English Dub Review: Rooster Fighter “Not All Feathers Hold A Song”

Overview

Keiji finds out a brainwashed Morio is on a rampage and heads out to save him. 

Our Take

This week’s episode is Keiji and Keisuke giving us all of the foreplay as to whether or not these two are going to ultimately team up to take on Team Demon, a big chunk of them having gotten reinforcements in the form of the once friendly demons that now seem to be doing evil bidding.

Sanzigen’s animation continues to punch way above its weight class. The studio leans heavily into a gritty, hand-drawn aesthetic for the human characters, while Keiji remains a pristinely rendered, “hardboiled” rooster. What makes this episode stand out is the “audio layering.” The decision to keep Keiji’s internal monologue sounding like heroic prose while the humans only hear clucking is used to great comedic and dramatic effect here. It reminds us that while we see a savior, the world sees a stray animal.

“Not All Feathers Hold a Song” is the point where Rooster Fighter officially transcends its gimmick. It’s no longer just “that weird show about the fighting chicken”; it’s a compelling ronin story that just happens to feature poultry. Whether you’re in it for the parody of shonen tropes or the surprisingly deep character study, this episode proves that Rooster Fighter has plenty of meat on its bones.