English Dub Review: Sakura Quest “The Phoenix in the Holy Night”

Failure reveals weakness, but also desire.

Overview (Spoilers)

Maki returns to Manoyama from her audition in defeat. She may not have gotten the part, but actually trying again reminded her of how much she loved acting. She arrives just in time to witness the other girls in the throes of failure. Their hot lunch to save the abandoned school is a flop. They come up with another plan. The last graduating class never got a ceremony to say goodbye to the school. The tourism board decides to give that to them. Other than the taiko drum performance that is always so popular with Manoyamites, they throw in a play. Maki is flustered, since they never told her about that, and they made her the director! She converts the school myth of Blood-Soaked Santa into a short play, getting a few of her drama buddies together. The event is a huge success, and at the end, the tourism board unveils something new: the proposal to convert the old school into a community center for events, art, and culture. It would be open to all! Everyone present accepts the plan. Successfully re-bitten by the acting bug, Maki forms an acting troupe to put on productions at the new center. Proud that Maki has finally heeded the call of her heart, her father pays for the repairs to the Mizuchi Shrine Hanging Drum. As a Secret Santa, of course.

This episode was all about passion, and how finding it can completely reverse your approach to life. Maki spends most of the series without much motivation, and generally afraid to do anything public. She also could not face her father. Once the gang pushes her to jump on the audition, their passion for her well-being rekindles her own fervor. It happens off-screen, but she has to consider whether or not she really wants this part. Nothing makes you aware of your desire for something like the potential to lose it. This episode’s title is referring to her directly as the phoenix, finally being reborn in the fire of her own heart. This gives Maki the last jump for her character development. It also highlights how the show is arranging the character growth. Each of the main girls has a bit of growth, which spurs Yoshino on to grow as well. Here, she’s inspired by Maki’s new-found drive. The actress stops being a tag-along that builds stuff and becomes a competent manager of people for a task. Though she’s following her dream through her acting troupe, she’s still channeling her drive through the tourism board, which only helps efforts. Also, she notes that they need to make a play explaining the backstory of the Dragon Song which, if you read my last article on this series, would likely do a bunch more for the town than just understanding their past.

Our Take

The revived Maki is fun, to say the least. Her first line upon returning is “Feed my Belly!” It’s humorously written, and even better delivered. Leah Clark did a great job portraying the difference in Maki. In previous episodes, there was always a hint of boredom or depression in her voice. After finding her drive, that is gone. She isn’t happy-sparkly, but attentive and confident. Like the episode of Hina Logic from last night, I am impressed by an actor’s ability to make subtle shifts in their performance to depict a difference in their character’s mindset. It gives the characters a deeper sense of realism and allows us as an audience to connect with them better. They feel like they are actually growing as people, not just puppets on strings. Going through the episode, there is more to Maki’s transformation than just voice acting. Her vocabulary patterns are different. A little more direct, but stronger. She’s also able to directly thank her father for helping, where before, she couldn’t. Despite her “I’m acting here” movements on stage, other ways she moves throughout the episode makes us feel like she’s standing tall after the performance.

Which is why I’m a bit disappointed with the rest of the cast. Seeing the difference in Maki, I wish we could get a bit more depth out of the other characters here. I get it, this was her episode, but the remaining main characters felt really flat as if they were only there to deliver the lines and keep things moving. Alexis Tipton had a few opportunities to show how much Maki’s enthusiasm was rubbing off on Yoshino. Most of her lines ended up feeling conversational, even when they were supposed to be much more. When pitching to Maki’s father, or making a speech up on stage, there should have been a bit more passion and a hint of strain in her voice. Her voice was gentle and warm, but not hot with drive. There was a smile in her voice, but it was a cashier smile, not a nerding-out gung-ho smile. The animation didn’t show a massive amount of emotion during these scenes, but that isn’t the point. She could have added it herself, and given her character a bit more depth. This would have shown off what effect Maki was having on her, so we, the audience, could witness it.

Otherwise, the episode was well animated. There was a montage sequence of the play and the set-up. Either one could have gone fine with still-frames, but the studio chose to animate them and add in dialogue. They used the montage to give us more of an idea of the experience. Many of the shots used in the sequence were done en medias res so that we were led to infer time passed. They chose to give the actors an obvious “I’m acting” vibe as they moved about on stage. It might seem like this is a cheesy move to do, but it fits here. The play is a comedy, and it makes jokes about the town and the middle school itself. The actors are moving this way as a form of satire, which is a great choice. The snowball fight was smoothly animated, and the girls moved with personality. There were probably many different opportunities the studio had to use CG animation for various moving elements, and I’m willing to bet they took them. I don’t know for certain since I only noticed one, the movement of a truck at the end of the episode. Other than that, it all looked convincing as traditional animation, so I couldn’t tell the difference!

This episode was heart-warming and inspiring. The main character displayed growth not only in their actions, but in their visual look, writing, and vocal portrayal. The animation was better than the last, which is a compliment since this show regularly has great animation. If only the rest of the cast hadn’t fallen flat, this episode would have rated higher. What it receives now is eight repaired hanging drums out of ten.