English Dub Review: RE-MAIN “I’m No Prodigy”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After a confrontation with Chinu Kawakubo, Minato decides to join the water polo team at his new school after all. If he doesn’t fulfill the obligations of a bet he once made with her, he apparently will owe her a lot of money! Unfortunately, there’s still a long way to becoming a top water polo player. The team will need seven players, for one thing. Captain Jo Jojima tries to attract more recruits, but it’s slow going. And though Minato might have what it takes in terms of spirit, he’s a long way from the player he used to be.

Our Take:

RE-MAIN’s first episode was a bit of a standout when compared with other sport-y series of similar natures. While a player returning to a sport isn’t new territory, that combined with Minato’s memory loss made for one of the more intriguing opening episodes I can remember watching from a sports show like this. The second episode, I’m No Prodigy, continues where things left off last week. It’s a much less memorable episode, but still retains the solid writing and likable characters that helped the premiere stand strong.

The opening scene with Chinu is the oddest moment in the show so far. While viewers might assume she was Minato’s girlfriend due to that kiss (Minato sure did), she relates how they’ve only met three times—and that he owes her a lot of money if he doesn’t play water polo due to losing a bet they made. It’s definitely a strange encounter, and I’m still not totally convinced that she’s not making it up for some reason.

The rest of the episode is devoted to showing us how terrible the water polo team’s chances really are. While Minato may have some muscle memory of being a nationwide champion (although I’m leaning towards a no after the events of this week), none of the other newbies seem to have much in the way of experience. Even the buffest recruit only joined because he couldn’t make it into the starting lineup during the baseball season. It’s a team of wannabe’s and outcasts, which will make for some fun episodes down the line hopefully.

At least we know the team will have one solid talent: Jo Jojima. The team captain really shines in this episode, both for his corny humor and his dedication to water polo. When everyone else on the team quit his first year, he stuck with it, cleaning the pool and running laps alone while he attempted to entrap new players into joining the squad. I like my anime a little silly, and Jo is the perfect embodiment of a chaotically charming team captain.

The dub script is really great at this point, and after two episodes of well-translated gags and dialogue, I’m going to predict that the quality writing will be one of the show’s charm points for sure. I’m not a huge sports person, and I’ve never played or even watched other people play water polo, but with the fun cast and the snappy banter, I’m definitely going to remain in the audience for RE-MAIN for now.