Jazz is the only music for me. Hello, and welcome to our week. There yet and exploration and education and anime. I'm your anime idiot, patrick dugan.

I'm an anime expert, dana hollander.

And I'm your anime John coltrane on a snowboard because I still think this shows about snowboarding.

Excellent.

Snowboard and jazz.

Well, I'll tell you, it's not. It's about one of those things.

I hope it's snowboards. I don't know why you'd call it Kids on the Slope, and it not be about a slope activity like snowboarding.

Get ready about longboarding idiot. This is callie bro.

Shit.

I saw that.

About to be severely disappointed.

I should have remembered that one episode of Rocket Power where do they did longboarding?

Hey. 1234 rocket power.

What?

Theme song. But I did it anyways. What is going on this week?

Well, Brendan already said it, but this was my pick. We're going to be watching the first three episodes of Kids on the Slope, which coincidentally expires on hulu tomorrow. So we got it just in time. But not just in time for the listeners. Sorry.

You should have been in the future with us or the past. I don't know. Time is garbage.

Time is relative. Time doesn't exist. Only clocks and count.

Oh, it's too early for this fucking line. Your noon is my 07:00. A.m. yikes. Oh, no. My roommate's gone. No one here's to take care of me. I don't know what's happening.

Oh, no. Well, yeah, so this didn't really come as a recommendation from anyone that I know specifically. I think Paul might have mentioned it to me. My older brother tate actually started watching it because he heard about it from a different podcast, one that's not about anime. Don't worry.

They'Re not a competitor.

Yeah, but the other day he told me, he was like, oh, when are you guys recording? And I was like, Sunday. And he was like, okay, because Kids on the Slope expires on Monday, I've decided that I don't need to watch the whole thing by Monday. And I was like, okay, but also a glowing recommendation.

Yeah, it's good.

I really don't know much about it other than it's about kids that do jazz.

Jazz, baby.

That's jazz, baby.

Brendan, do you know anything about this.

Considering all new to you thought it was about snowboarding? No.

I'm going in blind. Shocking.

Surprise, surprise.

But yeah, let's skin to some jazz. 1234.

Do you like jazz?

Boom.

You're the one that bought me B movie for Christmas in 2017.

What did I oh, no, that was that was dugan.

Dugan booing. I'm so sorry.

Did I get drunk and start buying B movie again for random people?

Hey, it was on sale.

That's not an excuse.

It was also a good prank because right underneath it was the better present. Anyway, shrek four. No, it was it 1990. Let's talk about this anime.

All right. Yeah, because I have thoughts and feelings.

Oh, interesting.

This is a weird, like, childhood slice of life anime that hits you square in the memories that we didn't realize would happen again a little bit.

I'm interested for context.

Yeah.

Let's get started.

Episode one.

Episode one. We start right out with the op. There's no cold open or anything, and it's it's like, chill as hell.

Yeah, it's a little slice of lifey, but then, you know, the music starts picking up and I see a few of them playing.

Yeah, it's not very jazzy.

Yeah, that's surprising.

That's complaint number one for me. This is a show about jazz, yet neither the opening nor the ending have jazz in them.

There's not enough jazz in my jazz.

Yeah, there wasn't.

It's, like, a clear opportunity that they just missed.

I mean, I don't know. I didn't mind, but it wasn't bad.

But, like, yeah, it's about music. You think it would incorporate that music.

And the animation was really smooth in the opening too. I liked it.

Yeah, they got those musical notes flying around all that sheet music.

It really sets it up quickly with the animation of, like, oh, wow, this is very nice. Like, very pretty. Until they really put an effort into it. And it's not just like a stock I don't want to say stock footage, but your standard anime where you're just swapping out, like, the main characters and they all kind of look the same. Like, you can tell this is a kind of passion project of the team.

Yeah. It gave me your name vibes, just in terms of the environment. I don't know why, but yeah. So we start off with the main character. He's walking up a slope. He even says slope.

Yeah, this felt just very heavy handed to it. But a lot of this episode feels very heavy handed.

I took a lot of notes, even though I don't know, it was just a lot of, like, introduction stuff. But I was like, I feel like I need to know this all. So he's walking up the hill with all these kids going to school, and he's like, It's too hot. There are too many kids here. I hate walking uphill. This sucks.

My glasses are fogging up from the.

Sweat, and I want to go home.

This kid gets me on, like, a spiritual level.

Yeah, strong start.

Little shitty cute of whining about everything. That's me.

Yeah. So he is transfer student.

Cheek. whoa.

He's introduced to the class. His name is kao Du nishimi. And as he's walking to his desk, all the kids are kind of just talking shit around him. They're like, I hear he's super rich and super smart, but, like, not in an admiration kind of way.

Look at this fucking rich nerd. He thinks he's better than us, which, to be fair, he does.

He's not wrong.

So he sits at his desk, and then it's like lunchtime. And this nerdy boy next to him, like, reaches out and he's like, hey, nashimi, have you decided on any clubs yet?

Do you like Radio fucking melvin of a character claim machine class?

Well, he's not annoying, though. He's nice.

Even his voice is just very nerdy.

Yeah. And then there are some gibronis at the front of the class that just start making fun of them because they're two boys in glasses talking to each other.

That's all it takes.

Yeah. To be fair, that's a bad crowd.

Yeah. And it happened before, but there are like little clips inserted of someone just like playing sick drumming rhythms with two regular sticks. Not drum sticks on like whatever, like brick walls, railings, stuff like that.

Babies.

Open wounds.

Yeah.

Ouch.

Nitroglycerin container.

Oh, God. But it's so cool.

I can't stop the jazz.

It's healing my broken arm.

And then we cut back to the class and the nerdy boy gestures to the seat behind him and he says, hey, nishimi, just so you know, don't mess with the guy that sits behind me. His name is kawabuchi and he's a thug. And I was like, no.

Good deal.

What?

I missed that.

I said, he's a no good delinquent.

Yes.

It was unimportant.

I just wanted to hear what you said. But at that moment, I was like, I bet that's the kid that's drumming. And then this is like the first time we see any other emotion out of nishimi. Then, like, angst. He just starts sweating because he's scared.

