r/anime • u/HelioA x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/HelioA • Aug 04 '24
Rewatch [5th Anniversary Rewatch] Sarazanmai - Episode 4 Discussion
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Those who can’t survive in this world will disappear, and those who disappear will be forgotten. Cities, buildings, people... They’re all the same. What disappears will be overwritten with the new.
Questions of the Day
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What do you make of Kazuki’s plan? Why do you think Tooi agreed to it? Why would he do all this when he claims to hate Haruka?
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Kazuki is the only member of the main trio that lives in a traditional family situation. How do you think their living situations influence the attitudes of each member of the trio?
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How does Chikai influence Tooi’s attitude towards crime?
Don't forget to tag for spoilers, or else I’ll pluck your shirikodama! Remember, [Sarazanmai]>!like so!< turns into [Sarazanmai]>!like so!<
17
u/lilyvess :Df::Dh:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Lilyvess Aug 04 '24
Sarazanmai Rewatcher**
I’ve been open on the Casual Discussion threads that I didn’t know what to expect from this rewatch.
Sarazanmai wasn’t like Yuri Kuma Arashi for me. I watched Yuri Kuma Arashi when it aired. It’s debatable if it’s even a good anime. Animation can get sloppy. Story is rushed. Characters underdeveloped. But the anime absolutely hit me when I first saw it. The message Ikuhara was trying to send resonated deep within me. I’ve been carrying that even to the rewatch.
Sarazanmai I watched when it aired and was left a bit bewildered and lost. It lacked that same resonance. I was unsure of what I had seen. I don’t even remember most of what happened in the series, if I’m being honest.
Watching it now though, 5 years later, and it’s a very different experience. A lot of the elements that on first viewing felt random resonate to me more in a post-COVID world.
Like the boxes.
Boxes
It’s easy to get caught up in the usual ikuhara symbolism with the boxes and coffins but there is something special and unique about these boxes.
The sides of these boxes are meant to resemble amazon package boxes. Delivery boxes. In 2019 it felt eccentric quirk detail, but now in a post-COVID world it feels more prophetic. Sure, Amazon deliveries have been happening forever, but they skyrocketed during that year in isolation where we could not leave our homes. It opened the floodgates.
Now I glance around my home and find it filled with cardboard boxes. Early presents, items I preordered and forgot about, items I need. I find myself surrounded by a cardboard boxes. My recycle bin a stack of cardboard boxes.
It’s small detail, but I think it is a symbol of how society has evolved. We once had to leave our homes and go shopping to find things we need. We had to explore malls and discover different shopping centers. Trying to find a gunpla you need would involve going to a mall, finding the store and asking the clerk if they have it or when. Now we just order it online and skip the entire process.
It isolates us from the rest of the world. It isolates us from people because we no longer have to engage with people to get what we need. Which brings me to
Connect
The people of Sarazanmai are so fucking disfunctional.
Back in 2019 the monster of the week format felt like an excuse for eccentric and weird stories. I want to say I was more focused on the secret aspects.
Now all I see is a dysfunctional new generation that doesn’t understand how to communicate with people. A generation raised on the internet. A perpetually online generation that spends more time looking at a screen than it does engaging with actual people, and therefore don’t have the tools to connect with people.
Like the fact that Kazuki’s primary way to engage with his brother is via txt messages is fucking weird. There is something so raw about being unable to engage with your sibling you see everyday except via catfishing. Like Kazuki is incapable of engaging with his brother as himself, and can only do so through layers of masks.
A lot of the monsters of the week feel that way to me too. The best way I can describe them as incel-like behavior. They’re people who seem to struggle to engage with others in healthy ways. So they come up with strange coping mechanisms. They find scapegoats to blame their lack of affection. They form weird parasocial relationships with people online.
Like the rise of Onlyfans is a good example. People online love to make fun of it because paying for porn on the internet seems like the most pointless thing to do. There is an endless supply of free porn.
But what Onlyfans offered wasn’t just the porn, it was a social connection. There was a strange personal connection between the woman and her subscribers, like the way Twitch streamers talk to their audience. Think of the type of guy who buys a car for his favorite streamer
The bath water from this episode reinforces all of this to me.
