Sankarea – 05
Sniffing it like a pro
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Hello, I’m back! Hawth is such a sweetheart for doing this all by himself last week. Cookies for you, hawt Hawth (geddit?). Let’s hope that Chihiro will cure Rea in this episode. |
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Welcome back anaaga!~ It was no problem really, just glad I could help and thanks for doing everything this week. ;D I want to put my faith in Chihiro to solve Rea’s rigor mortis problem, but something tells me this won’t go as easy as planned. |
Chihiro lays Rea’s stiff body on his bed then goes to the praying room to think for a solution. His visionary mind imagines Rea rotting away, and Chihiro is more determined to save Rea. Better than doing nothing at all, Chihiro starts by cooling his room and hiding Rea inside his closer (in case someone goes to his room). Imagine having a stiff dead body inside your closet as you eat breakfast; that was how Chihiro spent his day. However, Chihiro can’t help but think of what “normal” is now.
This is what happens when one watches too much horror
As Wanko delivers her food to the chaotic Sanka house, she accidentally meets Mero, Rea’s acquaintance. Listening to Mero babbling about Rea skipping school and remembering the hectic situation in the Sanka household, Wanko assumes that Rea has gone missing.
Chihiro is planning to use his holiday to take care of Rea, but a child’s code of honor gets in the way, so he ends up cleaning the temple with his family. Chihiro’s father mentions a Babu-look-alike (which is literally Babu), but he dismiss Chihiro’s explanation as a joke. As the family is having the time of their lives with resurrection joke, Chihiro’s grandfather mentions something about resurrection potion out of slip of tongue. Surprised Chihiro tries to dig in further, but of course grandfather forgets already… Or did he? The plot thickens.
That disappointment stare all of us went through
“No, I will not tell you what makes me a moe jiisan!”
The force calls upon Wanko and Wanko appears with lunch! Wanko tells Chihiro of Sanka Rea’s disappearance, something Chihiro already knows since Rea is literally inside his closet. After some teasing about Chihiro’s fabulous taste of women, Wanko leaves, only to come back to Chihiro’s room for some zombie DVDs. Wanko forgets about the DVDs as soon as she sees a long hair on the ground and goes straight to the closet. Nothing is there. Just like a horror scene, Rea is crawling on the ceiling, attacking Wanko like a true lesbian.
“Zombie dakimakura found!… Not.”
Chihiro runs to his room when he heard Wanko’s scream. Thankfully, all Rea did is licking Wanko’s breasts. Chihiro is a whole different matter though. As soon as Rea sees Chihiro, Rea jumps on Chihiro and… Kisses him. The kiss turns into something more aggressive though as Rea “hugs” Chihiro too tightly, endangering his life.
Sleepy Zombies:
Obligatory Wanko
Surprise!
“My spidey sense is tingling!”
For the fanboys
The monk has found the true path of his life
What an unexpected development! DEEN is definitely not trying not to stretch the pace as they went straight to Rea’s zombie nature. Seeing Rea in her zombie state was frightening yet fascinating. Rea’s physically attractive, and her crawling on the ceiling like an oversized spider does not lessen her beauty. Somehow that act of hers just adds to Rea’s distinctiveness; everything Rea does seem so appropriate no matter what. I’m totally cool with her crawling like that. The zombie-like state is what makes Rea’s actions frightening too. She defies gravity and crawls on the ceiling like that just because she’s a zombie. Her strength multiplies as she was able to rip Wanko’s clothes and suffocate Chihiro just by a “hug”. This zombie trait of hers is new to me because the kinds of zombies I’ve seen are not that strong. Yeah, Rea was beautifully scary. Rea’s zombie nature just adds more questions into the line. It’s obvious that Rea was trying to eat Wanko, and Rea had the chance too. Yet Rea did not eat Wanko after she sniffed Wanko. I was surprised when Rea was trying to break Chihiro. Why is Chihiro an exception? What makes him different from the rest? My theory right now is that Rea’s attraction to Chihiro is too much to the point where it surpasses the sanity point, and that triggers Rea’s actions.
Chihiro’s attitude developed significantly in this episode. At the beginning of the series, he was just a boy who has an exceptional dream that seems to be impossible to be achieved. Even Chihiro himself dismissed his dream briefly knowing that it’s impossible to happen. Chihiro’s seriousness when he was thinking in the praying room impressed me. Chihiro is officially a character who knows when to get serious. Plus, he doesn’t whine about having such big responsibility and yada yada things like that. Chihiro is such a likeable character. Can’t wait for him to develop more. I also love how the animation shows hints of Chihiro’s attraction of Rea. During Chihiro’s seclusion in the praying room, the statue of Buddha was replaced by the image of shining Rea. I predict that scene as Chihiro subconsciously adore Rea and think of her as the light of his life. These little things sure are awesome.
