Sankarea – 10

Episode 10 –

You could say that this was another filler episode of Sankarea, but oh man was it good. Unlike the previous filler episodes with Mero and Wanko, this episode was relevant to the plot even though it focused on Rea’s mother (or if you prefer the real relationship, mother-in-law). The key thing that this episode did was provide some detailed backstory to the father, a figure whom up until now had been demonized in every single possible moment he was on screen. This episode does admittingly reinforce his image as the demonic villain, but at the same time the episode seems to say that there was more to the father than we currently know. It’s only later in life where his eccentricities manifested into something far more twisted.

If anything, the episode shows that the father was actually quite the talented individual in his youth, albeit, rather disconnected from people around him (including his family). Sanka Aria (Rea’s “mother”) even notes that people had doubts as to whether the father held interest in any women at all, that is, until he met Rea’s mother. His upbringing seemed to be very much along the lines of your typical rich successor-in-line, which begs the question as to where exactly things went wrong with him. Was it that he disliked how all the maids around him were there because of their hopes to be his marriage partner? Did he find disgust in the pampered lifestyle he lived? Did he hate how everybody appealed to him for his status and riches?

We never do quite find out what the father’s motivations are, but what is clear is that he clearly has his mind set out only for Rea’s real mother and Rea. It’s actually kind of tragic seeing the father’s romantic “love at first sight” tale twist and turn into a disturbing story about an overprotective father, and just goes to show how tragedy and fortune can be a mere breadth away from each other. This episode does also ratchet up the sympathy for Sanka Aria, where it becomes quite obvious that she was simply hoping for a happy life, only to be tragically stuck in a cage of false marriage and jealousy. While she certainly hasn’t been the best role model, at the same time I can understand exactly why she drinks all the time and acts the way she does. Chihiro’s “I’m only into zombie girls” was unintentionally one of the cruelest ways to reject Aria, and just adds another detail to her rather tragic story.

In the end, this episode did something that is good in terms of proper storytelling; it actually developed upon the villain more, making the main villain seem even more cruel and dastardly than we had previously thought. Surprisingly enough, if you think about it we didn’t really learn anything new about the father’s actions towards Rea. Rather, we saw how he has been a strange person throughout his entire lifetime, even more so after he began treating both Rea and his deceased wife as his focuses of interest. The episode does also seem to point towards the notion that the father treated both his deceased wife, as well as Rea, almost like “dolls” that he owned. This possessiveness is what makes him such a terrible person, and we shall soon see what Rea and Chihiro can do about it.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.0/5

Screenshots are later in the post.