MaruMA:Doujinshi5:Story3

To all the good kids in front of the TV (Essay)

A puppet show watched from a proper distance to the TV, in a bright room, while sitting straight, can make you hold your breath (but safely). Having said that, the truth is that lately I've been watching a puppet show without fail every week. But it's not "Fear! By chance we found a mystery in Gourd island". When I watched that Gourd Island show a long time ago, for some reason I was so afraid of it, I would cry. Since then I haven't been able to watch Gourd Island without being afraid.

How to put this? There was a Buddhist chant like "In this world there's a god and a Buddha" that they would sing, and when little Takabayashi Monkey (I wasn't a human yet back then, I was more monkey than human) saw that, she thought "All these people are dead! They're absolutely dead! This is a story about the afterworld and dead people!". I was convinced.

After that, I didn't want to watch Gourd Island. Well, barely. I liked playing with the frog in Gourd pond. But I didn't like it. It was some sort of afterworld for the dead. I especially didn't like it during this season. When I was an elementary school student, we would stay at a house in the countryside for Obon. So no way. I was stupid and weak.

At any rate, the puppet show I watch weekly is that famous one called 'Thunderbird'. It's amazing, this 'Thunderbird' show!!! Because they're all brothers! Even though I watch them every week without fail, I still am unable to match a name to a face.

I know that they all have different facial features. They have dimples, or the hair color is different, or there's a woman, but I'm much more obsessed with the engineer than with the women. (laughs)

But I can't help forgetting the names. That's Tsutomu Sekine, that's Tsutomu Sekine, that's Tsutomu Sekine, that one especially, is Tsutomu Sekine, that's Tsutomu Sekine, that's the car and chauffeur of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, PAPA and Minmin.

And that's how I mix them all up. Lately, Scott reminded me of the Third Son. That made me proud. The best part about that work, is that even though they're dolls, it's really thrilling, and even though they're dolls they don't make you think of something lovey-dovey, and even though they're dolls they have a sweet(!) spot for patrolling. They absolutely are bad (sweet) at patrolling! And their plans are impossible! They don't have enough people in the staff! And the launching platform is too slippery! Everyone loves PAPA with delusive conviction (laughs)! I mean, come on! Everyone says "Yes, PAPA", "Yes, PAPA" all the time!

At first I thought, well it's the dubbing, it can't be helped. But it seems that they have re-recorded it (seems, it just seems like it), and even so you still hear "Yes, PAPA". Just say "OKAY" every now and then.

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