Sushi Pack - The Yam Yakkers

I forgot how nice it is to do an episode that's only 11 minutes long.  Doesn't mean I take any fewer screenshots, though.

The Yam Yakkers
Aquabot-boy's new movie is premiering in Wharf City, and the Sushi Pack is ready, thanks to Maguro preordering the tickets.  Kani's excited that Vince Face, the actor playing Aquabot-boy, will be making an appearance, but Tako claims he's only a fan of the character; whoever plays him is incidental.  Ikura and Wasabi, on the other hand, are already set to get autographs.  Unfortunately, there's no day off for being a superhero, and Chief Flume arrives to let them know about the myriad of crimes going on all over the city: Sir Darkly invaded the mall, Oleander broke into all the nearby farms, and Titanium Chef raided the virus research facility!  She also belittles her own force for all taking the day off to see the movie, but no sooner does Tako pledge the Sushi Pack's help, she reveals she did the exact same thing.
Though Tako promised the Pack would take care of the problems, Ikura and Wasabi are not feeling it, and stay behind while the others roll out.  This doesn't go unnoticed by Tako, who is unmoved when Ikura states that waiting three years for a sequel is a valid excuse for not fighting crime.  Kani and Maguro try to get Ikura and Wasabi into the crime-fighting spirit with some snappy catchphrases, but no dice.  After all, there's always crime in Wharf City, but celebrities don't come around every day.
Tako goes into the many-headed thinking routine to process this information.  Is it so wrong to want a day off once in a while?  Kani interrupts him before he can finish, so he brushes her off and completes his thoughts: how to balance responsibility and pleasure?  He comes up with a compromise: Ikura and Wasabi can keep their place in line while he, Maguro, and Kani go after the villains, hopefully making it back in time.  Though not sure the plan will work, Tako and the others head off, while Ikura and Wasabi high five.

On the outskirts of town, Oleander drives away from the last farm and informs someone through a radio that she's "got them.  Phase one complete."  The abridged Sushi Pack spot her erratic driving, and Kani goes in to investigate, using her pincers to open a hole in the truck and find out just what Oleander was after.  But what she sees gives her a shock: three tons of yams?  Tako and Maguro, meanwhile, investigate the virus research facility, but they're too late, Titanium Chef is already gone with a whole van of yogurt canisters.  To be used in a sinister recipe, no doubt.  Tako and Maguro take off in the Sushi Craft and spot him driving down the road, also talking into a radio.  Phase two complete!
Maguro leaps onto the stolen van, leaving Tako to chase down Sir Darkly alone.  Which isn't too hard, considering the spectre's totally conspicuous (and awesome) vehicle.  Tako attaches the Sushi Craft to it via magnet, just in time to hear him tell the others that Phase Three of Operation Yam Yakkers (obtain mannequins) is complete.  Not wanting to see any operation set in motion by Sir Darkly, Tako takes control of the wheel.  Sir Darkly isn't worried.
As Kani confronts Oleander, Maguro uses her powers to make the Titanium Chef drive in place, but he gets rid of her with a little soy sauce (he is, after all, a master sushi chef).  Sir Darkly manages to knock Tako off the steering wheel, but the octopus is not to be deterred, clinging instead to the windshield.  Which leaves him vulnerable to the wipers, of course.
Back at the movie theater, Ikura can't help but worry about how long the others have been gone.  With the movie about to start, he wonders what to do.  Wasabi has the answer: see the movie, naturally!  Ikura agrees, and the two head inside.  However, the big climax of the movie reveals that Aquabot-boy gave up personal pleasure for responsibility, which is not lost on either Pack member.

Meanwhile, Maguro manages to catch up with Titanium Chef, Kani annoys Oleander, but doesn't get her to stop, and Tako finally maneuvers himself into a position to block out Sir Darkly's windshield with his ink.  The three vehicles end up on a collision course, with villains and Sushi Pack members alike bailing out just in time.  Looks like the end of Operation Yam Yakkers, but why are the villains bro-fisting each other?  The pile of crashed contents begin to glow, creating very odd looking vegetable...things, which immediately scoop up Tako, Maguro, and Kani.

Tako: Tell your sweet potatoes to let us go!
Oleander: They're not sweet potatoes, they are yams.

Just love the delivery there.  But it turns out those things are the Yam Yakkers, a special recipe from the Book of Chum Chop.  Not sure if they were supposed to come out looking so weird, but their main selling point is their loyalty to the villains.  To demonstrate, Titanium Chef orders the Yakkers to crush the Sushi Pack, and they oblige.  But all is not lost, as Ikura and Wasabi arrive to avenge their friends' deaths!  No need for that, though, as Maguro's forcefield was (just barely) strong enough to keep the Yakker's hand at bay.  Seeing the rest of the pack still alive, Ikura apologizes for putting his desires over his responsibilities, but Kani just tells him they can discuss it later.  Right now, they've got some potatoes to mash!  (Or rather, yams, as Oleander once again points out.)
The Pack attack from all sides, but the Yakkers are just too big!  Just when it seems they've got no chance of winning, Wasabi points out a glowing building, and the Pack heads on over.  Seeing this as a retreat, Oleander orders the Yakkers to follow suit, sending them right into the Sushi Pack's trap.  They slip on Ikura's orange roe and Wasabi's....whatever, and Maguro opens a cargo bay door just as they approach it.  The other villains also fall victim to the slippery path, though they merely fall on their faces. It turns out that the building is the Wharf City Cannery, a fitting end for yams.  And, as Tako points out, the other villains are headed for "the can" as well.
With everything taken care of, Ikura and Wasabi apologize again, but Maguro insists that the important thing is that they recognized their wrong and rectified it.  And, since they saved Wharf City yet again, Vince Face saw fit to stick around (in full Aquabot-boy costume) and give them a special screening of the movie.  Face-to-face with, well, Face, Tako abandons his earlier stance and asks for an autograph, with Maguro mocking him for it.  But hey, the guy is still in costume.

Not too much to say about this one, but I did like Titanium Chef's radio handle (Big Daddy Fish).  The whole thing felt a little rushed, but I like it anyway.

Misc. Screenshots
Tako gets in Ikura's face
Happy villains
Tako helps Kani up
High five!

Sushi Pack - No Clowning Around

It's been a while, huh?  I never really meant to stop posting Sushi Pack recaps, though I also never meant to post every single episode, either.  Much as I love the show, there are episodes that I just didn't feel warranted a full write up.  Granted, my feelings have changed by now, in both directions (i.e. some of the shows I wrote up probably didn't deserve it), but this is one I always meant to get to.

