AWTY 171 - Spicy Pudding (After School Dice Club)

Hello and welcome to our weeb area in exploration and edge education and anime. I'm your anime idiot, patrick dugan.

I'm an anime expert, D hollander.

And I'm brenda mccullough. Your anime for the love of God, be chill. I need the show to be chill. I don't want to eat a shoe. Please, God, please.

Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.

We're in such a bad spot that we're already breaking format. Brendan didn't even have a thing related to the show. We're just pleading, please, God, do not betray us. We cannot.

I mean, I could have pulled I could have pulled a board game from, like, the 50s, but, like, it what it's is. There a TV show based on it?

No.

Then I don't know what it is.

I'm the hungriest hippo dee hollander.

No. Warner brothers. What's the board game one? I don't know. There's something brother Parker Brothers.

Parker brothers.

Parker brothers. mousetrap and I ate the little diving man. Before we start applying I am the.

Crib bitch, Patrick dugan.

I don't know what that's related to.

But I look, I know you don't really use Twitter anymore, but you should just go onto your Twitter and make that your name and then that's it. Don't tweet anything.

Yeah. So what are we watching this week?

This week we need a wind down. We need just real empty head. No thoughts. And I pray that the anime gods who've abandoned me long ago, that that's what this show is about. This week we're watching after School Dice club recommendation from Ribbonquest on a guy.

Call me some that's the worst thing I've ever said.

Not the worst thing, but some actual Japanese on this show.

Actual Japanese? I wouldn't call it that. What I just said.

I can't keep track of three character names, so you're doing better than me.

I know how to say, do you speak English? There you go. If you ever go to Japan if I ever go to Japan, I'm probably.

Set Don del bonio. That won't help me in Japan, but I know in every language.

I'm a big fan of once every three months doing Japanese undou lingo just enough to be like, yeah, I vaguely recognize the several alphabets and then stopping until it's completely gone.

It's hard. Anyway.

Either of you know anything about after school dies club?

No.

Last week's show was so bad. We are still upset by it. And you can tell in this intro we got baggage.

Still, it's just scary now moving forward, because the first two episodes were like, yeah, this is fine if a little boring. But then the third episode just, like, punched us in the jaw so hard. So now it's just scary.

Any show is scary because we've had the madoka magica twist where episode three just gets buckwhile. But that was still in line with the show.

Yeah, it's a fantasy.

And then, like, stars align. I finished because it got to a comedic point of, like, this is just ridiculous. Like, one character's baggage is his parents love them too much and are overprotected compared to the one kid trying to murder his own father. That's not as bad. Hey, I was like, that became to a comedic sense, but yeah, last week was just bad.

I'm going to write a letter.

Of that anime.

What's wrong with you?

I hate that this is officially just part two of last week's episode, but we are literally the exact plot of that where she is now just afraid of men. We are now just afraid of animals. We're like, no, it seems harmless, but God, we've been burned. No, thank you.

Ribbon Quest has been kind to us in the past. She's usually pretty nice to us.

We trust you. Don't break that trust now.

Yeah, this is I hate to say it, but it's on you, baby.

Now is not the top.

Truly very unfair. Just having a stockpile of things that we're pulling at random and being like, don't betray us this week.

Yeah. Sorry.

But truly, you are our lighthouse. You are beckoning to calm waters. So you've earned this trust. But I'm sorry, we're too far gone. We're too much in the deep merck that we can trust no one ever again.

Make sure you send your recommendations in, listeners, because we're probably going to avoid them. We're scared.

We're scared. I have to be scared of my own list now. Jesus Christ.

Oh, yeah. Here's a very good, rare moment where we're remembering, like, oh, yeah, we can promote things at the top of the episode if you have a good, genuinely good, just a delightful, heartwarming show. If you're new here, sorry, this is a bad introduction. Listen to another one. But if you're going to listen to another one, make it Ranking of Kings. That's our standard of the type of show we want to be sent. So if you have just hidden Ranking of Kings gem under your cap, please send it to our email. Arrived there. Yeah@gmail.com.

If you're going to send trash, make it like zach Bell level of trash, not Stars alive.

Yeah, like fun bad.

Yeah, like the Super Mario Brothers live action movie bad. Like real nonsense.

Yeah.

Again, it's clear we're at a breaking point. We had a week of recovery time, and we're still this riled up as we're about to watch a board game show.

If one of you motherfuckers sent in elephant lied one more time.

You saw us. We watched it. Leave us alone.

We can't handle it anymore. All right?

We we have to go both watch this show and just take a good long look at ourselves in the mirror.

