AWTY 97 - Buttshrooms (Rilakkuma & Kaoru)

I can't kick you. You're too cute. Hello.

Welcome to are we there yet? In Exploration and education and anime. I'm your anime idiot, patrick dugan.

I am an anime expert, dana hollander.

And I'm brenda mccullough. Your anime feathers, mcgraw.

Okay, you lost me on that one.

That's the penguin from Wallace and grommet. that'll do it.

I did not know that that was the canonical name. I just do it as penguin from Wallace and grom.

Penguin with gun.

Penguins don't even have feathers.

Yeah, they do. They're sleek.

I don't know enough about penguin anatomy.

They're all fluffy and shakes, and then they get their adult feathers and they're sleek like an otter. otter.

Otter is also known for having feathers.

Yeah, they're very feathery.

They're really dying, but yeah. So what we have going on this week?

Well, I have chosen to watch the show rilakuma and Kowdu, which is on Netflix, and it is not I mean, it's anime, kind of.

Yeah. It is a Japanese animated series, so it fits the specs of our show, even if it looks a little different. Hey, everyone was so goddamn horny for B stars. And that has a stop motion section, so why not this?

That's true. Which came first, real akuma, the horny furries or this?

Well, we don't know. It's not horny. I'll just say that now. I sure hope it's not, but I don't know for sure.

But yeah. So rela Kuma, I'm made aware, is a very popular character. So either of you have history with knowing ri lakuma watching it? I don't know. It's full history.

I don't have any history. I was trying to figure out what I was going to say in the middle of my sentence. That's why that sounded like that. I've seen it. I wasn't actually aware if it had a show first or if it was just a character like Hello kitty. Was Hello kitty. A show first. I don't know.

No, I think Hello kitty was just a mascot first and then became so popular it spun off. But, I mean, I think Ryokuma is the same way because I got fucking history with this bear. I got his no, I don't.

Owes me so much money.

I'm going to find out where this bear is and break his little stuffed legs.

No, we had a system in Vegas, and he didn't follow.

We had a budget.

I think it's the same as Hello kitty. I think it was just a mascot for a company, and it just became so popular. It spawned into just so much merchandise and then into, I guess, maybe a comic strip, maybe a manga and then a show. I know of this show, though, because of the stop motion animation, and so many people I follow on Twitter, like animators and artists, and when it came out, they're just all talking about and stuff. So I'm aware of the show for a good amount of it, but not much more of the character itself, like the brand or anything.

Sorry, I looking. I the I wasn't sure if ri lakuma was actually like a San Rio character, so I looked into it, but no. Different companies, but same idea of, yeah, started out as like a cute, fun, stationary mascot and then blew up from there.

Yeah, different company, but same idea. Japan loves the mascots.

My only experience with rela Kuma is the notebook I'm currently writing in has rela Kuma on it because it was a gift from our friend Brian Anderson.

Incredible. I love it.

So he's always smiling at me, just knowing I'm about to fucking hate watch a show.

Oh, man.

He's helping you get through the worst of the anime.

Yes. One friendly baby, one candle in the dark.

But yeah, hopefully his show will bring you joy.

Fingers crossed. God knows little is these days. Anyway, so since these are like twelve minute episodes, we're going to watch two each. So we're watching basically the first half of this season.

This will be the most anime watch of any series.

Hey. Yes. Fuck these stupid bears for making me cry. motherfuckers.

Is that the fastest we've gotten to tears within the first episode of the show?

I don't know. Has dude ever cried during an anime?

I definitely remember having cried at certain points, but definitely not in the first twelve minutes of a series.

Well, then I consider this a success.

We made you feel something. Get fucked.

God, these emotions. I've been pushing them down for so long.

Fuck. Freaking out your hard eastern crusty New.

England shell just I'm weathered by sea water. My heart is sea glass. Just can't be broken anymore.

Beautiful.

It took me until episode eleven of Place Further Than the Universe, but I think we've all cried on this podcast so far.

I have. I just remembered. oops. All right, let's talk about these fellas. So the opening shot, honestly, is just enough to make me cry because I love cherry blossoms. And the opening shot is just some cherry blossoms on a lovely little river. And I loved it. And I was just like, wow, this is it.

We found it. Perfect.

We found it. And then we see rila cuma, and he's asleep in an apartment. And then he wakes up and it's time to start the day. A cherry blossom petals blows in through the window and lands on his head. Good olman, probably. And and then we see kawaru, who's ironing, and she's like his roommate, I guess. Or he's her roommate. Unclear. And she says that she is training a new employee at work today, and she's really excited about it. There's also a white bear and a chick. The white bear's name is Korakuma. The chick I never got the name of, so rip.

That's fine. I just called them little bear bird.

Yeah, perfect.

And then kawaru helps fluff up one of rila Kuma's ears, which is cute. And then she goes to work and her boss comes up and he's like, hey, so we didn't actually hire anybody. We're kind of running out of money.

Doing the worst job here. We got to figure that out.

You fucked. So he tells them to be careful of overtime. And there's a blonde girl who's always on her phone. She's like, it won't be an issue.

Overtime? You can work after hours. What?

Never heard of her. And then carrot gets a message from her friend mina, and she's asking if they're going to have their cherry blossom picnic this year. And the blonde girl is like, oh, my god, kari, do you have a date? And carrie is like, oh, no, it's my friends from college. We usually get together for a cherry blossom picnic, but some have gotten married or moved, so not everybody comes now. And then this blonde bitch, she says, sounds like a party for people who are left behind. And I was just like, fuck this bitch. Oh, my god.