No Clowning Around - "There are no small jobs, just small sushi."
It's a typical day in Wharf City: the sun is shining, kids are having fun playing in the park, and lovers are having their romantic interludes interrupted by the sudden arrival of clouds.  No, wait, this isn't a typical onset of clouds, it's the doing of Sir Darkly, the personification of misery.  His very presence causes flowers to wilt, seesaws to break, and makes everyone in the vicinity burst into tears, much to his deadpan delight.
Over at The Green Donut, the Sushi Pack are testing out their new periscope viewer and manage to get it working, thanks to teamwork!  Thanks to the viewer, they catch sight of Sir Darkly, and as this is his first episode, Maguro points out some of his villainous quality, with Tako adding the most important one three times.  They're also aware of his ultimate goal: collecting enough tears of sorrow to seed the clouds, making misery literally rain down on the entire world.  While the Pack contemplates this, Ben calls for them to see the weather report.  Sophia Tucker is on location to report on the strange storm that appears to be moving in, right in the middle of the mayor's annual picnic!  And even this perky reporter is no match for Sir Darkly's gloom.

Seeing Sir Darkly on screen, Ben flashes back to the last time that guy was in town, and how he was carried off by the north wind, vowing revenge on the Sushi Pack.  Though we are not privy to what exactly happened that time (did the Sushi Pack cause the wind?  Was it serendipity?), we get a clue from Ben, who warns the Pack that they won't be able to sneak up on Sir Darkly the way they did last time.  And having jumped into their action pose to do this, he abruptly falls over when they stop to come up with a plan.  Ikura suggests a plan that's all him, but Maguro reminds him that they're a team, and Ben chimes in about teamwork, as he is wont to do.  Tako surmises they'll need a disguise, and luckily, Kani has just the thing.
Down in the basement, she unveils her latest creation: B.O.B. (Being Of Bamboo), a giant robot (giant to them, anyway) that they all operate.  Though impressed, Maguro has a feeling B.O.B. won't exactly blend in, but Kani already has the answer.  With her handy remote, she activates B.O.B.'s disguise mode, turning him into a clown, the perfect camouflage for a party.  Now that that's out of the way, it's time to learn how B.O.B. actually works.  Kani dons her science gear (so cute!) to explain that each member of the Pack controls a different part of B.O.B.: Wasabi controls the right hand, Ikura has the left foot (he isn't impressed), Maguro takes the right foot, Tako gets the left foot, and Kani forms the head!  She instructs everyone to strap in and wait for the command.  With everyone in place, it's time for action!  Unfortunately, no one but Kani takes the whole thing seriously, with Ikura and Wasabi being overenthusiastic and Maguro and Tako not feeling terribly needed, and thus B.O.B. wanders about haphazardly.

Sir Darkly is able to breeze right in to the mayor's picnic, thanks to his cloud of sadness, and continues collecting tears.  The inconsolable security guards also let B.O.B. right in, and so Kani again tries to get the rest of the Pack to follow her instructions, but to no avail.  B.O.B. continues his willy-nilly gambol, catching the attention of Sir Darkly.  Noticing no tears coming from B.O.B.'s eyes, he goes in to investigate.  Kani, as B.O.B.'s voice, introduces the robot as "Bob the Party Clown," then instructs Wasabi and Ikura to wave hello. They overdo it, whacking B.O.B.'s head, so Kani to tell them both to knock it off.  Wasabi gets offended, making his flame shoot up into the cooling chamber, melting the ice.  This causes water to drip on Ikura's head, so he plugs the hole up with a sticky orange ball, which just fills up with water and dumps itself all over him.
Wet and sticky, Ikura quits being the left hand and tries to take Wasabi with him, despite Kani's protests.  This causes B.O.B. to become even more unbalanced than he was before, and he ends up smashing into the cake and collapsing.  Unable to get B.O.B. to lift up, Kani proclaims herself a failure.  Tako quickly points out that it was the rest of them, not her, that failed, and even Ikura begrudgingly admits that teamwork means working together.  Which is all well and good, but what can they do now?
To the rest of the party guests, it appears that Bob the Party Clown is dead, and Sir Darkly seizes upon this opportunity to have everyone shed a tear for the departed clown.  While he collects tears, the Sushi Pack decides it's never too late, and work together to get B.O.B. back on his feet.  With their resolve to act as a team renewed, the others follow Kani's instructions to the letter, and manage to hit Sir Darkly with some slapstick, making the guests laugh.  The laughter starts breaking up Sir Darkly's clouds, and sends the specter himself to the sky, as he and the clouds disappear in a twinkling.  Kani congratulates everyone on a job well done and lesson well learned, and B.O.B. does a little dance.

I'll admit it, my main reason for wanting to do this one was Kani in her scientist get-up.  I love it!
Watching this ep again, I wonder if Sir Darkly's earlier appearance in Wharf City was supposed to be an actual episode, or it was never written on purpose.  You know, kind of a tongue-in-cheek reference to how most superheroes have a Rogue's Gallery.  In fact, it might have been an interesting concept for there to be no recurring villains on the show, but each new one treated as if they had shown up before.  With the only exceptions being Titanium Chef and the Legion of Low Tide, obviously.  I'm glad that they didn't go in that direction, though, since then we wouldn't have gotten the next episode I'll be covering: Yam Yakkers.

News from the Toy Fair

Well, the big news (as far as I'm concerned) coming out of this year's Toy Fair is the debut of the new designs for My Little Pony created by Lauren Faust. I first learned of Ms. Faust a year and a half ago, or rather, I learned of her property Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls, and I've followed her blog ever since. About a month ago she announced that she was made Creative Steward of the My Little Pony line and Executive Producer of an upcoming new TV series, and judging from the image above (and more seen here), it seems that it will be a blend of the new and old MLP. I wonder what's up with the Alicorn up there, though? She gives me the impression of some kind of Pony Deity, like a Greek Goddess or something.

Strawberry Shortcake also has some things showing up that I'm interested in, such as articulated dolls. You can check out the whole thing here. And there are Sushi Pack figures! Kind of weird ones, but better than nothing.

A few other things I found interesting from browsing the galleries: Charlotte from The Princess and the Frog gets a doll (if it's already out, I haven't seen it anywhere), first look at Rapunzel dolls, these are adorable, and while the chicks are cute, the whole thing is a little disturbing, if you ask me.

Sushi Pack Coloring Books

I finally got around to picking up the Sushi Pack coloring books last month, although I've put off blogging them, since there isn't too much to say about them. The second is mostly images from the first, but with different captions. Really, the only thing of note concerns Oleander. The coloring books posit that Oleander is her last name, and her first name is actually Fatima *dry laugh.* I'm not sure if this is canon or not, though, since it never came up in the show. I always assumed that she was simply going by her first name, and in my own personal fanon, her last name is White (mostly because I kept mistakenly referring to her as White Oleander in the early days). Apparently there is also a sticker book now, I'll have to try and track that down soon.

