like, jabs him in the forehead with his finger. And he gets his win. He gets his jab at the festival.

Good for him, I guess.

I suppose I also wrote down after the trying thing, they go to another trying to get their fortunes told from a temple, and they get that little piece of paper that has their fortune on it. And both of them are like, extremely bad luck. Something about, like, you should know better at your age, and other ones stop getting sidetracked and stuff because I feel like we're kind of getting called out right now by the local god put this guy like, yeah, they know we're goofing off.

Love.

That was summer fall. They sort of skip through this I thought was the sweetest because all these people who are like, these weirdos, something's wrong. Why don't they have a job? Jesus and Buddha have not been seen in a while. And all the townspeople are like, hey, where are those weird guys?

Like the kids, they're like, where did they go?

Where'S my rival?

Yeah, Die actually has like a very emotional thing of like, oh, I scared him away, I hit him. And he didn't like it. And he went back to his home planet and all that. And then they meet up and turns out that they just went to a hot spring trip out of town. So they're back and still members of the town and the kid still wants to keep pressing on his forehead.

The boys are back in town. Wow, that would be a great song for the Montage. When we got there, that's just my opinion.

I was like looking at the time and I was like, it's not over.

You see like 20 minutes. So I was confused by that too, because yeah, we see them get like an envelope and they're just like, aha. And then they're gone. So like we we don't know what happened until they come back.

And the the yakuza member too was like, oh no, did he get caught? We have to get him out of jail. And then he calls someone really fast.

Yeah, the kids are going around with a little drawing they made and are asking about Buddha and Jesus. And the yakuza member hears that and he's like, what was the boss's son like? Jesus, they got pitched again. I'm going to get him out. And just goes and starts fighting cops. And he's being held back and he's like, Punjab. He's like repletely. I'll take his place.

Put me instead of it just like.

You'Re a bad yacht because I'm member but a good friend, a good devoted follower of Christ.

But that's pretty much fall. They go to a hot spring and we don't get to see it.

Yeah, which is kind of cute. Budget they couldn't animate all those hot springs.

Fall is the slow season in Japan. There's not a lot of festivals and.

Then we are in winter.

It's so nice. They won a Buddha statue at a local raffle, so they decorate that as their Christmas tree. And it's also very important to say that Jesus does not know what the holiday is celebrating.

I love it.

This is my favorite part.

He says Buddha is like, hey, do you know what Christmas is about? And he's like, yes, of course I do. It's when Santa learned reindeer propulsion so he could fly. And buddha's like, you sweet idiot, I'm going to throw you the best surprise birthday party because you have no idea it's coming because jesus is always up.

In heaven when this is being celebrated. So he's never actually experienced it on Earth.

He just said well, I mean, like, he he has realized that this happens. He said he looks down and sees the twinkling light. Yeah, but I guess he just doesn't know.

But the specifics are glossed over.

He's never made the correlation between today's my birthday, and also this is happening on Earth.

He even also says, like, so they call it Christmas. That's interesting. Or something. Like he didn't even know the name that has Christ in the title.

Yeah. So Buddha is preparing a dinner for him, and he's kind of like, oh, what do you want to eat? And Jesus is he's like, I want fried chicken. And he's like, Buddha is a vegetarian. He doesn't want to deal with any meat. But also a chicken just appears outside of their window. And he's like, cook me.

He's got, like a box of seasoning in his beak.

Yeah. And then he said, I don't know about chicken. And then Jesus says Turkey. And then a turkey knocks on their door.

But Jesus doesn't see any of this.

It's just buddhist. He's just like, go away.

Stop. We can't do this. And he says more miracles will draw more attention. So they're not trying to do it on purpose.

The idea is that the animals are just like, yes.

Let me be your sacrifice on your holy special day.

Turns out animals are really a divorce for God.

I can't believe in the episode about Jesus Christ, you decided to bring up bore.

God.

Bore is also the alternative title for soul leader.

I can't believe that God of War won best game.

Who would have thought? We have so many war jokes. Oh, my God.

All right. So they decide not to have any meat. And Buddha is making, like, a stew. And he's like, oh, that's my chance. I better go. He's going to get a cake. And he's like he has Jesus watching the hot pot. He's like, make sure nothing happens to it. And then Jesus is like, oh, but where are you going? He's like, I'm going to get a cake. And then he's like, oh, fuck.

Jesus.

I guess I'll watch the hot pot. And then sort of bleeding from like, do you want to come to yeah.

