Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Last week we saw the breakup and reunion of Carole and Tuesday. Despite getting disqualified the girls will be allowed to make a debut and sign with Brightest Records. What does the future hold for them? Let’s find out in the second half.
Opening and Ending Theme
The second opening is “Polly Jean” by Nai Br.XX & Celeina Ann. A very beautiful and sweet song. I especially like how the animation shoots it like an actual music video. The song really does put you at ease. Like whatever anxiety or troubles you’re going through will wash away and you’ll be fine. I still like the first opening more, but this opening is still good in my book.
The second ending is “Not Afraid” by Alisa. I thought this ending was okay. I do like how we shift from Carole and Tuesday and focus on Angela showing the inner turmoil she’s going through but putting on a brave face and saying to herself she’s not afraid. She’s a strong girl who wants to make it to the top and she’ll get there because in her mind she’s the best and she fears no one.
Episodes 13-16
The second half of the anime starts with our girls going on a talk show that’s an obvious parody of Ellen. After that, we see Angela at a press conference talking about her contract with Brightest Records and even debuts her new single Breathe Again which she sings for everyone to hear (again, great performance). Carole and Tuesday will also be given a press conference and signing their contracts with Brightest Records but until then they’re broke. While waiting for the day of their contract signing, they meet a guy named Dann who saves them from some boys (oh hi Carole’s dad). The day of their contract negotiation arrives and Gus rejects it (and I would go to jail because I would have dragged that man out into the streets and choked the life right out of him for everyone to see). Gus says he rejected because it restricted the two from doing what they want (which unfortunately is true for a lot of artists out there who are under record labels. More money less freedom. Independent artists on the other hand, less money more freedom. It’s very rare if an artist can get both equally). Instead, the two will continue to work the independent circuit that way they can better negotiate their contracts (and with the spotlight on them the time to strike is now). In order to keep their momentum going, they decide to look for a producer to help them out. Gus takes the girls to a not so friendly neighborhood to find the legendary producer named Tobe (fighting the urge not to make a Roots joke). After the girls get done singing a new song (scene here: https://youtu.be/xOmVcyPMLSk?si=dLPBgnkplQJNrohe), Tobe makes his appearance wielding a hatchet all while shouting like a madman (oh we are gonna get along just fine Tobe).
At the start of episode 14 we meet Tobe who originally came from Texas (well that explains last episode). He says their singing is shit but sees their potential and agrees to be their producer. After that, we get a number of side stories in the episode. One of them is Tao creating an Angela AI to test out his songs which upsets Angela because she thinks he’ll replace her with it (knowing him, he might). Tuesday’s mom is a politician running behind in the polls so her consultant suggests that they take a political stance against trading with Earth (which would be the stupidest thing to do. Unless you found aliens willing to trade with you, I think cutting off Earth would be signing your own death). A journalist wants Tuesday’s help in getting information about her mom, but she’s still afraid to face her. Carole and Tuesday have a recording section where we get to see Skip and his band play with them (always cool to see him). It takes them 52 takes but they manage to get Tobe’s approval and are now moving on to phase 2, making an album. The final story (and probably the best one in my opinion) is with Carole and Dann where it gets confirmed that Dann is Carole’s dad (called it. Actually, I do like how they don’t drag this story out and play with our emotions. They’re father and daughter. I know it, you know it, they know it, so why drag out this story with an obvious ending?). Dann explains that 17 years ago he got arrested for assault. Dann pleaded it was self-defense but was found guilty and sentenced to prison. This left Carole with her mom who had a frail body and just couldn’t take care of Carole, so she did the only sensible thing at the time and put her daughter up for adoption. Carole’s mom soon passed away and once Dann was released from prison on parole, he started looking for Carole only to find out that she was sent to Mars. After talking to his parole officer, he got permission to go to Mars but has to return after a few days. While he knows he has no right to call Carole his daughter and even asks for forgiveness, he wants to see her at least once. On Dann’s final day on Mars, he walks Carole home where he tells her his story and she puts the pieces together in her head (this was a good scene. She doesn’t call him dad but at the same time doesn’t hold a grudge against him). When it’s time for him to go, he vows to come back one day and see her again, and Carole sends him off with a smile (scene here: https://youtu.be/8TfHXu_vZ1k?si=ryKthvkV9gt6ay77).
