English Dub Review: My Senpai is Annoying: “Grandpa Hearts Futaba”

Overview: After exchanging gifts with Futaba (Risa Mei), Takeda (Patrick Seitz) meets Futaba’s grandpa (R. Bruce Elliott) and soon begins a rivalry with the old man through various competitions. 

Our Take: Taken aback by Takeda, one of the most important men in her darling granddaughter’s life, Futaba’s dear ol’ Grandpa decides to pay her a visit in the big city. 

Gramps, as Futaba calls him, has always played a supportive role in her life, making sporadic appearances to offer some moral uplifting or classically charming doting, that becomes too much for Futaba to handle. If you love that and have been itching for more of it, then you’ll get a heaping helping and then some this time around as Futaba’s Grandpa also acts as a competitive horse against Takeda, not just in their affection for Futaba, but to one up each other at all costs. The competitions are fun and endearing ways of also showing how similar they are to one another in enjoying the same activities and happening to “coincidentally” run into each other throughout their day as their rivalry and impassioned spirit increases. It all culminates into them understanding that and becoming just as strong friends as they were rivals and Takeda earning himself Futaba’s Gramp’s approval. Also as a side note, Kazama and Sakurai get a nice quick moment in him repaying her for the Valentine’s Day chocolate on White Day with macaroons. It’s nothing earth-shattering that changes the status quo of their relationship but it’s good to see that even when the two aren’t the focus, or even a subplot for that matter, there are contributions being made to their relationship, however small. 

Funnily enough, it is also the time Futaba’s Gramps spends alone that teaches him about what his granddaughter is feeling and there’s no better teacher than Your Name, or at least the show’s version that is strikingly similar. The ending is a sweet one with how both Gramps and Takeda are shown to always be looking out for Futaba as she accepts her grandfather’s commitment to shoulder whatever hardships or heartbreaks ails her, as the three walk off in the sunset for a good dinner.