English Dub Review: Ya Boy Kongming!”SEARCHING FOR ONESELF”

Overview

Eiko and Kabe are missing something — something others have but they don’t. Under Kongming’s watchful eye, each strikes out on a mission to discover what that something is…


Our Take

After the “previous episode”, I was under the blind assumption that this was going to be a 2-part character arc, but much to my shock it’s beyond two parts. Instead its simply a jumping-on point towards an overarching subplot for both Kabe and Eiko to overcome their inner demons and inadequacies in terms of putting on a performance and expanding on their musical/singing styles, in combination with achieving the “1000 Likes” goal with one of their rivals being a masked Idol group called “Azalea”.

As far as Eiko is concerned, she took a chance on a new friend named Nanami and found something worth doing. Whether it was trying the public bath or being willing to open up about her problems, she’s far more self-assured and confident than the Eiko we saw back in episode one. It also turns out that Nanami is not only a great vocalist but a great bass player too. Nanami continues to Eiko some pointers on how to become a better singer as the two of them spend more time together. On the other hand, Kabe went back to his old stomping grounds and ran into his old friend Sasatcho who reminded Kabe not to be obsessed with winning and just have fun.

Overall, a decent episode that works in terms of story/character progression. It’s also heavily implied that Nanami’s backstory seems intimately tied to Azalea, perhaps as a former member or even AS a member (the long purple hair is perhaps the biggest clue). If that’s true, then it might make for some interesting late-game drama – a rival helping another rival. The motivation of course is unclear at the moment, but I look forward to those questions possibly being answered in later episodes.