When it rains it pours, especially when it comes to your dreams.
What They Say:
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The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou has done a decent job with somewhat expected material as it’s gone back to the past to show us how Sorata ended up in Sakura Hall. With the reveal in the present about why it’s being closed ahead of schedule, the gang is now set to work hard to try and get the signatures to keep it alive, which is being backed by a lot of the town. The student side is a bit harder to draw in because of, well, reasons, but there’s such an energy among the residents and the supporters that every little bit helps. Seeing them doing their best to try and keep things alive so they can finish out their time there is important to them and it’s pretty inspiring to see them being so dedicated to a good and worthy goal. Even if they’re all involved in other aspects of their lives as well.
The nature of the kids lives is pretty important here as it unfolds and we see the different ways everyone is handling things. Shiina is actually at a good point as she just got the cover of the manga magazine and that’s a pretty big event for her, not that she shows emotion. Nanami is struggling with her own issues and in the middle of a rainy day at school we see her in tears at her desk while doing her work, causing a bit of a scene that only Sorata is able to her get out of just a little bit. But Sorata has a pretty big bombshell dropped on him as the gaming company he was working with has opted to pass on his game as it’s similar to another one that they have in production, effectively crushing his hopes at the moment. While it’s good to see him handle the call professionally, it’s also good to see that the whole thing makes a bit impact on him emotionally afterwards and is quite visible on the outside.
What really drives the episode for me though is the confrontation that he has not long after that with Nanami, who is still reeling emotionally from her auditions and what happened there. Both of them are emotional wrecks in different ways, and the performances are strong as they act it out, back and forth, as they nearly struggle with each other in the rain. It may be overly dramatic, but there’s a great beauty to it of these young kids, facing such losses of great meaning to them, finding both comfort, anger and sadness within each others arms. All while Shiina watches on from afar, no less. With the understanding they come to and just the general mood of it, there’s a lot of really good stuff going on here as it progresses and you find yourself really conflicted about how you may feel about both Sorata and Nanami after seeing it. And it’s easy to see the strain it’ll start placing on Shiina as she tries to understand what’s going on as well.
In Summary:
When this series wants to do something big and dramatic, it certainly does so in a great way that really is moving. The scene between Nanami and Sorata is just impressive for me and really drove home the emotions broiling under the surface for the two of them as their hopes and dreams are crushed. To make matters worse, Sorata just sees how Shiina is getting more and more work and recognition and lashes out from there, which certainly hurts him with her – and himself. These kids have a lot of pressures on them and are coping as best as they can, but the strain is certainly showing and I love that it’s communicated so effectively in this episode.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.