In a related note, a reader sent me a link to this doll that looks rather Kani-esque:

Slightly Worried About Strawberry Shortcake and Sushi Pack

With just three weeks to go until the release of "Strawberry Shortcake: Sky's the Limit Movie," I've been thinking about certain things promised that are yet to be delivered, with no news to be found. This is mostly due to the complications brought on by the American Greetings/Cookie Jar dispute. If you haven't been following it (and it's not like I've been ardently following this, either), here's my take on it. Back last year, Cookie Jar purchased DIC's library, which includes Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, and Sushi Pack. At the time, American Greetings was going to sell Cookie Jar the rights to Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears, but Cookie Jar couldn't raise the agreed-on amount. So another company, Moonscoop, offered to buy them instead for a lesser amount. Cookie Jar was given the chance to match that offer, but later sued AG for not giving them the same amount of time to get the money as Moonscoop. AG countersued, saying Cookie Jar never intended to get the amount they offered in the first place. Most recently, Moonscoop has sued AG to make them get a move on with untangling themselves from Cookie Jar and sealing the deal with them.

What this means for the moment is that Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, and Sushi Pack are not going to be on TV, as Cookie Jar acquired CBS' Saturday block, which will be changing its name from Kewlopolis to Cookie Jar TV on September 19th. What this means for the supposedly upcoming 26 episode Strawberry Shortcake CGI series is unclear right now, as is the future of Sushi Pack (Care Bears' upcoming retooled third season was already delayed, so I'm not as worried about that). Speaking of Sushi Pack, isn't there supposed to be a DVD coming out this fall? Lionsgate has the distribution rights, but so far, there's no word on a DVD release. And there's supposed to be toys coming out this Fall, but as of yet, I haven't seen any. There's still time for that, I know, but the way things are looking, I'm not feeling very optimistic.

Update: AGP is going to MIPCOM, and says that the new CGI series, officially called Strawberry Shortcake Berry Bitty Adventures, is still in production and will be "available for a Spring 2010 delivery." No word on Sushi Pack, though.

Sushi Pack - Wicked Waste Wisps

Out in the forest, squirrels frolic, but not for long, as Sir Darkly is afoot. Taking garbage from a nearby trash can and dumping it in the lake, he creates the titular wisps, with the intention of turning all the citizens of Wharf City into litterbugs. With a whiff of their odor, anyone has the overwhelming urge to dump trash all over the ground.
The next day, The mayor tries to give a press conference, despite having a terrible cold, but Ikura changes the channel to Sophia Tucker interviewing the wisp's first victim. Wasabi, meanwhile, is out for a jog near the lake that Sir Darkly used the night before, and does a little victory dance after kicking a bottle into the recycling bin. He encounters some animals, but rather than having a heartwarming scene as he expects, the woodland creatures burst into tears, and the fish spit water at him. He rushes back to the Green Donut to fill in the others, and they all go out to investigate.

Meanwhile, two kids picking up trash outside the Green Donut (with the promise of five bucks for a job well done) become the latest victims of the stinky wisps, dumping all the trash onto the Pack as they walk out. As the kids run off, the Pack use their powers to pick up all the trash again, but the scent of the wisps lingers on. The forest forgotten, they split up to figure out what's up with that smell. Ikura and Wasabi encounter a wisp at the park, but they fail to capture it, since they lack ghostbusting equipment. Tako and Kani have similar encounters near a hotdog cart and garbage truck, respectively. Kani even ends up pinching herself in her pursuit of a wisp!

The current situation has not eluded the Mayor, for as he notices, all the trash makes the citizens crabby, and the only thing tourists hate more than trashy towns are crabby citizens. I wonder how good the tourist trade is in Wharf City, anyway, if that's the mayor's prime concern about all the trash. The mayor's less than altruistic motives incite him to take matters into his own hands (after all, when the garbage men can't be trusted to clean up the town, who can?), and he uses a leafblower to blow away the trash. While the Mayor blows stuff around, the Pack gets together to add up what they know about the wisps: 1. they're ethereal; 2. they stink; 3. they make people litter. They don't come to any conclusions, but the two kids show up to throw more trash on them, which the Mayor promptly blows away into a huge pile.

Climbing to the top of the pile, the Pack notices that, thanks to the Mayor's plan to get rid of the litter, all of Wharf City is, well, littered with similar piles. The Mayor promises them any resources they need, and they take him up on that by calling a conference in front of town hall. They implore the people of Wharf City to help them clean up the town again, but the citizens are in no mood to do anything but accuse each other of stinking. When they start pointing out the stink of the town, though, the Mayor (still stuffed up thanks to his cold) objects, only for the Sushi Pack to refute that yes, Wharf City really does stink. Kani suddenly realizes that the Mayor can't smell the stink, hence why he still has the desire to not litter. As the wisps close in for another attack, Tako orders everyone to plug their noses. The inability to be smelt robs the wisps of their power and they retreat. But there's still two minutes to go in the episode...

Back at the lake, Sir Darkly tosses more and more garbage into the lake, revealing that it's all part of his plan to make Wharf City miserable. The wisps return to him with the Pack in fast pursuit, but Sir Darkly laughs at them, telling them there's no way they can beat him on their own. Only they aren't on their own: all the citizens of Wharf City are there, and together with the animals of the forest, they get down to cleaning up all the trash. Clean-up continues in the city, and the sight of a pristine town causes each wisp to dissipate. The Sushi Pack chases Sir Darkly out of town with brooms instead of pitchforks.

A few weeks(?) later, the two kids deliver their winning "Keep Wharf City Clean" essay, and Tako tries to take credit for getting things back to normal, but the woodland creatures arrive in time to call him on this. He agrees to share credit with them, and the episode is over!

This one was just so-so for me. The only thing that made it worth writing up was Mayor Martin.

Sushi Pack - Where No Truth Lies

A lovely Tako/Maguro-shippy episode, slightly marred by a lame villain. Sorry, but it had to be said. I'll get more into detail about that after I write up the episode, though.

Where No Truth Lies - "I'm a Mayor, not a Librarian."

At a ski lodge out somewhere, Mayor Martin loudly laments the loss of his "priceless collection." Chief Flume arrives on the scene with some of her muscle officers, and the Mayor shows her the note left by The Prevaricator, which basically substitutes the opposite word for what is meant at random intervals. Rather strange, but more on that later. Regardless, the Mayor throws himself on Flume's mercy, and she promises to get everyone possible working on the case, although the Mayor points out that she really just needs the Sushi Pack.

