Kiss for a Kisu // Sarazanmai Ep. 3 Review
I Want to Connect, But Its Not Meant to Be: Episode 3 Review
Sarazanmai episode 3 firmly set the show into an interesting formula. I wasn’t too happy with the repeat of certain elements last episode, but seeing it a third time through made me appreciate the surrounding elements. There is a heavily pun based bad guy who is killed and resurrected as a zombie ghost and terrorizes the town stealing the element of which his pun is based on. Two dance numbers and the reveal of one of the main character’s deepest darkest secrets. Were getting somewhere with this.
This episode is based around the pun of the kiss. It really helps that the show is using a borrowed word from English, so the translators job is already half done. I am very much of the mind that any anime that is too focused on word play doesn’t play well to a non-Japanese audience because it is often too hard to catch the literal and metaphorical meaning of the dialogue. I think that is obvious in how well action shows play to foreign audiences. Sarazanmai is at least very translatable as it seems so far. The bizarre elements of the show also play well visually since the animation is top tier.
Enta’s Crush on Kazuki
At the end of the last episode Enta finds Kazuki while he is dressed up as a girl, and gives him a kiss. As it turns out, Enta has had a crush on Kazuki for a while now, and it wasn’t just seeing Kazuki in a cute outfit that caused Enta to give him the smooch. Enta just really likes Kazuki and wants more than to be just the golden pair of soccer. That’s his deepest secret that he has a lot of trouble coming to terms with this episode.
Multiple times this episode, Enta finds himself daydreaming about his time with Kazuki. He hearkens back to their days of soccer before Kazuki quit, when they could score an amazing goal together. He dreams about returning to the field once more to get another. It feeds into Kazuki’s goal of getting the golden dish to get his wish of returning Kazuki to the field. It is a bit selfish of Enta. Hoping to force his friend back onto the field to relive his own dreams.
This was an Enta focused episode which I liked. The last two focused on Kazuki and some of the more interesting things he has been doing. Enta gets a chance to reveal his soccer career as one half of the golden pair with Kazuki. A lot of his identity has actually been wrapped up in this soccer past. We see that when he gets beat up by the kids from the rival school. Its no wonder he needs to get Kazuki back on the field.
Getting a Kisu from Kiss for a Kiss
The pun based plot of the episode is about getting a kiss which sounds like kisu in Japanese. A kisu is a type of Japanese white fish that is slightly sweet, just like a kiss from a loved one. Kazuki goes to buy a kisu fish to take a selfie with to appease his younger brother. As it turns out the place he goes to is closed because the owner has been killed. The owner named Kiis has been committing marriage fraud and was on the verge of doing this to Enta’s older sister. Turns out the two evil cops have already gotten to him and extracted his desires.
Enta takes charge of the kappa transformation this episode. He realizes that his sister is in danger and goes after the giant zombie kisu. Of course this eventually leads to the reveal of his deepest darkest secret, he likes Kazuki and wants him to return to the field. I think this reveal of a desire worked out best in Enta’s favor. Obviously he doesn’t get want he wants, but Kazuki sees his desire differently and focuses on the desire for him to return to the golden duo.
Final Thoughts
I was able to move past the reoccurring elements this episode because I am starting to like the parts beyond that. We are going to have the cops extract the desire of some evil person, and the boys are going to defeat the zombie in song and dance. The episode is all about uncovering the desires of the three boys and how they are all interconnected. The song and dance numbers are more for the comedy.
[Sources and Further Reading]
[Episode 2 Review]
[Kisu Fish – SavorJapan]
[Images via Crunchyroll]