English Dub Review: SUPER HxEROS “Hadakana Beach Season Opening”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

The HxEROS crew heads to the beach after being rewarded by headquarters with an overnight trip for their hard work. Though the girls are worried leaving the Saitama branch unguarded will leave Chacha at risk of being kidnapped, Anno assures them that Chacha is being safeguarded by Runba, and by her utility to the branch. Upon arriving at the beach, Retto quickly heads to the water, and the girls join him. But they only get to enjoy the briefest time relaxing before being swarmed by “pistol sea cucumbers”, an extremely phallic form of sea life that squirts water suggestively for good measure. They retreat back to the inn, only to find out the pests have been scaring away guests for some time now, and the innkeeper has called on exterminators to handle the infestation. And who are these exterminators other than (you guessed it!) the Tokyo branch HxEROS. Retto also encounters a fanboy on his way back from the bathroom, who turns out to be a the rival group’s missing member, Toma. Both groups head to the beach to clear it of the creepy creatures, which they believe are being used by a Kisechuu to scare people away from their hideout. The Tokyo members start squishing the cukes to draw out their alien leader, with hand job equivalent scenes abound. Retto and Toma sneak away for a bit, where Toma reveals he struggles with building H-energy and wants Retto to be his coach. Retto asks him what it takes to build H-energy, but the younger HxERO is too embarrassed to reveal the source of his desires. Unfortunately, the girls’ plan works works a little too well, and Namachuu reveals herself, as well as the fact that her cucumbers can attach themselves to unsuspecting beach goers to zap H-energy, and the more sensitive the spot, the more effective they are. With the girls incapacitated, and Retto’s energy unexpectedly drained, Toma has to find a way to save the day, which involves pushing Retto into the fray for some premium voyeurism, which is the only way he’s able to build H-energy. He’s able to save the day, and the group heads back to enjoy the hot springs and plan for their trip to Tokyo.

Our take

What’s a fan service anime without a beach episode? Even in a show where there’s gratuitous amounts of nudity, any chance to see cute anime girls in bikinis is essential, I guess. Upon arriving, it’s revealed that it’s also a nude beach, because of course it is.

The introduction of Toma (voiced by Clifford Chapin, yeah, the guy who voices Bakugo on My Hero Academia — he sounds different when he’s not yelling!) set up a potentially interesting bi storyline for Retto, who really has a thing for blondes! Unfortunately, it ended up just being a voyeurism thing, which was pretty hard on the cringe factor for me personally.

At least we get the rest of the Tokyo branch more thoroughly and literally fleshed out, with the introduction of their coordinator, Yona (voiced by another My Hero Academia cast member, Katelyn Barr, aka dragon babe Ryukyu), an unexpected conservation slant when the group revels in the hot springs sunset they’ve managed to save, and a glimpse of the SUPER HxEROS uniforms in the very last scene.

I have…softened my views on this series, despite still not personally liking it that much. I must admit, for just-short-of-hentai, it’s fairly wholesome, and the voice actors seem to genuinely be having fun with the goofy, awkward lines. Imagining married irl main couple Brittany Lauda and Matt Shipman recording this smut with over-exaggerated enthusiasm is especially hilarious.

A nice surprise connection to the other series I’m reviewing, Our Last Crusade or The Rise of a New World also cropped up in the form of Sarah Roach flexing her range by voicing the villainous Namachuu in this episode, with far more growl than upbeat engineer Nene, a member of The Empire in Our Last Crusade, calls for.

The beach episode is usually a filler, but in a series where the boobs are indeed the plot, this episode still manages to move things forward, while packing in even more tits than usual. Only a few more episodes left in the series, so I’m excited to see how it finally wraps up!