Another cutie pie.

What are you putting in the water?

Hello and welcome to our weed there yet in exploration and education in Anime. I am Patrick dugan, your anime idiot.

I am dana hollander, an anime expert.

Shit.

I think I'm brenda mccullough and I'm your piece of trash that flows in the ocean that looks strangely similar to a jellyfish and harms the environment. I didn't come up with one. I forgot.

I mean, it's not good.

It's appropriate for the show, but I don't love it.

That's how a lot of people feel about me. Makes sense why he's here. But I don't like, I can't say.

No to him, but I can't say I like him.

Well, thank you for joining us. This week. We are watching a show called Princess Jellyfish.

Yeah.

And this was a dana pick for this week. So dana, why did you choose this for this week?

Yeah, well, doesn't Princess Jellyfish just sound like a dana pick?

I was thinking, who else's pick would it be?

Yeah, I picked it because last week we watched something that was less than savory. And this is really just like from what I remember, I haven't watched it in a really long time. I just remember it being a really nice show and super short and super simple and just like, nice. So I wanted to choose something that would make us feel better.

Yeah, it's nice to just have a light hearted romp through a show and.

Not nightmares and not a surrealist stumble.

I like the combined of it starts off as a nice, palate, cleansing romp and then turns into a surrealist nightmare.

Like DOKIDOKI literature club.

Yeah.

Anyway, so yeah, this show, the anime series, came out in 2010. There are eleven episodes. So it's a it's a breezy one that we could flow through like a jellyfish.

I know nothing about it. So I assume the main character is an anthropomorphic jellyfish.

Yeah. Going into it, I haven't guessed based off the title of the show in a little bit. I'm going to say this is the daring journey of a jellyfish princess in the ocean kingdom of whatever and must find something.

Find the treasure.

It's Little mermaid, but with jellyfish.

But the treasure was in her the whole time. That's the moral of your Princess Jellyfish. Those are nice guesses.

Are we close?

No.

Okay, good.

Not at all.

I feel misled.

Well, let's go find out right now. I'm not crying. You are. So we just watched the first three episodes of Princess Jellyfish.

Sure did.

I watch the dubs for all three.

I watched the dubs on the funimation website for the first two episodes, and then in the third episode, it was like subscribe to us and I said no. So I found it on YouTube in two parts and with terrible quality. That's how much I liked the dub.

Oh, man. That brings me back to the old days of early YouTube of finding before. There are all these streaming services, Fanima and stuff. Yeah, that's how you watch some shows because it's the only place you could.

Find it broken up in three parts.

A five year old dub that's mirrored, and two people have watched it.

Yes, or like, the actual videos minimize into the corner, and then three fourths of it are taken up by a banner so youtube's algorithm doesn't find it good stuff.

Yeah.

I did my typical dub sub dub, so I watched episode two. Sub.

Lovely.

Yeah. So, yeah, we'll start off with episode one.

A good place to start.

Yeah, we don't want to do this momentous style work backwards. That's confusing. So it starts off real quick with Sukehemi. Right? I'm terrible. Sukhimiunciation, that's the only name. So it's Zukemi at the aquarium with her mom. They're like, man, jellyfish sure are neat. And I'm just like, no, I'm already disagreeing with this show right off the bat.

You don't like jellyfish?

Jellyfish are mobile trash bags in the ocean. They are barely sentient. Like, they're just venom filled sacks of hate.

I don't want to be your friend anymore.

That's fine.

Just kidding. I love jellyfish.

Like, they don't nervously like jellyfish, but as someone who grew up in a coastal area, I did not like them in person.

Right. You step on them, it's just like, oh, hey, cool. My leg is gone for today. It's just paralyzing in pain.

Maybe that's the difference.

Yeah, they're terrible. Anyway, they're at the aquarium and they're like, oh, man, jellyfishes are beautiful. They get the frills and those, like, weird tentacle arms that are all, like, fluffy. And Zukimi's mom is like, one day I'm going to make you a dress that looks like jellyfish. I'm like, all right. That's odd. Even when she's, like, talking, she's like, oh, I guess it's a weird thing to say. I was like, yeah, that's kind of weird. It's a cute idea, but it's just weird to me to go to, like I don't know, maybe that's just style. I didn't see it, but it's a weird point.

Yeah. They also sort of second sentence. Had to shoe in the phrase princess jellyfish.

Yeah. It would be so flowy and beautiful. You'll look like a princess.

I personally would love a jellyfish dress. I have a whole vision for a spring wedding in an aquarium that is jellyfish themed. So it may have been inspired by the show, but I'm not going to talk about it.

We won't examine that too deeply.

Yeah, you really like the show, then.

I did enjoy it.

Anyway, I envisioned my wedding, but I'm.

Dressed up as all my am I the bride?

Oh, no, no.

I'd be dressed up as Ali.

Kidding.

As a yami, the belly button boy. Anyway, we're already distracted anyway.

Oh, Aliyama. He's your favorite. You don't even know his name.

Okay, no, I don't know anyone's name. I'm terrible at this.

I think Brendan knows everyone's name and everything but his mouth refuses to say them correctly no matter what.

That's what it is. Yeah, because he got all the sounds there.

I'm just so patriotic. My body refuses to speak another language besides English. No forbidden words.

See, I appreciate your bravery because I'm just a coward. That will be like, oh, the one with the braids, the tracksuit.

One we'll get there. Sukemmi is the only one I know and hardly yeah. All right. Glasseskirt. No, five of them. fuck. Anyway, we're like 2 seconds into the show. I got a shot.

I know we're having trouble.

Give you a rough one. So yeah, it cuts to the forward, like present day and main character is in Tokyo wandering around. And I guess she's trying to get a job. Like she's out job hunting.

I think she's going to an exhibit. Like an artist exhibit.

Yeah, she was going to see an artist who specializes in jellyfish.

It's not clear to me. And she gets very flustered and very overwhelmed very quickly by the city life and all the beautiful people, all the stylish hipsters, as they call them, walking around. And she just kind of has a panic attack and runs home. And here we see, before she left her housemates. I don't know if you want to call them roommates because they don't share a room, but apartment mates. We're warning her like, hey, the city is dangerous. Don't go alone. How could you think of doing this? And we're like, very overbearing mother sort of tone of like warning her, like, Watch yourself. And when she goes back to the apartment, we meet these crazy cast of characters. And for simplicity sake, there tracksuit. Quiet one. afro mom. At least that's what I call them.

