Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru

Sakurako-san is another one of those unfortunate anime which could potentially have been really good had it just done a few things differently, but instead sadly ends up fumbling upon itself thanks to a handful of slip-ups. It's quite similar to Hyouka as far as its theme and plot progression goes, but the pacing is significantly worse.

The story follows a normal high school boy named Shoutarou who has a not-so-normal friend called Sakurako. She has an unhealthy addiction to bones of all things, and finds it fascinating to study their history. By some strange coincidence, whenever the two of them are together they just so ... happen to get themselves accidentally involved in numerous bizarre cases, usually where a corpse or a skeleton is found and they have to figure out its story. So it's a mystery anime, which is definitely something I appreciate since we don't get to see too many of them nowadays, and it's also one of the more interesting genres in fiction in my opinion.

Unfortunately however, Sakurako-san is not what I would call a "satisfying" mystery anime. The reasons being a) it's episodic, and b) it's rushed. All of the cases in this anime are resolved in either 1 or 2 episodes, resulting in a myriad of short stories instead of a longer ongoing problem. And quite frankly this is a very bad thing for a series of this genre. Think about it; a complete mystery story needs:

1. A foundation to establish the setting of the case
2. A problem to be solved needs to pop up (like a murder for example)
3. The detective must look around for clues
4. After all the clues have been gathered, the detective must be given time to think about them and try to put the puzzle together (which of course lets the viewers do so as well at the same time)
5. The case must now be solved, the truth brought to light and, if possible, the culprit arrested
6. Finally everything must be wrapped up and the aftermath of the entire incident presented

So all-in-all, that's quite a lot of ground to cover. In fact, that's way too much ground to cover in just 1-2 anime episodes. There's simply not enough time to go through all the steps properly without either rushing it completely or making the mystery so simplistic that it's not even interesting to begin with. And this is the main problem with Sakurako-san as an anime, namely that it time and time again tries to do too much in too little time.

Instead it almost feels like the anime is trying to cheat the system by skipping a step or two. The whole investigation and pondering phases are almost cut off completely. How? Well simply by making Sakurako be absurdly overpowered as a detective. By that I mean to say that it doesn't matter whether the case in question ends up revolving around human biology, psychology, chemistry or 19th century painting techniques; no matter what it is, Sakurako knows everything. She can figure out any mystery within minutes with almost no clues to work with. In other words:

a) Every case ends up feeling very unimportant due to how quickly and easily they are solved
b) It gives the viewer almost no time to think for themselves (which is without a doubt the #1 most important thing in a detective story so this is a huge problem)
c) There is very little semblance of tension since you always know that Sakurako is going to save the day within the next minute no matter what
d) It significantly lowers the story's sense of realism as it doesn't really feel believable a lot of the time
e) As soon as a mystery is resolved, we're back to the status quo again. In other words it kind of feels like the story doesn't even matter in the long run. Although there are brief tie-ins to previous story arcs on rare occasions, it's not anything particularly noteworthy

So I've talked a lot about Sakurako, but what about Shoutarou, our supposed protagonist? Well... there really isn't a whole lot to say about him. He's just "there" as a sidekick, and Sakurako is the one always dragging him along and calling the shots. It's almost like his sole purpose in the show is to be someone for Sakurako to show off to. There are also a bunch of other characters in the show, but they're about as forgettable as it gets. Really the entire anime revolves around Sakurako herself and no one else, which would be common for a detective series, but given that she's hardly what I'd call a well-written detective for a mystery story I still can't consider it a good thing.

In the end though, despite the fact that there are tons of issues with Sakurako-san as an anime, they all stem from the exact same source. The heart of the problem is quite simply that the total episode count is *way* too small. They should have taken the same amount of content and adapted it in maybe 24 episodes instead of compressing it into merely 12. Everything comes down to that. The rushed pacing means that every mystery story gets way too little exposition and instead they have to fill the holes by using Sakurako as a cheat code, enabling them to skip out on half the steps in every arc. That's like a band aid measure, it doesn't actually resolve the problem itself whatsoever. What makes the mystery genre so fascinating is the process of solving the matter at hand; you investigate for clues, try your best to put them together, and then finally present the solution. Sakurako-san however basically skips out on all that and just blatantly gives you the answer right away. Talk about taking just about all the fun out of it.

With all that being said, Sakurako-san is still a decent anime which might be worth checking out. It just annoys me because I sincerely believe that it could have been really damn good had it just been paced better (or not been episodic to begin with), but instead we're left with an incredibly flawed final product. Good mystery anime are quite rare to come by, so it saddens me when a series like this pops up with all the potential in the world, only to fall flat for a quite needless reason.

(This is a spoiler-free review adapted for this site)

[Synopsis]: High School student Tatewaki Shoutarou (Enoki, Junya) led a normal enough life until he met Kujou Sakurako (Itou, Shizuka), a beautiful, young woman and genius Osteologist who is endlessly fascinated with bones. Together on their outings they always seem to chance upon human remains after which it falls to the unlikely duo to discern the story of the bones and solve the mysteries they present.

[Characters]:

Sakurako-san focuses almost entirely on the explorations and interactions of its two protagonists while intermittently featuring recurring supporting characters alongside a primarily episodic cast. The show’s attention to its main characters is ... well founded as none of the supporting cast receives much in the way of characterization beyond their own independent installments.

The first episode of the show does a great job of introducing both Shoutarou and Sakurako – you get a strong sense of each of their personalities and dynamic of their relationship. Shoutarou is typical enough as far as high school students are concerned and his ordinary outlook and design serves as a point of contrast to Sakurako’s stranger perspective on the developments of the show. As a layman he serves as our investigative eyes into Sakurako’s world of bones and murder mysteries. He avoids feeling cliche in a number of ways however perhaps the most interesting is the straightforward nature of his attraction to Sakurako – the two make great friends outside of the realm of romance and seeing such skin-deep and hormonal elements at play in their relationship was refreshing and unique. While Shoutarou certainly had a place in the show initially it felt like he was quickly dispensed into becoming a sort of straight man in opposition to Sakurako’s outlandish assertions and blunt nature. Its one thing to have him keep her in check and keep the story grounded however something else entirely to simply point out the eccentricities of her behavior as if to remind the audience that her actions are something other than typical.

Sakurako on the other hand I felt quite compelling all throughout for a myriad of reasons. For one thing I thought that having a slightly older heroine was refreshing but moreover her personality, a marriage of the smug intellectual with near-childish enthusiasm, was a great deal of fun given her age and vocation. Its always a pleasure to see an emotive, adult character and Sakurako exhibits great reasons for why she acts the way that she does. She is distant emotionally and generally isn’t phased by sentimental attachments which go well with her logical persona. Her brand of morality is slightly warped by her logic and practical mindset but something more human and emotional seems to be stirring under the surface which gives her a wonderfully complex and genuine feeling. To speak to her one fault within the show, it rests outside of her actual characterization and instead with the way in which she interacts with the plot of the show. The first episode does well in establishing her area of expertise – making her out to be not only fanatical about bones but incredibly knowledgeable about them as well. The problem that arises is that it often feels as if Sakurako is perhaps ‘too knowing’ at times.

It is quite well figured that she knows what she does about bodies and murder scenes given her interest in bones and her familial relation to a forensics investigator however when the terrain shifts towards that of the artistic and even the religious she seems to sport the same wicked intellect without skipping a beat. The show occasionally treated her more like a resource of absolute information in order to tell the story instead of an individual with concrete knowledge and expertise. She often became a font of uncommon knowledge rather than a character with intellectual limitations. Little is done to lampshade this character trait and so its awkward presence goes more or less unanswered within her overall characterization.

[Art/Animation]:

I quite enjoyed the visuals of Sakurako-san and the first episode opens with an exciting sequence of animation and colors. The character designs and some of the environments are highly reminiscent of TROYCA’s other work Aldnoah.Zero however I felt that Sakurako-san gave a familiar aesthetic new life. Its definitely safe to say that the show is very pretty – it has a great variety of colors and plenty of wonderful scenery ranging from incredibly detailed houses to vibrant forests.