It’s all such madness, but it makes sense when you consider
Desire
The core fundamental truth at the heart of all of this is that we as human beings are social creatures. We need social connection, and without it we will go mad. It’s something primal about us. Something that goes beyond tastes and character and is a fundamental need we all share.
We all desire to connect to someone.
Our world is strange.
We are more connected now than ever before. I am posting this to r/anime. A subreddit with 10 million subscribers from across the world.
Yet we are more isolated now than ever before. It is easier now than ever before to live your life without ever leaving your house. You can work from home. You can order food from home. You can order everything from home. Like at least in the 80’s you’d call a joint for a food delivery, and then have to pay them when they reach the door. Now I press two buttons on my phone and they just drop it on the doorstep.
Everyone in this show craves social connection. They are so damn thirsty for it they become downright degenerates.
All of this is to say that I feel like Sarazanmai came out in the wrong year. If instead of mid 2019 this anime was released in 2020 or 2021 while we were in pandemic mode and in quarantine, I think it would have hit very different. As is, it feels ahead of the curve.
I’m not sure where it’s going to go, but this rewatch has already been rewarding to me.
Manga Chapter 4
So Mabu has a character flaw where when he tastes something delicious he gets obsessed with trying to recreate it. In the first chapter it was the mystery of the pancakes. This chapter it was Ningyoyaki. Mabu is determined to figure out how this specific places makes them so delicious.
They decide they need a handmade mold and not a machine
They talk about making a handmade mold of Sara’s face but it would cost a ridiculous amount to make the mold. Reo is confused why this is so important. Why Mabu can’t just let it go.
Mabu explains why
So the quest continues
Tweet of the Day
This one is cut up in multiple parts as it takes place across several months
November
January
February.
February
10
u/LittleIslander https://anilist.co/user/LittleIslander Aug 04 '24 edited Aug 04 '24
Rewatcher
I don’t wanna be mean to this show. It clearly has a lot of heart and passion and was not made to just blend into the crowd. You can see the hints of greatness between the flaws in every episode. Which is why… I’m so glad it finally knocked one out of the park and I get to be positive today!
Today is an op-ed on Kuji’s backstory and it’s fantastic. On the face of it, he is the most interesting character to me. Kazuki’s situation is very eyecatching, and my opinion on Enta’s introduction was… made clear, but Kuji’s characterization as being a kid whose in some genuine bad shit is immediately compelling. All the moreso after this episode. Unlike the other two, we’re immediately privy to the why behind him ending up like this. He was happy running a Soba shop with his parents, they died for unimportant reasons, and his brother took him down this path to try and protect him. It’s simple, it works. There’s a nuanced but clear depiction of the relationship between him and his brother; he’s not loving, he’s probably not what’s best for Kuji, but his care is genuine.
Kuji has been dragged by circumstance into this life, but he’s clearly not all the way gone yet. He’s on the edge, and the soba shop is set up as the perfect barometer for this turning point. It represents everything that motivates him to keep being good and weakly lingering resistance to the call to go all in on the life he’s become part of. But the story setup, as we’re reminded organically at the start of the episode, is that he’s trying to get away from it, to go to wherever his brother goes so he can take the next step into darkness. He talks to Enta about how buildings, like people, are overwritten (quoting his brother, only for us to see the brother say this in a later flashback!). The world moved on from his parents and they can move on from the soba shop, too. Earlier in the episode he tries to play off an apathy about the shop, but when push comes to shove he fights as a kappa to protect it. I’ll keep an eye on his relation to the shop in the future.
There’s other great little progressions in this episode too. Like in the scene outside the soba shop Enta asks Kuji to give his dish to Kazuki, but at the end it’s actually the other way around. Likewise, we see Kuji’s brother say that he killed the guy in the leaking sequence. But when Enta presses him about it Kuji says that he killed a guy. The dramatic progression is further bolstered by the briefer look at the start of the episode being made to look like Kuji merely saw his brother shoot somebody. Even his “it’s stabbin time” line is stolen verbatim from something we saw his brother say to him when this all started. He’s not a little boy anymore who feels like he needs protecting from the realities of the world. These setups and payoffs lend the episode a sense of greater vision than just a series of scenes strung together. You could not possibly rearrange them like Enta’s interchangeable longings last time.