We'll be back. I'm taking a ride in the washing machine. I got a cool one.

Breathe in, breathe out. It's a boring club anime.

We made it through. I can return those white New balances. I don't have to eat them anymore.

No, keep them.

Yeah. Bad aesthetic. What are you trying to tell me? Just nothing going on, which is really the best.

It's what we needed.

It's delightful. Yeah, because there's nothing going on. Let me skim over some details because there's a lot of scenic stuff that doesn't translate well into an audio format. All right, episode one, we open with a girl monologuing in her head, as anime tend to do when they open, saying, she's never been good at playing. She's never been good at having fun, and that just doesn't make sense to me.

I'll say it right now. Check. unlikable main character off the bingo. She's not terrible, but I don't like her.

I didn't have it, but I won't argue with you. So yeah. She says, I've never been good at having fun or playing with others. She's watching, like, a few kids play down by, like, a river. And she says, sometimes you need others to help you out to have a good time. The opening. And then the opening happens, and it's cute. It's nothing remarkable. And then we cut back to the main girl walking around, isolating herself, listening to music. And honestly, that was just me in college.

Yeah.

We see her staring out a window. Window seat. Check. And everyone's talking. She's kind of just in. And I'm like, God, everyone's so chatty. I wish the teacher would just show up and get class over with. It it went from, like, I'm bad at socializing to, man, everyone won't shut up. And we see one girl talking to another girl and kind of, like, admonishing her of like, yeah, you're on a new school. You gotta you got prepared for this.

He's like, oh, man, I get on.

My ass so quick. And we see the girl lecturing her. The other girl come over to our main character. Oh, main character's name is Mickey. And we see the class representative come over, and the classroom is like, hey, some of the girls from our class are going out to do karaoke tonight. You want to come? Miki says, no, thanks. I'm good. I have other plans. She doesn't. That's a lie.

It's very much the Meet the robinsons of they all needed me.

Yeah. So she says she's busy, and then we cut to her after school, just once again walking along the river, being like, the river relaxes me. It's like, that's fair. Sometimes you don't get the social energy, and karaoke is a big ordeal. Yeah, but it's just funny. I'm not good to people. It's just like the first kind interaction. It's like, no, thank you. I want nothing to do with you. So we see her walking along the river as a girl comes flying down a hill on her bike, screaming, Watch out. Mickey just sidesteps her. And the girl goes right into the river on her bike. We find out this is the new girl that the class rep was talking to earlier. That day and we find out her name is Aya. She is just so full of energy, just soul out. It's standard extrovert adopts an introvert anime.

Yes.

Tale as old as time. Song as old as riding your bike into a riverbed. So she gets out of the river and has to get changed. She's changing underneath an overpass and Miki's watch on watch to make sure no one sees her watch. She's getting changed. She's like, oh, yeah. I wanted to explore after school because I'm new in town, so I brought a change of clothes to be more comfortable in. So it's very convenient they didn't get wet. It's like, man, there's not a lot of people hanging out underneath this bridge. It was just like a wine. I'm like, yeah, it's a bridge.

Is this, like, the place to be? Do people hang out under bridges here?

Do you not have rave goff who just love electro dancing underneath bridges?

I'm new, I'm from trolls topia. We all hang out under bridges where I'm from.

It's the place to be. So, yeah, it gets changed. She's like, oh, I'm new in town, so I wanted to explore and see where I'm at. And she's like, hey, I got an idea. How about we go together? I got nothing else to do. You're probably not doing anything else. You look boring. He's like, I don't know. We'll probably get lost. I was like, hell yeah, we'll get lost. That's a great idea. Let's go get lost. And just drags her along. And after a while, Aya keeps getting oh, yeah, they're walking along a path and Aya keeps getting distracted by stuff like, hey, look at this little statue on the side road. Look, ducks and just real goldfish attention span. The whole time, mickey is like, hey, we should probably get heading back because we'll get lost and it's scary. And finally Mickey snaps and yells at her, saying, I want to go home. I'm scared. I don't know what's happening. Let's get out of here and start crying. And Aya says, like, well, we don't know where we're going, so that means we're not derailing, we're not off track, so we can't get lost. You got to have a destination to get lost. And I was like, miki is like, you make a good point. It's like, not really, but no, it comforts, meeky, and that's what it was meant to do. Yeah, so they keep exploring a little bit, and we see, like, a little montage of it, and they find an old aqueduct, a water bridge, and they're just like, neat. Anyway, in the opening and, like, I think at a few another montage, we see the aqueduct again. It seems prominent in this show for no reason. It's pretty.

That's where the showdown happens.