Something I felt Sakurako-san did especially well was animating facial expressions and character movement which were used effectively to convey emotions and add some much appreciated legitimacy to the actions and behaviors of otherwise plain, supportive characters as well as the main cast. Another minor thing to note relates back to Shoutarou’s seemingly adolescent attraction to Sakurako as discussed above. The show hardly busies itself with fan-service however the camera work surrounding Shoutarou’s perception of her I thought was an intelligent addition to the show and their chemistry. The camera shots of Sakurako’s cleavage and exposed stomach in different episodes do a great job of emphasizing his surface-level, sexual attraction to her. These scenes avoid feeling like true fan service due to their highly intermittent presence and inconsequential nature but present what I thought was a refreshingly straightforward take on a characters attraction to someone else.

[Story]:

Like many mystery shows before it, Sakurako-san unfolds in a fairly episodic manner with the majority of the episodes being standalone stories of Shoutarou and Sakurako’s adventures. The two certainly share something resembling a Sherlockian dynamic though Shoutarou may leave a bit to be desired in this comparison while Sakurako measures up quite well given her ability to pick out minute details concerning the bones they discover. The show at first seemed interested in developing certain themes such as stagnation and the passage of time however I felt these things were quickly forgotten after the first episode and though the final episode attempts to resurrect these ideas they appear highly non-relevant and jumbled.

The early episodes I felt were enjoyable and the manner in which Sakurako went about solving the mysteries felt unique and interesting because of how she derived most of the information from the bones she found. I remember episode 4 particularly well as it was quite slow paced and very methodical in its detailing and conversation which made the character interactions and behaviors feel especially realistic. My main gripe with the plot of the show is in how, even early on, it begins to establish something more overarching and significant than the individual mysteries but never finds the time to actually capitalize on that area of the story. There appears to be something linking together many of the victims and situations that Sakurako and Shoutarou encounter but rather than building up the eventual conflict with minor details scattered throughout and delivering a final, more imperative story in respect to the show’s main characters, it simply peters out without addressing anything.

Normally I would at least somewhat forgive a show in Sakurako-san’s position if it were simply a case of the show not having enough time to tell the story that it wanted to however given a handful of episodes that I didn’t feel were all that interesting or even relevant in the midsection of the show I can’t help but feel it squandered what time it had. Some episodes for instance were of no import to the characterization of the protagonists or the overarching mystery behind many of their adventures. These would feel far more at home in the show had it not split its ambition in this way and proceeded either concisely with a significant end in mind or purely on a standalone basis without attempting to develop something greater than itself. This isn’t to condemn the show’s episodic nature due to its inability to deliver something of greater import before the end because I think a majority of the episodes were entertaining in and of themselves.

To make matters somewhat worse, the show ends on a somewhat odd note – not in the cliffhanger sense but rather it left me feeling as if the episode could have been utilized better. It focused primarily on Shoutarou and a dilema of his that didn’t have much prefacing within the show or even much reason to give it consequence. The show arrives at a somewhat disappointing conclusion after eluding to a figure behind the otherwise independent events of the show and just before pulling back the curtain greets the viewer with a contextual flashback episode that attempts to answer questions that were never asked in the first place. The episode itself is alright in respect to the characters however it felt as if it could have taken place at any time during the show.

[Music]:

The show’s soundtrack was pretty enjoyable all throughout and matched the show’s atmosphere and subject matter well though, outside of its main theme which seemed to reappear at some point every episode, I didn’t feel any of the music was too memorable.

[Final Thoughts and Rating]:

Sakurako-san was a show that initially had me quite excited because of its early episodes, Sakurako’s characterization, and her chemistry with Shoutarou. While the mysteries were fairly interesting there was an unpleasant tendency exhibited by the plot where it would wrap back around to supporting characters it had already introduced in highly improbable ways resulting in a myriad of more or less standalone stories feeling far more self-contained than they had any right to be. It felt unbelievable, especially for a mystery show.

Rating: 6

I gave Sakurako-san a 6 because it had wonderfully unique main characters, a flashy, vibrant aesthetic, and a handful of interesting-enough short mystery stories that kept my attention. It fell short of higher scores because of its failed attempt to create something more substantial and its lackluster supporting cast along with its needlessly self-contained narrative progression. Ultimately it was more fun watching Sakurao with her brash interactions and childish enthusiasm than anything else.

[Recommendations]:

I would recommend Sakurako-san to anyone interested in a decent mystery show with a fun heroine character though I would warn that it is the kind that reveals the details of its mysteries by means of its characters rather than allowing them to be picked up on by its viewers and pieced together beforehand, foreshadowing aside.

(This review has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!)

The closest I have ever been to death is a moment that I don’t even remember.

Complications during childbirth are common. For me, at the (very) tender age of ten seconds old, there were two such complications: the umbilical cord and my size. The cord just so happened to wrap itself around my throat, cutting off oxygen to my body. As for my size, I was so huge (ten pounds, eight ounces) that I got stuck in the birthing canal.

The doctors, desperate to save both my mom and me, made the decision to add a third ... complication: bone breakage. To get me out in the world, they snapped my collar bone, stopping death and granting life. They got the umbilical cord situation sorted out, too, but, by that point, I looked like a massive, blue mess.

For me, bones technically mean everything. For Sakurako of Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru, bones literally mean everything. As for the anime itself, well, it has a few broken bones of its own.

STORY

Sakurako-san slates itself as a mystery anime. To this end, it decides on the episodic approach. The season consists of multiple mini-arcs with no arc lasting longer than two episodes. One arc involves a lost child. Another focuses on a lover’s decision. Another still deals with three previous best friends.

Almost every episode has one trait in common: bones. Be it a skull found at the beach or some skeletal remains found at the foot of a hill, bones are often within reach. They make up the mystery part of the anime; they cause the audience to question how those bones came to be.

“Question” is a bit lenient, however, because the audience never really gets to surmise or figure out the circumstances behind the bones. I.e., Sakurako does most of the work. This in turn makes the mystery part of the anime a moot point. Which is weird. If the mystery does not matter, then what is the point of the anime?

The answer derives from both the episodic format and the bones: life and death. Sakurako alludes to this idea in the last episode when she talks about cherry-blossom trees (and, indirectly, the title of the anime.)

The bones that Sakurako and Shoutarou find each tell a story. A story that, despite the bones being bleached with age or preserved in a box, still exists. Stories that are touching, emotional. They demonstrate what makes people human. Stories about a mother that loves her daughter and baby, the difficulty of moving on with one’s life, and relationships borne of mutual troubles.

And as Sakurako further talks about, time does not stop. While the bones are fragments of the past, the present still has the people connected to those bones. Those people have memories. They have feelings. They have a connection that neither bones nor time can stifle come the future. So, in Sakurako-san’s vision, it’s best to live. To create those memories and share those feelings. In other words, death comes, but life comes first.

Thematically, the anime does well. On a writing level, however, it gets shaky. The episodic format does not entice the anime to have a prevalent, overarching narrative. An underlying thread exists in the form of Hanabusa, the mastermind behind many of the killings, but his name and his importance are very rarely referenced. Arguably, though, since he remains unimportant to the majority of the anime, his lack of presence is likewise unimportant.

The episodic format also prevents the audience from properly resonating with the stories told. Quickly going from one person’s dilemma and tale to the next without letting the message sink in hampers the impact. Worse still, many of the messages are spilled out amidst the explanation of the mystery and, consequently, as large expository asides that are difficult to digest.

Going back to the mysteries themselves, the presentation of each one also treads into repetitive territory. The boy and woman show up, find some bones, and, after finding a few clues, Sakurako solves the case. The argument that the repetition correlates to the repetitive nature of life and death comes off as more of an excuse rather than a purposeful decision.

Overall, the narrative contains stories that, while not individually sound, collectively advocate the importance of life, the importance of death, and the messages that can be gleaned between them.

ANIMATION

One of Sakurako-san’s strongest facets is its art.

While the cinematography is nothing special, consisting of standard shots, the backgrounds more than make up for any stagnancy in perspective. Various locations from dense forests to bustling festivals are visited. Sakurako’s study, the living room of the man with the weak heart, and Yumiko’s side room demonstrate the large amount of detail that goes into each location. And the lighting goes into overdrive, basking the different areas in sunlight, moonlight, and streetlamps.

Sakurako’s specialized sequence, where a bountiful bunch of bones begin to walk about her as though they were alive, was a neat effect. Unfortunately, the anime rarely uses the sequence beyond the first quarter of the anime, making one wonder where it went and wanting to see more of it.