Since I’m already talking about animation, I’ll just go on about my admiration for the animation of the river. It. Is. Absolutely. Stunning. I. Love. It. So. Much. I. Had. To. Rewind. The. River. Scenes. My god, I just love the river in Sankarea. It’s so beautiful! It looks too real to be an animation, and it’s too animated to be a real scene. Man, I don’t know what the animation crew did with the river. Mixing a photo with the animation? Whatever it is, the animation looks so fabulous. It was such a calming scene, with the water flowing in such a realistic way. The sunlight hitting the river gave it such a beautiful transparent color. Well, not really transparent, but that’s not the point. The river was beautiful… And yes, I just wrote one short paragraph about a river… Ehm, I like episode 5. That’s all.
If Sankarea was a real horror film and that last scene actually happened, I can’t help but feel like Wanko would have been an amazing example of the “curiosity killing the cast” trope. (Promiscuous blondes are always the first to go anyway, right?) Sadly, that did not happen, but I can see how the show is undoubtedly influenced by classic horror elements. (If the western references and persistent, ominous music weren’t enough already!) The closing scene was genuinely cringe-worthy, and although up until now the “horror” aspect of Sankarea seemed to be mostly represented in the atmosphere, we finally got some moments of actual terror. Maybe “terror” isn’t the best word, but it was more than just the usual gloomy, yet beautifully drawn, scenery and music.
anaaga, I couldn’t agree more with you about Chihiro! What an amazing brotag. (And yes, I’m completely bias because of his VA. ><) He might have cat-hair and feline characteristics, but for the most part he feels like a very believable main character. He’s managed to avoid all the traits of male leads that annoy me to no end, like extreme pervyness and exaggerated self-pity, and handles situations admirably, if not somewhat creepily. Easily one of my favorite protagonists of the season, which is saying a lot because there are so many amazing characters in this season’s shows that I enjoy watching. (He also loves zombies … which results in instant bonus points from me.)
Interestingly enough, Chihiro’s grandfather is now more suspicious than ever. He clearly knows more than anyone about bringing the dead back to life, but that old jerk won’t fill us in! (We feel your pain Chihiro!) The solution to Rea’s new problems most likely lay within his past, and until he can realize that it’s not fish paste in his soup, we might have to wait quite a bit longer. Each week leaves me more and more tempted to read the manga, but I’m holding back the urge and will be eagerly awaiting the next episode! Until next time, later~
Preview: Rea regains her consciousness and is oblivious about what happened. It seems that Rea finds her way to the hydrangea. With towel.
Death Note or Future Diary?
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Wow, how can Rea be so hot yet creepy at the same time? It seems she’s reduced to a mindless beast operating on primal instincts when she’s hungry. Since when can zombies climb walls? That was weird that she has a working stomach for a corpse and pretty convinient that she was able to move just in time to catch a snack.
Chihiro is going to have a hell of a time explaining what’s going on. He’s currently getting the kiss of death. She wasn’t trying to “kiss” him but most likely tasting him before eating. And Rea binding him is obviously so he doesn’t get away.
The yuri meter suddenly shot up. Wanko is the perfect example for the “curiosity killed the cat” metaphor. She should’ve ignored the strand of hair she found and left. Now her consequences resulted in being groped, violated and licked. I’m sure she was about to be bitten the moment Chihiro pulled Rea off of her meaning the sniffing and licking was a taste test. That was the best zombie attack ever!! Chihiro’s attack is second best.
POWUH: iLurker with 17 comments
“Since when can Zombies Climb up walls?”
With Zombie variants in video games of all sorts (think the variety seen in Left for Dead, and Halo), Zombies climbing walls don’t surprise me at all.
As for the river- have they managed to animate their way out of Uncanny Valley?
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
It seems that way. The river looks too real
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
Andmeuths speaks the truth! The zombie concept has evolved so much since the days of Romero (good Romero at least). Nowadays there are so many variations of the classic slow, walking zombie. (I watched a movie a couple nights ago with parkour zombies! ><) Rea is a type of zombie I've never really seen before, or can't remember seeing, so it's not odd that she doesn't fit that image we all seem to have when we think "zombie". lol the yuri was strong. xD I didn't expect it to get that ... erm, intense. I can't help but feel like that whole scene would have been 10x more awesome if Rea actually took a bite out of someone. Oh well!