Let me introduce you to my shit list. You're at the top.

And then we see her at home making eggs for a bento. And the white bear tries to grab the bento, but she's like, no, no, there for my friends. I have ingredients for you guys to make pancakes and have your own cherry blossom party. I'm leaving. So she leaves and she walks through the town and there's like a fun bot playing. And then she finds a good spot. And we see shots of ri lakuma and the gang making pancakes. But they're making them real poorly because they are basically children.

They've never had to be self reliant a day in their life.

Why would you when you're that cute?

I should know.

That's real kuma's voice.

I wouldn't watch this. So it seems as though kaaru has been stood up. She's been sitting there forever. And it's like she finally gets a text from one of her friends being like, oh, I have a fever. Another one is like, oh, I had to work today. Another one is at a book signing. Another is with a boyfriend. And then mina just fucking forgot about it, bitch. And I was just like, you need new friends.

These ones are bad because some of them were like, how did you not know in the planning of this? Like, hey, I'm going to be out of town for a book signing, let me tell you. An hour after the picnic started.

Yeah. And kyrie says, like, mina, you're the one that planned it. You're the one that picked the day. What the heck?

This is real fucking close to home for me back when I tried planning stuff with some of my old friends and being like, you picked this day? Why? All right, I'm done.

Never mind. I guess good luck. And then she rips open a cold one and remembers what that blonde bitch said of being left behind.

Get drunk in a park.

That's the good shit. And then cow comes home. She's sad and dejected, and she gives them the bento because their pancakes did not turn out. And then rilakuma stops Koroakuma from eating it, and they help her up from the ground, and they go outside to eat the bento together in the cherry blossoms as a little family.

Family.

Yeah. And then she talks about what happened. She's like, I'm the only one that hasn't moved on. And she looks at the cherry blossoms and ruminates on their beauty, and she wonders why they're so beautiful. Maybe it's because they only bloom one week out of every year and something makes them special. Or maybe it's because they're pink. And then cali says that she wants to be pink because maybe she'd be more. And I was just like, I fucking love this.

Yeah, that's where it got me.

That's where I got emotional.

I thought this show was just going to be like some cute bears.

Ha ha. Fun.

And then just these deeply existential, like, ponderings of like, am I did I wait too long? Am I just a drone in a factory? Oh, God, I was not expecting it.

It's very much like a kids show for adults.

Yeah. It feels like, oh, the bears are there for the kids. The existential 30 year old life change is there for the adults. It's like, oh, no.

Honestly, this reminded me of rugrats because I rewatched it within the past few months, and there is so much adult stuff. Like, each episode is truly split. Like, yeah, the babies are doing some hijinks, but also stu has to do his taxes today and he forgot all year. And it's like, what? This is for very small children, but they still devote so much to adult storylines. And it's like, oh, yeah, kids understand this stuff if you just show them it.

Dugan yeah, we have so much anime on our list. You're watching rugrats?

Hey, shut up. I'm watching a piece of culture from America. This is my culture, man.

Okay. She says maybe she'd be more. She wonders what more means. All she knows is that she wants to be more. And then they all lay down together. And this is what got me. At the end of every episode, there's like a message, like a written message. And this one is a note on a bulletin board that says, I might cry. No, I won't. Hold on.

Is that the message? That's not what my message says.

No, everyone gets a different one.

It's like a fortune cookie.

Do your dry cleaning.

Dugan.

It says, every flower blooms in a different period. And that resonates very deeply with me. And I was just like, oh, fuck, no.

I actually watched this episode back in the before times, before this all happened, when I was at the gym on the treadmill. And I watched this first episode. I was like, nope. And I shut it down. Throwing music. I was like, I'm not watching.

Cry and sweat.

I'm sorry. My eyes are just so sweaty. You stopped working out an hour ago. Why are you still here? I can't drive home yet. I can't see.

And then we see a kid on a playground, and he looks sad. What's he doing there? Who knows?

Episode Two who knows?

Who cares? Moving on.

The four of them are walking down by the stream, and kaaru points out some of those kites that are on, like, a flagpole thing. And the chick and the two bears, they like, imitate the kites, and it's adorable. And then we see the little boy again. He's still alone, and he's throwing rocks in the river like a little hoodlum does shit. And then she comes home with some of those fish, those, like, fish cake things with red bean paste inside. Looks delicious. And the kites and they're all fooling around with the kites. Rio Kuma has his legs in his mermaid, and then Korakuma has it on his head, and the bird is just stuck in the other one.

Adorable.

Wonderful.

Yeah. Incredible. And it was this point that I realized the playground was in front of the apartment building, and he's just, like, watching and listening to her apartment, and he throws a rock at the window. And the next day, cow is leaving for work, and she's like, hey, somebody left a note on my door that says, no pets. You guys aren't my pets. You're my friends.

Pay rent.

I don't know if it actually comes up in the series, in later episodes, but I was confused how, like, if they are pets or not. So I looked up, and apparently Ricuma just showed up one day, and kyra just didn't kick them out. And that's it.

Love it. That's enough of a description for me.

Yeah, it's truly the waluigi thing of, like, yeah, he showed up to play tennis one day. He's been there ever since.

