Sakugan

In order to understand what Sakugan: Labyrinth Marker a.k.a Sacks&Guns!! is all about, we need to know the origin story of how it's all conceived: Project ANIMA. This is a large-scale project in which DeNA's MangaBox, Nippon Cultural Broadcasting, Sotsu Co. Ltd., and MBS (Mainichi Broadcasting System) jointly produce 3 original TV anime series made respectively by studios Satelight, J.C.Staff and Doga Kobo, written by the general public in 3 categories: Science-Fiction/Robot, Alternate World/Fantasy and Kids/Game (you can see the respective studio-genre correlation) that's judged by the various Project ANIMA teams, to help discover hidden talent and help propel the anime industry forward.

This is the ... first of 3 Project ANIMA works, and is an adaptation of Nekotarou Inui's Sakugan Labyrinth Marker novel which clinched the runner-up in the "Science-Fiction/Robot" category. Please note that this novel didn't win a grand prize, and in there so, the anime itself, if I was a judge on the team itself, I would have also given this work a runner-up position, because it had a very good concept but the execution is just so-so.

Sakugan's story and plot would be best if you read the extensive synopsis done by the brillant folks of the MAL Rewrite team, but the takeaway is this: it's a father and daughter's journey through an uncharted and hostile underground labyrinth, combining a gritty science-fiction setting, utilitarian yet charming mech designs, and a deeply human tale of love, loss, and family. And that's the case of father-and-daughter protagonist duo Gagamber and Memenpu crossing distant land as "Markers" to explore the deep regions of the Labyrinth, and avoiding the Kaiju creatures which are big enough to put entire colonies on a high alert level because of their destructive capabilities. The case of the 9-year-old daughter Memempu that's a college graduate and a smart aleck all in one, a dream of a place that's unexplored fuels the desire to become a "Marker" to go down to the Labyrinth's vast places and colonies yet discovered to reach to that dream place, that despite her father Gagumber's constant disagreements, starts the journey of a lifetime that will chart new territory and an adventure that will change the course of humanity forever. And no doubt, when you see Sakugan and the environment that it encases, it gives a very similar vibe to both Made In Abyss (for the adventure and emotions) and Deca-Dence (for everything else from world-bulding to characters). I was stoked because I loved both Made In Abyss and even more so highly for Deca-Dence (because it's been only a year since it ended), and Sakugan got the concept right from the get-go.

The characters, as much as the original novel is trying to be ambitious, is the only sin of the entire series of just trying to give some appeal to us the audience to enjoy, but coming up a bit short. Starting off with the father-daugher duo, I have no qualms with trying to make the 9-year-old Memempu sound like she's earned a PhD in every single thing that their underground home colony of Pinyin has to offer. But I'd at least like to expect that Memempu would at the very least present a humble heart like Deca-Dence's Natsume, that despite all the bickering back and forth, she would be able to suck up her ego and not be complacent, even if it feels like she needs to rebel against an adult when it feels right that's depending on the situation at hand. But this kinda obnoxious character is heavily implied because of her tulminous relationship with her father Gagumber. Gagumber is no doubt being very protective of Memempu, seeing that her expanding knowledge will fill her head to more dangerous territory, much more so when it comes time to fill in the position of the "Marker" that unlike Deca-Dence's Kaburagi whom is able to discern what's appropriate and not, Gagumber just is hard-headed and untrusting of his own daughter if it came to the crunch and concern about life and death issues. Talk about a bickering family relationship that had the unintended effect of crossing the threshold of tolerance and being bearable, that sometimes can come off as being toxic. Also, Gagumber being known as "Gale-Force Gagumber" because he has a chip implanted in him with the illegal "Gale" function that acts as a speed boost at the cost of his nerve damage, that section I feel would've best be left out because it wasn't really chimed in much except when there's trouble and action looming.

The other characters are all walking plot devices and nothing more, which when I look back at Gagumber and Memempu's erratic family relationship, are only meant to serve to the delicacy of repairing the strained relationship between father and daughter. The closest being the new-found outcasts of Zackletu and Yuri: the former is a thief whom has a ransom on her head, saves Gagumber from his usual debt problems, and is the younger sister of his now-deceased former partner, which the former abandoned and left him to die from the Kaiju attacks, hindering his behaviour and regressing into a reckless attitude that caused him to retire being a "Marker". The latter is a hacker with his group of orphans being shunned from the eyes of his own colony, whom Gagumber managed to sever their relations due to the amount of corruption that's rampant. The most obtuse character of them all belongs to Merooro: an agent of the Bureau of Regulation to maintain law and order, and someone whom is the equivalent of a preservationist to protect the "nature" of the underground Labyrinth. The best example of a plot device character would fall to Lynda, Memempu's friend and "partner" whom's a fellow Marker as well as an acting older sister, only to be killed in action for Memempu to prove her case why she should be a Marker. All in all, I believe that the character department could've been done better, instead of just using characters as just mere "anime feelings" to rouse some drama just for the sake of padding the source material, which referencing this back in the eyes of the general public work (as is with Nekotarou Inui), still has aways to go to properly understand how to write some good character development and establish the relative good relationship overall.