Apparently it snows in Wharf City, too, as the scene cuts to a snowcovered Green Donut (so I guess that means it's not in California). Having heard about the Mayor's predicament, the Pack is hurrying to get out the door in B.O.B. (from No Clowning Around, which I'll be blogging soon) to track down the Prevaricator. As the rest of the Pack heads out, Tako grabs Maguro's knapsack, accidentally dumping all its contents on the floor. As he leaps from the table he was standing on, he lands on Maguro's lucky crystal necklace, breaking the crystal in two. Tako hastily cleans up the evidence, stashing the necklace in his pocket (thoroughly confusing me. Isn't that his skin?) in the hopes that Maguro won't notice it's missing. Unfortunately for him, once they're out in the frozen wastelands, she notices pretty quickly. And since Tako brought her knapsack to B.O.B., she figures that he must have something to do with it's disappearance. Tako plays it cool, but Maguro continues to needle him. Kani tells her to get back to working B.O.B.'s foot, but without her crystal, Maguro is not a happy camper.

Ikura suggests she look around for it, so she does, somehow managing to look all the way over to Tako's foot, and notices the chain of her necklace peeking out of his pocket (I still don't get how he has one in his skin...). She pulls it out (without leaving her foot? I'm confused again) and Tako flails to cover his tracks, even going so far as to tell her "it was just a little lie." This incenses Maguro more than the necklace being broken. She tells Tako that she can't trust him anymore and forces Ikura to trade seats with her. Ikura reassures Tako that Maguro will get over it eventually, but Maguro promises to hang onto her anger for ages to come.

Waiting for the Pack in the snow gave Chief Flume a bit of a headcold, so she doesn't recognize the Pack when they show up (granted, they are in B.O.B.). She fills them in on The Prevaricator's plot: turns out he's been after the Mayor's collection for years. She neither knows what "prevaricate" means ("These bad guys keep coming up with weird names.") nor what the Mayor's collection entails, but it's important to get it back, since the Mayor can't stop crying about it. After a brief chat with the Mayor, the Pack is on the move! Kani spots some footprints in the snow, but since Ikura's not used to working a foot, B.O.B. ends up crashing into a tree repeatedly, and Kani calls for Maguro to take her original position. As Maguro returns to the foot, Tako tells her that he knows she's still angry, but they have to work together on the case. Maguro knows that he's right, but in her anger, she can't help but snipe at him. Tako knows he deserves it and that he should be the bigger man, but taunts her right back regardless. Kani tells them both to knock it off and get a move on. As the feet get going, Maguro hears a squeaking sound and asks Tako if he lubed the joints before the trip. Tako says he did, but both Maguro and Kani doubt him, thanks to his lie about the crystal.

Following the trail gets more difficult as a storm blows in, so the Pack takes a pit stop at a nearby cafe. The proprietress pours B.O.B. a cup of tea and fills them in a little on The Prevaricator. Seems he is a master liar (which Maguro uses to snipe at Tako once again). Kani asks how she knows so much about him, but the proprietress refuses to say, just telling them, "it's a long story." She also warns them not to trust anything the Prevaricator says. And with that, the Pack is off again.

Still hearing squeaking from the knee joints, Maguro leaves her position to check them herself. Turns out Tako did oil them, but with her missing in action, B.O.B. takes a tumble, slides across the ice, and lands facefirst in a snowbank. The Pack pops out, only to be faced with some kind of abominable snowman. No, wait, it's really the Prevaricator. Seriously, he is one unattractive dude, and that is saying something on this show. The Pack chases him on foot, listening to him contradict everything they say. Seeing that they're getting nowhere, Tako theorizes that they have to make the Prevaricator lie about lying in order to stop him. After a bit of bantering with him, Tako asks him to tell a lie. The Prevaricator is caught in this logic trap, and forfeits the Mayor's collection just so he won't have to think anymore. With the Mayor's collection in tow, Tako apologizes to Maguro properly, and they patch things up, both so happy that they make B.O.B. skip all the rest of the way back. The Mayor, of course, is overjoyed to have his collection of prized bottle caps back, but the Pack is not impressed, and leave him to geek out alone.

So, yeah, the resolution to this one was really lame. I mean, honestly, there's a difference between lying and just contradicting everything point blank. But, I have a theory about this: the Prevaricator that the Pack went up against was not the actual Prevaricator, but an imposter. When I first saw this episode, (and before the Prevaricator showed up on screen) there was no doubt in my mind that the Prevaricator was actually the proprietress of the cafe the Pack went to. Basically, once she clammed up on how she knew the Prevaricator, I knew it was her. Watching the episode again only confirmed it in my mind. It even fits with the whole "the Prevaricator can only lie" bit. She says "it's a long story" because it's actually a short story: she is the Prevaricator. Thus, if she's telling the truth about the Prevaricator being a liar, it's because she's lying about being the Prevaricator in the first place (plus, she, like everyone else, refers to the Prevaricator as a "he," which is a lie if she is indeed the Prevaricator). So what's up with the male Prevaricator having the Mayor's collection? My theory is that the female Prevaricator hired a random thug to get the Mayor's collection, since she'd been after it for years with no luck, and told him how to be the Prevaricator (that is, lie all the time). But he took her instructions a little too literally, which is how he got trapped in Tako's logic puzzle. After all, the real Prevaricator knows that there's more than one way to tell a lie, and wouldn't have gotten trapped by Tako. Also, is it not true that she told the Pack they'd find the Prevaricator at the top of the hill, yet he was really at the bottom? Obviously, she was throwing them off the trail, since she knew that he would be coming to meet up with her at a location in that bottom-of-the-hill town. Conveniently sending the heroes off in the wrong direction while she makes off with the goods? Now that's what the Prevaricator should be.

Sushi Pack - Disappearing Act

This one gets right down to business with some kind of glowing Jack-in-the-Box robbing a bank. It's about to make off in a fire truck, but the Pack shows up to apprehend it, only for it to disappear without a trace. Chief Flume shows up to commend the Pack on a job well done, but instead they have to admit that the perpetrator escaped. She's not surprised, as the same thing has been happening all over town: various weird items holding up stores, then disappearing when caught. At least the money didn't disappear, too. As Chief Flume drives off, Kani tries to figure out what could possibly be going on with these robberies, and hypothesizes that holograms may be the answer. She'll figure it out, with SCIENCE!

When the Sushi Pack gets back, Ben has dinner waiting for them (kind of a cop-out dinner, if you ask me: fresh fruit, tofu, and carrots cooked in honey), but Kani opts to skip it and get to work. Ben warns against it, but Kani trusts in her crabby exterior to get her through the night. All through the night, it turns out, as she works at her tiny laptop, munching on something (looks like those after dinner mints I like :d), and falling asleep a couple of times. Maguro checks in on her, and Kani shares what she's figured out so far: with a powerful enough computer, you can make a hologram that can manipulate magnetic fields, or something like that. Maguro heads to bed, and tells Kani to do the same, advice which she does not heed.
Elsewhere, Sugar Jimmy uses his own small computer to manipulate a lamp character in his bedroom. Despite being unmasked in his last appearance, he's back in his usual look, with his mother hounding him to get to bed. Y'know, there might be a reason he masqueraded as a 9-year-old for years. Anyway, he claims to be creating characters for his TV show, which his mother conveniently reminds him he no longer has. Jimmy claims his new characters will make him enough money to buy his own network for his show, all while chowing down on some candy, which his mother also points out is not good for him. He gets annoyed by all her nagging and tells her first that the candy gives him energy and second to just go to bed already and let him work in peace.

