Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo Review
By James U.
Review at a Glance:
Rating:
5 out of 5
A well-written, and well-executed story with unexpected twists not native to the genre.
Highest Point:
All the major characters are deep and memorable; each of them bearing a particular weight that haunts them throughout the series. The characters deal with them as a normal person their age would (with acceptable exaggerations) and their growth is apparent without breaking character.
Lowest Point:
Some forced fanservice at the beginning of the anime give off the impression that it’s a run-of-the-mill ecchi title. It fades away quickly enough after the 4th or 5th episode, though it pops up every now and then.
Recommendation:
This anime has excellent writing and top-notch storytelling, the comedy is great, the drama is even better, and the voice acting is superb. I’ve got way too many good things to say about this title that it’s hard for me to make a sex joke. So yeah, I totally recommend watching it.
Overview
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (The Pet Girl of Sakurasou) is a romantic comedy/drama/slice of life anime in a high school setting. It’s a 24-episode anime adaptation of a light novel of the same name, originally penned by Kamoshida Hajime, which aired from October 9, 2012 to March 26, 2013. The anime is directed by Ishizuka Atsuko, who doesn’t have much under her belt, though she directed most of the episodes of Supernatural’s anime adaptation.
Premise
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (I’ll call it Sakurasou for the sake of the review) is about a bunch of high school students living in a coed dorm called Sakurasou. It’s a rundown old building infamous for keeping belligerent students who can’t be contained in typical dormitories. Most of the plot in the beginning revolves around Shiina Mashiro, a genius painter with very little common sense, and Kanda Sorata, the typical nice guy who gets sent to Sakurasou for keeping stray/abandoned cats in the normal dorms. Sorata is assigned as the caretaker of Shiina (hence the “Pet” in the title) and hilarity ensues.
It’s like taking care of Zooey Deschanel, if she had brain damage.
Succeeding plotlines eventually focus on the other students of Sakurasou. There’s Aoyama Nanami, the uptight independent girl who’s training to become a voice actress; Kamiigusa Misaki, the hot genius animator who is incredibly energetic and completely out of this world (to the point that people playfully call her an alien); Mitaka Jin, budding writer, playboy/sex god, and childhood friend of Misaki; Akasaka Ryuunosuke, the shut-in super programmer along with Maid-chan, his adorable AI assistant (because it’s totally possible to create a sentient AI when you’re in high school).
What did YOU accomplish back in high school?
While the plotlines of the other characters mainly involve only one or two of them, it usually drags along everybody else. The stories aren’t self-contained, and they blend nicely with the rest of the plot as it moves smoothly from one story to the next.
Smooth, get it? Like lube, and stuff. Anal. *sigh* I’m not gonna reach my sex joke quota at this rate.
And I Thought It Was Just For Fapping
For the first five episodes, the anime looks like your run-of-the-mill ecchi romcom, albeit a competent one. The gags are funny, the characters are quirky, and the fanservice scenes are all over the place.
Get it? All over the place? Like bukkakke and stuff. *sigh*
At first I thought it’d only last for 13 or so episodes, and that there would be little to no character development, let alone an actual resolution to any established conflict. I was satisfied in knowing that and a bit smug too, expecting nothing special out of this title.
It was subtle at first, but then I began noticing some differences in approach with regards to the story. Events that usually play out the way you expect them to, turn out to be completely different. When I confirmed my suspicion that this wasn’t another romcom, my smile became genuine and I began to watch it with a renewed perspective. I also noticed that the fanservice scenes became less and less as the series went on after the 4th episode.
Don’t get me wrong, my hand was still on my dick the entire time.
The Dragon Ball Effect
The series starts out with Kanda Sorata, resident goody-good-guy, meeting Shiina Mashiro. It’s immediately made apparent that Shiina has little to no common sense, and her ability to take care of herself is about as good as a neutered dog can lick his own balls. It’s cute to see how she utterly fails in her meager attempts to do mundane activities, while Sorata has to clean up after her. In the end, the poor kid is burdened with being Shiina’s manservant.
Though there are some perks.
