English Dub Review: Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! “Summer! The Beach! I Want to Test My Courage!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Uzaki gets hired at Sakurai’s workplace and she’s trained in the art of customer service. Then Uzaki, Sakurai, Ami, and Sakaki head out to the beach after hearing Sakurai’s plans to stay in and game all summer. When they get to the beach Sakurai swims while Sakakai gets the watermelon. Uzaki inflates the dolphin float toy as Ami watches and later convinces Sakurai to compliment Uzaki on her swimsuit. Sakaki comes back with the watermelon. Sakurai gets the role of smashing the watermelon with the others guiding him to the location of the melon.

After that, they head to Sakaki’s summer villa and have a barbecue. When night falls they go out and try to have a test of courage, but Sakurai is too afraid which Uzaki uses to her advantage. However, they end up going back to the villa and playing some games. Sakurai, Ami, and Sakaki fall asleep while Uzaki takes the opportunity to try to prank Sakurai but ends up being hugged while he’s sleeping. The next day Sakurai and Uzaki comment on his sleep while Ami and Sakaki feel like they’ve missed something last night.

Our Take:

It’s a classic beach episode with the spooky test of courage that has a few unexpected results. Uzaki’s embarrassed reaction to Sakurai’s compliment then the accidental groping during the watermelon smash and the test of courage were good at keeping me invested in the duo’s dynamic. Uzaki’s game directions were a nice reference to old video game combos. There’s also Sakaki’s summer villa which was a surprising detail since for a group of college students I’d expect it to be rented to out.

Sakurai’s fear in the test of courage was a good subversion of expectations. Uzaki teases Sakurai while Ami and Sakaki talk about setting up the situations where the other could act on and how it ends up backfiring a bit. The situation gets to the point where Sakurai’s fear prevents him from moving, and they know when it’s time to stop teasing Sakurai and head back to play video games. There’s a line that friends walk on with teasing and I’m glad that they don’t force Sakurai to go along with the test of courage anymore. That last moment with Sakurai hugging Uzaki while sleeping and Uzaki admitting that she did push him to that point with a bit of guilt was a good development in both Uzaki’s character and her friendship with Sakurai.

Admittedly Sakurai’s denseness in those moments particularly the watermelon bashing scene and the morning after sleeping on the couch were frustrating to watch. It felt one-sided with Uzaki being the only one to react to the situations. Hopefully, in the next episode, we can see more progression on Sakurai’s side of the relationship.

 

 

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