So they go out to get the cake. And Buddha has to try real hard for Jesus not to see the real meaning of Christmas because he wants it to be a surprise.

Finally, a Christmas story where they're not trying to find the true meaning.

Yeah. Wow.

So they keep passing, like nativity scenes and just like Christmas carols about Jesus. And Buddha keeps steering him away. And then they get to a street priest who is like, hey, do you know the reason for the season? And he's like, yes, we're Christians. We're good. And Jesus is like, You're Christian. He's like, yes, I, Buddha, am very into Jesus, believe me.

Well, I like how he says. He's like, well, yeah. He's like, I believe in you, so that makes me a believer of Christ.

And Jesus takes us like, you believe in me?

It's a pretty cute moment.

And then they're standing near, like, a little grove that was made for, like, lovers, because it's a bunch of couples sitting around a tree that has a heart on it that says, like, lover. It says something about believing in people.

Yeah.

So Jesus is just like, let's not do this here.

I think even one of the people in the group is like, oh, they make a cute couple. You hear it offhandedly.

I just like that Jesus just enjoyed capitalist Christmas. He likes fake Christmas.

I mean, he's a carpenter. He gets busy that time of year.

Wow.

Who's like, I'll bring with a file of paid off on our animal. Hey.

I'm just surprised he didn't run through the market just tipping stuff over, saying, no, nothing. So they finally make it to the cake shop, avoiding all the jesusy Christmas stuff, and buddha's like, okay, I can handle this. Why don't you go get a Santa costume? Because Christmas, he loves Santa. Which I thought was a bold move for someone who had to give so much guidance for him to not see any jesusy Christmas stuff, to then be like, hey, keep on wandering by yourself.

Get out of your kid.

So he runs off to go get a Santa costume, and Buddha is stuck behind the slowest old lady ever in the cake store.

As soon as he was like, no, it's fine. You go ahead. I was like, oh, that's odd.

We've all been there.

It's Christmas. You're not supposed to help other people in this time of year, but he'll.

Be selfish or once in your eternal life.

Yeah.

So just in the nick of time, he gets his cake before Jesus comes back. And they I should say in the St. Nick of time, my eye. I'm sorry.

Brendan did a hit.

On your own. So they leave the store and they head back to their apartment, and they're just marveling at all the decorations that they see.

This is another thing I just love because I love Christmas. My note here is literally, what cute decorations, man. I love Christmas.

And then Jesus probably says that verbatim.

Yeah, just off the sweet.

He's taking pictures for his blog, which we find out is why he's taking all these pictures.

I want to read Jesus blog or something.

Oh, good news. It's called the New Testament.

That's how they appeal to you.

That's a millennial pitch.

Are you interested in jesus's blog?

That has to be out there. It's got someone blogging as Jesus to.

Be like, hey, kids, so you pastor. Oh, I do. Like, when they're walking home, buddha is, like, stinging in his head, like the gift he got for jesus, and it's the first season of csi.

I hope this is his thing.

He doesn't get foreign dramas that much. You're foreign to this country.

I guess all of Earth things are foreign.

That was something that just caught me that really tickled me up.

Like Jesus loves csi.

Procedurals.

So they are marveling at the decorations and they get back to their block and they see just this blinding light coming out of their apartment. And they are so caught off guard. And this is where Jesus sort of puts it all together, and he's like, hey, what's that? The archangels are visiting me. But why would they be? Oh, it's the 25th.

I guess it's my birthday.

So he remembers it's his birthday. And of course the landlord is like, you can't have any big parties. Why did you invite all these people here? What's going on? So she kicks out all of the angels from the apartment, just being the most badass landlord ever. And she's like, I'm sorry, it's my birthday. I forgot. And they have a nice dinner and they roll out that cake. And the name on the cake is for Joshua. Joshua.

Joshua.

Because in the cake store, we get a flashback where Boot is like, hey, no, it would be nice if we did the hebrew Joshua. I feel like that would be homely for him. And they misspelled it. So they got Joshua. And Jesus was still so flattered. He's like, hey, it's more Japanese. It's perfect for a Japanese vacation.

And he also spent the extra ¥200 on a Santa for the cake buddha did. And Jesus just goes, what's? Santa? I love that lord.

A boy gets what he wants. He's also our Lord and savior, so we have to give him.

I also like when he's title landlord, like, oh, it's my birthday. It's like, how old are you? Just like, Buddha leaves and look like, don't make it obvious. It's like I'm 24. She's like, no, make it a little more believable, buddy.

