No matter how genuine a show’s eagerness to make a point, it doesn’t help if it sabotages itself right away by doing exactly what it’s trying to avoid or bring attention to. It’s like if Batman robbed a bank after foiling a potential robbery, or if somebody on a diet moved next door to a bakery specializing in their favorite pastry; yeah, there could be factors that lead to it being their only option, but it still undermines whatever argument’s being made if seven jelly doughnuts are bought on the way to work. I guess what I’m trying to say is that bakeries are terrible places to move next to, and Sankarea couldn’t have missed its own point by a larger margin if it tried.
The best thing I can say about it is that it continues to make the point that Danichiro’s possessive treatment of Rea, as a possession meant to be kept as a prize rather than a human girl with a desire to do normal human girl stuff, is directly responsible for her death and her continued drive to stay as far away from him as physically possible. And yet, at its core, Sankarea bears the unmistakable pedigree, or lack thereof, of exploitation; something reveling in excessive fanservice that detracts from the overall presentation. So while it preaches about treating Rea like a normal girl that should live her life how she wants it, it also has her chained in a dungeon and forced into a bunny suit.
While there’s been hilariously blatant fanservice before, it had never gotten to the point of the strongest point of the series—the dysfunctional, unhealthy relationship between Rea and her father. So while unwarranted close-ups of Wanko’s ass are annoying, as are close-ups of Rea’s, they were isolated from the meat of what I’d hesitate to call the story, relegated to flesh out the stilted romcom elements where they couldn’t hurt anything. That changed when Rea stood around in a bunny suit while her father impaled Chihiro with a rapier, doing nothing but gaping mystified while Chihiro chastised him. I’m not saying that it completely disregards the message, but it seems a bit disingenuous to put Rea in a skimpy, attention-getting outfit while preaching that she doesn’t want to live on a pedestal, under a watchful eye. There’s a definite problem with tone consistency that ruins any sentimentality, and I can’t for the life of me understand why keeping the comedy and Poe-faced aspects separate is such a difficult endeavor.
If Sankarea were a smarter show, I’d say that it’s intentionally being hypocritical for the sake of drawing attention not to Danichiro’s treatment of Rea, but to the propensity of fanservice shows to attempt characterization in ways that fall flat on their face. But since it’s had a bizarre lack of tact with fanservice placement, I wouldn’t give it anywhere near that much credit.
I’ve covered most of this before, which is why the post is coming up a bit short. The fanservice isn’t that bad when it can’t hurt the plot, but placing it in the middle of a serious discussion while not adding anything only serves to harm whatever moral it’s trying to make and validate my previous exploitation label. Sankarea’s still great, and it continues to be deceptively smart hwen it counts, but parading the titular character in fetishistic outfits during key plot moments doesn’t help it any.
This was the final nail in Sankaea’s coffin. Between the bunny outfit, the half zombie plot device and Chihiro and Danichiro’s hypocritical conversation, I’ve lost most interest in this series. I’ll watch the final episode more because I have to than I want to.
This series reminds me a lot of Kure-nai actually. Unlike this series though, it dealt with female protagonist’s role with some tact. During the finale, you have the male protagonist telling off the possessive father about how he should release his daughter (just like in this episode). Then, without missing a beat, it flips on the protagonist, who, like the father, is unknowingly deciding what is right and wrong for the daughter.
I seriously recommend checking out Kure-nai if you haven’t seen it. It has a few problems (especially with the male protagonist), but for the most part it provides an entertaining, thorough view of a woman’s role in society.
I’ve had Kure-nai on my ‘to watch’ list for a very long time. I’ll definitely get to it once I finish catching up on Hidamari Sketch, maybe making mental comparisons to Sankarea along the way. I definitely thought that Chihiro avoided a large pitfall by not necessarily dictating how Rea should act, something that I entirely expected him to do. Again though, I may be giving Sankarea too much credit.
If you enjoy shows about free will like Sankarea then I can almost guarantee you’ll like Kure-nai. It really is a hidden gem.
I actually just started watching Hidamari Sketch. Do you think I should keep up with it? The entire show is seems to be held together by Miyako (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).
Zombie bunny girls are a deadly combo! And I laughed watching Rea’s dad take off in that plane? Yeah totally pimping those awesome glasses.
I want them to introduce the OTHER girl from the manga! I guess they are setting us up for a possible second season.
I kind of hope it stops after this. The only story arc that I’ve felt invested in is that with Rea trying to escape her father’s grubby clutches, and since that’s temporarily resolved I don’t see the show maintaining my interest.
See, when I thought the show was jumping the shark around ep 5 or 6, I skimmed ahead in the manga to see if there was any reason to stick around. I skimmed to about this point in the plot, saw the maids dressing up Rea and the incredible stupidity that followed (being stabbed, zombie bite protection etc.), and could respond no other way than “fuck it, I’m out”.
I get the appeal this show has to you, I really do, but saying that it’s “still great” is pushing it a little…
The thing that bugged me the most was the maids dressing Rea up. It was unnecessary, dumb, and just not good form when weighed against the severity of the situation. I don’t necessarily mind the zombie bite protection, as much of a stretch as it is, but it’s definitely a copout.
To be honest, the main reason why I keep giving Sankarea a pass is because it definitely has potential to be something great, and shows that potential more than other series that I think that way about. I keep hearing from people that I recommended this to that they don’t understand why I like it, so maybe I’m just really biased in favor of shows with themes of free will… though I will say that since the conflict with Danichiro is pretty much resolved for the time being, I don’t see the show maintaining my interest, and I think one season is definitely enough.
Oh, yeah, enjoyed the post btw. The title, the image caps, the analogies. Gave me quite a few good chuckles despite the brevity. Kudos.
I was singing Sankarea’s praises these past few days as I was catching up, but this…
The fanservice went overboard, Chihiro was being annoying, and Rea’s father suddenly just… gets it? Some asshole comes into his house, taunts him for a bit, and his daughter cuts off his rapier (the symbolism!)… and then he understands everything that he’s been doing for the past two decades. If anything, Sankarea is a great example of how to ruin a brilliant series in ten minutes. Damn it.
I’m so disappointed.