They play dice under the aquaduct, the duel of fates.

And while they're looking around, they're like, oh, we spent the whole day exploring. Oh, look, the sunset over the mountain. Beautiful. And mickey's kind of in her head of like, I guess I can have fun after all. It's like, what a real boring person. Like I said, I won't disagree with the unlikable, just real plans. Just absolutely nothing going on with her. And on the bus ride home, the bus stops that location. Some people get off and they say, hey look, there's the class rep downtown. What's she doing down here? It's curfew she's breaking the rules. And they go sneaking after her to follow her to see what's up. And I remember her telling her that day that's what the class rep was lecturing her about. Being like, you can't go out after six, make sure you don't go to cafes or this or that or all this stuff, especially during the week. And she's like the puck calling the kettle black. I don't know why a British there. And they end up following her inside of this big building into a room called sekoro Club. Pretty sure that's the Dice Club, I think they didn't translate that part. And yeah, they walk in and it's just a room full of board games all over and they're like, wow, look at this one. It is a language I don't even read. What's this one? And then just I find it delightful.

That it's real board games. All of them, I think. Like, I have one called dixit and I saw it on their shelves and it's like the real art and everything. I was like, wow. And splendor. She was carrying splendor.

Yeah, there was a ticket to ride as well. I feel like some of them were like, yeah, we're going to make you squint. It's not legally the same, but yeah, it's the same game.

Yeah, well, I mean, dixit said dixit, so I'm sure some of them have fake names and some of them are placeholders, but I don't know. And the games they play, which we'll get to, are also real. I looked them up.

Okay.

I was going to say this would be great if these were all real games. They are, apparently. Yeah. There were settlers of boot. Man.

Couldn't get that one.

Too expensive. Honestly. They probably did just be like, can we use yours? No. All right, this is the squinty background. Can we use this? Cool. This is in an episode or in the manga. Oh, that's awesome. And yeah, while they're looking at board games, a huge dude in an apron pops up by and was like, hey, ladies. And it's like, oh, fuck. And they all just scream, which is fair. And the class rep, we find out her name is madori, comes around after the screaming. She's like, Boss, what if I told you you can't just sneak up on people, you're very intimidating. He's like oh, sorry. And yeah, the classroom is like, who's screaming over here? It's like, oh, it's my classmates. Why are they out here breaking curfew and is like, you're breaking curfew too.

Ha.

Double standards. And Majority says, like, no, I got special permission from the school. This is my job. I work here, so I got permission. You don't. Your breaking rules got you. And then Midori's manager says, like, well, it's slow. You got friends here. Crack open a board game and stick around and play a game. It'll be fun. And madora is like, no, they're not my friends. I got work to do. I'm here to work. Even though her boss is like, let's fuck. Let's just slack off and not do shift for a while, which I would take any day of the week. And, yeah, they show him around. They say specifically, there's a lot of European games made in Germany. So I don't know. I mean, I guess these are real games, so yeah, I wouldn't know the difference. And Mickey is blown away by all the different kinds of games. She didn't realize people could have this much fun in different ways. And it's like, yeah. What? You know, things exist, right? Even if you're not into them.

What do you think she listens to? It just seems to be like a white.

Just the audio of this is me walking through a four.

It's just her narrating her own days. She listens back to it as she walks. I really want someone to just pull the headphones off and be like, what are you listening to? Oh, God. Yeah. So the manager breaks down a game called marrakesh, and they get into the rules a bit. We won't. that'll be boring to listen to.

You can look them up.

Yeah, that's a real game. Look it up yourself.

Marrakesh. Yeah, you're a real game. Sponsor us if you want us to explain your game.

Yeah, or say anything good about this piece of crap. I don't know. So, yeah, the manager breaks out the marrakesh, and they explain the premise and the game and the rules and asks, like, hey, madora, you're better at explaining rules than me. Why don't you come over and do it? She's like, what? You're already playing. I'm not playing. Fine. And she doesn't. And he's trying his best to rope her in, but she does not want to. And Aya calls her out for not wanting to play one of her favorite games. And madora says, like, yeah, I'm here to work. I don't want to play games. I want to work. It's like, yeah, you must be fun at parties. Your boss is saying, Play the game. That's part of your job. Just play the game. And Aya says they start playing the game, and sure enough, the manager is beating them because he's actually played the game before. And Aya says, like, hey, you should go easy on us. We're newcomers and high school girls. You're a manager. You're an adult. And he gets very intense. He's like, ho ho. When I play games, I play to win. I don't go easy on anyone. Whether you're an adult, a child, or a high school girl. I feel like child is lower than all right. And majority says it tells him again to stop intimidating him because he's just a very large man, very muscular. I wouldn't say him, though. He doesn't seem that dumb, but he's close. And while midori is abashing him, she also gives Miki a little hint on what to do with the game. She's like, oh, if you go this direction, you have better odds of winning. And the manager stops her. Is like, hey, that's part of the club rules. No butting in. If you're not playing, it's like you're supposed to be uptight. You're the eda of the show. You're not supposed to break the rules. And Mickey starts crying, saying she isn't good at games and wants padori's help the drama. Mickey cries at the drop of a hat. She just can't handle it more than anyone in Ranking of Kings. And there's a lot of crying in that.