Episode 15 is a beautiful episode. The girls get invited to meet Desmond a legendary singer who is androgynous and likes their music because of how innocent and true it is. There’s really not that much to say about this episode. They just talk about the philosophical aspect of singing and what it means. You just have to watch it to understand why it’s such a beautiful episode (scenes here: https://youtu.be/yqMjEQQ09EM?si=ZbzHfjtaCIKPRJiE and https://youtu.be/Ws9kzms9zfk?si=GSzQ7lv-UiQW8F3a). In a subplot of the episode, we see Tuesday’s mom is the female equivalent of Trump as she continues to ignore her son Spencer’s advice and continues to push for Mars to break their trade agreement with Earth.
Episode 16 is another beautiful episode. The girls are going to perform at another music festival. While coming up with a new song they come across a guitarist, drummer, and bassist by the riverbank and ask them to be their backup musicians. They agree and even though they don’t look like the most reliable of people (they look like nerds) they definitely have the skills to back it up. While that story sits, we focus on Gus and the girls running into Flora a legendary singer on Mars (who is obviously inspired by Whitney Houston. Which is ironic, considering that the title of this episode, A Natural Woman, is an Aretha Franklin song. The song still works for this episode). We find out that Gus was her original manager and helped make her a star. She was eventually discovered by a major record company and Gus was given the boot in order for them to market her in their image. While Gus held no ill will towards her decision it was a painful break-up for him. Years later and she’s fallen on hard times. I don’t think I need to tell you guys how cruel and dark the music industry can be and Flora got a firsthand experience of it. Drugs, alcohol, loneliness, and betrayal. Flora experienced all of this, lost everything, and disappeared from the world where she wanted nothing to do with singing ever again (it bought her happiness but bought her even greater misery). After Gus tells them all of this, Carole believes that Flora still cares about singing, she just needs to be reminded of it. While Gus looks for Flora who disappeared on them, the girls go to perform at the music fest where they sing a really good song that I enjoyed (scene here: https://youtu.be/GEU7fR4c_-s?si=S7dK-8zhcqE9z_VJ). They then do a cover song from Flora where Gus managed to find her and make it to the fest just in time for her to hear it and it works as she re-discovered her love for singing (scene here: https://youtu.be/MEF1R5jwW5A?si=vobtiSXdA9_xtoKf). In another story of the episode focusing on Angela we see she has a dangerous stalker and it’s heavily implied that it’s her new manager.
Episodes 17-20
In episode 17 we focus on Ertegun who goes bankrupt after getting his virtual bank account hacked. He loses everything with Rodney being the only person extending a hand to help him (he has a soft spot for guys like Gus and Ertegun). He allows Ertegun to crash at his place where we see Ertegun is haunted by his former self who tells him to give it up but there’s a part of him that still holds on to the belief that he can still do this despite losing everything. Rodney gives him a keyboard to come up with a new song and he overcomes his former self to write a new song (scene here: https://youtu.be/VEK0JfbgjJE?si=jC6S1_ohZEYdqs6X. I sympathize with this scene. There are some days where I wake up and wonder can I still do this or am I just wasting my time? I think all creators battle self-doubt and need to be reminded that they can do this) however he needs someone to sing it. Yes, and luckily for him he has two girls who are in need of new song. This should be interesting seeing their story come full circle and LOL, he wants Angela. I mean, it makes sense. She’s at the top of the music charts. All eyes are on her. If Ertegun wants to get back at the top, he needs to go with someone he knows will deliver and is in a league of their own. While Carole and Tuesday are good, they’re wild cards in the music industry. You’re interested in them, but you don’t want to take the risk on them. Also, their musical styles don’t work well with each other. Ertegun is more wild, exciting and upbeat as opposed to the deep, peaceful, and emotional Carole and Tuesday. Ertegun goes to Tao and asks if he can borrow Angela to which he says no. However, Ertegun beatboxes his song and Tao changes his mind (scene here: https://youtu.be/mJ0anhwJnGM?si=bNtjQzTGtvkiL5PX).
