The Dotted Line

• General information

The Dotted Line
Season	1
Episode	11a
Air date	November 12, 2016
Writer	Eddie Guzelian
Storyboard	Unknown
Episode guide
Previous	Music Zoo
Next	Life is But a Dream

The Dotted Line is episode 11a of season 1 of Kuu Kuu Harajuku. It originally aired on November 12, 2016.

Summary

The girls are offered a contract with Monotone Records, which includes radio play, worldwide exposure, and guaranteed success, but is this deal too good to be true?

Characters

Main

• G
• Angel
• Baby
• Music
• Love
• Rudie

Major

• Thrash (debut)
• Barber Shop Babes (debut)
• Strings (debut)
• Monotone (debut)

Plot

The episode opens with Rudie busting through the door of the lounge, announcing his arrival but is disappointed when he notices the girls arguing and are completely oblivious to him.

The fighting subsides and Rudie reveals to them an official contract from Monotone Records. The girls seem less than enthusiastic, so Rudie attempts to persuade by mentioning all the perks including radio play, worldwide exposure, and guaranteed success. Baby mentions the girls started a contest in order to see who can predict the most bad luck occurrences that happen at an individual gig. Love reveals the different categories, and the more unlikely the event, the more points the person gets.

Rudie adds one more category: everything works out the way it's supposed to. Baby asks what are the odds of that, but Love's calculator explodes and tells her she doesn't want to know. Rudie admits that HJ5 doesn't have the best of luck when it comes to performances and even partially takes the blame for the mishaps, but he believes they actually have something good going for him. He rallies up the girls and heads off to Monotone Records HQ. Rudie takes Music aside and asks her to mark down his name under the "time vortex" category.

At Monotone Records HQ, HJ5 is seen entering the elevator. They hear the elevator music in the background and instantly complain, although Rudie likes it. Love gives the girls noise cancelling earbuds to make the elevator ride a bit more bearable and they were originally designed to tune out Rudie's voice.

At the top floor, HJ5 is greeted by a man who speaks in a very monotone voice and admits he is a big fan of the girls. He says the main office is right through the hallway where there are photos of other stars under the Monotone Records label. He says they may have listened to some of their music in the elevator. Rudie begs for them to keep an open mind as they head into the main office.

The council are huge fans of HJ5, their looks, attitude, and music. Rudie thinks it's great and rushes for them to sign the contract, but they mention there are a few minor tweaks. G says they'll keep an open mind about it. One member of the council pushes a button, which sends the entire platform down similar to an escalator where they reveal their vision: a re-branded HJ5. G will be required to take a step back from her leadership role.

The market shows she comes across as bossy and unlikable. She takes offense and begins to berate them, when a long machine arm with a suction cup tip pulls her off the ground and ejects her inside a glass container. The next change is Love: she has to tone down her smartness because it's unappealing.

Love thought it was appealing, but the female member of the council says maybe if she was a guy. The next change comes in the form of changing Angel to make her messy and rough around the edges while Music needs to be the complete opposite. The final change they want to make is to make Baby have a dark side because she's so cute and innocent. The glass container closes on the girls and transforms them with new matching outfits and hairstyles.

Back at the main office, the girls shake off their new appearance and return to their old outfits. G asks why would they change what makes them so unique. The council responds by jumping on the desk and yelling at them, the final guy begins twitching and sparking, and his face peels off to reveal a robot. The rest of the council's faces peel off as well, and Rudie admits something about the deal doesn't seem right.

The robots begin to attack and Baby asks Music to check who selected that category. She says Angel got it, who responds by letting out a loud cheer and kicking down one of the robots. Love tells her not to get too excited as she hacked into the mainframe and discovered an evil artificial intelligence is behind it. The AI introduces itself as "Monotone" and the girls try to find out who got the category of "evil supercomputer" but a trapdoor opens up beneath them, sending them into a jail cell.

Music reveals she lost the game board, and Angel complains that they won't know who won. G tells them to forget about the game and try to find a way out of here and Rudie says maybe he could use his negotiating skills. Another man who is in a jail cell tells them to escape they have to bring the contract to Monotone and sign on the dotted line. He introduces himself as "Thrash" and the various other music acts who are being held hostage in the jail cell. G asks what happens if they sign the contract, and Thrash tells them they get sent to the brainwashing room. The others tell them they'll be reprogrammed to join the Monotone collective and earn fame and fortune, but lose their individuality. If they don't sign, they'll be trapped down their forever.

Monotone appears on a drop-down monitor

and gives everyone one last chance to sign the contract. Rudie tells him no and begins to tell him off when he looks over and sees G about to sign the contract. She says if it's the only way out of there, then that's what they must do. The girls sign and get taken out of the jail cell and thrown into the brainwashing room. Everyone in the jail area are able to see the progress of it as it's happening.

HJ5 becomes re-branded under the Monotone Records name. They begin to perform and rip off their outfits and begin to dance with their own unique style and flair, which causes Monotone to become angry. G holds up the noise cancelling earbuds which they wore to make them immune to the brainwashing soundwaves. They crash through the wall closest to Rudie's cell and pull the lever to unlock all the cells.

While everyone else begins destroying all the robots and electronic equipment, the girls, who found the game board , go over through all the categories to see who won. Love removes Monotone's electronic chip from the computer. Everyone escapes from Monotone Records HQ in a colorful sparkle explosion. Music attempts to tally the final score but she is frustrated and throws the game board in the air which causes an explosion of sparkles. Rudie says they have to tally up the points where it says "everything works out in the end" and the girls agree. Rudie also mentions that the day is still young and they have plenty time for a vortex to open up, and the girls yell at him ending the episode.

Quotes

Trivia

• This is the first title card to feature all members of HJ5
  • This is the third time Angel appears on a title card.
  • This is the eighth time Baby appears on a title card.
  • This is the fifth time G appears on a title card.
  • This is the second time Love appears on a title card.
  • This is the fifth time Music appeared on a title card.
• When HJ5 enters the hall of fame there are various pictures of past and present Monotone Record stars. One of them shows four guys with long hair, each in a different block, similar to "The Beatles".
• The episode's name refers to designated areas on a contract or other legal document where the signing party has to provide their signature.
• Monotone is almost resemble to Venjix.
• We learn that Baby is afraid of the dark.