Episode 37
- Ikari Gozen - Tales of Tomoe the Swordswoman
Nino asks Adrien if he's got any plans for Friendship Day. The latter admits that he's going to be the "hidden celebrity" for KIDZ's latest PR stunt. While Adrien declares that he enjoys meeting his fans, the rest of the class can't help but worry: what if whoever wins turns out to be one of his crazier fans? Or worse, some creepy old person? Silently, they all decide that they've got to protect him—one of them has to be the one who wins!
Over at their school, Ondine asks Kagami if she's gotten Marinette's message about the buddy game. Kagami confirms that she has before casually deleting it. She then explains to Ondine that her mother regularly goes through her phone, so she erases all messages she doesn't want her to know about and keeps all of her contacts memorized instead of on her phone. Ondine's impressed by her excellent memory.
Aurore, Mireille, and Adrien kick off the event: everyone has been randomly paired off, and their first riddle will lead them to where they'll meet up with their "buddy". Some are luckier than others; while Alya, Rose, and Alix immediately realize where their clues are pointing them—Alix was even pointed towards the Louvre—Marinette is more puzzled by her own clue.
Kagami, meanwhile, runs into a very different issue. Her phone pinging catches her mother's ear, and Tomoe immediately forbids her from participating. Even when she mentions that Adrien is involved, Tomoe just scoffs at Gabriel being so permissive, unaware that her daughter is intent upon defying her.
Chloé wanders around, dismissively insulting various pairs of "buddies". Tikki asks what she's doing, and Chloé proudly boasts that she's going to find the smartest pair of "buddies" and follow them around, leeching off their hard work so she can get to Adrien. Tikki wonders why she didn't just sign up to play herself; Chloé pouts that she did, but her application was mysteriously denied for some reason (she's still banned from contests involving the Gabriel brand due to her plagiarism in "Mr. Pigeon").
Slipping away, Kagami meets up with Marinette, who's pleased to see just whom she's been paired off with. As they set off to solve the next riddle, Chloé follows them, much to Tikki's frustration—why can't she just leave the two of them alone?! Chloé acknowledges that they might not actually be smart enough to win... but she can't dismiss the possibility that they could, which is so totally unfair to her! Adrien already wastes time hanging out with Marinette at school, then meets up and hangs out with Kagami afterwards... they get too much time with him already! The only way to fix that is to ensure they lose.
Kagami asks Marinette if she has a nickname she prefers; Marinette admits that she doesn't really have one, aside from Alya calling her "M" sometimes. Kagami states that nobody's ever given her a nickname before, and when Marinette suggests that Alya will start calling her "K" in the future, wonders if they can workshop that. Watching this from afar, Chloé wonders just what they're doing while Tikki sarcastically suggests, "Being friends?"
Chloé tries to sabotage their chances by hiding the clue boxes; however, her efforts repeatedly fail and, in some cases, unintentionally make it easier for the two to find the boxes, such as when she hefts one right into Marinette's line of sight and drops another right on top of them. With her "help", Marinette and Kagami soon reach the last challenge: a trust exercise where both must take a selfie posing in front of a monument using their partner's phone. The two girls have barely split up before Chloé ambushes Marinette and swipes Kagami's cellphone—which means she runs right into the furious Kagami.
In the ensuing struggle, the phone rings; Tomoe's on the other end, angrily demanding to know where her daughter is. Chloé chortles over how scandalous the thought of Kagami sneaking out to play a game is. Marinette tries to cover for Kagami by telling Tomoe that Kagami's with a friend, only for Tomoe to declare her daughter doesn't HAVE friends. Kagami reveals that she has lots of friends, actually... wonderful friends that she's CHOSEN for herself because she's DONE with her mother CONTROLLING HER LIFE...
Hearing her mother declare, "With pleasure, Hawkmoth," makes Kagami scream with disgust. Ikari Gozen swiftly arrives and attacks the girls... snatching up Chloé by mistake and promptly "eating" her, causing Kagami and Marinette to exchange horrified looks. Meanwhile, Adrien hears the akuma alert and casually transforms. By the time he meets up with them, Marinette has managed to split off from her partner long enough to become Marigold and is guarding Kagami. The two heroes speculate about whether or not Venom would work on Ikari Gozen, noting that even if it succeeds, they wouldn't be able to get the hostage out until Scarlet Lady arrives, and since Scarlet Lady is so unreliable, they probably need to get help. So one of them should stay with Kagami... who immediately grabs Marigold's arm, leaving Chat Noir to make the trip instead. When he arrives at the tea shop, Master Fu gives him the usual spiel, and he picks out the Dragon Miraculous—though he wonders if it might be too obvious a choice. Reconvening with the girls, he presents it to Kagami, who expresses her gratitude at his recognizing her to be the perfect candidate.
