The episode opens with Mabu’s view of Reo as he’s holding him in his arms while he’s dying, which we saw in the after credits scene in dish 6. Thanks Sarazanmai for starting so lightly.
Mabu wakes up at the otter hospital and an otter greets him. I like how the kawauso phrase is used. It means river otter, but taken apart the word is a combination of river and lie. The way the otter says it highlights the uso part, meaning lie, so sometimes when the otter appears and says it, it’s like it’s commenting on how what we’re seeing and hearing isn’t the truth. I’m including this thought here, but it’s better applied elsewhere/throughout the whole series.
The fact that Mabu was always the person he used to be is killing me. They both love each other so much! (I wrote “loved” but for some reason spell check wanted me to change it to “love”. You’re right spell check, they LOVE each other).
We’re only two minutes into the episode and Enta’s lifespan is looking short. I don’t like that one bit…
Turns out that the weird cylinder Kazuki was holding onto in the PV was Keppi. He got jellyfied, although I always thought it looked more like a cheese. Just my preference lol.
I’m not sure if I should feel shock or immediate acceptance by the reveal that Reo and Mabu are kappa as well. This matches with the idea I had of Sarazanmai from long ago, sometime last fall, when thought that ReoMabu and the boys would be on the same side, but aiming for the same thing for their separate personal goals and thus have some conflict (similar to how several characters all had good reasons to get the diary in Penguindrum and were fighting over it). I gave up on that idea and never fully believed they would be otters, but I didn’t think they’d be kappa! I really like this development. I never wanted them to be otters so I’m very pleased that they aren’t. This raises some interesting questions in regards to the manga. Is it a sequel to the anime after all? Is that the happy ending they’ll eventually get?
We get confirmation that they were indeed working for Keppi. I believed so after dish 6, but then I wavered when they were so chummy with the otters in the following episodes. It’s weird to see Keppi, Kazuki and Enta be so …okay in Reo’s presence after what he did to Enta. I love Reo, but I would be a lot more visibly scared of him if I’d be there. I also find it a bit odd how Reo brings them along, although they do have the last plate that he needs so that explains it. He might also be pleasing Keppi.
The “elevator” scene screams ikuhara to me. Reo also says his “that’s hilarious” line from the Tsunagaru PV, which I’ve been waiting to hear in the anime!
“No one hesitates to give up their connections for the sake of their desires” 
The next scene hurts a lot. It’s painful to watch. The only good thing about it is the promise of a song…
I have to add that while I think Sarazanmai looks amazing, the animation for Reo and Mabu could be a bit better. It looks a bit off and wonky and rough most of the time, at least when we aren’t getting close ups of them. Those are usually beautiful.
I like how Keppi is yet another Ikuhara character who got turned into two beings.
I don’t like that the otter enters Enta through his nostril. …I’m also not sure if it’s better than entering someone through their butt or not.
So the otter shape shifted into Kazuki! It’s sweet that Enta’s able to break the trance because of how strongly he feels about his connection to Kazuki. I also wonder if what he’s saying is supposed to mean that he has no interest in a relationship with Kazuki. I know that Sarazanmai or Ikuhara doesn’t shy away from gay relationships, but a lot of anime do this thing where they have gay characters be okay just staying by their love interests side, and I’m not a huge fan of it, although that’s literally me haha.
Kazuki tries to sacrifice himself for Enta, but he’s not having it. GOOD.
I love how Reo shows up at the right time to collect all the dishes. The scene where Mabu falls down and looks at Reo breaks my heart. No music and it’s prolonged, like torture. But ah, how good!
We get the eyecatch and I can’t believe we’re halfway through the episode. So much has happened, but it doesn’t feel like that much time passed yet. The item for this episode is ningyou-yaki. Mabu’s obsession and Reo’s treat.
Mabu’s judgement falls on desire so he gets turned into a zombie.
Shoutout to the pose Reo makes, ass out for Keppi to turn him into a kappa. I enjoyed that and the yelling. “Sing that song!” has me so hyped. Oh how I’ve missed Sarazanmai no Uta!!
