Bottle Fairy: Episode 2 Commentary
May
Kururu using a crayon = cute scene. I was disappointed at the end of the previous episode seeing crayons were used without showing them used. Hopefully she’s not writing all over an important book. Senseisan needs to get them some more blank paper.
I wondered why Golden Week wasn’t mentioned in the previous episode, but realized quickly that May was the episode best suited for it.
This time around, there’s actually pretty good information about Golden Week. This is an interesting series, as for Japanese viewers, it’s their own culture and holidays being learned about. Of course, this show is obviously targetted at a younger audience, and there’s always fun to be had when dealing with a word with two meanings.
This series definitely isn’t for someone who would be bored watching four little fairies try to get a book off a shelf to read. At least they seem to know which book has the information they’re looking for.
Chiriri calls Kururu by the name “Kururu-chan”, but only by “Kururu” in the dub during Kururu’s pirate case. This is contrary to Chiriri’s saying “Sarara-chan” in the dub. This is repeated in Chiriri’s goldfinger case, where she uses Kururu-chan, Sarara-chan, and Hororo-chan in the Japanese, but does not use “chan” in the dub. On top of this, Hororo calls Chiriri by the name “Chi-chan” in the Japanese, but simply by “Chiriri” in the dub. Chiriri does says “Kururu-chan” in her vision of Kururu as a boy, however. Hororo’s calling Kururu “Ku-sama” was reworded in the dub without Kururu’s name, which was probably to fit lip movements. Sarara is also called Sararin by at least one of the other fairies. Hm, I like that name for her. Sararin. I may just use it for her myself.
I would have hoped for a little more name consistency, as there’s often a lot of be learned by paying attention to how each character addresses each other character in a Japanese series. This is something which was heavily lost in Love Hina‘s dub.
Hororo’s case shows someone thinks way too much about food. Sararin on the other hand is all about bushido, but I’m not quite sure what her case had to do with gold.
The dub also loses a joke with Sararin’s “Did you say kenpo day?” Sure, the subtitles explain that “kenpo” has a dual-meaning including “kung fu”, but something seems lost after the first episode went so well.
It’s fun seeing each of the fairies’ images of Kururu as a boy, as it expands on their characters a little. Chiriri envisions a cultured, refined prince. Sararin of course looks up to a samurai warrior. And Hororo… Well, by now I can simply say Hororo is Hororo.
Likewise, with “tango-no sekku”, naturally Hororo envision food, Chiriri a fancy tango, and Sararin picks up on a warrior’s suicide.
Another cute scene: Sarara’s origami helmet, and toothpick sword.
Final cute scene: Chiriri’s mini tea cup and saucer.
One item not properly explained, although mentioned, is “Gogatsu Byo”, or “May Sickness”. There are a few things which can contribute to May Sickness. For one, students are starting a new year of school. This is especially the case if you’re starting in a new school, or left home and are starting out in college, or if you’re fresh out of college and working a new job. On top of that, everyone’s just come out of a week of holidays, which means going back to your normal schedule.
I absolutely loved the fairies reactions when they saw the box of donuts while trying to keep up their May Sickness routine. Naturally Hororo would have been the first to crack if Kururu didn’t decide May Sickness was over. Well, there’s always next year, little ones. There’s always next year. Thankfully Kururu’s taking reasonable-sized bites this time around.
The different ending theme image was a pleasent suprise. If only the video quality was better, the image would make for a nice desktop background.
