Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo Episodes 1 to 7

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou

Sakurasou, where to begin with you. You had such a strange opening episode, and then after going back, I was hooked.  By episode three, I was really, really surprised at how GOOD this show actually is. It’s a GOOD romance, a GOOD comedy, it’s got GOOD characters and it’s making very GOOD use of it’s time, probably the best use of time this season, actually. However, Sakurasou has it’s biggest strength: The characters. They may be stereotypes, but this show fleshes them out in very interesting ways and helps them to do everything they possibly can to break free of their stereotyped roles. They feel like characters, not walking cliche’s which are used for bad breast jokes and moe moe kyun crap. The show is not afraid to show it’s characters for the people they are; annoying, entertaining and really engaging. Not only that, but it makes such good use of fanservice that I don’t think I can ever look at fanservice again in the same way. Seven episodes in and the five characters which I assume will take the leading role have been really well developed, and i’ll go into why I think they’re so brilliant.

Let’s start with Sorata. Typical teenage boy who likes girls and wants to have a girlfriend, get loads of money and that lot. However, he got a fixation with saving lost cats, and as such, ended up in Sakurasou, the “lunatic dorm” for the arts school that he’s attending. Sorata is the straightman of the show, the really nice guy who doesn’t like to see people upset and the one who finds himself getting swept along in this tidal wave that’s been brought down on him. He has no ambition, and that alone makes him really interesting and thought-provoking during the deep moments of the show. He’s intelligent, he’s in good shape, but he’s doing nothing because he just doesn’t understand what to do with his life.

Next up is Shiina, the female lead. She’s actually a really interesting lead character…because she’s a prodigy. She’s a world famous artist who’s well respected and adored by everyone, but instead of painting, she wants to draw manga. She’s got a complete lack of common sense and even the ability to live normally, almost as if she’s in her own little world. She can forget to get dressed, to eat, to go to sleep…and she even doesn’t understand the very basic principles of the world. It’s a genius sub-plot that really works, and that really works really well and makes her sparkle as a character. She’s got her dense moments, but she’s a really perceptive and really engaging character, and every scene with her in it is a treat to watch…for lots of reasons.

The final character i’m going to go into detail over is Nanami, the girl who gets that lovely “third wheel” role in this love story. She’s a hard worker who aspires to be a voice actress, and lives on her own because of fighting with her parents over the choices she’s making in life. She’s got a huge crush on Sorata for many reasons, and as such, when she was low on money and was slightly wary of the relationship Sorata and Shiina had with each other, she moved into Sakurasou to keep a closer eye on things. She’s had a lot of development and a lot of detail put into her character, and it really shows with her alive she is, and how she’s not just a walking clone of the “rival” girl in the story…she’s a real person, and you genuinely feel attached to her.

We’ve had other characters appearing so far, and they’ve all captured the spotlight in their own way, but I don’t know enough about them to say why they’re so brilliant…so just take it from me, they’re brilliant! This especially applies to Jin, who’s the guy behind the scenes who makes the cogs turn in the right direction, but equally to Misaki, who’s making everything just that little more enjoyable and fun as she enters her own little romance with it’s problems.

Because this show is just so captivating and so enjoyable, I don’t think i’ve got an excuse NOT to blog it, now that i’ve made the critical choice to remove Little Busters from my lineup this week. Sure, it’s mad a few mistakes, but that hasn’t changed the fact that it’s enjoyable and a wonderful romance…and it’s only 7 episodes in.