Character designs are a small step down from the art. In general, they are quite plain, the characters lacking specific qualities that make their looks interesting. Shoutarou’s beige hair, the teacher’s suit, and the police officer’s work uniform are fitting but not exactly stunning. In fairness, the anime depicts realistic situations and people, so having realistic-looking characters makes sense.

Sakurako’s design, however, deserves more attention. Her look is that of a classic beauty – long, dark hair, an ample figure, and an attractive face with striking eyes and a beauty spot for extra allure. Designing her as beautiful rather than ugly when Sakurako’s character revolves around death speaks volumes on how the anime views death. Her regular outfit also needs to be mentioned. She wears a white top with black pants, a famous dichotomy on the color spectrum. Here, it symbolizes the main theme of the anime: life and death.

As for the actual animation, it remains relatively high. The laidback nature of the anime – no action-heavy scenes or the like – allows the cast to move with clarity. Hair and limb movements, as well as facial expressions and eye shifts, persist throughout the show, breathing life into an otherwise lifeless anime.

CHARACTERS

Technically speaking, Sakurako-san has a lot of characters. But, technically speaking, the vast majority of them are largely unimportant.

Their importance goes down due to the episodic format. Much of the cast has no presence between the different arcs – mostly because the people related to the bones are not the main or supporting characters.

Of course, this statement is not true for every character. The cop takes part in some episodes. So does the teacher. And Yumiko, Shoutarou’s classmate, is literally a relative of the deceased in her story. But even these characters are not all that important. They exist as vehicles for the messages being told in their respective stories. To put it differently, they do not develop as characters per se, but they do allow the audience to understand the importance of the story being told.

Similar to the narrative, then, who are the important characters of Sakurako-san? This question is a lot easier to answer compared to before: Shoutarou and Sakurako.

Starting with Shoutarou, he is a high-school student who has recently taken some interest in bones. Said interest comes from his interest in Sakurako. While it is implied that he has feelings or, at the minimum, a crush on the beautiful lady, he began to hang out with her as a means to escape a life that he found boring.

Over the course of the season, the audience comes to learn more about Shoutarou. He has training in martial arts. He seems to only think about food. He had a grandmother that cared deeply for him – more so than he ever knew.

Shelving Shoutarou for the moment, Sakurako could not be more different than him. As an osteologist, her life’s work demands the study of bones. But it is more than just studying them: Sakurako loves bones more than she loves life itself. Thanks to her skeletal-spying, teeth-inspecting, and knowledge-having ways, she leads the charge in every mystery, revealing the truth of the bones before her.

Like Shoutarou, more about her person is made known over the course of the season. She has a mean sweet tooth, especially when it comes to cakes and puddings. She has a fiancé whose sole purpose (since he is never actually shown) is to deter Shoutarou from pursuing his feelings (and angering the audience, too). Most important of all is her hatred of death, a byproduct of a traumatizing event from her past.

Getting back to the technical speaking, Shoutarou and Sakurako do not develop as characters. At least, not to a substantial extent. Sakurako overcomes her fear of death by accepting Shoutarou, and Shoutarou overcomes the stagnant river of life by chasing after Sakurako. But these developments of theirs occur in the final episode. They are a culmination of the events, but a singular moment is not a large amount of change for the two.

On an individual basis, their characters continue to prove how mishandled they are. For Shoutarou, the anime rarely shows how he came to find life so boring, what made him believe that his current course could be different. For Sakurako, that traumatizing event about her younger brother Soutarou never has a solid foundation. The event is barely referenced on occasion, but the actual moment is not shown. For an anime that emphasizes the past so much, it is surprising how little it cares about the pasts of its two main characters.

Where Shoutarou and Sakurako shine best is on a group basis.

From the discussions on their characters above, a certain pattern arises. Shoutarou is about life. He questions the life he leads. He regularly thinks positively about life. He loves life’s people, emotions, and opportunities. In contrast, Sakurako is about death. She fixates on death’s aftermath. She hates death itself. She defines herself as one truly traumatized by death.

Shoutarou represents life. Sakurako represents death. Combined, they represent a beautiful and philosophical sentiment: life and death are inseparable. Just as Shoutarou chases after Sakurako, life (inevitably) chases after death. And just as Sakurako embraces Shoutarou, death (inevitably) embraces life. Shoutarou and Sakurako are a team in the same way that life and death (or death and life, depending on one’s outlook) happen to be.

One could even argue how the faux romantic separation between Shoutarou and Sakurako symbolizes the separation between life and death – they are a coupling but two entities that can never realistically be together. A slight stretch, but it’s fun to think about.

Regardless, Shoutarou and Sakurako mean a lot to each other even if they do not mean much on their own. And given that their shared theme of life and death is similarly shared with the narrative’s theme, they have more strength as characters than originally perceived.

SOUND

Easily the strongest part of the music is the ending track. Taking on more of a chilling tone, the vocalist accompanies a small number of instruments, letting her do most of the work. During the first half, the OP is nuanced and atmospheric. It’s not until the second half that the piece picks up, a more pronounced beat and lengthier lyrical sections taking shape.

In a way, the ED mirrors the mystery cases Sakurako solves: They start off weird and unknown, and they end with a defined conclusion. The whole track is ghostly, strange, and melancholic, standing as a wonderful addition to Sakurako-san.

The opening track goes down a different route. Piano dominates much of the piece with a drum beat and some nice vocal work from the singer. Compared to the ED, the OP is happier, optimistic in tone. And this direction makes sense – having a happy OP and a sad ED matches the life and death motif that permeates the rest of the anime.

The biggest problem with the OP, however, is the presentation. Where the ED sounds nuanced and foreboding, the OP sounds as though a lot of noises were mashed together. So while the piece has power in the context of the show, the piece lacks appeal outside of it.

Then there is the rest of the original soundtrack. Sakurako’s investigative tracks, called (coincidentally enough) “Sakurako’s Investigation” and “An Answer to the Puzzle,” are the highlights. Their back-and-forth tune and triumphant composition work in tandem to form a track that follows the mystery-to-solved progress of the cases, much like the ED does.

The large number of the tracks, however, are more atmospheric in nature. These tracks are usually one of two tones: slice-of-life like “Innocent Honesty” or sad like “Super Regret.” Sticking mostly to these two tones follows along with the consistent life-and-death motif that Sakrurako-san has been shown to use. These tracks are not particularly impressive, but they are fitting for the anime nonetheless.

Voice-acting performances are neither amazing nor awful; they are okay for what had been provided. Shizuka Itou as Sakurako uses a mature and slightly arrogant voice that fits the beautiful woman. Junya Enoki, in one of his first major roles, as Shoutarou uses a younger voice for the so-called boy. And while Sakurako has moments of emotion – most often when she remembers Soutarou through Shoutarou – and Shoutarou can get stern with Sakurako, the scenes do not demand much out of the characters, so they never have the chance to shine.

ENJOYMENT

As a romance buff, it was certainly disappointing to see the anime refuse to pursue the romantic pairing between Shoutarou and Sakurako. That kind of relationship – an older woman being with a younger man – is rarely seen in anime, so when it seems like it should obviously exist and it doesn’t, the whole situation becomes infuriating.

It also does not help that Sakurako seems to show zero romantic interest in Shoutarou, quelling those thoughts anyway. And combined with the anime not pursuing the other romantic pairing of Shoutarou and Yumiko, the lack of romance made me mad to see.

Speaking of Sakurako, I cannot say that I liked her all that much. She’s certainly attractive in looks and she can be cute when she wants to, but, in personality, she was a turn-off. Very rude, very insensitive.

Despite my anger at the lack of romance and my dislike of Sakurako’s personality, I liked the banter between her and Shoutarou. Shoutarou acting like a parent and Sakurako acting like a child made for some funny scenes, like when Sakurako tried to steal that skull or when Shoutarou used the information center to locate his “lost child.”

The other characters are ones I did not care for much. Shoutarou is overly plain. The buddy cop seems like a nice dude, but, following the halfway mark of the season, he never shows up again. The teacher is similar. Yumiko, despite acting as the rebound romantic interest, is actually annoying. She is a fun character to have on screen – cute, confident, and caring – but she is a bit too much of a goody-two-shoes.

My favorite tales from the season were Yumiko’s grandmother’s painting, Shoutarou’s grandmother’s pudding, and the mother protecting her children. I love my family to bits, so hearing about how much thought the grandmothers put into their respective actions for their grandchildren was something I understood from my own grandmother. As for that third tale, Ii-chan was a cute kid that made the gloomy anime slightly brighter.

