Travelling along the Galaxy Highway on their spaceship Nagaya Voyager, Robby, Hatchi and Ikku leave Mars and head to Isekandar, however, their path is blocked by a mysterious spaceship and they are forced to land on Pluto.
There, they find the residents of Pluto who are troubled by the fact that Pluto has been stripped of its status of a planet and downgraded to a dwarf planet. They plead with Robby and Hatchi to help them turn Pluto into a popular tourist destination, but...
This episode picks up where the previous one left, with the Hizakuriger anime opening playing once more, now with Hatchi’s commentary.
Robby and Hatchi are discussing the latter’s newest discovery. The Hizakuriger anime, made half a century ago, had a plotline focused on exploring the galaxy. Very soon after it aired humans made actual contact with aliens, so the story became stale and the anime was cancelled after one season.
Nagaya Voyager travelling at warp speed.
Robby tries – with no success – to remember where he’d seen this anime before. Further discussion is interrupted by Ikku, who calls the duo back to the cockpit so they can warp safely.
While travelling at warp speed, Nagaya Voyager is approached by a foreign vessel which, providing no explanation, demands that it warps out and lands immediately. Hatchi suspects this might be another debt collector, but Robby explains he had all of his debt consolidated with Yang by some crooked lawyer, so this cannot be the case. The other ship keeps on bumping into Nagaya Voyager, so eventually Ikku warps out and sees the group has approached Pluto.
Ikku piloting Nagaya Voyager.
Due to the damage caused to their ship, they cannot warp again and need to land to perform repairs.
Despite Pluto also having been terraformed, its surface is freezing cold – something that actually amuses Hatchi to the point of laughter. Suddenly, they are welcomed by a human-sized mascot of Mr. Pluto – a PR character popular back in the times when Earthlings were researching fusion reactors. Very soon, another character – Ms. Denshi – follows.
Robby and Hatchi wary of who will emerge from the ship that forced them to land.
The two of them proudly introduce themselves as the PR characters for Pluto – the planet of dreams and romance. Inside the mascot suits, there are the Pluto Travel Bureau chief and his daughter. Robby and Hatchi are lead into a futuristic-looking city and then to a private location to have a discussion.
In a building, presumably Pluto Travel Bureau[edit]
Plutonians are annoyed with them losing their planet status after no-one consulted them, and definitely do not want to be compared to the Moon, “a mere satellite”. They point out it’s unfair that Monday is named after the Moon and demand that it be renamed Plutoday, with Pluto’s status as a planet restored.
Robby and Hatchi are then shown a broadcast of Plutonians protesting their case on the streets – however, this movement is unheard of on Earth and Mars. For this reason, Plutonians hired an ad agency to make the planetoid have better PR and help their case get noticed – Mr. Pluto was their idea, and Ms. Denshi was added free of charge. The agency also advised selling local specialties, to which Plutonians came up with Pluto shaved ice. It doesn’t sell as the planetoid is too cold to begin with.
Overall, the PR activities have brought no results whatsoever, so Robby and Hatchi were hijacked on their way in hopes they would repeat their Mars success. Initially disagreeing, Robby changes his mind when he is asked directly by the chief’s daughter – but denies the accusation of being influenced by her bust. His first advice is to ditch the agency and go back to Pluto’s actual selling points.
He asks if there are any cute animals native to Pluto – the only answer is that there are penguins, but when one is shown, it is not exactly cute and Robby says it won’t capture anyone’s heart (though right next to him, Hatchi is almost heart-eyed). This brings back a memory – when approaching to land, they saw a heart-like pattern on the planetoid’s surface, which was the Tombaugh Regio. It could be turned into a selling point by calling it a matchmaking spot with magical powers – the Plutonians are sceptical, saying it has no powers, but eventually agree.
In a building, presumably Pluto Travel Bureau[edit]
To follow with the idea, Hatchi and the chief’s daughter star in a short ad promoting the field as a place that can bring back love to a cold relationship, which Robby then shares in the network.
Meanwhile, Yang and his crew reach Mars – to their surprise, all they see is a desert. There are no more takoyaki stands, no Takotubo Land – instead, Chu-Chu Takokawaina, now without his bodysuit but still with octopus adornments to his clothes, welcomes them and offers several tours that will provide an authentic Mars experience. Yang asks Chu-Chu Takokawaina if he recognises Robby – the answer is yes, and the Martian reveals Robby mentioned going to Isekandar. Yang immediately orders to head there as well.
Back on Pluto, Robby is investigating the heart-shaped ice field and giving directions as to what should be there – like a Cupid Temple or Ragaraja Shrine and a street with souvenirs. The discussion about what should be the local specialty food is interrupted by the arrival of two Acting Managers of Dontsu Inc. – the ad agency hired by Plutonians. Kodai and Morisugi brought a full-size 20 m tall Mr. Pluto robot – even though it was not ordered.
The Acting Managers are very displeased with the fact Plutonians hired more consultants and call Robby and Hatchi amateurs. After being cooly reminded that the Pluto Travel Bureau did not sign any contract with Dontsu for supplemental PR, they slightly panic because they don’t know what to do with the Mr. Pluto robot now. They enter the robot and try to step on Robby and Hatchi to get rid of the competition – officially to show off its performance. The duo, however, refuses to just run away and enters Hizakuriger too – only later realising they still don’t know if the robot can even fight, after the previous fiasco.