In other cases, Satelight's visuals are rather fine for what it is, being one of the few studios capable of producing lots of sci-fi fantasy mecha shows, something that is which of the studio's bread-and-butter business. The only thing worth of note is some of the more notable staff team behind Sakugan: director Junichi Wada (which directed the incredible Spring 2017 show SukaSuka), mecha designer Stanislas Brunet, Kaiju designer Shoji Kawamori, producer Takayuki Funahashi. Going off by the excellent interview done with ANN with these people, it's clear that the staff team were very ambitious with this project, and tries to do something different with what we've come to expect of the usual studio production. And truth be told, Sakugan displays that exact difference with some creative flare, and throughout its production phases, it was a constant work-in-progress so I'd fathom that Junichi Wada and his Project ANIMA team were trying out different methodologies to shape the series as a whole, and I'd think that it worked out good.

Music-wise, I have no complaints at all, but only if it felt like it sounded a bit too harsh sometimes with trying to juggle the always erratic changing atmosphere in the show. This is Kanon Amane (NOT the JAV actress, same name but different person)'s MC debut as the 9-year-old Memempu, and indeed it felt like the sound director Eriko Kimura just gave her the one sole mission: to act as a 2-in-1 child-cum-prodigy. Acting as a prodigy is easy for the highly intellectual girl, but when it comes to displaying her childlike affections, that in itself presents a challenge to portray those feelings when all is stripped away, and I think that for a first effort, the Aoi Yuuki and Rie Takahashi-admiring Kanon Amane did a pretty good and convicing job at playing as Memempu's character. The OST really though was kinda impressive as well, with the action scenes giving the Yuki Kajiura feel. Masaaki Endou of JAM Project fame helms the high-octane OP, and I didn't even realize that he was the face of the band until his voice just shoots the roof. MindaRyn though, really has made a name for herself from Kami-tachi Otoko and TenSura, and this is her 3rd theme song performance which is really the best out of the trio so far. Some pretty good work here, and probably the highlight of the show itself.

If this was the adaptation of a manga like Made In Abyss, it would not have worked out at all. Same "what if" situation if this was an original like Deca-Dence that requires you to not have expectations, then it would've missed the mark too. Either way, Sakugan really has a lot to offer, but just at the behest of it being the work of the general public, that draws the line of profession between established authors and ordinary citizens whom had ideas but just didn't know how to pull them off. Worth a watch just for the beginning, but it made sure to drag on until it loses sight of its original goal, then pull off the rollercoaster plot twist. A decent show all things considered.

Sakugan feels like you could watch the first and last episode and not miss a thing because the middle was so meaningless and terrible. It showed promise as being a great emotional journey through mysterious underworlds towards a strange land, and the fun and comedic dynamic of a father daughter duo. Instead, it's silly and bland adventures and a story with not just so many things left unexplained, but meaningless villains that make strange decision that take away any kind of stakes or risks.

After a strong first episode it felt like the staff gave up and the series would consistently decline after that. The world ... building was there, you could say, but it wasn't explored or shown as good as in the first episode as the cast didn't do much wherever they went besides blowing things up and constantly running away from authorities. A shame because I enjoyed the jazzy soundtrack glossing over the rough looking cities, but the effort to show the world of Sakugan was just suddenly dropped early on.

The animation was average, and the CGI ugly. Big Tony and the rest move in silly ways, and the kaiju's looked ugly and worse. The Lego looking CGI fights didn't help. Nearly the entire cast, the little there is, weren't enjoyable or memorable. Merooro is one of the few likeable ones, but gets reduced to a character who's appearance indicates there will be some plot this time. Constantly, the series decides to add seconds worth a plot at the end of some episodes.

Once this made it clear it was going to be episodic, I knew it wasn't going to end well because episodic anime is mostly hit or miss with their episodes. Even Legends like Dirty Pair have this issue, but it doesn't stray from the fact Kei and Yuri are some of the best and well written characters in anime, and can even carry bad episodes with their hilarious actions. Sakugan took this role, but Gagumber and Memenpu were never near this type of level of greatness.

A lot of what happens just doesn't make sense. One of the cast suddenly tries to kill another, fails, and everyone moves on like nothing happened. Someone might die and they build it up to be emotional, but it turns out everything's fine which takes the emotional meaning out of it. By the end of it, I just didn't find anything emotionally meaningful anymore.