Yeah, watching this show was really enjoying finding the tropes of like, okay, so this has a lot of the same beats as just regular action anime just applied to board game stakes where it's like, no, I need your help. Please, I can't defeat this enemy without you.

I always love when there's just, like, the comic relief character who's like, off on the sides, like, brah, this is a board game. What? It just really deflates the situation because, yes, you can be passionate about stuff, but this like, clubs I can get, sports I can get. This is just recreational fun, so it's weird to take it so seriously.

Yeah. In a field she specifically knows nothing and cares nothing about.

I can't lose. You've never played a board game in your life before.

Why are you so my reputation is at stake. My grandpa's in a prison.

Damn it. Well, that is the actual plot of yugio. He's in, like, a soul prison.

Oh, fuck.

That is what I was referring to. But yeah. So Mickey starts crying, and what dory says, like, fine, I'll join the game, but not as a player, as mickey's coach. And I was like, hey, what the fuck? What about me? Basically, why does she get the help and not me? So madori just talks Miki up and starts giving her different strategies and stuff like that. If you get this way, the chance of you rolling is higher, blah, blah, blah. And we get a little montage of them playing. We don't actually watch the whole thing play out, which honestly, I kind of enjoyed the show. They give you the basic premise of the games and kind of like speed run through and you can fill in the blanks instead of drawing it out. And at the very end, mickey's in a tight situation, and the dory says, like, ah, you should go this way. You got to get a four on the die. Like, you know you got one in six chances of getting this, but if you get it, the payout is big. And it kind of pushes Miki to remember earlier that day when I was saying, like, you got to take risk. You got to explore. Go get lost somewhere, because this is the only core memory she has. And Mickey goes with it. Rolls, gets the four lands on the spot she needs. She's still going, and now she's put the manager in an even tighter situation where he needs the same role, and odds aren't in his favor because he ends up rolling and loses. So they end up winning because of Midori's help.

Yay hooray. teamwork friendship.

Yeah. Two against one on one. Fair match.

It's not like Miki uses any brain power.

It's true. Just pure empty. Had no thoughts. And as they're celebrating, iss like, oh, I want to join in the celebration, too. Majority is like, no, you're still the enemy. And ISR is like, crying, but kind of like jokingly crying, like, just wanting, like, nah, let me join in, guys. And then we cut to them walking home, talking about how much fun they had, and they're like, we look forward to doing it again sometimes. And madora is like, I'm the wet blanket. I got to enforce the school rules. Outside of school, you're not allowed to be here after curfew. And they're like, oh, man. And she pushes up her classes, and she's like, but there is an exception on holidays and weekends, blush soon deray the hint that she also had fun, and I start teasing the dory about it while Mickey reflects on her life, saying she finally learned how to have fun in a good time. And all it took was friends. It's like you were just a blank mold. There's just nothing.

Could have waited for a member of any club to adopt you at that point.

Yeah.

Hey, I'm a gokart kid. Come with me. You're not going to say no.

Just a super quiet, meek little girl in the gokart club, please.

I don't like this. Let me leave. You followed me home from school.

That's the rules of anime I have tonight. That's where I have headphones on all the time.

Please.

And then we get the ending, which is also cute but not remarkable.

Yeah, it was the only thing I'll say. It was like, a little too trippy. It was like bubble gummy, stop motion type animation. So I was like, oh, unexpected. Unnecessary for a show this boring, but okay.

They had to spice it up.

It's like we had butter patch. And so I was like, what if we added a little cumin to this? And it's like, please, God, no. Absolutely not. Our views, it's like, okay, sorry. And then they still put it in and put it just like the one last bite it's and like, God, it still burns.