Yeah. And the one you never see.

Yeah. And the mysterious six manga artist who is nocturnal and is dying inside, which is unfortunately very real.

Relatable manga artist.

Yeah, they work a lot. And then we get the opening, which is I was very confused. I was like, oh, this opening is kind of oh, we're Star Wars, Mary poppins and singing what's happening? The opening is just a lot of illusions and I guess homages to movies, like classic movies.

Yeah.

And that surprised me because I didn't think this would be a very movie oriented show. It might still be, but not.

It's not. But I just love this opening so much. It's so sweet. And the song is really cute too. It's just all very cute. Very fitting for a show called Princess Jellyfish.

Yeah, I guess so.

Still thrown off by the movie stuff. I mean, it was pleasant, funny.

Yeah. Maybe it's like a creator thing. Maybe the creator really likes old movies. Not necessarily old, but classic movies. Classic.

Yeah, because when they introduced them as, like, otakus, I thought they would be very into pop culture. But then it never came up. And I was like, okay, I guess this is just a fun little mashup.

Yeah. There's a few terms in this that, if you aren't familiar with, they didn't have any disclaimers or, like, informational pop ups saying what they are. So otaku is just a super passionate fan about something. And traditionally, it's about pop culture, like anime or manga, traditionally, especially outside of Japan. But inside of Japan, you can be otako about anything. And every one of these women seems to be an otako about something. So afro is obsessed with trains. Tracksuit is obsessed with The Three kingdoms, which I get because, fuck, it so good for anyone who doesn't know, that's what the dicey Warrior games are based off of. So I know a lot about them. Quiet One bookworm is obsessed with old men.

Arguably the weirdest thing.

Yeah. Everyone is kind of like, oh, you all have your own little passion project. Like, the mom is obsessed with fabrics and making clothing for dolls. It's like yeah, that's cool. Like, that makes sense or doesn't make sense, but that's an understandable hobby.

It's a believable thing. Yeah, understandable that's better.

And then make her just obsessive jellyfish. It's like, all right, your favorite animal. You know a lot about them. That's cool. And then, yeah, the quiet one's just like God does old man fetish. Oh, okay. That's strange. But hey, you do you quiet mouse girl. So when she gets back, we meet all of them, and she gives them presents back from when she was in the city for a brief time. So he gives them one fabric, she gives the other one just a picture of a train. It's not even like, a model train or anything. It's just a photo of it. Get three kingdom little minifigures, which is like southau zaydan and zai yun, I believe. My boys.

Nice.

I don't know.

This is nothing to me.

Yeah, I just was like, she likes warriors. I don't really know.

I played a lot of dicey words. The Three kingdoms is about, like, the three major armies fighting over Japan and forming it. So it's a big romanticized history about that. So there's a lot to go after.

So it's just a history thing?

Kind of, yeah. It's like a glorified history. Like the way we glorify the Civil War, because it was, like, this big battle that defined the country.

Okay.

But it's the same way with China. So, yeah, we meet all them, and there's a trip that we find out that are called the Sisterhood, because they are five. Well, we meet later. Six women, single women, all in the 30s that all live together and are all kind of shut ins. They say the word neat a few times. So for anyone who doesn't know what that is, that's another term in Japan where it means not educated, employed, or trained. So it's someone who doesn't have a job, isn't in the armed services, or isn't trained in any skill or went to college. And that's typically what a hikikomori or like, a shut in is. They're neat. They just refuse to leave or contribute to society. So there's a few terms like otaku and neat that were thrown out a lot with this group.

Yeah, I heard otaku. I did not pick up on Neat. I don't know if the dove just said, oh, they're similar. Let's just say otaku.

Yeah. I only ever heard otaku.

I heard neat, like, once or twice was very quick. Like, it was very quick with someone in the background or something. And then, yeah, there's a six roommate who's a manga artist who we really just don't see at all. She's like a magic eight ball. They'll come to her vice every now and then.

She really is I think I wrote that down, actually.

Magic eight ball character.

Yeah.

So, like, with any good anime protagonist, our main character's mom is dead because it's got to happen. The laws of land. And she's just really kind of obsessed over jellyfish. Maybe just childhood fascination. Maybe it's her way of associating with her mom and getting close to her.

Yeah, it's probably because her mom likes jellyfish so much, so she got into.

It because of that for her mom. So after she comes back, she's, I think, just sketching or something. And then she goes out to the pet shop and stares at the jellyfish that she longs to have but cannot afford because it turns out they're expensive, and so it's all the equipment to maintain them. And she notices that two of the jellyfish are in the same tank, are two kinds of jellyfish that shouldn't be together. The mucus produced by the one is killing the other slowly. So she starts panicking and freaking out because she wants to separate them but can't afford to buy them and also is too afraid to talk to the stylish boy shopkeep inside because she whatever. She's so overwhelmed with anxiety and just nerves and just can't talk to people.

I was just sitting there like, Just talk to him. Men eat shit. Talk to him.

Especially the Soul Patch. pierce deered fuck, boy.

Yeah, look at him. He doesn't care.

But they always keep referring to stylish. I get if you're like a shut in stylish, but like the way they ostracize anyone with us into fashion who enjoys being outside or talking to anyone, those people, they just discriminate against the hipsters to such a crazy extent to.

The point where it just sort of becomes anyone who gives any notice of their outwards appearance is stylish and should be avoided.

Yeah, I wrote a lot about it in the second episode, so I'll talk about it a lot better.

Yeah, we'll get it. We see a little bit of it here. We'll see more of it later. So she finally gets to the nerve to say, clara, who's the jellyfish she doesn't own but already named and she goes to talk to them.

That's how they get you can't name it because you'll get attached to it. Yeah, exactly.

So I didn't have a name. Toss, seven years old, perfect earn my parents love. So when she finally talks to the shopkeep, she gets really nervous and smumbling over her words and very anxious. And then finally takes a deep breath and just starts rambling. Just goes off on a very educated rant about jellyfish. Like, why you can't keep them together of these species. And the guy just glazes over and just like, I don't know what you're saying, lady. Get out of here. We're already closed. Leave me alone. And when she's trying to fight her way in to stop him because she wants to save the jellyfish's life, that's when she gets knocked over into her new friends, who we won't find out their name for quite a while. So I'm just going to keep referring to them as new friends.

A princess.