The other tales were fine but not really to my liking. It was a combination of the characters involved and the tales being told. The “cursed” man, the three best friends, and the cat and caretaker just didn’t have the same oomph as everything else.

Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru encounters both life and death. Some strong themes laced with mediocre writing. Some nice art and music filled with weaknesses. And some interesting tales while others not-so-much. The anime’s like a broken collar bone: technically worthwhile in some ways but literally problematic in others.

SUMMARY

Story: Fine, a nice theme on life and death, supported by shoddy, singular tales

Animation: Good, nice art, okay character designs, and above-average actual animation

Characters: Good, Shoutarou and Sakurako’s duality of life and death holds strength even if their individual characters do not

Sound: Fine, okay OP, good ED, okay OST, okay VA performances

Enjoyment: Bad, tiptoeing around the romance, an unlikable cast, and only a handful of the tales were interesting

Final Score: 5/10

Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation is quite an unusual anime as it focuses on a strange topic which are, as the title tells, bones. Beautiful Bones tells tiny stories about cases which most of them are related to bones of victims, and how a woman named Sakurako solves the case (well, sort of). Beautiful Bones had a lot of potential to be great. However with noticeable flaws, this anime falls back unfortunately. However it still manages to be enjoyable enough to be given a chance.

~{Story}~
The premise of this anime is about a woman named Sakurako, who loves bones; studying them, organizing them, using them to ... solve problems and collecting them. The “story” revolves around Sakurako and a boy named Shoutarou, a high-schooler who assists Sakurako, solving cases by examining bones. The series showcases many different cases and the two puts them into fitting conclusions. Due to the episodic format of the series, there really isn’t much of a main story in the series, until the series tries to create one near the end, only to have the series keeping it incomplete. Some of the cases in Beautiful Bones works, others do not. It really is a case of hit and miss here, which is a shame because if it could be more consistent with its content, this series could be so much more. The anime brings up a major case near the end of the anime, and the fact that it doesn’t get completed shows a lack of organization for this anime. Not to mention that backstories for the two leads were pushed for the last episode.
Story: 5/10

~{Presentation}~
The premise itself is very unique, focusing on a character’s fondness on bones, shown through someone else’s perspective. The style is very good for this anime, as it combines gorgeous, vivid art with bleak storylines, images and themes. The contrast of the two is what makes this anime’s style work well. However the presentation feels lacking due to the series’ inconsistent pacing. The anime will spend an episode worth of time of storylines that need more than that, while they’ll give two episodes worth of time to storylines that deserve much less, or maybe none at all. Not to mention, some of the placement of some storylines felt weird, especially where the backstories of Sakurako and Shoutarou’s was placed. Placing character development at the end of the series makes it completely pointless as you’re done spending time with these characters. However, it can be noted that TROYCA might make a sequel series for this.
Presentation: 5/10

~{Character}~
I’m not going to waste your time, Kujou Sakurako is a fantastic character, and she’s one of the bigger reasons why this anime still manages to be good after all those flaws. Sakurako’s fondness for bones is so entertaining, and her gaining a child’s innocence whenever she’s involved with bones are something that made me feel like she was a character with extreme depth. She’s intellectual, pretty, mature for most of the time and insanely unique. Her fascination for bones and cases is what makes her special. Tatewaki Shoutarou is the opposite of Sakurako; he as an average perspective of everything, he’s a typical high-school boy, and nowhere near as interesting as Sakurako. Shoutarou, for the most part, feels like a typical character and he’s just there to be a contrast for Sakurako. There’s nothing special about at all and all. The supporting cast is also pretty uninteresting. Kougami Yuriko, though pretty and nice, is there just for the sake of being there. There’s no depth given to her. Isozaki Itsuki-sensei, though ends up being pretty interesting, was felt underutilized. Also character relationship between Shoutarou and Sakurako is lacking, as no backstory was given to them until the end. The only thing that happens between them is the contrast they make when they’re together. It’s mainly because Sakurako seems miles of a better character than Shoutarou, which ends up making their relation lacking.
Character: 5/10

~{Art}~,
TROYCA is a really new studio and the only other anime they made was Aldnoah.Zero, which was co-developed by A-1 Pictures, which makes Beautiful Bones their first solo project. If Beautiful Bones felt lacking with its quality, it would have been forgivable. However, the production values are outstanding. The art is some of the best of this year, and that was a complete surprise. The gorgeous, vivid art makes a wonderful contrast with its bleak content and images (such as bones). The backgrounds are superbly detailed. The insides of buildings are filled with tiny detailing that it feels obvious that TROYCA spent quite a lot of time on their art. Character models are pretty good. Sakurako by far looks the best, as her mature look makes her character a breath of fresh air. They did a good job at making Shoutarou look as typical as he can. The supporting cast however don’t look any special, however, they’re still good to look at.
Art: 8/10

~{Animation}~
The animations are also top-notch in Beautiful Bones, and it doesn’t pull back the art. TROYCA seems like as if they are influenced by A-1 Pictures because their animation style feels similar to things A-1 Pictures has done before. Animation qualities are consistent and well done. However, since it’s a mystery, there isn’t really much that can test this anime’s animation quality. However it does, whatever it has to do, very well. CG is used on moving, colorful animal skeletons, which appear whenever Sakurako starts a case. The CG is done well, and it’s not that distracting. Facial animations and character movement is really good. One particular thing I like about the animations was that they animated tiny details in the background, which makes the production values much higher for this anime.
Animation: 7.5/10

~{Voice Acting}~
Itou Shizuka did a fantastic job as Sakurako. The maturity she puts into her character is outstanding. Itou Shizuka plays a big role in making Sakurako a unique and interesting character. Enoki Junya does a decent job as Shoutarou, considering Enoki is pretty new to the industry. He does a good job making the character sound as average as he can. Imamura Ayaka, who is also pretty new to the industry, does an okay job as Yuriko, it’s nothing to special though. Ishida Akira does a great job as Itsuki-sensei, which is to be expected from a well-received experience seiyuu. He does a nice job giving the sensei a lighter tone when needed. Overall, the voice acting is impressive in Beautiful Bones.
Voice Acting: 6/10

~{Music}~
Let me get this out of the way as fast as possible; the music in Beautiful Bones is spectacular. The OP, “Dear answer”, is great as it’s catchy and it’s a nice showcase for Sakurako. However the ED, “Uchiyoserareta Boukyaku no Zankyou ni”, is miles better, as it is one of he best ED I’ve ever heard. It’s mysterious, chilling and the vocals are just right. And the music for the ED is fantastic too. The background music used in Beautiful Bones is outstanding. The main theme used in the anime (which is also used in PV 1) is spectacular. There’s so many different versions of the theme (“A Corpse is Buried Under The Feet”, “Beautiful Bones”, “Solution of The Puzzle”, “Sakurako's Investigation”, and “An Answer To The Puzzle”), and all of them are fantastic. Other pieces such as “Butterfly”, “Ambition”, and many others, all help create a great mood for the anime. The mysterious tracks are by far the best of the series’ collection.
Music: 9.5/10

~{Enjoyment}~
Some cases do end up being enjoyable as some of them are quite well written, however some of the cases end up being unenjoyable due to some predictable writing and unsatisfying conclusions. The first case in the series is left incomplete, which is something that should have happened at all. Some of the character development were saved for the last and the anime itself is left incomplete. However Sakurako as a character is what makes this anime a lot more enjoyable as her character is a breath of fresh air. Also the fantastic art and outstanding music makes this anime a lot better than it is.
Enjoyment: 5/10

Overall Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation is a good mystery anime, not a great one. The cases presented in the anime is a hit or miss, the character development and relationships are bare bones, and the anime itself is left incomplete, making a sequel seasons a necessity for this series. However Sakurako manages to shine throughout the series due to her peculiar behavior. The top-notch production values and outstanding background music also help in making this anime worth watching. It’s just a shame that it couldn’t manage to get the most out of its premise as the anime only manages to be good, not great.

+ Exceptional, gorgeous art that makes a nice contrast with its bleak premise.
+ Great OP, fantastic ED, and outstanding background music.
+ Sakurako is a great character, and Itou Shizuka does a great job doing the role.
+ Interesting premise, and some great suspenseful case.
- Some cases are misses and the story is left incompletely do to terrible pacing and storyline placement.
- Besides Sakurako, the rest of the cast of characters fail to be as interesting.

