Sankarea: Undying Love (Discussion 5) - Cliffhanger Interruptus!

Chihiro takes Rea shopping for clothes and Ranko visits a bathhouse… If that wasn’t enough to entice you, Mero and her friends are hunting zombies! Get ready for some action.

Sankarea: Undying Love (Discussion 5) – Cliffhanger Interruptus!

What happened?

I’m well into my total immersion of Sankarea: Undying Love, which is why I wanted to bring back these discussions from 2019 from when I first watched it with Yomu from the Umai Yomu Anime Blog. It’s nice to know that we were on top of the ball back then because every time I reread these posts, I see something that was incredibly perceptive for a first viewing. I am seeing more this time around and am busy changing my overall view of the show, so you should definitely check out my episode reviews.

As with the other discussions, nothing beyond this point has not been changed. We will be discussing episodes eight and nine, and these are our raw views. No punches have been pulled and every attack appears to be deserved. Anyhow, it’s time to visit with Yomu and me from 2019… Ooooh, time travel!

Sankarea Episode 8 Chihiro documenting Rea annoyed

What did you think?

Well, I guess it’s that time again. Let the Chihiro bashing continue… I mean, hey, Yomu, what did you think of episodes 8 and 9 of Sankarea: Undying Love? It was about time we got some action.

Hey Lynn! Hmm, well we managed to get another couple of disjointed episodes. In episode 8 things started to pick up as you mention, but then for some reason, the anime decided to go back in time and use episode 9 to introduce us better to Chihiro’s sister, Mero, and her friends whose names escape me. I think episode 9 was still enjoyable, but I don’t see why they couldn’t have swapped the order a bit, considering the cliffhanger we were left with in episode 8 – which I’ll let you deliberate on!

Thanks. I think the best way to describe what they did to us is to give an example from a more successful show… If you’ve seen Stranger Things season two, you’ll probably remember episode seven. At the end of episode six, it left us on a massive cliffhanger, then in episode seven, instead of the resolution to the massive cliffhanger, we get a side story that then brought us to the same massive cliffhanger…

As much as I love that series, it was incredibly frustrating and almost unforgivable. So, just imagine how I might feel while watching Sankarea to see a failed kidnapping attempt on Rea and then the successful kidnapping of Chihiro only for the next episode to focus entirely on Chihiro’s sister, Mero before any of this happened! WTF!!! Well, at least there was a Ranko bathhouse scene in episode eight. Does that about cover it?

Sankarea Episode 8 Ranko at the bath house boobs

That’s exactly it. You know it wouldn’t even be that much of an issue, but considering we are watching Sankarea in blocks of two episodes, it’s funny that it worked out this way. I can’t even imagine watching this one weekly and having to wait two entire weeks to find out what happens next now that Chihiro has been kidnapped by Rea’s father. All I can say is that we’d better see Chihiro’s sister take on a more important role in the anime, or else I’m going to declare episode 9 filler!

Naturally, I’m looking forward to episode 10 now though!

Agreed, I too hope that the episode with Chihiro’s sisters and her friends will lead to something relevant. If it doesn’t I’ll be disappointed, but at least they introduced them by sending Ranko to a bathhouse to unwind. And if we’re keeping count, so far Ranko has had two baths and Rea’s had a shower. It’s probably a good job Rea’s dead and can’t smell, because Chihiro hasn’t washed in nine episodes. Even Chihiro’s grandfather has had a shower and Rea’s father kind of had a bath. I digress…

So, let’s talk about how Chihiro took Rea shopping and then his best friend tried to force her to run away with him… did that not seem at all odd to you? It certainly caught the would-be kidnappers off guard!

His name escapes me, but Chihiro’s friend is an odd one. And it was an odd situation, what was he trying to accomplish? Bringing Rea outside “to be in the sun”. He seemed to think he was so noble in dragging her outside too.

Oh and once again we see Rea’s strength in action because of her “brain limiter” or whatever is gone. While it doesn’t make a lot of sense, neither does the entire situation. It was funny how Rea thanked Chihiro for saving her from the kidnappers after she had beaten them all down herself.

Sankarea Episode 8 Rea beats Danichiros men with a bench

Yeah, once again, Chihiro getting the credit for doing nothing. It seems to be a bit of a running joke so far. It was cool seeing Rea swinging around that bench like it was nothing though. I think when it comes down to it, she’s going to be able to waltz into her old house and take Chihiro back without a problem. Even better if she’s in full zombie mode too.

So, let’s talk about episode 9. I saw it first and I remember saying that it will surprise you. Obviously, I didn’t tell you why. So, were you surprised?

Oh no, now I’m feeling like I missed something haha. All I can think about was being surprised that Chihiro’s sister knew Rea was a zombie, and that apparently it’s not much of a secret. Is that the surprise?

Haha! No, I was referring to the complete lack of resolution from episode 8. That was a complete surprise for me and not a good one. The episode itself wasn’t bad, it was actually quite enjoyable, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. Like we said earlier, I hope there will be some relevance to it later on.

Sankarea Episode 9 Mero with Miko and Ichie

Ah, yeah that was quite the surprise though! I like Chihiro’s sister, so I hope that we see more of her. What are your predictions for the next few episodes?

Well, the obvious prediction is that Rea breaks in and saves Chihiro, we couldn’t possibly expect him to do anything about it, although he’ll still get all the credit. Hopefully, Chihiro’s sister will somehow be involved negating my displeasure with episode 9. My real concern is what’s next for Ranko? Maybe another bath!

Haha, I’m wondering what will happen though, because Rea’s father said he wanted to “have a talk” with Chihiro. I’m thinking maybe Chihiro will manage to worm his way out by accidentally saying the right thing.

Indeed, well I guess we better get back to watching. Only three more episodes before we reach the end. Hopefully, there will be a satisfactory conclusion. It’s been great chatting with you again. I’m looking forward to our next discussion. We should have some fun stuff to talk about.

Yep! Looking forward to more ZomRomCom action and hopefully a nice conclusion.

Well, it looks like we’re approaching the finish line with this series collaboration. It’s certainly been interesting so far and I’m sure the final four episodes will give us something interesting to talk about too. Be sure to follow Yomu to be notified of the next post, not to mention all the other cool posts over there. Has anyone else watched this series? At the moment, I feel like it’s just us! Anyhow, thanks for reading.