English Dub Review: Sakura Quest “The Dragon’s Soft Spot”

Everybody, do the Manoyama!

Spoilers Below

The local community club is hosting a “Rural Romance Matchmaking Tour”, hoping to attract ladies from the city to come and settle in Manoyama. Preferably in holy matrimony with the local men. Problem is, the tour had a really low turnout rate, and the club is afraid even those chicas will take one look at the town and head home. They’ve asked the tourism board to maximize the itinerary, hopefully catching these eligible maidens’ hearts. Yoshino and the ministers take a look at the itinerary as is, and see that it was definitely put together by a man. They take a quick ride through the town to come up with a new itinerary, and make a pretty solid one, showcasing the town’s charm alongside its more “rural nature”. They’re only lacking one thing to really tie it all together. Kadota’s wife suggests teaching the girls the traditional Manoyama Dance. Everyone is a fan of the idea, except for Ririko. She’s more of a wallflower, and pushing her into anything would just upset her.

The Tour picks up, and the girls start falling for the place… and some of the men. It seems that the backwateriness of the town makes even old romance superstitions and pick-up lines charming. There even seems to be a spark between the police chief and one of the ladies! The dinner barbecue puts the ladies a great spot. Only three of them and thirty someodd guys. It’s a reverse harem! They have their pick! The night caps off with Yoshino, Shiori, Maki and Sanae performing the Manoyama Dance, while Kadota explains the historical significance. As they do, Ririko quietly slips out. But, she does so too late! A freak rainstorm appears, driving everyone for cover. In the confusion, an abandoned stone idol is knocked over and breaks. A mysterious man rises from the lake as Ririko has to take shelter in a bus stop… alone.

I loved this episode, primarily for the deep culture that it’s steeped in. In the episode, the history of the Manoyama Dance was that it kept a dragon at bay because she didn’t like noise or joy. As soon as they’ve finished it, the rain starts. This is because of the close link between water and dragons in Japanese culture. It is believed that dragons are the spirits of rivers and oceans. Many times, ancient Japanese would try to summon rain by putting a virgin girl in a cage at the highest point of the village. They believed that a dragon would see her, but be unable to get to her. In his anger, he would form a storm, which would give them rain. There are other, saucier versions of the myth, but… there could be little eyes reading this… Hello, little eyes. You’re creepy. There is also a reference in the red somen from the fortuneteller cafe (brilliant idea for a shop, by the way). A myth in Japan is that destined lovers rebound to each other by an invisible red thread tied to their pinkies. Here, the shop serves a red somen that plays the same role… AND IT WORKS! The police chief picks an errant red somen off one of the girls, allowing him to break the ice with her. It was such a great glimpse into how traditional the town was, but how it had developed its own culture. That being said, I’m also interested to see what is up with Ririko. I had initially pegged her as this series’ analogue for April Ludgate from Parks and Rec. Thankfully, they aren’t going such a direct route, and are giving you more of a glimpse into the circumstances that generated this quirky lady. I had to chuckle a bit at her choice of reading material. I’d probably be reading that, too.

The animation on this episode was up to P.A. Works’ snuff. These city girls are throwaways, gone as soon as the arc is over. Still, the team is taking pains to animate them well. I noticed a great amount of personality in how their hair moved during their introduction scene. I also looked close during the Manoyama Dance. I was not disappointed. It looked almost as if they had rotoscoped real traditional dancers in kimono, and pasted the girls’ heads on. It looks really good, and they get a few dramatic angles in there too. The voice acting wasn’t quite at the level I was expecting for this series, though. At times, Elizabeth Maxwell’s Sanae sounded a bit robotic. Otherwise, I don’t know if I really felt much from any of the characters, except Yoshino’s typical, boundless energy. I would have liked a little more out of their performance. Not much, just a little. As such, I give this episode eight broken dragon idols out of ten.