And while she's gone, the boy rings the doorbell, and we see him running off, and the squad, the crew, they decide to chase him down. They don't see him, but they're going to find him. dang it. And then rela kuma gets distracted by a butterfly, and the boy sneaks up behind him with a net that's not big enough, but he gets it on his ear. Good for you, boy. And then rilakuma is going back up the stairs, and he sees some dongo on a stick, and that's his favorite snack, but it's a trap. The kid is trying to lure him in, and then he gets lassoed on his ear. And Kaaroo comes home, and Korakuma and the bird are there, and they have a ransom note from the kid, and he just wants some pancakes. He just wants pancakes in exchange for rilakuma. And she starts freaking out, like, imagining him being kidnapped and tied up and she's like, no, bear napped. And then the other two are just like, Calm down. Just make him some pancakes.

Easy solution.

So they go out to the meeting spot, and then another note gets thrown at them that just says, Room 102. So they go there, and the boy is playing video games with ri lakuma, and he takes the pancakes, and he just wanted a pancakes and a friend because he's all alone in this apartment. And karu is like, Stay away from realakuma. But then he's like, can you just stay with me until I finish the pancakes? And I'm like, oh God, what has happened to this boy?

Yeah, he is a little shit. Because when she gives it to him, he's like, oh, these are burned. They taste fine. Thanks. Get out. And she's just like, you motherfucker. But once he gets sad, she's like, oh, man, all beans.

Oops. And when he asks her to stay, she looks around. She's like, where's your mom? And he's like, she won't be home until late. And then she says, what about your dad? And he just doesn't say anything. And it's just like, oh, okay, I guess.

Okay.

You're a shame.

No more.

You're a shooting protagonist. You live alone.

And then she makes him a real dinner at her apartment. And they all eat together, and it's very nice. And his name is Tokyo, but it's pronounced differently, and I can't remember how it's pronounced.

Tokyo.

Tokyo.

Yeah.

It's with an I instead of a Y. Yeah.

And then she asks him if he'll help them hang up the kites tomorrow. And he says yes. And then we see the kites, and he made one of his own. It's a little green one with, like, quilt squares on it. And then the message this time is on chalk on the ground, and it says, we have one more friend now. It's very cute. These two are probably the most heartwarming. The others are fun. We'll get to them, but yeah, they're.

Still like sweet messages. But these just when will it be my time to shine? I'm so sad. And this little orphan boy joins our.

Gang like, Fuck, they get you in the beginning.

So, yeah, we start out. Episode three. It's a rainy day, and little Bear sees a little frog outside on a leaf. And karu is like, It's raining every day. It's a rain season. Better break out my eight year old rainboots and twelve year old umbrella and go off to work. And rilakuma, being a rainy day, is refusing to stand, just sleeping 24/7 relatable. So at work, we see the blonde bitch in the bathroom. Another coworker comes out and is like, oh, hey, we've got any plans? And she's like, oh, yeah, I'm going to a group date thing, but one of my friends dropped out, so I need another girl. And they're like, oh, how about cow do? And they laugh at the idea of including her because they're like, she's nice, but she's just too serious. Well, guess who's sitting in the bathroom stall? So she gets her feelings hurt and is all sad. We go back to the apartment during the day, and the bird sees a mushroom growing from all the moisture and darkness.

I hate this. I got to say something about it. I hate it.

Yeah, this episode was weirdly terrifying for me.

Yeah, it is pretty grody. Just like the thought of mushrooms appearing this quick and growing inside. But, yeah, bird we haven't mentioned is just fucking pissed off all the time. He is just a suburban dad of, like, six kids, just always like, motherfucking, just muttering under his breath at all times.

He's the super ego Torila Kuma's. ID.

It's all a metaphor for professor, my dissertation is ready. But so just furious that there's a mushroom in here. Tries to pluck it, but they just start popping up everywhere, all over the corners of the room. He tries to gather him in a trash bag, but it doesn't work. He sprays it with an antifungal spray, but nothing. So he finally digs out an insecticide bug bomb and just fumigates the apartment. And they have to drag out rilakuma because he was just going to sleep through it and die. sai just accepted his fate.

Say, is this what's happening?

That's fine.

That's fine as well.

That lived a good life.

Do I choke to death on poison or walk down three flights of stairs?

That's an easy decision. Poison.

Yeah, of course. So outside, they meet up with Tokyo, and he's like, oh, mushroom stuff. Okay. rela kuma does smell pretty moldy.

I also like that apparently everyone can understand all the, like, the gang, the bears, and the bird. Yeah, because he sees the the insecticide spray coming out of the apartment. He's like a fire. Holy crap. And then the bird like he's like, oh, it's insecticide. It's. Like what? how'd you get that?

He learned to speak the language in the two days they've known each other.

Real. Kuakuma caught tournament when he was kidnapped.

Yeah. So cowdu comes home, and they're back inside. She's like, oh, what's the smell? Insecticide? All that mushroom stuff. And looks and there's mushrooms growing out of Rilakuma's ass. So naturally, cautu is like dinnertime and gathers up not the mushrooms on the floor in the room, but specifically the ass mushroom.

But shrooms. But shrooms.

But shrooms. Yeah.

There's the episode title. Yes.

Let me pause so I can write that down.

Another one in the books for dana tallied off.

I thought we were done with lewd food after food wars.

