Sankarea - Episode 12

Mmm... Delicious~

Blogger's Note: And just like that, my episodic reviews for Spring 2012 have been completed. However, I still have to finish the series reviews which, judging by the previous season, will take some time.

While Sankarea didn't end on a positive note like I had wanted it to, it did set-up the possibility of a second season, thanks to that delicious bite at the end. The season finale had more of a melancholic feeling to it than I anticipated, but given the title of the episode, it wasn't all that surprising. A few loose ends were eventually tied up, particularly regarding Rea's relationships with Aria and Ranko. All in all, the episode didn't necessarily have a lot of content, but left viewers thinking about one important decision that is quite common in life.

When Chihiro mused about what he should do with Rea, his talk about happiness and sorrow felt a bit out of place given his nonchalant attitude regarding the current situation in the past. I think it's because the fact that Rea's body is, in fact, going to rot one day has finally gotten to him, whereas in the past, he just brushed it off. In life, there are countless give-and-take situations like the one Chihiro is facing now—should he fulfill his own desires at Rea's expense or fulfill Rea's at his own expense? For me, I'd go with the latter but that's not saying much since I'm not actually in Chihiro's shoes right now, experiencing the internal struggle that's taking place within him.

With the mostly positive reception that Sankarea has received, the open-ended conclusion of the series might be an indication that the producers are thinking of a second season. But like always, BD/DVD sales are ultimately the deciding factor when it comes to these things. Depending on the extra content that is included in the BDs/DVDs, I think the sales can vary from "bad" (probably won't be "horrible") to "great" (probably not "excellent"). I would personally love to have a season two as I'm interested in seeing how things will continue given that Rea seems to be slowly losing control of herself (though I could always read the manga, but that's a different matter). The ending will probably be depressing too, with Rea most likely permanently losing her consciousness, which I'm prepared for. So, yeah, I guess all that's left to do is hope for some good disc sales.