Sankarea – 10
Even Dan’ichiro had a bishie phase.
… “had”.
 |
anaaga is busy being studious for her exams week (Good luck anaaga!!~) so I’ll be covering this episode solo! This week we get a better look into the family dynamics of Rea’s family. The upcoming week is the hiatus, so maybe we’ll cover the first OVA in its stead. I’m skipping summary this time by the way, I don’t feel like doing it. Now, to the thoughts~ |
Unrequited Love (aka SUFFERING.)
Is that Dan’ichiro’s happy face?
Nobody is safe from the suffering! This week: the step-mom! Aria’s drunken tale of her love life (or I guess, non-existent love life) shed light on the oft pondered past of the Sanka family, and it was for the most part everything I thought it would be, miserable. The twist this week was that Aria isn’t Rea’s mother, which explains the lack of similarities in appearance. I don’t understand love, so I have no idea why Aria would fall for someone as cold as Dan’ichiro. Even though their relationship seemed to start out of convenience, since the whole “maid” charade was all a pretense for eligible bachelorettes, it did seem as though Aria had genuine feelings for Dan’ichiro beyond status. At the same time, I think her love was a bit ignorant. There were obvious signs he didn’t share in that love, and yet she went along with it anyway.
The part that touched me the most was that Aria truly wanted to be loved and to be apart of the family. It just so happens that she fell for a man who fell for another woman! … Wait, allow me to correct that. He fell for a 15 year old girl, and knocked her up. I respect Aria for her faithfulness and diligence towards the relationship, but I think her chance for true happiness with Dan’ichio passed the moment she looked through that peephole. Why she didn’t pack up and leave, and maybe protect Rea by taking her along? I don’t know, I guess that’s what love does to you.
His obsession with Rea makes a little more sense now …
A Pitiable Villain?
The real villain: aging!
Despite antagonists typically being intended for hatred or dislike, I rarely come across a “villain” devoid of any emotional connection, be it from sympathy or empathy. (In some cases I even like the villain more than the hero.) But if there’s one thing about Sankarea I can say with certainty it’s that I have little to no pity for Dan’ichiro. I know it’s a narrow way to view him and his life, but his actions speak for themselves. Although it’s understandable why he’s messed up, it doesn’t make what he’s doing justifiable in any way. The strange part is that I actually started to feel bad for him about three-quarters in, but then that last scene just brought me right back to hating him.
So I’d say Sankarea has done well with creating a truly detestable antagonist, one who’s held on to the past for so long that his life has become a prison, and now has locked his own daughter in too. It makes me wonder how Rea could possibly have lasted as long as she had without running away or worse. She’s always been surrounded by such negative energy from her “mom” (who Rea might not even know the whole truth about) and her creepy father, such suffering! Where is Kyubey when you need him!?
More Pics
Final Thoughts
This post would not be complete without mini-Rea.
The Rankas have never been my favorite characters in the least, but this week’s episode at least brought insight into their lives. I’m hoping this part of the story won’t last the rest of the series because the usual antics of Rea and Chihiro I’m now realizing were a lot more fun to watch. It’s not that I don’t like episodes dedicated to developing characters, it’s just that I feel as though there was already enough information to establish Dan’ichiro as the villain and Aria as the outsider.
Something I would praise though, which I feel like I do every week, are the beautiful scenes and lighting effects throughout the episode. This might be the first time I’ve ever seen a fencing scene where the characters faces were visible through the helmets, I found the detail there to be a very nice touch, as trivial as that sounds. I also loved the use of the painting during the Aria scenes as a way of giving the viewer a timeline of her life as an outsider.
If you feel like answering in the comments, do you have any sympathy/empathy for Dan’ichiro?
So, will Rea save the day or will Chihiro get out of this situation himself? Until next time!~
Preview
Dan’ichiro VS. Chihiro!~
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
NOOO ¬¬ I hate Dan’ichiro so much that I laughed loudly when I saw him with 20 looking like he had 80. On your face, you pedo! And what with the gloves fetiche?! Guess he is just so arrogant that he don’t want anyone to touch his skin ¬¬
Well, it was funny and gay when Chihiro avoided being breast-embraced by Aria XD She fell and started to cry, oh God I almost cried too (no ¬¬).
