English Dub Review: RE-MAIN “This Ain’t Looking Good…”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After the Yamanami water polo team loses the race and their bet with Amihama, they receive some unexpected visitors in the form of the water polo team from an opposing neighboring school. It turns out they used to play with Minato, and even though he can’t recall them, they cheer him on and tell him they believe in him. This causes Amihama to want to join the team despite winning the race against them because his brother is on the opposing team.

With enough members to play a game, the team begins practicing in earnest. It’s tough going, and all the physical exercise means that all the guys are eating whenever they have a free moment to spare—even during class! Jo decides to schedule a practice match against a fellow high school team, but it’s a junior high team that shows up… will Minato and the crew be able to best them?

Our Take:

We’re seriously in the trenches now in the water polo wars! After an episode to introduce Minato, an episode to introduce the water polo team, and an episode to recruit another member, the team finally is complete and the practices have officially commenced. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t time for fun and games though, as RE-MAIN’s fourth episode still finds time for some funny business in between all the grueling water polo.

This Ain’t Looking Good… might have a rather downcast title, but the episode starts out on a positive note as Amihama winds up joining the team due to overhearing his older brother’s pep talk to Minato. Having a main character with memory loss who was a national champion water polo player but doesn’t recall any of it is bound to make for some interesting relationship dynamics, and I’m sure this is just the start. Minato may have no idea who these guys are, but they clearly remember him and his talent. It’s a nice way to bring up Minato’s memory challenges again, although I have to say the RE-MAIN title drop pun felt a little too try-hard to sound normal.

Once Amihama signs on the dotted line, it’s off to the races. There’s not much time for shenanigans so far; RE-MAIN may have a lot of interesting characters, but it’s content to keep water polo in the forefront for now at least. The middle part of the episode is basically a long montage of different training regimens the guys do, as well as to show how Minato still hasn’t gotten his mojo back. (More on that later!) We do get a few fun personal tidbits when the crew is in the hot water after practice, including the fact that Yutaka is a big baker and Yoshiharu used to be in the calligraphy club. One thing I really like about RE-MAIN is how varied the main cast members are in terms of everything from looks to skillsets, so I hope the show continues to get into all the ways these guys are unique.

Despite only having been a real team for less than half an episode, captain Jo sets up a practice exhibition match for the team in the last few minutes of this week’s runtime. The opposing team he gets to agree to the match looks like they’ll be the main rivals this season, and they already have some fun comedic chemistry going on in the locker room scene. But since they’re playing the role of the antagonists, they have to be a little sneaky… and that means dropping out of the match and bringing along a bunch of junior high kids to play against Minato instead! Underhanded, sure, but you have to admit it’s a good way to get recon on his current skill level.

The game itself isn’t given much time in the episode, but we do get to see the first few minutes… and it looks like Minato may be more of a weak link than anyone realized as he utters the words that make up the title of the episode. The team is already losing to a bunch of tiny children, and if Minato wants to RE-MAIN, as it were, he’s going to have to keep working on his water polo game.