Their dynamic becomes central to the series for the first few episodes. The hilarity that comes with being a ditzy girl’s personal butler is entertaining, though it slowly fades into the background before the gag gets stale. This is one of the good things the anime does; transitioning from one plot point to another smoothly. Yes, their relationship sticks throughout the series, but it’s no longer the main focus.
Basically this, only better. And has boobs.
I do like how the anime slowly pulls the manservant plot point away from the foreground. Eventually everybody just rolls with it, never having to point out their relationship unless necessary. This is pretty much how real people would adapt to certain situations. It’s kinda like having a roommate who masturbates in your presence. It’s off-putting at first, but you get used to it. This effectively makes the title somewhat inaccurate since you’d expect the pet thing to be central to the story. Like your fapping roommate, it’s not really a bad thing (since almost everybody masturbates), but it’d be nice if he could go to the bathroom to do his business.
Just The Tip
I’m personally averse to writing character sheets, but in this case I feel it’s necessary since the series doesn’t focus on just two or three people. Given the amount of crazy living in Sakurasou, one would expect that the characters would all be one-trick ponies. With boobs. It certainly seemed that way. But as the series went on, the characters began to show more of themselves.
In more ways than one.
Most of the main characters all have their own emotional baggage, and those who don’t carry any will eventually have one. The main hero, Sorata, starts out being an average student in a dorm full of talented people. He eventually questions what he really wants to do with his life once he realizes that everybody in the dorm is working hard towards something (in spite of their raw talent). His growth as a human being is central to the series, and even if a particular arc doesn’t directly involve him, he still manages to learn from it. As a character, he’s the only sane man, who has to live with all the crazy shit that goes down in Sakurasou.
In other words, he’s YOU, except he doesn’t masturbate as much.
The other main hero(ine), Shiina Mashiro, starts out like a blank slate. With boobs. She’s pretty quiet for the most part, but whenever she speaks it’s usually something either really obvious, or really oblivious. See, she’s not very good with subtlety and sarcasm. She’ll take whatever you tell her at face value, and maybe even act on it. Mashiro also tends to fixate on certain things. It’s fun to watch her whenever she’s being quirky or odd, and often she’ll do things with little regard for her own modesty (or anyone else’s). While it might make her a walking gag, the writer(s) manages to avoid it by making her growth central to her character’s plot arcs. Where Sorata grows into a better human being, Shiina grows into A human being.
Most of the conflict that follows her around usually involve her being torn between doing what she wants (draw/write manga), and doing what other people want (paint). The fact that she’s a prodigy in the world of art means that certain liberties normal people take for granted are taken away from her.
Though she takes her clothes off herself.
As I mentioned above, the other residents of Sakurasou are given just as much screen time as everyone else. Aoyama Nanami isn’t a prodigy like most of the other residents, but adds her own batch of conflict and drama to the series. Nanami wants to be a voice-actress, but since her parents don’t agree, she decides to run away from home and do it herself. This makes her the super-independent girl who feels like she has to prove to everyone that she can do everything by herself. For most of the series, that’s her one schtick. But as she does more than she can handle, reality slowly creeps in and fatigue catches up with her. Stubbornness is integral to her character, and it can get pretty intense whenever the plot decides to break her.
You can hide all you want, but the plot will find you eventually.
Nanami isn’t the only chew toy in the dorm. Childhood friends, and high school seniors, Mitaka Jin and Kamiigusa Misaki are perhaps the most battered characters in the series (well, next to Nanami). It’s not immediately apparent given their usual dispositions: Jin is often calm and collected, while Misaki is like a jet engine that runs on fireworks. The two also like to tease the other residents, so they’re the least likely to be raped by the plot. Their baggage is that Misaki likes Jin, but Jin is a womanizer (keep your panties on; it’s revealed early in the show, so it’s no spoiler). It’s the typical childhood flame trope to be sure, but it’s completely turned on its head once the plot goes TSA through their luggage. I can’t really say more other than the fact that it fucks them up. The plot really likes to douse them in kerosene, throw them in a gas chamber of farts, and set them ablaze.
Note to self: Patent gas chamber of farts idea.
