English Dub Review: Ensemble Stars “Element~Part Two~”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

This show is so emo. After a seemingly innocuous conversation between Tsumugi and Eichi, the duo notes Rei coming up the path and one after the other goes over to talk to him since returning from England. Rei throws an insult at Eichi which knocks him unconscious and sends him to the hospital. Tsumugi confronts Natsume and then Eichi comes back to life to get into it with Wataru just before a live performance where the latter gets into it with Natsume. Thirteenth Day performs. Back in the present-day, Trickstar makes it to the finals and Wataru gets a letter from his grandma.

Our Take

There’s a song by Slipknot called Psychosocial where the lyrics perfectly encapsulate the personalities for everyone in this series. Most of the show’s action happens in its dialogue which can be somewhat challenging when adapting a Japanese series for English because you have more script to figure out in making sure it all pieces together to make any sort of sense. What ends up happening is more of a comedic effort because of all of the melodrama that sequences like Eichi getting knocked out cold as a result of an insult become a highlight. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I’m happy to be along for the ride.