You know what's even funnier than 24?

25.

All right, peace. All right. If it were for Steven hillenburg, I wouldn't be as funny as I am today.

That's true pleasure. And then it starts snowing because it's a Christmas miracle.

So lovely. And then we flash to the new year where they decide to go to a buddhist temple to ring in the new year. So Buddha is like, oh, boy, this is extra stealth mode for me.

Hot jeez, he's got a beanie on his disguise.

That's it. That's all it took.

It's got a little lump underneath it because of his man bun.

So they go and I am not super familiar with Japanese buddhist traditions, so apparently there's, like, ringing of the bell to ring in the new year, and then the 108th ring will be the one that rings in the new year. So people are lined up to ring this bell. I didn't do any research on what was going on here. Sorry, everyone. I am the anime idiot, so I'll take that.

I may be an anime expert, but that doesn't mean I'm an expert on.

All things Japan, especially buddhist religious holidays.

I ain't going to front. I don't know anything about that.

So they don't get the chance to ring the bell, because, monk there is like, sorry, only staff and the true buddhist can ring the final bell for the new year.

Only members of that temple.

Yeah. And Buddha lifts his hat up a little, like, to show his forehead.

It's kind of like wink hat. How about this? I can do it for him.

Kind of Buddha e. And the monks just kind of like, no, you're still not a member. So despite trying to keep a low profile, he's also not trying to use his own celebrity to get through cutting a line.

Who's more qualified to ring a buddhist bell than buddhism? But Jesus is like, all right, let's not fight this fight.

Let's move on here.

So they decide to take a selfie for the new year as they count down the clock, and they get a lovely picture saying in the old year and into the new year and all that cute, wool selfie stuff, and they reflect on what an amazing vacation they had because it's their last day on Earth. And then they pay for their fortunes. And then this god of this temple, their fortunes were like, it's time to go. Okay.

It was great luck. They got extreme great luck.

But I think it was because they were going back and not staying on Earth anymore.

You didn't get caught. And that's st young men.

Yeah.

This was delightful.

Yeah.

This was so pure, so good.

The most interesting slice of life anime I've ever watched.

Yeah. Ford, not a lot happening plot wise. It still stayed engrossing, and there was enough of a through line with, like, the, we're on vacation, let's go do vacation fun things, and the kid subplot of, like, oh, I got to expose this alien. Something's weird about this guy, and still having a sweet resolve of, like, they actually care about each other. And when Buddha was missing, the kid was very sad, and they actually had a good relationship, even though it was adversarial.

I just liked how goofy Jesus was. Even when they go to the cake store before he goes off to buy the Santa costume, I think there's a carols nearby or someone's talking about Jesus or something. So Buddha tries to distract them real quick, and he goes, hey, Jesus, look. That cake looks like a log. And Jesus just flies through the windows, like, so easily entertained.

Love him.

That's great.

Yeah. The dynamic between the two was great because even though they were an odd couple, they genuinely cared about each other and then looked out for each other and considered the other person.

Yeah, well, I mean, we can't say if we would keep watching it because it's a movie.

That's it.

But I will watch it again.

Yeah, this is something I would watch again. It's a new Christmas tradition.

You watch over the garden wall during fall, you watch the young men during winter.

There we go.

Perfect.

That'll do it.

Yeah.

All right. Well, thank you. I think that'll wrap it up for us this week. We are going to keep on with this theme we have for next week. We're watching My Santa, which was basically the only Santa related anime, like whole anime that we could find. And it's two episodes.

Turns out a lot of animes have a Christmas episode but aren't mostly senator around Christmas or winter.

Yeah.

So it was a difficult pick.

So, yeah, rather than just finding Christmas specials of things, it was easier to find the one show actually about Santa. So we're going to go with that. There are only two episodes. I guess they combine them into, like, a TV movie or something. But we're going to watch it however we can find it. And.

Santa.

Santa.

Merry Christmas.

Yeah. So you can find us at are we there yet? On Twitter and Instagram. You can find me at Mr. Patrick dugan on Twitter and Instagram.

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

You can find me at abts Brendan on Twitter. And that stands for Almost Better Than Silence, which is my other podcast about vidga games.

And we also have to say thank you to camille ruley for our beautiful artwork and louie zong for the use of our theme song stories off the album Beats. 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.

Peace be with you.

And also with you.

Thank you.