This is a series that desperately needs a season 2 because it failed to explain or conclude anything. That's not to say I'd like for one after the bad performance of the first season. There's nothing really known about the big bad guys and nothing is revealed about what they are trying to do besides acting like mindless terrorists and obsessing over special kids. Oddly enough, when they do try explaining things, it adds more mystery rather than clearing anything up. I really would not have minded if the episodes were at least done well since the plot mostly went out the window. The comedy, that gets worse as the series goes, was really all it had going for it.

I felt like writing a review because I was genuinely disappointed by an anime for the first time in a long while, and while I have a lot to say, I'll *try* to keep it short.

I went in expecting something Made In Abyss esque, and the first episode did perpetuate that, a world wider than you can see with mysteries you will unturn. And then... well that was kinda it.

As the show progressed, you barely learned about the world and its characters. Mainly just the characters, which I found either pointless or annoying with the only exception being Gagumber. He's a genuine dude ... trying his best, he's seen the world and bases his decisions on experience. He's witty, charming, and enjoyable to see on screen. It's a shame that the focus is his daughter instead.

Memenpu is a child genius... who acts like a moron. Oh, she foresaw this situation happening and did adjustments to a big mech beforehand? Pretty cool. Oh, she was incapable of putting 2 and 2 together to realize the outcomes of her actions? Real smart. She's supposed to be a child, so I guess this is excusable, but she doesn't give off the aura of a child, just a small adult who is horrible at understanding cause and effect. She's also just a huge dick to her dad for literally no reason. The most charming part of her character is when she has to repeat multiple times how smart she is to the audience. Do mal reviews do /s? I don't know, this is my first one.

There are 2 side characters later on that join the gang, being Zackletu and Yuri. Zackletu is interesting until a twist happens, the twist being she just throws a tantrum for no real reason. She doesn't do much before the twist, and not a whole lot after, which leads me to wonder why there even had to be one. Yuri is... there? His small goals are accomplished in the episode he's introduced from what I remember, and he wants to continue them on a larger scale. So he joins the main crew and completely forgets his goals, as you do. However, he did have 1 honestly hilarious scene in the last episode, and I can forgive him for that.

The main crew is between good and evil, having experiences with both sides. Let's talk about the good side first. We meet what is effectively the CIA of this world, and by the CIA, I mean one singular guy. He dumps some exposition on the characters in a board meeting, where I shit you not, Gagumber asks "why are you telling us this" and his reply is "because I want you to know what is going on in the world". Expert storytelling if I've ever seen it. Despite appearing very powerful, this CIA has no foreplanning at all. They just react to the villains.

The villains of this world make no sense. They are extremely disorganized, and not in a comedic way, more of a "how did you not fall apart within 2 months of forming". They have clearly defined goals... except those goals have literally no purpose. They won't achieve anything and the only motivation seems to be that they want to do x because x is unnatural and the world needs to be cleared of it. That gets thrown out the window however when the main villain shows "mercy". What happened to "they must not exist in this world"? Mind you, the main villains only showed up in the last couple of episodes, so I was left thinking whether the main baddy even cared about the goal. Did he show said mercy to all of his other targets? We don't know, because the anime never mentioned it.

Despite having 12 episodes, the meat and potatoes were on the first and last couple of episodes. Whatever I watched in between was a pointless slog of one-offs that led nowhere. The ending is also a cliff-hanger, implying a season 2. Do I want to watch another 12 episodes of a slice-of-life pretending to be action/adventure with 3 annoying characters and 1 good one? Not particularly. Maybe it was my fault for coming in with expectations of Made In Abyss, but the amount of squandered potential here is excruciating. I was basically writing my own story with this world in my head as just about nothing was happening on screen for half the run time.

Oh uh music and visuals are aight. I can't really complain much about it. Though I was playing sudoku on my phone through a majority of the middle section of the anime, so maybe that was just out of sight-out of mind.

This anime could've been something special if the writer wasn't OBSESSED with Memempu, the main character. The dynamic the main characters have is that Memempu is an impulsive and reckless child genius while her father Gagumber is an experienced miner who's a force to be reckoned with when serious but is a total goofball otherwise.

The problem is that the anime refuses to let Memempu's character flaws be character flaws. She constantly puts herself and others into danger due to her recklessness but it's always Gagumber who gets blamed. Even though there are some points that seemed purpose made for her to grow as a character ... they're forgotten immediately in the next episode and she's back to her usual selfish, awful self.

Now a child being a brat isn't the problem here. It's that the writer seems to think she's perfect the way she is. It's like reality itself changes just so Memempu can be in the right. She never learns anything, she never grows as a character and she never EVER admits fault.

As for Gagumber, he's the punchingbag of the whole story. If something bad is happening onscreen, it's almost always happening to Gagumber even when he's done nothing wrong to earn it. Now, personally I've never really enjoyed comedy where one character is always the butt of the joke; but this goes beyond that. He's consistently punished and mocked for doing the right thing. It's like the writer forgot to make him anything but comic relief even though the plot keeps trying to say there's more to him than being a goofball. And Memempu seems to forget that he's on this journey with her PURELY to protect her too. It's like she thinks she deserves everything and the writer is happy to oblige.