The next morning, the rest of the Pack walks in on Kani, who worked all night long checking out police reports from the previous night. While Tako examines them, Maguro gets curious about what the heck Kani's eating. Turns out they're jelly beans, which Kani, like Jimmy, claims give her energy, although Maguro derides them for being pure sugar. And eating them all night? Bleh. Tako notices that one of ten of the robberies the night before were at candy stores, and Kani berates herself for not noticing that herself. The others tell her to get some breakfast and take a nap, but she doesn't want to take the time out of her investigation. Wasabi asks if he can get her anything, and she requests soda and chips. Again, how she has the stomach for anything after eating jelly beans all night long, I have no clue.

While Kani works, the rest of the Pack eat Ben's crazy granola for breakfast, and then Wasabi and Ikura start to head out to get Kani some chips, since Ben doesn't stock any junk food (not after the episode "Sweet Tooth," anyway). Ben, of course, is not having any of that, or rather, not letting Kani have any. Instead, he decides to make her something involving carrots and pineapple (???). Before he can get down to cooking, Kani arrives, looking much worse than before, so he offers her an orange slice. She turns him down, but takes Tako up on his offer of a seat and fills in the rest of the Pack on her activities. In the past fifteen minutes or so (however long they were eating breakfast) she looked over all the police reports, candy store locations, and travel tickets purchased from the night before, but she's too tired to make heads or tails of them. She's so tired, in fact, that she collapses right then and there. The others take the print-outs she made and split the work between the four of them so Kani can rest.

After a quick montage, the Pack tries to figure out the culprit from the clues: most of the robberies were done by human-sized versions of toys and half the candy stores in town were hit. Putting together "a big kid" and "a sweet tooth" leads Wasabi to make the obvious conclusion: Sugar Jimmy! Kani can't figure out why she couldn't put it together herself, and Ben tells her it's because she didn't get enough rest. He also offers her the orange again, and this time she takes it. With the location of the next candy store to be hit, the Pack takes off to stake it out. Sure enough, Jimmy shows up with his lamp hologram in tow. The Pack heads in after him, but Kani is still tired and can't quite roll like the others. In fact, she falls asleep mere footsteps from the Sushi Craft. Fortunately, Wasabi notices and calls the others' attention to her. They abort the mission to get Kani home for some overdue sleep in her own bed.

Two days later, Kani wakes up feeling fan-freaking-tastic, and owns up to the fact that she should have known better than to skip eating real food and sleeping. The Pack, meanwhile, took advantage of her downtime to figure out Jimmy's next step: a visit to the Wharf City Sugar Exchange (what the?). At the Exchange, Jimmy pulls out all his holograms and briefs them on their mission, giving the exposition that the Sugar Exchange is where "adults trade money for sugar." He apparently hasn't slept this whole time, but since his holograms are programmed to rob the exchange, he doesn't really have to be all that alert. He and his holograms storm the Exchange, only to find it devoid of any people. But not devoid of the Sushi Pack! Kani even confronts him directly, but he just kicks her away. So she pinches him right on the nose, causing him to flail around and drop his laptop, breaking it and degenerating the holograms. Jimmy melts down, but is cuffed by the police and lead to jail. So much for his big showbiz plans. Kani caps off the episode with the lesson one more time, promising to "eat right and sleep tight" from now on.

Health food is weird. Sugar Jimmy is weird. So all in all, it was kind of a weird episode. But I gotta say, even when she's horribly sleep-deprived, Kani is still cute! It's just a different kind of cute, perhaps even a weird kind of cute. And definitely an aesop for our times, eh? So all in all, not too bad.

The Zany Bishojo Evalana Finally Gets Around to Answering You - Part Two

(image from Carlos Illustration)
Max Jordan asked, "On Sushi Pack, do you think Mochi could be a good guy just as easily as a bad guy?"

The way that Sushi Pack is written, I could easily see most of the villains making a heel face turn.  Mochi in particular, though, I can easily see going either way.  That is, I can see her either being a part of the Pack in her own right, or just pretending to, essentially becoming a mole for the Legion.  But she'd do either one with a smile on her face, so you'd never really know what she's thinking.

He also asked, "Remember that ep when Titanium Chef fired the legion? If that had been real, what do see each member of the legion doing with themselves?"

Well, if they didn't become members of the Sushi Pack (and they probably wouldn't, just on general principle), then they might form their own group, probably still under the name The Legion of Low Tide, that fought crime.  Or committed them.  I mean, really, I doubt they need the Titanium Chef to be evil.  And I don't really see them splitting up or anything.  All they have is each other, really.

That said, here are the totally random things I imagine them doing if they really did split up:

Mochi - A survey lady at the mall

Fugu - Working at Radio Shack

Toro - Masked wrestler!

Uni - Has his own radio show

Unagi - Works at the local science museum giving electricity demonstrations

Hope that answers your questions, Max.

Sushi Pack - When Will Ben be Zen? and Wharf City on the Half Shell

Both of these episodes are kind of off-beat, but I like them. Comic book heroes, Maguro invading Tako's many-headed thinking routine, a giant space clam and mukluks, what's not to like?  I didn't take as many screenshots as usual, though.  Not sure if it was the animation quality, or just that what transpired in the episodes didn't really inspire me.

When Will Be be Zen? - "If you're allowed to demolish these private businesses, then the universe is out of order!"

This one begins on a relatively peaceful day, with the Pack taking some tea with Ben.  Tako, however, isn't down with the peacefulness, since this is supposed to be a superhero show.  Ben starts to comment that "there are many ways to be a hero," but is interrupted by some guy in a hygienic bubble.  Interrupting Jones introduces himself as General Anesthetic and proceeds to give the Green Donut an inspection, despite Ben's assertion that he just had an inspection.  Regardless, the general shuts him down by condemning the whole shop due to unrefrigerated raw fish out in the open (that being the Sushi Pack) and lack of napkins.  Upon learning that the shop will be torn down the next day, Ben demands a hearing, which the general grants, but in two weeks, after the shop is demolished.  "You know the old saying, 'you can't fight city hall,'" he says, and breezes out of the shop, as much as a man in a hygienic bubble can.  Ben insists that he can, indeed, fight city hall and storms off.  As he goes, the Pack notices that every store on the block has been condemned by the general.

