Intervening Posts Start!
Katrika: Chiyo is squeaky in english! xD
Akaso Rekaso: Wait. You like Chiyo's Japanese voice better? You mind if I ask why? Or better yet, how? Christ, the main reason I watched the show dubbed to begin with was because I couldn't listen to Chiyo's Japanese voice for more than 4 seconds. When I learned that that was the voice actress' actual, unchanged voice, I actually felt pity. Fuck, her English voice isn't much better in the Not Ridiculously High-Pitched department, but at least her voice actor has a normal pitch in real life.
As for the trailer movie, it's right here.
Pretty low quality, but whatever works, right?
Pika Hikari KT: IIRC, not many people liked Nel's Japanese voice for the same reason — Tomoko Kaneda voices both characters. I found both languages cute, so Your Mileage May Vary.
The floating yellow cat-thing
- tosses a flame shield* Get ready to run.
Nyperold: Hmm, first time I've heard that complaint. Usually what I hear is people having a problem with the English dub voices. Well, first time for everything.
But anyway, I think that voice makes Chiyo sound cuter. Listening to her explain Yukari's bad driving habits in Japanese, for example, makes me wanna pick 'er up and hold her until it's all better. That kind of thing. The English voice doesn't seem to have that effect on me. Maybe it's related to that thing you said: the English voice is not her natural voice, so it retains elements of her natural voice combined with the voice she's going for, while the Japanese voice is what she sounds like, so it's not a mix like that.
Katrika: For me, it's because I can't actually understand the japanease, so somehow it sounds less jarring...
-sweatdrop-
Nyperold: Yeah, I think I might know what you mean. In English, if something's phrased really oddly, it can be jarring to someone who knows English, especially to someone who's been speaking it all his life.
If someone's doing the same thing in Japanese... well... I know I can't tell the difference, so I just assume it's normal.
Katrika: Also, a squeaky voice in english, it's hard to ignore. But in japanese, you just kinda half listen and read the subtitles.
FINISH!
Episode 2: Osaka's Day
Don't walk. "Osaka", as she will mostly be called unless it's relevant to do otherwise, waits at a crosswalk for the light to change. She starts narrating in voiceover. She introduces herself with her real name, and says she just transferred the other day.
Osaka Today As Well
She contrasts the people of Tokyo with those of Osaka with regard to crossing: In Tokyo, they stop when the crosswalk light is red. The light changes, and everybody except her crosses. In Osaka, they cross regardless. (Remember, she didn't really seem to know if they did or not last chapter, but she herself did not.) After a few seconds, she realizes that the light has changed, but it's too late, and it changes back.
She says that school there isn't much different from the one in Osaka. Then she notices Chiyo. She asks what a little kid like her is doing there. Yomi answers that she's Chiyo-chan, the child prodigy. She's there because she's super-smart. Osaka recalls a boy from her hometown named Shouta, whom people said liked to smart off a lot, so she thinks Chiyo must be The Same But More of that. Yomi... doesn't.
Osaka stands washing her hands at the sink, holding her handkerchief in her mouth by a corner. (Reason being that in Japan... well, I don't know if they don't have them at all or not, but they tend to neither have paper towels nor hand driers in restrooms, so you carry a handkerchief with you to serve that purpose.) She recalls that people in Osaka said she was slow or spacy, to the point where she's wondering about it herself. The bar of soap starts slipping from her hands, and while she can grab it, she just can't grip it. As it completely flies away, she yelps... letting the handkerchief fall into the sink. She laments that it's now soaking wet.
In the classroom, Yukari is writing something. Osaka is looking forward. Then she notices something, and starts trying to follow it. Kaorin notices, and asks what she's doing. She replies that she's tracking eye floaters. Kaorin warily wishes her good luck.