He's like, oh, no, I already got bullied. But there's a bigger bully on his way.

And then a girl comes in. Her name is Ritzko, and she says, hi, nishimi. I'm here to show you around.

She's a class rep. Yeah.

And he says, I don't feel sick anymore. And I was like, he has a crush.

The vomit in my stomach was replaced by butterflies. Vomit? butterflies.

Yuck. And then we're showing the boy drumming again and one of his sticks breaks. dang it. And then she's just showing him around. She's like, there's the gym. There's the infirmary. And then someone throws a baseball at his head and it doesn't seem to hit very hard. Or if like I don't even know if it was like a real baseball, but that's how it looked. And I was like, ow.

Yeah, you get caught in the back of the head. That's more than a sting.

That's like permanent damage. baseballs are hard.

It's the school. He's getting jumped in by the gangs.

Yeah, he got to get initiated. And so that happens. And he's like, on the ground and he's like sweating and he looks like he's going to barf. And he's like, where's the roof? And I guess reese Co points him in the direction of the roof and he runs quick.

I want to puke on the bullies from above. Bombs away if I'm going to barf. Excuse me.

God. Nasty. And as he's running there, we get like, his inner monologue. He says that he's been transferred to a lot of different schools. And every time something happens that throws him off, essentially, he has, like, vertigo. So he'll get thrown off and like, his equilibrium will get thrown off and he'll get really nauseous. And he has found that the only place that helps him recover from this is the roof of any school.

Which is interesting considering he kind of has verdict, which that's usually what would cause it.

Heights the only cure.

Face your fears. And he gets up to the roof, but there are some chairs blocking it. And there's something on the chairs that's being covered by a blanket. And his first thought is to take the blanket off of it. So he does so. And it's a boy.

It's a big ole it's a zombie. It's that kind of show got you.

Jazz zombies moment of them seeing each other for the first time. And I was like, oh my God, I'm in love with their love with.

This little eda and a fucking jojo's character.

Yeah, but in this one, eda is the main character.

Weird.

Yeah, I had the same thought. He looks like a Jojo like side character. Not a main jojo, but one of his gang.

Yeah, he's the jojo sidekick.

It's the hat sat. So the boy under the COVID reaches up and grabs Nishimi's hand. And he said something about he's like, I knew you'd come, or something like that. And then he like, focuses on nishimi and he's like, Why are you holding my hand? He's like, you held my hand. I was like, they're in love.

They're flying.

And then he accuses him of being the key burglar. And I was like, what? And then, oh, the boy from the chairs gets up and he is so much taller than nishimi. And my first thought, I just looked at it and I was like, wow, that's hot. But he's so much taller. I love it.

He's like a joe's character where it's like, oh, I'm a teenager. It's like, you're clearly 34 year old bodybuilder. Don't lie to me.

You're a solid 7ft taller than everyone your age.

So after that moment inishimi is like, I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't take your keys. Some bad boys come up the stairs and they're the ones that stole this guy's keys.

They're the keys to the roof.

They're the keys to the roof. And they're like, the roof is reserved for senior smokers. Some bad boys.

You can tell we're the villains.

We got jewels. I'm sorry. That's what the kids are into nowadays, right? nicotine addiction.

Yeah, it's all the crazies.

I mean, yes, actually. Yes. Sad.

Yeah. I won't get into it.

This is different podcast.

Yeah.

This is not the truth podcast. I'm sorry. And then they go out on the roof and tall boy asks nishimi if he really wants the keys. And he's like, yeah. So he goes out there and beats up the seniors. Yeah, or tries to, but it seems like he lost because it's three against one. And when nishimi goes back out there, he's tall boys on the ground, and.

The three seniors are gone, thrown off the roof.

He killed him.

Forgot that. During this, they play some pretty sick jazz during the fight. There's like cool jazz playing in the background.

I didn't even notice. The animation for this fight, though. Was very good.

Yeah.

For like a non fight oriented show.

Yeah.

So he's laying on the ground, hashimi goes out there, and he's like, you okay? And he says, yeah. And he like, holds up the key. He's like, you wanted this? And Yoshimi's like, yeah, I did. And he's like, that's funny. ¥100,000, please.

Thank you.

Money, please.

That's like a $1,000 in American.

It's still a lot, but less impressive.

And nishimi is like, never mind. And then there's some thunder, so it's going to rain. And then they're back in class. And who to thunk it? This tall boy is Kalabucci. What? He's the thug boy. shocker. For the first like, I take notes in a very small notebook. For my first five pages of notes, I called him kawa or kawabuchi. And then for the last few pages, I called him Centaro. So I know who's who, but glad someone does.

I don't.

I got later on it was Centaro, but I didn't figure out their names until I was taking notes for the last episode.

I think he's the only one. I know his name, but I just.

Realized they called him centauro more than they called him kawabuchi. So I was like, well, I guess I should call him that.

My neighbor santaro.

Ha ha. My neighbor guillermo del toros.

Oh, I wish.

And then Ritzko comes in and she sees him and she calls him centauro, which is his first name. She's like, oh, did you get in a fight again? And he calls her rico. So they have, like, cute little nicknames for each well, she doesn't have a nickname for him, but they call each other by, like, very familiar names.

Yeah. First names.

Yeah. And she's all mad at him. And he's like, hey, rico, what's this New Kids deal? And she's like, I'm not going to tell a thug. And she like, walks away. And I was like, oh, bitch. She's not afraid of him. That's one of my favorite dynamics is like, there's one guy that everyone is afraid of, and then there's one girl that's known him for forever and knows that he's not scary and she's not afraid of him.

I also love yay hawkey show.

Yeah.

I also love carla and Dr. Cox from scrubs.

Yes. God, can we do a scrubs episode? I know so much about scrubs.

The best anime.

I'm no superman.

Okay.

So because Ritzko won't tell him who New Boy is, he reaches out to the nerdy boy and he's like, So who is he? And he's like, oh, he's a transfer student named Cow room mishimi. And he is rich. And centaur was like, cool. Thank you. And then he moved seats to sit behind nishimi.