Overall: 6.4/10

Beautiful Bones is a 2015 done by studio Troyca, of which I’m not very familiar with. This anime was based off of a series of novels. Is it worth it though? Let's find out.

Story:

Beautiful Bones doesn’t have an overarching plot, rather it’s comprised of episodic thriller scenarios in which our main lead Sakurako & her shall I say, lackey, Tatewak go around solving mysteries. Our main lead is very interested in Bones & uses her knowledge to help solve mysteries.

Ok, we’ve got ourselves a nice little set-up here. The problem is, the series doesn’t make any sort of effort to actually utilize its concept to ... create anything beyond basic. The series largely consists of “Sakurako goes around pulling the strings, while the others occasionally help out”. It’s not very interesting, as they basically just tell you everything & really don’t show us the scenes playing out.

Characters:

This is another big problem for Beautiful Bones. The characters are boring. Sakurako is pretty much the only one who has any defining character traits that make her stand out amongst the group, but they really don’t develop her much throughout the story. Near the end they try to write it to where Sakurako cares more about Tatewaki than she lets on, but by then, it’s too little too late, & the anime has ended. Tatewaki is the definition of a blank slate, he pretty much does nothing but go along with Sakurako, occasionally he goes “Sakurako-San!” to try & steer her away from anything he deems “pushing it”, but this almost never works. Sakurako basically does all the work while Tatewaki is occasionally given a chance to help out.

The other characters aren’t much themselves. They pretty much only exist as some attempt at giving the world more life, but this doesn’t work, as the characters are so flat & have barely any notable character traits that they might as well be replaced by planks of wood.

If you want to improve the characters, actually give them more to offer than just “I’m here because reasons”. Actually give the characters some challenges that they have to go through, give them something to make them stand out, give them something they’re interested in. Sakurako is the closest to falling into these lines, & even she isn’t much of an interesting character herself.

Art:

This is actually a huge positive for Beautiful Bones, the artwork on display here is incredible. It’s all very vibrant, colorful, & variable. Some very clear thought & effort was put into these backgrounds. They’re also incredibly unique backgrounds too. Now, the anime does make use of GCI, however I think they implemented CGI incredibly well. The backgrounds such as buildings & trees are largely composed of CGI, though you’d be hard-pressed to notice that’s how well implemented it is. One aspect of the CGI that isn’t good however are the crowds. They stick out like a sore thumb, & look incredibly Janky, yet stilted at the same time. If you wanted to improve on this, keep the characters 2D, I know it would’ve been harder to animate, but a little effort goes a long way. The backgrounds look fine CGI wise, but the characters do not.

The animation is good. But I wouldn’t go beyond good. It doesn’t become lazy, & there was clearly effort put into the animation. The animators at least cared & wanted to make their movements look nice. Bonus points that this series has what I like to call an “Ikuhara moment” where there’s an intentional use of stock-footage for when a key-event happens, love it.

The cinematography is also good. There’s quite a lot of flat shots where it’s just characters sitting around talking in a room admittedly, but there’s also plenty of great transitional shots & well-made framing at the same time. Overall, the cinematography of this show is good, but nothing too special.

Sound:

The sound is ok, it gets the job done, but there’s all there is to it really. The voice acting gets the job done, but the voice actors (aside from Ito Shizuka as Sakurako) don't sound very invested in their roles, but at least the performances they give work for the kind of series that this is. If I could assign a number to the voice acting specifically, I’d give it a 6/10

The music just exists, I really couldn’t tell you much about the music, it’s pretty much just there. The sound design is also incredibly lacking, the sound-effects just don’t really leave much impact or add as much to the scenes as they could’ve. I’d give the music & sound design a 4/10.

Fina Thoughts/Overall:

I don’t want to call Beautiful Bones completely effortless, as there was clearly effort put into this work, it’s just too bad that effort didn’t go towards the writing of this show. The biggest issue with this show is that the writing team just didn’t try. They pretty much thought up the concept, & thought that the concept alone would be enough to sell the series. Unfortunately, they were wrong. Your concept can only go so far if you don’t have the execution to back it up. Beautiful Bones is yet another example for me to use in my “Good art doesn’t save bad writing” argument. Although, I’d call Bones’s writing lacking rather than outright bad. My final rating for Beautiful Bones is going to be a 5/10. There was some great potential here, but the team just didn’t follow through.

THIS REVIEW CONTAIN SPOILERS

Mystery animes should make you always curious to know what will happen the next episode. This one doesn't.

This anime presented great potential at the beginning, showing Sakuraro and the "Shounen" discovering a person's bones and solving the mystery behind their death. I thought it would be like that the whole series. But then, it changed.
The cases they solved were really boring and some even useless, it just didn't make me want to know what happened, because for me it really didn't matter. Then the story continued with some (light) drama and raising our curiosity showing a little of Sakurako's past, but at ... that point it isn't that much interesting anymore, it seems rather obvious what will happen.
What caught most of my curiosity was: who the hell is Sakurako's fiance?

Art: 9/10
Really well made character's expressions. Background full of details. Coloring is also great, really vivid (I guess I could say that.)

Story: 4/10
The show is very slow paced, even too much. There are some useless episodes that don't add anything up to the story, but overall is nice.
Hard to say this but, the "explanation" is really good. What I mean is that they introduce the case to us with many details, and develop the story from that point flawlessly, but that's what causes the a anime to be very slow paced.
Differently from what I expected from the begging, solving the mysteries is not something thrilling. They try to make something dramatic but it doesn't feel all that deep and I can't really relate to anything, so it just feels shallow. I have the impression that it's sometimes forced, because they try to make a big deal out of little stuff. For example in the episode which the Yuri girl lost her grandmother. They made it sound like her world ended, and yet the old lady was already missing, so it was expected that she was dead. And yet they make it look like something really sad. Maybe some people will identify themselves with the girl, call me cold but, I simply don't have the compassion to feel sorry for her.
The true story begins at episode 10, when the anime is ending they start what should've been already solved by that time.
Ending an anime the way they did, only if they are certain of another season, because basically everything was left unsolved.

Sound: 8/10
Background music is good, sound effects fit in perfectly, opening and ending themes are also great.

Characters: 5/10
The story doesn't help the genius MC because the cases are really boring, so solving them doesn't make the MC look as smart as she is.
But I still like her and how cold she is, asking questions with no remorse and then solving everything on her own.
Something which bothered me a lot was that the personalities of some of the supporting characters somewhat changed through the story. Not some big change, but at some parts they acted outside their character, for example the Sensei, at one episode he acted really cool and said some nice stuff, but at the next episode he didn't leave his mark and it really annoys me these subtle changes.
Something else that bugs me is that whimpy cry-baby shounen. Can't he shut up? And why does he feel sick when he sees bones? They are just freakin' bones.

Enjoyment: 5/10
Good as it is, it just doesn't make me cry out for more episodes, desperately refreshing the page, begging for the release of an new episode.
Well, that was too much, but you get the picture.
Even though I really appreciate a good drama and mystery, this one doesn't make any of them truly enjoyable, leaving nothing else for the viewers.

Overall: 6 (Fine)
Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru is entertaining but it lacks depth to its story.
Showed great potential but it really disappointed me.

Shoutarou Tatewaki is tired of his everyday life. He goes and comes from school, and nothing changes. That is, until he meets Sakurako Kujou. Sakurako seems like a normal bishoujo, but she has an odd secret: she's obsessed with bones. Whenever Shoutarou is with Sakurako, he comes across bones, and life around Sakurako is never boring.

Sakurako is an interesting protagonist, to say the least. The reason this anime caught my eye in the first place is because of her unusual description as a "bone-loving ojou-san." Her quirkiness never fails to interest me, although it certainly is unsettling at times. The mysteries that are presented in ... this show, while often episodic, are intriguing and informative.

Unfortunately, the format of the anime leaves much to be desired. Think about it, what makes a mystery anime/movie/book/etc so exciting is the suspense. You don't know what will happen or what has happened, and you have to analyze the clues yourself to find the answer. But thanks to the walking, talking asspull plot device known as Sakurako Kujou and her unlimited supply of knowledge, there is very little mystery in this "mystery" anime. We, the viewers, are seldom given the chance to think for ourselves; Sakurako just happens to know everything about everything, and while this means mysteries are solved quickly, viewers are left feeling unsatisfied.

