Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Sakura Quest
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4426 |
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I have to agree that I get nervous when a character travels since more than once they've discussed what they plan to do once Yoshino's year is up. Even when the goal is reviving Monoyama, it is impossible to ignore that three of them have/had ambitions that necessitated going to Tokyo.
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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Haven't been keeping up with the reviews/forum discussions of Sakura Quest because I've been watching the dub, but I am really enjoying this show! It is one of the most relatable anime I've ever seen (although ep14 felt too much like a commercial trying to encourage young people to move to small country towns!)
According to the World Atlas website, Japan has the highest incidence of Autism in the world, at 161 cases per 10,000 children . Anime has a habit of not identifying specific diagnoses in order to make characters as relatable to as many people as possible (which is not limited to anime; I once read that the writers of The Big Bang Theory have said that they specifically didn't give Sheldon any diagnoses because they didn't want to feel obligated to portray his character in a certain way. Personally I think they're cowards, but it's one way to deal with it. I think both Ran from Atom and Ririko from Sakura Quest could be identified as neurologically unique. Just because fiction writers don't outright say in canon that characters would fit into certain diagnoses doesn't mean they can't be read that way or even that they weren't intended to be read that way. There are a lot of kids on the spectrum in Japan, and I'm glad Japanese media is representing them in relatable, and most importantly, sensitive and respectful ways, even if they do not usually state outright what their "difference" is. |
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leeoflittlefaith
 Posts: 104 |
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Really surprised with how emotional I was at the end of episode 18. The understated magic of this show is really something.
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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Actually, I feel like the point is being missed (especially considering the main overarc'ing GOAL of the core team). Maki's problem (from her father's viewpoint) is a problem of MANY young people, especially people espousing the "do what you love" viewpoint (which makes Sakura Quest a TERRIFIC counterpoint to Shirobako). As her father implies, people should follow their passion and do what they love, but that doesn't mean you need to (or SHOULD) make it a "career". And that's an interesting point to ask of anyone: WHY do you do what you "love"? Do you do it BECAUSE you love it, or because you're "rewarded" by it? Maki wanted to be an actress, but did she want that because she likes to ACT or because she wanted to be "famous" (or rich)? The former is easily obtainable anywhere (including in a small town in "community theater") the latter requires going someplace else because it is dependent on OTHER people. This is the core of the "problem" for small town vs. big city. "Home is what you make it", but are you dissatisfied of what OTHER people are making? I expected Maki to consider teaching acting after the whole movie arc, but now I'm wondering if she'll just look to starting a community theater. Which will have the added benefit of providing more things for locals to enjoy. Thus giving people more reasons to stay in/come to Manoyama EDIT: As a side-note to the above, I know several artistic types who explicitly advise NOT doing "what you love" as a career, in part because you will come to "hate" it. That's probably somewhat of an exaggeration, but using animation as an example, I've heard a couple of professionals note that you won't be able to watch it the same way once you've been involved in making it. You'll notice a lot of shortcuts and (necessary) flaws in the process BECAUSE you're more aware of the process and thus won't "enjoy" it as much. My OPINION is that the same is true for film/anime critics, who now NEED to watch a bunch of material and thus the viewpoint on what they're watching changes. |
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Joshua Zarate
Posts: 2061 |
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Mr. Farris hit the nail on the head when describing how I also felt about this week's episode. Nearly everything about it was handled quite well and has become one of my favorite episodes of this series. I'm still enjoying the show and its cast twenty episodes in which is always a good thing and I'm hoping that the show can end on a strong note.
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15462 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I was kind of expecting the play to be real cringe inducing, but it actually turned out really charming.
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Squidslinger
Posts: 76 |
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Took them most of this season to finally get a story arc that was interesting. Sakura Quest has really meandered about. It has moments, and then it goes off again. Lots of wasted potential as it's gone. At times it feels like it is trying too hard to keep the core cast together instead of letting their characters grow. Their world is very much locked down to the point where every excursion outside of Manoyama does indeed feel like just a temp outing. You never feel like this is an "oh no" moment where the character could actually leave.
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5424 Location: Iscandar |
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For a while Sakura Quest has reached and stayed at a consistent, but kind of stagnant place. I liked episode 21 because it shook up the formula enough to bring some much needed excitement. The five girls are still likable, but their lives and motivations have become predictable, but hopefully Erika brings up more new things from the main cast.