There are several other characters (like the super-programmer Akasaka Ryuunosuke) that have their own mini-arcs and subplots, but my point is that most of the characters have a level of complexity to them that isn’t really native to the genre. Where most drama/romcom cast members have one identifiable quirk or baggage, Sakurasou goes the extra mile by giving its characters relatable qualities beyond their respective archetypes. The nice guy isn’t always nice, the genki girl isn’t always on fire, and the quiet painter isn’t as shallow as she appears. All that, while still managing to improve the anime without going outside its genres. The characters are awesome, is what I’m saying.
The Power of Friendship
I mentioned several times that the other characters often get involved in plots that don’t directly affect them. While it sounds like a bad thing since the characters feel shoehorned in for the sake of drama, it’s actually executed pretty well, and justified in the simplest way possible (see header). Friendship is the most central theme of the series, and it’s made apparent by how everybody gets into each other’s business.
The way their bond is portrayed is something that other anime can learn from. It develops slowly, and is no easy ride. There are good times and bad, and when things get bad, they really get bad. Not to say that every conflict is a package deal involving everybody. Big things that would affect everyone are tackled as a group, but when it comes to smaller conflicts, the other characters not directly involved will often stay in the background and be there for moral support; only swooping in when needed. They’re all there for each other, is what I’m saying. It’s a realistic take on group dynamics that’s pretty easy to relate to.
Assuming you HAVE friends.
The Tissues Are For The Tears
The comedy in Sakurasou ranks pretty high in my imaginary list of funny titles. It’s in no way in my top five, but definitely competent at giving me a good laugh. What sets Sakurasou apart from other anime in the same vein is the “life” part of slice-of-life.
The story itself is fairly light in terms of scale. In its simplest form, it’s all about a bunch of high schoolers having to deal with the pains of growing up. Fairly standard stuff really, but Sakurasou puts its own spin on it. When it comes to this anime, said pains are in fact, really fuckin’ painful.
Like surprise anal secks.
The anime is pretty balanced when it comes to switching between funny and dramatic parts. Often you’ll find yourself laughing, then in focus as the tone transitions into something more serious, then clutching your chest as you try to hold back your tears. It’s smooth in its transition, and often avoids a sudden mood shift (unless it’s used deliberately).
It’s essentially porn for your heart.
Say “Toaster”... Slowly
Voice acting in anime is pretty competent most of the time. People mostly complain about anime voice acting when it’s an English dub. Even then, it’s been getting better in recent times, but that’s a discussion best left for another review. Barring any engrish, there’s really no reason to critique the voice work since the standard is pretty high already.
Since anime faces are limited in terms of showing human emotion (barring any exaggerated facial distortion for the sake of comedy), it’s up to the VAs or seiyuus to infuse some humanity into them. Sakurasou is an excellent case of this. The main characters really shine by having very distinct personalities in their voices. It’s a good mix of subtle and overt traits in the way they speak and it’s really effective at setting them apart.
Other than their normal speaking lines, the seiyuus were pretty good at realizing their characters’ emotions. When they’re happy, you as the viewer, feel just as good. When they exhibit sudden bursts of passion, it resonates to the viewer like a vibrating fleshlight on max (... not that I would know). And when the tears start falling, you’d be hard-pressed not to cry with them.
Tears are basically your heart’s cum shot. Emotional jizz, if you will.
The voice acting is excellent, is what I’m saying. It makes you feel like you’re really part of it; like you’re a tenant of Sakurasou, minus the cock-teasing and physical abuse.
Conclusion
Sakurasou does a lot of things really well, and what it doesn’t do with excellence, it does with a high level of competence. Aside from all of the things it does right, it also takes the time to contribute much to the trite and ailing romantic comedy genre through its believable and likable characters, intense and realistic storylines, and very awesome and immersive voice acting. There really isn’t any glaring issue with it other than the fact that it can get really heavy at certain points so much that it becomes emotionally taxing to watch further. Oh, and there’s also quite a bit of fanservice which may put off some people (what is wrong with you people?). I’m happy to award Upskirt Mecha’s very first...
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