English Dub Review: Sarazanmai “I Want to Connect, but We’ll Never Meet Again”

Riding around the block, with a glock, yo ass finna get shot.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)
As he prepares to leave, Toi remembers throwing away his soccer ball after his brother took the fall for the murder of that gang leader. He also threw away his micanga and gave it to some kid he met that day…that kid being Kazuki, though only Toi knows that right now. In present day, Chikai tells him the reason he’s going into hiding is because somebody’s found out about that murder. Still, Toi is worried about Kazuki and Enta and asks for some time to check on them, so Chikai gives him one more day.

So, while Toi goes to find Kazuki, Chikai ends up running into Enta, who recognizes him. The two end up talking about Toi, including about the micanga, and Enta learns more about what Toi’s been taught to believe. That is, until they run into a rival gang member who’s out for blood. Chikai runs off and ditches Enta, but he’s saved by Rabu and Meo, who are looking to turn Chikai into a zombie. They then kill the gang member and hypnotize other cops into blaming the murder on Chikai.

Toi finds Kazuki, who is livid about Enta hiding the dishes of hope, but is surprised when Toi defends him and goes off to find the dishes himself. Toi then calls them as he leaves on the boat to say goodbye. Enta shows up with the dishes, but Kazuki won’t listen. As they argue, Rabu and Meo show up and steal the dishes before trying to shoot Kazuki, but Enta gets in the way and is mortally wounded.

OUR TAKE
…well, I guess we can cross off that bottom right square on the Ikuhara Bingo Card. After this long, I had assumed that every problem in this show could be solved by diving into people’s butts for secrets. While this was a lesson I very harshly learned to be wrong and got me permanently banned from being within 500 feet of any public school, it also proves to not be the case here as things start getting VERY REAL for this series. The fantasy elements like the kappas and dishes are still present, but now we have a new threat to contend with: bullets can kill people. I know, shocking.

This episode dipped more into the adolescent feelings of growing up and losing connections that many children of that age sometimes go through. Misunderstandings and hurt feelings can end up leading to fights with friends that can certainly make you feel like you’ve been shot, especially under such an emotionally potent time like a best friend moving away. At least, those are the inspirations I think might be getting pulled from here. Getting to the more complicated but realistic aspect of this stage in life was something I expected, though not at this harsh and sudden a tempo. What I DIDN’T expect was for Enta to end up getting some time alone with Chikai and learning more about Toi through him. I suppose it had to happen some way and there probably wasn’t any person better. Enta and Toi really didn’t have much of a connection before, so this went a long way towards building that.

Though once again, the idea of a named family member of one of the boys ending up becoming a Kappa zombie definitely intrigues me, and it’s looking like Chikai might end up being the best candidate for that. For one, most people would definitely be better off if he were gone, but his removal from existence would have a massive effect on the world. Plus, trying to defeat him as a zombie would be tough now that they have knowledge of what happens to them afterwards. Not sure if that’s where we’re heading but I’m gonna be annoyed if we don’t.

As for Enta…he’s probably fine. Can’t imagine they’ll kill him off with three more episodes to go. But I imagine that Kazuki forgiving him will be a lot easier now. Nothing works better for mending friendships than almost dying!