We're going to be best friends, richie.

Yeah. He starts calling him richie because apparently he's got money.

Got that money.

Yeah, money, honey. And then nishimi feels nauseous again because everyone's looking at them, and he's like, I don't want this. So he goes to run up to the route. He's like, do you have the keys still? And Centaro is like, yeah, but you can't have them, remember? And then he just takes them from and he runs up to the roof, and centaur follows him. And they're just standing up on the roof together in the rain under some umbrellas. And centara says, this is boring. And nishimi says you can leave. Didn't ask you to come here.

Not up here to have fun.

Yeah. And I was like, oh, they're standing in the rain. Time to bond. Time to kiss.

Not bonding too quickly. Not that quick.

Oh, no, my shirt's all wet. I might as well just take it off.

Oh, no. And then nishimi takes some steps forward, and then Centaro chases him around the roof. And then Centaro puts his umbrella down and he's like, nishimi, you do the same. Come on, let's stand in the rain. It's nice, it's refreshing. And he's like, no, I don't want to. And he says, I wrote it down. He says, what are you afraid of? Nothing good comes from fear. And I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God, this boy, this is too steamy. How much gay or can this get? A lot less gay.

It's turning to steam around them. Oh, no, it's boiling.

It actually gets a lot less gay, which is disappointing.

Yeah, there are a lot of homo erotic undertones to their friendship.

And these episodes now they're all wet because they were standing in the rain together. ariet goes, like, all right, go to the infirmary, grab some towels, and then I'll bring you your gym clothes. So while they're in the infirmary, Centaro picks up a couple of pencils and starts drumming. And then I don't know why I thought it was so funny. nishimi goes, Is that jazz?

Is this because who says that after hearing a drumbeat for 10 seconds, who's.

Also not a musical product?

We're familiar. He's not that into jazz. Like, we find out later. So it's just like, how did he know instantly after, like, ten notes?

Maybe they're not notes.

I don't know.

I'm not technically even drums have a tone anyway. That's why they have to be tuned as well. High music.

Even though he says here that he plays classical piano, doesn't mean that he doesn't know what jazz is. He gets the gist. Like, jazz has a different feel than anything else. So I think you could recognize a jazz drum beat.

The gist of jazz. My autobiography.

It's still weird to go like, hey, that's a style of music, rather than, oh, you can play the drum.

Yeah, yeah, that's true. And then Ritzko comes back and she says that nishimi looks pretty without his glasses. And he gets all flustered. And she's like, oh, I'm sorry. I should have called you handsome. Would you like that more?

Were you in two bud?

And then centaurus comes up behind him and grabs him and then blows on his hair. And he was like, what the fuck is that? And he was like, I'm a human hair dryer.

And, you know, a cog block.

So weird. And I like this part too. They go back to class and nishimi says, even though everyone's staring, I feel okay. I don't feel sick. And I was like, oh, that's nice, because you have friends now. Cute.

Weird. If you don't act all superior and actually talk to people, you make friends. Who would? A thunk can you believe there's still.

Like, things that happen in this episode still more content? And then we get, like, some context for his like he has, like, daddy issues because his his dad is like a sailor or something, so he's never home. And so they've had to move around a lot too. And right now, he's staying with his aunt and uncle and cousin, I suppose. And he's like, downstairs in the morning looking at their piano. And then his cousin Mary Co yes, sure, Mary Co comes downstairs and she's like, play me something. And he's like, I don't think I should. It's early in the morning. And she's like, it's fine. I'll take the fall for it. I want to hear you play something. So he starts playing something. It's beautiful. And then his aunt comes downstairs and she's like, what are you thinking? It's so early. And then he says, oh, Mary Co wanted me too. And she's like, I don't know what you're talking about. I told you to stop.

Damn.

And then his aunt is like, yeah, don't put the blame on other people.

This boy boy.

Wow. I'm so glad we don't see them in the rest of these episodes.

Yeah. His aunt also mentions that his mom abandoned him and his dad, so he's also got mom issues.

She's also thrown shade at his dad too. So she's like, wow, you are just an insufferable bitch within the two.

I love Harry Potter. They were freaks. Then he's at school, and Ritzko goes up to him. He's like reading or something. And she's like, oh, Centaro didn't come to school today. Are you lonely? And he's like, no, I'm good.

We ain't friends.

And she says that she wants them to get along so they can both have friends. And that's when she mentions that her and santaro are childhood buddies. Yeah, and he says something about them being familiar with each other, like calling each other by their first names. And she says, oh, you can call me Ritzko, too. I'll call you calderson. And then he hears it over and over again in his head, and he's like, oh, my God. Hell, yeah.

She wants the D.

Or the F sharp music.

Joe.

That'S a late reaction.

Why is it sharp?

Because he wants it promptly now.

And then he asks if there's a record store nearby. And she says, oh, we have plenty of records at my place. You should come over. And then he has, like, the division of her sitting near her bed, and she's like, oh, Carl carson, you knew what I meant when I invited you to my house. Oh, my goodness. But that's not what happens. No, her dad owns a music shop. Got him.

Got you.

So he goes in and she's like, this is my dad. And he's like, oh, hi.

Hello, Father.

Hello, Father. Hello, sir. And she takes him downstairs where there is a piano, and centauro is there sitting that drum set. And Ritzgo is excited that mishimi can play the piano. And she's like, Play something, play something. And centauro is like, he can't play jazz. Jazz is the only music for me. And then he just goes hard on the drum set, rub up some sick drum beats. I liked the animation for this was cool, too, because he was actually hitting the drums that he was playing and not just like random flailing arm movements.

Oh, God. If you want to see just some bad drumming animation. So watch some of those old scooby doo movies with the hex girls. They're playing, like, the same four notes the whole time. And the songs, while it's very entertaining to see how little effort they put into it, as opposed to this, which they really put attention to detail to.

Yeah. And then once he's finished, that's when reeds goes like, play something on the piano. And centaur is like, you want some jazz? I'll just play some jazz. He can't play jazz. He's a classical pianist.