Princess. Yeah. We'll call them princess.

She's a princess.

That's a better name for this. As soon as she's revealed where I was like, oh, that's Rose Quartz. Because she has this big ink wig and a white dress.

I didn't even think of that.

Maybe that's why you like this show so much.

It's just subconscious.

I mean, I watched this way before Steven Universe came out.

So Princess sees her get knocked over, and she was like, oh, what the hell is going on? And the shop keeps like, oh, she's just rambling up. What do you mean? You can't just push a woman around. Gets in the shopkeep's face of just like, who the hell do you think you are? What's going on here? She's freaking out. That the jellyfish. I don't know what's happening and all this stuff. He's like, well, fine. If you're going to let that jellyfish die, we might as well take it because it's going to die in there anyway. And the princess is able to kind of talk their way around and get a hold of that jellyfish from the shopkeep. And I forget if they actually paid for the jellyfish they paid for, like, the tank and stuff later. But I forget if they actually bought the jellyfish or they just got it for free because he just wanted them gone.

I couldn't really tell when they were walking home.

I think they did end up paying for it because she was like, yeah, you're closed, but it's going to be, like, dead by the morning anyway, so just take our money and let us go.

Okay.

Sukimi did say that she would pay her back.

Okay.

So I guess so.

Okay.

Yeah.

And as her watch, which is nice.

Ceiling is bad, ceiling is wrong.

Even after hours, sukimi sees them in the reflection, and she realizes that she's in her sweatpants and sweatshirt and Princess is just to the fucking nines, just like all gaudied up in stylish shit. And as they walk home, she starts freaking out because she shouldn't have people over at the apartment like the other otaku's her apartment meets are fans of strangers or just anyone in there without.

Them knowing, especially someone as stylish as her. Because based on how she freaked out on this very average looking pet shop employee, what happens when this goddamn model goes into their home where they live?

Jeez, you can't have it. So they run into Sikeemi's place and put the jellyfish in a tub for now, just to keep it alive until they can figure out and get a tank for it tomorrow. And it's at this time tracksuit walks in on them and sees his new friend, the Princess, just too beautiful, freaks out and thrown off and turns the stone. So their defense mechanism for the style of shipsters is just freezing in place and hoping they're ignored. And to solve this suggestion, just pulls the princess into her room. And it's like, I'll just get her out of the site for a moment and just like, we'll handle this in a second. As at this time, Princess sees all the jellyfish drawings. Oh, they're beautiful. You're a great artist and illustrator and gets very enamored with the jellyfish, which is good for sukhimi because she's got a friend now, kind of.

Yeah, zukimi is making friends sort of.

Even though she's trying to push her out of the house as much as she can.

Well, try is a strong word because she doesn't vocalize any wants or needs.

Yeah, she's kind of just like, hey, it'd be cool if you left. And then the princess is just kind of like, I'm good.

If I wish hard enough, the stranger will leave my room. If only there was a way I could communicate with them.

How do I reach these kids? So, yeah, while they're in Zekemi's room, apprentice says she gets tired. I'm just going to lay down for a bit. And it passes out instantly. And zakimi has to same. I took a nap last night at 10:30 p.m.. Wow. Yeah. I am living wild out here in La. And now the next day, we find out that the Quiet housemate is also planning to go to the city to shaboya and look around. So they're getting a little emboldened by Zukemi's previous visit. And when they wake up, Zukemi sees that her friend the wig fell off. It's like, well, wigs are popular now, like the stylish hipster, fashionable people. So I guess it's just her wig and tries it on her mirrors. Like, oh, I look like a monster. And when she goes out to the hallway to talk to someone, she drops the wig.

I think it is at this point Princess wakes up, though.

I think princess wakes up. Yeah. And we discover Princess is a dude. Yeah, like dressing up like a lady as a hobby.

I love him so much.

So yeah, this is something I knew a little bit about. There's the Vice series, gaycation, where they it's Ellen Pages show just traveling to different cultures to see their queer communities. And the one in Japan, they were talking about cross dressing. And it's not like a very gay thing. A lot of straight people will just cross dress because it's sort of a form of cosplay and it's a subculture called a toko.

Noko, that's a new term for me. I was surprised by that because I believe they do ask like, zimmer asks her friend, like, oh, are you a drag queen? So, no, I'm not into drag. I just like cross dressing. And that's what part of my mind I'm like, oh, is there a difference? Is drag like the I mean, to.

Which I was kind of like, so you're a drag queen?

Yeah, but not like performing and doing shows, just going out on the town dressed as a woman.

That's what I thought it was. I guess the drag is the theatrical show element of it. And then cross dressing is just every day.

It's a style choice.

Eddie izzard is a great comedian and he's a performer, but is a cross dresser, not a drag man because he doesn't perform like well, I guess he does technically perform in drag, but the.

Drag is not part of the performance.

Yeah.

He just happens to be in drag while performing.

He doesn't have, like a separate persona or anything. No, most drag queens are like, yeah.

The show is basically different, the comedy and not the character.

Yeah. Okay. So it's a good differentiation the more you know and yeah, that's episode one.

Yeah. We glossed over it a little bit. But this communal house is very old style, so it's very open and public and shared bathrooms and all that stuff. And it is a very specific, very enforced rule that no boys are allowed. And referring to I wrote down the quote. They were getting applicants for a vacant room, and since they are all Otaku's and are all shut ins and are trying to keep it that way, they define the rule for an application of people can only be in there if they live a wife that has no use for men.

Same.

Yeah. What a world that would be.

Yeah. Also, his name is Karanoske and I know this, so I'm going to call him Karanosque.

Okay.

He asks Zucchini if she's a virgin. He's like, oh, so you're a virgin? And she's just like, yeah.

Locks off instantly.

And then we get the very cute, very lovable interstitials of clara the jellyfish, being like, oh, this is the number one question you do not ask.

When I saw this, I thought I'm like, are we going to go through the other five ones or is it just always number one? Shouldn't have asked that because I'd be curious what the other five are like.

The lower I know, right? They're different every day.

What's your favorite color? oop, that's number three. Don't ask what your favorite color is. Sorry. The ending.

Yes.

I enjoyed the opening. It was, like, fine enough for me. It was an interesting little cinematic but the ending song is a bagger. I dig that. Yeah, that's a tasty jam.

Yeah, it seems to a little bit of it, but it actually I don't know why I wasn't thinking and I didn't watch the ending like an idiot.

