Well what shows did you end up watching this week? Have the likes of One Punch Man and Fruits Basket still kept you going, or have you abandoned them in favor of something strange and interesting? Because something very strange and interesting came our way this week, in the form of Sarazanmai.
I won’t lie when I say that Sarazanmai‘s opening episode is probably one of the most difficult I’ve had to cover for this column. This is an opening episode that I ended up having to watch quite a few times in order to get an opinion that I’m happy to share, although I don’t think this will be a show that I’ll be comfortable with going too much into detail (like a couple of other bloggers I highly respect are currently doing). I’ll tell you why…I tend to have a bit of a history with shows that present borderline-controversial opinions. I’m a nice person, and I don’t like upsetting people, and so what I intend to do for Sarazanmai is to just present what I personally saw, and then allow you to make up your own mind by watching episodes yourself.
This opening episode gives us an introduction of the three main characters: Kazuki, an otherwise ordinary young boy who has given himself bizarre daily tasks outside of school hours, Toi, a boy the same age as Kazuki who spends his time breaking the law and stealing from cars, and Enta, a classmate of Kazuki who looks up to him greatly. Somehow the three of them get involved with Keppi, the Prince of Kappas, who turns them into kappa creatures and tells them that in order to return to normal, they must extract a special organ (a shirikodama) from the butts of zombies that are dotted around the Asakusa district of Tokyo.
After their first successful extraction, Kazuki’s big secret is revealed to the other boys: he cross-dresses as a local idol (Sara) and takes selfies. This episode sort of ends here, so we’re not really given an explanation why he does it or whether he wants acceptance in doing it. Will the theme of gender identity become something that’ll end up being a recurring theme in this show? It’s possible, given Ikuhara’s track record with shows like Revolutionary Girl Utena and Yuri Kuma Arashi – two shows which I greatly recommend, by the way.
I suppose the big question here is whether this is a show I would recommend to others. My answer to that is rather complicated; Sarazanmai is, by no means, not a show for everyone. Not everyone will appreciate the surreal fantasy that takes place here, with the three boys even breaking into a musical number and dance whilst extracting their shirikodama…and not everyone will appreciate the gender identity topics that are raised in this opening episode. Saying that though, this show is full of odd humor, and has a plot that is bound to keep you hooked and wanting more. I for one am very curious as to what kind of character designs we’ll see in these three boys.
But this is going to be a shortish show; only 11 episodes. Maybe these are going to be 11 episodes of pure craziness and insanity, as this is an original story, and none of us have any idea on what kind of story will develop, or what kind of characters will be created in this time. I think it’s safe to say we should all just expect the unexpected here in Sarazanmai.
Hitoribocchi comes back this week as well, and this is a show that reminds us that not every show that comes out this Spring season is weird.
Middle school has still only just started, and Bocchi is still struggling with keeping the people she is currently speaking to. When she unknowingly does something that annoys Nako, another girl comes to her rescue. Aru Honshou has been appointed as vice-president of the class, however there is something that follows her that remains a constant trouble to her: she is incredibly unlucky.
I think it’s interesting how the show has made Bocchi’s task of finding friends and people to talk to such a big deal; the little things a lot of people do and take for granted in everyday life end up becoming hugely difficult tasks for those with social anxiety disorder, and the decisions they make stay in their heads are a long time. The writers could have made Hitoribocchi into a comedy show that takes her condition and ridicules it, turning her into a laughing stock. While there is a lot of humor in this show, I still like the direction this is going. In the space of 2 episodes, Bocchi has already become someone we all want to protect and hold close; we want her to get close to these people, and not let anyone or anything get in the way of that. C2C have done well with this so far, and it’s become a show I look forward to each week.
If only I could say the same for We Never Learn, which doesn’t really seem to be going anywhere, despite introducing the next girl in the harem. I mean none of these characters (even the new one) don’t have any outstanding character designs that jump out and excite me. Added to the fact that we can already predict what will happen at the end of each episode makes We Never Learn not as exciting as I’d like.
New girl Uruka Takemoto fits in the ‘childhood-friend-with-a-crush’ role, and is fighting for a sports scholarship so she can work on her swimming. Because she doesn’t do really well in any other subject, Nariyuki has been drafted in to tutor her on pretty much every subject…which is more or less what he does anyway when he lets her copy his homework. Anitwitter has already labelled her as best girl, which is something I think is too soon to call. I don’t think there even is a best girl in this show so far, since none of them have much that actually stands out. This is something that could be a problem for this show in the future, especially if each future episode is going to be as mediocre as this one. This show needs to get better…somehow.
While I’ve been despairing over We Never Learn, I’ve had a brief look at the other show I had hoped to do this season but thanks/no thanks Netflix…
Carole & Tuesday gives us a good opening episode, introducing the two main characters meeting for the first time in a big city on a terraformed Mars, and them working on their very first song together…along with giving us the briefest of looks at the supporting cast of managers, music producers, rivals and nonsupporting family. This is an original show, so I have absolutely no idea in which direction this could go, but I have the same high hope as I did when this was announced last year. However, Carole & Tuesday will still not be a show I will watch for The OASG; Netflix still hasn’t quite figured out how badly people enjoy having the shows they like available as soon as possible. Because of this fact, this is a show that’ll be stuck in the shadows, much like how Kakegurui, Little Witch Academia, and Dragon Pilot: Hisone & Masotan were (all shows to definitely check out if you have a Netflix subscription). When the show ends at the end of the summer season, I will take the chance to look at it properly – making dubs of this show in other languages (English, French, Spanish, etc.) takes time and money.
If you like, you can check out the real-life Carole & Tuesday Instagram account that has been made; so far with only the one picture of the two of them, but it’s anticipated to get bigger as the show progresses and these two become more famous on this Martian city landscape.
Catching up on my out-of-season shows now, and episode 2 of Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai gives us more in Mai’s arc. Just as Mai makes the decision to return to showbiz, her ‘existence’ is beginning to disappear, to the point of even her former manager/mother not even acknowledging her. To resolve this, Sakuta decides to take Mai to an outside city, to see if this Adolescence Syndrome is just something that is a ‘local’ thing.
I hear about the Rascal Does Not Dream movie that is due to come out soon, that will cover some future volumes of the light novel. Given the success of this show, this is something that is bound to make an appearance in the West at some point.
Meanwhile, over on Kaguya-sama: Love is War, the war rages on, with neither side really securing any victories to be proud of. Instead it’s more like they stumble at the final hour, and have to pick up the pieces afterward.
Episode 2 gives us two stories: the first revolving around a potential trip that the student council can organize – either a beach trip with the searing heat and the scary sharks, or a mountain trip with the cold and bugs, and then Miyuki being confronted by a classmate who wants to confess to a girl.
If anything, I would call out the narrator of this show for making this otherwise simple school romance story what it is; the way he has made this battle between Kaguya and Miyuki so epic and grandiose is absolutely masterful. It’s something that I don’t think a lot of other shows would be able to duplicate either, so kudos to the team responsible for that as well.
I’m glad I chose to pick these two out-of-season shows; both of them were ones that I kicked myself for missing when I originally had the opportunity to watch them, so catching up with them now has been really fun, just like watching the shows I picked out from the Spring season has been so far.
Sooo, yeah…I think this season is going to keep me very busy, but what about you? Have you been watching a lot of new shows this season? Has Sarazanmai blown your mind like it has mine? Do you think Bones/Netflix should give Carole & Tuesday an early Western release? Feel free to hit that like button and air your opinions in the comments below…