Sankarea – 04
“Okaeri, niisan” … (ノ ゜Д゜)ノ
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Hello everyone! Anaaga is away this week which means I’ll be covering episode four by myself, but don’t worry, she’ll be back next week! So, Sankarea … let’s see how creepy it gets this time. |
Danichirou watches in horror as his daughter rises from the dead and walks away from him, abandoning the idea of being in relation to him any longer. Back at home he bathes, surrounded by the pictures of his lost daughter … totally normal. Aria arrives home to find the maids gossiping about what happened, so she disciplines them and heads to the bathroom. Her husband, in his loony way, informs her of Rea’s fate and the butler adds that she went off with Chihiro. This information fills Danichirou with a new sense of hatred.
Avoid sharp objects.
This kind of stuff feels completely normal to me now.
Back at Chihiro’s house Rea sews up her body thanks to experience from school. They see Babu outside who is back to his normal casual state after eating the hydrangea leaves. Rea tries her best to fit the role of a “zombie girl” for Chihiro, but comes off as cute instead of scary. Chihiro wonders what she wants now, and she tells him she simply wants to experience everything she couldn’t when she was alive, trapped by her father.
Ohhh, so this is why we take home economics …
Wanko arrives, angry at Chihiro for leaving her behind the day before, and demands to speak with him. They head off to the river as to avoid revealing Rea, who is all alone in the room. At the river Chihiro’s two friends show up as well and they all talk a little about Rea, who is still sitting in the room now a little jealous over Wanko’s relationship with Chihiro. She decides to take a shower, thinking nobody else is home, but is interrupted by Chihiro’s grandfather. He mistakes Rea for his deceased wife, but she runs off before he can realize it. Mero arrives just in time to control him.
Wanko deserves her own show.
T-That’s not proper use of the loofah! ><
Chihiro finally gets back later at night and when he enters his room he finds Rea sprawled across the floor mostly naked, and not moving. He touches her to figure out what’s happening and realizes she is undergoing Rigor Mortis, the first stage of decaying. He lays her in bed, thinking of a way to fix her.
Horraaah:
Nyaaa~
Jason Voorhees, Scream, Chuckie … references I actually get! Woo~
You can not escape the judgement of Mero.
*CRINGE*
It’s good to know Sankarea won’t be dropping in entertainment now that Rea is all zombified and whatnot. I’ll admit this week wasn’t as exciting as the previous few (probably because I’m used to the crazy and weird plot twists they’ve thrown at us so far), but overall a solid, enjoyable episode! This week picked up on the fanservice/ecchi, the most I’ve seen in Sankarea yet. For the most part I thought it was well utilized, making scenes like the shower segment all the more hilarious! DEEN has BDs to sell and “sex sells”, so there ya’ go! ><
Some new conflict was brought up near the end, though the solution to the problem feels incredibly obvious, especially after the Babu flashbacks. Unless I’m making an ass out of myself by assuming, the hydrangea leaves seem like the most likely cure for Rea’s Rigor Mortis. PROBLEM SOLVED! (probably not.) I’m getting a bit curious at where this show plans on going now that Rea is a zombie and is stuck in Chihiro’s room … I can only suspect Rea’s parents will take the reigns as antagonists, but I really can’t stand those two much anymore. Then there’s always the possibility of this taking the “romcom” route by following Rea’s zombie-hijinks through school. I only mention that because they have all the classic romcom characters, like the “hot cousin” and the “pervy best friend”. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of the side cast, but ah well, even if the story does dip in entertainment from this point at least the show still looks gorgeous!
NOW, let’s talk Wanko. So Wanko has been an … interesting character so far, to say the most. At times she feels completely irrelevant, especially up until now, but this week’s episode seemed to set in stone the idea of her being the romantic rival to Rea. There were obvious hints of jealousy in Rea’s inner dialogue when Chihiro went to talk with her. How will that play into the story? Eh, I’m thinking it’ll become a means of humor more than anything, as both sides try to pull Chihiro their way. (With the idea of necrophilia here, I really doubt cousin-cousin relationships are off limits.)
Rea’s relationship with Chihiro was taken to new heights this week (and by new heights I mean being in the same room together, since that seems to be a no-no in anime), and her childish optimism is clearly winning him over, or maybe it’s just the fact that she’s dead … but either way, their developing bond has grown on me! Something much more than romance is blooming in Rea though, if the preview for next wasn’t indication enough, it seems that a darker side is developing. Which would make sense if you remember that Babu had an extreme personality change before eating the hydrangea leaves. Well, my curiosity keeps growing and my interest in Sankarea is still high, so I’m looking forward to whatever is in store for us next time!~
Preview: Um, this will happen … good luck Chihiro! (y)
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
A slower and more comedic episode this week as you said, still loads of fun. The visuals really aren’t taking a step back, and the establishing shot of the river was jaw-droppingly gorgeous. And can’t forget about this gag, which was just fantastic.
There seems to be a lot of little mysteries hiding behind the characters. Like Yasutaka who seemed to enjoy being physically intimate with Mogi last episode and seems to be playing up the girl-chasing pervert act to hide his homosexuality. Or the little sister who is very mature for her age and also, well, I think this image speaks volumes. Not to mention the most obvious one, the grandpa and his senility and ability to eat poison. I wonder how much these will get explored.
