Undead Rich Girls And Zombie Cats - Sankarea Thread

[Tengukami]

Sankarea is one of the shows I was really looking forward to watching this season, based on the premise alone: a young boy has a fetish for zombie girls, but of course such a meeting would never happen ... or would it?

Well, we're three episodes in and it has. Our male protagonist, Furuya, stricken with grief that his pet cat Babu was hit by a delivery truck, vows to find a way to bring him back to life. His dad is a Shinto priest, and there happens to be an old magic book laying around, with which he finds a resurrection spell.

Cue the love interest, Sanka Rea. Written off by Furuya's friends as just another spoiled rich girl, a chance meeting between the two reveals that her home life is ... well, pretty messed up, actually. Let's just say her dad needs to find a hobby other than photography.

Furuya's resurrection potion eventually does bring Babu back to life, even though the ingredients are poisonous. Without spoiling anything, Furuya does get his wish, as Sanka Rea becomes the zombie girl he's been looking for. But maybe not the way he'd hoped it would happen.

There's some really nice character development in this series, and some nice shots. The pacing is going well, too, to where some of the more forced fanservice is forgivable. I'm hoping this will be a show about being careful what you wish for, on top of the comedy. So far Studio Deen is doing a pretty good job at striking the balance. This might turn out to be the sleeper hit of the season.

[Drake]

currently the best this season imo; eureka isn't far along enough to get me hyped enough

I've been noticing a lot of similar details this show has with other random shows I've watched in the past. I can't quite pin it down, but it's really interesting to have so many "I think there's something similar here but I can't tell what it is". I've already covered that the OP is done by the same people as Hanasaku Iroha's OPs, and the ED is done by Annabel who also did Another's ED. Plus, Furuya's VA also did Shouma from Penguindrum (also he's just a great VA imo). In any case, the animation is great, story and pacing is fantastic, I love most of the characters and the ED gives me shivers.
I'm okay with only Ranko being the center of fanservice. She doesn't get a whole lot of screentime and besides her the fanservice is minimal, so I'm cool with it.

[Amraphenson]

Read the manga, really enjoying the show. Why are there so many non-human girlfriend animes this season, I wonder?

[Iced Fairy]

Apparently my suffering this month led got me enough karma to get my brain to lead me to this post and this wonderful series.  I love the tone of the anime, how it flows from one bit to the next.  And the story's looking great so far too.

Spoiler:

I also found it very interesting that they used hydrangeas for the deadly plant.  Hydrangeas change color based on how acidic the soil is.  If you alter the soil you can get it to change between blue and pink.  An interesting touch for a reanimation potion.

[♛ Apher-Forte]

This be the season of the undead girlfriends

[Omba]

Episode 3 told me I should wait for the BluRays to see uncensored guts hanging out. Oh well. <3

[♛ Apher-Forte]

I know right, I was totally expecting the guts, consider the blood shown in Another and Shiki, this should not have been the case.

but nonetheless, I would still watch it and it is awesome.
but it sure took the time to tell 3 episodes from 1 book... the first book or so it was already the whole damn thing about her and her messed up father. I guess that is where good pacing goes into work, consider any and all manga with many chapters tend to flip through books all too quickly giving zero development. The manga is still superior because HNNGGHH and GUTS

[Tengukami]

I know right, I was totally expecting the guts, consider the blood shown in Another and Shiki, this should not have been the case.

Haven't yet seen Shiki, but Another had the same type of "censorship", as did Mirai Nikki - you can see blood dripping and flowing, but won't see actual open flesh wound gore.

Somehow, for some reason, I don't feel as though this takes away from the story.

the first book or so it was already the whole damn thing about her and her messed up father. I guess that is where good pacing goes into work, consider any and all manga with many chapters tend to flip through books all too quickly giving zero development. The manga is still superior because HNNGGHH and GUTS

That's always going to be the benefit of anime over manga - you can tell more story in less time. And I say that as someone who loves reading.

[Tengukami]

Episode 4

So, this show is pulling me in two different directions. I was content to grin and bear the fanservice when it was confined solely to Ranko, but that shower scene ... what? Why would she find a sponge and decide it might be used for ... that of all possible things? Not to mention the fact that Sanka Rea's mom's boobs seem as though they were specially animated by the team that worked on High School of the Dead (hey, there were zombies in that, too).

On the other hand, Furuya now has his wish come true and, as I hoped, has discovered that it's more than he bargained for. He has to deal with some pretty unpleasant realities of the situation, and I'm really glad the writers have taken this turn. I hope it'll be the engine that drives the story along.

At least the fanservice seems mostly for comedic purposes, yeah? That I can handle. I just wish they would dial it down a bit, and leave more room for actual story.

[Maav]

Spoiler:

Looks like the show was low in audience, then they used fanservice as a way to get new watchers, as of EP4.

:|

[♛ Apher-Forte]

yeah, this marks one of slightly unpopular shows this season I dunno why.

Spoiler:

I really like the incoporation of rigor mortis into the play, like corpses should be, truth to be said, if things were dead they be dead, fast zombies, zombie headcrabs with poison? that, is just not quite feasible... then again, zombies like Rea chan is too moe to be a zombie.

[Drake]

I seriously doubt studios actually pump out a whole episode in a week, mind you.

Yeah, this week was a bit too much for me. While this was a "revelation" episode more than an "action" episode, filling up the time with fanservice could have easily been something else here. I have no problem when it's integrated into the important bits (i.e. when Furuya gets home) but I felt that not much happened this episode. Nothing happened with the side characters even though they were shown, nothing happened with Rea aside from slowing down, and Furuya just got dragged around. While I see they wanted to keep the pacing by limiting this episode to the realization

Spoiler:

that she really is a zombie

it definitely could have been done better, especially after how full the other three episodes were.

[Iced Fairy]

Why would she find a sponge and decide it might be used for ... that of all possible things?

Straight from the manga.  I think the anime actually spent less frames on it.

The rest was somewhat slow though, yeah.  I wonder if they just failed to find a good stopping point in the next segment.

[Formless God]

gdi that fanservice in Ep5 was really uncalled for

[♛ Apher-Forte]

This is getting too saucy for its own good, although I love every moment of it.
GET WITH THE STORY GUYS/
I DON'T NEED THIS.

at this point I can only see one thing and John Freeman has to be in it to save this show from fanservice by facing full life consequences.

[Iced Fairy]

gdi that fanservice in Ep5 was really uncalled for

Huh, I didn't see anything that b....

Oh.

Yeah.  Unneeded.

This show is great when it's moving fast.  Sadly the director seems to have gotten the idea to move slow in places, and it doesn't work well.

[♛ Apher-Forte]

Episode 6 is boring.
nuff said.

[Tengukami]

Well then! Caught up now to Episode 8.

Decay crisis averted ... for now. Leave it to the Japanese to find some way to incorporate the transient nature of all things into a romance about a zombie girl.

I was actually quite happy about Ranko's back-story with Furuya. Glad to see her not just some one-dimensional comedy relief. And, if she "loves" him enough, who knows? She might "accidentally" complicate the situation to get closer to him (in fact, she almost certainly will).

Now, in this latest episode, I was pleased to see that Sankarea's sick dad is still making his presence as a villain known. And also found it quite funny to see her fending off attackers by swinging around a concrete bench with her freakish superhuman strength, all the while screaming like a high school girl.

The directing is adding some nice touches, too, such as Ranko's reflective moment at the bath, thinking of things Furuya said.

I'm glad I've caught up with these episodes. They seem to be moving away from fan service and more towards things like story, character development and direction.