English Dub Review: Insomniacs After School “Venus”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Ganta and Isaki plan some time to look at the stars, but are interrupted by rain.

OUR TAKE

Well, we got a week off to have a bit of sleep, but now the insomnia is back in full force, and so is the romance as Ganta and Isaki are really starting to see some sparks fly between them, though in a much more wholesome and PG way than you might expect. I mean this is just a twelve to thirteen episode series, so I guess we better get a move on with the actual romantic chemistry already, right? And as we’ve seen before, the thing that bonds Ganta and Isaki isn’t just the fact that they both have insomnia, but also that they like to cuddle up when they CAN sleep, which we get to see here as a sign they are growing closer. But they’re also awkward high schoolers who are sometimes bad at directly stating their feelings outright, so when an opportunity to hang out for the fireworks festival pops up, they have to make sure it’s stated that they’re ONLY doing it so they can get some good shots of the sky and the stars for their club. Though then they find out it’s going to rain and have to make a different excuse to see each other, haha.

Isaki seems more aware of her feelings at least, actually trying to think of reasons to spend time with Ganta while Ganta vehemently denies his feelings BUT will also get enraged if anyone inadvertently insults Isaki for her insomnia. Or at least that’s where his mind goes if anyone mentions insomnia in a bad way, but for some reason doesn’t think of himself, oddly enough. And literally EVERYONE can see the sparks between them, even trying their best to stay out of their way during cute scenes despite there being some actual work that needs to get done. There seems to be one girl who may end up being a hypotenuse or third wheel down the road, but I have a feeling she’ll be nipped in the bud before too long. It’s just one of those things in these types of stories where a third person has to show up just for the purpose of accelerating things between the main couple so they don’t keep dragging their feet, and I imagine that’s what this girl’s purpose in the story will turn out to be. But hey, we’re about a third of the way through, so getting this close is actually pretty good progress!