English Dub Review: Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway: “Part-Time Job”

Overview: Sayu (Jill Harris) makes a new friend in Asami (Kelsey Maher) and later Yoshida (Alex Hom) goes on another date with Gotou (Sarah Roach), where she reveals a secret she has kept from him. 

Our Take: Sayu makes a new gal pal, Asami, at her new part time job at a convenience store. She most certainly stands out for her valley girl personality and accent that she has going on. It can teeter between absurdly funny or cringey at times, however, with that said, her casual and friendly attitude with Sayu is beyond charming. 

Truthfully, Asami could have been reduced to a dense stereotype associated with these types of characters but her home visit with Sayu to meet Yoshida and inspect what kind of man he is proves otherwise. Alex Hom and Kelsey Maher have clever chemistry in their witty banter as Yoshida and Asami. When he walks her home, she shows how much she cares about Sayu and is thankful she has someone upstanding in her life like Yoshida. Asami’s genuine kindness to him helps set her apart from just being another petty superficial archetype and into someone more heartfelt. She further defies those preconceived notions with how much of a smart cookie in recognizing when Sayu is not honest about her feelings, similar to what Yoshidude, as she nicknamed him, has learned. With Yoshida wanting Asami to be her friend and them delighted, it’s a sweet and wholesome end to his house guest’s visit.

Yoshida goes out on another date with Gotou. One can not help but worry we would just be going in circles with her coyly wanting to know more about his social life but never admitting her feelings. However, their late night dinner flips the script and actually humanizes Gotou further in her revealing her trepidation in having a previous premonition of fear in advancing with him sexually. Seeing a more shy and uncertain side of her calm and cool exterior nicely highlights her fears, making her warmer. Also Yoshida wanting her to ask him out after leading him on is fair and dignified showing how mature he is. Sayu’s loneliness nicely shows new darker dimensions of her like dredging up painful and unspecified memories while also revealing her bad tendency in always looking for someone to blame for her issues. With Yoshida on his way home with Gotou, it will make for an interesting meeting in her wanting to meet Sayu as both of their relationships with him begin to evolve in one way or another.