English Dub Review: Masamune-Kun’s Revenge “Yoshino’s Magic Show”

What is another term for a male puppy?

Spoilers Below

Ever had that one class in school where everyone was doing so bad, they sent you to summer school? Well, Masamune’s class has one over on you. Supplementary classes. If anyone in his class fails the test, they’ll have to come back for extra lessons after class. Our protagonist has no worries, he really doesn’t have to study often because he’s so bright. On the other hand, his friend Kojuro is as dim as can be, and has been getting grades in the single digit. Masamune decides, for the betterment of the class, that he should tutor the little numbskull. Turns out, Aki is also having to tutor Yoshino for her low scores. While she may be deviously cunning, the maid’s book smarts aren’t anything to write home about. Masamune puts forth a wager: if he and Kojuro get better grades than Aki and Yoshino, he gets to take Aki out on a date. If he loses, he pays for her lunches. Given her appetite, that is a costly loss. Figuring that Yoshino was on his side, this was more like three-on-one, and he was sure to win.

He figured wrong. After all, this is Yoshino’s grades he’s talking about. He and Kojuro double down on the studies, and Masamune’s drive even infects his mother and his sister. His mom goes hog wild making a high-energy breakfast to get him ready for the big test. Masamune runs into Yoshino in the halls, and apologizes for putting her in a bad position, and she gives him a juice-box of iced coffee, saying it doesn’t matter anymore. Freshly caffeinated, he sits down, pencil in hand, ready to ace and… poisoning takes hold of his gut and twists. Is this what Yoshino meant? Because she poisoned the coffee? After failing his test, he goes to confront Yoshino and her odious master, but Aki is nowhere to be found. She stayed home sick. It wasn’t a poisoned coffee that got him. His mother, apparently, is no good at cooking anything that doesn’t involve sweets, and the eggs were bad. The silver lining, he and Aki are in the same supplementary class, and can sit together.

But wait! There’s more! Somehow, he scores a date with Aki anyways! Even he doesn’t know how this worked out, but he meets her on a corner near the train station. She’s in full magical girl cosplay, and getting attention from some of the shadier side of otakudom. This was all Yoshino’s orchestration. Telling her mistress that Masamune was close to suicide from his failing grades, she suggested that Aki go out on a date with him to keep him from doing anything too extreme. But, since Aki had never been on a date before, she gets planted with a bunch of false rules for dating: like cosplay for an icebreaker. The two go to a movie. A horror movie. A bad horror movie. I mean, if I get this right, the flick was about a zombie apocalypse, where becoming a zombie also makes you homosexual. So, Broke Back Mountain meets The Walking Dead without any good acting or writing. That is horrifying but won’t seem to kill Aki’s appetite. She proceeds to scarf down enough for three. This condition, however, isn’t something with which she was born. It relates to a prior trauma in her life.

Queue little girl asking about the cosplay. Queue Aki overreacting. Queue hasty retreat. Masamune shows his good side and tells her that cosplay is not normal for a first date. She goes to a clothing shop to change. Further being a nice guy. he comes to her aid when he hears her crying in embarrassment. He comes to her aid while she’s in her underwear. She knocks him clean out. He wakes up with his head on her lap on a park bench. He calls up Yoshino after Aki leaves. This betrayal of hers isn’t about revenge. It’s about bettering Aki. Making her humble, and a better person.

Wow, that summary took a long time. I’d actually say that’s a credit to the writers. This felt like two full episodes packed into one, and was really entertaining. We get to see his family a bit more and get to understand what makes each character tick to a small degree. I couldn’t contain my laughter at Aki’s reaction to Masamune talk about no meal during the date. What is good is that my great dislike of Aki has been dulled a bit by seeing her outside of her normal cruelty, which makes watching this show a bit more bearable. Now she’s just tsundere, and I can handle that. Voice acting was on point for this episode, and I liked being able to see locations other than the school represented in the artwork. All in all, I give this episode nine gay zombies out of ten, which is a better test score than Kojuro got in his life.