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 on his site, so if you’re interested, check out those posts as well!
We’re back with some more Sankarea discussion!
This time around, Lynn and I cover episodes 10 & 11, the episodes that appear to be the climax of the series. We will have to wait for episode 12 to know for sure.. Still, we found plenty of reasons to bash the protagonist, Chihiro, once again. Something that has become our favourite pastime in these discussions!
Welcome back for another chat on Sankarea, Lynn! We’re closing in on the end here, with episodes 10 and 11. And unlike the last episode, these two episodes covered a lot of ground. Starting with episode 10, Chihiro had been kidnapped and is now being held in the Sanka mansion. I know that we both had some words to share regarding our “favourite” protagonist, and I’ll let you start the Chihiro bashing..!
Oh, it’s on! So, we’re finally back with Chihiro in some sort of round prison room with a plush couch. Of course Chihiro was strapped into a chair. He starts out by begging the maid to release him and than yelling when she refuses.
This attracts the attention of Rea’s mother who comes in and reveals her tragic story about how she’s not actually Rea’s mother and Danichiro (Rea’s father) hasn’t paid her any attention or even consummated their marriage. She’s as much of a victim as anyone else here. In a moment of madness she throws herself at Chihiro. I can only assume it’s a form of Stockholm Syndrome, but Chihiro shrugs her off because he only likes zombie girls… The worst part is the whole time she’s telling her tragic story, he’s not listening and dismissing her as crazy and part of Rea’s problem. Like you had mentioned, he’s basically treating her the same way Danichiro does. I cannot stand Chihiro, not even a little. The guy is a tool. He doesn’t deserve to have anyone in his life.
Funny how similar their names are too! Chihiro and Danichiro! Would you like to pile on?
You bet! The similarities between Chihiro and Rea’s father, Danichiro are pretty amazing. Both only care about one thing, and have no qualms about blatantly ignoring everything and everyone that doesn’t pertain to their interests. Danichiro was obsessed with his first wife, and then his daughter, Rea. Chihiro was / is obsessed with zombies, and therefore Rea by extension. Danichiro completely ignores his 10/10 wife who loves him, and Chihiro completely ignores his 10/10 cousin Ranko who loves him. Chihiro is every bit as dense as Danichiro, and I could easily see him becoming the “villain” in the exact same way that Danichiro had.
Of course, the anime tries to make it seem like Chihiro is the hero here, by sticking up for zombie Rea. How much do you want to bet that Chihiro wouldn’t give a damn if Rea was still alive though?
Yeah. It’s like how he seems to take credit for everything. He even failed at saving Rea from her father. That was all Rea. On top of that she probably saved him from being stabbed to death when she licked his wound and made him “half-zombie”… literally the dumbest thing I’ve heard yet. It’s been an interesting series and I can’t wait to finish episode 12, but Chihiro has been a blight on the whole thing. I pity the VAs for having to act like they liked him.
Speaking of episode 12… it seems they are hinting at some sort of conclusion between Ranko and Rea. That said, considering what we know about Chihiro, I’m not expecting it to be such a good ending.
I like how we started the series with you on team Rea and me on team Ranko, but in actual fact we’re both yeah hate Chihiro. Haha! Care to make any predictions on how that’ll go? I can’t see there being any sort of definitive conclusion.
To be honest, as much as I like Rea’s hair and think she’s a cute girl… I’ve been sold on her step-mother thanks to episode 10. Sorry Rea.
In regards to the ending, I think the rule of thumb for conclusions when it comes to anime like this is: no conclusion at all. In other words, maintain the status quo. So while they might get a little dramatic at some point, I expect the anime to end with Ranko still liking Chihiro, and zombie Rea still living with him.
Yes, but what of Rea’s decaying body? It’s almost going to feel silly if Danichiro waltzes back in with a cure. And as if the government wouldn’t have kidnapped her by now. There seem to be enough people that know she’s a zombie.
You know, I’d totally forgotten about that. Probably because it hasn’t come up at all since they first introduced it as an issue!
Speaking of Rea’s body, there’s only one thing left that we haven’t covered from episodes 10 & 11. Rea’s many outfits! My question is, did it all feel as forced to you as it did to me? Doesn’t seem worth it to have Rea dress as a ninja for 5 seconds just for the sake of it. I’d rather get at least an entire scene of her wearing a lewd outfit at least..
Oh, completely forced. I didn’t understand why Rea let it happen or even why it happened in the first place. There were a lot of odd decisions in this series that don’t appear Togo anywhere or have any purpose. Have you forgotten about episode 9?
Episode 9 has been in the back of my mind. At this point, I’m thinking it was just a filler episode. Let’s end with this – what was your favourite moment from episodes 10 and 11?
Wow! I’m struggling to come up with a favourite moment. Does feeling sorry for Rea’s mother count? I’d say Chihiro getting stabbed but that didn’t go anywhere and it would have just made Danichiro happy so that wouldn’t have helped either. Do you have one?
I’d have to go with Rea’s mother as well!
And that about does it for episodes 10 and 11 of Sankarea. As you can see, we never run short on criticism for the pathetic protagonist.
How will Chihiro disappoint us next episode? We’ll find out soon enough at Lynn’s blog!
- Sankarea Collab
Until next time,
Thanks for reading!
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Zombies are great, sexy ones are better
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