I mean, you have seen this before. I have seen this. You're fine. But yeah, I felt the song in the opening, it was like, this is cutesy, but it's not super melodically pleasing. And I got that from this one, even though the visuals were simpler. So we sort of get song in one and visuals in the other.

Yeah.

In episode two, Zucchini is kind of reflecting on what has just happened, and she's like, I just met a very beautiful, very strong boy. Princess. Sometimes not all princesses are women. People are starting to wake up. And I think it's tracksuit that's kind of like, hey, Zukimi, what's going on? And Zucchini is like nothing. Or maybe I'm mixing up parts, maybe mixing something up.

I think it's just someone yelling down, like, hey, wake up, Zucchini. Like, Breakfast is ready, or something like that.

Yeah. And she jumps on Kuranosque and covers his mouth so he doesn't say anything because he's a little bit of an idiot. Currencykey is a very beautiful boy. We have another beautiful boy, but he is an idiot.

He's very friendly. He's very extrovert. He's very happy to talk.

A little too extroverted. This group, as socially inept as the sisterhood is, he cannot pick up on any cues.

Yeah, zucchini has to go get his wig because she left it in the hallway. And she starts very slowly tiptoeing. And I was like, Just run. Just run and get it and get back inside. So, of course, Tracksuit catches her and she's like, what is that? She's like, I'm just dusting. Just rose a swiffer. Yeah, she is. And it hurts me because wigs like that are not easy to untangle. I know. I have a rose quartz wig. So Tracksuit tells tsukimi to come downstairs because there's a situation and they're looking online. They see that people have applied to live in the apartment building, and it's a gay couple. And they're like, we very clearly said no men allowed.

Yeah. I wasn't sure if it was a full couple or if it was just one guy. But he was gay.

No, it's a couple.

Yeah, they said it was two men living together. Wanted that one room.

Okay.

Yeah. And then Tracksuit I didn't write down exactly what she says, but she says some very homophobic shit.

Yeah.

She says something about the gay lifestyle and transvestites and stuff. And I'm just like, oh, yeah.

I was like, I know. They're laying it on thick because there is a dude upstairs. And they're like, men are just the worst. No matter what. If you cross dress, you're a man. If you're gay, you're still a man. It's like, yeah, I know you're going to soften over the series because that's how these things go. But not great to start at rock bottom.

She said, no, man. Whether you're gay, a baby, a transvestite, you're still a man. None. Yeah, it wasn't just like, oh, they're scared of man. It's like they're just straight up sexist. And like you said, they'll probably soften over the sears. But it's just like beginning. It's just like you're just mean and.

Bitter people for no reason. Really?

None of you.

And then they hear a sound upstairs, and tukimi is like because Karanosque wanted to take off his makeup because he slept in it. And he was like, I feel gross. Let me use your bathroom. And she was like, no, of course. When she's downstairs, he's going to do what he wants. So they hear him moving around upstairs. So Zukimi is like, oh, I should go check. And then their mom and Tracksuit are like, no, we should go up there. Because mom actually her family owns the building. Her mom supervisor. Yeah. So she's like, as the building manager, I should be the one to go up there.

Yeah, they think they might be a burglar or something. So they all want to go up just in case.

Yeah. So they all go up there and they don't see anything because Kuranoski is very sneaky, very quick. Then they hear noise coming from tsukimi's room. So tsukimi is like, I'm going to do it. It's my room. I'll be fine. I'm going to do it. And then she goes in there and she's like, what the hell is wrong with you? And kara, no skate is like in his full boy look because he has no makeup on. His hair is all slicked back and stuff. He's so cute. I love him.

He's a pretty boy. Lot of pretty boy.

Yeah, he reminds me a lot of Tomaky. I realized that he is an amalgamation. Oh, he's from Orange High School Host Club. I'm sorry.

I assumed it was an anime character.

Yeah, I thought Brendan might know, so that's why I said it. Just that. But he's an Orange High School Host Club. And he's very flowery. He's a little less feminine, but he's very flowery. But he reminds me coronaskay just reminds me of trixie, mattel, tomaki, and taco from the Adventure Zone, like, all in one. So I love Kuranosque.

Just checks all your boxes.

Exactly. He's perfect for me. He's exactly my type. Karanosque is kind of like, oh, I really want to come back. I like it here. It's retro. Can I please come back? And Zukimi is like, no. bye.

Stop. Get out.

It physically hurt me how much I wanted to just yell at her, just say, boys aren't allowed.

You have. A legitimate reason.

Yeah. I will lose my housing if you step out this door. You want to be friends? Don't make me homeless. Just for God's sake, just speak.

A classic romcom misunderstanding that could have been explained in two sentences.

The farce cronoski leaves and he's just.

Kind of laughing at her, like, yeah, whatever it is at this point, I actually wrote down some of the names. So a track suit. Her name is maya. And the train girl, the afro girl, is bonba. I never got Mom's name, but the quiet one is gigi.

Yeah. Mom's name is chico. Hey, cool.

I already forgot all those.

We will immediately go back to calling them their nickname because it's much more useful.

I like the name bonba a lot, but I probably will still keep calling her trained girl.

Sorry, I had to.

Wow. So I also was thinking about how nice it would be to be to live there because no boys allowed. And also, just like, it seems like a nice place. Like, it's big, there's plenty of space. I would easily be the most outgoing one. I'm probably too stylish for them.

But hey, I can see from experience having I could teach them old house isn't great. My family on my dad's side had a house for 150 years or so, and the house is even older than that, and it's a lot of work.

Yes, they do say it's from the 20s, so it's not like ancient house. Okay. But it is still set up. Like, this is for communal living. This was like a boarding house at that point.

It's like, hey, Arnold.

Yeah.

Zukimi is kind of struggling with this. She's like, I had a boy in the house. Oh, my God. Because not only was it a stylish, but he is also a boy. So that's just like double bad.

Two taboos.

Yeah. So she goes to the one we never see, the Eight Ball, and writes down on a piece of paper, because that's how they communicate with her. She writes down what should the punishment be for someone who brings a boy into the house? hypothetically.

Hypothetically asking for a friend.

So she puts it on the floor and waits for the response, and she pushes it back out under the door, and it just says death murder.

For someone who's nocturnal and works at night, she answers pretty quickly to all these messages being slid under the door.

In daylight when she should be asleep.

Yeah.

I was also thinking, because she writes yowie comics.