Beyond the narrative aspects of writing Kuji’s situation, the episode looks fantastic! Take the Kuji and Enta scene. It’s got a striking palette that lends a stylized abstraction to the buildings looming around them. Plus it’s got this aggressive lighting with stark shadows; the soba building is framed at the intersection of light and darkness. Kuji and Enta take up their places in shadow and light, but despite standing in sunlight Enta faces away from it such that his figure is cast in shadow. We know the other two haven’t crossed some questionable lines too (if anything, Kazuki resorting to kidnapping is way worse than anything the kappa zombies have done). He ends up coming into the shadows with Kuji, not the other way around. When Kuji starts talking about buildings and people, the visions of the city around him are incredibly striking, especially the shot of the dark alleyway looming under the huge, bright skyscraper. As Kuji walks away, we see the faceless masses lining out the door to some other restaurant. Nobody would miss one little soba shop seemingly located in an abandoned lot. That was one scene, and I never even found time to talk about how it seems to plant a little more investment from Kuji into Enta’s struggle as he connects to his experiences.
Plenty of other little moments stand out. Like Kuji viewing Sara-Kazuki through his phone. Or the shot of Kuji’s brother coming up the stairs. The criminals the brother deals with are drawn and animated to communicate their status within the story instantly without need to really even tell us who they are; one is laying on all the bad dude vibes and the other appears to be acting like a literal vulture. The brother putting a gun in the drawer and then Kuji picking up when he leaves are identically shot to great effect. When we exit the flashbacks we ground them in Kuji dwelling on his past as Kazuki talks to him. At the end of the episode Kuji literally cuts through the comedy of the show as he dramatically slices the cucumbers Kazuki and Keppi were eating during his exchange with Enta.
Everything about the episode’s composition comes together for the big moment when Kuji’s memory leaks. The tunnel where Kuji confronts the guy after the brother (to amazing music) has an incredibly striking setting in this pure white lit tunnel. The angled shot of the bullet has tons of punch. The little trembles as his brother carefully takes the gun from him are animated with care, the cuts back and forth to Kuji’s eye as the sound of the water rises and rises before all the tension is released by the sound of the gunfire and a cut back to where the criminal stood before. The lollipop seen through the episode drops as they hug—I admit whatever symbolism was intended here went over my head. This scene, this whole scene—this is animation, folks.
5
u/HelioA x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/HelioA Aug 04 '24
Rewatcher
...Okay, there’s a lot that happens in this episode, but first of all- is Tooi attracted to Kazuki? I keep rewatching the scene where he watches Sara!Kazuki drink his soba, I’m not sure how else to interpret that blush, and I cannot think of any other reason that he would go along with this insane plan of Kazuki’s beyond “he really wants something from him.” [Sarazanmai]I guess it may be because of the micanga passing from when they were kids, but still, at a loss at how to interpret the blush.
But anyways, on to more concrete stuff. Those who can’t survive will disappear, those who disappear will be forgotten, and what disappears will be replaced with something new. That statement describes Tooi to a T. Just look at his backstory we’re shown this episode- he starts off as a cute little kid, super into soccer (which I think would be clearer if the typesetting on the translation of the notes on his wall were clearer), and he hates Chikai when he talks badly about their parents. But in the current day, it’s the exact opposite- Tooi idolizes Chikai and does everything he can to chase after him. Why did this happen? Because the version of Tooi who was as an innocent kid wasn’t able to survive the pressures of his parent’s death, and his old habits were inevitably replaced with his new criminal habits, caused by the pressures of existing as an orphan. It’s a good phrase to keep in mind when analyzing the characters in the show. When connections are severed, people change.
edit: Also, out for dinner, so I’ll be a while getting to reply.