Another huge issue in this show is the lack of character development from ANY of the main characters. Ironically, the character who receives the most development is Isozaki-sensei, a minor character who shows up in maybe four or five of the twelve episodes. While Shoutarou is adorable, he doesn't change at all over the course of the anime. And Sakurako's development is literally nonexistent. Tragically, she's the character who needs the most development. The first time she hears Shoutarou's name, she reacts in a pretty startling way. We learn that her reaction is because she had a younger brother named Soutarou who passed away. I'm still convinced that her brother's death is a big part of who she is, but we NEVER get even a hint of her backstory. Scenes throughout the anime hint that her brother's death affected her very deeply, yet we never learn more than the bare surface.

In episodes 4 & 5, we learn about an elusive villain who seems to play a big role in multiple mysteries throughout the series. Some scenes even suggest that Sakurako has encountered him before and is working to stop him. However, aside from the suspicious mentions of him in episodes 4 & 5 and then again in 11 & 12, nothing really happens. He's clearly a formidable opponent, yet we never see more of him. His introduction into the storyline seems pointless, since he never gets much screentime.

I think a large issue with this anime was with pacing. Had this anime been a two-cour series, it could have spent more time with each case, possibly doing without Sakurako's endless well of knowledge and allowing the viewers to speculate on the mysteries. We honestly could have done without the filler episodes in the middle (looking at you, episodes 6-9), and the anime could have focused on the painter from episodes 4-5 and 11-12. That would have made a much better, more enthralling story. (Think Psycho Pass, but with more bones!) And that's the reason I'm so disappointed with this anime: It could have been SO MUCH MORE than it ended up being, and that's a tragedy.

Overall, Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru wasn't a bad watch. However, it fell far short of its potential; instead of being an okay anime, it could have been amazing. But due to bad pacing, bad plot progression, and severely underdeveloped characters, the execution of this anime came out...lukewarm. Mediocre. As is the case with almost all the mystery anime I've watched. The search continues.

Final score: 6/10
Do I recommend it? Meh. Not if you want something spectacular, but the cases are interesting.

Mystery is one of the touchier genres of anime. This is because in order to do a good mystery, you have to choose either one overarching mystery, or several little ones. Both of which have their own little hurdles in order to be successful. And so, we have Sakurako-san, a show that deals with a very odd kind of Sherlock Holmes kind of scenario, with bones. Lots of them.

Story: Shoutarou is a boy who tries to differ from the normal. Rather than spend time with other people his age, every day after school, Shoutarou goes into the ... woods and finds a big mansion. Inside, is a woman named Kujou Sakurako, an osteologist who has a fascination in reforming specimens out of the bones she finds. As such, our dastardly duo finds bones at every turn, solving the mysteries of the skeletons they find.

Going for a more episodic route for storytelling, each episode or two of Sakurako-san follows our two main characters as they go about the town and stumble or are given tasks that usually involve some aspect of mystery to them. Usually, there are bones involved, Sakurako and/or Shoutarou figure out the case, and the entire mini plot is done. Finish, rinse, and repeat. For the entire runtime of the show, Sakurako-san follows this format of storytelling and really bolsters itself as a decent show for a good while. However, there are quite a few flaws with this formula that created a lot of cracks in the marrow of this show, and in the end, made all of the pieces fall out of place.

One of the bigger issues of Sakurako-san is its inherent plotline of being just the same thing over and over again. There's little to no variety as to what the characters do. This however, is not the main issue for the show, though it is a small bit of a problem going in. The real problem of this show comes with the fact that Sakurako-san tries to also do a bit of an overarching story, throwing in hints early on in the series. Now, this wouldn't be much of an issue if the show focused on that in its latter half. It didn't. Instead, for the latter part of the show, we get a mesh of overarching and episodic story that just doesn't mesh together well. As a result, the story suffered greatly and a lot of what made Sakurako good in the beginning, just wasn't there to hold it up in the end.

But what really was the kicker was the fact that Sakurako-san's ending was the final nail in the coffin. The last episode was just a complete waste of time and really didn't do the series any favors since it was just a backstory that I personally didn't care about. Not only that, but it really didn't have any impact on the issues that were at hand, and as such, left that 'overarching' feeling that was sprinkled in throughout the series as dead weight that didn't mean very much in the end. Still need some answers! (It's also got this butterfly motif that they didn't really do much of anything with since the character it was tied to was barely even there.)

Overview:
+ Good start
+ Decent episodic mysteries
- Bad ending
- Overarching mystery didn't come to fruition/was bad

Characters: Sakurako-san really only has two characters that are worth mentioning. That is, our Sherlock Holmes duo of Sakurako and Shoutarou.

As the title character and most important person in the series, Sakurako is someone who really enjoys bones. Every day she arranges new skeletons and is able to tell the kind of things that has been happening to a body due to her extensive knowledge on bone structure. As such, she is a very intelligent character and at times, throws caution to the wind. She plays the 'Sherlock Holmes' of the series, as she is the one that solves almost all of the cases and does the majority of the work in any given set of mystery bones that are found. She's a bit of an oddball character that has an assumedly traumatizing backstory added to her. Problem is, we don't get much backstory. Instead, we're left with a character that freaks out over something that we don't know and have to infer. (Not like it was hard to do, but it's not really right to do that to the audience.) She as a character had a lot of potential and while fulfilled most of it, just didn't have that final push to make her great.

Then we have Shoutarou, the 'Watson' of the duo. As the sidekick to Sakurako and the POV character of the series, we don't really get much about him. He mostly just aids Sakurako in her duties whenever she finds a new bone case, and as such sort of acts like the second brain on the trip. He himself isn't really all that developed of a character and only acts as an anchor to make sure she doesn't go too far whenever she's enchanted by the bones of an adult male, cat, fox, what have you. This is largely due to the fact that Shoutarou represents more as the 'outside' character, looking into Sakurako's world. A world that is still shrouded in mystery due to the lack of focus on the backstory that we were hinted at.

Other characters are pretty much characters that pertain to certain cases with the exception of a few on account of their appearance in other cases. But for the most part, characters only pertain to a singular story or situation regarding someone's murder, be it a family member or the one who committed the crime, everyone else is pretty much just fodder for story progression and really nothing else. Bit sad, cause I liked Yuri.

Overview:
+ Sakurako-san (Even without her backstory fully explained, she drove the show as much as she could.)
- Shoutarou is pretty much just along for the ride
- Side characters are all pretty much plot based and nothing more

Art: Made by Troyca, a new animation studio who helped work on Aldnoah Zero, the artstyle for Sakurako is quite grey and dull in comparison to a more lighter style. Since most of the show relates to death and the loss of a loved one, the artstyle reflects that by having everything be mellowed out in color. As such, the atmosphere fits the show and it's really, really nice.

In addition, the animation quality for Sakurako is very nice. There are little to no flaws with the way that this show was produced, and I have nothing bad to say about the way the show looks. Especially when Sakurako puts that glove on and the moving skeletons pop up. God that was good; wish they used it more.

Overview:
+ Fitting Color scheme
+ Good animation
+ Dat Cast starting animation. (Why didn't you use it more!!!)

Sound: The sound for Sakurako is unique, to say the least. Rather than an instrumental OST, the OP and ED for Sakurako both utilize more electronic beats that give it a more somber and melancholic feel to reflect the theme of death that this series talks about since every skeleton has a story about how it died. I wouldn't say that these are memorable tracks, but they are a couple of really nice ones that add in to overall aesthetic of the show. A+ in my book.

Personal Enjoyment: The Fall 2015 season was...disappointing, and that was putting it lightly. There were only a few shows that I declared mid-season were worth watching; Sakurako-san was one of them. Though, as the season came to a close, I was disappointed at how one of the better shows in this season just sort of shot itself in the foot at the last second, turning something that I looked forward to every week, into something that was a little bit weird in terms of pacing and where it was going.

Did I like this anime?

Up until the last couple episodes, Sakurako-san had a very solid start that I was really happy about. It defined what it wanted to do in the beginning and I had high hopes for what it would accomplish. (Until they were turned into dust, of course.) Sakurako is also a character that I enjoyed, as she is very different and has depth to her character, even if we didn't see all of that depth. Aesthetics as well, can't complain. Also, 10/10, would Hector again. (FLUFFY DOG!)

