Konnichiwa
minasan! Time flies!!! It is September of the year now. How was your summer
holiday?!
So, today I
would like to share a Japanese romantic comedy anime series with you which I
had finished watching online lately. It is adapted from the same name of the
shounen manga series.
The title of
the anime series is called “Sankarae”. This series has 12 episodes plus an OVA. “Sankarea”
(さんかれあ) is a
romantic comedy manga written and illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori about a deceased girl who
becomes a zombie.
Title
: Sankarae
Genre : Ecchi, Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Shounen, Comedy
Author : Mitsuru Hattori
Episodes : 12
+ 1 OVA
Status : Completed
Story :
Chihiro
Furuya is a male high school student with a keen interest in zombies,
collecting zombie-related videogames, film and manga, and even to the point of
desiring to "kiss a zombie girl". Following the death of his pet cat,
Bābu, he attempts to revive it using an old manuscript, which describes the
process of creating a potion for resurrection. At this time, he encounters a
girl named Rea Sanka, who has run away from home. In an attempt to commit
suicide, she drinks a sample of the "resurrection" potion which is
created from the poisonous Hydrangea
macrophylla flower, although this fails to kill her. Following
an argument with her father, she falls from a cliff by accident and dies.
However, as a result of the potion, she becomes a zombie who eats hydrangea
leaves.
Characters
Description:
Chihiro
Furuya (降谷 千紘, Furuya
Chihiro)
Chihiro is the protagonist of the story who
has a zombie obsession/fetish. He uses an old manuscript to make a
"resurrection" potion so that he can bring his dead cat back to life
as a zombie. He goes at an abandoned building at night after his pet cat Bābu's
death. He performs his research of bringing the dead back to life in the old
abandoned building; he sometimes see Rea going at the well near the building
and shouting her problems about her lifestyle. He promised Rea that he'd take
responsibility if she becomes a zombie. After Rea moved to his residence, he
conducts research on preserving Rea's body on a tent in his own room. He wants
his first kiss to be given by a female zombie, which he experienced firsthand
when Rea kissed him, due to lack of the herb used for the potion. He also
experienced becoming a half-zombie, revealed after being stabbed by Dan'ichirō
with a fencing sword. This is due to Rea licking clean a wound that he acquires
after she prevents him from being hit by a car (although the effects were only
temporary). He also enjoys seeing Rea dressed as a Bunny Girl or a Nurse.
Despite the fact that he's not interested in living girls, he managed to fall
in love with Rea when she was still alive, and confesses to her while Rea tries
to devour him, which brings her to her senses. He tries to approach to her;
however, he has difficulties given the incident and Rea's own embarrassment. He
is named after Lucio Fulci.
Rea Sanka (散華 礼弥, Sanka
Rea)
Rea is the heroine of the story who steals and
drinks some of the zombie potion made by Chihiro in an attempt to commit
suicide because of years of sexual abuse by her father. She fails in the
attempt, but she resurrects as zombie when she accidentally falls of a cliff
and dies. As a zombie, she lives together with Chihiro in order to know how it
feels to become free from her father's chains. In chapter 12, she does some
gestures and calls Mero "Mero-chan", similar to
how Mrs. Furuya was remembered by Mero. She likes Chihiro and feels like she is
bothering or interrupting Chihiro and Ranko's relationship, although later
Ranko encourages her that she should try harder, and does so, albeit with
embarrassment. She seems to understand Bābu and is also revealed to be so far
the only zombie that Jogorō and Darin have seen to defy her instincts at the
2nd stage of zombification, possibly due to her having drunk the medicine
before dying (which Darin suggested that no other zombie has done). She's also
physically strong, since her body is no longer restrained by her brain as a
result of her death. Her name is a pun on "sangria", the Japanese title of "Zombi 2".
Ranko Saōji
(左王子 蘭子, Saōji
Ranko)
Ranko is the first cousin of Chihiro. Often
called Wanko by Chihiro, at times she also keeps on saying that Chihiro should
use "-san" after her name. She likes
teasing Chihiro and Rea as well. She likes Chihiro and develops a rivalry with
Rea. She eventually confesses to Chihiro, but realizes before answering that he
loves Rea; however, she is fine with her unrequited love.
