English Dub Review: The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague “The Fox Girl and the Phoenix Boy”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Saejima expresses affection for Komori, while Katori stumbles in pursuing his own interests.

Our Take:
On paper, it may seem like the series only focuses on the growing relationship between Himuro and Fuyutsuki. However, this week’s episode shows that that’s not the case. They say that love is in the air, and apparently, it’s affecting the other co-workers, not just the ice man and his beautiful colleague. Some of them, in particular, are Saejima and Komori, when the former compliments her ears and tail and leaves out extra toys on her desk.
Additionally, we have Katori, who’s having trouble confessing to Otonashi due to his hyperactive and childish personality. So Fuyutsuki suggests he find a way to provide a more serious confession. Katori tries practicing his confession to Fuyutsuki but winds up being trapped in ice by a jealous Himuro.
But, of course, the episode never loses sight of the show’s main characters, Himuro and Fuyutsuki, with them entering a contest to win the George the Kitten plates. This segment concluded with Fuyutsuki giving Himuro her points so he could get the plates, and Himuro gave one of them to her. As usual, the two colleagues never fail to put a massive smile on my face whenever they’re on screen together. It further showcases the characters as kind, selfless beings hidden underneath their mute expressions.
Aside from that, “The Fox Girl and the Phoenix Boy” mainly focuses on the supporting characters and their own “will they, won’t they” relationships. This episode is a test to see if the co-workers are as adorable to watch as Himuro and Fuyutsuki when they’re in the spotlight. Fortunately, it passed with flying colors. While the moments between Saejima and Komori are admittedly endearing, I enjoyed Katori’s segment a bit more because of his background. It represents more of Katori’s early days of working as a salesman with Otonashi, whom he met while working at a bar. His first encounter with Otonashi is one of the things that drove Katori to apply for the job, with the other being her determination to keep her business alive.
He still acts like a baby bird whenever he’s excited, which causes Otonashi to ignore him. However, I can tell that Katori wants things to work out between him and Otonashi, even though he hasn’t learned a thing about finding a serious way to confess. It’s a humorous start to Katori’s potential coming-of-age journey of love, but as always, his personality will highly depend on how you feel about hyperactive characters. Here’s hoping this baby bird grows into a mature phoenix sooner rather than later.
Overall, “The Fox Girl and the Phoenix Boy” gets the rom-com series back on track with an entertaining and endearing showcase of the love-struck co-workers. The sequence involving Himuro and Fuyutsuki getting free plates is as heartfelt as I expected from the previous episodes. However, the supporting characters managed to help carry the series over its rom-com cliches without being unbearable nuisances. I won’t be surprised if we see more of them amid the budding romance between the two cool colleagues.