What They Say:
Rea continues to assist Chihiro’s attempt to reanimate Babu. She reveals her home life, including an unhealthy relationship with her father. The two of them decide to make one last attempt to bring Babu back to life, using a hydrangea blossom.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The opening episode of Sankarea was certainly interesting, but it wasn’t one that won me over as it introduced us to Rea and Chihiro. With Chihiro, his main intent is still on trying to bring back his cat Babu since he’s had so many losses in his life and can’t stand to deal with another. For Rea, her yelling about in the abandoned building where he was ended up forming an awkward relationship, especially since she’s latched onto him in a tentative way now and is being exposed to more of what he’s about. His fascination with the undead is certainly expected and natural, but it’s something that still gets to her as he shows her some of the shows and uses his particular sense of humor when it comes to things.
For Rea, we get a good look at her life and past, both as a younger child and more recently, where we see the strained relationship with her father and the way her few friends were difficult to keep for a simple reasons. For someone like her who hasn’t been able to really connect well with others, the loss of a friend is definitely difficult. Even worse, the loss of that friend is her fault through no fault of her own, and it’s a cold response as it unfolds and she’s told cruel things in a simple way. It all stems back to her father though and the way he controls things, controls her, and does what he can to ensure that he is the only thing in her world that matters.
The relationship between Rea and Chihiro is certainly interesting to watch as it plays out as they spend a lot of time together. They’re able to talk and communicate well in a way that’s surprisingly free and natural. They each have an interest in each other because of how they met, but it’s also something that’s going to lead them to a darker place as well. With Chihiro getting things ready for the funeral for Babu, it’s also going to take a bad turn since Rea’s father is about to find out about everything. Or at least part of it and imagine things to be far worse than they really are. His discovery, and what Chihiro discovers when it comes to Babu, is something that shakes up the dynamic a bit at the end here and offers enough of a change to make you want to come back and see how they’ll move forward.
In Summary:
With this episode, it’s largely about Rea even though they go through the final attempt to revive Babu. Rea’s story is covered rather well on top of what we get in the first episode and you really come away feeling for her because of how controlling her father is. It’s wide ranging and deep when you get down to it, enough so that she either has the choice to rebel completely and escape or to just accept it. Which makes sense why she was looking for death as an escape in the first episode. Seeing how she coped with everything and where it’s left her has definitely made me like her a lot more here and has me even more curious now to see where things will go, what with Chihiro’s discovery and her actions. The show is still something of a curiosity for me, but I’m enjoying it for its designs and atmosphere and the pacing its taking.
Grade: B
Streamed By:
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
0 comments