***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
For most people, finding a set of bones would trigger thoughts of fear, intrigue, disgust, or perhaps even a little fascination. Regardless, doing so isn’t what many would consider routine. For Shotaro Tatewaki (voiced by Junya Enoki) this is but an ordinary day as the assistant to the brilliant Sakurako Kujo (voiced by Shizuka Ito).
A renowned osteologist, a bone scientist, Sakurako’s love of bones goes way beyond obsession. To her, bones are life in its purest form. They are a window into how a creature lived. And in some cases, if you know what to look for, how a creature died. Stumbling upon an animal skeleton or two is what you would expect in this kind of field. However, whenever Shotaro is with Sakurako, they always manage to come across a specific type of bone, human.
With Sherlockian levels of observation, Sakurako has helped solve many criminal cases, and Shotaro is becoming rather adept in this regard as well. The two have grown quite the reputation.
Plenty wonder why Sakurako, who has a well-known disdain for human interaction, has taken such a liking to her young helper. But to Shotaro, the biggest mystery he is facing has nothing to do with potential crimes. Instead, he wonders what is really going inside Sakurako’s incredible mind.
Series Positives
I liked this one. I liked this one a lot.
Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru, Sakurako-san for short, was a quick watch. Although a complete twelve episode anime, it was over in a flash. Why was that? I found myself completely enthralled. This series was good.
The Mysteries
Shows like Another, Higurashi, and hell even Detective Conan to some extent, are all fantastic mystery series I love. Except each of them has elements of the supernatural and fantasy. Sakurako-san didn’t have any of that and had a much stronger grounding in reality.
It may surprise you to learn, I am neither a detective nor a bone scientist, so I don’t know exactly how much of this series was accurate. That said, I was more than okay with playing along with this show’s methods and reasoning.
Sakurako-san didn’t build up or accentuate the “aha” moments of each investigation. In fact, this series blatantly telegraphed the answers on more than one occasion. This was fine because the focus wasn’t on “how” a crime happened, but rather “why” it happened.
Minus one exception, there were no diabolical murders, revenge seekers, or deliberate evildoers. There were only people who made irreversible mistakes, or they were left with no choice. Some of the mysteries weren’t even full crimes. I don’t want to say justice was appropriately served, but long-standing questions got answered.
That was a lot more satisfying than I would have predicted.
Sakurako and Shotaro
These two made the show as good as it was.
They weren’t lovers, thank God. Had they been, that would have been such a cop out, and it would have been nothing but a hindrance. Sakurako and Shotaro worked well together because their relationship felt like a genuine master-apprentice connection that evolved into a big sister-younger brother one.
Along with being brilliant, and I won’t deny, beautiful, Sakurako was a person who could make a fascinating conversation partner. That is if you could accept the whole bone fanaticism things. Me saying that is a bit odd since she despised interacting with people. Because of this, she was very bluntly and didn’t bother with accommodating a person’s emotional state. Still, she wasn’t compassionless. She did have a sense of morality, albeit an askew one.
Sakurako was a good person. But she was by no means a nice person. That was where Shotaro came in.
Although he was the assistant and younger of the two, Shotaro was kind of like Sakurako’s unofficial guardian. If it weren’t for him, everyone would have had no patience for the crazy bone lady. Shotaro could mitigate Sakurako’s forwardness. He could also reign in Sakurako’s tendency of keeping the bones she should have been reporting to the police.
That said, Shotaro did have a lot to learn. He wasn’t naïve, just inexperienced. Plus, Shotaro looked up to and respected Sakurako.
This duo helped balance each other out. Shotaro insured Sakurako could function appropriately in society. On the reverse, Sakurako was there to teach Shotaro how to look at the world in a different light. Also, Sakurako had no shortage of excitement.
Tension
There were a few high tension scenes in this show. There will be points that will have you on the edge of your seat. For the most part, these instances were sufficiently gripping. But in one glorious, or if you’ll allow, terrifying moment, this series went off the charts insane.
I have seen characters cross the line countless times. But what Sakurako did in this one particular scene, which I will not spoil, not only rocket passed the line, but set it on fire. Let me put it this way, I’ve seen shows with child torture in them, and none of those caused me to react as hard as I did in this series. Ruthless is too weak a word to describe Sakurako’s actions.
This instance was appropriate for the story, which is why I am putting it here as a positive. But oh wow this was it intense.
This was a ballsy ass move on the show’s part, and it paid off wonderfully.
Series Negatives
I won’t mince my words. This story is not over. You will not be satisfied with this ending. For a series that focused on answering questions, Sakurako-san left so many of its own.
Even before the final episode, I could tell there wasn’t going to be enough from this show. There are still so many possibilities that can come from these characters. I refuse to believe that this was all that could be done.
Remember how I said that there were no villains in this show minus one? Well, guess whose story didn’t get finished. Sakurako-san did a great job of building the mystic around this character. The show established a very tangible threat out of them.
Also, it was a super BS move to make the one episode I wanted to see, the one that told how Sakurako and Shotaro met, be the final episode. By doing this, the show created an effective cliffhanger ending. This series didn’t need to do much for me to want more, but it made sure nonetheless.
The problem is, this was a cliffhanger ending for a show that at the time of me writing this review, has yet to be picked up for a second season.
This scares the hell out of me. Although Sakurako-san was terrific, terrific has never been a guarantee for a second season. If a continuation gets made, I will happily take back this criticism because I really don’t have much else to say regarding negatives of this show.
But should that day never come, I don’t even want to think about it.
Final Thoughts
If this was a ploy to get me to read the original light novel, well then this show did a pretty damn good job of making me want to do just that.
Sakurako-san is an excellent anime and a genuinely fantastic mystery series. This show grabs hold of you and is an overall joy to watch. Sakurako and Shotaro are a great duo. This entire series has the potential to become a spectacular franchise.
I want to see this continue. All I ask is for the chance to do so.
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? How would you advise Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
And if you liked what you read, be sure to follow me on my social media sites so that you never miss a post or update. Also, please share this review across the internet to help add to the discussion.
I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.
 |
| Google+ Facebook Twitter |
No comments:
Post a Comment