English Dub Review: Hand Shakers “Festival and Carnival”

And yet no one’s having fun.

Spoilers Below

Hand Shakers episode “Festival and Carnival” offers a respite from the Hand Shakers battle arenas. It’s a refreshing take that advances several plots and subplots. However, it’s also pretty uncomfortable in certain areas.

Tazuna (Justin Briner) interrogates Professor Makihara (Anthony Bowling). Earlier, Tazuna learned that Makihara was a hand shaker once. Although Makihara admits to being a hand shaker, he’s a bit evasive. There’s a sense that Makihara continues hiding part of his origin.

Most of “Festival and Carnival” centers on a school carnival. Because of a food mishap, Tazuna and Koyori (Lara Woodhull) must collaborate with Student Body President Lily (Natalie Hoover). There’s an issue of a food shortage. Thus, Chizuru (Sarah Wiendenheft) and Hayate (Aaron Roberts) return. I enjoy that Hand Shakers persists in keeping Hayate and Chizuru active on the series. Although Tazuna and Koyori defeated this hand shaker duo, they’ve featured prominently in several subplots.

While I like the Ziggurat, the realm where hand shakers face off, it’s a refreshing departure to purely remain in the real world. “Festival and Carnival” focuses on Tazuna’s school life. Furthermore, it advances Koyori and Tazuna’s relationship. What began as a means to keep Koyori alive appears to morph into a romantic attraction.

Additionally, the music gets toned down except for a few spots like the beginning of the episode. Unfortunately, the incestuous relationship between Masaru (Trina Nishimura) and Lily emerges. “Emperor of Fortune” hinted at their uncomfortably close relationship. But “Festival and Carnival” takes it much further. In “Emperor of Fortune,” Lily and Masaru’s relationship could have been construed as close siblings. Sure, Lily refers to loving her brother as a “deep dark secret,” but maybe this meant she was embarrassed by how much she cared.

Yet “Festival and Carnival” clearly portrays an incestuous subplot with Masaru and Lily. Although it’s implied nothing physical has transpired, it’s nonetheless disturbing. This storyline feels completely unnecessary. It’s not relevant to the plot as far as I can tell, aside from being Lily’s wish. As a viewer, you’re supposed to root for Tazuna. Learning about the weird brother-sister romance makes you even happier that Koyori and Tazuna defeated Masaru and Lily.

The animation shines. “Festival and Carnival” depicts a lot of cooking and the colors of various dishes pop. There’s a good bit of dry humor which I appreciated. One of my favorite sequences is a montage of Koyori learning to cook. Probing Koyori and Tazuna’s relationship, as well as Makihara’s back story, benefits the overall plot. Additionally, departing from the hand shaker battles offers a much-needed respite. However, the incest narrative, while not the main focus, feels rather out of place. This isn’t Chinatown where it’s integral to the story. And it’s seemingly presented as “cute.” Not so spoiler alert: it’s not.

I hope this changes, as despite being a minor aspect to Hand Shakers it’s overpowering in its ick factor. Aside from that, “Festival and Carnival” improves in the story and deviates from the pattern of previous episodes.