Yeah. They specify that in the third episode, but they say boy loves yeah, boy love manga.

And I just thought, like, what a weird hypocritical. I didn't know how to explain it. I was like, you need men for your profession, but you hate them.

Yeah. Talk about writing from experience if you can't even see a man in your life.

Yeah. I'll say this, I liked Princess. I heard his name and that's about it. I didn't like these main characters at all. They seemed all kind of shitty people, in my opinion.

Even though that's kind of where I was like, get over yourselves. People like this are so annoying to me now. As an older person, I feel like I was kind of like this in middle school of feeling superior to people because I was like, oh, I like something different. I'm quirky. But now as a person who's 22, that ain't cute.

Yeah. It is painfully awkward just wanting to shake them and be like, please just grow up a little bit. You have seen this entire series. I'd like to think that this is laying it on fix so they can grow as people throughout. I don't know if that will happen or not, but I'd like to justify it that way in my own.

Yeah. From what I remember, I think they get better. But I also haven't watched it in.

Forever because even in the first episode, just gigi going into the city after what's her name? jelly Girl. Sukemmi after her. It's like, okay, so chemi is taking steps and now the rest will follow. I hope this is a little bit of foreshadowing of how the format of this show will go.

Yeah.

Because despite their social anxieties and quirks and being very passionate about stuff and then also being kind of shut in, which I get I didn't leave my apartment when I first moved out here for like two months, so I get it. But they're also just using it as an excuse to cover up their bigotry against men. They are just straight up sexist at certain degrees. So it's just like you are a full ass right now.

Yeah. And tracksuit keeps calling it a nunnery. Like not just being like, oh, a sisterhood that she's like, Keep men out of the nunnery. Keep stylish people out of the nunnery. And it's like, stop calling yourselves that.

You're not helping yourself.

Yeah.

And I also just think people who still pride themselves in being so awkward and strange are just so boring. Like, figure out how to be social. Anyway.

If you're an Otaku listener, we still love you, though.

Yeah. Otaku is a little different in in America.

Yeah.

They're known as neckbeards.

Yeah.

It's a whole different game because every.

Week they have a little hot pot party and they get the best meat that they can afford. And Train Girl has a keen eye for the meat that's going to taste the best. So they get their meat and they're having their little hot pot and that's when Kiranowski decides to come over in a very cute look. But he should also have respected zucchini's request.

Yeah. It's like this is a specific sort of quote unquote family event that this stranger is barging into. Because if you have a birthday dinner, the person you met the night before shouldn't barge in and be like, oh, is this the right time to meet everyone? Is this my place? No, go away. We'll hang out at some other point if we want to continue.

Yeah. So everyone immediately turns to stone and clara does her little thing, talking about how that's just what they do and they just stop listening and stop paying attention to whoever it is.

They shun the person from their social group and then wonder why no one likes talking to them.

Wow. shocker.

Yeah.

I just really liked when karanoski was offering food to tsukimi and he was like, oh, do you want this and this? And zukimi was like, no, thank you. And he was like, yeah, same. Who likes sweet herbs with their savory? Not this boy. And I was just like, oh, same. Because I also don't like sweet with savory, like, when it comes to, like, meats and stuff. So I super related.

Well, he also says not this boy in front of her when she yeah.

So they're all kind of like, boy. And the Takimi kind of pulls him out of the room, and that's when she says, if you don't want me to get kicked out of this house, you have to stop. You have to leave. And he's just like, very sorry. I just frightened don't have a family.

So I liked, this is it, this episode. He asked what they all do for jobs.

That is the next one.

That's the next one. But he says, like, oh, so you're all otakus and they all get mad, and it's like but he's right.

Yeah, you self identify as this and your piss someone says it to you. I don't know how it is of, like, reclaiming or if it's like a slur to be called no taku, I don't think it is, since they very frequently self identify. But I don't know why it's that big of a deal.

Yeah, that's the thing. I know. Try. The name princess is kind of brash and kind of dense, like picking up on all the social cues. But most of the time, I was, like, kind of siding with him. I was like, he's not, like, arrogant. He's like he's not like, oh, you're all freaks who don't have jobs or anything. Like, he's just like, oh, what do you do? Like, what are you interested in? What do you do for a living? It's just very careful.

He's just trying to understand people. He's just a normal person. I think. Of my friends, I am the kiranoski. I get social cues and I get being nice to people. These girls are like so they don't like karanowski because he's nice. They don't even know he's a boy yet. They just don't like him because he's friendly.

Well, he's a stylish, so immediately he's an other and should be shunned because having an obsessive passion for fashion is wrong. But worrying about your doll's fashion is totally fine.

And it's also just like, zucchini obviously gets along with Kiranowski. They're obviously becoming pals, and it's like, you can't even try. Like, this is your friend's friend. And that doesn't always work out, but you can at least try to be friendly and civil. But they don't even try. Anyway, so they walk back to kira nosecase house, and he actually lives in, like, a really nice place. And she's like, you're kidding. And then her brother rolls up. His brother rolls up, who is very edaish. Yeah. He's loud and he's got glasses, and he takes things seriously. He's like, oh, you're dressed like this again.

Jeez, can you just discuss me loud classes? Seriously?

But kara noski sees that his dad is home, and he's like, oh, shoot, I can't go inside looking like this. So he asks his brother to get some fancy meat from the fridge.

Yeah. A specific type that the sisterhood were eyeing in the store when they were picking up food because it was so expensive.

Yeah. So they take it back to the apartment building and he kind of offers it to them as like, I'm sorry I ruined your little weekly party. Have some very nice meat, even though he didn't.

And they're just being stubborn.

Yeah.

And then the next morning, zucchini actually finds out that Karanowski is part of a very prominent political family.

Yes. The child of the prime minister.

He's the child of the former Minister of Land and Infrastructure.

Oh, got you. I just heard minister got you.

Yeah. His uncle is running for a Prime Minister again this political season.

Yeah. And it's just this nice there's a nice little moment where we get to see Karanowski and his boy clothes, and he's wearing, like, a blue shirt with a yellow cardigan, and he's just so cute. I love him.

As noted in the sub, karanowski's voice was kind of the same consistently, but in the sub, he definitely had a more feminine accent when he was in drag versus when he's in boy clothes. He just talked normally, but he definitely had a more feminine tone when he dressed up. Or maybe I just didn't notice it in the sub.

