Last extra one for a while. Vignette - Deep Dive · 1:22am Dec 25th, 2021
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hearth's Warming.
Rainbow Dash knocked on the pink door. It was opened a moment later by a familiar face, but not the person he was looking for. It was Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy’s younger brother.
He flashed Rainbow Dash a smile. “Hey, Rainbows. I’m not surprised to see you on my doorstep. Have you reconsidered my offer?”
“Hey, Zephyr,” Rainbow groaned. “No, I’m here to see Fluttershy. She is going to help me with my Japanese class.”
“Oh, well, the offer still stands,” Zephyr replied, still blocking the door.
Rainbow Dash gave him an annoyed look. “I don’t have time to be dating with how badly I'm falling behind in Japanese. If I don’t pass the upcoming quiz, I will be off the sports teams at CHS, because of my grades. In a single class. One class will do me in before any of the seasons even start!”
Zephyr sighed. “And we certainly don’t want that to happen. Follow me.”
Rainbow had not been to Fluttershy’s in a while, mostly because of Zephyr. The boy had always had a crush on her, and she found him insufferable. It was hard enough avoiding him since he was now a freshman at Canterlot High School, she didn’t need to go to a place Zephyr would certainly be.
Zephyr stopped outside a closed door painted yellow. “Fluttershy is inside,” he said as he knocked. “Sis, Rainbows is here to see you about Japanese stuff.”
“Coming!” Fluttershy yelled from inside the room.
“Good luck,” Zephyr said, chuckling as he walked away.
Fluttershy opened the door. “Sorry I didn’t see your text,” she immediately said. “I planned to meet you at the door.” She stepped aside. “Come in and let the experience begin.”
Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure what room she had stepped into. It had a bed, but the decoration didn’t seem to fit Fluttershy. At least not the Fluttershy Rainbow Dash knew.
On the wall across from the bed was a big tv screen and a desk with a computer, which was normal, but the bookshelves full of books that had Japanese names on the spine, another that was full of movie cases with Japanese titles on them, and another that was packed full of various figurines. Posters, all with Japanese letters on them, not English, were hung both on the wall and the ceiling since she was out of wall space. It was impossible to tell what colors the walls actually were.
“Uh…” Rainbow stammered as she dropped her backpack onto the floor. “Is this your room?”
“Yes,” Fluttershy nodded. “We won’t be bothered by Zephyr in here. He is scared of my room. Something about the posters and figurines watching him. I don’t get it.”
“I feel like I just dove into the deep end of the pool,” Rainbow admitted. “This is all…so…not you? You are like a Japanese nerd?"
Fluttershy sighed. “The term is actually otaku,” Fluttershy clarified. “I am a very big anime fan and read a lot of manga. It’s why I started learning Japanese freshman year and also how I plan to motivate you.”
“With reading in a language I barely know the alphabet of?” Rainbow asked, confused.
“No,” Fluttershy said, rolling her eyes. “By inspiring you. You said your biggest issue was that you didn’t find any of it interesting. I am going to help you get interested in the language.”
“No offense, but humanized horse girls that run derbies does not sound appealing,” Rainbow said as she focused on a particular poster.
“Uma Musume Pretty Derby is not for everyone,” Fluttershy admitted. “I only watched it because of Princess Twilight, being a pony and all. There are a lot of genres of anime, too many to go into. We just need to get you into something that you will want to watch and yes, I have the perfect thing.”
“And just what is that?” Rainbow asked wearily.
“Macross,” Fluttershy said with a sly grin. “It was released in 1985, so the animation style is older and much of what it did is now considered cliché, because of it. The basic premise, an alien starship crashes on earth. The setting is on that ship after it is rebuilt and it focuses on transforming space jet fighter craft and epic battles in the stars. The fighters can transform into battle suit robots for ground combat. I think you will find the mix of space battles and dog fights with the mechas to your liking.”
“So, no high school drama with love triangles?” Rainbow asked. Her interest was piqued.
“No high school drama, there is a solid love triangle story, but I won’t spoil anything,” Fluttershy said as she picked up the TV remote and turned the big screen on. The first episode was paused, waiting for Rainbow Dash so it could start. Fluttershy hit “play” and started Rainbow’s immersion into the Japanese language via pop culture.
I can't wait to see how Rainbow reacts to the glory that is Macross
5620381
RedDog5207 is the person who recommended Macross to me. I have only seen snipets, that to RedDog, not a whole episode. lol. I need to watch a full one. That will happen in time.
What? No pet snake RD didnt know about? LOL
I prefer Robotech.
5620393
Lol. Do you think Angel would put up with a pet snake in the same room? hahahaha.
5620399
I don't know that one either, but Macross came recommended, I watched some clips, and decided it was good enough. Besides, Dash is diving into a whole other world with plenty to watch besides it, like Robotech.
5620430
Robotech is the English dub version of Macross.
5620432
Shows you how much I know. lol. Macross is the better name, period!
5620434
That anime is named after the ship kinda like Space Battleship Yamato.
5620435
That I did know from reading up on it. sigh. The Yamato is a ship unto herself in any version. The Bismarck held nothing on the Yamato.
5620432
5620434
No, it isn't. It's an unholy abomination made of a mash up of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada due to weird American regulations and some other shenanigans. Different dialogue, mashed up episodes, changed storyline, etc.
Not saying it's bad, hell if I know they did a good job with it, but it's not just the American name.
5620383
Awww.... thanks for including the Macross anime franchise idea as a way to get Rainbow motivated to better study Japanese.
Plus, I was grinning wide when I read the reference to Uma Musume Pretty Derby as I watched it too.
5620430
Counter question. "Do you think Angel would be able to do anything about it? Besides EQG Angel from what little I saw of him seems a LOT more tolerent then ponyverse version of him lol. Also Merry Christmas
5620455
We make things so complicated. Lol
5620469
It was the best anime I knew off the top of my head that would instantly turn Dash off. Plus it worked to easily explain why Fluttershy endeavoured to watch it. Lol.
5620604
I think Angel in both universes has his tolerance level and a snake is beyond it. Besides, why would Fluttershy own a pet snake you can't snuggle with, before Colorra?
And Merry Christmas to you!
I can certainty see Macross being an intro to anime, but I personally would do Cowboy Bebop.
5620963
From what I understand, there are a good number of anime to use to excite Dash about the Japanese language. Macross was recommended to me first.
Oh no, Flutters is a weeb!