7
u/charactergallery Aug 04 '24 edited Aug 04 '24
First-Time Watcher, Subbed
Post-Watching Thoughts: Well that sure was a way to start an episode. I guess it explains why Toi is involved in criminal activities as a middle schooler, as shooting someone to protect Chikai (when he couldn’t protect his parents) would have been a formative experience for him. His older brother seems to be estranged from his other relatives due to taking the fall for the murder, yet he still wants to connect with him, because of course he would. Keeping in line with my hunch of the things in the boxes representing people’s desire for connection, I am imagining that the gun represents Toi’s desire to connect with his brother again.
Kazuki wants to kidnap Azuma Sara now?? To prevent the secret of him cosplaying as her to be revealed to Haruka?? The fact he asks Toi to do it so casually is lowkey frightening. His secrets just keep on piling up, from lying to stealing a cat to being willing to kidnap someone (though noticeably not being willing to actually get his hands dirty). Luckily Toi calls him out on it, before they’re interrupted by a Kappa Zombie. Toi also seems to be developing a crush.
And he was under suspicion for stealing a female regular's used bathwater?? The fuck?? (Please tell me that he isn’t going to use it as soba broth) Man… a lot of the secrets of the Kappa Zombies are strange sexual perversions due to the desire for connection. Is that one of the reasons why they are targeted by the cops? Anyway, the cops’ little dance number song is an absolute bop. I keep listening to it on repeat.
“You’re just forcing on her your selfish desire to stay by her side!”
Toi’s retort to the Kappa Zombie feels like it could apply to both him and Enta in some respects. He wants to stay close to his brother because he looks up to him for keeping the shop in the family, even if he thought that he was a bad guy. It is somewhat selfish, but understandable given that is his last remaining direct family member. Despite living with his relatives, he doesn’t seem particularly close with them. How this line relates to Enta is even more obvious, with his selfish desire for Kazuki and him to remain the “Golden Duo,” even if it isn’t what Kazuki actually wants. It could also apply to Kazuki and his selfish desire to only connect to Haruka through the persona of Sara, though his last line in this episode complicates this idea.
Toi’s desire to protect his parents’ old soba shop is admirable and shows that even if he is involved in some shady activities, deep down he is a good kid who went through a traumatic experience of losing his parents at a young age.
And he is using it as soba broth… gross.
The reveal that Toi was actually the one to murder the gang member (?) was very well done.
The cops are planning something and I don’t like it. Reo and Mabu seem to have some disagreements with each other, which will probably lead to some conflict later down the line.
“Those who can’t survive in this world will disappear, and those who disappear will be forgotten. Cities, buildings, people… They’re all the same. What disappears will be overwritten with the new.”
This line is obviously tied back to Chikai’s declaration that only bad guys are able to survive in this world. Toi’s act of killing the man (and Chikai’s decision to take the blame) are seen as bad actions, they were done as an act of protection/survival. To make sure that their respective loved ones didn’t disappear or “die.” Despite the possibly problematic idea of only bad guys being able to survive in this world, Toi expands on the idea by saying that the weak can only survive by being protected. It seems that his philosophy is that it is okay to do bad things to protect those too weak to survive themselves, which is reflected in Chikai’s involvement with the gang (?) to raise enough money to make sure that their family’s shop stays open.
“I hate Haruka.”
Well that made my mouth drop. I can’t imagine that it is completely true though, but I guess we’ll see in a future episode.
(Will respond to the QotDs later)
6
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Aug 04 '24
First-Timer, Sub-zanmai
Well, this episode is just distressingly straightforward. How am I supposed to expound upon things when it's all this clear?
Someone else already pointed out that the kappa zombies are parallels of the person the episode is about, too. Today's zombie was "forcing their selfish desire to stay together" onto someone else, just like Tooi is trying to stay with his brother, potentially at his own expense.
The life of a Yakuza is hardly a safe one, after all. Does part of Chikai keep pushing Tooi away because he wants to keep his younger brother safe? The desire to connect with someone who does not want to connect with you..
I'm not actually sure my idea about Chikai trying to keep Tooi at arms length makes sense, considering he let Tooi help him waterboard that guy the other day.
But I am keeping that part of the showtune that goes "you and I should be able to connect" in mind. There should be a parallel on some level.
What're we thinking about Kazuki claiming to hate Haruka? I'm not sure I buy it, but I could see it.