I’ve seen fanart of Reo as a kappa and it looked just like he actually does! I’m quite amazed by this.
I love that Mabu’s backing his singing. It’s both cool and sad how they’re singing together, but as a kappa and a zombie, so they’re not really a pair. This scene makes me so emotional. I can feel myself crumple up, my heart is hurting and I’m forgetting to breathe. Watching Sarazanmai is a health hazard.
Mabu’s desire is revealed to be staying by Reo’s side. In order to do that he had to give up his connection to him. He has always been the same old Mabu. Can you believe how much he must’ve hurt not being able to say anything to Reo, while Reo’s been rejecting him? Classic misunderstanding, Reo comes in at the wrong time, hears and sees the wrong thing. At least this wasn’t an instance where an explanation would’ve helped. It would’ve literally killed Mabu.
I can’t believe that we get to witness otter-Reo climb into bed to fool around with Mabu. I like that we’re getting both words of love and acts of lust for them, even if the circumstances aren’t optimal to say the least. It’s just nice to see their relationship, or what was/could’ve been their relationship confirmed like this.
Mabu turned into a kappa as well! I really like these kappa, how small and kinda clumsy they are. Especially the sound effects of them dropping down.
Reo’s whole world has been turned around and Mabu’s focused on their mission lol. Then the two of them connect through sarazanmai. “Reo to Mabu Futari wa Sarazanmai”, Reo and Mabu together they [connect through] Sarazanmai. Now we understand the title of their spin-off manga!
The leak gives us flashbacks that we’ve seen before. Reo sees and misinterprets the scene at the hospital, Reo doesn’t accept the new Mabu, and talks about Mabu betraying him.
Mabu is finally able to tell Reo that he loves him. My heart… MABU’S HEART! It blows up and Keppi assimilates Mabu’s desire. Now they get a new silver plate to replace the one Enta broke, so that’s good, but the world is looking bleak for Reo.
There are some interesting things to be said about the rings, but it’s 3AM and I don’t have the capacity to go through them right now.
I like the very amphibian/reptilian traits they’ve given Keppi. He falls on his back and has trouble turning around!
Reo goes crazy, and then the inevitable happens. Mabu was erased from this world so he’s starting to forget about him. This is just heartbreaking to watch!
There’s a gunshot sound and Reo falls down. I was almost expecting him to take his own life in his desperation, but it’s Tooi who shoots him.
Fun fact about character names and romaji. Back when the Reo to Mabu manga was first announced I had to basically flip a coin and decide whether I should use Reo or Leo to refer to my favourite character. I picked Leo, because I thought it was more reasonable and likely to be used. If you go through my blog archives you can find some post where I use it, most notably the synopses I wrote for the chapters as they came out. I changed my mind sometime during the fall when few people and no official sources were referring to him as Leo. That was a good call on my end. However I have do a little cheer now when the レオ ring says Leo. Ha! That’s what I used to use for him!
While I was okay with switching to Reo to accomodate to the rest of the fandom, I’m still pushing hard for everyone to start using Tooi. Leo/Reo was a choice, but Tooi is just a fact.
Anyway back to the episode, Keppi says that ReoMabu can finally get some sleep, so that indicates that they’ll be back. Hopefully. Otherwise a lot of people will be mighty upset.
I had no idea the sara accessories were actual plates. Does that mean that Sara’s could be a wish granting one that will come in handy?
The last scene is so incredibly intense. For some reason I never really considered that Tooi could actually come and try to take the plates from Kazuki and Enta in order to save his brother. Well, in the end he didn’t do that and was very understanding of the situation which I gotta give him props for.
The ED changed again, now that which used to be 3 and got turned into 2 is down to 1. (Shadow and seagull)
The after credits scene starts and Enta’s back! Thank the Great Kappa. Poor Tooi though. Dark Keppi is pretty terrifying.
This has been a rough night. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but damn if I haven’t been through a lot to get there.
Only one episode left and then my life will be over.
I seriously don’t know what I’ll do after that. Cry?
Cry and rewatch everything again.
Houkago Kappa 