But yeah, so they decide to cook them up, and everyone's like, These don't look right. Should we be eating them? And she's like, I looked it up. It's fine. They're edible. But then that frog from the beginning jumps in and eats one of them and just goes fucking bananas. Starts dancing doing a little jig, just doing flips and handstands and jumps out the window again.

He pulls out a banjo and starts singing Rainbow Connection.

Yeah, but a funky, like, dubstep remax. So seeing that, they're like, maybe these aren't the best to eat. So karadu is like, sorry guys. I wanted to be adventurous because everyone thinks I'm a Lameo at work. But when the dinner is over, they see, oh, sorry. No, just kidding. So that's the next day they wake up and the sun is finally out and she's like, okay, now is a fresh start. I'm going to seize the day. Does all the laundry that's piling up. We finally get to see the body horror that is rilakuma its skin is a suit canonically, but we don't know what's underneath that gets washed. Don't think about it too much. Oh, I googled it. It says unknown underneath.

It's just an empty void. Our mind can't comprehend it.

It truly is a zipper situation from Animal Crossing.

Yeah.

But they finally go outside and they see a rainbow. So it's a good adventurous day out.

Yay.

I like how carros like, everyone says I'm too serious and not fun to bring on dates. Let me eat my fungal infestation to show how fun I am. Yeah, that's not how this works. Don't do that.

I'm adventurous. I can do things if they're already in my apartment.

I'm fun. I'm wacky I'm fun to be around. I'll lick these batteries and eat this weird chemical under my sink.

No, I'm going to be adventurous and eat my bear friend's. Nasty, butchrooms.

Delicious. A worthy story. Hey, what did you get up to last night?

I ate my dear friend's ass.

I mean, that will get the job done if people think you're boring at work. That's that's true.

That's true.

But yeah. So episode four, it's summertime where we're having fun. We're we're having horny dreams.

What?

Karu is dreaming about the summer and all the opportunities and fantasizes about two guys bringing her food. Some takiyaki and edamame. But in the dream, she can't pick between the two of them, you know, because she was about to have a wet dream. And she's like, I can't decide. They're both my type. Oh, no, I can't choose. And then wakes up and just doesn't get to bone down. So she's all mad.

God damn it.

Food. Or really fucked us out.

So she gets a call.

Fine.

So she gets a call from her mom. She's talking about her brother runs a cherry farm. And she's like, oh, the helper that he has isn't great. I don't like her. She wants to make sake out of cherries. Could you imagine? That sounds delicious, but I don't like.

Change the sound of fucking delicious. I don't know what she was talking about.

Yeah, so she's like, hey, I talked to your brother and we want you back into the family business. We can pay you more than you make at that stupid office job. And she's like, But I make a difference. I'm helping. I'm good at what I do. I don't just want to default to the family business. mom's like, you're a coggin machine. No one gives a shit about you. And it's just a great dynamic that they have. Just very healthy smoke. Yeah, but she's insulted. Like, I I can make it on my own. I don't need my family bailing me out. So they get all dressed up. They have a festival in town, so they're going to see the sights, eat the food, play the games. And she's being indecisive about what to wear. But when they get there, all of the animals know exactly what they want to do. rila Kuma immediately runs to food. Little bears like playing a game. The birds getting I may have flipped a couple. It doesn't matter. They're doing cute carnival stuff. Get some shaved ice. But cow is looking at them and being like, they all know exactly what they want. I don't know what I want. When you can't make a decision. Got to just grab a beer and just gets a beer, sits by the river and just drinks it.

Kind of thinks she has a problem.

Yeah. Might be depressed relying on alcohol.

It was around this point I started getting Miss kobe oxygen's dragon made vibes from the show. It's like a less horny dragon made.

I mean, on this episode, maybe. Not less horny, not less rooms, man. But yeah. So she starts daydreaming again about the men with food, but looks up and sees that the animal friends brought her food because she's so down, and she's like, I don't know what I want. I can't make any big decisions. Even small decisions are rough. And then they just sit, and fireworks start. So they're enjoying that. And she notices that all the animals are eating both foods that they brought, both the takoyaki and edamame. And she's like, I can have both. You mean my sex dream? I could have just had a three way.

God damn it.

May I present to you the eiffel Tower. That's too far.

We've drawn the line. We found it.

We got there eating bear ass.

Totally fine.

Human sex moves no sinful, but yeah. So she's like, I don't need to choose. So she's the next day at work, boss asked her to dress some envelopes because she has the best handwriting, blah, blah, blah. Which just felt like such a yeah, you're a pushover. I'll give you a light compliment, and you'll do this extra work, right?

It worked.

Yeah, it did. But she's like, yeah, I am appreciated here. I'm not just a cog in the machine. And then a hot delivery guy needs a signature, and she's like, I do have the best handwriting. So starts getting a crush on him and chooses office life isn't so bad, and that's where we have I take.

Issue with this one.

Yeah.

Because I'm glad that she's happy and her mom does suck. But stardu Valley is my dream. And she had the opportunity. She decided to stay at an office where her boss takes advantage of her yeah.

Instead of working with your family for more money. Like that. That sounds like a dream.

Yeah, because, like, on a cherry farm.

Like, the lesson is like, oh, I don't have to choose. And then she chooses the worst of the two options.

I will say it's definitely not a good option. It's definitely not like, oh, mundane office works the best. It's like, no, that sucks. But also, working with your family and on a farm also sucks. Yeah, probably. I've done that one, so I wouldn't choose to do that either.

