English Dub Review: Africa Salaryman “Africa BBQ”

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Today on, Africa High School Girls, Shishimura and her bestie, Gorimi, are havin’ a sushi, like good high school girls are wont to do. Midway through their delicious journey through the Asian Pacific, Shishimura notices that the non-fish toppings are often some of the best. Ergo, the secret to a successful sushi business is good rice plus unique toppings.

Our little entrepreneurs set out to make their own sushi using whatever toppings they find around the house—including peanut butter, jelly, and fully sheathed bananas. The operation is going okay, until Shishimura creates something unconscionable. Its “topping” is a heinous creature that is so foul she and Gorimi refuse to test it. Fortunately, once Big Cat arrives home, he becomes their unwitting test subject.

After downing the gross sushi in one bite, he immediately passes out. The girls freak out, thinking they killed him. In reality, he was only stunned because he loved the sushi so much. The big man’s fandom is contagious and before too long, the girls’ disgusting sushi becomes a local phenomenon.

Oh, and there was also an episode of Africa Salaryman that ran before this mini-sode.

President Turtle invites the office to a free camping BBQ on Sunday. Even though the event takes place on a non-workday, it offers free food and camping so most of the office decides to partake. The lone holdout is Ninja Crane, who after the success of his illegal video has decided to step up his outlaw game by trying his hand (wing?) at bomb making.

The BBQ is a mess, as expected. President Turtle decides to burn a wad of money because he’s an asshole. Lizard is grilling bugs, which grosses out Toucan of all people. And Lethal Hamster is the wiliest of all. Just like the precocious gopher from Caddyshack, he runs across the street to Crane’s hidden bunker, nabs one of his bombs, and returns it too the BBQ—placing it directly on Big Cat’s grill. The entire area explodes. Nobody is killed, but all the food is destroyed except for a single grilled Mango which Lethal Hamster had his eye on the entire time—that is, if he truly exists.

Because the show is running out of steam, the next few bits involve Transformer toys and positivity fliers. Anyway, this is all exposition designed to get everyone to a sushi restaurant. Once President Turtle finds Big Cat, Lizard, Toucan, and Crane, he offers to pay for all their sushi. But there’s no such thing as a free lunch. In exchange for the food, the quartet must come up with a cinema café presentation in under a week—without receiving any overtime.

To make matters worse, the competing firm is “Tiger and Leopard” which is run by two fiery cats who hold a longstanding, mysterious grudge against Big Cat.

On Africa High School Girls… Oh wait, never mind. We already did that part.

 

Our Take

Sorry to have to repeat what I already said in the review, but Africa Salaryman is running out of the limited amount of energy it had in the first place. This BBQ should’ve been a special outing designed to show the characters in a new light. However, after a sports day, flower-watching party, Hawaiian vacation, and even a Little Red Riding Hood fever dream, the novelty of seeing the workers out of the office has long been spent.

I hate to say it, but Ninja Crane is not a very good addition to the cast. When he first arrived, it felt like a breath of fresh air. But this two-note loser has dug himself into a prominent rut in fewer than five episodes. Whenever that avian flop is on screen he’s either laden with his Wile E. Coyote signs or hell bent on some random path toward world domination. Or maybe it’s chaos. Either way, his motivations are super unclear.

Also, now that we’re getting a break from the semi-professional tag team of Honey Badger and Honeyguide, we’re focused on the original trio once again. Since this is the penultimate episode, it’s the correct call; however, none of them seem to be on their A-games. Or perhaps Big Cat, Toucan, and Lizard weren’t that entertaining to begin with. The only hint of nostalgia wafting off these boys is due to them being a bit more interesting that anybody else in or out of the office. Plus, they were all involved in that semi-good episode where they hunted down a Japanese Kappa demon and wound up finding her a creepy boyfriend. Good times!

Well, next week is the last episode, and while I’m not expecting much, I’m interested in learning more about Tiger, Leopard, and the bad blood that exists between them and Big Cat. They look like a couple of intense, Elmore Leonard-esque characters—and going by the laws of the jungle, these are the type of blokes Bigs should be hanging around. Then again, we all know our favorite feline is docile, pacifistic, and slightly silly. And even though he has a mean face—which they never tire of reminding us about—he’s not hardcore like these bad cats. Or maybe these heavies are more like Big Cat than we’re being led to believe.