There's also the fact that as of episode 8 of 12 there has been no progress made in the story. Most episodes are self contained and don't really matter on the grand scheme of things. ESPECIALLY for character development as I mentioned before. This journey could last 12 episodes or 120, I have no clue which, and that's the problem.

Whatever points this anime gets, it gets from its originality, but that can't carry a series. Especially since it's obvious that the writer intended for Gagumber and Memempu's dynamic to be at the core of this series, when it actually is its weakest aspect.

Overrated anime.

At first I though it was light version of Abyss but with father and child relationship.
I was wrong after 4rd episode.
ON 1-3 episode it was like an adventure in dangerous land with father and daughter.

Suddenly on 4rd episode it like they throw the plot and world build up out of the window and introduce one of the most questionable character.
On episode 5 we got back a little with world build and a little adventure.

NOW ep6 it gone completely messy after this point. I try not to spoil, At this point Memempu is like Davici code movie but with her childish attitude. ... Most of her action doesnt make any sense she want to rush their journey while everyone need hospital? because she got nightmare about her father? If she care about her father why dont go to hospital? Arent she gladly play along wasted her time with some gangster kids before?

The gangster kids suddenly join the party out of the blue? Yes I know he got wanted, but isnt he used to live his life as outlaws bombing and stealing. So why bother with some wanted now?

On episode 9 I gave up on this anime. After some emotional confront between The most questionable character in the story and Gagamber , they suddenly made up? without any reasons and Gagamber dont even say single apologize or try to clear up the misunderstanding? I like what? the whole episode you shoot at each other and suddenly it like nothing happen? LAME

it one messy anime, It feel like author dont know what he want to do.

The disappointment of the season. I finally gave up halfway through episode 8.

The first episode was brilliant, a rollicking mashup of Turren Langen & Made in Abyss. The end of that episode was a shock, too. I was really excited by what was to come.

Sadly, what was to come was the father, and he was so stereotypical & clichéd that any attempts to give him depth or humanity seemed forced. (Time for Gabumber to reveal he loves his daughter!) Worse, the show became more and more about him – and he is the least interesting character in the show! Nothing in this show made me ... give one good damn about him. Such a poorly written character, and his presence robbed the show of the chance to do the kind of exciting things MIA did.

Compare this to Heike Monogatari, which manages to develop characters I care about in such a short time; I won't say that it's *because* women are leading that show, but I will say this: I'm tired of men (and I am one) pretending they have the slightest understanding of how to write female characters when all they know is good ol' boy anime.

I’d like to imagine that the boardroom meeting when deciding how to write this show went something along the lines of “But what if we did THIS thing too?” and the other members just shouted “Write that down! Write that down!” because it sounded like a good idea at the time.

Story:

In the underground world of the labyrinth exists different colonies that’re interconnected by the various tunnels that allow the people of the colonies to export goods and mingle with one another. In the colony of Pinyin lives a father and daughter named Gagamber and Memempu who help excavate the mines as a means to both ... make ends meet and contribute to the colony. But Memempu wants something more. After discovering a secret stone that might lead to a tower that she’s repeatedly seen in her dreams, Memempu tries to get her father to let her go on this journey to find this place somewhere in the labyrinth. When mysterious beasts named Kaijuu (because that’s real creative) attack the colony, Gagamber finally, after much whining from his daughter, finally lets her with him in tow go on the journey that she so desperately wants.

Marketed as a daddy/daughter journey through the underground, Sakugan feels more like a melting pot of genre ideas that in spite of the what the showrunners probably thought, really does not go together all that well. Every episode within the show’s 12 episode runtime focuses on a completely different subplot from anything that came previous to it. What this leads to is a plot that’s incredibly disjointed, and a narrative that either just bandages everything before it as a means to move on from that situation, or just forget it altogether in favor of doing this cool new thing that’s most definitely relevant to the plot.

So what do we get from this? Well, we get stories like toppling the local government, to parodies of castaway, to wanton terrorism, and the mako factory in Final Fantasy VII where we have a casual teatime because I honestly couldn’t imagine a better thing to do when you’re trying to spread the idea of environmentalism. Because of this, nothing really matters in Sakugan. Practically everything happens without much substance, and the narrative trying so hard to squeeze in little stories that have some form of relevancy ends up doing more harm than good. Complete character motivations just disappear in the blink of an eye, consequences really have no meaning at the end of the day since the characters just run from everything, and the plot to find this mysterious tower in a hidden part of the labyrinth has no narrative weight because 80% of the show completely forgets that that was the entire point of the show to begin with. It almost feels more like a starting gun to jumpstart the plot in the right way instead of anything that mattered narratively to the plot.

