Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin

Episodes 14-15

Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin was a neat little video game adaptation, but also one that came and went, so I was a little surprised to see it getting a two-part special out of the blue. Not only that but rather than centering on the show's titular goddess, this special focuses on her friend Kokorowa, whose presence in the main series mainly amounted to being Sakuna's one friend amongst the other gods, and a brief stint at a villain arc when Sakuna's pre-character development selfishness became too much for her (which for all intents and purposes this special ignores as the timeline here suggests this takes place in an entirely different continuity altogether), so while she served her purpose well enough, I can't say I was chomping at the bit for her to get this much time in the spotlight. Odd choice aside, this special does at least provide an opportunity to dig back into the low-stakes fantasy vibes that made the main show charming, and in that respect, it certainly does its job.

The core of the story here centers around Kokorowa's efforts to write a new novel under her secret pen name, only to hit a wall as her books have been based on personal fantasies rather than personal experiences, and she wants to use the latter as a new source of inspiration. To that end, she asks Sakuna to let her work on one of the fields on Hinoe Island so she can write about her experiences in secret, and figures that all her textbook knowledge should make farming a breeze. Of course, as most of the main show has driven home, rice farming is a long and tedious process, so it doesn't take very long for her to realize she's in over her head with this project.

Much like with the main series, the best parts of this special are when it zeroes in on the ins and outs of harvesting rice. Seeing little details like how boiling rice seeds in hot water can be useful for staving off diseases, or how crushing seedlings can help them grow better, are some nice little factoids, and the show still doesn't shy away from getting across how much work goes into a successful harvest, along with all the potential issues that can crop up along the way. One of those issues crops up during the second episode when Kokorowa's ship accidentally carries over an infestation of insects that puts the island's entire harvest in jeopardy, and knowing basically nothing about farming, it was interesting to learn how useful oil can be in driving off pests. Some of the realism on display is undercut by the revelation that this plague was the work of a demon insect that Sakuna ends up having to fight, but to the show's credit, this is the most video game like scenario that happens across this entire special, and it's hard not to be impressed at just how well its managed to disguise its origins.

As nice as all the farming segments are, the overall plot for this special feels fairly forgettable. There is something funny in watching Kokorowa taking such a roundabout way of dealing with writer's block, but all it amounts to is a very on-the-nose lesson about the importance of hard work, and the main show has done plenty of that already. Similarly, the twist that she's been motivated by a desire to outshine another author, only for the audience to learn at the end that said author was the one who got her to start publishing her stories to begin with, was a pretty good one, but not enough to elevate this special beyond being much more than a pleasant way to pass the time. Still, there's nothing particularly wrong with that, and while this special doesn't offer much beyond an extra 40 minutes of the show's usual vibes, it's nice to see that those vibes still feel as laid-back as ever.

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Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.