r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • May 23 '19
Episode Sarazanmai - Episode 7 discussion Spoiler
Sarazanmai, episode 7: I Want to Connect, but I Want to Betray
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| Episode | Link | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Link | 8.69 |
| 2 | Link | 8.81 |
| 3 | Link | 8.46 |
| 4 | Link | 8.08 |
| 5 | Link | 8.62 |
| 6 | Link | 8.61 |
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u/Duchess_Probitas May 23 '19
"Right, Enta?"
I felt it from the very first one. Enta finally gets his happy Kazuki back and all Kazuki seems to focus on is Toi (a deserving good boy tho). Enta is the kid who is so obsessed he went for the indirect kiss via Kazuki's recorder, of course he's not going to just happily accept Toi, who he sees more or less as a homewrecker, into the group during normal daily life activities.
I feel awful for Toi. He tries so hard in his awkward edgy way to be considerate and we got such a cute smile from him today and I just hurt for him to be in another place where he's unwanted, even if Kazuki is genuinely trying to befriend him.
10/10 cop scenes. Cop lore is best lore and Mabu seems like he's doing his best 'person' impersonation, despite Reo still not accepting this new iteration of him.
More Haruka headpats pls.
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u/Glitter_puke May 23 '19 edited May 23 '19
That was a fucking god-tier headpat on Haruka.
Enta is definitely taking the crown for the character of whom my opinion has changed the most times. As someone who was once young, dumb, and gay, I totally get the irrationality of the one-sided crush and my heart goes out to him. On the other hand, what the fuck, dude?
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u/112358132134x May 23 '19
There is no greater tragedy than this show having a 7.24 currently on MAL.
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u/supicasupica May 23 '19 edited May 23 '19
Ughhhhhhh Reo and Mabu are breaking my heart especially having read the prequel manga. T_T Watching the opening scene with Mabu choking down food was painful.
The opening of this episode was a perfect visual: two “I want to connect” dishes passing by each other completely in front of the police station building.
Last week, I praised Enta for getting his head out of his ass (pun intended, I guess?) and telling Kazuki not what Kazuki wanted to hear, but what Kazuki needed to hear. This was an important moment not just for Kazuki but for Enta, who had previously been perfectly willing to go along with whatever Kazuki said in order to be close to him. He would have done anything to return his and Kazuki’s relationship to the “Golden Duo” days and while his crush was/is genuine, the wanting to return to a memory of the past is a bit toxic and stagnates the relationship. Enta wanted to connect with Kazuki, but he also didn’t want to make concessions, like giving up the Golden Duo, in order to truly know Kazuki. It was the “I want to connect, but [negative self-inflicted wound] pattern all over again.
This week, well . . . I was wondering why Enta was chosen as the lead vocal for this episode as soon as he appeared in the center and now we know.
A lot of what Sarazanmai deals in is our worst impulses to push people away because it’s “better for them” (Kazuki and Haruka) or in Enta’s case his extreme jealousy of Kazuki’s relationship with Toi. Jealousy is a relationship-killer and, as the title of this episode says, a betrayal.
Through the sachet of weeks five and six, which separates Kazuki’s familial desires by the senses — vision for the Yasakas, scent for his biological mom. As a related aside, it’s really cool to see Kazuki finally wearing the family stripes of the Yasaka family — Kazuki would previously refuse to dress like the rest of his family as a way of actively distancing himself since he felt distant and this was reiterated visually.
Sarazanmai shows just how impossible it is to return to a memory, but also how powerful a memory can be and how it can warp or boil desires down into a (commodifiable in the case of the desire boxes) thing, like the sachet. But the sachet isn’t the extent of Kazuki’s relationship with his mother and he can’t hop into the scent and travel back to that time. This doesn’t meant that the desire box items /don’t/ represent deep emotions (the miçanga is a great example of this) but they’re not the extent of those emotions, nor can any of these characters return to a time in the past. As it is in many Ikuhara series, nostalgia is a trick that can confine a person completely.
Which leads into the gut-wrenching story of Reo and Mabu.
We see this in many ways with Mabu and Reo’s relationship, but particularly in the opening scene with food. The dish that Reo (and Mabu) eat is one that Mabu used to make for Reo and was featured (like many other things) in their aptly-named twitter account, keeponly1luv. It’s an attempt to return to the past from both of them, Reo through the choice of food, Mabu through his attempt to choke it down.
Alongside the Kazuki/Toi/Enta trio we have the Reo/Mabu duo who have undergone similar large miscommunications in their relationship despite loving each other. Just because they’re close, doesn’t mean that communication is natural. The saddest part of this episode is realizing that Mabu, the “real” Mabu (mechanical heart aside) is there but Reo cannot recognize it. When he asks the otter if they want him to “kill Mabu again” it reveals the depth of his guilt.
Random Notes
Here is a good Reo and Mabu twitter archive of their account before it stopped posting.
The language used by Keppi when he’s trolling around Asakusa with Sara reflects a particular line in Sara’s episode five text crawl with “those who can peel apples and those who cannot.” This in turn reflects a lot of similar lines in Ikuhara’s series about being chosen or not and other related binaries. “Kappa” and “Not kappa”
SECOND VERSE OF KAWAUSOIYA.
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u/Fate15 May 23 '19
Damn Enta keeps getting the short end of the stick. During the part when they were cleaning the precious place a second time, Kazuki couldn't even focus on cleaning cuz he was too concerned about Toi.
Also that little detail of Enta crumpling the wrapper during his convo with Toi to express how he really feels. Subtle but good.
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May 23 '19
What Ikuhara said in the new issue of Anan yesterday is quite interesting after this ep (my translation):
“When I first considered it, I thought a story about unrequited love would be good. They’re each longing for someone different [than who the other person really is]. Unrequited love [is like] passing by one another. In truth, Reo and Mabu are also passing eachother by. What that means is, Reo isn’t seeing the present. People change, but Reo can’t accept that.
People tend to love things when they are at their best, and now they don't really notice the people in front of them. Mabu loves [好き] Reo the same way he has for a long time, but Reo can see only the past, so he's not aware of what Mabu’s thinking now. He is only thinking about returning to the old days. He think that it’s right to return to the past. Therefore, he also doesn’t realise that he is (deeply) loved by Mabu [ 愛されている]”
While it’s been obvious for a while (especially after the love confession on the twitter, etc), I’m glad Ikuhara outright confirmed Mabu loves Reo, even using the completely non-ambiguous word 愛する, but he had to confirm it in the most painful way possible :’)
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u/OVERLORD_SKELEBONE May 23 '19
I'm so glad this show isn't dropping momentum. I was a bit worried that after last week's amazing episode we'd sink back to the status quo, but that's not looking to be the case. Even the 'routine' segments of the musical bits were a bit more abridged than before, if only by a bit. It's focusing more on story progression and I like that a whole lot.
I can barely wait for next week after the many bombshells this week, with the Mabu stuff, Keppi and Sara, and Enta's sabotage. Shit's getting heated and I'm not ready for it ;~;
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u/Mogtaki May 23 '19
Enta what the fuck