He's a nerd.

He's a nerd. So Centaro starts playing, like, the opening notes for something, but he's not a piano player, so it's like, not amazing. And then nishimi is like, oh, I know that song. I can play it. So he plays it, but he plays it very he plays it with a classical technique. Two sticks, no swing, says Centaro. You got to have the swing.

Don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.

Yeah, that classic lobby cottage music song. I know that song. So when they're all leaving, while Centaro is left and nishimi is about to leave, he says, like, what was that song that Centaro was playing? And I loved that Ritzko's dad knew because he was like, oh, he can only play this song on the piano.

He's an idiot.

He can only do one thing.

Yeah. So he buys the record that Centaro was playing and then throughout the whole day. The next day, he says he can't get the sound of centaur's drumming out of his head, to which I say, gay.

Just the thought of him pounding.

And while him and Ritzko are walking down the hill, he's, like, walking funny to the beat in his head. And she's like, Why are you walking like that? He's like, this is how I always walk.

What are you talking about?

I'm normal. Please just don't know me that well.

And then he Centaro runs down the hill past them and he's like, later, suckers. And mishimi makes a comment about how he runs down the hill so fast. What do you see beyond the hill, centauro? That's episode one. There was a lot of stuff happening in it. Only because we got introduced to everyone and all the concepts and stuff, but.

Yeah, get out there real quick. Episode two. Start off with eda glasses. That's what I'm calling them. It's listening to a new record you just bought. I don't care about people's names. I'm sorry. And he's listening to the record he bought and he's trying to play along with the song. So he's, like, running up to the big record player they have in a different room upstairs, and he's running back down to the piano, like, trying to play it out a bit, and running back upstairs and running back down, trying to get the hang of it. And he says he's the aunt's house, so he's only got an hour. So apparently his aunt doesn't like him playing piano at all because she's a bitch. So he's trying harder than he it's harder than he thinks it would be to figure out the song, because he's such a classically trained pianist, he figured to be a breeze. But because it's a breeze, he's having difficulty with it because he's a robot, music wise. And he remembers Centaro saying he has no sense of jazz. He's got no idea or not like rhythm, I guess, for it. I don't know. I don't understand jazz myself, so this is hard for me.

Can't put the emotion into it. Got to feel it.

Feelings. Who needs them? And he can't stop thinking about the song and he can't stop he's playing along with it. Even when he's in class, Centaro sees him, like, tapping his fingers along with the beat and trying to get it down, and he wants to play it in front of the class rep and centaur and kind of like stick it to him, like, see, I get it. I can understand jazz. Yeah, it's so great. And on his way home, he's taken aside by a few well good, meaningful chums, a few upright citizens of society.

An upright citizens brigade, if you will.

If you will. And Matt Walsh is there. And Amy poller. And there's an audience. For some reason, they keep saying yes and but they don't do anything else.

A cat with a very big rear end is there.

And these are just some guys that saw eda talking with the class rep and getting real chummy with the cute girl in class. And they're like, hey, what if we beat them up? It's like, cool. That solves every problem.

Yeah. Yes, that'd be a good idea.

Yeah, boss.

We got these emotions that we can't what's the word? Talk about, talk about. Sure.

We're too afraid of kissing, so we got to be fighting.

Are they kissing each other? How gay is a shit?

As gay as you want it to be, boss.

You want to kiss me, boss?

Yeah, we'll just be just kissing.

Oh, no, you don't. Okay, me neither.

It don't got to mean nothing. It's just bodies is all.

No homo now. I just want this show about these, like, very clearly closeted, like henchmen bullies trying to seduce their boss, but not be so overt about.

I got a good plan to rob someone. Let's talk over the plan over dinner. You like Italian?

I saw some of this lip gloss because nerds told me didn't steal what I kept from, but it makes my lips real soft and kissful.

I put too much on. You want to take some off? The top off? Just give me a little kiss directly on your lips.

All right, we got to write this down.

Copyright. No one can take this from us.

So the bullies escort edith to the side, and the classroom sees this, and she runs off to get the muscle, get the brute. And when the bullies pull him aside, they find this old lion dog statue that Japan has so many of, and they tie him up to it by his hand. And like, what are we going to do with a boss? I don't know. Let's pants him.

It's.

Like what? Okay.

I want to see his dish boss.

It would be so embarrassing for the girls to walk by and see it. No one else. We won't make eye contact.

Who's super embarrassed by waving their dick around in public. And it's just like, okay, that's odd. So the classroom runs off to get him, and we just see as they start undoing his pants, we see Centaro just flying kick into the bleeder and just knock his ass down. He's just like, oh, man. I kind of overshot that. I kind of flew in a little too hard. And all the goons run over to the boss and pick him up like, you okay, boss? He's like, you knocked out a tooth. So now he's got the big gap in his teeth. He's bleeding a little. He's like, all right, guys, show him what we got. Beat him off. Take on this rough eaten who's, like, clearly three times the size of all of them. So it's just like, good luck with that. And Ascentar is fighting a bunch of them. Class rep runs in and eat a loose from being tied to. The statue, and he's just like, jeez, I had to get seen by a girl, and she called me literally with my pants down. He's like, you know what? I can do something too. I want her to like me more than she likes ontaro. So I'll get in there and rough up some youth. He gives her his classes, which good call. They're expensive. Don't break your glasses. And he runs into the fight to help santaro. And as he's run in and he's screaming, getting his energy all worked up and trips because he's a nerd and didn't have his glasses, so he couldn't see where he was going. And he trips into, like, this like this well of water that was just in there, which I think some priests used to, like, bless trians and stuff because it had a little ladle in it as well.

And when he falls in fell into holy water.

Yeah. The power of Christ is on his side. He's a holy crusader for jazz. And I'm so sorry it took me.

Way too long to get here, but when he did the flying kick down, he jumped down the giant steps.

Is that music?

It's a jazz thing. Anyway, I'm so sorry.

You're on the wrong podcast, man.

I wasn't in jazz band. I was in marching band.

I just didn't do anything in school.

