(For those who don’t know, kappas can essentially suck your soul out of your ass according to myth. This show really likes that idea.)
The tone immediately establishes itself as “what the hell did I just watch?” levels of absurd, but that’s actually what makes the show work, I think. It delivers on its weirdass humor (pun very much intended), but the same tone also paves the way for a surrealist plot that never fully makes sense but absolutely digs into abstract themes about emotion and the nature of our relationships to one another. In the first episode, we’re introduced to our heroes each carrying around an old Amazon box everywhere they go containing one of their deepest secrets. It’s a weird and vaguely tongue-in-cheek allegory, but it packs a punch the moment those boxes are opened. It doesn’t make sense right up until it does. This “gotcha” approach to storytelling made me genuinely feel things throughout the show, and also managed to be quite fun and unpretentious in the process.
I guess for me the question becomes: is Sarazanmai really that deep?
Honestly, probably not. It suffers a bit from not quite committing to the themes it introduces, and so once you’ve parsed through the stylistic elements, the messages are fairly standard anime fare. You might even notice that some of the plot contrivances border on melodrama and convenience when you aren't so bamboozled by the style. (And it’s still a good 50% ass jokes–unrepentantly so.) HOWEVER, this doesn’t at all diminish the emotional payoff in my opinion. It's a rollercoaster of tragedy vs life-affirming hype, and if you just suspend your disbelief and go along for the ride, you’re in for a hell of a treat.
In other words, I’m not sure if Sarazanmai holds up to a more critical eye in retrospect, but did I have a great time watching it? Hell yeah, kero. And maybe that’s all a show really has to accomplish in the end.
(Yes, “in the end” was another butt joke. I’m not proud of it.)