So we start out. Episode two, we see Mickey at her locker, comes up, and they walk to class. They find madori there, and we just get a quick like, hey, cool. Can we call each other our real names and not just call you, like, class rep and shy girl and girl with undiagnosed additional. Okay. So they thank midori for helping Miki have fun, and Miki is like, oh, finally, I'm opening up. I'm happy. Cool. So they're talking more about what other games can we play? And we find out. Like, midori from her family knows a bunch, and they have to wait. They want to play now. But midori being class rep is like, hey, no class is starting. I am still in authority. Please don't openly play board games in class and especially tell people, I told you to do it. So she's like, all right, after class, we'll find somewhere to go.

Sorry, teach algebra. Can wait. We got carcasson.

What if I made counting fun here's? yazzi. But as they're talking, Mickey notices that there's a blonde boy staring at this is tanaway.

Yeah, whatever.

Whatever, blond boy.

He's blonde, got a piercing and one pant leg rolled up.

Ho.

You can tell he's cool because he just blindly follows whatever someone says is cool. So he's in love with aya he sits next to her, but she doesn't notice him. He's just a poor little guy. When they first met, he was just completely unnoticeable. He tried all the piercings and spiking up his hair and rolling up his leg just to get her attention. That makes more sense. Okay, that would be great. He wants to talk to her real bad, but they can't get close, even though they sit six inches from each other and have for half a year.

Cool.

So he's like, all right, now today's the day I got to do it. And keeps trying to get her attention. He, like, drops as eraser. So she'll pick it up, but the girl in front of him gets it. Damn.

Damn.

Well, she forgot her dictionary. You can bar mind. Oh, the person on the other side was too fat. Okay, just all these instances of I want to talk to you, but just talking to you, like, up here in your class is not possible. There has to be a gimmick to be fair.

I get high school sucked.

True, but still, those hormones fuck with your head.

Hi, how are you? She's very friendly.

Yes. Yeah, exactly. She's like, hey, shyest person in this classroom, do you want to have a conversation with me? And he's like, no, I'm going to bug her.

Shucks beans.

The girls go to an empty classroom. It's the end of the day. They're actually going to start playing a game. But blond boy is watching from the doorway. He's like, oh, I got to think of an excuse to go in there. As he does, madori comes up behind him and is like, hey, creep. What the fuck? I just forgot something in this classroom. I guess I'll walk in and get it, but he walks in, and I see him and maduro walk in together. Is like, oh, you two know each other, right? coincidentally, yes, we do go way back.

What do you know?

Yeah, just not actually friends, but yeah, we've been in classes since we were in preschool. So this is another kid in the town I grew up with.

Damn, you alphabetical seating.

And he's like, all right, I guess I'll get going. But Aya invites him to stay and play with them. She's so kind. He falls in love even more.

I will say I like that he doesn't say anything nasty about her. Like, his crush is very wholesome. Like, he's just like, she's so cute and nice. And I'm like that's. Great. Good for you, man. The bar is in hell. But it's nice.

Because it's not like she's, like, the hottest girl in school. I got to get with her. It's just like, she's so pretty. Oh, and once I talk to her, she's also nice. everything's coming up my name that I can't remember.

Yeah, and he also doesn't like madori. Kind of gives them shit. Like, he says, he's a kid. We grew up in the same class. I don't really care. Like, he doesn't give her as much shit as she gives him. So, like, he's a delinquent in the sense of, like, yeah, the spiky blonde hair, the earrings, the weird, like, pan leg rolled up. But he's pure hearted and dumb of ass. And honestly, my favorite trope, he's too.

Young, but a hymbo in the making. Just got a beef up. So they pull out a bunch of games. maduro brought a bunch, so they're like, yeah, we can play this or this or this. But they settle on a game called cocker lock and poker. Or cockroach poker. So, again, don't need to get too deep into it. It's essentially a bluffing game. If you played the card game bullshit, essentially, that where you're trying to, like, hand off undesirable cards to other people, and whoever, like, collects full set loses.

This one seems fun. I would play this.

Yes. Same.

The art is really cool to assess the real art on the cards. I like that.

Had a fun style to it.

Yeah. So they start playing, and the first few hands is mostly in the boy's head, where he's like, whatever move I can make to talk to Aya, that's what I'll do. But being a game about deception and lying, it involves hurting her feelings in several different ways. So he's like, oh, shit. No, this isn't what I mean. I just want to play this game, but I'm hurting her by giving her bugs and stuff on cards. Yeah, we get a flash forward. He's like, I can't imagine her lying. She's so pure of heart. And just start getting into the meta. Game strategies of midori, again, taking it way too seriously, and is like, I only explain certain animals, so you can't be lying if you mentioned one I didn't mention in the tutorial. So just that sort of stuff.

We'll skip ahead.