With four more episodes to go I doubt we will see something dramatically different, but I hope the conclusion sends off the show with a bang. Sakura Quest remains one of my favorite anime shows from 2017, but at times it is not easy to feel very endeared to it. |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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It'll be interesting to see the final resolution of Yoshino's story because it is a valid metaphor for what she's trying to do. It began with her not wanting to be in a small town and instead WANTING to be in the "big city (Tokyo). It looks to end with her wanting to stay, but the very valid question of "how" is what she needs to resolve. It's not incredibly difficult (as the series has shown over and over) to get people to VISIT even a small town. The difficulty is in giving them both a reason AND the "means" to STAY.
As was discussed near the start of this show and as has been presented in the anime, I think IT and the internet allow for more "options" for smaller population centers. But it is true that one of the big problems smaller towns face is less people also means less money changing hands, which means less options for people to be able to afford living in a small town. |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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Just as one episode showed the Apple/IBM/Japan Post efforts to improve communication with isolated seniors, this one covers another fact of life for small rural Japanese towns: consolidation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_mergers_and_dissolutions_in_Japan "Japan had around 1,822 municipalities at the beginning of 2007, considerably less than the 2,190 on April 1, 2005, and a decline of 40 percent from the number in 1999. The 1,822 municipalities include 198 villages, 777 cities and 847 towns." The Government has a target of 1,000 municipalities but no deadline to reach it. Small municipalities incur a lot of debt. In 2006, the Government claimed municipal debt amounted to forty percent of Japanese GDP. The number of small municipalities, those with populations under 10,000, fell sharply from 1,537 in 1999 to 489 in 2006. Manoyama certainly looks to have fewer than 10,000 people, and it is not economically healthy either. Merger might be the town's salvation. Last edited by yuna49 on Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:35 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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EmpyreanBlaze
 Posts: 44 |
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Now that spoiled brat wants to work in a pastry shop?!
Just joking, I never really disliked Erika. Grandma Oribe I didn't like at first though, but her character has grown softer and more accepting. So I don't know who to hate lol. This episode was really close to finalizing a resolution, until those 3 shadowy men's true business came to light. I kind of expected that, but didn't want it to happen. Oh well, onwards to the grand finale! |
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Joshua Zarate
Posts: 2061 |
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This was a very nice episode this week. It wasn't until it was nearly over that I realized how much I've come to appreciate Sakura Quest and the way it achieves its goals. I think I'm going to miss this show and its characters when it ends next week and I sincerely wonder what will happen in the final episode, but I feel like, as Mr. Farris states, it will know exactly what it wants to do and that is something that would be interesting to see happen.
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15462 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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My eyes were already starting to water with this being the second last episode, I think that the show has done a good journey like with Yoshino time here that we feel attached to this setting and people. Actually feels like Sakura Quest has earned to make us feel this way about Manoyama. That Yoshino had responsibility to carefully think through the television thing, but it was actually kind of reassuring when Kadota gave a big no to the tv producer, that he won't let them ruin this event, and something only he could decide. We had Kadota and Chitose talking amongst each other that their relationship improved, and then everyone wishing Yoshino a happy birthday, the sort of appreciation I think she had been looking for with work from the beginning.
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yuna49
Posts: 3804 |
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A moving conclusion to a heartfelt production. I thought Yoshino's final destination really fitting and, at least for me, unexpected. Pretty much all the shows' themes recurred in Ririko's song.
I'm surprised by how little attention this show has attracted. After twenty-five episodes this discussion only managed to run six pages. I'm not alone in wanting to see anime about adults, but when lovely shows with mature characters and concerns like this one appear, they seem ignored. Thank goodness P.A. Works still keeps truckin' along. |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5467 |
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P.A. Works' last outing of this type of show was Shirobako, and that thread had about twice a number of pages. So I think it's not so much the adult female leads but more the subject matter. I feel like peeps are more receptive towards wanting to know the inner workings of making an anime series than seeing some Japanese country town getting revived. Especially since the latter's subject matter seems a lot more Japanese ingrained (unless there's a U.S. equivalent of "reviving" old country towns). |
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