English Dub Review: Sakura Quest “Minerva’s Sake Saucer”

The answers aren’t all easy, but if we stick together, we can find them.

Overview (Spoilers)

The outlying village of Warabiya is officially seceding from the Kingdom of Chupacabra, and they have taken Yoshino as a “hostage” to ensure their demands are met. She isn’t much of a hostage, though. She wants to support Warabiya because she has seen their plight. If their bus route ends, the village will literally and figuratively die off. As part of the demands, Ririko heads over to document them with a good camera. After a long day dealing with the rebellion, Sanae comes up with an idea, and she hashes it out with the bus driver. Since there isn’t much of a need for a full bus route in Manoyama, they develop a new system with a smaller bus. If anyone needs to ride, they just reserve a pickup. This saves the village and gives the team a much-needed victory. Unfortunately, the Professor that started them on this journey dies shortly after. During the wake, the girls discover that he had the Staff of the Mizuchi Shrine the whole time.

This episode is a good development for Yoshino and Sanae. In it, Yoshino really begins to step into her own as the Queen of Chupacabra, taking a stand for something she believes in and getting people to pay attention to it. Doing so, she not only gains the respect and loyalty of the Warabiyans, but it seems like those in Manoyama are behind her as well. Sanae is inspired by the Professor, who was an outsider moving into Warabiya. The two have a few discussions, which pushes Sanae to figure out her own plans and to put down roots. This is an example of what makes this show so charming. It focuses on character development in a down-to-earth environment without melodrama.

I love the solution to the bus problem. In a way, this is a form of networked transportation system like Lyft, only carpooling instead of going solo. It’s an interesting hybrid solution that would only work in a tiny town like Manoyama. It also works well for the only bus driver in town, so he gets to keep his job. He had proposed this solution to his company before, but there was no infrastructure to allow people to make the reservations. With Sanae’s help in building the web app, everyone in town can access the new system. This highlights her importance to Manoyama. While the town is filled with craftspeople and farmers, it lacks the big cityknow howwhow she brings to the party. With her skills in web development, she could do a lot more good than just work at driving tourism. Just like the Professor did more good than just studying Warabiya.

Our Take

This episode was well written, and wasted no time. Though there was a lot of time that was spent talking about the Warabiyan way of life, that was half of the point. It isn’t just about solving a problem. It’s about opening your heart and mind and standing together with people in need. That in mind, it spends as much of the episode focusing on these characters as it can, especially as one of them dies at the end. It also blends in some good humor with Maki partying down and Ririko’s… tag lines? Whatever those things are she says. They’re funny, and they punctuate whatever is going on.

The visuals of the episode aren’t as beautiful as I’ve gotten used to in this series. There isn’t a lot to look at in this tiny village, but the artists still gave it their all in those few scenic vistas, such as the forest. I could talk about this show’s animation until the cows come home, which may be to its disadvantage now. Having set such a high bar for itself, I have grown accustomed to it, and now they have to do more to get my attention. They’ve done great work so far, and as we approach the end of the series in seven more episodes, they have time to come up with new techniques and more interesting shots. Until then, this episode just rests on their standard.

Yoshino’s conversation with Takamizawa at the midway point of the episode was great voice acting. Alexis Tipton and Robert McCollum had a really heartfelt fight without going overboard with it. Takamizawa had great depth in his voice, conveying a great amount of conflicting emotions over the situation. As always, Brina Palencia did a great job with Ririko’s monotone quips. If they were performed any other way, they’d be cheesy. It’s been great watching these actors develop their characters’ personas. They’re easy to connect to, so if you can get past the beginning, you barely even notice the lack of action in this character heavy story.

With its solid writing, and great voice acting, this episode is charming and enjoyable. It has good art and animation, but it isn’t pushing the boundaries like it used to. I liked it, but it isn’t as good as it could be. I give it eight taxi rides out of ten.