What didn't I like about this anime?

Aside from the fact that Sakurako created a BS plot at the end that left a lot of questions rather than answers and the waste of time last episode, Shoutarou himself was an issue I had. He just didn't seem to have much of a personality since all he did was stand behind Sakurako and act as the layman so Sakurako would explain all of the sciency and analyzing stuff that was happening on screen at that time.

Would I recommend this anime?

As a mystery anime, I would say that this rates about average, like most mystery. It's definitely one of the better shows this season, but the doesn't mean it's really good. It's still worth a shot since I find Sakurako to be quite a fascinating gal, and for no reason other than because it is Sakurako. That being said however, if you choose to watch this, just skip the last episode. It's...pretty worthless, I'll be completely honest with you.

Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru is a firmly middle-of-the-road series with a handful of modest strengths and a fair selection of minor flaws. I enjoyed the show overall, though perhaps to the bare minimum extent to justify watching it again. It often feels as though several steps were skipped in the creation of this show, or that a number of details should have been questioned by somebody along the way and never got cut. I find most grating the fact that Sakurako is not an actual detective, even though it would have cost nothing to make her one from ... the outset and this single detail makes the entire series a mere cavalcade of conveniences. The series revolves around her and Shoutarou finding corpses, solving mysteries, and showing up the local police like any good Holmes and Watson, but Sakurako has no stated justification for following through with any of these actions. She digs (up) bones, not criminal investigation. Instead of simply casting Sakurako as an official detective who might be routinely called to crime scenes and have the authority to perform investigations, every episode has to find some new contrivance to put her in close proximity to a mysterious body and then at the helm of an official pursuit. Making Sakurako a forensic specialist would have made a lot more sense than making her an osteologist who is related to a coroner, possesses inexplicable powers of deduction, and conveniently finds herself embroiled in some new scheme every week.

Sakurako’s investigations, despite being named in the title as very much an important part of the series, don’t get spared a great deal of air time. All CSI-type shows are guilty of condensing the amount of paperwork, research, critical thinking, and general grunt work associated with solving crimes, of course, but Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru doesn’t even pretend to care that few crimes are solved within a ten-minute span. No matter the situation, whatever piece of information that needs to be known in order to solve the mystery just happens to be known by Sakurako. Her expertise has no boundaries, so long as it helps hurry the episode to a safe conclusion. Hour-long live action series often have trouble slimming down a full investigation to a single-episode arc; this show moves much too quickly for any of the cases to seem realistic or for any of the events to have a significant impact.

Most of the characters do not warrant description, Shoutarou included. Shoutarou, despite being the lens through which the audience sees the events unfold, exists largely as a walking apology for Sakurako. Every time Sakurako says something blunt or takes a rather presumptive action, Shoutarou swoops in to admonish her in front of the other characters and thereby allow Sakurako to get away with whatever it is she happens to be doing at the time. He performs a necessary function, and if it were not for the hints at some sort of real back story to their relationship, I’d suggest that Sakurako took him on as an assistant purely for this reason. I find Utsumi obnoxious, Kougami a blank space, and the dog a more compelling character than most of the other faces nudging their way into the spotlight now and again. Only Sakurako herself is particularly interesting to watch; while literature and television alike are flooded with better examples of the aloof, impersonal genius detective archetype, Sakurako also isn’t the worst example. Shizuka Itou does a great job of bringing Sakurako’s personality to life with a commanding, insensitive, impartial voice that sounds genuinely confused when other characters get caught up with things like emotions and routine human behavior. Sakurako is aggressive, impatient, and surprisingly childlike at times, all of which further necessitate the need for a mediator in the form of Shoutarou, and all of which make her slightly more interesting by putting her at odds with those unfortunate enough to become involved in her investigations. The manner in which the show describes Sakurako and the manner in which Sakurako acts don’t gel perfectly, but I also don’t care quite enough to be bothered by the inconsistency.

For a bone-themed mystery show with a corpse around every corner, Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru feels very much like a quaint, saccharine ‘90s sitcom at times. Not content to contrive conflicts for each episode, the show often drags out side characters to participate in the weekly drama on the flimsiest pretenses. Some characters do actually receive a fair amount of development across episodes, but at the cost of being awkwardly shoehorned into various scenarios. The show winds up with an unfortunate trade-off: we learn a bit more about some of these people, but first we have to tolerate them being there at all. On a few instances, we’re treated to a perfectly schmaltzy, “Hey, remember so-and-so? Yeah, they’re doing just fine now!” Often the show feels too light-hearted, with bright lighting, a general lack of consequences, and even occasional instances of low-key fan service that, while reasonable to include if the teenage Shoutarou’s point of view is taken into account, don’t pretend to make any sort of real statement or push the show in any other direction. All it does is confuse the tone of the show. I find the attempts at wringing serious philosophy out of these situations as obnoxious as they are overbearing.

The last few episodes make the show feel more like a respectable mystery series; the solutions aren’t immediately obvious, the characters interact with each other in subtler ways, and a lot more is at stake emotionally and physically. I wonder if the show might succeed more if it could pick one major arc and stick with it over the course of a season, rather than chopping itself up into discrete episodes. Even at its best, Beautiful Bones still has quite a few issues, but if there were ever to be a second season, the show could be salvaged with moderate success.

The visuals are probably the show’s strong suit. I wouldn’t say it’s worth watching just for the pretty colors, but at least there’s something interesting to look at if (read: when) the plot begins to drag. The backgrounds are often beautiful and detailed, with usually a few scenes per episode getting a very special treatment that makes everything pop. In the first few episodes, Sakurako gets a trippy magical girl transformation sequence when she begins investigating a scene, replete with catchphrase. With bright, entrancing colors and a captivating proggy, jazzy soundtrack, this sequence is a pearl that helps the show escape its mundane surroundings just for a moment. Even if the transformation does become slightly tedious after the first couple of instances, I love the idea of introducing such surreal elements. A lot of the budget very clearly went into the visuals already, but given a bit more style and vibrance, I could forgive the show a lot more of its failings.

For all the show’s flaws and all the problems I have with it, I actually enjoyed watching Sakurako quite a bit. Nothing is offensively wrong with the show, only foolish or silly. I like watching Sakurako herself messily harangue her way through other people’s business, and though I had anticipated a much darker, less episodic foray into the depths of the criminal underworld, I’ll take a casual stroll through a monster-of-the-week curiosity anyway.

This is an anime that is simply trying to be itself. With that, I mean that the pacing, stories, whatever, just kind of happen. If you just think about it as 'things that happen in the life of not-quite-a-detective person' then it doesn't really matter. Don't watch it expecting nice coherent stories that all tie together. It is not.

It is not quite a detective story, since this season only just introduces the overarching theme of detective-ness. Instead, it is Sakurako-san and the boy, who goes around and solves the mysteries of dead bodies and the motivations of the living alike, from the sinister to the ... mundane. Some are stronger and more interesting than others, but they're all executed pretty well in theory, and the mystery-solving flows nicely and is decently grounded.

The characters are the strong point, I feel. The main duo have a unique sort of partnership going on. Like Sherlock and Watson, except she is less of an insufferable weirdo and merely eccentric with her own way of thinking, with the boy to counteract her childish traits. It is witty, convincing, and clever in its own little way. That is what makes this an enjoyable watch regardless

Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru is a slice-of-life mystery show based off of a light novel by the same name. It is an episodic series showcasing individual smaller mysteries that eventually led into one bigger mystery, sort of. With all of the hype that I initially heard about the light novel, I had high hopes for this show and was unfortunately disappointed.

Story: 5/10
I was really looking for this show to be next great mystery anime but at the end, I found myself feeling let down. The story starts off with Sakurako-san an Osteologist whose job and life passion is finding ... and reassembling the bones of diseased animals and yes, humans. Each show follows a similar pattern. Sakurako and her young assistant Shoutaoru, find themselves in a circumstance where they find bones of the diseased which then opens up a mystery that Sakurako must solve. The whole show carries on this way with each episode, sometimes two episodes, focusing on a single mystery which is then resolved. Wash, rinse, repeat. For those who have seen the anime "Gosick" it follows a similar pattern to that show. I was really hoping that this show would delve into one major mystery the would develop over the course of the show and it didn't. If you're looking for a mystery that's going to keep you at the edge of your seat, this isn't it. The mysteries were mediocre at best, they never really went anywhere and they weren't all that exciting. The first 3 episodes were promising, but things went downhill from there. Towards the end of the show the overlying mystery that connects all the smaller ones together finally comes into play, but it's rushed and never really comes to a full conclusion. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that overall the story was relatively underwhelming. There wasn't anything that made the show exceptionally good, but there wasn't anything that made it exceptionally bad either. It stands on middle ground. If anything I'm hoping for a second season to tie up the loose ends and questions that this show left me with.