To the show’s credit though, I will give it the fact that it has style. Sakugan at least at face value, has a lot of rampant screaming, dumb moments, and bouts of character via constant arguing that’s oddly charming to watch. Yes the bickering can get annoying, but considering it’s the one part of the show I genuinely enjoyed because it’s a bunch of idiots travelling in this underground world, I can get behind that. Of course we could’ve had that AND a half-decent story, but I guess that’s asking for too much, huh?

So, while the amount of character bickering does make up for some of the show’s shortcomings, ultimately the story is largely disappointing because it both fails to provide a decent narrative and just has too much shit clogging its gears to keep everything running smoothly. If this was advertised as more of a colony hopping journey, I think it might’ve turned out better. But as it stands now, especially with the ending giving a non-answer to the entire conflict as a whole unless a second season happens, the story is laughably bad and at best a confusing mess of mini-plots that feel like putting a round peg in a square hole.

Characters:

I’ll get started with our titular ‘daughter’ here because god there is just so much to say about her. Memempu is a 9 year old college graduate and is regarded as a child genius. A fact that the show will routinely tell you is part of her character on account of how little everyone wants to shut up about the fact that she graduated college at a young age. Memempu is both the best and worst parts of the show, as her character borders the very fine line of being a good and competent child character while also being a terribly written character because the show always seems to want to make it seem like she’s right. I would like to believe that the initial idea that the showrunners had was to take Memempu on this journey in order to give her more of a perspective on the lives of other people in order to learn, grow, and expand her horizons in order to mature into a well-rounded person. Sakugan is not about that. Instead, the show uses Memempu to bully her shallow-minded ideals into the lives of other people, especially her father, only to prove that her way of thinking was correct all along, and Gagamber is just an old geezer who can’t understand that we have to stick it to the man, or get people to think freely. As if her privilege can be easily spread amongst everyone she encounters. It’s irritating to watch since her character consistently does this, up until the last few episodes where the show rushes her development to the point of making it feel fake and contrived. It’s not all bad though. In relation to her father’s bad habits I do find her to be the better character in that regard, but the amount of scolding and outright toxic behavior she has towards the man who’s just trying to keep her safe and learn that things aren’t always so black and white is tiring and genuinely unfun to watch simply because of how little she learns from her experiences even after being in several life or death situations and getting kidnapped like twice or thrice.

Gagamber by contrast is a much better character, but is specifically thrown out of the spotlight in favor of his daughter in spite of his drastically better character traits that should’ve been utilized more. As a previous Marker, Gagamber has past experience with travelling the labyrinth and has a history of life experiences that give him a more mature and veteran mindset in contrast to his daughter’s more closed-minded thought process. He’s cautious, always thinking about her safety, and makes sure she that learns the same lessons that he did before tragedies happen. He has some bad habits like gambling and women, but for the most part he tries to be the father figure that she needs. And what does the show do? Say to his face that he’s wrong and that Memempu’s reckless behavior is the way of the future because nothing’s going to happen unless you go at it guns blazing. Which is just an awful way to write your daddy/daughter combo, especially in regards to just how much time is dedicated to making Gagamber save his daughter and clean up after her mistakes, which is like the most obvious way of showing “I told you so” to the audience. Like for fucks sakes, use that supposedly smart brain you have for once, kid.

The other two members of their party, Zack and Yuri, are not very interesting characters because their character development/setup are for the most part about one episode each. Zack is a bounty hunter/criminal and Yuri is a hacker who wants to stick it to the man. They don’t offer that much to the show as a whole because of their lackluster traits, and really only come along for the ride in order to fill up the team and add in some specialties, whatever that may be. In truth, I think the show could’ve really done without them, and nothing of value would’ve been gained or lost.

Similarly, the sidecast is full of a bunch of one-off characters that lose relevancy rather quickly. Meroro, who’s the show’s designated bureaucrat, is probably the only notable member of the cast because he seems to show up everywhere and makes the main cast do his environmentalist work for him. And then there’s Shibito, the antagonist terrorist organization that have motives so vague that 144p makes clearer pictures than they do. Shibito hardly shows up over the course of the series, doesn’t really do anything aside from spout some random propaganda about a ‘dead world’, and just says things that have apparently have relevance in spite of the fact that none of what they’re saying has any prior connotation whatsoever. In short, a very badly written evil team that feels like they were thrown in last minute as a way to try and give the show an ultimate antagonist without doing any of the work needed in order to make them read like a proper, genuine threat.

Aesthetics:

Satelight’s work with Sakugan is honestly something I really like from a setting and creativity perspective. The underground caverns while kind of generic with the whole ‘secret world underground aesthetic’ does still look good and pleasing to the eye in spite of the show’s confusing plot. There’re a surprising amount of different setpieces in this show, ranging from the mako factory I mentioned earlier, to the various nature backgrounds in the tunnels, as well as the different colonies idolizing certain ideals in order to make up the appearance of the architecture and culture of each place that the characters visit.

