Uzaki-chan meets Ami, Sakurai’s work colleague, visits a sick Sakurai, and asks Sakurai to do something difficult.
Episode 3 – “The Asai Family Wants to Look Out for Us!”
Hmm.
That strange looking cat is back in Uzaki-chan and we need an explanation. Fans of the manga already know its deal, but it’s still a mysterious addition in the anime. We saw Kuso Cat have a shocked face when Sakurai and Uzaki start to have a genuine couple moment, but when those two started bickering again, the cat with the weird eyes left the scene as if it were satisfied the world had returned to its natural order. Strangely, it did all this while it was outside and downstairs from Uzaki and Sakurai. How did it know? In the first episode, Kuso Cat saw the odd couple interacting with each other at the movie theater and the electronics store. Seeing the cat in this week’s Uzaki-chan during the scene in Sakurai’s apartment is a head scratcher. I know we’re watching a light-hearted ecchi gag comedy, but a gag reaction still needs to have context.
When it came to Ami Asai’s introduction, Uzaki-chan gave us all the context, subtext, super text, and plain old text we needed. She shares her father’s people watching hobby, but she expresses it differently. Ami likes ogling! And drooling over that ogling! She likes hot guys and cute girls and she’s in heaven with Sakurai causing funny scenes with Uzaki-chan. It might be because Ami is younger and has an otaku vibe that she’s interested in the external qualities of the people she watches. That’s a nice contrast to her father, Master Asai, who enjoys verbal reactions and conversational twists. Watching those two have their own running commentary below the surface of Uzaki and Sakurai’s attention adds another enjoyable layer of comedy. Of course, Uzaki-chan and Sakurai focus on each other so much, it would be surprising if they noticed the Asai family watching over them.
Oh, one more thing – “baka couple.” The crowd around Sakurai and Uzaki started calling them バカップル (bakappuru) when she made him call her by her first name. This is an example of a pun combining a Japanese word with an English one. If you’ve been watching anime with subtitles for any amount of time, you will have heard the word ばか (baka), meaning fool or idiot. The Japanese combined fool with “couple” to make a slang word for “love birds or sickeningly sweet and soppy couple.” The running joke that makes Uzaki-chan’s comedy so sweet is that they haven’t realized what is so obvious to everyone else. They are already a bakapparu.
Heh.
This must be Ami Asai. Ha! She’s totally drooling over Sakurai’s swimmer’s body. Her hobby is ogling, er, people watching. Just like her father. The office ladies like Sakurai too. He’s almost 6 feet tall! 180 cm is about 5’11” for you Americans. Oh yes! Today is a sugoi dekai day! Ami is amazed at this cute ball of energy. Her dad calls Uzaki “Hana-chan.” High five, yay!
Ami needs to get the lowdown from the Master. Are they talking to each other, or “talking” in that anime way of a full-blown conversation by way of eye contact, eyebrow raises, and mouth curls? Ami isn’t sugoi dekai, but she’s still dekai. Ami thinks Uzaki-chan is super cute! Hah. The Funimation subtitles stuck in a “wowsers.” I haven’t heard that since the last time I watched Inspector Gadget. Go, go, sugoku dekai! Ami thinks she’s going to have a lot of fun watching Hana Uzaki-chan. She and her dad have lots in common.
Splash! Potted plant conspicuously in the way… Ami is enjoying the floor show too.
Oh no. The dreaded hell-cold-flu. How did a former swimmer catch a cold from a splash of ice water? And why didn’t Uzaki get sick too? She had better insulation… Ha! The Asai’s asked the same question! Yeah! Uzaki found out where Sakurai lives. His peaceful college life days are over. Again.
Uzaki-chan does the usual childhood friend stuff. Man, Sakurai was living the bachelor loner existence. In his fridge, he had a carton of juice and some energy drinks. He didn’t even clean his rice cooker. Uzaki would make a great girlfriend, doing all the shopping and cooking for him. Well, that’s the whole point of Uzaki-chan anyway.
There we go! Soapland roleplay! Sakurai still has ripped abs. Uzaki hasn’t seen him do his “training” yet. Strange cat again. What’s he reacting to? He’s out on the street, two stories down. Aw. Uzaki and Sakurai shared a nice moment of caring. And two hours later, it’s all gone with Uzaki-chan yelling about a video game instead of letting Sakurai sleep. That strange cat likes it better this way.
Okay. Let’s celebrate Sakurai getting better with Korean barbecue? The Asais wanted to get their dose of the Uzaki-chan duo as quickly as possible. Hoho. They want details on Uzaki’s visit with him. Ami appreciates what Master Asai sees in watching over these two. Like a fine wine. Uh oh. Uzaki just noticed that Sakurai calls Ami by her first name instead of Asai-san. Drama! Paired with a nice side of rice.
Come on, now. Hypnotism isn’t going to work on a distrusting cynic like Sakurai. This is going to be fun, though. So simple to read. Uzaki-chan wants him to call her by her first name, Hana. Not so easy, is it, Sakurai-senpai? She’s so happy! The crowd sees another loud, love-struck couple. And then she took it too far. Aw, everything’s better if you’re honest with your feelings, Sakurai. Well, there’s your punchline. Uzaki fell to hypnosis quite easily. Sakurai’s a wimp! Nah, he’s a nice guy for not taking advantage of the situation.
Ooh, epilogue. Ami can’t hypnotize Uzaki. Uzaki-chan doesn’t believe Sakurai that she fell into a trance. Ami and Master Asai figure she did because Uzaki trusts her senpai so much. Watching over them is fun!
Next time, will Uzaki-chan take a holiday trip? Like, to the beach? I hope, I hope, I hope!
Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! streams weekly on Funimation.
