Sankarea 02 – 03

The detail put into the background is as extraordinary as ever and with such mysteriously interesting characters, it only adds praise to Sankarea’s story about zombie love. Well it’s something along the lines of zombie love in terms of Furuya and Rea but don’t get any dirty thoughts. I know there’s some weird stuff on the internet and I don’t wish to speak of it here… moving on! Like other long, black haired females, Rea caught my attention more so than anyone else in Sankarea at first sight. I can tell you now that after episode 3, I’ve come to love her development as a character and her personality itself much more after resolving her issue between her father’s sexual tendencies. That is, thinking of Rea as a possession of his more so than a human being.

Hate him all you want because when we finally got to see Rea stand up to her father, I think I can speak for the most that our prayers for her freedom was answered. I figured the idea came from news articles that spoke about fathers keeping their daughters locked up for unimaginable reasons. Because of that, I actually thought Rea’s father might’ve done more than just take nude pictures… if you get what I mean. Even so, you can still imagine what her dad would’ve been thinking of doing once Rea become more ‘ripe’. Due to that, her past really gives off a dark element to the story even as subtle as it is. In short, I felt pity for Rea and although I haven’t experienced a similar situation, I can comprehend why she’d want to kill herself.

It’s a great prologue that allows Sankarea to easily pace their character development over the 3 episodes so far. I praise Hattori Mitsuru for such a brilliant idea and hopefully Sankarea will get better in the future episodes to come. Other than pacing and character development, he has a knack for incorporating romance. We know Rea has feelings for Furuya and Furuya is somewhat interested in Rea as well. It’s subtle but Misuru makes these hints look lovely. In episode 3 when they just kept silent throughout the trip,  it allowed our minds to freely choose what they’re thinking and feeling while using their silhouettes to show the bridge setting beautifully.

If episode 2 was the back-story then episode 3 was the resolution. It had the ability to keep you interested and that’s what I look forward to in the first few episodes of any series. Accel World failed to do so after a bland episode 2 which was disappointing. Out of all the new series this season, Sankarea holds its rank as first place being the most beautifully presented from the start of episode 1 to the end of episode 3. Even though episode 3 had unnecessary panty shots and even incorporated yaoi , it’s something I can ignore but it’ll definitely leave a bad taste if Sankarea continues to show this form of fanservice for no reason at all.

On a more personal note, I really don’t care much about the ‘normal’ characters in the series including Furuya’s cousin and his two friends. Hopefully they’ll play a more interesting role in the future than just comedy I don’t even laugh at. It’s true, I don’t view Sankarea as a comedy at all but more of a romance with supernatural elements. Also, I don’t like how they’ve censored Rea’s intestines hanging out in episode 3 when they showed it in episode 1 right at the end. But what about the more intriguing questions that’ve appeared in episode 3? Rea’s mother has come to be known in simple terms a bad mother but what if she didn’t actually harbor such negative feelings to Rea at all? Remember the window scene when she saw Rea secretly leave? Why didn’t she inform the father? It definitely leaves you questioning yourself a bit and I’d like to hear what you guys think too!

Rating: I’ve decided to give both episodes an overall 9 out of 10. My expectations – as high as it continues to climb – continues to be surpassed ever since I started watching episode 1. The pacing is perfect for the prologue that has led us to such a intriguing conclusion in episode 3. The real story starts from episode 4 and onwards which I’m looking forward to more and more. I don’t dislike any characters as of now but I do find a few needing a more interesting role as mentioned up top. Sankarea needs to drop the unnecessary fanservice or it will definitely affect their image later on. On the contrary, I loved everything else: the lighting, character development, character interactions, pacing, timing and the twists incorporated in both episode 2 and 3. Sankarea in my opinion has the best start to the season so I’m really looking forward to how it will end.