I didn't like it. Don't get me wrong. I did not like the marching band.

And when he falls into the pool of holy water, everyone looks at him like, Is he drowning? Does he try to fight us? And immediately drown himself? And he flies back up and starts splashing the water and everyone throwing at it with the ladle, and he's like and they're just like, what the hell? And if nothing else, it's just a distraction. He's not actually fighting any of them, but that gives him Centaro time to break a few guys off. And then we get, like, a weird benny Hill chase where they're all, like, chasing each other and running around. One of them catches he and he bites them. And then centaur catches a few, and they beat him up, and they have a little scuff in it. By the end of it, centaur and Edo win, and they're just like, I'll show you guys. I'll make sure everyone at school gives you the cold shoulder. It's like, wow, what a threat.

That's what give you the cold train.

Jazz. And that's when centaur was like, we're in the same class. It's like, who are you?

I should go to class more.

I have no idea who these people are. I just love fighting. And that's when the class rep runs up and sees eda got hit in the head with a kendo stick. So his head is, like, a little bloody. She's like, oh, no, you're forehead. Are you okay? And centara is like, hey, don't worry about his forehead. Worry about his hands. How them piano fingers shown. He's worried about his skill with jazz piani. And then when they end up going to the rightto store afterwards, they go downstairs where the piano drums that are and they see Brother June, the cool man, the boss, cool cat, brother June. Hey, daddy oop. And he's just the jazziest piece of shit on this whole thing. He does the whole lingo. And I'm not the biggest jazz fan, but I can appreciate the music. I cannot tolerate the jazz lingo. It's never cool and it always comes.

Off as douchy leave it in the 40s or wherever. We don't need it now.

I'm on board with like, you got to feel jazz and you got to just jump into it and like, the way jazz music is played, it's like, cool, I get that. Fine. Don't bring the lingo back.

Don't say lingo is like a jazz cigarette. It's a regular cigarette, just jazzy.

Wait, I thought jazz cigarettes were weed.

Whoa.

Because all jazz musicians loved weed. Yeah, that was that was that was I don't understand jazz. It could have easily just been a cigarette. Someone played jazz or jazz or weed. That's why. So you got to ship the two boys something you're familiar with.

I got to get the gay.

I'm late on to anything I can get.

Give me that gay. So, yeah, Brother June is actually just the neighbor and he's very skilled at jazz. And he plays the trumpet and he's back from college, so he's visiting. And whenever he's back, the dad and shop owner likes to get a quick session with Brother June. So he asked his daughter to watch the shop and she's like, you always say it's a quick session. And it always ends up going for like 2 hours. He's like, Come on, we're just going to jam for a bit.

Hey, in jazz, that's one song.

It'S like a fish concert. It just keeps going. And centario is like, yeah, we'll play a quick session and then we'll get Edo on the piano too. He can play with us. And as they start playing, Edo is like, playing the piano centre is like, stop being so stiff. Just jump in and just play with whatever fumes good. Just get those good jazz vibes.

Loosen up, baby.

As they start playing, you don't play.

With your fingers, you play with your heart.

Oh, wow. Jazz makes perfect sense for him. So as they're playing, he starts loosening up and starts getting into the rhythm of it more. And brother jude's impressed. He looks what you got. He looks your style, kid. And especially for only having, like, quote, really play jazz for two weeks, like, really focusing on it more. So he's impressed. And as Brother Jim is like, going upstairs, Centaro runs after him. He's like, oh, hey, boss. He's really impressed by June and really likes him and wants to get his approval. So he's like, running after him. And that leaves even the class rep downstairs in the basement. So he goes up and gets the kurt to ask you, like, hey, what do you do on your days off? We got summer now, which is different in Japan. It's just like, less school. But they still are in school for, like three or four days a week. I don't know. I never got this. It's just summer.

I don't know.

It's just summer semester. So he's like, what do you do on your days off? Maybe we could work on homework together and have some alone time. And she agrees because she's thirsty. And she's like, we should meet up behind the church to leave room for Jesus. We're going on a date with Jesus. So he's like, yeah, cool. And he's like, I got a date. And he's all pumped. And then it cuts to just the day of. And he's arriving at church and he hears, like, the bells, and he hears, like, the choir from inside. And he's like, oh, yeah, it's Sunday. I guess it would make sense. There's a mass here. And he just goes up to the window to hear the music and singing because he's still a musical nerd. And while he's looking through the window, what's that? He sees a class rep and centauro en masse. They're Christian.

Whoa.

He's Christian and gay. What a conundrum.

See, I thought he was also about to fall in love with gospel music. And I was like, no, you can't.

Keep doing.

You get one stop.

I'm a piano prodigy, but I've only heard classical music. He's now discovering other music exist. And he sees both of them there. He's just like, surprised. They're both good Christian soldiers. And once mass ends, they all come out. And he talks with the class rep. And he's like, oh, it's neat that you're, like, religious and all, but maybe we can spend some alone time. And then centaur burst out of the bush like, fucking team Rocket. And he's like, got you ita. And he's like, we're off on our trip. And he's like, oh, no, third. We own it. And they end up, like, just being hopped up on a bus and then going to the coast. And he's just like, oh, I thought we were going to the library to work on homework. Because he's still a nerd deep down.

Please, I need this. My books, they're all I have my grades.

And as they're like, talking by the coast, centaur is gone. But then he just comes strolling up in a boat, like in a big rowboat where you row it from behind. And he's like, hey, look, I ride to the boat. We're going to go off sailing. And just like, oh, jeez. eda's, like, way out of his depth. He's like, this is not what I thought it'd be. And as they're going off, centario is like, rowing it because he's the big muscly man and calm down the class rep. And ed are eating popsicles. centaur is just like, hey, eda, why don't you give me a bunch of your popsicle? And it's just like, so gay. And he just kind of like, I don't want to give him my popsicle. My popsicle and the class that's gay. The class reps like, oh, centaur, you can't have a bite of mine. And edith's like, no, he's going to eat anyone's popsicle. It's going to be mine. I'm going to stick my cold, wet, sticky stick in his mouth.