Mero Furuya
(降谷 萌路, Furuya
Mero)
Mero is the younger sister of Chihiro. Unlike
Chihiro, she is obsessed with ghosts. She doesn't remember much about her
mother except for the fact that her hands are wrapped in bandages. In some of
her memories of her mother, she remembered her mother asking about her fever,
stating that she forgot that she can't tell temperature. She sees her mother's
image in Rea, accidentally calling her mother. It has been heavily implied in
the manga that her mother may have actually been a zombie, due to her inability
to tell temperature (like Rea) and parting with the reason that she loves them
a lot, possibly hinting at her trying to leave before her zombie instincts take
over. She is named after George A. Romero.
Jogorō
Furuya (降谷 茹五郎, Furuya
Jogorō)
Jogorō is Chihiro and Mero's grandfather also
known as Professor Boil. He's the creator of the recipe for the Resurrection
potion. He was a well respected professor in the United States researching
zombies, and performed a multitude of experiments with them. He however left
his research for unknown reasons, and although he still has great knowledge of
zombies he rarely says something useful due to his senility, which is hinted to
be caused by his consumption of hydrangea leaves--which are poisonous. After
discovering Rea in the shower, he mistakes her for someone by the name of Sada.
He occasionally states how Sada has been resurrected but no one ever knows who
he is talking about, considering that was not his wife's name. People then
dismiss it as being caused by his senility.
Doon Furuya
(降谷 呶恩, Furuya
Doon)
Chihiro and Mero's father and also the priest
at the Shiryō-ji temple.
Yuzuna
Furuya (降谷 柚菜, Furuya
Yuzuna)
Chihiro and Mero's late mother, who died prior
to the series. It is heavily implied that she was a zombie before she died.
Bābu (ばーぶ)
Bābu is Chihiro's pet cat that died in a car
accident three days prior to the start of the series that was brought back to
life by Chihiro while doing research of resurrection on him. Rea seems to
understand Bābu as a zombie. Like Rea, his body is not restrained by his brain
and was able to kill a much bigger fox. However, unlike Rea, he has not been
able to stave off his zombie instincts.
Dan'ichirō
Sanka (散華 団一郎, Sanka
Dan'ichirō)
Dan'ichirō is the overprotective father of
Rea. His love for his daughter is almost incestuous, and has a habit of taking
pictures of his daughter, on her birthdays he would take a complete naked shot
of his daughter. After being convinced by Chihiro about Rea's desire to live a
life of a normal girl, he accepts Chihiro as Rea's protector. He also warned
Chihiro that there should be no "sexual intercourse before marriage"
possibly hinting that he accepts Chihiro as a man for his daughter. He later
decides to leave for the United States, probably to find a way to cure Rea. He
is named after Dan O'Bannon.
Aria Sanka (散華 亜里亜, Sanka
Aria)
Aria is Rea's stepmother. She used to be a
maid for Dan'ichirō and was trained under a long-standing tradition in the
Sanka family that future heirs are to marry the best of the maids. Dan'ichirō
however met and married Rea's mother which he loved dearly until her death
while giving birth to Rea. Although Dan'ichirō married Aria, he does not give
her real attention instead watching over Rea, which has made their relationship
a strained one at best. She secretly despises Rea due to how she's loved by
everyone. She tried to seduce Chihiro after finding out Rea is zombie, but he
rejected her.
Those are the
characters of the anime series. Of course there are more characters that I am
not going to introduce. Among all the characters, I like the little sister,
Mero-chan the most. The reason is she is very lovely and she does all her house
works by herself. She also is taking care of her family.
As for the
protagonist, Chihiro, he is a zombie-addicted. His hair style is like the ears of cat,
sometimes it seems that his head like the head of the kitty cat. He looks
hilarious. Rea is a very beautiful girl, but she controls by her father.
Ok, let us
take some preview of some scenes of the anime series.
Like I mentioned,
“Sankarae” is adapted from the same name manga series. You could read it too. But
I do not feel like reading the manga series. Don’t ask me why, as I just do not
feel like reading it though! :P FYI, the manga series is on the status of on-going, and it is categorised as "mature".
The opening
theme for the anime series is "Figment" (絵空事, Esoragoto) by nano.RIPE while the ending theme is
"Above Your Hand" by Annabel. Those songs are quite nice.
Ok, if you
are interested to catch the anime series or read the manga series of “Sankarae”,
you may click on the respective links below.
Well, enjoy
your watching and/or reading!!! J Enjoy your
weekend!!!