Later, Ben returns to find that he actually couldn't fight city hall, since he couldn't find anyone who knew what he was talking about, and dejectedly starts packing his things, much to the Pack's dismay.  Tako starts to think about what to do, but Maguro invades his thoughts to give her own opinion, although Tako doesn't take kindly to this.  So he calls for an official Sushi Pack round table to get everyone's thoughts on the matter.  Kani suggests destroying the general's hygienic bubble, but Maguro feels that the real problem is with Ben.  With his spirit broken, how can he lead them?  Tako agrees, but what can they do to help?  Wasabi, inspired by Ben's comic collection, comes up with the idea of going back to Ben's earlier, interrupted saying, and showing him just how much of a hero he really is.  Everyone likes this plan, except for the part that somehow involves Wasabi wearing mukluks.  (This is very minor, but when Wasabi goes up to Tako, you can see everyone thinking really hard in the background.  Ikura, in fact, is shaking from the effort.) 

And so the Pack confronts Ben about losing his spirit.  Ben appreciates their concern, but insists he isn't a hero and he certainly doesn't have any powers.  Ikura qualifies being a hero as being part of a team, just like the Finger Force Flyers, and we get a short sequence from one of the comics, with Ikura doing all the voices.  Ben says that isn't the same as his situation, so Tako and Maguro do the voices for an issue of Blue Flashlight, where General Contractor turned the whole town purple, the only color not affected by BF's powers  (he still wins because Contractor actually turned everything magenta, not purple).  They try to convince Ben that he, just like Blue Flashlight, can defeat a general, and the rest of the Pack deliver a pep talk, but Ben doesn't get into the spirit.  He goes to sleep on it, and the Pack go to find out more about General Anesthetic.

The next morning, the general arrives with a wrecking ball to tear down the neighborhood, but Ben refuses to move from his store.  The Pack cheers him on, but the general has no qualms about destroying Ben along with his shop.  Anticipating this, the Pack leaps into action.  Tako covers the wrecking ball with ink, distracting the general, Maguro uses her telekinesis to make the wrecking ball wreak the crane it's on, Kani severs the hygienic bubbles' tubes, sending the general flying, and Ikura launches some orange balls that bring the general back down to the ground.  They grab him and drag him to his own home and accuse him of being a slob.  The general does not appreciate this, as he claims to have a spotless home.  Except the Sushi Pack was there earlier that morning and tracked little footprints all over the place, which the general also does not appreciate.  He tells them they can't do this to a city official, but Tako reveals that they did some research and found out that he isn't a city official at all.  In fact, he doesn't even work for the city anymore, since he was fired a month ago for being a sloppy garbageman.  It turns out that this was the general 's motivation for his actions: he became completely germ-free and planned to get rehired after making Wharf City itself free of all filth.  Of course, the methods he used are far from legal, as Tako points out, and so it's off to jail for the general!

Once that's all over, the Sushi Pack congratulates Ben for standing up to Fred (the general's real name), and Ben ruminates on how social injustice can create heroes.  "And other times, lightning storms create them," he adds, the first actual reference to how the Sushi Pack came to be on the show.  Wasabi finally gets his hands on some tiny mukluks, and all ends happily.

Okay, the best part (from a shipping point of view) is Maguro invading Tako's mindspace.  And I kind of felt bad for the general by the end, but fraud is not the way to go, Fred.

Screenshots:

Tako has had it with peace and quiet

Ben can be cute at times

Maguro shares a thoughtspace with Tako

Kani has a suggestion

Wasabi is inspired!

Tako likes Wasabi's idea...

...But why mukluks?

Maguro strokes Wasabi's head in approval

Maguro and Tako with an issue of "Blue Flashlight"

Ben stands up to the general

Footsteps all over the floor

The Pack is pleased with themselves

Wasabi finally gets mukluks

Wharf City on the Half Shell - "Where is your flow of chi?"  "You don't wanna know."

In this ep, we learn that those calls of "Sushi Pack" and accompanying poses that end each episode are actually the result of lots of practice.  One such practice is interrupted by Maguro, who was distracted by Kani's tools lying around on the floor, inches from the toolbox.  She takes it on herself to clean it up, which aggravates Kani, who would rather her tools be left where they are.  Neither one is willing to budge on the issue, and their fighting is loud enough to attract Ben.  He suggests they try negotiating, but as usual, doesn't explain how they can do this.  He does, however, illustrate the concept by taking a bite out of two donuts to make them fit together; giving a little to get a little.  "Was that a lesson, or was it lunch, Ben?" Tako asks, pointedly.

Ikura got bored during all that, so he's the first of the Pack to discover an unexpected total eclipse of the sun.  Sophia Tucker reports that it's way too soon for an eclipse, and goes to a scientist who explains that the object blocking the sun is not a moon, but something else. No need to worry though, the scientist says.  Until he gets new data indicating that the object is heading straight for Wharf City!  I see.

When Wharf City is in danger, the Sushi Pack will find an answer!  They take off in the Sushicraft to get a better look at the object, and find that it is a giant space clam.  The clam lands and begins devouring everything in Wharf City Harbor.  The Pack devises a plan involving horseradish, lemon juice, and oyster crackers, but first, Kani needs to build the necessary equipment.  Maguro tries to help, but Kani rebuffs her.  Once everything is ready, the Pack takes off once again and heads for the harbor, where the clam is still eating everything in sight, despite the army firing at it.  As the Pack arrives, so do three trucks full of their supplies.  Seeing the clam, the truck drivers get out of there, and the Pack gets down to work.  The Mayor and Officer Flume show up briefly, on the way home from their golf game, but like the truck drivers, they do not hang around long.

With everything finally ready, the Pack puts their plan into motion.  First, flinging horseradish at the clam, although it seems to like the taste.  Second, cocktail sauce and then oyster crackers, which it also likes.  Finally, they spray it with lemon juice, which makes the clam start making noises.  Kani, hearing this, realizes she can communicate with it, since crabs are bottom-crawlers and clams are bottom-stickers, apparently.  Turns out the space clam was on its way to eat somewhere else, but saw Earth and decided to try it.  Maguro presses Kani to negotiate with the clam, but Kani is not optimistic that a clam that could easily step on her is going to give in on anything.  Fortunately for her, it agrees to stop eating Earth if they agree not to squirt him with lemon juice.  And so the clam takes off once again.

After seeing negotiation in action, Kani and Maguro are able to come to an agreement re: Kani's tools.  Kani can arrange her tools however she likes as long as they're in her toolbox, and Maguro can keep the rest of their headquarters in feng shui balance as long as she doesn't mess with Kani's tools.  The two hug, and then the Pack puts their practicing to good use to close the episode.

Can't help but feel that Kani got the worse end of the deal here, and the kicker is that she came up with it herself.  And what's up with a giant space clam anyway?  This is just a weird ep through and through.

Screenshots:

A botched practice

Maguro cleans up Kani's tools

Ben takes a little from both donuts

A lesson or lunch, Tako wonders

The mayor and Chief Flume are golf buddies

Kani with a flamethrower (so cute!)

The clam gets juiced

'Tis the voice of the lobster clam, I heard him proclaim...