I don't know what you're talking about. And I don't think you know either.

It's a popsicle. What are you thinking it is?

Oh, gosh.

And it's an indoondo for dicks, which are cold. It's sticky, right?

I can't why either.

Just like, no, I'll give him a bite of mine. So he goes to give him a bite and Centaro just munches the whole thing and just, like, consumes the whole thing, like, stick it all. And it's just like, I know you're big Centaro, but do you just eat wood? Like, do you just eat the stick? What's happening, my man?

And he was like, one bite.

Fucking owl. Mr owl did it again. And so they ended up just finding a little island and they go swimming and jumping off the cliff.

Well, I wanted to point out he asks Ritzko if she wears a cross. And she's like, but I thought, I don't know. There was something about the way that they conveyed the feeling of finding out your friends are religious really well, because I personally am not very religious, but I have religious friends. And I know the feeling of that being revealed to you. It kind of feels weird for some reason.

It's a big part of their personality you didn't know about. And it's kind of like it's not bad, but it's a secret.

It felt like it yeah. Depending on your opinion of it, it makes you feel different. Not that you like your friend any less, but it's like a new thing. And you're like, huh? And I felt like they conveyed it really well in this scene of him just, like, looking at centauro wearing his rosary and him being like, huh?

Yeah, it's weird. Like, just out of the blue, immediately sort of knowing their moral code, since it's in a book somewhere that you can read. And though it varies, it's sort of just a quick checkmark of like, oh, this is what they're into now. I know the religious, spiritual things that they'll abide by.

Yeah. And especially seeing how into it they were. Because class rep was in church, watches, praying, had, like, a veil on that she no longer has. It looked like she might have changed clothes. And then, like you said, centaur is wearing his rosary. And he's like, oh, do you wear yours? And she's like, no, you're not supposed to. But centaur is special, the priest says. And then centaur cuts him off like, hey, don't blab. You don't even tell him everything.

Yeah, I forgot about that. That was weird too.

So it's clear they're not just like Easter catholics that show up just for Easter and Christmas. They're clearly there a lot and involved with the church.

Yeah.

And then yeah, they get to the little island and they go swimming. And centaur jumps off and the classroom is like, oh, wow. She goes swimming too. He's like, I didn't bring a suit. I didn't know we're going. I just go in your ondies while she's in a bathing suits. Like, you planned on this. One of you planned for this.

You could have warned me.

Yeah. And they tease each other a little bit with their suits. And as Centaro just throws everyone over the cliff into the water as they start swimming. And she points out when they jump.

In, do they do a cannonball adderley?

Is this what I sound like?

Did you google jazz?

And you're just yeah, when I'm when I'm quiet, I'm just looking up jazz.

Because I just want to make jokes. Now I get what it's like when I reference all those seventy s and eighty s sitcoms that no one cares about. As she points out, edith's like, swimming in circles around her. She's like, Why are you swimming like that? He's like, this is the only way I know how to swim with my head above water. It's like, is that just like a weird character trait or is that like a piano thing? I don't know, because his hands are his dominant muscle instead of his legs, so he swims we I don't know.

It's it's dumb, okay?

I wasn't sure if there was more to it or not or if I was just being an idiot. So they're swimming for a while, and they're having a good time, and he's getting all lovie dovey in his head, looking at her like, oh, her face is real pretty. I love to stare at it all day the rest of my life. It's like, Damn, dude. Blacks, you've known her for like a month.

He's got it bad.

Yeah, he's got that jazz fever. And they're back on the boat, and eva offers to row instead. So he's strong and he can do it, but he can't, and he struggles a lot. And they ended up rowing the boat in circles for quite a bit because it's how he knows how to swim. And when they finally get back to the beach, oh, it's the wrong beach. Not even at the right place. ida, yakoofed dumb old nerd. And as they're walking along the beach, they see three guys ganging up on this girl, and it's never good. No reason for that. So centaur comes up. He's like, hey, leave her alone. Like, oh, yeah? What are you going to do? And they're like, That's kobayashi, or whatever his name is, tawabuchi takoyaki. And they're like, he is not a dragon. Man who she was. And they're like that's Centaro. He's the big bad of the school. Let's get out of here, guys. And they run off because just being there scared them away. And he goes up to the girl, and he's like, you okay, ma'am? She turns around, catches her hat. She's like, oh, yeah. Thanks for saving me. He's like, she's beautiful. Now, centara is just a lovesick puppy from this point on. And that's episode two.

Significantly less gay.

Yeah, the gays dropping off real quick now. Yeah. R-I-P rip gay.

Episode three. We start out, Centaro is feeling all loves, sick and all melancholy. He's feeling kind of blue. anyways, I'm not getting these. So ida does his due diligence to research this girl and try to find out who it is, and finds out it's a classmate named eureka.

She's an aquarius.

Yeah, just a bunch of fun facts. And oh, she's into this. She's in this class.

Blah, blah, blah. I'm not a stolen just to give.

The snapshot of I know you're into her, so let me help you make your move. So they decide to skip jazz practice that day and go practice or make a plan to ask her out for centaur since he is hopeless, which they set up a little bit, that eda has been in love before, but he's a pretentious jerk before that, so I don't get it.

I don't know. Yeah, well, you've never been in love before. That's the feeling of love. He's very aggressive about his love.

I like it.

So they go to Centaro's house, but they end up at the record store. What? Turns out that there's a row house, and his is, like, right behind the record store. So we go in. He lives with his grandma and a bunch of siblings, and they're all I.

Thought it was just his mom. They said, Grandma, I must understand. Okay, sorry.

We're meeting his family, seeing him be, like, sweet to his siblings and this sweet old lady giving them watermelon and all that stuff.

It's a little run down of a house. It's a bunch of kids, and they find value where they can't because they're poor. Yeah, poor. Poor kid. anyways, I'm always so mean to the poor kids in anime.

I'm sorry.

That's what they get for being they're just so poor. Why weren't they born rich?

Why can't you be more like nishimi and be rich? I'm sorry.

