Week 2 Synopses
Episode 3 and 4 Synopses:
Episode 3 (“Where Are All the Beanbirds Going?”) opens with Hedgetato-chan and Dogtato-kun admiring a strange nocturnal vision: in the distance, a star is glowing, and beneath it a hill is brightly shining in response. The next morning the two decide to go check out the hill and see what makes it twinkle so; but to get to the place they must cross Vegetable-Land’s single river, using as their path a conveniently bent tree. As they approach the bridge, they hear little “chuu”s and look down to find our friends the Beanbirds, in their usual single file, making top speed towards the crossing. They nicely let them go ahead but soon start wondering exactly how long the line of Beanbirds is. Going to examine its source, Hedgetato finds Cucumbird standing beneath a bean stalk which is producing an endless array of Beanbirds. (I do not have the skill to describe in mere words the mixed cuteness and creepiness of this sight.) “Um… how long will this take?” Dogtato-kun asks, but Cucumbird replies that even he doesn’t know. It looks like their plans are shot, but as Hedgetato and Dogtato-chan wander off they see Cucumbird and several Beanbirds floating down the river in a makeshift beanboat. Cucumbird invites them to join him, and they all make for the hill they saw the evening before (to the sound of Croconion’s “narration”). There they discover that the hill itself isn’t glowing; it is the hundreds of flowers that are growing there. But how did the flowers grow so quickly? Ah! It’s the Beanbirds! Indeed, with a little concentration and a cute “chuu,” any one of the Beanbirds can grow a beautiful pinkish glowing star-shaped flower—and they can all gather here because Dogtato-kun and Hedgetato-chan let them cross the bridge. Woah… that episode actually had a moral… I wonder how the axiom “let the Beanbirds pass before you” got left out of the Bible?
Episode 4 (“Sad Strawbatty”) introduces drama, pathos, and heartbreak into this previously sugar-sweet series. The two Cherrodents (who are brothers) are happily playing a spinning game, in which they hand from a tree branch by their stems/tails and spin around each other until they get dizzy. Strawbatty thinks that this looks like fun, but the Cherrodent brothers won’t let him join there game because… well… he’s a bat. As well as a strawberry. And he’s a tiny bit rude: thrown into deep existential despair by his rejection, Strawbatty tries to play the game alone on the unsuspecting Dogtato-kun’s tail. Although it is rather obvious that neither Dogtato-kun nor Hedgetato-chan want him along on their date, Strawbatty won’t leave. But then, the two discover one of the Cherrodent brothers—alone. The other brother blew away in a sudden gust of wind, and he’s nowhere to be found! (Strawbatty’s immediate response is to try to get the remaining brother to play with him, but this is a failure.) Dogtato-kun and Hedgetato-chan spring into action and begin asking everyone they can find if they have seen Cherrodent; but all of the answers are oddly philosophical. Croconion tells them that “people who don’t know others know nothing of themselves. Mweh heh heh heh heh.” Lotus Eater, a sort of pig… pig… pig-thing says that “he should be where he is meant to be.” And an unnamed tomato-something (Cat? Koala? Capybara?) asks, “did I see him, did I not see him, or is he coming soon?” Meanwhile the remaining Cherrodent has started crying and Strawbatty offers to help him find his brother. They fly off and, significantly, discover the missing in no time. Soon Dogtato-kun and Hedgetato find the three playing a new game: “squeeze,” in which Strawbatty hangs off a branch in the middle and the two brothers smack into him repeatedly. Apparently Strawbatty finds this to be the most fulfilling thing in the world, so the episode ends on a happy note.