Longg introduces themself, explaining that they're a Kwami and revealing their transformation phrase to be "Longg, bring the storm." They've barely gotten out how Kagami can use wind, water, or lightning before she activates the transformation, causing them to scream that they're not done as she's surrounded by light.
Dubbing herself Ryūko, she's surprised to hear Chat Noir refer to Scarlet Lady as "Scar" and asks if they really address their leader that way. Chat Noir clarifies that Scar's more of a mascot at best, while Marigold eyes a cosmetics store and announces that she's got a plan—she just needs them to distract Ikari Gozen for a bit. Ryūko is all too happy to oblige.
As they fight, Ryūko calls the akumatized Tomoe out for pushing her daughter to be strong-willed while denying her the right to make friends. Ikari Gozen retorts that her daughter doesn't need friends—friends only betray and abandon you, like her own did when she went blind. Ryūko gasps at this, while Chloé rages for them to stop having soap opera moments and get her out of there.
Once the plan's ready, Ryūko leaps in and deliberately gets herself caught and swallowed. Chloé mocks her for this but cries out in pain as the container Ryūko smuggled in with her drops right on the former's head. Opening it reveals an assortment of bath bombs, which Ryūko activates by shifting into her Water Dragon form. Ikari Gozen is left severely ill, purging out all the water and her hostages with it, while Chloé bawls and screams "I hate you, Puke-ko!"
Marigold delivers a shot of Venom to the downed Ikari Gozen, but they can't cure her without Scarlet Lady's help. She shows up with a flourish (and sopping wet), dramatically reassuring her "poor, lost sidekicks" that she's finally arrived... only for them to angrily demand that she cast the Cure already.
As Tomoe is restored, wondering what's happening, Ryūko assures her that her daughter is safe and will reunite with her soon. She then shares a fist bump with Marigold and Chat Noir as Scarlet Lady brags about how she got Chloé to safety, only for Tomoe to ask whom she is.
Chat Noir praises Kagami's excellent work as she returns the Dragon, noting that he gave her one with a sword. Longg scolds her for transforming before they were finished with their spiel; she apologizes, addressing them as "kamisama". Longg pats her on the head, declaring that there's wisdom in admitting one's faults.
Confronting her mother in her limo, Kagami admits that it was wrong to deceive her, but that she refuses to apologize for making friends. Yes, friends can be disappointing, and these relationships may not last forever, but she knows that she won't regret the choices she's made because Tomoe raised her to never second-guess herself. Marinette rushes over, embracing Kagami and expressing her relief at her being safe; she greets Tomoe as an afterthought as Kagami's mother sighs and instructs her daughter to make it home for dinner.
Ondine waves Kagami and Marinette over, introducing them to her teammate Freddie. The competition's come to a close; turns out Alya was paired up with Wayhem, and they've already taken a celebratory snapshot with Adrien, Aurore, Mireille, and Adrien's bodyguard. Marinette and Kagami proudly declare that their mission to ensure a total weirdo creep didn't win was accomplished... prompting Freddie to ask whether they knew the competition had an age limit.
During patrol later, Marigold and Chat Noir gush over how impressive the Dragon Miraculous is, though Chat Noir suggests that it's a little unfair. Imagine how much more powerful they'd be if she could use three shots of Venom before having to worry about her timer, or if he could use three Cataclysms!
Marigold points out that the Ladybug earrings technically have two different powers: Lucky Charm and the Miraculous Cure. But since they tend to lead into each other, that's easy to forget. It also leaves them both wondering: could they have multiple powers as well...? Maybe they should ask Master Fu about that...
This episode contains examples of:
- Adaptational Explanation:
- Here, the reason why so many of Adrien's classmates entered the Friendship Day contest was to prevent an obsessive fan or creepy old person from winning and meeting Adrien.
- Tomoe is given a Freudian Excuse for her stubborn insistence that Kagami can't have friends—her own friends abandoned her after she lost her sight.
