English Dub Review: Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan “Senpai and Kohai”

Overview:

Uramichi thought he was he was happy there for a minute. While accepting the hopelessness of his situation he thought he found happiness. One thing that will make anyone happy is a day off. Everyone spends theirs differently but they try to make the best of their respective situations.

Our Take:

This show is hilarious but in the most self-deprecating way possible. Everyone is doing their best to just not fall apart. And I can relate to that. I thought maybe Uramichi would be the only one that is so negative. That was proven wrong in this episode, in fact, the only ones who don’t seem to have any issues are Kumatani and Iketeru.

Iketeru is very childish laughing at the slightest hint of a dick joke. He also has a dog so maybe that is part of why the world hasn’t dragged him down yet. In Kumatani’s case, he just seems well put together and knows the methods to not let things get to him. The one I am most surprised about is Utano, she seemed like she was okay. Turns out being in a seemingly dead relationship with her boyfriend for five years has taken a toll.

When asked by one of the kids which of her co-stars she would consider marrying she goes off on a huge tangent. Saying how the funny, handsome ones are the ones you should stay away from. All of this in front of a bunch of children. That is one of the core parts of the comedy in this show. How everyone says all these terrible things about adulthood in front of these hopeful children. Just shattering all their dreams of what things will be like.

One of the other interesting things the show does is how it keeps some of the Japanese words. When greeting everyone they still say Konnichiwa. My favorite use of this though is when Uramichi says “Everything is not Daijoubu.” Essentially saying that everything is not alright. Maybe, it’s just me but I thought this was a funny way of paying homage to the show’s roots. It makes sense because they all call each other “oniisan” meaning an older sibling, I wonder how else they might use the wordplay.

The second episode wasn’t as strong but was still good. I love the humor in this but I almost feel like I shouldn’t enjoy it as much as I do. I do hope by the end of the series that they find some happiness in what they do. We all know adulthood is tough but it can’t be all bad right?