Yukari begins to explain the "have + past participle" construction in English, when a girl screams. Then one of the boys stands, having spotted the reason for it: a huge cockroach. The braided girl stands and points out its direction of travel. Chihiro lets out a scream of her own, including a statement of her hatred of cockroaches. A bunch of simplified human figures kick up a cloud of dust and make noise. Yukari makes a general call for someone to catch it. Tomo rises to the occasion. She energetically swats... Chiyo, then Yomi, apparently into the distance. She remarks that the bug is PDQ, but Chiyo calls her on her aiming skills. Yomi thinks it may have been deliberate. The bug flies in front of Osaka, and Tomo chases it, first one way, and then the other. Osaka, however, is too absorbed in the floater hunt to notice. Tomo finally smashes it. Many of the other students cheer and hoist her. One of the boys not doing the hoisting wonders to another whose initial scream that was. The other doesn't know. (It is heavily suggested by the "camera", both here and in the manga, that it was Sakaki.) Yukari is ready for the room to settle down, but Tomo comes to the front with one last bit of business: there is now a dead cockroach on her textbook, and she wants advice. Yukari is too squeamish to do anything but try to get away and yell at Tomo not to bring it closer.
Osaka recalls that she was always the slowest runner back home, but now there's someone whose chronological age is more typical of grade schoolers.
P.E. - Volleyball
Miss Kurosawa starts the runners. Osaka does not figure she'll lose. How can she? She has five years on her competitor! A shining Osaka runs against a black background as her thoughts echo. Her face gives off sparkles. It's a close race, but Chiyo wins. Osaka drops to her hands and knees in defeat and exhaustion. She wonders if she's just not smart enough. Yomi points out that Osaka is the first to lose to Chiyo in a race.
Miss Kurosawa blows her whistle, and announces that they're playing volleyball, and has them divide into groups of six.
Yomi slightly adjusts her glasses and repeats the group cap. She wonders if this is their winning combination. The combination? Sakaki at the left of her side, with Kaorin standing a couple of centimeters away, gazing adoringly; Chiyo at back center; herself at front center; Osaka at back, near the right; and Tomo at the right, almost to the front. Tomo says something about aiming for the 10 million (yen, probably, as the anime sticks with Japanese currency) in prizes, and tells wimbledon to watch out. Osaka gets into that idea. Yomi points out that there's no such thing for P.E.. Chihiro announces the 0-0 score, and serves. Chiyo hits it, and it goes to Yomi, who sets up Sakaki for a spike, which is blocked neither by the girl with the short brown hair who jumps for it, nor by the braided girl who dives for it. The whistle blows as she lands, and Chiyo compliments her. Sakaki puts her hand up at shoulder height so Chiyo can give her a high five without leaving the ground.
Kaorin says Sakaki is too awesome for words. Osaka asks if the girl who just spiked the ball is indeed Sakaki, and says she seems pretty cool. Kaorin says that no one's cooler. Osaka decides that Sakaki will be what she's aiming for. This alarms Kaorin, but Osaka says that one day, she'll reach that goal and be just as cool. Kaorin is relieved that that's what she meant, and wishes her good luck... because she's going to need it.
Tomo does a power serve. It could have done with a little less power and a little more control, however, as it ends up pegging Chiyo in the back of the head. Tomo apologizes sheepishly. Chiyo says it hurts a lot. Tomo says she'll be okay, but Yomi doesn't think it's her place to say so.
Kurosawa blows the whistle and decides that playing a match right off seems dangerous, and decides that working on overhead passes would be better. Chiyo and Osaka pair up. Osaka throws an overhead pass, but it hits Chiyo on her head, and she runs after it as Osaka tells her not to sweat it. Chiyo passes it back, with the same result happening to Osaka, and Chiyo asking if Osaka is all right; she is. Osaka passes it back; this time, it hits Chiyo in the face. Osaka asks if she's okay. She is, but she now has a round, red mark on her face. Chiyo passes it back, giving Osaka a matching "facial". Now we see them from a distance, as Kurosawa watches. After one iteration, we look at the school from the other side of the fence as we hear the sounds of them missing each other's overhead passes and getting hit in the head by the ball, over and over...
The divider features the yellow cat thing, and Chiyo.
In the cafeteria, Osaka is carrying a tray of food over to where Yomi, Chiyo, and Tomo are already seated. Yomi remarks that she looks precarious. She nearly spills, but makes it safely there. Tomo is ready to open her bento box. When she does, she discovers her top three favorites on one plate: fried chicken, omelette, and meatballs! (That last one is interesting, considering what she says in a much later episode.) Looks like she also has rice, some kind of green, and... cherry tomatoes? "Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub!" Well, that's what she says... in the dub.
