English Dub Review: Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!: “I Want to Hang Out on Christmas Eve, Too!”

Overview: Sakurai (Ricco Fajardo) spends Christmas Eve with Hana (Monica Rial), Yanagi (Brittany Lauda) and the rest of her family when he comes to a surprising revelation regarding her father and his friend. 

Our Take: Uzaki being…well…Uzaki has bitten her in the behind with it putting a wedge between Sakurai and her. It puts a damper on their romantic dynamic just as he is on the cusp of a confession, further prolonging their back and forth. Their friends’ continued irritation and displeasure at how much their will-they-won’t-they chemistry is dragged out acts as a funny commentary on the romcom trope and their indecision overall, so much so that they need to intervene at times. 

With Yanagi being at her wits end this time around, her plotting inadvertently causes Sakurai to join in on their holiday plans, acting as a means for Hana to make amends for her rudeness. The Uzaki family dinner finally brings Sakurai and Fujio to realize their coincidental connection they share in Uzaki and to hilarious effect. However, it becomes even more comical in how their uncomfortable family dinner transitions into an uneasy alliance in keeping the intimate details Fujio shared with Sakurai about Hana under wraps. Uzaki and Shinichi’s touchy-feely relationship is side-splitting in the seething rage it causes him.

The two geniuses whip up a scheme to get Sakurai wasted in an attempt to forget about the confidential details he has been told. Although, Fujio grappling with getting Sakurai intoxicated is endearing in his irritation over how idly he is handling his feelings with Hana, keeping what is best for her in mind. Shinichi’s drunken stupor allows him to impress her importance in his life and how his family life impacted his closed-off attitude making for an honest, intimate connection with Hana and sweet note to end on. It is especially amusing in the shambles Fujio is in over realizing Sakurai’s feelings for his beloved daughter.