So we get to the last hand where aya essentially in three different ways. If she gets one of those cards, she loses. So blonde boy is like, all right, I'll help her out. I'll try to throw it so she can stay in the game. But again, we already got into meta head game stuff where he's like, oh, wait, no. I'm all so close to losing, so she's trying to make me lose instead of her. I can't do that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Way too specific, doesn't really matter. And he makes a move that causes her to lose, and she starts crying. And he's like, oh, no, I've done it now. Never win her heart.

I like, that madori was like meta gaming, kind of just with the knowledge of having played before while he was overthinking stuff because he was just so anxious. How can I make her like me in any way? That's his end goal.

Yeah, she loses, and he's like, all right, I guess I'll leave. But I was like, hey, you, let me talk to you out in the hallway. He's like, oh, fuck.

Oh, no.

She's on to me. Oh, I made her cry. I was stalking her lightly. Oh, it's the end for me. And so they go out into the hallway and all dramatic. She's like, I know you. I've seen you watching us. I know your scheme. And he's like, oh, man. Oh, no. She knows exactly what it is. This isn't a misdirect. And she says, you have a crush on midori because I'm an idiot.

Yeah, they're two halves of a whole idiot.

Their knowledge combined, they can maybe make it through high school.

Maybe it's a stretch.

So, of course he's like, yeah, sure, whatever. And she's like, all right, I guess I'll help you get close to your crush. This is a strategy every high school boy thinks is great but never goes well. But here we are. So we get the girls. They're all walking home, and aya is begging majority all let them in the club. The more the merrier. blah, blah, blah. We got to grow our numbers. I'm surprised no one has mentioned that they're close to the threshold of having their club shut down.

I think it's an actual school club. I think the store she works at is called, like, the Board Game Club Room or whatever. But it's not an actual club. Which I was surprised by.

Yeah, like, you just had the opportunity, but you didn't take it. That's. Such restraint from anonymous.

Yeah.

Truly, I'm impressed.

But yeah. And then as they're walking home, mickey again is like, oh, wow. I would have just gone home and been alone. I guess friendship is fun. And that's her Rand episode, too.

Wow.

I do like that the whole game, mickey is noticing it and be like, ah, blonde boy likes aya, and that's the only reason he's playing. Like, she's the only one that seems to pick up on it. And then walking home, aya is talking. It's like, hey, Mickey, do you notice how blond boys head over heels from A dory? It's like, God, you're so dumb. I love you. What a great character.

So episode three starts with little miki at a shrine with some bullies. And they've like, taken her teddy bear and they're throwing it around, and one of them trips her.

Oh, God. It's the episode three curse.

Yeah, I was really worried. But don't worry. Turns out okay, she wakes up. It was a flashback dream. So from the time she was young, she decided being alone was better than getting hurt. Next. Then we see her. It must be a weekend because she's not in her school uniform. She's walking on her own. And the memory of the bullying comes back as some girls run by laughing. And then she turns to see a woman laying on the sidewalk. And she's like, is anyone going to help her?

I saw the woman lying down, and I got the shoe ready. Really worried something's happening.

Yeah. So Mickey goes up to her and she's like, hey, are you okay? And she looks up and she's like, oh, yeah, here, look. And she shows her that her cat got through a grate on the ground. And she explains they were going to the vet, but the cat hid. And so Mickey is like, I think I know how to get the cat out. And she brings over a piece of grass that has, like, a little feathery thing on the tip and waves it around. And in her mind is all like, I relate to this cat because I'm so shy. And yeah, the cat comes out hooray. The lady asks Mickey where she learned her cat whispering techniques because her cat is, like, really standoffish and won't even let her little sister touch her. And Mickey thinks that it might be because the cat is shy like her, and she sympathizes with the cat, and she is also afraid of new people. And the lady is like, oh, are you afraid of me? And she's like, no, you actually make me feel pretty chill. So that's good. We're shy but content. And then they both have to get going. Mickey says goodbye, and she goes and meets aya and Madori, and she says, sorry to keep you waiting. And then they go to aya's apartment. Well, once they're there, she explains what happened while she was late, and they're proud of her for helping someone. And then aya is like, yeah, my cat freaks out when I try to get near her too. And I was like, wow. It's not like the lady looked anything like you. It's a joke, because they looked exactly the same. She says she has a sister. Who could that be?

Whoa.

Yeah. They get home, and it's exactly who you think it is. Cat walks in. aya is like, Hi, kitty. And the cat just goes right behind the curtains. This is the most realistic anime cat.

You. No, I refuse. And runs off into God knows where.

Yeah. And then the lady from before comes in, and it's her sister, and she has a cool looking friend. Friend is in quotation marks because best friends, they're a couple.

