While other 29-year olds of the world spent their weekends reading Important Adult Books, doing Important Adult Things and Taking Relaxing Adult Breaks, I, on the other hand, found out about Sarazanmai and watched the whole thing over the weekend.
I named this post Anime Analysis so I can match it with my other post, "Anime Analysis: Yuri on Ice", but this isn't so much of an analysis as it is an... impression. Why?
Because I don't know if I have the brainpower, cultural knowledge, or the sanity to properly analyze whatever the hell was going on in this series.
I will now proceed to just kind of ramble about this anime for a while.
Synopsis: (from MyAnimelist)
Kazuki Yasaka, an 8th grader living in Asakusa, is turned into a Kappa along with his classmates Toi and Enta by a mysterious creature named Keppi, after they break inadvertently a statue of a Kappa, the guardian god of the city. They are then ordered by Keppi, who claims to be the first heir to the throne of Kappa Kingdom, to fight against the Kapa-zombies, bioarms created by his enemies, if they want to return to their human form.
In order to kill them, they have to make a specific sound called "Sarazanmai" which is produced only when the three of them are united, but the three boys cannot connect at first. In addition, one of their secrets is revealed to each other every time they emit the sound! They finally accept to take risks to collect the "Plates of Hope," given by Keppi when they defeat the Kapa-zombies, and which can make their wishes come true.
However, some trouble occurs over the plates...! Along the course of the fights against the Kapa-zombies, their fierce past and inner conflicts keep getting revealed. This is the sarcastic fantasy of three boys who don't feel connected to their important ones, getting to realize the real meaning of bonds.
TL;DR review summary: IT'S REALLY FUCKING WEIRD BUT IT GETS GOOD I SWEAR TO GOD.
1. I cannot stress enough how fucking weird and bizarre the series is. The entire reason I post this on my now dead blog instead of like, anywhere else is because I want to talk about this a lot but I just... can't. The below image kind of explains everything.
2. The series has a lot of butts and butt imagery and it's... honestly hard to stomach it but apparently it's all part of some Japanese folklore involving the Kappa. I dunno man, Japan is fucking weird sometimes.
3. Whoever is reading this, don't run away and keep reading because, BECAUSE, BECAUSE, in spite of all the distressing anal imagery, this show has heart. It has genuine heart and tells the story of three troubled middle-schoolers trying to cope with their lives and connect with those dear to them.
4. I started watching Sarazanmai in the first place after the show ended in Japan due to the sheer volume of Korean otaku screaming about how good of a show this was: it's really weird but it's so good, they said, you have to watch it to understand, they said.
5. At first I was hesitant to watch it because it seemed like it would be some coming of age story about three middle school boys and I honestly wasn't interested in some barely pubescent children tackle issues about growing up.
But you know what? The show made me care about these boys.
And it's not because these boys are troubled (the boys as a whole are way more troubled than any average 14-year-old has the right to). As the story progressed, you learn about the boy's lives and secrets and traumas, and juxtaposed with how young and vulnerable and full of heart they are, you just get to root for them. You want these boys to be happy. You want these boys to have better lives. And you finally understand why you just gotta keep watching in spite of all the weird Japanese Butt Stuff.
6. I also liked that the show wasn't afraid to pull its punches. In my post on Yuri on Ice, I complained that the characters' actions did not have any consequences and whatever they did did not matter at the end.
In Sarazanmai, actions definitely have consequences. Lies are exposed, secrets are leaked out, crimes are answered for, and only honesty and genuine communication save any of the characters and get them their desired consequences. I liked that.
7. You know what else Sarazanmai did right? Being unambiguously and unapologetically gay. One of the protagonists, Enta, has a non-ambiguous, actual and literal gay crush on his childhood friend Kazuki.
I'm sorry for constantly comparing this with Yuri on Ice and dissing the former show but THIS is how you handle gay stuff, Yuri on Ice! Not with homoerotic fan service and ambiguous are-they-or-aren't-they relationships, but with actual, clear statements about how gay your gay characters are! Fuck you, Yuri on Ice!
8. Now that I've said enough about the boys and the show's plot, I shall now ramble on about my personal favorite part of the show: the antagonists, The Hot Otter Cops.
What finally got me convinced to watch Sarazanmai were google image results of these pretty boys and the fact that they exist. Middle school boys tackle growing up? Ehh... THESE pretty boys are also in the show? Sign me the fuck up!
I love how extra they are, and their song-and-dance sequence is just the Fucking Most.
And if you thought these Hot Otter Cops seem a bit homoerotic, it's because... well, spoilers, they're also unambiguously gay. The Hot Otter Cops antagonize the three boys throughout the story because they got their own desires and purposes to fulfill, which involves the fact that they are lovers who lost something important to them.
I did wish the show focused on their backstory a little bit more because their story arc seemed a little bit rushed compared to the middle school boys' stories, but I enjoyed every screentime they got all the same.
9. So... once I got used to the SHEER FUCKING WEIRDNESS and all the anal imagery, I enjoyed watching this series very much. I would recommend it to people if not for the fact that the initial premise is an insanely hard sell.
But trust me, it gets good, it gets better. You won't regret having watched it. It's also only 11 episodes long so it's an easy series to breeze through.
You should probably watch it alone or with a very trusting companion, though.
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