Thursday, January 8, 2026

Sasha and Ariel Experience ... Watanare!

Sasha: Okay, you're going to be really happy about this thing I found out about "There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless ..."
Ariel: Is this going to be you trying to make me look lazy with more stuff you learned by looking at Wikipedia?
Sasha: Nope, not at all. In fact, the whole reason you're going to be happy about it is that it's something we can both be lazy about. Because I found out that instead of "There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless ..." some people just call this show "Watanare."
Ariel: What's a naray?
Sasha: No, "Watanare."
Ariel: No, I get that that's what you said. I'm just asking what a naray is so I can understand why people are so impressed by it that they say "What a naray!" instead of saying ... you know, the whole name of the show.
Sasha: Look, I'm not saying "What a naray." I'm saying W-a-t-a-n-a-r-e. It's Japanese.
Ariel: Well then why did you think I would understand it at all? I don't know any Japanese. Akane keeps saying she wants to teach us, but everybody keeps being too lazy to get her to.
Sasha: I didn't think you would understand it. I don't even understand it. But it's a shortened version of the Japanese title of the show, and I figured you'd be all about using a shorter version of a title.
Ariel: Well I am, but that doesn't mean I don't still want to understand it. Sheesh, it's like you're teasing me with saying here's a chance for me to be lazy about something and you won't even criticize me about it, only now I've got to go and learn a whole other language to understand what I'm saying!
Sasha: Do you really have to understand it to just use it to talk about the show?
Ariel: How am I even going to remember it if I don't understand it? If it's just a bunch of sounds squooshed together, how's it supposed to stick in my head? I mean, I already don't remember. "What-a-whatsit?"
Sasha: Let's just go with that, then. Considering we call things by the wrong name all the time anyhow.
Ariel: Okay, I guess. So what are we going to say about Whatawhatsit today?
Sasha: I dunno, the usual kind of thing, I guess. Like what we liked about it, and if there was anything we didn't like, what that was too, and maybe something funny about the characters -- especially if we can think of funny names to call them that aren't their real names. But before we say anything, we probably ought to tell people to put their spoiler blankets on.
Ariel: OMG. We didn't do that at all last time!
Sasha: I kept trying to say we should.
Ariel: Really? Then why didn't you?
Sasha: You kept interrupting me before I could get it out.
Ariel: (That's what she said!) Haha!
Sasha: Anyhow, I'm saying it now. If people don't want to have the extra bonus season of Watanare spoiled for them, they should definitely put their spoiler blankets over their heads right now. Okay. Done and done. So what was your favorite thing about this show?
Ariel: So many cute girls! There was Cute Pink-Hair Girl, and Cute Blond-Hair Girl ...
Sasha: I thought she was more pretty than cute.
Ariel: Oh. Maybe you're right. Then there was Cute Black-Hair Girl -- oh, shoot. She was more pretty than cute too.
Sasha: Although it was kind of cute the way she was so sarcastic and borderline emotionless at the same time.
Ariel: Brown-Hair Girl was definitely cute-cute, though, not just pretty cute or with a cute-ish personality twitch.
Sasha: She was very cute and pretty at the same time. Also super nice.
Ariel: Wayyy the nicest one on the show, for sure. And that just leaves Cute Green-Hair Girl.
Sasha: Are you just calling them by their hair colors because you can't remember anything else about them or about the show?
Ariel: I remember lots of stuff!
Sasha: Really? Like what?
Ariel: Like when Cute Pink-Hair Girl finally got around to admitting she liked both Cute Blond-Hair Girl and Cute Brown-Hair Girl.
Sasha: That was like, literally the last thing that happened in the series.
Ariel: At least I remembered it, though. You didn't even remember what "Whatawhatsit" means.
Sasha: Watanare. And it's not that I don't remember what it means, because I never knew what it meant.
Ariel: Are you sure? Maybe you just don't remember that you knew what it meant, along with not remembering what it meant. I mean, it seems like you're forgetting an awful lot of stuff, so maybe you forgot that too.
Sasha: What are you talking about? What other stuff do you think I'm forgetting?
Ariel: You know! All that stuff! I don't want to list it all off or you'll get too embarrassed.
Sasha: Anyway ... Watanare is a show that's mostly about this pink-haired girl who was a big shut-in in middle school, so when she gets to high school, she decides she's going to be popular and extroverted and make a lot of friends. She falls in with this group of four other girls that's centered around the super-smart, super-pretty blond girl, who is also a famous model despite just being a freshman in high school. But because the pink-haired girl's such an introvert, she keeps getting exhausted by trying to keep up with all their conversations, and a week or two into freshman year, she kind of freaks out about it and runs up to the roof to get some fresh air and decompress. But then the super-pretty blond model girl comes up too and sees her leaning over the railing and thinks she's about to jump, so she runs at her and yells for her to stop, which startles Pink-Hair Girl and makes her actually fall, and then Super-Pretty Blond Model Girl has to jump off the roof too to grab her and make them both tumble into the top of a tree nearby. See? I remembered all of that even though it was from back in the very first episode.
Ariel: Well ... I don't want to be mean, so I'm not going to mention all the stuff you remembered wrong just then.
Sasha: What? What stuff? 
Ariel: I said I wasn't going to mention it, didn't I? Sheesh!
Sasha: Whatever. Anyway, then Super-Pretty Blond Model Girl decides that she's fallen in love with Pink-Hair Girl and insists that they need to become girlfriends, which is where the title comes in.
Ariel: I thought you said you didn't know what the title meant?
Sasha: No, I mean the "There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless ..." version of the title.
Ariel: Oh, I get it. Aha! Also, I get what the "Unless ..." part of that title means, now!
Sasha: You do? What does it mean?
Ariel: It means, "Unless You're Going To Get It On With Both Me And Cute Brown-Hair Girl!" Thank heavens they didn't make that the title instead of just putting the dot-dot-dot there. That would have been a cray-cray long title.
Sasha: It also would have been a big-time spoiler for how the extra-bonus season ended.
Ariel: Probably not. Probably with it being that long, most people wouldn't have read all the way to the end of the title anyway.
Sasha: I kind of feel like they would, though, Aers. I mean, most people aren't you.
Ariel: What's that supposed to mean?
Sasha: Just that I don't think most people would get so exhausted reading 14 extra words that they'd give up and not finish reading the title.
Ariel: I didn't say they'd stop reading from being exhausted! Quit acting like I'm all lazy that way. I meant they'd stop reading the title because they'd be so excited about actually reading the story, so they'd skip right to that. Or skip right to watching the show.
Sasha: Uh-huh. So are you going to actually say anything about the show at any point?
Ariel: I already did! I guess you forgot about that part too.
Sasha: You know what? Forget I said anything at all.
Ariel: What you said when?
Sasha: This whole time I've been talking!
Ariel: What whole time?
Sasha: Would you stop that?
Ariel: But you told me to forget you said anything. I was just doing what you wanted.
Sasha: Uh-huh. Why does that not work literally any other time I say you should do something?
Ariel: There's lots of times you say I should do something and I do it!
Sasha: Really? Like when?
Ariel: Um ... do you really want me to say? Cause that's a whole other list of things that I think you might get embarrassed if I went and listed them all. If you know what I mean!
Sasha: Oh. Yeah, okay. 
Ariel: So ... is there anything else you want to say about Whatawhatsit?
Sasha: Hmm ...
Ariel: Or -- is there anything else you want to say I should do?
Sasha: Why are you batting your eyes at me like that?
Ariel: No reason!
Sasha: Uh ... okay ... Goodnight, everybody!

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