You know, I’m actually glad that I picked up this series last season. If you haven’t guessed by now with the choices I make when it comes to my series…. I’m not a violence person. I’m not really a fan of blood and guts. You won’t see me rushing to watch a new season of Hellsing or Berserk. They’re just not my thing. I would much rather watch a story about someone who has no hope in life have that turned around by just one person who cares and changes their life. I like stories where everyone gets a happy ending. If I wanted realism, I’d look outside. But for me, this kind of show, albeit i’m not the target demographic, really makes me feel happy. Is it a product placement? Hell yes. Is it a bit childish, maybe. Do I give a fuck? Hell no. My lengthy self evaluation aside, let’s just start up Cocotama episode 15.
First thing i’m going to say is, this time around I sat through the entire opening once again, and, while keeping most of the original intro, they did do some updates to include the new characters. Which I actually really like.
So the episode opens up with everyone hearing a noise, and them all wondering what it is. Mogutan says that the previous night he was eating some food and was scared by a shadow that he thought was a ghost.
The Cocotamas freak out and don’t want to be left alone while Kokoro’s at school so she agrees to take them with her.
Meanwhile we are introduced to the actual cause of the noise. A new Cocotama named Mishii. She’s the spirit of the mailbox and uses their leaving to hang out in the Cocotama house.
At school she asks her friends if anyone else was experiencing anything similar. They tell her no, but they suggest it might be a poltergeist. However, when they arrive home, they see that it’s Mishii. So..yeah that poltergeist storyline kind of went nowhere.
She introduces herself and tells everyone how she wants to be friends, however, it’s revealed that she has some other ideas in mind and really just wants to be pampered by them.
She’s taken back to her mailbox at night to sleep so she then dresses up as a secret agent and sneaks back into the house.
Accidentally waking up Luckytama she decides to use him to get some dirt on the rest of the Cocotamas. Thinking she’s a spy working undercover for something he tells her all the dirt she wants to know, and then she leaves.
The next day Luckytama is too tired and sleeps through all this, but Mishii uses her newfound embarrassing knowledge to flat out blackmail all of the Cocotamas into doing stuff for her including giving her some of their stuff and giving her a massage.
Kokoro then comes home and they all tell her about everything that was going on. They aren’t sure how she knew all this stuff but wants to find out later that night.
So when she shows up again to get more dirt on them from Luckytama, they’re ready for her. However, she throws Luckytama under the bus and tells them that he’s the one who told her everything. Needless to say, they’re not very happy with him.
Kokoro asks Mishii why she did all that and she finally admits that she was just lonely in her mailbox and wanted to be with everyone and feel like she was important. Kokoro mentions how there’s no more room in the Cocotama house and that makes Mishii really upset, but Kokoro then has the idea of just making it bigger, and after everyone forgives Mishii, that’s how the episode ends.
Not gonna lie, I liked this episode. It was fun to see a sort of antagonist thrown into the mix. Sure all she really wanted was friendship in the end, but that’s where I think this series really shines. It shows you that just because someone is a jerk, or seems like a bad person at first doesn’t mean that with a little love they can’t be turned into a friend. Is this a rose colored glasses way of looking at the world? Yeah? Well fuck you that’s what I want to believe.
In a world where even companies such as Disney feel that it would be better to just kill off the villain because they’ve done terrible things it is nice to see a series that really encompasses what we should do with people who have wronged us. It would have been simple for them all to say “Fuck you, you blackmailed us, go to hell” and kick her out. However they didn’t do that as the show is trying to explain to us that the more adult way to deal with this sort of problem is to talk about it, and resolve your differences, and offer a hand out rather than slap it away. It’s amazing to me that a series meant for five year olds is more adult than anything on “Adult” American television now. And yes, I say “Adult” not adult as in violence or sex, but adult as in, how an adult should behave.
So why exactly do other movies aimed at kids such as Disney kill their villains? Why? Because it’s easier. It ties up loose ends to just say “Oops, the villain died. The end.” With that, you don’t have to work for it, and the evil is gone with nothing else to do. That is lazy. When you develop your villain to be so one dimensional that all you can do is defeat them, that is pure lazy writing. The best villains are the ones that are deep, multi layered, and in the end, have a shred of humanity that can be redeemed. I know this is turning into something off topic, but it’s something I had to get off my chest.
I like this character of Mishii. She has a realistic tone to her. She is lonely but uses false bravado to cover it up and really just wants to be loved. However, the love shone by the other characters is enough to make her a good person in the end.
I am glad this character is going to become part of the Cocotama house. These guys had every reason to hate her, but they opened their hearts at the end and accepted her. Fuck you Game of Thrones, Fuck you Breaking Bad. THESE are the morals everyone should learn and teach. Not just children, but with the way things are going on in the world, I think some adults need some of this education as well.
After watching this episode, it put a smile not just on my face, but in my heart. Good job Cocotama, you made my day just a little bit better. I will DEFINITELY see you next week.
Episode 8.5/10
-Hideki