Kani speaks clam

Aw...

Sushi Pack - Respectable Delectables and Star of Light, Star so Bright

When I first saw the titles of these episodes on MSN's guide, it mashed them together so it looked like the first one was called "Respectable Delectable Star of Light" and the second was called "Star so Bright."  Thus, I thought that it was going to be a two-part Christmas episode, although I should have realized what was going on, as it wasn't the first time MSN had bled the titles into each other (although it was the first time that happened in the Sushi Pack guide).  While the episodes that actually aired where not quite as good as a Sushi Pack Christmas would have been, they were still pretty good.

Respectable Delectables - "I called this meeting for a good purpose."  "Lunch, I hope."

At a hotel/convention center somewhere in Wharf City (or maybe some other city entirely), Apex calls roll, while Oleander voices her displeasure at the continental breakfast.  Sir Darkly is also unhappy, but that's normal for him.  Titanium Chef and the Legion of Low Tide arrive slightly late, but Titanium Chef is already ready for lunch.  Apex directs everyone's attention to the table setting he arranged, but since there's no food on it, no one is pleased.  The Collector also shows up, by the way.

While Apex tries to get everyone to shut up, the Sushi Pack watches them from a monitor inside their juice cooler hideout, which has been moved to the hotel hallway for the occasion.  Ikura and Maguro have doubts about Tako's plan, but they wait to see what will happen.  Apex calls up for drinks, and Tako reroutes the call and convinces him to order juice instead.  With a not-so-quick delivery by Ben, they're in!  Just so we know, Tako reveals that they found out about the convention by tracking Apex's communications and Oleander's phone calls.  Ikura's ready to leap into action, but Tako would rather use the opportunity to figure out what evil schemes the villains are up to.

Apex tries to get down to business, but the Legionnaires guess he wants to take over the world, and claim that plan is old hat.  The other villains agree, and start to leave.  Apex, understandably annoyed by now, uses his forcefield powers to grab everyone and force them to listen to him.  But not even this keeps the villains from grousing about the rooming arrangements.  Apex demands respect, and abruptly drops them all.  He then uses their shocked silence to finally get to the purpose of their meeting: coming up with a plan to stop the Sushi Pack once and for all.  Hearing this, Ikura once again wants to leap out, but Tako makes him wait as the villains brainstorm.

Oleander comes up with a plan to send the Pack to an amusement park and tamper with one of the rides so that the Pack is flung far out to sea.  The Collector illustrates his plan to trap the Sushi Pack in a "really, really deep hole" on a chalkboard, but it gets voted down due to the fact that the villain would have to dig it themselves, with no guarantee they'd be able to get out.  Titanium Chef recommends luring the Pack onto a cruise ship where they'll fall asleep in the sun and fry, which is acted out by the Legionnaire Players.  But the others nix it, especially when Titanium Chef's claim that he "knows sushi" is undermined by the Legion's behavior.  The Pack laughs at the villain's lack of propriety, but stops short when Apex proposes a plan that reveals he was fully aware of the Sushi Pack tracking his communications.  All that remains is to trap them in a space container and blast them to the sun.

The other villains, unaware that Apex's plan is already underway, laugh at it, so Apex shakes up the juice machine and out fall the Sushi Pack.  But even faced with the actual Pack, the villains can't agree on what to do with them, so Apex claims them for his own.  Until his rocket boots run out, that is.  The Pack takes advantage of the villains' squabbling to corner them and trap them in a net.  As they fly off with the villains in tow, Tako thanks the others for sticking with his plan, which Maguro chalks up to the mutual respect they have for each other.  And off they go to deliver the villains to the local prison.

This is another one of those episodes that doesn't really benefit from being written up.  There are just too many lines that I can't cover without it veering off into a complete tangent.  So definitely watch this one, and enjoy the villains snarking on each other.  Also, Apex had a different voice in this one, for some reason.

Star of Light, Star so Bright - "That ruby's worth a million, and I can barely see it!"

Late one night, Titanium Chef and the Legion of Low Tide break into the safe of what I'm assuming is a bank, and quickly begin to bag up the cash therein.  But Titanium Chef warns against taking any change, for it would be too noisy.  Predictably, the Sushi Pack shows up, but Titanium Chef planned for this: he and the Legionnaires don night-vision goggles, and Unagi zaps the power, rendering the whole place pitch black.  While the Pack fumbles (except for Wasabi, who has learned to harness his glow-in-dark powers since Darkness and Spice), the Legion gets away.

Later, Sophia Tucker reports from the scene of the crime.  Seems this isn't the first time the Pack was bested during a nighttime heist.  Wasabi fangirl that she is, she still has to question how effective the Sushi Pack has been lately.  Ikura is insulted, but Tako takes it as a sign that they just need practice for the future.  Ikura's all gung-ho for an obstacle course in the Green Donut, and for some reason, Maguro suggests that Wasabi should be the one to ask for Ben's permission.  Wait, wasn't Ben not being able to understand Wasabi a plot point in at least one episode?  What's Maguro up to?  True to form, Ben doesn't understand a word of Wasabi's "Why we need to use the Green Donut at night" presentation, but he agrees anyway.  Mostly because he's distracted by the investor who's coming to visit the shop the next morning.  With the right push, he'll help Ben set up a Green Donut franchise!  So as long as the shop doesn't get messy, Ben is fine with whatever they want to do.

Meanwhile, the Legionnaires complain about how little their share of the money from the robberies is, but Titanium Chef explains that he had to use the rest for the ingredients to make his latest recipe: Chocolate Blackout Mousse!  (Sounds tasty :d)  The mousse will create a fog as dense as the darkest night, and give Titanium Chef free range of the town.  There's only one ingredient still needed: a blob of wasabi.

As the Pack gears up for their training, Wasabi starts to tell the others what Ben told him about the franchise guy, but when Tako makes him the leader of the exercise, all thoughts of it fly out of his mind.  With Kani's night-vision goggles, the Pack can see in the dark, but Wasabi manages to get them by shining a light off of Kani's head and blinding Tako, Maguro, and Ikura.  The entire training makes quite a mess of the shop.  The next morning, the sleeping-in Pack are woken by Ben's tortured screams: the Green Donut has been compromised!  The Pack (minus a still sleeping Wasabi) reassure Ben that it wasn't vandals, but the fruit of their practice, which they were apparently too tired to clean up the night before.  They promise to help him clean, but it's too late, the investor arrives!

And thus Ben is rejected off screen.  As he dejectedly cleans, the rest of the Pack apologizes for not cleaning up, since they didn't know that the investor was coming that morning.  Of course, Ben points out that he told Wasabi, which is news to the other Pack members.  When questioned, Wasabi tells the others they don't understand, but they understand that he wanted to be in charge enough that he disregarded Ben's warning.  As Tako questions his own decision to let Wasabi lead, the lump of mustard sheds a few (hilariously cute) tears, then storms off.  That night, the Pack is alerted to another nighttime caper and take off in the Sushi Craft, minus Wasabi, who went patrolling in his own plane.