Yeah. I'm glad she's happy.

Yeah. It threw me off for a second because we see, like, weird beads on the guy's face. And I didn't know right away what those were, so I thought they were just, like, weird growth on his face or acting. But as he turns, they move. I'm like, oh, he's sweating. So it's a little moment. Okay, it's hot now he's smelly and, like, sweating. Gross, it's hot now. It makes sense. There's little moments like that which I have trouble with because of stop motion. But then it's little moments like, ryla Kuma going to get dongo at the festival, and because of how his model is, he has to strut over to it and he's all excited, which makes it so much better in stop motion.

It's worth it.

It's interesting what really works for me in the stop motion and what doesn't. I wouldn't have expected it until I've seen it, but it's adorable anyway. Episode five. God, we've never made it this far. We start off right away with a neon comic book style rotoscope animation.

This is so cool.

I don't know what's happening, but I'm here for it. There's some fucking scanner darkly shit. And we see it's a movie they're watching. It's like a horror movie. So it's like, brightly colored, and it's a woman in the bathroom, and darkness, like blood starts creeping around the mirror, and she runs and a monster appears. And then we get some very smooth voiceover from Keith silverse. Recognize that voice anywhere? And we see the gang all at home watching the horror movie, and it's all spooky and everyone's a little tense. We cut to cairo out at work the next day, and it's raining, and we see Bitch Coworker talking to her boyfriend on the phone, being like, oh, the trains are all messed up because of the rain. Oh, you'll pick me up in your car. Oh, thanks. Boyfriend car is just like, oh, cool. Great. Love it.

She was just calling the Uber and just didn't want anyone to yeah, the.

Uber is your boyfriend or girlfriend in your contact list, right? Mine is. Everyone does that, right?

Yeah.

And then we. Get a quick shot of everyone back home. The gang back in the apartment just scared. So clearly the horror movie stuck with them a little more. And then we see the little kid in the building. I already given up on his name coming in. I guess he just has a key to her place, or it's not locked. He just comes in. He's like, hey, guys, I figured I'd swing by because you're probably scared of all the lightning. And then we see a lightning flash, and we see him cower real quick. So it's like he was the one that was scared.

I see he is baby pride. goethe before the fall.

Young man, you should know this. You're six.

Yeah.

And we see cairo walking home from work, trying to get her umbrella straighten out because apparently it's a typhoon, so it's really strong. And as she's struggling with her umbrella, car drives by and just sprays her with water. And we find out it's the boyfriend's car.

Of course.

Of course it is. I feel like in universe, they're not trying to make her the bad guy, like the coworker of the villain. But the narrative of the show is definitely like, this bitch.

It's funny. I hate her even more because she is nice to karu.

Yeah.

Like, to her face. She's just very she's nice. She's a coworker. But then obviously behind her back, she's shitty.

She's not even like, that shitty. Let's sack karu. She's just kind of like she's plain. I don't want to hang out with her.

Yeah, I take that back.

She's boring. I'm a fun blonde, therefore I'm better.

Yeah. So, yeah, the umbrella is broken, car soaked, and then she gets back home to the apartment, and since she's soaked, she kind of looks like the monster from the horror movie. And when she walks in, everyone's kind of like she got to give a little very aware of how she looks. So they're all hanging out, having a good time in the rain and making omelets rice. And then the power goes out. So we also see the little bear fucking loves ketchup.

Yeah, there's lots of ketchup.

Yeah. Running like pikachu and the old anime who's just obsessed with ketchup for some reason. So, yeah, while they're eating, the power goes out and lights a candle. And the kids like, oh, it's spooky. Now let's tell ghost stories because we're all already tense and scared. Let's just lean into this. So he goes around the table. He's like, I'll go first. Then you can go second. Then you go third and fourth and fifth. And you can go six covers. Like, six there's not six of us. And they look and it's a ghost. It's like a high school girl. Like a girl in a high school uniform. And her hair is, like, flying up, and she's got gray skin and black hair over her eyes. Yeah, she's super dead now.

It's a Tim Burton movie Brian Got.

You finally have to watch it. And she says, yeah. Back when she was still alive, she was going to the zoo with her boyfriend to go see the bears, and then she got hit by a truck, killed instantly. Oh, shit. Okay. That was quick. And it took her a while to realize she was dead. Like, she would go up to people and they would all be freaked out and scared of her. It took her some time before realizing, like, oh, I died. And when she did, she found her boyfriend and saw that he moved on and was dating someone else. And she got mad because he didn't even stop to grieve her. He just moved on so quickly because they were going to the zoo to see bears. Now she hates bears because it reminds her when she died. So anytime she sees a bear, she just wants to kick him. That's when karu just jumps up gradually kuma. And, like, puts his hands behind his head. He's like, all right, be my guest. Just lay into him.

I'm like, whoa, karu, I love bear for years.

She's like, Sometimes someone can beat the.

Shit out of this moocher.