Absolutely. I've decided earlier, when they were getting to know each, the three girls were getting to know each other. They were like, aya, don't be too familiar with me, Mickey. She can be very familiar with me. I was like, Is that the gay? And then we introduced to this friend. I was like, okay, this is the gay.

Yeah, for sure. I do think it's cute if that boy and aya do start having a thing. And then midori and Mickey can be girlfriends.

Yeah. There you go.

Yeah. So big sister's name is hana. Mid dori jokes that she's too pretty to be related to aya, but they look the same, and they all introduce themselves, including this cool girl. Her name is maki. And Hannah was like, I figured it'd be more the merrier. So I brought her along. And Mickey gets really nervous. She's like, this girl is too cool. She puts me on edge. And Hannah explains that they met when maki stood up for her when she was being harassed at the restaurant she works at. maki says that Hannah attracts all kinds of creepy men, but maki keeps them away. And I'm like, that's you're gay.

Just hold it.

So they talk about the cat some more, talking about how surprised they are that the cat likes Mickey. And then maki is like, hey, Mickey, you're actually pretty familiar. Where did you go to middle school? And then it turns out they went to the same one, but hana and mackie are too old, so they wouldn't have been there at the same time. But Mickey is like, I think I do know her. Which, again, made me nervous. machi is really excited to play some games. She's into fighting video games, but there's no fighting today. They're playing a game called ink and Gold, which I didn't look up, but it probably is real.

Yeah. Based on the track record.

Yeah.

Mickey'S a Catholic man in Smash. I can feel it.

So, yeah. madora explains the rules. The goal is to get as many jewels as you can and get out. And then yeah, they're just like, oh, if you get too greedy, you'll lose all your jewels. Because there are hazard cards and rules. Rules. Time to play. So machi and Hannah decide to team up again. Come on. And then we, like, skip ahead. The game is being played and they're in danger of getting a second hazard. A hazard card is played, and if you get the same one again, everybody loses their jewels if they're not leaving the temple or whatever. So Mickey decides to retreat. maki teases her. maki, she's like, you probably got bullied a lot, which is weird. And it's at that point, nikki is like, I think this girl used to bully me. There's a girl that had a ponytail who bullied me, and this girl also has a ponytail. So maki decides to retreat. And madore and aya are still, like, in the temple when they get the they lose their money. They lose the jewels. The game goes on. maki is, like, teasing everybody, and then it's getting toward the end, and it's maki and Mickey head to head. And then maki tries to convince Mickey to retreat, because if she doesn't, she'll be in dead last. And Mickey doesn't know what to do, and she's like, oh, no, I'm all alone in this. And then the cat comes over and snuggles her feet. And then midori and aya are like, you can do it, Mickey. And she's like, oh, yeah, I have.

Friends with the power of friendship, even though we're playing against each other.

Yeah, well, they've already lost.

Yeah.

Like, again, this is very much a standard anime moment of it's down to me. My team is incapacitated, but the power of their support will carry me through to win this hand of a board.

Game by the power of friendship and this cat. This little cat and a little chubby bastard.

So Mickey decides to keep going. She's risking it for the biscuit because she has the courage, thanks to her friends. And then she pulls the next card and she wins. yay. She's not alone because of her friends. blah, blah, blah. maki apologizes for being shitty, and miki is like, that's okay. And then I think Hannah calls her kyoko, and she's like, oh, so your first name is kyoko, but your last name is maki? And she's like, yeah, I just don't think kyoko suits me. And then Mickey remembers that maki actually helped her all those years ago when she was being bullied. She came over and told the other girls to fuck off. And she had short hair back then.

Again, looking very gay then, too.

Yeah, we can't trust this enough. Very gay.

But she's like you're. Mad Dog cuticle. She's like, I haven't heard that name in years.

Taking the lollipop that's substituting as a cigarette at her. I just want the full yak. As a back tattoo on mocky, just like a huge colored tattoo.

And then Mickey in her head is like, I don't like caves, but if I push through, I can make it to something as precious as jewels. And then everybody's talking and getting along, and that's the end of episode three. It ended the same way as all the others, with the strength of her.

Friends empowering through hooray. Oh, boy. R weeb zaria.

This was necessary. This was needed. It wasn't the best, but it was fine. Yeah. It did not make me quit this show in disgrace, which other shows might have. So that's where I'm at.

I think this is cool, like, if you want to watch it, because they're playing real board games, so it's cool to learn about new board games and see how it's played. Like, the rules are explained so well that it's like watching overboard on polygon or Table Flip on Game grumps Rip, because they don't do that anymore. It's just kind of nice to just get the rules simple and laid out. But then because of that, the sentimental parts are just so cheesy and, like, shoehorned in.