Character design is also something I’m a fan of here, more for the daddy/daughter combo since we have Gagamber dressed in a mining work uniform with his daughter by comparison looking more like a scrappy mechanic that gets her hands dirty no matter the situation. It’s a nice little dynamic they have there with orderly vs. disorderly, and it works for their characters quite well.

What isn’t so nice though is the CGI that she show uses. The mechs in particular I think can be excused on account of the actions that they take flying through the air and zipping around, but the kaijuus… Man, the kaijuus do not look good. They look cheap as hell and move way clunkier than the mechs do. Which I think is a testament to how little they cared about the kaijuus seeing as they basically didn’t show up or were even a conceivable threat for a majority of the show. Which again, why is that? Did they just forget that the kaijuus were a thing?

Masaaki Endoh’s “Koukotsu Layrinth” should not slap as hard as it does. The energetic rock and style of this OP makes it one of my favorites of the shows I’ve watched this season, and for some reason hits that right tones for me for a daddy/daughter adventure. It’s a memorable piece for the me that sticks hard in my mind as something that you’d put on when driving in the car. MindaRyn’s “Shine” on the other hand hits too many generic notes for my taste, and is made worse by the fact that this song usually comes up after the show just kind of throws shit at the wall, as if we’re supposed to be happy after the absolute fuckfest of an episode finishes. By itself though, it’s ok. Not fantastic, but not bad or jarring either.

Final Thoughts:

When I started this show, I thought it was just going to be a fun mecha romp with a daddy/daughter combo. And the first episode kind of promised that with story potential that could’ve been at least a fun show to watch. What we got instead was a show that promised absolutely none of that and instead went on a rollercoaster adventure of ideas that were flung at a wall without any care or thought with how any of it all matched with one another. Stick it to the man? Sure, let’s do that. Beach episode? Sure, let’s do that. Gang violence? Sure, let’s do that. Wanton terrorism with a group that up until that point had a grand total of 3 minutes of screentime to show that they were any kind of conceivable threat? Sure, why not? Let’s do that.

Can you tell I didn’t enjoy this one? I’m a firm believer or sticking to pretty much only one cool thing in your stories because in doing so, you get the opportunity to turn that one cool thing into an overarching narrative that can engage your audience. Trying to squeeze in a cool thing every episode only makes the whole very messy, especially if you have a starting gun of an idea that just almost never shows up or has relevancy past the first episode or two. The kaijuus, any corrupt government in past colonies, any small mysteries that the characters discover, almost none of that matters because the show decided that it had already done/shown it, so there’s no reason to go back or explore it more. Because of this, the whiplash I got from watching Sakugan made me care less and less about the show and made me want to hope that it was going to end faster. And in the end, it stumbled its way into an ending that I’m sure even the showrunners don’t know if it’s the ending or not because of the cheeky shit that they pull off there.

I think if they had cut away all of the fat, focus itself back into one thing like using Shibito as the looming threat and not just arbitrarily shoehorn in stuff like the “Rainbow Children” at the very end like the revelation had any real weight, then it could’ve been a decent narrative with character, style, and motives instead of using Memempu’s desire to find the tower in her dream as an arbitrary reason to go to the next colony and fuck up things over there. Seriously. Like the millions of dollars in property damage that’s caused really doesn’t seem to matter in the long run given how often entire civilizations are destroyed in the process of Memempu and Gagamber just moseying on through town.

My resulting recommendation for this show really is to just not to consider this one as a list contender. Sakugan has far too many narrative issues that I’m willing to let slide, made even worse by the fact that Memempu’s infuriating character traits make her a less than stellar protagonist that the show infuriatingly tries to make seem indomitable in her ideals and can do no wrong. Which if I have to deal with that, as well as a revolving narrative that never stays on one idea for more than 10 minutes, then it’s not worth a watch to me.

Recommendation: An infuriating mess of a story that goes nowhere while pissing you off every step of the way with a horrendously unlikeable cast. This is the worst show that I watched in 2021. Contains spoilers for episode 1 and vague spoilers for the end of the series.

Story: Genius 9 year old Memempu dreams of a tower and venturing out of her colony as a Marker, someone that explores their dangerous underground world in a mech, to find it. Her father Gagumber tries to dissuade her, but ultimately realizes he's fighting a losing battle and goes along as her partner to protect her. ... Whatever promise you think this idea contains, I can assure you that the show wastes it. It goes off the rails early, with Memempu's friend Lynda and her dad Walsh being incinerated by a random kaiju literally falling out of the sky and landing on them at the end of the premiere in one of the most unintentionally hilarious cheap shock deaths you'll ever see. It's clearly meant to show the viewer that this adventure is dangerous and death can come at any time, but the show fails to follow that up with any actual peril for the characters. Not a single other named character in the series dies or is really ever even in what feels like serious danger.