On the other side, Kodai and Morisugi are also discussing the same topic – with the slight difference they actually know Mr. Pluto is unarmed. Both pairs end up yelling made-up move and defence techniques at each other, reluctant to be the one to start the fight, which gives Morisugi time to perform an x-ray scan on Hizakuriger – it turns out the robot is completely empty inside. This encourages Kodai to make a move and Mr. Pluto punches the other robot, but its hand shatters at the contact. Hizakuriger then reveals to be storing a weapon and with a Javelin Galactic Thrust Robby and Hatchi win the duel. Shortly after, Ikku announces he completed the repairs of Nagaya Voyager and they lift off the planetoid to continue their journey.
At the very end, mysterious voices are heard talking about how according to the spending history of a smartbracelet, undefined “they” have left the Solar System and the Luna Guard is to be called immediately.
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Ms. Denshi: Have a lovely vacation on the farthest planet from the Sun! Robby: But it’s not a planet. Mr. Pluto & Ms. Denshi: Gasp! Hatchi: It’s not a planet; it’s become a planetoid, right? Robby: Yeah, right.
Mr. Pluto & Ms. Denshi: We’re not a ‘toid!
Pluto Travel Bureau chief: I am the Pluto Travel Bureau chief.
Pluto Travel Bureau chief’s daughter: I am his daughter. Robby: Not this whole pattern again.
Hatchi: Is this becoming a thing now?
Robby: The best thing to do is advance who you really are, just we did like on Mars. So flat out, what are Pluto’s actual selling points? Pluto Travel Bureau chief’s daughter: We have none.
Hatchi: If your relationship has grown cold…
Pluto Travel Bureau chief’s daughter: If you can’t close the distance between you… Both: Leave it to Pluto! Hatchi: [playfully chasing] Wait up! Wait up! Pluto Travel Bureau chief’s daughter: [playfully running away] Go ahead and try to catch me! Hatchi: Pluto’s Heartful Icefield is your power spot to happiness. Pluto Travel Bureau chief’s daughter: Love and affection – it’s all right here! Ms. Denshi & Mr. Pluto: Make Mondays Plutodays!
Robby: We don’t need that last bit.
Kodai: Unless you want a taste of my Plutonium Buster, you’ll leave at once!
Hatchi: Plutonium Buster? Robby: That sounds like a finishing move. Hatchi: It definitely doesn’t sound safe, does it? Robby: Two can play that game. [to Kodai:] No, unless you want a taste of my Shining Hizakuri Attack, you’ll leave! Hatchi: What is that? Robby: The ultimate finishing move that I just thought up! Morisugi: They are ready to fight. Kodai: Damn it. [to Robby:] I’ll just deflect it with my Pluto Shield! Robby: Well I have the Hizakuri Barrier. If you want a fight, then let’s fight! Kodai: Pluto Saber! Robby: Hizakuri Ultimate Buster! Kodai: Pluto Dynamic Slash!
Mr. Pluto’s character is a reference to a mascot character Pluto-kun who starred in an 11-minute-long video explaining the uses of plutonium and countering some myths related to its safety. The video (which can be found on YouTube) was produced in 1993 and raised some concerns due to its contents and presented information. Pluto-kun started to gain more traction again in 2011 after an accident in the Fukushima Power Plant.
Ms. Denshi’s character is a reference to a mascot character Denko-chan who reminded people to conserve electricity on pamphlets and in short skits. Her character debuted in 1987. Her catchphrase was Denki o taisetsu ni ne! – Take care of electricity!, which is also used in RobiHachi, although it’s translated as “Denshi is important!”. The contract for her character’s use expired in 2012 and it was decided she would be discontinued – Hatchi mentions this by commenting “one day, she just suddenly disappeared”.
Plutonians demand to rename Monday to Plutoday, but on the banners carried by some protesters it’s spelled Pluday instead.
Hatchi: (eating shaved ice) Hmm, what flavor is this? Ah, it's nitrogen!
Pluto is 98% composed of frozen nitrogen.
Dontsu suggested building a Matsu*** Memorial Hall on Pluto. There is an actual Matsumoto Memorial Museum in Japan, dedicated to the author Matsumoto Seicho, but given the context Dontsu’s idea likely refers to Leiji Matsumoto, a creator of several animanga series who was famous for space operas, one of which (Space Battleship Yamato) is referenced in several ways in RobiHachi. Dontsu’s representatives Kodai and Morisugi likely are based on Kodai and Mori Yuki from Space Battleship Yamato. Their spaceship is coloured like Yamato was, too.
The blurred blobs appearing when the Memorial Hall is mentioned are spacecrafts from various works by Leiji Matsumoto – the skull represents Arcadia from Captain Harlock, the brown blob is the Galaxy Express from Galaxy Express 999 and the brown-red blob is Yamato.
The Tombaugh Regio is an actual heart-shaped bright surface part of Pluto.
Robby: Yes! All right, the Cupid Temple will go over there. And over here, we'll build the Ragaraja Shrine!
In the classical mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection while Rāgarāja is a deity from Chinese Esoteric Buddhism who is known to transform worldly lust into spiritual awakening.
Dontsu Inc. parodies Dentsu Inc., a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is currently the largest advertising agency in Japan and the fifth largest advertising agency network in the world in terms of worldwide revenues.
Staff notes for the episode:
Opening: Hizakuriger was an anime from 50 years ago. What is it doing inside the Nagaya Voyager? And now a new peril befalls Robby and Hatchi!
Ending: After stopping off on the planet Odawarla, Robby is hospitalized with an acute illness. He has an unexpected reunion there? And what about Mr. Yang?
Pluto Travel Bureau chief and his daughter in their Mr. Pluto and Ms. Denshi suits.
Pluto Travel Bureau chief and his daughter protesting against Mondays being called after the Moon.
Ikku repairing the Nagaya Voyager.
Yang, Allo and Gras on Mars.
Face-off between Dontsu in their Mr. Pluto robot and Hizakuriger.