I wasn't at first when he started speaking, like we're introduced to him in front of the fish store, I really didn't like what the voice actor was doing. I was like, Why are you being so articulate? Like, the way you're speaking is so enunciated and weird that it's just like, I get you're trying to sound a little more feminine, but that doesn't equal feminine.

I think it was trying to be more dismissive and powerful to the shopkeeper or to the employee.

But as it went on as it.

Went on, it got a little more.

Casual and I really liked it. He actually did a really good job. This is Josh grell and he played yuri, katsuki and yuri on ice. And also tokyami the bird guy from my hero academia.

God, that's a different character.

I was looking at his list of roles, and I was like, dang. Like, these are all very different, very diverse. Yeah. But anyway, that's pretty much episode two. Yeah, we got a little sidetracked, but.

We had to yell at these names.

Yeah, there's not a lot happening in the show, but we have a lot of feelings about what's happening in the show.

Yeah, I have a lot of feelings about these characters.

Dumb, dumb characters.

So, yeah, for episode three, we sort of stop following around Tsukimi and start to follow Kirinosque throughout this episode, and we sort of get the mimicking. sukimi is sort of monologuing to her mother a little bit, just, like, in her head for her inner monologue, and we get that same thing with Kirinoske. So we start off in this big mansion of a house that the family has, and their uncle is coming over for lunch. And the brother's name was Shoe.

I want to call him either.

I didn't write it down.

Yeah, it was shoe. He's more of a character. Yeah, he's more of a character in this one. So weekend. And it's a simple way.

Yeah, Shoe, I'll forget it.

They're about to have a family lunch, and Shoe checks in on Kurnoske to be like, hey, are you ready? And Kernoske is in full drag, ready to have this lunch.

Looking great.

Yeah. A fly looking deed. And she's like, you know you can't meet with our uncle like this, right? You can't dress like a girl and interact with our family. And karnoski is like, Why? It's just clothes. It's fine. It will be great.

It's fun. But I like that. karnoski grabs his Jesse, and I'll get a little bust here for uncle. Give him a little show. And I was like, oh, I like that he has varying degrees of fake breast.

Oh, hell yeah.

You got to play it up sometimes. It's a dinner with your family member. Yeah, I didn't think that would be prime time, but more power to you. So they both go down and meet with the family. And the uncle is loving his look.

Yes.

Yeah. The uncle is now my favorite character on the show.

No ski.

So excited.

But when he comes in, he's like, oh, yeah, let's get ready to uncle. And I was like, I love this character.

He's great.

Why tell?

And then when he was, like, talking to colonel skate in Dragon, he's like, oh, you look so cute. And I was like, oh, this is a good guy. I like this guy more.

He's so good.

He likes cute girls, but not in, like, a weird way.

He appreciates the fashion.

Yeah.

Kurunoski's dad and mom are not having it. They're like, okay, get out. You're not having lunch with us. Kronosque is out on the town now, and we get a shot of him interacting with the Stylish friends, and he's saying that he's a little bit burnt out with them because all they want to do is talk music and party and all that, and it's just not working for him anymore. So he bails on a party that night in favor of going to the nunnery.

Yeah. He says that talking to zucchini, listening to Tsukimi talk about jellyfish, is way more interesting than listening to them talk about fashion and sex. And I just think that's so sweet.

Let me actually hang out with someone with a passion rather than people who are like, well, let's party some more, I guess.

Yeah, they just have too much money. They don't know what they're going to do with it, so they just party.

Yeah. So speaking of money, he goes to the sisterhood's place and hangs out with them, and they all are talking about all the things that they bought recently. The jellyfish equipment is very expensive. The jellyfish food is like $70 a pop in American dollars. Damn. So he has to ask, what do you all do for work? Which is this day's number one thing you should not ask the sisterhood from my second favorite character, Clara, my second.

Favorite character of the character, doesn't speak technically like the little cartoonified jellyfish.

So they say that they can afford all of these things because of their allowances, because they are all the children of baby boomers who really prospered when their parents were young and were able to get jobs and have a successful career. But then the economy crashed in about the 90s in Japan, I believe, and that was a big depression for them. So people in their 30s currently are having a difficult time finding jobs.

The flashback said ice age for hiring. And I was just like, oh, fuck it. Feel you there. I fucking get it.

Yeah, too real. Kiranowski sort of does the math and is like, wait, if your parents are baby boomers, you're all in your 30s. Because he assumes they are all a little bit younger. Because he's like, you're not students because you never go to class, but you aren't working, so what's up? And they're all just living off their parents money, since their parents have money and they do not.

I meant to look up how old zucchini is because I'm not sure if she's in her 30s, but I never actually looked it up.

Yeah, I think she might be a little bit younger, but still not like a young yeah, I would say 20s, maybe late twenty.

S. And this is where the term, at least, is where I heard it was tossed out, describing the otaku housemates of like, you don't have a job, you're not students. You're not in the armed services. Like, what are you doing? Yeah, just off their parents money.

Yeah, it's kind of weird because I was like, you're right. There is no shame in having to rely on your parents for some stuff. But it kind of seems like you're not really even trying.

Yeah, they talk about they do some stuff the mom character makes, like doll fashion online. They all assist with the yowie production a little bit so they're all a little bit of assistance. So they have, like, odd jobs and get money that way but not like something that will be a significant income.

Yeah.

So at this point, Karinoskey takes zucchini up to a room and it's like, hey, let's have some fun. You're only wearing your sweat shirt and sweatpants. Let's play around with some makeup. And let me give you a makeover.

A little bit makeover montage.

Yes.

He takes off her glasses and he's like, oh, you're pretty. There we go.

Romcom, move. Take off the glasses. I noticed her now.

He asked her back to his place and she's like, oh, God.

I like that. She's still seeing him at this time. When he's close to her face, we see the flowers appearing all around him even while he's still in drag. And I was like, yes.

She gets pretty gay in the first episode.

Yeah.

She's like, oh, he's a man. But he's like, as a woman, he's so pretty and beautiful and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, she gay. sukimi is gay. Or pan.

Because they go back to Kirinoskay's place and they start to do a makeover. And sukimi is not loving it because that's not her thing. She's not into fashion. She doesn't want all of her. So she sort of freaks out and runs away. And in running out of the room, bumps into Kiranowski's brother's shoe. And love at first sight for shoe completely.

Boys, he enamored.

He is lonely.