Chiyo notices Osaka concentrating hard, and asks what's wrong. Osaka asks her not to talk to her right now. With precision force, / she splits her disposable / chopsticks quite cleanly. She shows them off to the others. They don't seem impressed. Chiyo wonders to herself if she's happy just because of that. Tomo notices that the inside of Yomi's croquette is red inside, and asks what's up with that. Apparently, it's a super-red-hot chili pepper croquette. Tomo remarks that Yomi likes her food "crazy hot", and asks Osaka if she likes spicy food. Osaka is terrible with it. Yomi's glasses go opaque and give off a shiny dot of a mischievous idea. She offers it to Osaka, but she turns it down, reiterating. Yomi tells her not to worry, as it also has a lot of cayenne in it. This is a risky move, as it counts on Osaka not knowing what it is, but indeed, she doesn't know. Yomi compares it to shark fins or swallows' nests in terms of rarity. Osaka decides to taste it, over Chiyo's attempts to warn her. She takes a bite. A few chews later, she discovers it is, as described, super red hot. She screams in pain over a shot of the sky.
Later, in the hallway, Osaka tells her she's awful, and thought she was going to die. Yomi apologizes, but she's obviously still amused. Osaka feels something, and gives a hiccup. Yomi asks the obvious, and Chiyo attributes them to eating spicy food. Osaka wonders what to do about them. Tomo asks if you can cure it by drinking water.
They go to the beverage-vending machines. Osaka asks if juice would be an acceptable substitute; Tomo doesn't think it matters. She does get the idea of carbonated beverages working better, but Osaka is "no good" with that. The machine dispenses the beverage (a form of tea, perhaps?) into the cup, and drinks. Nope. Tomo calls the hiccups "stubborn" for not succumbing to the first attempt. Chiyo relates that it might works to pinch your nose as you drink; Yomi heard that you have to plug your ears. Tomo figures combining them should do it. Osaka will handle the nose and drinking parts, while Tomo holds Osaka's ears. Osaka takes the drink. Tomo asks if she's cured. Osaka can't say for sure. (You know, you don't really have to ask, because they tend to make themselves evident every few seconds if they're not. Case in point.) She hiccups. Yomi states the obvious.
Tomo: Oh, wait! I know!A beverage (orange juice?) is balanced on disposable chopsticks, this time not split cleanly. The holder of the chopsticks is Osaka. Tomo explains that drinking from a cup so balanced is supposed to work. Yomi is unsure. Well, it might... if the cup doesn't fall off the chopsticks and onto the ground. Which it does. Good thing they were outside! Yomi and Tomo decide to go, as the next hour, Music, starts soon. Chiyo is reluctant to just leave Osaka, but decides she should go.
The Brain...
In Music class, Osaka is playing a recorder. While she still has hiccups. (For the unaware, a recorder is a wind instrument. So it's quite intelligent of the teacher to have her do so. Good job, there.) The sound causes sparse scrawly vertical black lines to appear over the other students' heads.
In Language/English class, Osaka still has hiccups, and is, for some reason, still playing the recorder. Because she's Osaka. This irritates Yukari, who initially expresses this by scratching her chalk downward against the board (in the middle of writing in cursive English), then yells at Osaka to knock it off.
At the end of the school day, the hiccups are still there. Yomi gauges the duration at more than 2 hours. Tomo is reminded that she heard you can die is you hiccup for a whole day. This alarms the others, and Chiyo tells Osaka to be afraid as she waves her arms and roars cutely. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't scare Osaka.
Tomo tries back slaps. This only succeeds in making Osaka say "Ow!" each time. Chiyo points out that (despite Heimlich spreading the false notion that this method is dangerous so he could get people to use his now-famous maneuver) that's for when something's caught in your throat. Tomo apologizes, though Osaka still calls it mean.