Anyway, so they go up to his room, and they plan on a group date, so it's less intimidating. eda will be there. They're going to invite Ritzko as well. And he has a pigeon. It doesn't come up. We'll leave it there.

He's like, oh, it's my girlfriend. He's like, what? And he opens it as a pigeon named Sarah.

It's cute, but irrelevant.

Irrelevant.

The next day after school, they find yurika, and they're getting set up for centara to ask her out. And he's a nervous wreck. He has, like, note cards prepared that Edo wrote, and he's getting it all wrong and he's a nervous wreck because she sees ita, like, hiding around the corner as this date proposals going on. And she's like, hey, so who's actually asking me out here? Because the notes were clearly prepared by eda. And centar was like, he's asking you out? It was all his plan. And eda is like, you idiot. Now she thinks I'm into her rather than you. And now it's messing it all up because I wanted to be on a date with Ritzco and have you out of the way. But now it's all messy.

Big oath, big idiot. You can kind of see she was, like, a little disappointed when he says.

He'S like, oh, okay, the scrawny nerd. I wanted the big tough guy who saved me, but whatever.

I want this big hunk of meat.

Plan to go to rendezvous Rock, which is, like, a local, fun little date spot. So they all meet up, we see that Centaro had gotten into a fight since they last met and Ritzko was not clued into the fact that this was a group date. So when yurika shows up, she's immediately like, oh, well, eda is super into her. I guess it's because she's so pretty and I'm so dumb and ugly. So they go on their way. They're walking through the woods, and.

There'S.

A cute little moment where yurika scratches herself on a branch and Centaro rips up a towel to make a little bandage. It's cute.

It seems a bit extreme, but okay.

Yeah, that's what I thought. I was like, all right, it's a scratch.

You'll live.

You also have no Neosporine, so that's just going to get all infected.

You're making it worse, you dumb, holding.

All that bacteria in there.

Go to class once in a while. Maybe you'll learn something.

All those Ripto fibers are getting into the wound.

I'm more towel than man. So they arrive at the Rock, and there's, like, a local legend that if you and your loved one climate, you'll get married. So yurika is trying to get Centaro to climb it since she's so eager. ritz Go is like, oh, no, it says it's illegal. We can't do that. Because she thinks she's trying to get, like, eda to climb up. So it's all awkward. It's all some bullshit.

Got ourselves love square, but they're actually just parallel lines.

But they're dumb.

Whoa.

It always makes a show better.

Yeah. Drama.

What a big wait, though. That was deep, Brendan.

It's geometry.

They're all just parallel lines.

What?

Because they'll never touch each other? I'm sorry. I thought you were being deep. No, I liked it.

I thought it was just two people connected. So each couple is a line. That's how I saw it. Anyway, we're already going along.

I'm sorry. This is too much.

Ritzko has, like, a lunch prepared and gives it to eda and runs away upset. eda follows and sees she's, like, crying, and he's like, oh, fuck. Old eda goof this one up again.

Jazz. Jazz.

Beach jazz. How did you read this situation, Brendan? Because I thought it was pretty clear that Ritzko has feelings for centaur.

See, I don't think she does. I think she's thirsty for that Nerd boy. But she's a childhood friend of Centaro, so she's so used to making lunches for him that she always makes them so big and that she thinks eda likes New Girl and that now she's looking at it as a love triangle and she's not included. And that's why she was sad. That's how I thought of it myself, but I know all the characters see it differently. Yeah.

What I was picking up on is everyone thinks everyone has a crush on the other person.

Yeah.

So ida thinks Ritzko has a crush on Centaro and rita thinks ida has a crush on yumika, and they're like, oh, no, it's the wrong person. I want it to be me. When in typical high school romance fashion, if they just mentioned it straight up at the top before yumika arrived, if someone said, yeah, centara wanted to go on this date with this girl, so we're inviting her along, I hope that's cool. That would have cleared up everything because Ritzko is spending this entire date thinking, oh, well, ida and yurika are here together. I guess I'm just hanging with Centaro like usual.

We keep using her real name instead of just class rep. So I think anytime I hear, I hear ritsko. I think a Ritzgo from agra. suka.

Yeah, it is, right?

Anyway, it's interesting we all see it differently. I'm just going to keep thinking I'm right.

Fair.

Continue.

I think it's the next day.

Yeah, the next day there's a weird, like, handkerchief thing I didn't fully get.

Eureka gave santaro her handkerchief because he ripped the towel. Yeah, something like that.

But then eda steals it and takes it up to the roof and it's like, this isn't good enough. And I don't fully get why they're fighting about it.

Because centara's sniffing the handkerchief like a weird curve. But he's also talking about it in the same near the class rep. And she's still upset about it because she thinks ida and centaur were fighting over the new girl.

And then eda, I really don't think I think that Ritzko just likes Centaro. So she's upset that he likes someone else.

She was so flirty with ida in the first episode.

Yeah. Because it's established that ida thinks Ritzco is into her. That's why he's fighting so hard to get Centaro to date this other girl, because he doesn't want him around while he's trying to put the moves on Ritzco. It's a mess we watched Ditchimon.

How is this more complicated?

I think you guys are just thinking about it too hard.

No, it's established, literally, when he's all love achie at the top. He's like, now is my chance to pawn him off so I can be alone with Ritzco.

I think the main question is what Ritzco's feelings are. That's where we're getting confused.

And that's why I'm saying I'm pretty sure she just likes centara.

But it's clear because when I don't.

Remember this so I guess that's why.

I like as they're walking in the woods, we get her inner monologue of, like, well, edison to this girl. I guess he likes the pretty ones and not little old me.

He wouldn't like a country bumpkin like me. Does she say that along the line also?

Well, okay, they fight. Some bullshit happens.

Handkerchief.

Handkerchief something.

Yeah.

So they fight. They break up the band or whatever. But rsco forces them to get into the jazz space so they can the jazz space. That's their magical transformation. They gave them the jazz space.

It basically is.

But they start to try to play alone. But Centaro tries to join in, but they end up having fun. And remember, it's all about the jazz, baby.

Yeah, baby.

