English Dub Review: Sarazanmai “I Want to Connect, but It’s Not Meant to Be”

If you were gay, that’d be okay.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Kazuki doesn’t catch Enta secretly kissing him, nor does he know of Enta’s huge crush on him that he’s had for a while. He’s also still committed to getting Kazuki back into soccer, the sport where the two of them shined and were the stars of the team. He’s getting so desperate that he’s having delusions of Kazuki rejoining the team and yearning for Enta to play with him again. And he’s not the only one who’s worried about Kazuki, since Haruka is just as confused as to why he gave up soccer. But soon Enta’s desperation ends up getting him a fight with some rival players where he gets his ass handed to him. Miraculously, Toi shows up to rescue him, but Enta is still dedicated to getting Kazuki back to playing, even wanting to use the next Dish of Hope on that wish.

While this is happening, the police investigate the death of Keiss Memore (haha), Enta’s sister’s boyfriend who sells Kisu Fish (also known as Japanese Whitings), seems to get around dating-wise, and who was apparently arrested six months ago when a woman he was pursuing committed suicide. Just like last time, Reo and Mabu claim responsibility for his death, initiating their usual Otterly Sexy dance and turning Memore into the next Kappa Zombie. This time, women are the thing floating through the skies towards the zombie to give him kisses, including Enta’s sister, so the three boys leap to getting their asses eaten out by Keppi in order to stop this new threat.

They also do their Sarazanmai dance, with Enta in leading things, which also means it’s his secret that gets leaked out, particularly his crush on Kazuki and his secret kiss, but Kazuki blows it off as a prank. Memore also seems to disappear from everyone’s memories, oddly enough. Reo and Mabu report to their superiors, who are none too happy about the slowly trickling flow of desire energy that the zombies are meant to provide. But with things back to normal for the time being Enta visits Haruka again, who is revealed to be in a wheelchair.

OUR TAKE

After two episodes that centered on Kazuki, it makes sense that we would shift focus to one of the other boys. This week carries on from the end of the last episode and hands things off to Enta, highlighting his crush on Kazuki and what’s motivating him in getting Kazuki back into soccer. As I mentioned last week, it legitimately caught me by surprise that Enta turned out to be in love with Kazuki of all people, but then again it might be obvious to others. And given the creator of this show, Kunihiko Ikuhara, has worked on stories like Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena, neither of which have shied away from having openly gay characters, I suppose it’s really no surprise at all.

What’s also something interesting is that I’m noticing the Kappa Zombies seem to also reflect the character drama going in any given episode. The first one about boxes looked more like it was about introducing the general theme of secrets and desires that the show would revolve itself around, but then the cat zombie had a more specific focus on stealing that both Kazuki and Toi were dealing with, and now the Kisu zombie reflects Enta’s own dilemma with expressing affection selflessly over selFISHly (yeah that’s right, I made a fish pun). I actually see this often with kids shows incorporating the lesson of the week into the combat to better get the message across to the kids, but I guess since this is…decidedly NOT a kids show, they’re allowed a bit more subtlety. Though I guess when each episode has segments of stripper cops dancing and children getting their asses eaten, pretty much anything would look subtle in comparison.

Going off the pattern of the post-credit scene of the episode setting up the focus of the next, it looks like something might be going on related to Haruka being in a wheelchair, as well as living at a hospital. Whether this was the result of illness or an accident is unclear, but it might have had an impact on why Kazuki quit soccer and has resorted to taking cross-dressing photos. With each new zombie beaten, more secrets will be revealed about these boys, so I doubt we’ll have to wait long to find out what the heck happened. But since Enta got his episode this week, next week could also turn out to be Toi’s chance at development. Either way, I’m eager to find out.