But that's really not the worst thing about the plot in this show. The thing that absolutely kills this series dead is the way it just spins its wheels without doing anything. The writing is embarrassingly sloppy and it actually feels unfinished in spots. Like someone wrote an outline for a script and then never actually wrote the rest of it. Lore elements like "towers" and "princesses" are introduced as mysteries and then simply never explained, not even by the end of the series. Characters are vaguely gestured at being evil but then the show just forgets to show them actually doing anything evil or explaining why they're bad There's no forward momentum to the plot, the characters just fuck around doing side quests in various nearly-identical looking colonies, which makes the adventure part of the series seem aimless and uninteresting. By the end of the series, nothing has been resolved or explained since the series wasted its entire runtime on irrelevant side stories that had nothing to do with the main plot of Memempu seeking the tower. After 10 episodes of doing nothing, it eventually drops the entire plot on you all at once in one of the most graceless infodumps imaginable, involving the characters literally sitting in a theater and watching another character give a powerpoint presentation about the main conflict that had been lightly teased a few times in earlier episodes. The final battle is resolved by Memempu crying a bunch and making the villain feel bad so he just leaves and it ends on a screen that might as well say "please buy the light novel" in all caps. It's a complete, irredeemable mess from start to finish.

Audio: The only positive thing I have to say about this entire series is that OP slaps.

Visual: It actually looks pretty good in a few spots, especially the last episode, but the lack of creativity in the writing leads to boring scenery and backgrounds, and the CGI for the mechs and kaiju ranges between "barely acceptable" and "low poly PS2 graphics".

Characters: It's pretty rare to see a show where every single major character annoys the hell out of you, but Sakugan manages the feat. The series leads, Memempu and Gagumber, spend the overwhelming majority of the series bickering with each other like children and I spent entire episodes just wanting to scream "shut the fuck up" at both of them through the screen. They are so hateable that I couldn't get emotionally invested at all in the father-daughter relationship that it tries to make the heart of the series. Memempu is a precocious and arrogant brat and Gagumber is an idiot manchild who's even less mature than his 9 year old daughter. Far from wanting to see them grow and understand each other as people, I instead wanted a falling kaiju to take them out like Lynda and Walsh so I wouldn't have to listen to their shit anymore. Zackletu and Yuri are also there, but have very little personality and contribute even less to the story, mostly getting sidelined any time there are plot developments or major scenes. Merooro is the closest thing this series has to a good character, but he appears too infrequently and the series is too invested in keeping him and the Bureau of Regulation shrouded in mystery to do anything interesting involving him. The story is bad, but the awful characters are really what elevates this from being a standard mediocre anime into one of the worst things to come out in 2021.

I'm going to introduce you to one of the most boring anime of this season: Sakugan.

But before we go into explaining what makes this anime so boring, we need to first present the positives.
Already, the first episode and in particular a certain moment really hyped me.
The sequel could be great, and following the fragile relationship between a father and daughter during this adventure promised drama. I also suspected the presence of "comedy" in the work in particular present in the rivalry between father and daughter which is the central element of the story.
But despite its promises, from episode 2 the anime was already starting to ... lose its interest, the characters do every episode, things having nothing to do with the story and one wonders what is the main plot. We also follow at one point, the past of the father which I must admit was quite interesting to follow but it was the last real good moment that I spent in front of this anime.
This episode also introduces us to two new characters that are useless when this part of the story is over.
The rest of the story will only be uninteresting stories serving to increase the number of episodes, especially with the woman, a star who is being sued. The story then has nothing to do with the basic plot and we do not care. The last two episodes returned to the main plot which is to find the origin of the dream of Memempu, the girl.
I am clarifying the plot only now because at no time in the first ten episodes will it be used for anything. I am going to skip episode 11 because it is quite messy and episode 12 finally explains the truth to us that I will not spoil despite the fact that the revelation is extremely bizarre and that it is told by an unknown villain who does not 'will appear in any of the first ten episodes.
The fact that most of the episodes are useless to the plot and half of the characters are so uninteresting made me have a bad time watching this anime that I do not recommend.
4/10

Sakugan is an example that shows that no matter how good a story's worldbuilding mixed with top-tier production values is, good characterization is the absolute base necessity for it all to mesh together. After all, stories are supposed to be about PEOPLE; but Sakugan seems more concerned with smashing together as many cool elements as possible while doing the absolute bare minimum with character writing.

What's most disappointing about this series is that it had the potential to be the next mecha icon along with landmarks like Gundam and Gurren Lagann. The art and animation mixed with the jazzy, catchy soundtrack offer hours of splendor to ... drink in, and the mech designs are some of the most distinct and visually pleasing I've ever seen--particularly the series' unofficial face Big Tony. But all of that gorgeous attention to detail is constantly interrupted by the series' grating main protagonist, Memempu, and a slew of plot points that zip around all over the place if it will create some kind of conflict. Character motivations and attitudes will shift to absurd degrees even to the point of getting deadly, but then the character that character was after somehow manages to survive such a horrible injury and they both forgive each other like there was never any bad blood just because the target admitted that he had been in the wrong.