Not much to say about episode 18. Tuesday decides to talk to that journalist from a few episodes ago where she develops a bit of a crush on him. When she goes to give him a gift, she sees that he has a girlfriend and that just shatters her world (scene here: https://youtu.be/qEfrZdGF6nw?si=reuby_zO-t7rvw_d. It’s a sad moment. You feel bad for Tuesday in this scene but at the same time can’t get mad at the reporter. He didn’t lead her on nor was he trying to. It was Tuesday developing her crush and unfortunately it ended on a tragic note). We also get a few side stories such as Angela’s stalker getting more intense. He’s sending her text messages and hacking into cameras to spy on her. Hell, he even tried to take out another guy just because a tabloid magazine said they were a couple. A terrorist attack damages the weather control system of the city so now the weather is cold and Tuesday’s mom blames it on immigrants (she’s definitely Trump) to rally supporters to her side.
If episode 18 felt disappointing for you guys, episode 19 turns it around as it’s time for another music festival and the girls are excited to make a big impression on the audience (the last time they were here, they were booed off the stage. Now, they finally have a chance show everyone who they are). We also see Angela will be there as a surprise guest where she and Ertegun will be going on before Carole and Tuesday. The real highlight of this comes with Tao. Angela’s mom tells him about Angela’s stalker and he decides to help her out. He quickly figures out how he’s been spying on her and at the festival he knows the stalker will try to do something. He sets up a trap for the stalker only to catch a fake. The real stalker snuck in as a security guard and he’s alone with Angela where he plans to kill her before as he puts it becomes a fallen angel (in other words, he wants to remember Angela as this great singer before the controversy destroys her). Luckily, Tao is there to save her and she goes out to perform where I’m not gonna lie it’s a great song (scene here: https://youtu.be/6TmlR27izRo?si=e3z9ymHwV2hIUK-y, those two should collab more often). After Angela’s performance which even impressed them, Carole and Tuesday take the stage where instead of trying to do some flashy performance they just stay true to themselves. No fireworks, lasers, pyros, or flashy entrances. Just two girls who love singing and want everyone to listen to them (and that’s why I love these girls). They play a beautiful song that just makes you feel comfortable and right at home (scene here: https://youtu.be/VMMFem4SBIk?si=9uL3nllcwzIN_V6l).
In episode 20 the girls have been nominated for Best New Artist award along with Angela and will get to perform at the award ceremony (that’s usually a sign you won’t win). The girls are excited as they’ll finally get a chance to settle the score with Angela (it’ll be a great a showdown). Along with them, there’s another artist named Ezekiel, a gangster rapper who Carole recognizes as her best friend Amer from the refugee camps on Earth. Amer’s change in personality confuses Carole because in the past he was a gentle soul while she was the tomboy always picking fights (I could totally see her whoopin’ someone’s ass). She reaches out to Ezekiel to meet her at the old skate park they hung out at when they were kids and he shows up where he says he had a tough life. Unlike Carole who was able to get part-time jobs and get by, Ezekiel struggled to stay alive and had to do whatever was necessary to live (you made a porno?). He tells Carole to stay away from him saying that Amer is dead (so is Ezekiel if he continues to act like a member of NWA) and takes his leave. Back with Angela, we see Tao get arrested for illegal clinical trials he conducted in the past when he was a neuroscientist. His research was to study and understand human emotions in the hopes that he could transfer that knowledge over to AIs and make them more human (do you want Judgement Day? Cause this is how you get Judgement Day). Jerry, Valerie’s (Tuesday’s mom) political adviser wants to use his research to help Valerie (or female Trump as I’m calling her) win the election but he says no. We actually see he managed to finish his research as he created a perfect AI of Angela who’s going to teach the real Angela his new song for her (this is going to be so weird). Back with our girls, they continue to work on their album while also working on a new song for the Grammys. Ezekiel drops a new song and I’m not gonna lie he spits fire. His rapping is good, the lyrics are meaningful, and it obviously takes a shot at Valerie without saying her name (scene here: https://youtu.be/T-AF81iBCi0?si=jyQuk0K9C05JaS5Y). After that, things start to get crazy. First, Ezekiel gets arrested for being an illegal immigrant as his visa expired 10 years ago (you knew this and now you take action? Assholes). Spencer meets up with that journalist from episode 18 who says that the bombing was orchestrated by Jerry to boost ratings (pretty obvious. The timing was too good). Finally, Angela refuses to be taught by her AI clone much to her mother’s dismay. She wants Angela to win that Oscar by any means necessary as she herself failed to get one in her career (oh great, a parent living through her child). This leads to an argument between the two where Angela’s mom gets what I assume to be a stroke and passes out.