Yeah, you could tell they were like, we just want to show off cool board games. That's our goal. But I guess we got to write an anime, too. All right, let's first and third act, we'll shoehorn in some plot, and the rest will be board games. Don't worry.

Yeah.

Well, how do we write the main character? All right, what if we just wrote it as, like, vanilla pudding? Like, no, vanella's, a little too spicy. Let's water it down a bit. Got you. Okay. Yeah. Knowing that they're real games makes it much more interesting to me because I was like, oh, these are actually, like, neat little games. And like, yeah, none of them are super complex, but, yeah, they're be cool to be like, oh, and just go online and buy a copy of it.

Ink and Gold is also real. Just looked it up to confirm.

Just confirmed. Nice. As opposed to some shows I've watched where they're like, oh, let's play good board games. Like, cool, what do you want to play? It's like, let's play who is the wife of Gobuku? And just some made up bullshit. It just for the show. And they get so intricate in explaining all of the details of this game that does not exist. I want to scream from the rooftops. So compared to that, with real games, it was interesting to watch, but, yeah, I agree. I think the show was made to show off the board games and not much else. The characters were fun, but yeah, like we said, Mickey as the protagonist is just absolutely nothing.

Yeah. I just don't like that she's like, I never learned how to have fun. It's like, what the fuck are you talking about?

Yeah, you would have been like, I'm quiet, I'm shy, I have trouble communicating with other people, but just the notion of, like, I don't know what fun or playing is as a concept. What alien race are you?

Yeah, I think they really had to they were starting from a place of like, okay, how can we get a main character to whom board games are the most exquisite thing in the world and they cannot have any exposure to anything else. If we need that to happen, where she's going to just be enraptured by this? So she was kept in a cardboard box in an empty office building her entire life. And that is how we can establish that she's amazed by a board game.

Eating chicken broth and saltine crackers.

The Japanese don't have amish. They couldn't just have an amish character go off on rum springer instead of getting drunk. They just fall into a board game shop, which that'd be fun.

That looks like so much fun. Imagine having a friend that works at a board game shop and you just can go there on their days off and play whatever you want.

Excellent.

Well, even further, there's a board game like Bar around us. We've gone to that a few times and I was like, oh, this is great. I'd love if it wasn't a bar, if it wasn't just so goddamn loud and full of just drunk idiots, I'm like, that would be nice.

I'm sure they're playing a game that just has several different types of beer soaked into it. And you're like, all right, I'm playing a 40th hand board game at this point.

The cards are peeling. I mean, I'm sure there's just like card games and game shops nearby and you can play with people and get a group of your friends to do it back when you could go anywhere. This kind of scratch that edge of like, man, I like board games. That tabletop simulator doesn't have this copy.

Yeah, I mean, I haven't heard of any three of these games, so it's cool to hear about new ones.

Somewhat a win.

Yeah. I think this falls in our category of like, refreshing pallet cleanser and don't binge it. This is an after dinner meant don't eat a bunch of them at once. You'll get sick. But maybe every now and then if you just need a very chill show, this is a good one.

Well, I'm sorry to do this, but we have another mystery for next week. I will say trusted source Brendan not so much to you based on their last episode suggestion, but recommendation from our friend abby, who you may know from our bleach episode. We're watching toilet bound Hanukko coon.

Yeah, I'm excited because I've heard good things and I just haven't watched it, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Yeah, that's where I'm at. toilet's in the title. So that's why it's taken us literal years to get to this. I'm just scared and knowing our friends, Brendan getting trolled, but into watching bad anime is a thing that brings them joy. So this is a calculated risk, but I hear it's pleasant to watch. I don't know if animes have done that in the past, so this will be a nice novelty breaking of Kings fair if there's a show you would like us to watch. And again, I cannot stress enough we're on a real stinker kick. If you could recommend some serotonin shows, I personally will. Thank you. So you can send those to our email. Are we are we there yet@gmail.com? Or you can reach out to us on social media at Are We There Yet? On Instagram and Twitter. My brain is broken.

That's okay. You can find me on Instagram at honey. Period d or on Twitter at honey d eight and honey d art and honey is spelled H-U-N-N-I-E. You can find me on Twitter.

I don't recommend it me personally or the platform in general. It's a bad time. Instead, why don't you play Red Dragon in that's a fun board game. It's about being in a bar without actually being in a bar.

Hell, yeah.

I recommend that enough.

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

Goodbye.

Oh, God. I got to get them dice.