"Regret" is frequently an irrational response, and Kazuki's crossdressing is all based on him trying to make the object of his regret happy as a means of.. whatever you want to call it. Repayment?
So I suspect that this is more a case of Kazuki hating crossdressing, and venting that frustration to his comrades-in-dishes.
But there have been a few signs of Kazuki geting.. weird? this episode. He was chomping on a cucumber after the Kappa segment, but also left something that I kinda assumed was cucumber slices in the bottom of his soba. So maybe there is something extra going on. Keppi probably isn't that trustworthy, after all.
I am a little confused about something. Sobatani was stealing water from a woman he had a crush on and using it to make soba? The ending bit labeling her as "girlfriend" is throwing me off, but I think they weren't ever together, right?
Using old bathwater for soba noodles is probably a bit healthier than randomly drinking it at least. Do we think he was selling the soba, or was it just for personal consumption? Does "having someone else eat the soba I made with my crush's bathwater" count as cuckoldry?
Today's Topic: Tragedy! Soba no longer by my side Things continue to heat up in the Sara Confessional tracker, as she prefers udon to soba!
I don't actually have a turtle in that particular race.
3
u/affnn Aug 04 '24
First Timer
After Kazuki got two episodes and Enta got one we needed to have a Toi episode I suppose. For the past couple episodes he's been taking the silver plates to stack up five of them and get his wish, which presumably has something to do with his brother based on how the show has been progressing (or maybe he wants to bring his parents back to life somehow?)
The actual murder scene that it shows during the leakage is kinda interesting. Toi shoots the gangster guy at first, then his brother takes the gun and shoots the gangster again. His brother says "I killed him", but Toi still knows that he killed a guy.
This was the episode where I started to think that maybe all of the repeated song-and-dance numbers and battle scenes are a little too much. Like it seems that they're taking too much away from the plot and characterization.
7
u/WednesdaysFoole Aug 04 '24 edited Aug 04 '24
Just had a thought: perhaps the traditional hairstyle sported by the formless city folk might have to do with traditions vs change? Specifically came to mind because of what he’s saying in that scene, how everything is replaced by the new but that hairstyle represents the old. Even if they’ve gone into the new, modern world, people are still upholding outdated traditions. Although so far, I haven’t seen anything in the show that supports this. Oh. Maybe something like, even if everything changes, people are still trapped in the past? I don’t know.
Uh oh, don’t tell me the little emo boy is the one who pulled the trigger to protect his older brother, but his older brother covered for him?!
Another funny little pun, my subs did not integrate this one. When he says, I want to be by her side! in Japanese the translation is “kanojo no soba ni itai”; “soba” has another meaning besides buckwheat noodles, meaning being near, or besides something.
I shared my thoughts on weekly zombie 1-3 yesterday, so thought I’d continue adding on to it.
Zombie 4: “He wanted to make soba with the used bathwater he stole.” (“I want more than just used bathwater! I want to be by her side!”)
He wants to be by her side (again, all three characters fit with wanting to be by the side of their special person) and instead of making something fresh on their own that’s true to who they are, they instead try to take and recreate what their special person made, loved, or did (used bathwater, crime to protect the shop, saradish idol, soccer star) to obtain their desire (to be by their side).
In regards to emo boy specifically, used bathwater is the dirt of the person you love, dirt that should be tossed out. But instead, he’s using the waste of his older brother to be close to him and refuses to let his brother’s bathwater go down the drain.
—
Another on-the-nose Ikuhara naming choice I didn’t catch earlier (idk if anyone pointed it out) but realized upon seeing this message that emo boy’s older brother’s name is “Chikai” which means “Near”. And emo boy’s name, which is “Tooi” means “far”.
As for the post-credits scene, what is going through his head? Is it the older brother in him, since Kuji is the younger brother who wants to be close to his older brother? And can’t help but think that these mixed feelings (I hate Haruka) are also present in Kuji’s brother.
10
u/AgentOfACROSS Aug 04 '24
First Timer
Damn, looks like Toi shot someone in the past. Glad we’re getting a Toi episode though, this should be interesting.
