English Dub Review: Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway: “Summer Festival”

Overview: Yoshida (Alex Hom) and Sayu (Jill Harris) spend time together at a summer festival as she comes to terms with her final days with him. 

Our Take: Helping hide Sayu from her older brother, Yuzuha talks with her about her current predicament. Knowing her time is almost up with her brother inevitably going to find her, Yuzuha’s overwhelming tenacity is always inspiring and especially so in her encouraging Sayu to spend her last moments with Yoshida however she wants. When the conversation eventually segues into fate and the stars align shtick, it feels especially long in the tooth with how many times it’s been beaten into and corny as can be in its melodramatic writing and execution. However, it also brings up the complexity of Yuzuha’s own sticky situation in hating how she is not the one who connects with Yoshida on an intimate level in the same way Sayu does, even though she loves him just as much as her and Gotou. 

Making the most of their time, Sayu goes to the summer festival with our main man, with him definitely feeling enraptured by her in a yukata. The dating vibes only intensify with various quintessential romance milestones like cotton candy feeding and hand holding. Besides that, seeing how Yoshida understands what Mashima has been saying about his unconditional kindness is handled smartly in him realizing it in the midst of his actions. While the focus has been on how Sayu has changed, how Yoshida progressed in not being alone on account of her living with him makes for a sentimentally honest moment, especially when he briefly worries of her being gone for a moment. However, him wanting her to leave shows how he proves Mashima’s point and in a way is brilliantly written in how flawed he is in not being selfish enough. And it could not come at a more perfect moment (or maybe not so perfect) in her big brother finally finding them, making for a gripping reunion.