English Dub Review: Sarazanmai “I Want to Connect, but I Can’t Express It”

Chikai doesn’t play by anybody’s rules. Not even his own.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Things are looking pretty bad for the Kappa faction, with Enta clinging to life from his gunshot wound, Kazuki consumed with guilt and fear, Toi leaving on the boat with Chikai, and Sera having accidentally frozen Keppi and pushing him into traffic. He then shatters into pieces, leading Sera to piece him back together…after a few tries.

Kazuki feels powerless about Enta’s condition, even more so after hearing how much he means to Enta. Luckily, Keppi turns him into a Kappa to preserve his life, but it’s only a temporary measure. They still need to get more dishes of hope to save Enta, but right now they only have one.

Meanwhile, Mabu finally perfects his cooking to prove that he was returned to his former self, which overjoys Reo, but their sweet reunion is cut short by the revelation that their Otter leader is actually the embodiment of Reo’s desire instead of his love…I think. Either way, Reo plans to get one more Dish of Hope to revive the “real” Mabu. That last dish being with Kazuki.

Toi hears the news about Enta and feels compelled to go to him, but remembers that he’s committed to help Chikai. Once the boat docks, they meet with Masa, an associate of Chikai’s who plans to help the two of them out in getting to their next escape. However, after they’re about to get on their next boat out, Chikai kills Masa and claims it to be a favor, saying that Masa was too good to survive in this world. Toi is confused and betrayed, but he and Chikai are confronted by Taka, who is out for Chikai’s bounty and blood. Chikai manages to fight him and his goons off with Toi’s help, but when Toi starts asking questions and pleading that he’ll stay loyal to his brother, Chikai decides Toi might be too good to live too. He aims the gun at Toi’s head and…

…a shot is fired, but from Taka. Chikai pushed Toi out of the way to take the shot, and Toi follows this up by killing Taka, but Chikai is probably joining him soon with all the blood being lost. He staggers on the roof of the boat and collapses, Toi cradling his dying body in his arms and then throwing away all the money they had.

OUR TAKE

This is the real “shit hits the fan” episode for just about everyone. Enta is at death’s door while Kazuki is powerless to do anything until Keppi shows up. Toi finally sees his brother’s deadly lifestyle consume him both mentally and mortally. Even the villains aren’t safe as Reo learns of the true relationship between Mabu and their boss. Pretty much all the characters are having a shitty day, except for the Otter boss I guess, and the way to stop it once again comes back to the Dishes of Hope. Right now it’s Otters-4, Kappas-1, but neither can do anything until either side gets five. With two episodes left, that might be just enough time for one more zombie and one more silver dish. Or things could get lucky and they could get a dish that grants a wish on its own so that the five remaining dishes can grant something else. Guess we’ll see!

This episode also played a lot with the show’s main themes of trying to connect with people and struggles that come with that. In all three plots, the focus is on a two-person relationship where one side tries desperately to hold onto their connection while the other is tempted to throw it away. Kazuki feels like there’s nothing he can do to reconnect with Enta while he’s dying. Mabu and Reo finally find themselves reconnecting but suddenly find themselves farther apart than ever. And Toi and Chikai finally run away, only leading to Chikai almost killing his own brother and then dying himself. The latter two end up showing a breaking down of connections between the two parties, but Kazuki’s is the sole example of hope for something stronger, as he and Enta reconcile and plan to save his life. I also can’t imagine that Toi is going to be left out of that loop for that much longer now that he has to return home.

Sarazanmai is about to reach its climax, starting with the next episode. The harsh real-world elements have made their impact to show how dire the situation is, but while I imagine the supernatural parts will make a resurgence for the final two episodes, I don’t think that will be to imply that reality can be simply escaped from, but rather that the power of connections is somewhat of a supernatural power that can create miracles. Or something schmaltzy like that, I don’t know.