Sankarea: Undying Love (Episodes 2 & 3) – A Real Stand-Up Guy!

This is a repost of a series that Lynn and I did back in 2019! The posts alternate between Lynn’s blog – OtakuAuthor.com, and here.

Lynn is also currently going through the Sankarea manga series and the individual episodes on his site, so if you’re interested, check out those posts as well!

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Lynn and I continue on with our journey through the zomromcom (term coined by Lynn – zombie romantic comedy) known as Sankarea, Undying Love. The anime about a boy and his love of zombies. A boy who.. likes zombies a bit too much. But I get ahead of myself, as the zombie-related events have only just begun!

Continuing On…

Well, it’s time to discuss episodes 2 and 3, and I’m becoming more and more impressed with the quality of this anime, despite it’s crazy premise. It’s clear that the first three episodes of Sankarea are our introduction into how Chihiro met Rea, and how Rea becomes a zombie. We also spent a lot of time following Rea and learning about her personal issues, which center around her father.

So, what’d you think of Rea’s father Lynn?

Oh, he’s a real stand-up guy… I said about how Chihiro’s zombie fetish looks tame in comparison to Rea’s home life and with that I am of course talking about her father’s infatuation with her. Not only is it weird and twisted, but it’s obviously ruined her parents relationship, destroyed her only friend’s life, and cost countless maids their jobs. That guy is creepy and dangerous.

There was a moment at the beginning of the third episode where he had just grounded Rea and was planning on taking care of Chihiro. He says he wanted to make sure he never goes near her again. I thought a beating was on the cards, but no, Rea’s dad told his butler that he wanted Chihiro castrated… I almost spat my tea all over the floor.

Haha! Yeah, that was great. Rea’s father has some serious connections. I was thinking more extreme then, because I assumed that he was going to have Chihiro offed, so I found it funny when the order was castration.

I also noticed that her mother seemed very detached from the family, and I got the impression that she was only there because it would reflect badly on Rea’s father if his wife left him, or something like this. So perhaps Rea’s father is also coercing his own wife into staying around?

Definitely, she seemed to enjoy the fact that even after being grounded Rea was still sneaking out and defying her father. It’s definitely not the most loving and stable home, that’s for sure. Given how wealthy and powerful he is, running away probably wouldn’t be that effective. He’d hunt her down in no time. I can see why her thoughts of escape tend towards the extreme.

I think the big revelation from these episodes was that Chihiro got the zombie formula to work, resurrecting Babu. And the secret was hydrangeas. There was an interesting moment that got me thinking, especially once Babu was alive and Chihiro had followed him back to the hotel to find him eating hydrangea leaves. He’d originally noted his surprise that hydrangeas were poisonous because he had seen his grandfather eating them directly off a bush. So, now I’m thinking that his grandfather may already be a zombie.

I was thinking the exact same thing! Considering how senile his grandfather acts, and his sort-of green skin, I think it’s fairly safe to say he could be a zombie. This also means that Rea becoming a zombie for a prolonged period of time is feasible in the Sankarea world, which is what ends up happening right at the end of episode 3. What a cliffhanger. Which is also somewhat ironic considering the nature of Rea’s death (she fell off a cliff).

Plus I’m quite invested in what kind of character Rea will become as a zombie – because I like her hime cut. Still hoping she becomes as bit more assertive and bloodthirsty as a zombie..

Speaking of best girls, we had some great “views” of your girl Ranko in these episodes!

Yeah, episode two was all about Ranko. I don’t think anything else happened, all I remember is that when Chihiro returned from walking Rea home, having given Babu the formula, Ranko was at his house having a bath… Then Babu came back to life and leapt out of the window.

Then in episode three, Chihiro and Ranko followed Babu through the town, climbing over walls and crawling through drainage pipes. This is where Chihiro lost me. Ranko got stuck in the drain. Not sure if it was her tennis racket or whether they were trying to say he hips were too wide, but Chihiro left her there. Not cool, dude. Then where there was that sudden downpour of rain and I’ll admit I was worried for Ranko.

I agree, although I admit I quickly forgot about Ranko once the next scene began. Which makes me feel a little bad, as Ranko trapped in a drain in the rain can’t be a good thing. I know this won’t happen.. probably.. but man what a twist it would be if Ranko ended up dying in the drain and became a zombie like Rea? What a terrible way to die though, especially when you consider Chihiro just abandoned her like that.

Yeah, Ranko drowning was my immediate concern and then Chihiro being forced to revive her. Could he end up with a zombie harem? Honestly, it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing to happen in this series.

I’d actually really like that. Never thought I’d be saying it but here I am, saying that I’d like to see a zombie harem. Might as well commit right?

Considering we’ve just gotten zombie Rea at the very end of episode 3, I’m very excited to see what’s in store for us moving forward. Episode 4 is looking to be very interesting, with all of the buildup so far. Let’s hope it can deliver on that!

I think it will. I can’t see Rea’s dad just disappearing and no doubt we’ll find out about Ranko. It’s going to be interesting, that’s for sure.

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That concludes our discussion of episodes 2 & 3 of Sankarea! As we are alternating the hosting of posts from this collab, I’d like to ask that you please visit Lynn’s blog and follow him for future posts, as well as other great anime content!

• Sankarea Collab
  • Episode 1 – An Anime ZomRomCom!
  • Episodes 2-3 – A Real Stand-Up Guy!
  • Episodes 4-5 – Zombies like Boobs!
  • Episodes 6-7 – Love Triangle?
  • Episodes 8-9 – Cliffhanger Interruptus!
  • Episodes 10-11 – Family Bonding Time!
  • Episodes 12-13 – Tease of the Dead

Stay tuned for the next post on what is quickly turning out to be a “classic” zomromcom!

Until next time,
Thanks for reading!