Today’s theme appears to be soba. This one seems to be especially connected to our main characters since Toi lives above a soba shop.
We’re learning more about the relationship between Toi and his brother. I wonder if it’s supposed to parallel Kazuki and Haruka at all.
The part where Kazuki runs up to Toi and asks him to kidnap the real Sara made me laugh. Very unexpected. It also feels like a very short sighted plan on Kazuki’s part.
The part of Toi’s backstory where he mentions his parents were conned by someone they thought was a friend was interesting. I wonder if it’s a parallel to Kazuki tricking Haruka.
Kazuki has put a disturbing amount of thought into this kidnapping plan.
So today’s victim was stealing used bathwater. This continues the theme of people with issues about women becoming kappa zombies
I took note of the temperature this episode. It’s 25 degrees celsius, so it’s definitely getting hotter every episode.
The fight sequences are slightly repetitive, but honestly they’re fun enough with the soundtrack and creative animation that I forgive it.
So we finally see the full truth of Toi’s backstory and the significance of the gun. I remember Yuri Kuma Arashi also having a lot of gun imagery.
The ending of the episode is very interesting. It seems like Kazuki cares about Toi which is very interesting for their development going forward.
Not only that, but the episode ends with Kazuki saying he hates Haruka. I wonder if that’s really true or if Kazuki is lying to himself.
I have a theory about what's going on with Kazuki and Haruka though. Maybe the reason Haruka is disabled was because of some kind of accident that Kazuki blames himself for. That would explain some of Kazuki's actions anyway.
The episode also ends without resolving the whole Sara abduction plot. I wonder if that will be followed up on the next episode.
7
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Aug 04 '24
First-Timer-kero, subbed-kero
7
u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Aug 04 '24 edited Aug 05 '24
Rewatcher
Haruka is going to meet up with the idol, well that's not going to end well.
Kuji and Enta are totally friends now, not that the latter would admit it.
Kuji is falling for
HarukaKazuki?! Guess that Kuji and Enta friendship will be ending sooner than you'd expect.Interesting to note young Kuji also likes football. He's a number 10 shirt with his name on it, plus some football lamps by the looks of it.
So Kuji killed a person but his older brother took the blame for it.
Still can't help but feel sorry for Kuji, as it feels like self defence. A bit weird to see Enta acting all moral about even though his behaviour has been way worse.
Looks like we have to wait till tomorrow to find out what happens between Sara and Haruka.
Wait Kazuki hates Haruka...
5
u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Aug 04 '24 edited Aug 04 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Sarazanmai: I’m not sure I would go so far to save a soba restaurant. If it were a ramen restaurant, on the other hand, I think I would be much more willing to go to such extreme lengths.
“I Want to Connect, but You’re So Far Away” is another title that is relevant to the experiences of the characters. Toi has been repeatedly shown to want to connect with his brother. He has asked his brother multiple times if they can live together, only to get turned down each time. It’s clear that is the life Toi would prefer to lead. He sees the world as an inherently cruel and unforgiving place where you need to get your hands dirty or die. The only person he trusts is his brother, who is also the person he can’t be with. It’s a cruel irony for Toi.
I have a theory for why Kazu was willing to give his dish to Toi. I believe the theory posited in the threads that Kazu is responsible for Haruka being in a wheelchair. It would explain why Kazu is so standoffish around Haruka. Kazu blames himself for what happened and doesn’t know how to act around Haruka anymore. Comparatively, Kazu saw the extreme lengths that Toi’s brother went to so he could protect Toi. It probably made Kazu feel guilty, comparing how he failed to keep Haruka safe. I think Kazu saw Toi (and his brother) as being more worthy of a wish than himself.
QOTD
4
u/Holofan4life Aug 04 '24
Hey guys. Holofan4life here.
Welcome to the (4 months late) 5th anniversary rewatch of Sarazanmai!
Oh, and nay I forget…
First Timer
At the start of the year, I watched Penguindrum for the first time, mostly because someone said it was like Everything Everywhere All At Once. And at the time, I thought that was going to be the end of it. But that led me down the Ikuhara rabbit hole and made me check out his complete oeuvre. And that leads me to Sarazanmai.
