Aikatsu! – 170

Shoes inside? What kind of Japanese girl is she?

Shoes inside? What kind of Japanese girl is she?

And now for the continuation of Akari’s last episode. Couple things after the break.

Oh, and we’re doing the Aikatsu Music Awards. I don’t know when, but it’ll be done.

Episode 170: Torrent | Magnet

ERRATUM: I dun goofed this line. Akari says “No, it’s not a seaweed bento, it’s a mega mega bento [from Hoshimiya’s place].”

[Mezashite] Aikatsu! ‒ 170 [C826B08D].mkv_snapshot_10.00_[2016.02.07_11.34.21]

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Aikatsu! – 169

You know what they say about shooting for the moon

You know what they say about shooting for the moon

Delays brought to you by news SO IMPORTANT that every channel had to talk about it at different times with loud beeps. So this encode is part chimera. It also broke like three times in the making, so we missed Aoi’s birthday. I could’ve used my own miracle.

Episode 169: Torrent | Magnet

Aikatsu! – 168

Maybe being a country bumpkin isn't so bad...

Maybe being a country bumpkin isn’t so bad…

This whole setup for the Starlight Queen Cup is the most intense train we’ve had since it happened in season one. The huge thing to note in this episode is what “May Queen” means in this context. Rather than being a title for the girl during May Day celebrations, as it turns out there’s a breed of potatoes from the UK originally named Walker’s Seedling, which were then imported to Japan and became famous growing in Hokkaido. Hence the confusion many native English speakers like myself will feel considering this episode is still in January.

The other minor thing to note, though you must be aware by now after four years, is how different the same song can be in different performances. The timing of today’s song changed in relation to the camerawork. Usually one lyric is sung for one or two cuts, and it’s very clean to time. However, today they decided to alter it such that each lyric starts at the end of one cut and continues onto the next, making it feel much more dynamic than usual. This is actually story-related, as you’ll see for yourself.

Episode 168: Torrent | Magnet

Aikatsu! – 166

Rare Sumire in winter uniform without coat

Rare Sumire in winter uniform without coat

Buy the figurines! This episode made up for the week off. I won’t say much here and leave the enjoyment up to you, but they’re going full blast from the start. By the way “Start Dash” is wasei-eigo (that you can also hear in the OP) meaning basically the starting run when you’re in a race, like when track runners go off the blocks. You’ll get it.

Episode 166: Torrent | Magnet

>Forget release was on Nonocchi’s birthday
Wow I’m stupid. Happy birthday, Nono-chan! Now we managed to release for both potatoes.

Aikatsu! – 165

Everyone's eating them wrong!

Everyone’s eating them wrong!

Like, comment, and subscribe if you eat strawberry shortcake correctly and save the best for last.

Wow there’s a goldmine of stuff to say about this episode. First and most importantly, no new Aikatsu this week, December 31. It will return on January 7. There were literally four new dialects this week which were done with varying degrees of success: Kansai (which I guess isn’t new), Kyushu, Aomori, and Akita (which is host to our new friend Hanawa Yayoi). And speaking of her, her gimmick relates to a local demon called the Namahage, which you can see on her head and in the statues. There were three old OST pieces that I caught this episode, which I’ll relate after the break, as well as several KiraKiratter tweets that were prohibitively hard to typeset. Look for them after the break as well. Alright then, Happy Merry [Late] Christmas!

Episode 165: Torrent | Magnet

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Aikatsu! – 164

Too handsome, can't resist

Too handsome, can’t resist

Happy New Year! Wait, what do you mean it’s not even Christmas yet?

Notes notes notes. 雑煮 (zouni) translated as “mochi soup” is actually pretty close, though I’ve never heard the term we used before. お節 (osechi) is a general term for traditional New Year’s food translated as “supper”. Both of these have been translated in other ways in the past. 柏手 (kashiwade) is the act of clapping your hands in prayer at a Shinto shrine. You bow twice, clap twice, pray, and then bow once more. This was a joke ruiner (Nono simply had never heard the term before). And by the way, I’m sure you’ve already heard of 初詣で (hatsumoude) the first shrine visit of the New Year. There’s a certain Osaka joke in this episode about money; just think of them as the Jews of Japan. You might be familiar with it if you’ve seen an anime called Kill la Kill (it wasn’t all that popular, you’ve probably never heard of it). Lastly is a reference to 鏡餅 (kagami mochi), a stack of mochi that, fittingly, looks similar to a “snowman” (I’m sure you remember, but this was back in episode 13). Okay, that’s it, now go and enjoy.

Episode 164: Torrent | Magnet

Aikatsu! – 163

Yes, toys please, just take my money

Yes, toys please, just take my money

What do you mean you don’t sleep holding your Angely Bear and Aikatsu Dolls? You’d better have been a good little boy or girl and ask Santa for it quick, he’s just about ready to pack his bags.

Episode 163: Torrent | Magnet

Edit: Wow, can’t believe I almost forgot such a great coincidence bordering on miracle. Happy birthday, Risappe!

Aikatsu! – 162

Me and my friends watching Aikatsu

Me and my friends watching Aikatsu

Why can’t they understand me? Anyway, Nina part 2. There’s a term Itsumo uses called “wide show” in wasei eigo. I have no idea where this one came from, but it’s like those talk and variety shows you see of people reacting to reactions. At least I think it is. Might just refer to filming a panel of people (usually celebrities) watching and talking. And that joke at the very end of the Stage Diary was supposed to be funnier. Use your ears and you’ll be able to tell.

Episode 162: Torrent | Magnet

Aikatsu! – 161

Aikatsu has the most delicious designs

Aikatsu has the most delicious designs

Oh boy, what an episode to have right in the middle of me writing a special post I was going to put up soon (you’ll see why I bring this up). This Thanksgiving, I was thankful that nobody asked me where subs for 161 were until it released.

Couple of notes this time. I think the first is the word “sabermetric”, some obscure baseball term I was forced requested to keep which basically means a statistical, calculative, or analytical approach. Her brand, Crazy PaniQ, is actually Mecha PaniQ, “mecha” めちゃ being Kansai dialect for pretty much what we used. The reason it was changed besides to match what we had was the fact that the word “mecha” means, well, “mech”, like a giant robot to English speakers. Go figure. The last thing is the mention that there’s French in her song. Does that mean I had free reign to make the Kansai dialect French? I’ll have to ask a certain cat if that’s alright.

Episode 161: Torrent | Magnet