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
Ah, I see. Maybe it’s because I don’t watch much zombie. The only Western zombie stuff I’ve seen are… The Walking Dead and Resident Evil? And they’re not even about zombies now. It’s all about DORAMA. Too bad the zombies in mainstream movies are not that evolved
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The only western zombie movie franchise I know is Resident Evil. The first three were intensely focused on zombies but the fourth one is slipping. On the part concerning zombies being evolved, the third movie, Resident Evil: Extinction depicted the zombies getting a boost in power speed and intelligence after being experimented on.
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
I don’t think Rea was trying to eat Wanko? She had her chance before Chihiro appeared, but all she did was licking her. Maybe Wanko was not the exact meat she wants, but since she needed some human meat, Read licked her just to satisfy her need?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
So as zombie food, Wanko wasn’t that appealing so she was just licking her but turned to Chihiro who might be the better kind of meat for her appetite. It’s still strange that she has a working stomach for a walking corpse. LOL, is it weird that we’re treating people as food for the sake of a zombie girl?
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
Anime world is harsh. Sometimes we gotta treat people like that if we want to survive in the anime world. Hehe.
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
I was hoping they’d draw out the scene in which Ranko was rifling through Chihiro’s movies longer. Build the tension, have lots of near-misses, before Rea finally attacks her. Alas they didn’t go with that.
Given all the hints they’ve been dropping, I’d be surprise if grandfather wasn’t a zombie. It seems he’ll be a nice resource for Chirio when it comes to taking care of Rea, or a nice surprised if it’s just that he’s senile. But with Ranko finding out about Rea, what will happen to the secret? Explode, or will Ranko keep it on the downlow?
And I’m still hoping that the show deals with mourning of Rea’s death. Maybe it’ll hit later, but I do want the sadness of that tragedy to hit Rea, and possibly Chihiro too.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It would truly be surprising if the grandfather wasn’t a zombie because he clearly shows the signs of one down to eating the same leaves that Babu does to keep him sustained. With the frequent memory losses from what appears to be Alzheimer’s disease, Chihiro will have to be lucky to catch him at the moment he actually remembers anything.
It is skipping out on the mourning thing but if does come along, it’ll have to be at the time Rea comes to terms with what she has become and realizing that she attacked Chihiro and Wanko to eat should do the trick.
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
Ah, lvlln why couldn’t you be over at DEEN directing this! >< That would have been awesome if they built the tension even more, which would have made it even creepier. The build up was actually very well done I thought, but like you said it would have been nice if they stretched it a little longer. That green skin is a bit of a giveaway ... hm, I wonder if they're just playing us. I feel like it's too obvious for some reason. >< Have I been saying W- Ranko's name wrong all this time? This brings me back to the times of Remon ... -_- But yeah, it'll be interesting to see how she handles the news, she doesn't seem like the type to go around telling everyone. Plus, her relationship with Chihiro seems fairly close, I doubt she'd just turn away from him. (Although, keeping the dead body of a missing girl does warrant some caution ...)
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
Her real name is Ranko, but Chihiro calls her Wanko as an affectionate (and a bit condescending) nickname.
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
I don’t think there will be some mourning for Rea. The ones who know that she’s actually dead are Chihiro, Pedo, and Pedo’s butler. But Chihiro has her, and Pedo is too busy planning to get back at Chihiro.
The others think that Rea is only missing
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
Right, what I’m hoping is for Rea herself to mourn her death. Her life and its abrupt end was very sad, and I’d like to see her take a moment to acknowledge that even as she moves on with her new life as a zombie.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I was just pleased as punch they had her clinging from the ceiling. It was visually pointed, and surprising.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
True. I was pleased as well. You also got to admire her stealth. Not a sound was made before she was found on the ceiling.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Rea apparently was bitten by a radioactive zombie spider I guess?
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
Cherrie from RC did an image stitch of the scene and I have to say … very unsettling.
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
Spiderman got nothing like that
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yuri all over the place! Wanko shirt ripping action <3
The whole time I am watching I kept on shouting GIVE HER THE PLANT YOU IDIOT! Cause you know the opening clearly tells us what she needs to survive >.>
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
Being as “gifted” as she is, I was kind of expecting something like that to happen eventually! … I didn’t think it would happen like that though. >< CHIHIRO, LISTEN TO US! It's so obvious.
if we’re wrong i’ll feel stupidPOWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
*sigh* I know how you feel, Fosh. This is what happens when we’re not the characters.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
There’s a risk if you were a character in this story. You might end up being someone’s meal.
POWUH: and Yaoi Fangirl~ with 2320 comments
There’s that too. Ahhhh watching anime is so painful
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Ah, I understand the pain. There are sometimes so many awesome things happening that you wish you were part of the story despite all the possible and impossible life threatening situations.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Parkour Zombies! Does lvlln know this?