Mid-Series Review – Sagrada Reset
Kei’s parents obviously didn’t care about him enough to tell him not to talk to strange men alone.
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…Plus you know, there’s the whole letting your kid travel alone/live in some strange town thing. Well, we’re almost done spring, and halfway through Sagrada Reset! I’d say that it’s pretty okay so far. Some of the novelty from the beginning has kind of worn off, but I’d say that this anime is far from dull. |
This town is strangely chill about people dying. Mirai dies because of some energy vampire? No big deal, whatever. The great oracle whose power the entire town’s secret organization runs on is dying in a few days? Well, let’s let her meet a few teenagers for a while for reasons that aren’t really explored outside of “oh, I’m dying so I’m allowed to talk to you now”. Kei dies according to keikaku? I guess Misora can cry a little. (Though admittedly, Yoka seems pretty affected by that particular event.) In general though, this show seems equally laid back about everything and nothing really seems to cause any sense of urgency. Kei is able to plan pretty much anything out, and even if he’s feeling particularly bothered by something (like Eri going off to bug Misora), there always seems to be someone else who is level headed regarding the situation. Though that being said, it’s almost weirdly refreshing in a way, since with so many other anime with characters full of angst, seeing people be able to make (relatively) smart choices in pretty much every situation is kind of new.
Kei and Misora don’t really seem human some times, and that makes things strange in instances like that marble incident, where Kei is suddenly the master empathizer and knows exactly how to solve the emotional problem at hand. …Though the marble girl also seemed to have some pretty unusual hang ups (as does everyone else), so maybe that’s just how people function in this town, making them far easier to read. I’m all for protagonists that know everything and that can plan 24 steps ahead of his opponents. Normally they have some kind of character flaw that makes them seem slightly more realistic as characters, but at this point, I’ve just come to accept that Kei is always going to be stoic, and have a small emotional range. I still kind of wish that we got a little more introspection regarding his thoughts or thought process though. Maybe the novels did this better than the anime. Regardless though, I’ve just come to accept that Sakurada just seems to be this strange town where pretty much everyone has Monogatari-level conversations with each other as regular, every day interactions. Or as my friend suggested to me, there’s some power user in town that makes everyone subconsciously talk nothing but chuuni.
Misora and Kei both don’t really seem like real people (well, nobody in Sakurada does), but at least it’s easy to understand them in a few situations. That entire episode of Misora on her own with the other female characters was interesting since it showed us something new for her character. I’m sure a ton of people with social anxiety can relate to going through all of the motions of doing something for someone and then going “oh wait, I’ll probably just bother them, so I should stop.” It was also nice to see Kei showing emotions when it comes to Misora and Sumire. He doesn’t really seem to express much, but it’s nice to know that he cares about both of the characters to worry about their well being. Especially in Misora’s place, where he knew that there was a plan in place to protect her, but still worried regardless.
The most interesting thing so far (for me at least) was Sumire’s revival and the events that led up to it. Hell, it even made me go “wow, Kei is pretty smart” instead of “wow, what kind of high school kid talks like this.” I think this was mostly due to how Kei’s plan had to do with abilities and objects as opposed to people. With people and things like emotions, there always seem to be way to many unexpected factors involved, but at least with abilities that always do the same things, a plan like this seems a bit more realistic. Seeing the character’s powers being used in unexpected ways was also really interesting. Even having the usual, straightforward powers to see into the future characters seem really interesting due to surrounding circumstances. The Witch’s powers combined with the one that let people into pictures was really unexpected, as was Sumire manipulating her death and rebirth just because she knew what would happen. It will be interesting to see the reasons why she had to die in the first place.
It’s kind of funny how direct the show is about some elements. It was nice to see Youka’s intentions about the cat being played straight (even if she was a tsundere about it). Also, the MacGuffin was literally a MacGuffin. Just some meaningless plot item that pulled things together. It could have been anything and the item would have preformed the same function plot-wise and brought Sumire back to life. Sumire being brought back was really interesting, just because of the amount of strings that had to be pulled to make it happen. Thus far, the show put an emphasis on how most people’s talents weren’t overly useful, and it seemed to downplay some really powerful abilities like Misora’s by constantly just stating that the power is pretty much useless without Kei. Bringing people back from the dead is kind of a big deal. Sure, in this case it was completely circumstantial, but it’s still a big deal.
This is interesting though since it definitely justifies the Administration Bureau’s presence in the town if powers can do huge things like this. …Though at the same time, at this point the Bureau also lost their most important piece who could tell the future (and they look like jerks doing it; come on and just let the old lady see her boyfriend and maybe she wouldn’t have to run away), and they either don’t know about Sumire (which seems the most likely because of what her and Kei talked about in the last few episodes), or they’ve just decided to be very unproductive about the situation. So if there was something huge and devastating going on right now, especially without the Witch around, then could they really deal with it properly? The show has never even really gone in to what the Bureau can do, just that it can vaguely ruin people’s lives, so they must be somewhat powerful at least.
AHA!! This explains the mystery of totally-not-adult-Honoka from the Love Live movie.
As for the new arc, it’s definitely more out there in terms of fantasy, which is adding an interesting dynamic in terms of the possibilities of what Kei and Misora will be able to do. Do resets even work in dreams? Though I’m sure the reset will come in handy once they figure out Honoka’s emotional issues. There’s also Sumire’s whole part in this, and who knows what kind of long term plan she has in store.
I can’t say that I’m really emotionally invested in this show, but at least I don’t find myself getting bored mid-episode, and for the most part, the plot isn’t too predictable. As the series has continued on, I initially found the conversations really interesting, then the novelty wore off with how unrealistic all of the characters were, but then I just kind of came to accept it. I can’t say that I really like or dislike the characters either, though there are moments where I can kind of relate to and understand them. Overall, I don’t think I’m finding this anime half as thought-provoking as it’s trying to be, but I can appreciate the effort, and sometimes things click with me. So if I had to say if this was good or bad, I would probably say on the better side of average. There are some interesting things here for sure.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I like the show, and I think that they’ve got Kei’s ability to have things planned out in the sweet spot. He’s not too smug or arrogant about it, but he has a confidence about things that works well spread to Misora and Youka.
I think your point is good that all of these disconnected abilities are somewhat useless until you get the mastermind to link them all together. I think that’s something the show is really soft-pedaling, that it’s less Kei’s ability to remember things and more his ability to think ahead and solve puzzles that is the important thing.
I also like the way they’re softening Misora throughout the show’s run. It’s getting her away from being a robot, although it’s kinda in an uncanny valley thing now like Data from Star Trek, where she’s not quite getting everything.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ah, that’s a good point regarding Kei’s attitude. The more I think about it and the more the show goes on, the more I like how he manages to plan everything together.
And yeah, that episode of Misora on her own was great for having her not be a robot. If the end result of this entire series is for her show more emotions, then even that would feel like a success.