She says, like, quote, sometimes, more than anything, you need to take your anger out on someone. I was like, karu, that's not healthy. That is not good. And then karu starts sympathizing with the girl and her story, saying, like, she was kind of saying, like, oh, you had young love, and that's something you get when you're younger. You get, like, the butterflies in your stomach and the jitters are just thinking about holding each other's hands and stuff. And she's like, lamenting. Kind of like, as you get older, you still fall in love, but that feeling isn't there. Like, the magic of the first love isn't there. And the ghost girl says, like, oh, I guess I'm kind of glad I had that. Damn, and I didn't get old enough to the point where I lost that. Like, I still had the magic of young love and kind of like, no, but, like, it's good when you're older too, because then you have, like, love in different ways and you appreciate love in different forms and stuff. And the ghost girl talks about how she maybe she would have wanted those moments later in life and stuff, just back and forth about the different kinds of love in life. And the ghost girl says she's kind of quiet that she got what she got, knowing that there are people out there who haven't gotten any kind of love and have died and stuff. So she's like, I guess I'm kind of glad I had what I did at the time for how short it was. And maybe my boyfriend decreed maybe I just didn't see it. And maybe part of his moving on process was finding someone else to move on with. Like, he needed someone to help him move on. And that's why he started dating someone else. So maybe he didn't just forget about me right away. And she's like, oh, yeah, that kind of makes sense. Carter gradually cool him again. It's like, all right, so if you just want to lay into this bear, just fucking wait a little into him. Just like, all right. Come that car. This is more about you now, isn't it? And we see the ghost girl says like, that sounds good. But then she can't swing a punch. She can't do it. And she gets down and just hugs real lakuma instead. He's scared at first, but then he lays into the hug too. And she's like, oh, this is what I wanted. I just wanted someone to hold me. Something warm, some warmth. She's like, oh, I guess that's good enough. And then we see the goose girl just disappears. And then the rain stops and the power comes back on. And then we see on real akuma's omelet because he didn't put any ketchup on it at first. But then on his omelette now it says, thank you. And ketchup very cute.

So sweet.

Even the spooky shit is nice.

They help someone pass on to the.

After the yeah, they make depression cute. They make.

Cute, but they don't make what's inside a rela. kuma cute because we don't know what that is. The skeleton really kuma's channeling some dark energy because he's bringing in ghosts to this apartment. I'm out.

I'm stepping with fucker.

Something'S going on here.

Oh, God. He's a beacon.

Some love crafty and portal shit. And we get episode six. And it starts off with a heat wave, which is very topical for us right now in La. Not a fan. And we see everyone just hot and bothered and annoyed and eating ice cream.

Actually, I get and bothered.

Hot, separate bothered. And they're all eating, like, ice pops and got the fan going. And carrot is sad. It's so hot. And it's only going to get hotter because our planet is dying of global warming. It's like, oh, carro carrot. Pull back. Pull back in.

You're not wrong, but chill out.

She just kind of goes on to like a weird environmentalist tangent where she's not once again, not wrong. Just was not expecting this to happen in the first two minutes of the show and really come with us to put on AC. And she slaps on the road of his hand saying, no, the electric bill was way too high last month. You're not getting it. We decided like an AC or ice pops. And you chose ice pops. We're sticking with this. So everyone's kind of like, but it's what they decided. And then we see the little bear finishes with the ice pop, and it says, like, yeah, you're a winner. And she's like, cars like, oh, must be nice to win stuff. I don't win stuff. My umbrella approached and I was late for work. And then this happened, and this happened, and this happened. And she just rattles off this big list of complaints she has of getting screwed over and just bad stuff happening to her recently. And while she's complaining, we just see, like, this smoke or fog, like, billowing out from her. And she's like, oh, no, my negative auras is showing. I was like, really? hummus. Definitely some mysticism bullshit, some crazy shit. And so she tries to, like, blow it away with the fan. And as she gets in front of the fan, the fan breaks. She's just like, ah, everything bad. And then we see. She goes to work the next day, and when she goes to the elevator, it's too crowded, so she has to get off. And as soon as she gets off, the elevator goes up. And then maintenance work comes by with a sign that says, the elevators shut for maintenance. Now, as soon as she steps off, she's like, god, okay, stairs. And she goes running to the stairs and runs up. I think she says seven flights of stairs. Ends up a few minutes late for work. She runs in, like, huffing and puffing and sweating. She's like, I'm sorry, guys. I hit the Dalvador, and then I'm late. I'm sorry. To the stairs. She looks just no one cares. No one even notices.

Remember when you thought you weren't a cog in the machine, like two minutes ago?

No one notices. And then she sits down, and then the bitch co worker is like, oh, karu, nice of you to show up. I tried defending you last episode. This is what you do to me. And when she gets home, she sees the kid outside the building, and he's like, oh, ha, karu. Oh, what the hell's going on with you? She's like, oh, it's my negative aura. I am magical. I have powers, I guess. And he's like, oh, I got just the thing. He pulls out this little gem, little crystal league rock. He says, it's a power stone. Some girls at school have them. Supposed to bring good fortune and kind of dispel bad stuff. She's like, oh, well, thank you. He's like, I'll be 200 yet. She's like, come on, man. Come on, man.

I feed you.

Yeah, you eat my food like every day.