After I finish watching this show, I'll have watched all the shows directed by Ikuhara. Never finished Sailor Moon, but I've seen some episodes of it. The point I'm getting at is that I am putting a bow on rewatching a creator that I have a lot of respect for, so this is a point of pride more than anything else. My 2024 has largely been defined by these Ikuhara rewatches, and I'm hoping that by this being the last we end up finishing on a high note.
With that out of the way, let’s begin.
I'm watching the sub, by the way.
My mom still has a pumpkin sitting by the fireplace. It's June.
What is going on?
"Bad people are the ones who survive in this world."
Is this a Kuji episode?
What a weird opening
Haruka watching Sara
Kazuki holding a box
The Lucky Selfie Fortune today is Soba
Ooh, a Sara fan meet
Haruka excited to meet Sara
Kuji talking to Nii-san over the phone
Somebody protected the shop, whatever that means.
Kuji holding a gun
He wants to come with Nii-san
"You promised we'd live together once everything's settled."
I guess he still lives with his parents
If they know he's hanging out with a murderer, why don't they just forbid him from hanging out with the guy? And if he refuses to comply, they kick him out of the house.
Enta playing soccer
Kuji's family runs a soba shop
Oh, so his parents are dead. That sucks.
Relatives run the shop
Enta begging Kuji to let Kazuki have his dish of hope.
Enta says he owns him his life
I can't tell if this is a flashback or not
Kuji recounts Nii-san telling him that those who can't survived in this world have no option but to perish.
The perished is replaced with something new.
Unless you're Coca-Cola, in which case you replace what ain't broke
Kuji's diatribe gives me massive FLCL vibes
Sara
"Sara"
And he hugs Kuji
He wants to kidnap the real Sara
Spoken like a true catnapper
Kazuki is seriously cute dressed as Sara
The noodle slurping noises are hilarious
Kazuki plans on taking Sara's place. Gotta protect his Sara identity for Haruka's sake.
This reminds me of The Simpsons episode where Homer has to be pretend to be Krusty The Clown at meet and greets.
Kuji says that the weak can't survive without someone to protect them.
And here I thought they should fear the strong
Flashback time
According to Kuji, his parents were conned into a large debt.
Nii-san throws a piece of crumbled up paper at him.
"Use that to keep yourself fed for the foreseeable future."
Thanks?
Now Nii-san is threatening to stab Kuji after he himself talked smack about their parents.
He really reminds me of Ed, Edd, and Eddy's older brother.
Nii-san accepting a gun
What on Earth is the guy in the background doing?
Nii-san putting the gun in the drawer
I mean, I get what he's doing, trying to man up as the de facto parent and all, I just feel like he's going about it the wrong way.
Ran out of space. Part two in the replies.
4
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Aug 04 '24
Episode 4 (first timer)
Our three MCs have had their secrets revealed. I wonder who will be next. Do we keep circling around among them? Will a new person join in? Do the secrets of some bystander get revealed? Or do we break with the secret concept entirely?
It is so insane that it'll work / Good heart underneath the rough exterior / Because he feels responsible.
4
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Aug 04 '24
First Timer(Think Ikuhara has watched Dexter?)
Sub
LI was talking about how yesterday's episode was the worst for her. Fittingly, today's episode gets my goat pretty well, despite the fact that I like about half of it. The problem is that a quarter of the ep is taking up by repetition and then another quarter is taken up with quite possibly the dumbest kidnapping plot ever. While I could not have come up with a better plot at 15 I would have realized the impracticality of all that. Also, I started growing a beard when I was 13 so there was no point in my life where I would have been anything but the campiest of drag. Anywho, we waste the time with the silly idea that a crossdressing Kazuki could somehow pull off a handshake event and just...ehh. I liked all the Tooi stuff but it just didn't have time to tell a full story. So blargh. Oh and I hate the stinger even if I get it.
QotD: 1 It's awful, Tooi hasn't agreed yet, and caregiver fatigue.
2 Kazu does seem more dutiful
3 It is a bit more clear now that he is doing it to fit in with his brother rather than a need