“I Want to Connect, but it’s Not Meant to Be”

Thursdays at 3:55 pm EST on Crunchyroll

Enta grapples with guilt and frustration over recent events and his feelings for Kazuki. He desperately want to convince Kazuki to re-join the soccer team but knows he has an uphill battle.​

Jel’s thoughts

To reinforce my point from last week, Sarazanmai is not pulling any punches. There is no question or room for interpretation on Enta’s feelings for Kazuki. He is romantically in love with him, and I really appreciate that they throw this out into the open within the first seconds of the episode. Very few anime ever have the courage to openly say it, so I’m glad we’re saying it now.

I also appreciate that while Enta’s feelings seem to be one sided, he’s not portrayed as an overly tragic figure that is entirely consumed by his relationship with Kazuki. He has the self awareness to recognize Kazuki’s feelings, the fact that some of the things he’s done are pretty creepy, and that he is strong enough to move on if he wants. That last point was particularly great to see in the post credits scene. I do feel like Enta can move on when he’s ready, even if that’s not his decision for now.

My biggest question this episode is why didn’t Kazuki seem to react after they do the sarazamai and return to human form? I know at least a portion of that series of events was Enta’s imagination, but the sarazanmai did occur (they have the plate at the end) and I’m assuming Kazuki saw Enta’s memories. Did they actually see other memories and that was just Enta’s imagination? Are we to infer Kazuki made the same assumption about the kiss being a dare from the soccer club and Enta didn’t have the courage in reality to dispute it? I feel like Kazuki’s reaction to seeing that would be important, so I really want to know.

In the Hot Cops’ plot line we see they have a boss to answer to and apparently their uhhh… organization… is the “otters”? Interestingly, my wikipedia-level research tells me that in some regions otters are considered to be another type of kappa. The Otters in Saranzamai are doing similar work to the kappa but in an apparently more harmful way, so I guess that checks out.

Speaking of harm, another important detail we learn is that the people turned into zombie kappa completely disappear when their desires are exposed. Not just physically, but like all memory of their existence. It’s those kind of details that make me wonder if the boys are doing the right thing, or is there some kind of unforeseen consequences they will have to deal with? I mean, do we have any real reason to trust Prince Keppi? I trust him more than the Hot Cops for sure, but I don’t know if we’re seeing the full picture yet.

I also have a gut feeling one of the boys is going to end up getting caught by the hot cops and disappearing, and sadly after this episode I’d put Enta as the top candidate. I feel like the show is pushing Kazuki toward some kind of breakdown and that would be a big push in that direction. Between that and the reveal that his little brother is apparently sick and I’m assuming not long for this world, I fear for that boy’s future. He’s already looking a little tired and miserable, not sure how much more he can take.

That’s all baseless speculation of course, and there’s only so much I can predict based on three episodes. We’ll just have to keep watching and see what happens next.​​