Landing outside a jewelry shop, Tako predicts that it's another one of Titanium Chef's traps.  Wasabi lands shortly thereafter and runs right into it, despite Ikura trying to warn him.  Inside, Titanium Chef does indeed have a trap, and goes through the requisite 'bad' acting, with Wasabi none the wiser.  He takes the bait and lobs a glob of wasabi at the Titanium Chef, who ducks out of the way to let it fly into his pot of mousse.  With the recipe complete, the mousse begins to spread, creeping toward Wasabi as Titanium Chef gloats. But the rest of the Pack leaps in, putting the moves they practiced the night before to good use.  Tako advises Wasabi to heat up the mousse, while he distracts Titanium Chef by grabbing the sack of jewels.  Hi then whips the Chef into a frenzy by tossing the jewels around indiscriminately.  While Titanium Chef isn't paying attention, he uses a pearl to trip the Chef up and puts him out of commission.

Meanwhile, Toro squares up against Maguro, but is easily taken out by her telekinesis, which she uses to simultaneously spin him and Uni, and fling away Mochi to boot.  Unagi plays with Kani, but she manages to discharge him with a piece of pipe, and Ikura bluffs Fugu into trapping himself in a doorway.  Titanium Chef finally comes to, only to realize that his mousse is no longer creeping.  Turns out Wasabi overcooked it.  First despairing, and then full of rage, Titanium Chef calls for the Legion to regroup, and they form a unified front against the Pack.  But Wasabi uses Kani to blind them, and they retreat...straight into the police's clutches.

Back at the Green Donut, Ben forgives Wasabi for losing him a chance at fame and fortune, claiming that as long as Wasabi learned from his mistakes, it's okay.  Wasabi is so pleased that he starts glowing bright enough to be seen during the day, prompting Kani to pull out her sunglasses, which she wears even when they give the end shout of "Sushi Pack!"

So, this was a weird one.  I mean, Ben doesn't seem to be the type to care about creating a franchise.  But it was nice to see Wasabi actually get called out on his behavior for a change, even if Ben forgave him way too quickly at the end.  And it was great seeing another Legion on Pack fight that actually had some substance to it again.

Bonus screenshot: Unagi can't handle Titanium Chef's 'bad' acting.

Sushi Pack - Ben's Law

A quick one this time around.  Ben claims credit where none is due, and Ikura has the attention span of a gnat.  But then, we already knew that.

Ben's Law - "Don't be shy, it's time to cry!"

Sophia Tucker reports on a fundraising yacht party hosted by a comedian who, despite not making any jokes, gets lots of laughs anyway.  The Pack, however, are not part of this, but are going on their own boating outing.  Ben wishes the Pack luck as they test out Kani's new boat, Windslicer, a transport with stealth in mind (not entirely sure how often that kind of mission comes up, though).  Ikura's eager to shove off, but Maguro wants to go over the ground rules first, which he promptly tunes out.  Ben warns them that "if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong," which he calls "Ben's Law." ¬_¬ Right...   Y'know, it's not that he's pretending nobody ever said that before, it's the matter-of-fact expression he wears while saying it.  "It's not like this concept has existed for over a century at least and was named after somebody else fifty years ago, nosirree!"

Anyway, Maguro rebriefs everyone on their positions, but what's relevant is that Ikura is the helmsman, in charge of keeping the boat on course.  Tako's supposed to show Ikura how to do that, but Ikura claims to know enough.  Even though the weather's supposed to be good, Ben warns them again that anything can happen, and Wasabi proves he's gullible enough to believe Ben about the whole 'law named after him' thing.  With a push from Ben, they head off, and Tako starts showing Ikura how to work the controls (shouldn't Kani be doing this?).  Ikura zones out, but when Tako snaps him out of it, he points out that he brought a GPS.  Tako lets this slide, but warns Ikura to figure out how to use the compass anyway.

Elsewhere, Sir Darkly nurses some bad weather out at sea and makes his intention to crash the fundraising party quite clear.  As the Pack heads toward Shipwreck Point (dun dun dunnn!),Tako continues to try and show Ikura what to do, but Ikura's not having any of it.  The ship gets closer to the bad weather, and Ikura's GPS goes overboard, just when the compass starts going haywire.  Too bad he didn't listen to Tako earlier...

After the commercial break, Ben calls Maguro over the ship's radio and tells her about the fundraising yacht party, but not because he thinks it's relevant to the plot, but because it just proves how much of a loser he is.  Immediately after this, the Pack nearly collides with Sir Darkly's boat (since the Windslicer is a stealth ship, as you may recall), and quickly surmise what he's up to.  Unfortunately for them, their near miss got them off track, and no thanks to Ikura, they wind up in Ship Wreck Point and, predictably, crash.  Up on the rocks, Ikura throws himself a pity party for not paying attention, Kani laments her boat getting smashed up, and Wasabi comforts her (aww...).  But Tako tells them they're not down yet, and just like that, everyone leaps into action to get the boat off of the rocks!  

While the Pack is laid up, Sir Darkly makes his grand entrance, mercifully interrupting one of the comedian's unfunny routines.  He revels in how quickly everyone's moods shift, and even breaks out some jazz hands for the occasion.  He's so busy hamming it up, in fact, that he nearly misses the Sushi Pack making their own entrance.  Which enables them to get the drop on him, as one by one they take him out and ship him off, taking his bad weather with him.  The comedian invites the Pack to stay, but, having heard his routines before, they take off.

Heading back into Wharf City Harbor, the Pack greets Ben by making up their own law to counter his: "If something can go wrong, Sushi Pack will fix it!"

Sir Darkly was actually kind of awesome in this episode.  Maybe because he was more of a large ham than his usual deadpan.  But, really, what was up with Ben claiming Murphy's Law as his own?  Is he that starved for attention that he has to take advantage of his charges' lack of exposure to the world?  Or, perhaps he has never actually had an original thought, and all of his advice and mentoring is cribbed from various other sources that he refuses to cite.  Considering his usual failure at relating his advice to the actual situation at hand, this is probably pretty close to the truth.

Screenshots:

Kani is proud of her boat

Kani hands out lifevests

Tako is all up in Ikura's grill (seriously, he was incredibly touchy-feely in this ep)

Snapped out of a daydream

Sir Darkly's not there to catch fish

Wasabi is all right

As is Kani, albeit rather wet

What's Sir Darkly up to?

They figure it out pretty quickly

Ikura forgot how to do everything!

"But I showed you how!  Did you listen?"

Sir Darkly makes a dramatic entrance

Wasabi comforts a mourning Kani

Music to his ears

Jazz hands!

Ikura finally gets it

Tako's battle pose