English Dub Review: Fuuka “Fuuka!”; “Take Flight”

We recap the first two episodes of Funimation’s newest Wednesday premiere, what did we think?

Spoilers Below

In the series premiere, we follow a dude named Yu, former bass player for a band called the Blue Wells who has recently transferred to a school in Tokyo and is absolutely obsessed with Twitter. His obsession leads Yuu into an uncomfortable run-in with a girl named Fuuka and as such loses his phone in the process. Eventually, the duo reconciles after Yuu returns one of Fuuka’s CDs and she returns his phone.

We come to learn that Fuuka is a girl at a crossroads in her life. Turns out, she LOVES music, and she happens to be a very good singer and track star…the latter of which she has no interest in pursuing despite her father’s sterling reputation. It’s this love of music that inspires a growing relationship between Yuu and Fuuka, one that comes to a head when the two go to a concert. Oddly enough, the concert headline is Tama, lead singer of the band Hedgehogs, and a one-time love interest with Yuu. As it happens, despite being a pop star with growing success, Tama still longs to be with Yuu, and does the very Taylor Swift concept of writing a whole bunch of songs of wanting to be back with him. When Yu shows up to the concert, Tama puts on a stronger-than-normal performance that Fuuka picks up on. After the show, Yuu learns about Fuuka’s strong singing voice and recommends she gives the music business a shot. After praying, Fuuka ends “Take Flight” swearing to do just that.

Our Take

I gotta tell you, overall, the premise of the series is somewhat similar to Scott Pilgrim vs the World in terms of the love triangle that’s forming as we move through the first two of 12 episodes. That said, I’m interested in seeing how this plays out in future episodes, especially when Fuuka and Tama meet for the first time, and what kind of position that puts Yuu in.

Speaking of Yuu, Aaron Dismuke does a fantastic job in his role, but I’m a bit conflicted as to how the character is being presented. For whatever reason, this kid’s always depressed and downtrodden despite the fact that he can probably get at LEAST two girls, and a dude if he wanted! What’s he got to be depressed about? Hopefully, this gets cleared up in the episodes to come.

Fuuka is a bit more believable in her personal conflict, and I’m looking forward to seeing how her parents (given their history) will react to Fuuka’s budding music career.

Not bad even if the premise is familiar, hopefully, it starts to differentiate itself as time goes on.