Then there's the problem of the dynamic between Memempu and her father, Gugumber. There's a quote by Jesse Ventura that says, "I'd rather my kids have an average intelligence and common sense instead of being geniuses who have no common sense." Memempu is the embodiment of that phrase. For as knowledgeable as she is about physics and the like, she may be one of the stupidest anime protagonists ever written. Her father is supposed to be the logical foil to her. He's a drunk and a bit of a failure when it comes to his own life, but he's got the common sense where it counts to care for his daughter and get everyone through the Labyrinth safely.

Too bad he's constantly lambasted by every other character for his shortcomings even when he is so obviously in the right, while Memempu is simultaneously praised for being so smart and driven despite her actions sometimes landing them all in hot water. The last few episodes are actually surprisingly good, at least, with a profound message in episode 11 and actual character development for Memempu, which naturally leads to a huge climax and revelation in episode 12 and the true depth of Memempu's and Gugumber's familial love shown in earnest.

I'm not going to lie that I'm actually interested in seeing a second season, because there are hints that things could get better provided the author of the novel recognizes his own narrative shortcomings later on, not to mention this underground dystopia is one of the most fascinating anime worlds I've ever seen. But unless that necessity becomes so, this has just been another crapped-out light novel adaptation from a steadily stagnating industry that is more concerned with making money off of the current disposable season of anime rather than making a modern classic that will be remembered decades from now--no matter how sexy Zackletu's abs and legs are.

The only thing that's good about Sakugan that I can say? Well, the first 15 seconds of the first episode sequence is over-animated quite nicely. That's about it.
Sakugan features a father daughter duo combo that is determined to find the place Memempu dreamed about. Of course, that's not the reason why the anime sucks.
The anime sucks because half of the anime is comedy sequences done by the father daughter duo, in which they bicker like idiots. I'm not averse to such types of humor, but it's a bit repetitive, and the Father's really childish to be stooping down to Memempu's level.
Memempu is innocent, naive, only ... nine years old for god's sake, but is also extremely smart (which you can totally tell because the show shoves in your face about how she has super amazing inventions and graduated university already). Seriously, a nine year old kid that has the maturity of one, yet possesses a quick-tempered and lacks any sort of planning other than the times in the show where she somehow calculates the entire geometry of a cavern in five seconds to create a hole in the ground that aligns with the caverns so that the monsters can get sucked in.
Even the father, despite being a veteran in the Marker business, clearly has a past where he's lost good friends, still behaves like a moron and stoops down to Memempu's level in order for there to be bickering and fighting, when he should be more of a role model, where he reigns in Memempu's recklessness and acts as an unmovable stone, rather than the type of character he is.
Memempu is exposed to the brutality of the Marker business early on: she witnesses her best friend die to a monster. There's a touching scene where she's sad, but still determined, which is fine, but the next episode, she's still as rash as ever, and making decisions that would endanger her own life and her father's just due to hubris or some naive/selfish decision.
There's no character development to speak of, and the anime just goes at a lightning pace in order to get to other parts of the story which are as bland as ever. This, appended with the fact that the CGI's nothing to write home about, and you got a recipe for disaster.

once again, a good pitch with terrible bad development and too much incoherence who kill any suspens or emotion.
( this comment had one minor spoil of ep03 only)
Like the author of Sakugan, I will not spend to much time on the writing of this comment . no need to spend time to say character are caricatural and it's hard to say witch one is the more annoying, the art is full of visible CGI , because of all none sense it's hard to enjoy this thing ...
the logic of this anime is like in a dream : there's none ! ...
Some time a small crash will kill passager, some time a massive crash will do nothing
Sometime the bot can't even start working, the second later, the same bot became an indestructible machine.
etc etc , this animé push way to much the random physic .
but it's not the worst about this anime, it miss something important : transitions between events !!!
at ep 3, Gagumber is in bad situation vs a overpower-full enemy and the bot need repair , the anime switch to the other main character, Memenpu, who is also in dramatic situation and without any explain,coming from nowhere Gagumber save Memenpu ... you don't know how he saved his how life? how he know she was in danger, he had time to pick up her lost bags etc etc etc ... -
- what' the point of make a dramatic climax if the next scene you do like nothing happened ????
and it getting worst and worse , character interaction is one the same lv, you wonder and how they could make group ...

I give up watching after EP7 , witch is a real performance and jumped to last ep ...

(yes English isn't my first language, I hope someone manage to understand my comment. and If you want deep ground exploration with big monster anime, watch Made in Abyss )

I gave a nice 3 because there're anime who are way worst and they deserve a 2...