Eda wants to play a special song for Ritzco and is like, okay, let me just do this. We're alone in the basement. Let me play you this song. And this is where I feel it's pretty clear. Ritzko isn't into centaur because as he plays the song, she's like, oh, I guess this is just a dress rehearsal. I guess you just really want to play it for eureka.

She seems chill with it.

She's very stonefaced while he's practicing because the whole time she thinks this is actually for eureka, not her. So she's just like, oh, he's just showing off what he wants to show another girl.

Yeah, he wants to make sure it's romantic and sweet to the person he doesn't like. So he can play it for the person he does like.

Yeah. And that's when he says, no, it's pretty for you.

It's all for you, baby.

She starts blushing a lot.

He's like, you don't need to answer now, but I like you. I think you're swell. Let's date.

I like that face you got.

And then we get a cliffhanger. We don't get an answer. So will this be a love supreme, or will this be something else?

Jazz reference? The problem is, I just don't get that. I don't even notice what you do because it's jazz and they're just weird names. So it's just like at least with the digimon references, it had Mon at the end of it. You knew when it was a digimon.

If I just sound too smug and I think I'm the most clever person in the world, that's when you know I'm making a dumb joke just for me.

I tried to look up, like, a summary of episode three to see what was going on. I found a discussion post, and the first post is turns out it wasn't so gay after.

Well, I could have told you that if it just stayed.

Gay, I wouldn't be so conflicted.

Not every beautiful anime boy is gay. Just like most of them.

Well, just like some of them, like.

A few of them, they're all so.

That was those episodes.

Yeah. So are we there yet, Daddy?

Oh, God. I thought you were just going to say daddy.

Daddy. Hey, Daddy.

Don't know which one's worse.

Are we there yet, Daddy? I feel like that's like a 50s thing to call men Daddy. Like, in a more casual way.

We call dude scat Daddy.

Anyway, so, yeah, I think this for me, was the biggest flip I've had in a show. First episode. Immediately we established this guy's an elitist dick. He's literally saying, I'm so much better than these others. I'm a man of culture. I like classical music. I was immediately turned off and was like, this is some pretentious garbage. He's going to learn jazz and just be like, the greatest Jazzmin and be like, oh, I'm great at any art.

I prefer aladdin over jazz.

And once we got it was more about their friendship, and jazz sort of fell to the background of the thing that held them together, but isn't the main focus of the show. And he actually has a turn in the second episode to being like a decent person capable of empathy. I was really liking it. I was getting a lot of my Love Story vibes from it. Yeah, because literally the same exact storyline of, oh, I think you're interested in my friend and not me. And oh, no, I'm actually interested in you, you idiot. Just pay attention to me is the first three episodes of my love Story.

We don't know her answer.

Well, I mean, maybe we'll find out if we keep watching by it. I'm standing by what I think about we'll find out. If we keep watching it. So will we.

I liked it.

Yeah, I enjoyed it. Going into it, I wasn't really paying as close attention to the first episode because I was like, this sucks.

Fuck doesn't hurt.

You got to be into jazz. You got to feel it just with full earnesty and not a hint of acknowledging it. It's like the trophiest bullshit. But once we got past that intro to it, it really opened up. And it's only twelve episodes, so I would be interested in finishing just to see what happens.

Well, hurry. You have until tomorrow. Well, you can watch it elsewhere.

Yeah, on hulu. Cool. So we'll mark this down. I was like, yeah.

How are you all feeling?

I liked it.

I enjoyed it.

I definitely got tonal story vibes out of my love story, especially if you pointed them out like that. It's like, oh, yeah, that makes sense. Animation wise. It reminded me of like, scums Wish, where it was kind of like it's just like very intimate moments, but then a lot of attention to the animation. In those scenes that really make it stand out and reminded me, shit, I probably should finish scum's Wish because I didn't like it. I intended to finish it, I just forgot about it. So, yeah, I enjoyed it. I'll probably finish it because, like I said, we're a quarter of the way done already.

Yeah.

But, yeah, I was the ritz go to a group of jazz people in high school. So I I have you mentioned, like, visceral childhood memories and yeah, because I was the non jazz person out of a bunch of jazz themes. Jazz, like, one is now a berkeley saxophonist and others are still doing music stuff in professional ways. So they were deep into the jazz. Yeah, I related.

I was that way with a bunch of metal emo metal kids. I was the nerd listening to Simon and garfunkel instead of coheading cambria.

I mean, when I quit marching band, I was kind of like that because I was still friends with all of my band friends.

We all have weirdly music related isolation tales of high school.

We were all music adjacent.

Adjacent. That's why none of us got a lot of these jazz references.

Yeah.

Cool.

All right.

That's like four in a row for you.

Thank you for bringing that show, dana it also had so many summer vibes that I was feeling because we're recording, like, the last day of June.

Yeah.

Happy Pride. Happy last day of pride. twas fleeting.

One more year and we'll be back.

365 days until next Pride Month.

Oh ho ho.

Sam so I was trying to I was trying to go for the mayor of Halloween town. There's only 365 days until next Halloween anyway.

I mean, he was gay, so it does work.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Next week, we have a listener suggestion from Anna Laws. Douglas. We're watching.

Yuki.

Una is a hero. Does that ring any bells for anyone?

I've heard the name and that's it.

It sounds like an anime. Like a magical girl sailor Moon esque series.

It sounds like an anime.

Sounds like an anime.

Yeah, that's certainly animeish.

I don't expect Brian cranston to show up in it.

So, yeah, we're going to be watching the first three episodes of that. Thank you, Anna. And if you have a recommendation for anime that you would like us to watch, you can tweet at us. Are we there yet? On Twitter and Instagram. And you can also email us at arweevariat@gmail.com. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram at mrpatrick. dugan.

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

Art so many tags or names. So many can't keep it on brand. You can find me on Twitter at abts. Brandon it stands for Almost Barrett and Silence, which is a video game podcast.

And thank you to camille ruley for our artwork. And thank you to Louis zong for the use of our theme song stories off the album beats. 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 cube up the Beat bin be Me dad benjamin.

Music you.