English Dub Review: Sarazanmai “I Want to Connect, so I’m Not Giving up”

You, you, you OTTER know!

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Despite getting a text he’ll be staying with Enta for the night, Kazuki’s parents and Haruka begin to worry. Kazuki, meanwhile, seems like he’s having a blast living as a Kappa from now on with Enta and Toi…but it’s just a façade, which Toi instantly sees through. Enta doesn’t mind as long as Kazuki’s happy!…or at least looks happy. On top of that, due to the Sachet Zombie not being defeated, the sachet disappearances are increasing. And worst of all, a guilt-ridden Haruka is found by Reo and captured to become another Kappa Zombie.

Keppi finally identifies Reo’s group as The Imperial Army, who apparently were the ones that brought ruin to the Kappa Kingdom and are the source of the zombies they’ve faced up till now. The army is run by Otters, who have been in a centuries-long conflict with the Kappa for Shirikodama, or rather the Desire Energy that resides in it, but they don’t know about Keppi’s ability to grant Dishes of Hope.

As he explains this, Keppi takes the boys to the secret hideout of the Otter Empire to rescue the boxed up Haruka. Kazuki manages to locate him by calling his cellphone and races to grab the box but only makes it there just as it falls down a pit. It’s then that Keppi also reveals a way he can still be saved: by having Kazuki’s Shirikodama transplanted into him. However, this would completely cut Kazuki off from all of his connections to people, meaning that he will fade from existence and memory entirely. This is what happened to the zombies the boys had defeated, much to their horror.

But this also means that Haruka’s accident, Kazuki’s greatest source of guilt, would have never happened, which tempts him heavily to do the transplant. Before he can do it, Toi and Enta stop him and tell him to quit it with the pity party. Fortunately, Haruka’s box bounces back up, still containing more love than desire, though this only transfers him to a shredder. So, the boys use Keppi as a soccer ball to knock the box away to finally save him, with a newly hopeful Kazuki making the final kick.

With their mojo back, they finally beat the Sachet Zombie and return to human form, though Mabu and Reo notice Keppi in the surveillance footage.

OUR TAKE

Christ, what a follow-up. I figured that, after the major screw up from last time, that this would be about the guys getting their groove back and facing the last zombie for a rematch. And we DID get that, but it actually ended up being pretty much an afterthought compared to the real focus of saving Haruka and Kazuki learning that he does better being alive and existing than simply vanishing in the hopes it might help his brother have a better life. Much of Kazuki’s development in the show so far has been mainly about trying to make amends for the responsibility he feels for Haruka’s injury, so being told that he could undo ALL of it along with the awkwardness surrounding his family because of his adoption is naturally going to be a very tempting option. I know I’ve had moments where I wondered if me disappearing would actually make the lives of those I cared about better, even if I later realized that wasn’t true, so that moment feels like it’s coming from a very personal place for the writer.

We also get some long-awaited exposition about what the heck this battle between Kappas and zombies (and I guess Otters) is all about, that being over the energy in the Shirikodamas with humans as the targets. While this might just be a bit too steeped in Japanese folklore for me to truly grasp, it does seem like the conflict is an ideological one that digs into the core theme of “connections” that is at the heart of the story. The Otters/Imperial Army seem more focused on “desire” than “love”, possibly seeing desire as the true state of humanity and only using humans who are overtaken by those desires as zombie material, as seen when they tried to use Haruka but couldn’t because he still had too much love for Kazuki.

But man, can you imagine if Haruka DID get turned into a zombie and the boys had to defeat HIM, knowing that it would erase him from existence? So far, they’ve only had to fight faceless nobodies who the world is probably better off without, but to have to fight a FAMILY MEMBER with the knowledge that they’ll need to be removed from all memory, especially if it was somebody as innocent as Haruka? THAT would be a butt-clencher. Though luckily this show has no need to get THAT dark, right?