Who is this beautiful girl that's hanging out with my brother?

It took one look for him to get upset. dude is lonely.

And I think we got a little bit of a sly anime nosebleed because she throws open the door and hits him in the face. And the side of his nose where his glasses cut into his face was bleeding. So it wasn't like a full on oh, do you get it? Do you get it? But I think it was a subtle nod of, oh, he's into her.

It wasn't like a pervy nose bleed.

Yeah, it was an accident.

Also, when she runs out, it's like, off camera, but Core nosecase says, like, oh, did I do that? She's like, don't you try and sneak your family matter references under my nose. I fucking see you earkel.

I wrote that down too, because I was like, I cannot pass this up.

Because if that was the only thing, I wouldn't think anything of it. But because considering the opening is just references to all Western media, I was like, no, that's definitely a specific reference. Either it was originally supposed to be or if it was just in the translation, they snuck that in.

But I wouldn't be surprised if that was a dub because that's a very specific reference that I don't think the Japanese audience would get.

I don't think Japan was watching Family Matters.

Hey, Japan, how's your earkle knowledge? So, yeah, sukimi runs back to the sisterhood and this is where it was cemented my love for the uncle. He is leaving. He's like, all right, hang loose, bro. And law in law. And he's like, oh, there's so many beautiful girls. What do you put in the water? He's just the best, best character by far.

Then again, the bar is pretty low.

Yeah. So Kirinowski at this point decides bail on his friends again, saying it's too easy doing that. And he had a lot of fun giving sukimi this makeover and says that he likes the challenge. He likes, and I quote, polishing a diamond in the rough because every girl is born a princess. Some just forget us all.

It's precious.

It's precious. I do have a little bit of an issue with it because at the end sukimi is like, I really don't want this. I do not care if you don't want to get all feminine and early, you don't need to. That's personal identity. But still, it is a nice sentiment to say. I feel like you can break out of this shy. You can step it up over sweatshirt and sweatpants gray all the time.

Yeah, that's someone who's recording this in just basketball shorts. ouch.

Come on, man. But are they the same color as your shirt?

I'm not wearing a shirt right now. Don't judge me.

I'm upset.

You could have lied to us, brenda.

I'm not that kind of person. I'm discussing garbage man. Accepted.

I also think for me in my brain of body positivity and being who you want to be, B-A-R-B-I-E. barbie girl.

Whoa, that was a lot thrown out.

I think I love barbies. Anyway, I think coronowski definitely does mean like, feminine equals pretty, because that's what he thinks. But also in my brain, I'm just like, yes, all girls are princesses because all girls are beautiful and perfect the way they are.

You can be a princess and not wear a dress and makeup.

That's how I see it.

Meaning? Nice message behind what he said, but it doesn't have to be taken literally. But I think we see that more with when we see a picture of his mom and she had like a massive closet full of beautiful dresses and she looked like some sort of stage singer or someone in the public eye, like very dun up. So I think he gets a lot of those ideas from her, from what his mom was.

So kimmy gets back to the sisterhood and is like, oh, no, I'm all dolled up. I look like a stylish. They're going to murder me. Because apparently that's what they do to outsiders.

Just straight up murder.

So, yeah, in another classic farce move, she steps in the door and literally everyone in the building. Just comes to the main room and is like, oh, what the hell? Because as she was like, running home, all the makeup was running. And she looks now disheveled, but still clearly was all done up.

But she tried washing some of the makeup off, but with just water. It only just made a lot of it run. So I didn't get rid of it. It just blended.

And they say since she looks all disheveled, she looks like a Chinese hopping vampire, which is my new ska band name.

Oh, dude, I have some bad news about ska. It's 2018. It doesn't exist anymore.

Hey, Brendan, I have some great news about ska. It's having a revival, baby. Pick it up.

Pick it up.

Put it down.

It never died.

But yeah. So they're sort of like, oh, you look like this cosplay of this Chinese hopping vampire. And she plays it off and is like, ha ha. It's great. It was a fun look. I didn't just destroy the makeup I was just wearing. So she runs back upstairs and gets changed and all that. So we flash back to Kiranowski's house, where she in the most relatable movement I have ever seen. Is like playing with the door of like, hey, I have a question. Just like swinging the door back and forth, popping in and out, in and out, and being like, let me ask you some very non important questions. Also, who was that girl anyways?

Anyway?

And Karanosque is like, oh, you you're in love. Well, I will set you up with her. She left her glasses and sweatpants here, so take these back to her and she will fall in love. And this is where we get a little bit more depth. He says, I will give this to you if you give me the address to my mom's house. Because they are estranged. They have not talked in a while.

Getting a little serious.

Yeah. And the way I forget the mother's name, but she was like, Why do you want to talk to her? And says her name. But yeah, it's sort of implied that there's something going on with the family dynamic of they are not full brothers. They're like half brothers. Because it seems like this is not shoe's mom. So there's some stuff going on there. But she takes the glasses and sweatpants and takes it over to the sisterhood and sort of has a romantic daydream on the trip of how will this go? This charming, beautiful woman will be so grateful I brought her her glasses. We'll go on dates, we'll fall in love, we'll have a nice, beautiful relationship, and then out the door bursts of the sisterhood. And they're like playing a tag game where they're like putting stickers on each other.

It makes me so uncomfy.

Yeah, they're playing off the hopping Chinese vampire because you would seal them by putting a paper seal over their face. And it would stop them from moving.

Got you off of that.

Just knowing they're 30 makes this moment so, like, icky.

I wrote this down. I was like, there are 30 year olds acting like teenagers. And not just, like, carefree teenagers, but, like, running around screaming, like, without any regard to the neighborhood or, like, the people around them. It's like, fucking relax.

Yeah. Like, it's cutesy. It is. I like that. Oh, this is a moment where they're actually good friends and they're showing off that they, like, do enjoy each other's company even though they hate literally every other person on this planet. So I was liking that. But, yeah, it's childish. It's the middle of, like, a weekday. They're just tackling each other in the street. She comes in and it's like, hey, I got these glasses for whoever was hanging out with my brother sue kimmy, who is now dressed down in the regular guard that she wears, is so painfully awkward. She's like, okay, I'll bring them to her. It wasn't me. No goodbye. And just, like, sprints back inside. He is like, oh, those weird girls, I guess, live with this beautiful woman.

I love this maiden.

But, yeah, he's not picking up on the subtleties of the situation.