- Adaptational Sympathy: Tomoe's Freudian Excuse makes her refusal to let her daughter have friends a bit more understandable.
- All for Nothing: Played for Laughs. Adrien's classmates enter the Friendship Day contest to lessen the chances of Adrien being forced to spend the day with an obsessive fan or creepy older person; however, not only does the rejection of Chloé's application imply that they screen for obsessive fans, but there's an age limit on the contest, meaning a creepy older person probably wouldn't have been able to enter either.
- As You Know: Kagami is clearly familiar with the tale of Tomoe Gozen; her mother's reminder about the tale is more for the audience's benefit while Kagami privately sighs.
- Bruce Wayne Held Hostage: Chloé gets caught by Ikari Gozen, preventing Scarlet Lady from showing up without potentially compromising her secret identity.
- Call-Back: Chloé's application to enter the buddy contest was denied due to how she was banned from participating in any contests involving the Gabriel brand after her attempt to steal Marinette's design for the hat contest was exposed. Naturally, Chloé's Self-Serving Memory and refusal to acknowledge the consequences of her actions ensures she doesn't remember that little detail.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Kagami calls her mother out for being a complete Control Freak who refuses to let her have friends.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Tikki complains about Chloé following Marinette and Kagami, Chloé misinterprets it as Tikki implying that she doesn't think they're smart enough to win, off-handedly "agreeing" with the Kwami... but the two might win, and that's not fair to HER, is it?
- Control Freak: Tomoe is so controlling that she regularly goes through her daughter's phone and outright forbids her from having friends. Hell, she claims Gabriel Agreste is too permissive!
- Discretion Shot: Used whenever Ikari Gozen "eats" anyone; the closest it comes to being shown is Ikari Gozen opening wide as she lifts Chloé towards her mouth. A Vomit Discretion Shot is also used when the bath bombs kick in.
- Dramatic Irony: Marigold expresses some concern about paralyzing Ikari Gozen while Chloé is trapped inside, noting that they wouldn't be able to free her until Scarlet Lady arrives... unaware that Chloé is Scarlet Lady.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Chloé doesn't comprehend that school and after-school clubs are about more than "playing" and complains about Adrien spending time with anyone other than her. She also fails to realize just why he would choose to spend time with other people, especially since he'd already declared the two of them weren't friends anymore (of course, she had convinced herself that Adrien was just being cruel and is still her friend...).
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Chloé watches Marinette and Kagami discuss what nicknames they'd give each other and is puzzled by what they're doing. Tikki snarks, "Being friends?"
- Fair-Weather Friend: When Tomoe lost her sight, she lost all of her friends as well, leaving her cynically convinced that everyone is just as thoughtless.
- Foreshadowing: Chat Noir and Marigold's talk at the end of the episode—where they discuss whether either of them has more than just one power—has greater importance than what it might look like...
- Hypocrite: Tomoe reminds Kagami she has to be like Tomoe Gozen, a female samurai warrior in an age where warrior women were people that had to go against society - while also forcing Kagami into a stifling, regimented life that has no space for going against the current.
- Hypocritical Humor: Chloé laughs at Ryūko when she gets caught and eaten by Ikaron Gozen - after she was the first victim of that particular action.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Chloé triggers Tomoe's akumatization into Ikari Gozen by gleefully tattling to her about Kagami's disobedience just to get her rival in trouble. Immediately afterwards, Chloé finds herself devoured by the Kaiju-sized villain and once again helpless to "show off" as Scarlet Lady. She also ends up drenched in soapy water when Ikari Gozen later vomits her out.
- Lost in Translation: Discussed. While Kagami would call Marinette "Mari-chan" as the latter's nickname, "mari" means "husband" in French, so it'd be strange to call a teenage girl that.
- Skewed Priorities: After being trapped inside Ikari Gozen, Chloé angrily complains about how she doesn't even have Bluetooth while Tikki is more concerned about how she can't transform without revealing that she's Scarlet Lady.
- Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids: This episode, like others before it, highlights how Kagami has adapted in order to cope with her mother being so overbearing.
- Took a Level in Kindness: At the end of the episode, when Marinette jumps on Kagami so they can go have drinks with some friends, Tomoe just asks her daughter to be back in time for dinner.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Kagami yells out when Tomoe gets akumatized.