Art & Animation: 8/10
The animation in this show was the only factor that in my opinion that really stood out and was above average. The first thing I noticed upon watching the first episode was the beautiful use of color and general art style. So it was a solid job well done in that aspect.

Sound: 5/10
The soundtrack was just average. Not much to say about it, there was nothing outstanding about it but it wasn't bad by any means.

Characters: 5/10
Ugh the characters were one of the biggest disappointments. Sakurako herself had the potential to be extremely interesting. I mean, her hobby is digging up bones and figuring out mysteries for heavens sake! But we never really learn that much about her. We get a tiny info dump towards the end about her past and how she met Shoutarou but never enough for me to say, "I know this character." Speaking of Shoutarou he fell into the category of being the protagonist that was absolutely useless. We get practically no character development with him. He doesn't even really serve a purpose to the plot. And quite frankly, 9 times out of 10 he's kind of just in the way. Everything is solved by Sakurako and he just kind of hangs there along for the ride. He does have his own little shining moment at the end but for a main character, he should have had more of an important roll than he did. As for the rest of the characters, none of them were important enough for me to even talk about them. They were all one dimensional and never went anywhere. It really was a shame too because they had some good material but didn't really use it well.

Enjoyment 6/10
Did I enjoy this anime? Yes, and no. As a whole I found the show entertaining enough to keep me engaged in the show. Some were better than others and some were pretty darn boring. But it kept my attention enough that made me want to at least see it through to the end.

So overall I give this show a 6/10. It was overall just an average run of the mill show. It wasn't bad or good. It was kind of just there. I think the show had great bones that the creators simply failed to use properly and to their full extent. The ending was left wide open for a second season and if they did make one I'd probably give it another chance. Definitely give this show a try. It's average but it still has a little something that does keep it interesting enough to watch.

I thought this is an okay anime for binge watching then forgetting about it.
The main characters sometimes feel too fantastic and this is supposed to be based in reality setting. the way they get their cases is just too coincidental or just plain unbelievable.
The thing i didn't like about it is that it feels incomplete and unfinished like they built up the plot and the tension and then just finished the series.
I do like the fact that they are solving cases but most of the time i am wondering why people are even answering their questions and going along with the whims of a ... high school boy and a clearly unstable woman.
The art is good, i thought the music was a bit boring but the story tries to teach life lessons about human relations that i do find wholesome and i guess this is one of the reasons i continued watching till the end even if it finished what seem like a cliffhanger

The best place to start my review is to point out the fact the ending left me majorly disappointment. More specifically, we got all of this build up and then got a rather lack luster ending which didn't connect with previous episodes like it did, but in the end - I felt the motivations of the two main characters rather lack luster.

Now, let's get back to the build up. I loved how until the final arc there were little things here and there which ended up picked up in the final mystery arc. Unfortunately, the ending left the ultimate villain feeling rather lack luster and ... while the point the series left off was definitely climatic for the two characters growth - let's just say it's not very climatic for a mystery series which set the bar rather high.

Not to mention - I found their relationship rather troublesome in that on a platonic level it works, yet there are hints that this is meant - if the series were to continue, to go into a romantic route which leaves me shaking my head due to the obvious age gap and the power imbalance that they ineffectively tried balancing out. Of course, maybe it won't go that route in a sequel series. Oh, and some of the humor which worked on a platonic level starts to not be as enjoyable if the series were to take that route.

With the build up falling apart at the end, the other issue is looking back on all of the mysteries solved, they now seem lackluster. They've been done before in other series, but what made them standout were - well, the build up to something which didn't come. There were some which ended up connecting because the series did a good job building up connections between the two characters - such as the mystery with the little girl and the ones involving teachers at the school, but others disconnected because there was no real connect to the characters, including the mysteries involving the assistants friend, possibly because he's a romantic interest.

Perhaps these would be resolved in a sequel series, but is this ever going to get a sequel series? As of reviewing this Anime, it's been almost five years since said series ended, so my thoughts are no - it's not going to get a sequel.

The first thing I want to say is that it's too short. For an anime premise that involves a whodunnit, most of the crimes are solved within 1 episode.

I stumbled upon this anime by accident, and being a fan of the CSI franchise, I was welcoming of such an anime. But boy was I wrong. The relative ease that the mysteries during the series get solved turned me off. The main character, like most main characters in anime is overpowered - she's basically a genius when it comes to solving mysteries. As a viewer, I am not taken on a journey or even allowed to ... come up with my own hypothesis for who may have committed the crime, why or how they might have committed said crime; I've got to take Sakurako's hypothesis to be 100% accurate, and thanks to her being the love child of Sherlock Holmes and Partriot, in most cases she's not far off.

The thing about the mystery genre that drew me to other series like the CSI franchise is that there was a step by step process by which a crime was solved. With Sakurako-san, the anime takes shortcuts and jumps over a few steps to help solve the mystery, which I didn't like. At one stage she manages to solve a mystery in mere minutes!

STORY: Not much of a story for this, there are few arcs, but because the whole anime is only 12 episodes long, there isn't time for the development of these stories, it's over before it begins really. Some might call this anime episodic, in that each episode isn't related to the previous or upcoming one, except in 3 cases where the mystery is solved over 2 episodes.

CHARACTERS: There are 6 characters that make an appearance in more than 1 episode. Obviously we have the 2 main characters (Sakurako and Shourtarou) then we've got an incompetent police officer, a teacher, a love interest and a granny.

I have to say, these characters aren't developed or given time to develop. In most cases it would be fine, for example, yes you can have an incompetent police officer, but why not give him more screen time to develop? The only real person that got any development was Shourtarou's love interest - hell she even got her own filler episode, yes that's right - filler! Which by the way was a total waste of time and added nothing to the overall story; the anime is 12 episodes long and you waste it on the character development of a supporting character? Why?

Shoutarou is just a very dull character, and the last episode showing how the main characters met and their relationship is not that noteworthy either. There is no character development for him and he is mainly served as a conduit for us, the audience - explaining things we may or may not know. I can understand this, and I want to believe, if this series got a second season, this character troupe would have gone. However, I’m pretty sure the series pretty much would pan out the same with or without him. That’ s how much influence or input he has throughout the series - and it's kind of sad. Here you have a character you could've developed and made us understand him more, but they chose not to. Maybe they knew it wasn't going to a "hit" and therefore decided not to.

Now the main character, Sakurako, and her bone fetish! My god! She literally is like a dog when it comes to looking at bones! And the fact that she’s a genius doesn’t help either, okay, if you were as old as Horatio Caine or Poirot, I could understand your boundless knowledge, but she’s not. And yet she’s a know it all. Really ticked me off with her know-it-all attitude and probably makes the anime as a whole suffer. Her superpowers end mysteries before they begin. Would've been much better served having Shoutarou find the dead bodies and solve mysteries - his lack of or limited knowledge would've a) allowed us the viewer to begin solving the mysteries with him as he tried to find clues and what not; b) would've been allowed character development and if by the end of 12 episodes manages to wrap up a mystery in 10 minutes we can understand why and c) probably would've been more enjoyable than having Sakurako as the main lead.

The others aren’t really worth mentioning in more depth other than that they serve in some cases to help progress the story arc, but because of poor development overall, if they were erased from the anime it won’t make a that much of a difference.

ART: One thing I must say it's vivid to say the least. Considering it's a dark subject matter, the colors provide a stark contrast to the plot of each episode. The colors do help in trying to show possibly accurate (I'm guessing) picture of human and animal bone structures/anatomy, other than that, I think they've made an error with colors for this anime, it's a dark subject matter (death, decay, dead bodies), so the colors should reflect that to set the mood.

Overall, I give it a 6/10, it's not that bad I couldn't see it through (there were times I was considering it), but it's definitely not the best. Here's hoping that there are better mystery anime in the future.