Episodes 21-24
It’s Christmas time on Mars in episode 21 but the Christmas cheer is low. Carole goes to visit Ezekiel in the deport station (looks like a concentration camp) where we see later on that Ezekiel writes a song for her on his prison walls and actually has the guards videotape a music video while he’s still in prison (he shot a music video while he was behind bars and had the guards record it? That’s gangster. Scene here: https://youtu.be/B7tmHWoayfI?si=IYU0ooZ2Tb4R-fSm). Meanwhile, Angela’s mom falls into a coma leaving Angela alone where she sadly begins to break down on us. She’s shaking a lot, she’s taking pills, hallucinating, and the media is harassing her about Tao (it’s pretty heartbreaking to see her go through all this stress and not have anyone to support her). Good news on the front for our girls as they were able to put the finishing touches on their album and even sing the last song for the album in a chapel (scene here: https://youtu.be/NMCcSQ-B2nM?si=Zbmj11BxGIvB2zWj). They receive an early Christmas present from Gus who finds them another singer to collaborate with at the Grammys, the one and only, Crystal (wow, he actually pulled through for once).
Episode 22 is a rather sad episode (for Angela at least. Carole and Tuesday are fine). Carole and Tuesday perform a spectacular song with Crystal at the Grammys where the theme was being a light in the darkness (scene here: https://youtu.be/e-viiI9P2tA?si=KwObObFEtUK-thQS). As for Angela, she wins the award for Best New Artist (I wish it was our girls but there’s no denying that Angela kept topping the charts and maintained a presence in the media whereas Carole and Tuesday stayed under the radar for some time only to re-emerge and present some unique and interesting songs). Unfortunately, this reward can’t be received with a smile as Angela’s mom passed away earlier in the day and Tao ignores her call for help leaving Angela alone to deal with everything in her life. Yet despite all of this, she makes it to the Grammys to perform and accept her reward (thank God she didn’t OD on us. That’s what I’m afraid is going to happen). Sadly, she passes out on stage and has to be rushed to the hospital (scene here: https://youtu.be/rANqc5br7dc?si=3tXgdgK3YMaRgc_K).
Things begin to heat up for an epic finale to the series. It starts with Angela falling into a deep sleep from taking too many pills. She wakes up and begins to recover physically, but mentally she’s in a lot of pain. As this is going on, Skip gets arrested because of his new song (that we never get to hear unfortunately) and the girls realize that if something isn’t done soon then music will die (eliminate free speech and you kill a country). Carole and Tuesday gather up their friends and associates they’ve met to come up with a plan to save the music. They decide to hold a concert on New Year’s Day which is the same day the first immigrants from Earth came to Mars (quite the coincidence) and sing a song featuring all of the artists on Mars (it’ll be like Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” or “We Are the World”). While Gus plans for the event, Carole and Tuesday have to write the song for the event. At first, they struggle but then inspiration hits them when they start to talk about the concept of a mom. Speaking of moms, Spencer and Kyle (the journalist) have finally found evidence which ties Jerry to the bombing from episode 18. Their plan is to expose this information at the concert which will force Valerie to withdraw from the election but Spencer starts to get cold feet and wants to instead show this information to Valerie before the concert hoping she’ll come to her senses and withdraw (I know you want to believe in her Spencer, but it’s hard to believe in someone who’s going all Trump on us). Carole and Tuesday go to visit Angela in the hopes of getting her to sing with them but it doesn’t seem Angela wants in as she’s fallen into depression and doesn’t want to sing anymore. As the episode draws to a close, we see Tao finally get the information he needs and heads out where he finally goes to visit Angela (I am positive that she has a crush on him).