You hang out with my bare children. You eat my bare children food, and this is what you pay repay me way. So when she gets home, she starts looking up on her computer like good luck items and different ways to kind of bring good luck to her and good fortune. She starts looking into feng shui. She's like, oh, I got to put yellow items up in the northwest, and I got, like, a buddha statue over here. And she later goes to a fortune teller to try and, you know, figure out what's going on, trying to dispel some stuff. And the fortune teller says she's got three forces that are bringing in negative energy into her life. Three kinds of forces and saying this drawing away her positive energy and bringing in the bad stuff. And she says she she has to get rid of them if she has any hope of ever getting married. It's like, I mean, I don't know if I if I went over someone's apartment and they just had two bears and a bird like living there and be like, I don't know if that'd be a deal breaker. I'd vibe, yeah, I'd see where it goes at least. And the fortune teller says like, oh, don't worry, I got just the thing though. Here's some prayer beads and a bracelet you can wear. And this will bring in the good fortune. Where have we heard this before? She gets the beads and she's guiding her on her path back home. We see. Yeah, back home. She gets back to her apartment, there's a lot more feng shui stuff than we saw before. Like her whole apartment is kind of decked out in new stuff now to try and bring in the good energy. And the gang comes up and he's like, hey, how about some numbies? How about some food? I'm hungry. mammals. And she's like, oh, what about no? She's like, Abdullah, you've never said that to us to us before.

Rejection. I don't know the word.

How dare you? She's like, hey, here's a neat idea. What if you all lived with that shitty little kid downstairs? How about that? They're just like, what? No, they're kind of scary.

Mommy, mom.

And then it just cuts to them knocking on the kid's door with all of their stuff and bindles and stuff. So I guess she just fucking booting them out. And the kid opens the door and he's like, oh no, you can't live here. My mom's allergic to bears. That's good because your mom's never home so I don't really have to worry about anyway. No, they can't live there. So by and he just shuts the tour on them as well. So we see them walking along a little riverbank, I guess, trying to find their new life on the road that's travelers. And we see kyrie living her single life, no kids, doing all the fun stuff she always wanted to do without the little bears around. Nothing. She's doing nothing. She's having trouble enjoying herself. And while she's in bed, we see she gets a message from someone. Is that the coworker?

No, it's her friend from the first one who scheduled the cherry blossom picnic.

Okay, that makes more sense because she gets this message and it says, like, hey, I won this lottery and a bunch of money and I was going to buy you something because you've seen down lately. But instead I said, fuck that. I went to Thailand and just had a fun vacation.

Fuck this bitch. Fuck everybody in cow's life except three animals and that child.

Hey, friend. If you're going to do a nice thing and then don't don't fucking tell me about it.

Yeah, it's super easy to not wrote that in someone's face. Hey, Dan, I was going to bring you a birthday cake, and then I decided, what if I didn't and I threw it into the zoo?

Did you like that? tossed it in the garbage.

I had it personalized with your name and like, a very nice portrait of you. And then I just threw it away.

You'll never know the nice message I wrote on the back.

Very sentimental.

Bye.

So, yeah, it's just like what this episode implies, that all these bears are bringing negative force in your life. And it's like, I think every human is bringing negative forces in the carrots of life. Because everyone she knows sucks.

Yeah.

The next day, karu goes to work and bitch coworkers like, oh, what's that? You got some prayer beads, idiot? And she turns her phone over and it's like, that fortunateller is a con artist. She just got arrested for selling a bunch of fake Prabies to everyone. You got con. Bitch car is just like, great, that's what I needed right now. Take me while I'm down. So after work, she goes to the kid's permit. And I was like, hey, kid, give him my bears. Where are my bears at? I sent them down here yesterday without care in the world, and now I need them back. The kid's just like, oh, yeah, I don't know. Not here. I kicked him out too. She's like, how good are you? It's like, you did the same thing. This is what you also did. So Carr is running around trying to find them, and she gets a bridge and looks down and sees them fishing next to an old man just in the river. That's nice. And she runs down there. It's like, oh, guys, I found you. I've been looking for you. And they're understandably a little upset with her so that they're turned away, not talking to her. And she's like, I know when I get you some dongo. Damn it. Damn it, woman. You know me. I can't quit you dongo.

As soon as I get away, you pull me back.

So she gives them some dongo, and then we see the little bear just like, takes a doggo and wild it over to the old man and gives him some. I was like, oh, bear.

Yeah. I was like, if they all just ignore this homeless man that took them in.

He'S like, no, we're friends. I'm going to give you some little tongo trees too. And it's like, that's a good bear. That's a good bear.

They're all good bears.

And this little bear doesn't have a zipper on the back. So it might not be an actual horror monster. It might just be a real bear.

Oh, you don't want to know what's inside. He was sewn together because it cannot escape it won't let that happen again.

There's no way for escaping. We can't allow that. Not after the last time. And carragher confesses that she actually had trouble sleeping because she didn't have really come as snoring, which I guess acts as, like, white noise for her. And she's like, yeah, you know what? Let me try this. Let me try this fishing you got going on here. You haven't caught anything. Let me give it a shot. And sure enough, she catches a fish. And when she pulls it up, she's holding the fishing rod and notices the prayer beads aren't on her wrist anymore. She's like, huh? When heroes went, oh, well. And they all head back and then we see before they head back, they see the old man calling her like, hey, that's a lucky catch you got there. You're lucky you caught that fish back.

You get it, you get it.

Keyword word of the day. And then on the walk back, they see the delivery guy that she's got the hots for being the little cat. We got a cat friend now. I'm invested.

That's how you know he's good too. When you see an anime boy helping.

A cat, he's definitely not a serial killer back home that just happens to like cats. And then at the very end of the episode, we see the old fisherman sitting by the river, and he picks up the broken prayer beads that karu had, and he's just like, huh, trash. And he throws them away. I get the symbolism, but don't let her, old man. I like, you don't don't test your luck right now. And yeah, that's the end. Episode six.