She looks so different with her hair up and glasses.

Ridiculous. Can't recognize her.

Who is that completely different person?

He's bringing a pair of glasses and sweatpants to this girl.

Yeah, it's not exactly doesn't he think at all? Yeah. Oh, I have this silken gown that was left for this princess. Oh, you're wearing identical clothes to the ones I'm giving you.

No, they can't be that.

We go back to Kiranowski, who is sort of reminiscing about his mom and sort of we get that fashion is his deep passion. So I keep saying fashion is his fashion and it's fashion. Yeah, but he's passionate about fashion because from the second he was looking in his mom's closet and just that familial bond I was tearing up a little bit because he just misses her so much. And his whole lifestyle revolves around this moment that they shared together. And it's just so sweet.

He's a fashion otaku. Like sugari is a jellyfish otaku to connect with their moms.

Yeah. So even though they're so different, they have so much in common. What a difference.

Oh, we also skipped over when she was driving away. He said, oh, this old building is so gross and shoddy to look at. We should just tear it down. Because his family is the one pushing for the renovation project of that neighborhood.

Yeah.

So they'll have to try and save the apartment building, but can they do it with love? Find it. Next time on Princess Jellyfish yeah.

And at the very end, we got a very nice quote of sukimi sort of freaking out about being stylish. And she did say, I don't want to be pretty. I just want to be me. Which. I thought was a nice sentiment, but it's still, like, okay, you are still just wearing sweatpants and being a shut in.

She also made the remark who decided girls have to be pretty anyway? And I was like, you're right. But, yeah, again, maybe shout.

Everyone in this show is half right about everything. They all have, like, ideas that I'm like, yes. In execution, though, you're fucking it up.

Yeah.

Get your shit together, girls.

Yeah, girls don't need to be dolled up all the time. But you can also talk to a human that isn't your roommate and maybe.

Not banish entire sex of people from ever interacting with anyone or not even just that, but, like, even just stylish people, like, just the snobbery of like, they almost, like, pride themselves on being on taku. And just like, yeah, when we don't want to talk to someone, we just lock up, don't interact with them, and hope they go away. It's like, wow. fuck you.

It's a toxic, nerd culture of if it's popular, it's bad. So I like this very niche thing. Therefore, I am superior to everyone.

And why you have to call me out on the podcast, I do know a lot of people like that, unfortunately.

Yeah, just the Internet culture of what you like is wrong because I don't like it, and it's like, okay, we can have different interests and still like, we're doing this podcast because I'm not a big anime fan and you two like it, and we're working together in unity and harmony because we're both making carefully.

We brought it full circle.

But yeah, that is Princess jellyfish.

Yeah.

Or what we watched of it for today.

It's a quarter of it. It's only, like, 1112 episodes.

Yeah. Eleven.

So we got to ask, are we there yet?

Yes and no. I am liking it. It's very cute. I do like it. It's a sweet show, but just everyone is so unlikable, and I get so frustrated of being like, can you be a human being for 2 seconds and solve all of your problems? Just say one thing. I understand. Yeah. Just express yourself. Communicate is the key thing that's missing from this show. And as much as it is like a plot device, for many types of shows like this, it's still just like, this is all about not being able to be socially adept and needing to just hide behind everything. It's like, Please, just you're 30. Grow up. Please, just a little.

Figure it out.

Yeah. I know people, like, there's some people who, like, have such terrible social anxiety. They have a lot of trouble interacting with people at this level. But there's also, at least with this show and these characters, they take a degree of pride in it and it's become their own kind of mind. syncing cult of the nunnery we only associate people within our group. And you shouldn't pride yourself on your shortcomings. You shouldn't be like, oh, I am an alcoholic, but I only talk with other alcoholics. No, that's not good.

No, that's bad. That's actually how you don't do that.

Yeah.

You would acknowledge that this is a problem to overcome it because I do.

Identify it with it because I was very socially awkward. I was very socially anxious. I lost friendship because I was just a shut in. And there's like, two people in high school I still talk to because I was just so no one likes me. I'm just going to stay in my room and play video games all weekend and not do anything. And it was bad for me, and I learned that that was bad and I worked through it and I'm at a better place now. And just seeing them go through the same stuff and being like, well, this is life. This is the best it can be.

This is who I am. understandable.

Yeah. It's just frustrating, I think, because we've all had to agree with that in our own lives, we're even more frustrated with it. No one can make you change. You have to be willing to make the change yourself.

Yeah.

It's sad to see people just accept like, oh, no, I'm perfectly fine. This is the best it's going to be. And Alex, if it's like, no, it's still a problem.

Be passionate about your stuff. You can take a full week to just fixate on your dolls and trains, but have a conversation outside of your house.

Don't refer to people as the things they bring you.

Like when she meets, they call karanowski.

Meet, though I don't know if it's intentional. I like the idea that this boy brought the meat to the number.

Bye. We're done.

Perfect.

That's it. The podcast is over.

Dana has flew off to the moon to avoid this planet and breathing the same air as Brendan. So that will be our time for this week. Yes. This is something I would watch with you, too. I probably would not continue this on my own, but if someone watches it with me and gets social and has a hangout with other people that don't live with me, I can get through it. Perfect.

So we'll have a day where we watch yuri on Ice and this I.

Was going to have the same rating.

As yuri anime all day.

I'm going to have to go with no on this one because my favorite character was the uncle. We've seen for 2 seconds with two lines, like, just everyone's still unlikable to me. kurunosko is like a great character. I really enjoy him, but I don't think he's enough to bring up the rest of them for me.

No one asked you.

Okay.

Just kidding.

So thank you all for joining us. We appreciate you making fun of your nerd culture a little bit. Nothing personal. We all love you. Thank you to camille ruley for our artwork. Thank you to Louis zong. For the song stories off the album beats for our theme music. You can find all of Louis music at Louisong dot bandcamp.com. Oh, we didn't discuss this. What are we going to watch for next week?

Next week we're going to watch Ms. Kovayashi's dragon maid.

Oh, my God.

Yeah, this is one of my to me.

Yeah, this is exciting. I didn't know either.

I decided on it the other night and yeah, this is going to be a fun one.

How exciting. Great.

All right, do we have episode numbers for that?

One, two and three? A nice, self contained little story within the first three episodes.

Perfect.

I love when a story comes together. Thank you all for joining us. And we hope you will join us next time as we learn to live with anime.

Thank you.