Anime – Sankarea + OVA’s [BD]
Overview:
Zombies are something that are quite popular with the masses. Not sure one would take it as far as wanting to envelop their entire life around them and have a quenched lust of wanting to be intimate with one in every aspect of life though. Our boy Chihiro says nah to that though. He lives breaths and breads zombie and zombie related anything.
In the first ep we see that his cat Babu has died and instead of burying him away he decides to experiment with a book he found about resurrecting the dead on the body first. He hopes that the books telling the truth and he can reunite with his lil feline. In trying to resurrect him the other main cast shows herself, Rea Sanka… hence the name of the show pretty much.
She has a severe daddy issue with some pretty out there and terrible things he does to her. He is not doing sexual things physically or verbally but in the acts he forces her to do… which may sound strange until viewing the ep to properly understand. Her father is one of high power with a overwhelming amount of wealth that money is not something to even consider. Money to him is as natural as breathing you could say. He is very intimate with his thoughts of Rea in a disgusting manor. His thoughts of as to why he is doing it are at their core pure but in action terrible. He simply at heart wants whats best but the way he goes about doing so is one sided without considering her thoughts. He imposes all his wants for her onto her in a direct manor that restricts every want she could have. He is blinded by the fact that wanting whats best doesn’t mean forcing the choices and decisions you want onto the child. This is a simplistic way of explaining his character and shouldn’t come across as him being a good or misunderstood character. His mental self and why he is acting even worse now than when he was younger with how strongly he is imposing himself onto her is explained in a later episode with his wife.
Now as for Chihiro, his mother is briefly went over in the episode that follows his younger sister Mero [who is best grill]. She is described to be very similar to Rea including her cold touch. Then in the prequal OVA that was released further expands a bit with a twist that was and wasn’t expected, more of a confirmation than anything which was nice. It ties a question that was posed to the viewers.
The shows ending has a pretty abrupt ending in that it is not complete and is ending with a lot of unanswered, open ended questions and answers.
Visuals/Music:
Visuals given the time are above average but still nothing special. They are clear and consistent throughout which is nice. Some scenes are a bit disturbing to watch but nothing unbearable. None of the visuals are as vibrant as todays anime which I find nice. A lot of modern anime have the A1 juicy yet bland treatment. One thing that does knock down visuals is CGI when it is used… As in when its used you know it and its very noticeable without blending into the surroundings ~~most notably cars in certain scenes~~ Honestly not a huge complaint and more of an annoyance
Music is decent and similar to visuals, it’s a bit above average given the opening and ending but nothing special. They are nice to listen to. Sound effects and background OST’s match good enough to not seem out of place or break immersion.
Final Thoughts:
I recommend it for people looking for a wholesomely dark zombie anime without a proper conclusion… which is an oddly specific type lol. Sankarea is a bit on the slower paced in comparison to other anime and can be perceived as a bit boring at times. For the time it suits and is alright. If able to make it through the first 2 eps the rest will play out and keep interest as the story is fleshed out.
Sadly, there is no ending to the anime. Not too sure how the manga continues onward, wasn’t hearing it was much better and lost its vision but do not know if that holds true or not.
Characters (main) – 4/5
Characters (sub) – 3/5
Enjoyment – 4/5
Visuals – 3.5/5
Music – 3.5/5
Story – 4/5
Overall Ratings - Rec: 3/5 Raw: 73%