While it wasn’t a surprise consider the lackluster set-up last week, Sakurako-san Episode 8 ‘The Entrusted Bones Part 2’ fails to even meet those low expectations. Review of Sakurako-san Episode 8 ‘The Entrusted Bones Part 2’
The largest flaw with this episode is how… separate it feels. The main plot had very little connections with last week’s, though that might also be due to how little was established last week, with a thirty-second exposition scene this episode could have been a standalone. That is not someone a two parter should aim for.
Add the fact that this seemingly standalone story wasn’t worth twenty minutes of screen-time, let alone forty, and you’ve got a pretty disappointing episode.
An interesting moment, however, was when Sakurako went to confront Sayuki about her story. In the story Sayuki mentions that Natsuko buried the baby immediately after birth, of course that doesn’t make sense. I had brushed it off as “another example of poor writing” so I quite enjoyed seeing the show itself call Sayuki out on that. Good on you, Sakurako-san, good on you.
However, the assumption that Sasaki had made regarding Natsuko’s ‘baby’ wasn’t the only option. It’s possible, nay more likely, that his father had sex with Natsuko, not them being half-siblings. However, this is a tiny gripe that could be attributed to Sasaki’s non-perfect reasoning. Remember, the show puts Sasaki and Sakurako as basically the same, so if Sasaki can make mistakes, so can Sakurako? Of course the show addressed this, “Even I make mistakes sometimes” Oh we know that full well, Sakurako, in fact, I have a list of a few… care to take a look?
The issue of separation I mentioned before doesn’t end with the separate episodes, there are two major storylines in this episode. The first being the aforementioned foot story, the second being the rift between Sakurako and Shoutaro. Again this feels separate, the show first tackles the foot story, than the rest is devoted to Sakurako and Shoutaro.
Finally the episode ends with Sakurako’s uncle once more. It seems like a series long story is being introduced. Which is great! But it seems like episode 8 is a little late…
In conclusion, Sakurako-san Episode 8 ‘The Entrusted Bones Part 2’ is full of disappointment, and while the next arc set-up seems promising, this show is far from recommendable.