We've done it.

We did it.

We watched half of an anime today.

Wild. What is this feeling?

What was this accomplishment? Success? Not quite, but almost.

There progress.

I also really love back in episode four when karu was like, indecisive, and she asked them, like, what color, like, flower and ribbon should I wear with my yakada? And it's like, the red are the yellow and the band of the bird pick, like, several ones. She's like, all right. Really? kuma, you'll be a tiebreaker. He's like, oh, where are the yellow? She's like red. It is. And Rylakuma has this disgruntled like, bitch, what did I just said?

You relied on me.

It's so minimal. Like, there's so little going on in real coma's face, but just like, the whole scene made it very expressive to me. A very good belly laugh out of me.

Yeah, we touched on it being stop motion, but this is a very good looking show. Some of the faces have some ranking baths, like old school Christmas movie movements that felt nostalgic, but also being like, not the greatest looking, but it just is so put together. It's just such a cute show.

Yeah. I don't know why one of my favorite animation moments is when she presses the button on the elevator and turns around to look at the bulletin board, I was just like, that feels very real. I like that.

Yeah, it's incredible things. It's like a wes Anderson anime. But yeah, really enjoyed question. I put a question mark for child living alone because we never actually see his mom. So like they're not marking that off on the bingo card. But it is questionable. The other one is rila coma. himbo?

I would say no.

We all agree he's cute, he's pretty dumb, but he is very innocent.

I don't know.

I wouldn't say so because himbos also tend to be like beefy and he's just round. Just big, but round.

That's true. He's a round friend, not a hunk.

Yeah.

He's not the edamame takoyaki hunk. Yeah.

Those guys were himbos.

Those were himbos. Yeah.

If you want himbos, I'll give you those too.

Who the hell would ever choose edamami over Takiyaki?

I would.

Vegetarian.

Anyway, I guess.

Sounds like we book.

I was waiting for someone to ask me. But yes, we're there.

Yay.

We've there. Done that.

Yeah. It's so cute. I thought it was just going to be a you have sit your preschooler in front of the show, watch some cute animals do some stuff, but then seeing just very relatable, very adult essential thread. Yeah. Big important things happening in this very sad woman's life. And I was not expecting that. And that definitely won me over.

Yeah. Here's my theory. I know we know where rilakuma came from. They just showed up and they lived there. But my theory is that it's like a winnie the pooh situation where it's in her imagination and she just has rilakuma Korakuma and the bird as like teddy bears and Tokyo can see them because she played with them with him and they're just like a chance for mental issues. Not like edgy mental issues, obviously.

Yeah. But I'm going through some sad times. I need some imaginary friends to cheer me up.

Yeah, I like that idea.

I was wondering about that until I saw them interacting with everything. Like they're at the festival, dancing around on stage with everyone and fishing with the old man. I was like, okay, it's not that they do exist. Like they are things. So we go dodge that bullet.

Yeah. I also just like it because it just reminds me of bearing the big blue house and like paddington. Just like some chill time with some bears who teach you life lessons gently.

Yeah. I think this still would be an entertaining show if it was like traditionally animated, like 2d animation and stuff. But there's so much more that's headed with the stop motion and just seeing the texture and everything of just like these little fuzzy bears. Fucking precious. Like you see the buzz on them and stuff and yeah, I think it adds just such a massive element that makes it so much more successful for the show.

Yeah, it just makes it more charming that they're not flat 2d or even, like, computer generated 3d images. It just has that, like, hand crafted, hand touch feel. And it's like, this is so nice.

So nice.

Yay, yang. So, yeah, what do we have going on next week?

Next week we got a recommendation from vince from the kame House Party podcast, which you might have heard the promo we've been running a bit. I was a guest on there and he recommended an anime called Blue submarine Number Six, which I didn't really know much about. And then when I googled it, I had very vivid flashbacks that I've repressed.

Oh, no.

Oh, boy.

I know nothing about it. I just recognize the characters. I'm just like, I've seen this before.

Hey, Brendan.

Nothing. I know nothing. I'm not tying myself to this one. I'm not thinking I've seen it, and I just want to rewatch it and figure out what the fuck this is about, because it's very vividly deep in my brain.

All right, well, it's on you. If we have a horrible time next.

Week, I'm holding you accountable.

That's fair. We've had horrible times. The show I actually enjoy.

Well, we could hold vince accountable. Brendan is just the middleman.

I'm the messenger.

Yeah. So, yeah, if there's a show you, the listener, would like us to watch, you can send your recommendations to us. Our email is arwibairet@gmail.com. Or you can reach out to us on Twitter and Instagram at are we there yet? You can find me on Twitter and Instagram at Mr. Patrick dugan.

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

You can find me on Twitter at abts. Brendan stands for Almost Better Than Silent, which is a video game podcast I do and sometimes stream on, playing a lot of persona four gold in the middle of the night when no one's awake.

Perfect.

Yes.

I mean, what's a better time to play an anime video?

The secret darkness of night.

But yeah. Thank you to camille ruley for artwork, and thank you to louie Song for theme song stories. You can find all of Louis music at you can find all of louie's music at Louisong bandcamp.com. Thank you, and we hope you'll join us next week as we learn to live with anime.

Goodbye. Goodbye, good friends. Goodbye.