As for Rea herself, she really is Chihiro’s dreamgirl, isn’t she? I loved seeing Chihiro in his room once he realized that himself. But in all their excitement, neither Rea nor Chihiro has had the chance to mourn her death yet. I feel that’s something the show should tackle. Even if her death lead to something better for her, Rea’s death was still very tragic, and I want to see her properly express her sadness over it.
POWUH: iLurker with 8 comments
I believe that mourning for Rea’s “death” is unnecessary. I believe Rea thinks the same thing about it as I do. That’s because her death isn’t true death, but rather an event needed for her un-death and rebirth as “a normal girl” zombie. That’s just one way to deconstruct the idea, though.
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
Hahah! Yeah, something is up with Yasutaka, he’s trying too hard … though that’d be a humorous way of diverting the “perverted best friend” trope we so often see. Now that you’ve pointed all that out I’m starting to realize how much material they actually have to play around with, lots of secrets and mysterious characters apart from the main story.
I agree with both of you (lvlln/Shance) on the last point. To Rea it doesn’t seem like she’s fully aware of the fact that she’s “dead”, and by that I mean she thinks she can still live a normal life despite all these new challenges ahead of her. (ex. Rigor Mortis, and anything else that comes with dying, possibly no aging?) Can a zombie-girl truly experience everything a normal girl could?
The last scene seemed to me like a wake-up call, although she’s escaped her father’s prison and is living this “new life”, she’s now a part of an equally difficult tragedy that she’ll never be able to escape … not to mention her father hasn’t just given up on her completely.
POWUH: iLurker with 8 comments
I think the best question the show presents so far is “Is there a side effect on the drug Rea took? And if there’s one, what is it?”
Having read the manga, I’ll leave that part for you to find out on the succeeding episodes.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
This episode was mostly comedy, fanservice with a little development. I still enjoyed it though.
I can’t wait to see that bastard of a father die. Though dead and brought back as a zombie, he still refuses to let go of Rea. And the mother is a total bitch for showing concern for her social status over her own daughter. Like you said, those two are no longer tolerable. Rea doesn’t care about the fact that she died because she finally feels free from her abusive, prison-like life.
Rea has gotten twice as hot since she’s undead. She now shares similarities with Tasogare Otome x Amnesia’s Yuuko. Even the relationship with their guys are doing great. But Chihiro quickly needs to get a clue on what Rea is now capable of doing. The way she held on to his shoulders and getting close to his face, I can only think on one thing: She’s hungry. She’s a zombie now and zombies feed on humans. His dream girl is a man-eater.
Ranko is such an interesting character. She has a big sister atmosphere whenever she’s around Chihiro. I can’t wait to see her find out Chihiro’s little secret. If she got flustered when she saw Babu, imagine when she sees Rea.
On a side note, based on what I’ve seen lately, this zombie girl thing has started a new debate among anime fans.
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
Like I mentioned in a comment above, there’s always the possibility that being a zombie is just as restrictive and prison-like as being trapped by her father. Since we don’t really know all the limitations yet (well, we’ve already experienced one), this new life of hers could be just as troubling … but at least she has Chihiro on her side, way better than that old pervert! ^^
If Rea tries to eat Chihiro I’ll … I don’t know what I’ll do, but that would be crazy! >< Wanko's reactions will be priceless I'm sure. xD Debate? Is it necrophilia related? I've seen a blogger insulting fans of Rea, but I didn't know there was more drama going on!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, she doesn’t seem to understand that she can’t the way she used to before. The increased strenght, rigor mortis and craving for human flesh are the first things to notice.
Rea eating Chihiro would be quite the twist. She was acting on instinct when approaching him. Her consciousness was unaware of the situation.
Yep. The debates are on the zombie thing. Whether or not it should weird to want to go out with a zombie. And second, since Rea has become such a hot zombie, people are debating which are hotter and would you go out with them: Vampire girls or Zombie girls. Both creatures exist in the horror theme. What’s your opinion? Zombies decay but vampires don’t age and live forever. It’s a bit of a trade off.
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
Which I prefer? Hmm, neither. I like my humans um … human! ;D (Besides, I feel like both zombies and vampires would constantly be trying to kill people! It’s like … a daily struggle to keep your limbs attached or your neck free of bites. ><) But to each their own I suppose! XD Also, I think it's a little silly that people are criticizing fans of Rea, it's an anime, get over it. Anime and real life have no correlation, having a crush on some animated zombie girl doesn't mean they'll go out and fall in love with a corpse or something. -_-
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hahaha. Humans should always be the choice. I’m sure you already know about my bias because of my title that if there was a chance that I’d take a vampire over a zombie (I’d rather endure neck bites and possible anemia than having limbs that keep falling off). They would definitely kill people. They gotta eat something. I’d laugh so hard if we actually had a poll contest on this topic on Metanorn!!!
I agree. Just because you like something in anime doesn’t mean you’ll have the same feelings in real life. Besides, anime is one of many means to ease yourself after a stressful day and shouldn’t be taken so seriously.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yeah, they certainly had more fanservice this week. I don’t mind too much since Rea is actually really cute. I’m taking notes about how to be moe! I might have to skip the zombie step though…
I was also rolling my eyes at the seemingly obvious leaf-eating solution. It worked for Babu, and she’s seen nibbling on a leaf in the OP too. He’s still moving around without rigor mortis, after all….
Side note: Babu’s ‘meow’ is the cutest thing. S-so…so…cute….Why is this show hitting me so hard with moe?!?! WHY?!?!