English Dub Review: Africa Salaryman “Africa Loan Shark”

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

The story begins with Honeyguide celebrating the death of his boss, Honey Badger—because apparently the creators are married to these characters now. Anyway, as you’ve probably already guessed, Honey Badger is still very much alive and he’s mega-pissed that his subordinate practically made a shrine to his false death. And since he’s the boss, he also docks the little bird’s pay in order to fix a wall he desecrated with spray paint.

Desperate for money, Honeyguide hits the town hoping to stumble over a get-rich-quick scheme. He finds a casino that seems to be paying out relatively well. One particular rat even hits the biggest slot jackpot minutes after Honeyguide walks in. It’s as if he found the one casino on Earth where it’s impossible to lose.

In a few hours, he winds up losing a considerable sum of money—his living expenses for an entire month, to be exact.

This forces him to take out a loan from a shady water buffalo. But this is no ordinary loan. Mr. Buffalo must’ve had some dealings with Honey Badger, or at least knows him via reputation because this loan shark wants to see him dead. And so, he loans Honeyguide some startup money and offers him a huge payload for ending his boss’s life. Honeyguide, the slippery operator he is, agrees to the scheme with little crisis of conscience.

The dimwitted bird spends the night making a compact explosive, and just when he’s about to put it under Honey Badger’s desk, he notices a honeycomb beneath some random employee’s desk. So excited, he absent-mindedly leaves the bomb beside Lizard and runs to grab a receptacle to catch all the honey his heart desires. On top of that, the bird is so stupid, when it comes time to plant the bomb, he puts the honey beside his boss’s desk and blows up Lizard—his detached tail wiggling in bewilderment.

After Lizard and Toucan beat up Honeyguide, the focus goes back to their side of the office where Caracal really wants Big Cat to accompany him on a speed dating outing. The lion begrudgingly agrees although he plans to make it clear to everyone that he’s already married. Honey Badger also tags along, because he really wants to have sex with (or fight) a lady.

When they get there, the whole ordeal turns out to be a great big scam. The organizers are more interested in duping the contestants into buying soaps and detergents, and the dating circle is so fast, not even Honey Badger can breakthrough. Caracal gives up on his hunt for companionship, at least for that evening; although, he is eyeing a town mixer later that week.

 

Our Take

I’m not entirely familiar with the concept of a “town mixer.” It sounds wild enough, but from the brief glimpse we got, it looked rather dull. Sure, Big Cat’s daughter and her gorilla friend showing up in KISS makeup to circumvent the 21+ rule brought a modicum of entertainment, but it all ended with the same old gag of Lizard getting his tail ripped off.

This begs the question: why are the African high school girls always relegated to the last few minutes, buried in the post-credit scene? Well, it doesn’t actually “beg the question,” but it’s something I’m curious about. These girls have something unique to add to the episodes and they’re a fair bit more enjoyable than Honeyguide who is suddenly the new anointed character. However, since we only get a minute or two every week with this duo, they’re forced to display the simplest humor which often ends with Lizard—who they view as a hunk—becoming a temporary amputee.

Come on, though. We’ve got: KISS makeup, inflated senses of self, and strange gossip nobody but the two of them understand. It’s clear they’re bringing something to the party. Are they underused because none of their scenes take place in an office? That’s a ridiculous omission, because even though this is an “office show” the workers leave the office all the time. Most of them wouldn’t show up to work at all if it wasn’t in the script.

Honeyguide episodes really make one yearn for days—the last episode—when Toucan was the primary focus. Now, I know I’ve given old Touk a hard time in the past, but that was before I knew how simply dreadful Honeyguide was. If only there was a way to get rid of him permanently while keeping Honey Badger.

Hmm? Maybe they could do an episode where Honeyguide flies into some power lines—yes, he can suddenly fly—and while he sits on the sidewalk, smoldering and in great pain, Big Cat mistakes him for a nice plate of hot wings. This way, he’s dead with no hope of revival, a la Honey Badger, and you also get an episode where Big Cat can come to terms with his modern barbarism. Any way you look at it, you’re a winner!