Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru MAL Review

TLDR: Recommended to fans of crime/forensic investigations/Sherlock (BBC)/Natsume Yuujinchou. Had potential to be a masterpiece, but I took 1 point off for 3 major unsolved plot points and nonconsensual relationships. 

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I wanted so bad for this anime to be a 10/10. It had all my favourite elements:

A strong and beautiful female protagonist, Sherlock vibes, crime/forensic drama, and the other main character resembling Natsume Takashi from Natsume Yuujinchou. Indeed, I found out about this anime while searching for more of Ishida Akira's voice acting work (he plays Natori in Natsume Yuujinchou). 

Sakurako is so cool and attractive, and I wanna be as smart as her, though maybe not as weirdly passionate about morbidity. I felt the same way about Sherlock, so I was positive this anime would be a new favourite to my collection. 

Sadly, there were a couple of alarming points that I couldn't look past. The rest of my review will include spoilers / elaborating on the problems. Please stop reading if you don't want spoilers.

1) Unaddressed plot points

- We never see Sakurako's fiance Naoe Ariwara, not even once. I get that she lives alone, but aside from a one line narration in the beginning, it's a little disturbing that he never visits, contacts her, or seems to have any memories with her. Heck, no one (not even the housekeeper Grandma!) mentions him except Shoutarou. I want him to exist, for Sakurako's sake. But also so that his existence would balance the story and also put a curb to Shoutarou's ridiculous fantasies and romantic overtones. 

- Sakurako's late younger brother... we get glimpses of flashbacks, a photo, and even the transition slide that says 'underneath Sakurako's feet' constantly suggesting that we'll find out about her brother... nope. Nothing. I really thought we'd solve his case in the last episode, and they didn't even touch on it. To say I'm annoyed about that would be an understatement. I don't even want to think about it, that's how mad I am. 

- Hanabusa ... I think the finale was less of a cliffhanger and more like 'studio ran out of money' and couldn't deliver what they promised. Extremely unsatisfied. They could've cut the 'high school festival' filler scenes and actually added more time to the butterfly case. 

2) Shoutarou is the problem

Because his looks and personality traits overlapped with Natsume's, I thought he'd be my new best friend. I was willing to overlook the fanservice on Sakurako's body during Episode 1, telling myself "these are normal high school boy fantasies." When the fanservice appeared again... and again... and on other characters such as Kougami, I stopped smiling. I thought this was a mystery / psychological series open to all genders, but there's an unfortunate bias towards the male gaze in this one too. 

The biggest red flag was this comment: 

"She may be pretty, but she's pretty with flaws." -Shoutaro describing Sakurako to Isozaki sensei.

I was so pissed off. 

Who doesn't have flaws? Are there beautiful people with no flaws? I don't know if this was coming from Shoutarou's ignorance/inexperience with relationships... OR a shallow, superficial mindset talking... but either way, it's unattractive and I'm not here for it. Sakurako is way too cool to have this lout beside her. 

The biggest problem I have with their dynamic is that Shoutarou's romantic affections aren't consensual. Sakurako is repeatedly shown to care for him as she cares about her little brother. What should be a healthy sibling-type relationship is consistently challenged by Shoutarou to 'be something more.' He denies it in public, but then has an internal emotional crisis about how he feels about her and wants her to like him. Again, if Sakurako felt the same way about him, sure, go for it. But she doesn't, and so his affections felt wrong and incredibly uncomfortable for me to watch. It just got sickening and tiresome to have that element in the series, and definitely detracted from what could've been a masterpiece. 

The best supporting character throughout the series had to be Kougami. Her character didn't seem like much at first, but her past, relationships, and most importantly, how she views 'protecting the ones she loves' as her top priority is seriously admirable and so, so precious. She's an excellent role model for high schoolers imo and I really hope there will be more girls like her in future anime. Such an inspiration! Isozaki sensei also had decent depth, and I'd be thrilled if he got a bigger part in their story in the future. 

The original review on MAL: View here

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