We start the final episode with Tao meeting Angela and telling her that he’s exposed the wrongdoings of his boss to the authorities and has to go into hiding. He also reveals that they’re technically siblings. They kind of drop the bomb on us that they’re both designer babies created by a brilliant scientist. The first one was Tao and the second one was Angela (does this explain why she’s attracted to him? Somewhat). Angela begs Tao to take her with him saying she has nobody in her life anymore but Tao says that’s not true and tells her to sing her own song before taking his leave asking Angela’s assistant to take care of her. Back with Spencer, he shows Valerie the evidence that points to Jerry as the true culprit of the bombing and she does the right thing (https://youtu.be/ciMFxipOehE). Yeah, she fires Jerry and drops out of the election saying that she’ll start over and create policies that she believes are best for Mars (no way! You actually did it. You turned away from the Trump side, https://youtu.be/J5V4NGL0TSI?si=_L0VFkWKNGs_kg7b). As for our girls, New Year’s Eve arrives and the musicians of Mars show up (except for Skip because jail) including Crystal, Angela, and even Desmond shows up saying that he can’t die until he’s sung this song. They all go on stage to sing their song and by God was it worth the wait. Seriously, this song delivers and is the perfect song to end this anime on. In fact, that is how the anime ends, with this song and nothing else (scene here: https://youtu.be/o73n4qrqK4A?si=mQLtrwp_vc8_x_Di&t=208).
Final Thoughts
Watanabe you’ve done it again. This is without a doubt Watanabe’s most wholesome anime. There’s no villains or ulterior motives, it’s just characters who love music and want to share that passion with everyone else. Carole and Tuesday are definitely the heart of this anime. They’re not flashy nor do they try to act like something they’re not. What you see is what you get. Two girls from different walks of life who just love music and singing. I do like how their friendship doesn’t feel forced. It’s organic and feels real. Despite coming from two different walks of life these two managed to get along just great with each other. Sadly, these two aren’t the most interesting characters in the anime despite being the main characters. No, that title goes to Angela. What makes this character so great is that she is so real. She’s not your typical talented girl who is jealous of everyone else and is just doing this to get more famous. She’s a talented person who works hard to stand at the top. While her personality isn’t the best it is the kind of personality you need in this kind of business. Despite her personality, deep down she’s a girl who wants to make her mom proud and when she loses her she loses her drive to be the best and falls into despair before Tao pulls her back up. Along with her the rest of the side characters are also interesting. Ertagun’s kind of funny. Gus and Rodney are good guys. Flora’s backstory is sad. Skip and Ezekiel were cool. Desmond was amazing and Crystal was beautiful. You could have centered an episode or a series around these characters and it would have been interesting. That’s how great these characters were. The whole anime from beginning to end was great. Each episode told a story and never felt like a waste of time. I think the first half was a bit more comedic than the second half, but the second half was more focused on the music and characters than the first half and managed to balance a lot of stories and characters more. If I had to name my one complaint and it’s minor it’s that they fumbled Tao and Angela’s story. The whole sibling thing comes out of left field, and I wish they would have showed us how AIs have taken over the music industry. What separates their music from Carole and Tuesday’s music?
Speaking of music, the music is great. Yep, an anime centered around music has great music and when I say great I mean all the music in this anime is great. The insert songs, the soundtrack. It’s some of the best music I’ve ever heard and I highly recommend tracking the insert songs on Youtube. The singers were amazing, I’m surprised these guys didn’t get famous from this anime because they killed it here. As far as animation goes it looks amazing. I love that this anime takes place in the same universe as Cowboy Bebop and shows a new side of Mars. It’s a high tech city but it still has traces of present Earth with buildings and shops. Hell, they still have laundromats despite our advancements in technology. Character designs are great and I do like how the characters have different outfits throughout the anime that matches their personality. I especially like Carole’s hair designs. She has so many looks and she plays around with them.
Final Score
The final score for Carole and Tuesday is 9/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. Next to Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop, this is my favorite Watanabe anime. You can just feel the love he has for music pouring through this anime. It’s definitely the black sheep in his library which is why I encourage you to check it out. It deserves way more attention. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.