English Dub Review: URAHARA “Popcorn Panic”

Delicious donuts, alien popcorn, and floating parfaits.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Picking up right where we left off last week, the girls have somehow cast a protective bubble around Harajuku. (The talking shrimp says it was created from their love for the city.) The episode starts slow, with the first half spent analyzing the bubble, exploring the deserted town, and snacking on alien donuts. (The food in the show looks amazing, I gotta say.)

The action ramps up in the second act, as an especially strong Scooper manages to puncture the bubble and begins absorbing the city’s culture. After a few attempts at stopping the rampage, the girls discover one of the life’s consistent truths: there’s always a weak spot. Mari’s (self-aiming?) canon is able to take out the alien, which explodes into delicious-looking popcorn kernels.

Our Take:

While still not among my favorite anime airing this season, URAHARA’s second episode definitely stepped up its game. The visuals remain inventive, and the cast of characters are becoming more fleshed out and believable. I’m even starting to like the dub!

The weakest element is still the plot, which feels hazy and muddled, perhaps by design. Using imagination and creativity as a weapon or defense mechanism of sorts seems to be the overarching theme here, but it’s getting lost in the chaos of floating parfaits, extraterrestrial donuts, and talking fried shrimp.