Okay, about the episode, erhem… This episode just made the hatred about Dan’ichiro grow. The whole backstory just didn’t seem to justify his acts until then. To me he is just
a pedoobsessed by Rea’s mother.Viewing the whole story about Rea’s family through Aria’s point of view made the episode a little more touching. She wanting to be loved by the man she loved (or not), she wanting to be part of the family, etc. Ah, I think that Aria really loves Dan’ichiro, after all, if she didn’t, she would not be this depressive and sad to the point of breast-embracing a youngster.
I just didn’t like how all the information was thrown to Chihiro, after all, if anyone knows about it, it would be almost a crime to talk about it, after all is a family taboo .-. Anyway, Dan’ichiro, you should not leave a drunk woman wander in your house when there is a
hostageguest.Ahn… And Rea was always cute *-* Especially when she asked Aria to take a photo with Dan’ichiro. If I was Aria I would love Rea forever *¬*
And would kill Dan’ichiro for doing what he did.POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
fufufu a glove fetish sounds like such a rich-guy kind of thing, perfectly fitting for Dan’ichiro! >< Maybe his perverseness is contagious ... I felt bad for Aria as well, but at least Chihiro showed his loyalty! Aria is a talkative drunk it seems! xD I'm actually surprised Dan'ichiro even allows her to live there anymore considering he only used her as a "motherly" filler for the family. Now that Rea is grown up and self-sufficient I would think in his eyes she would have overstayed her welcome. Woo~ *high fives* for hating Dan'ichiro.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I felt plenty of sympathy for Aria throughout the episode. It did a really good job of taking someone who was secondarily loathsome earlier in the series and generating sympathy for her plight, showing her as dedicated and willing to keep trying to connect with Dan’ichiro even though he was just not interested (assuming it’s not a whitewash since it was Aria’s memories and storytelling, after all). And the way they handled her final moment of heartbreak was stunning and effective (and why does creep-o butler have a peephole there?).
But sympathy for Dan’ichiro? No. It seemed like they tried, and maybe the director was even trying to ride the line between explaining how it came to this *without* humanizing him, without making him sympathetic, which is difficult to do. I mean, the guy had a lonely childhood, apparently fell in love (maybe just lust), and lost his young wife to childbirth, after which he tried to provide for his daughter (and that might be the part where Aria loses some sympathy, in that she was not interested in being a mother to Rea, just a wife to Dan’ichiro). And then it’s all twisted, when you find out his motivations.
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
Creep-o-butler has holes everywhere fufufu- wait, that sounded creepy. I agree, they did yet another excellent job handling a side character. As the episode went on my sympathy for Aria kept increasing and increasing, though I do have to question her judgement. I trust her story, she seems like a pro at staying well-minded when drunk. xD
Hm, it seems the majority of people I’ve seen around the web agree with you! (As do I.) I’m curious to know if the intention of this episode was to make us feel bad for him or just hate him more, because the latter seemed to prevail with most watchers.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
No way. I still hate Dan’ichiro. His past tragedies doesn’t even come close to making up for his present guilt and pedophilia. In fact, it has just made become worse.
The one I felt sorry for was Aria. I don’t see how anyone couldn’t sympathize with her. She tried so hard to be noticed but got dropped everytime. The way she was being ignored, the way she looking at Chihiro and her sudden advances on him, there’s a chance she could turn into a cougar.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
“Chance”? “Turn into”? I was thinking there’s no chance she hasn’t gone after other young fellas. It’s not like Dan’ichiro is keeping tabs on her that much, and butler guy was probably happier with the idea of her not sniffing around Dan’ichiro, so he wouldn’t mind if she’s off on the side.
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
Aria looks like perfect cougar quality what with the day drinking and … breast smothering. It’s probably just a side-effect of neglect, and maybe a bit of alcohol. xD
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Let the Pedo Dad hatefest BEGIN!!
And I’d hit Aria, she just too pity….
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
“Let the Pedo Dad hatefest BEGIN!!”? LOL. Trust me, that hatefest started ages ago. This time, it’s only intensified by 100%.
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
My hatred burns with the power of a thousand suns.