Yomi recalls that they're cause by something convulsing. Chiyo confirms that it's spasms in the diaphragm. Osaka asks where that is, and Chiyo says it's right underneath the lungs. Tomo decides to demonstrate with a punch. Chiyo points out that that's the solar plexus, and Yomi says it's a vital point on the human body. While Osaka is still doubled over, Tomo asks if she's cured. Osaka straightens up and waits a few seconds. Hic. Sakaki, appropriately, suggests brewing persimmon (kaki) sepals and drinking the tea. Yomi calls it a folk remedy (which doesn't necessarily mean it's ineffective), but more to the point, Osaka points out that they lack persimmons. Sakaki then suggests holding her breath. She does... for 3 seconds. Sakaki's next suggestion is applying pressure... to the eyeballs? Tomo does so. PAIN. Sakaki says, pull her tongue. Tomo does that, too. Nothing works.
Yomi says it isn't going away. Chiyo asks for other ideas. Sakaki comes up with giving it to someone else. Yomi thinks it's all sounding a bit hokey. Osaka repeats the suggestion. She looks at Yomi, who wonders why.
Sakaki figures that if they're not getting better, she might be sick, and should get it checked out. Tomo wonders what she might be sick with. Sakaki says it might be the brain. This confuses Osaka, but apparently makes sense to Tomo and Yomi. Yomi, for example, says her brain might have a few problems. Tomo points out that Osaka is kinda weird sometimes. Osaka wonders if they're talking about symptoms. Tomo doesn't really think they're talking about symptoms, but Yomi says that the symptom is sort of that she's not aware of the symptom. Osaka doesn't get it.
Finally, Chiyo points out that the hiccups seem to have stopped. A few seconds of waiting to make sure, and indeed, no more hiccups. It's happily ever after! Chiyo brings up the puzzle of what worked. Yomi considers it, but doesn't come up with an answer before...
...Chiyo starts hiccuping. Osaka assumes that she must have given them to her. Yomi is doubtful that it's possible to do that. Tomo decides that a good course of action would be to try everything that they tried on Osaka before. Osaka thinks that sounds good; Chiyo does not. Osaka also wonders what came first. Yomi says to smack her on the back and hit her solar plexus. (Actually, wasn't it "drink something"?) Tomo seems to remember it that way. "This can't be!"
Brand New
Osaka wonders something: if sharks are fish, and whales are mammals, would that make snails bugs? Yomi doesn't understand how the classification of marine life connects with the classification of snails, but she doesn't think snails are bugs. (They may count as bugs in Animal Crossing, but if I recall correctly, Blathers at least notes the distinction.) She's not sure, however. Osaka figured she had it right, thinking it would be weird if there was a snail in an insect collection. Yomi doesn't think that's relevant...
Osaka brings us grains of truth. (Alternatively, "bean knowledge", an idiom for trivia.) She tells Tomo that rice is the most popular grain in the world. (Or that edamame is a type of soybean.) Tomo is confusedly impressed. Osaka tells Tomo she's no good, confusing her more. She tells Yomi the same bit of information, and Yomi asks, "Really...?" Osaka finally lets on that she was expecting someone to say that that's not "grains of truth", but "the truth about grain". (Or not "bean knowledge", but "knowledge about beans".) Yomi apologizes for not fulfilling her expectations.
In class, Yukari is writing on the board. Osaka tells us she's thought about a lot of things today.
Contemplation #1: Chiyo's pigtails are directly connected to each other. She moves Chiyo's right pigtail up and down experimentally, and her left one mirrors it, just as Osaka though it would.
Contemplation #2: Osaka then gingerly taps Chiyo's pigtails from behind, and they fall off. As Osaka suspected, her pigtails are detachable.
Contemplation #3: Given the above, she considers it possible that a scenario like the following could take place: Chiyo could show Osaka a present, which turns out to be a new pair of pigtails.
In reality, however, it turns out that these contemplations are All Just a Dream. Four of the visible boys watch her sleep, though more in the "uh oh, she's going to be in trouble" sense than the "Edward Cullen" sense. Yukari approaches, calling her. When this doesn't work, she takes a more "hands-on" approach, shaking Osaka's head a bit, which does work. Osaka tells her "Hi", but Yukari tells her that she's working, and therefore warns her not to fall asleep.
Osaka rubs her eye and narrates that she fell asleep without realizing. She figures that it's because of all the thinking she's been doing. She decides she should go to bed early. She yawns, and her face goes behind the book. The yellow cat-thing waves as Yukari yells at her not to fall asleep.
Next time: Episode 3!
