Sarazanmai

After the noble Kappa Kingdom falls to the Otter Empire, the Kappa prince Keppi loses much of his power and becomes helpless against the unseen Kapa-zombies. These zombies plague the world, and are the creations of the Otters and manifestations of people's deepest desires. With no other choice, Keppi must rely on three young boys: Kazuki Yasaka, who must carry a box with him wherever he goes; Enta Jinnai, Kazuki's childhood friend; and Tooi Kuji, a delinquent and a school truant.

By having the mythical organ called a shirikodama removed from them, the boys are able to become Kappa themselves and fight the Kapa-zombies. However, to defeat them, the boys must connect with each other via their minds, bodies, and—most importantly—secrets. As the Kappa Kingdom relies on these boys, they must reveal themselves as they have never done before, all the while learning that connections are fragile and truly precious things.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kuji, Tooi Main

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Jinnai, Enta Main

Horie, Shun Japanese

Yasaka, Kazuki Main

Murase, Ayumu Japanese

Niiboshi, Reo Supporting

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Akutsu, Mabu Supporting

Hosoya, Yoshimasa Japanese

Keppi Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Azuma, Sara Supporting

Teiko Japanese

Kuji, Chikai Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Otter Supporting

Kuroda, Takaya Japanese

Yasaka, Haruka Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Ootsuka, Manabu Producer

Watanabe, Masakazu Producer

Suzuki, Kenta Producer

Reviews

Oct 23, 2024

altdelkk

Recommended

Sarazanmai it's a unrecognized masterpiece.
I accidentally watched this with my father by doing a roulette, and we started watching with low expectations. We laughed so much at the first episode, so we decided to go on.
This is with no doubt my favorite anime ever. It looks weird at first, but after watching it, you will get the feeling of crying. I find it surreal how underrated this is. And everything about this anime is perfect, from start to end.
It has the trick of making the viewer question everything that is happening, in a funny and weird way, which makes this even more ... enjoyable. In each episode, you form a new thought, and newer questions, which in the end are answered in a beautiful story of friendship and connections.
I have learned from this anime the importance of connections, and how hard it is in various perspectives.
10/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Aug 12, 2021

aries418

Mixed Feelings

Kappa. Soccer. Boxes. Butts? Normally unrelated, but important within the context of this bizarre show. It's flat out nonsensical.

On the surface, this anime is unlike anything I've seen before, or likely will see ever again. But at its core, it is trying to be a melodramatic shounen ai with novel plot points. You'll repeatedly ask what the hell this is and why you're watching, but are also strangely unable to stop. I do respect the fact that the director was fully committed to the weirdness here though.

All three of the leads are butthurt for one reason or another. Some for serious reasons like guilt ... or abandonment issues, others for unrequited love. The inclusion of some other characters seem unnecessary, though that's par for the course here. None of them are particularly deep, but at the same time we're also shown their deepest desires... it is both impressive and sad that both are achieved at the same time.

As wacky as it all is, the execution is flawless. The art and sound elements here have been nailed to a tee. Although cringe at times, this is more so due to the plot than anything else.

This was... an experience. One I'm not likely to repeat any time soon, but don't regret experiencing once. It's kooky as hell, and may be worth the watch solely because of that. Otherwise, it's pretty subpar.

TLDR: Watch for the weirdness, or don't bother at all.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Aug 27, 2019

PixelB

Not Recommended

This show was way to ambitious with the way it wanted to include anything and everything into its plot.

*spoilers ahead

So, the first episode looks good, shows some promise, the way characters are presented, kazumi's secret, turning into kappa, etc. And honestly, some nice, fluid animation, with no CG. Sure, there are some lazy backgrounds for animating people, but I'll take that over crappy CG. The leaking memory thing is also kind of interesting in terms of character development and plot progression.

HOWEVER, so much stuff and plot is just CRAMMED into a 11 episode series. Kazuki's secret, which honestly, could have been the main topic ... of all the 11 episodes, is wrapped in like 2-3 episodes. The other characters get 1 episode each. And then the random flashbacks happen, along with introduction and history of the traitors. And then haruka. Again, Kazuki and haruka's relationship could have been the topic of the entire series, and it would not have been a slow paced anime. Not to mention the other 2 characters that also had a lot of character in them, but in the end, nothing else was explored because KAPPA. The plot progresses, stuff happens really quick, and the ending is boringly wrapped up with very uninteresting last few episodes. Of course, the ending was to be expected by episode 1, "good guys win," but the journey there, the execution, and the plot details of getting to that ending is also just boring and not creative in the least.

There's also the question of: why the kappa thing to begin with? The characters in this show are very dynamic, and they change and develop throughout the entire series. However, they are thrown into a story about being a goddamned kappa and stupid stuff that happens all the time. Basically, a serious cast of characters that could have been in their own little melodrama or dramatic series, is put in a kind of comedic action series. Of course, I am not saying that you can't have something comedic and also being serious, (like gintama I'd say), but this show definitely doesn't execute quite well at all. The leaking thing plays a great role in the characters' development, but it could have been without if more time was spent in the characters to begin with.

They're not too related, but I'll compare this with panty and stocking. Panty & Stocking has a similar vibe with this show: group of people need to defeat some sort of evil, and kind of episodic with new villains popping up, with reoccurring villains that show up throughout the entire series, both done in a comedic fashion with transformations and also, a sort of "head guy" that gives out orders to defeat the enemy in the episode. However, Panty and Stocking have more static characters, focus more on the comedy, and with great animation and writing to accompany the comedic tone of the show. It's more "simplistic," but much more refined, makes more sense, doesn't feel rushed, and is a great piece of work, unlike Sarazanmai, which feels just terrible. You'd think that the whole is greater than the sum of all parts, but Sarazanmai doesn't become anything special, even after watching all 11 episodes, unlike Panty and Stocking, which felt a lot more complete and cohesive.


Conclusion-
-story's a big jumbled mess, with a terribly boring ending in both execution and result
-A serious set of characters set in a comedic series, a weird juxtaposition that doesn't pay off
-Lots of plot is rushed and also, subsequently buried for the conclusion of the show
-all in all, a show with great ambition that fails in execution in a lot of departments

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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