Crushing The Cosplay is the 28th episode in episode in airing order of Season 3 of Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City. It premiered on January 13th, 2024.
Summary[]
When a comic book convention arrives in Big Apple City, Orange wants Strawberry to be the Guava Girl to her Tangerine Smash in a Cosplay Competition.
Plot[]
The episode begins with Orange excitingly running over to Strawberry. She tells Strawberry that something is amazing but before she can emphasize what it is Strawberry shoves a triple sticky toffee tart in her mouth. Strawberry asks what it is and even though Orange is muffled Strawberry is able to guess it exactly word for word. Turns out Big Apple City is having a comic convention and Jack Kirberry; the creator of Tangerine Smash, will be attending. He’s also going to be judging the cosplay competition. Orange says she’s going as Tangerine Smash and asks if Strawberry will be Guava girl. Strawberry agrees and Orange expresses how excited she is. Saying that they’ll become the two super berries and know every detail. Orange asks how Tangerine Smash got her powers to which Strawberry is unsure and starts randomly guessing. Orange looks at her confused but reassures her it’ll be ok and they can practice tomorrow. Strawberry starts to panic as she doesn’t know much of the comics and is afraid she’s going to let Orange down. Out loud Strawberry cries that she has no idea how Guava Girl got her powers to which Sour Grapes overhears and responds. Sour goes on to explain exactly how she got her powers, much to Strawberry’s surprise. Sour Grapes then reveals that she loves Tangerine Smash but doesn’t like to say it out loud. Knowing that Sour knows the comics, Strawberry asks if she can help her and Sour Grapes agrees. At first Strawberry panics at the fact that she had to know 35 years of history by tomorrow before coming up with an idea.
The next day the two meet by Strawberry’s truck and Strawberry gives Sour a headset. With it Sour will be able to listen in and help Strawberry with the answers. Sour sarcastically asks what could go wrong before Orange can be heard and she is pushed aside. Orange comes and asks if she’s “Ready to fight evil wherever it sprouts” and Strawberry responds yes. Orange looks at her confused and Sour gives her the correct phrase, that being “Time to separate the right from the rotten”. As their training progresses, Orange continues to ask Strawberry numerous questions and Sour answers them through the headphone. However despite answering all the questions right and saying she’s the perfect sidekick, she doesn’t feel like one. Back by Strawberry’s truck, Orange is running around excited. She expresses how proud she is of Strawberry for knowing a lot about Tangerine Smash and how the convention is for berry’s who love comics. As she says this Strawberry looks over to Sour grapes who is drawing and has a realization.
Strawberry tells Orange that she can’t be her Guava Girl and tells her that super berries always do the right thing. Strawberry grabs Sour Grapes and tells Orange that she deserves to go more than she does. In a cutaway Strawberry says that being a berry bestie doesn’t mean always being there, rather it’s stepping back so other berries can have an opportunity. The episode ends with Sour and Orange swinging through the city and them saying Tangerine's iconic line.
Cast[]
- Ana Sani as Strawberry Shortcake
- Bahia Watson as Orange Blossom
- Meg Roe as Sour Grapes
Trivia[]
- Several facts about Tangerine Smash and Guava Girl are revealed in this episode:
- Guava Girl got her powers by a magical guava from her long lost grandmother in the Tangerine Smash Summer Spectacular #10
- Tangerine Smash has a pet hamster named Ambrosia.
- Guava Girl has an evil twin named Legume Lass who debuted in Crisis on Infinite Crisps #4.
- The first villain the duo fought was Doctor Weirdo.
- Legendary comics writer Gail Simone worked on this episode as the lead writer, as confirmed on her Twitter account.
- Sour Grapes is revealed to be a huge fan of comics and Tangerine Smash.
- Sour Grapes enjoys sour cherry ice cream with extra rhubarb.
Continuity[]
- This is the second time Sour Grapes is shown to be into drawing, with the first being the episode Strawberry Surprise.
References[]
- There are several references to Marvel and DC properties in this episode.
- Jack Kirberry, the creator of Tangerine Smash is a reference to former comic book writer Jack Kirby. Kirby co-created many characters including Captain America, The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk and The Silver Surfer for Marvel Comics. He also created DC Comics' The New Gods, including Darkseid.
- In one scene, Orange Blossom and Strawberry Shortcake climb up the side of a building like Batman and Robin would in the Adam West Batman series.
- The comic book story Crisis on Infinite Crisps is a reference to DC Comics' 1985-1986 maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- Additionally, just as #4 of Crisis on Infinite Crisps had a character's debut appearance, Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 featured the debut of Kimiyo Hoshi, the second Dr. Light.
- At the end of the episode, Orange Blossom swings around on a grappling hook in a similar way to Spider-Man's web-slinging.
- During the trivia montage, Sour Grapes tells Strawberry one of Tangerine Smash's villains is named Doctor Weirdo, which could be a possible reference to Doctor Strange.
Errors[]
- TBA
Video[]
Gallery[]
Click here to see the gallery of the episode