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| The 1st of 3 P.A. Works shows for the Summer season: Tensui no Sakuna-hime a.k.a Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, based on the game of the same name released on the Switch, PS4 and PC in late 2020. Those of you who've played the game, you can judge the anime for yourself, but since this has the series composer-cum-scriptwriter veteran of Jukki Hanada at the helm, I hope anime-onlies (like myself) an enjoy the show as much the players have. Ikimonogakari's OP is great, and Little Glee Monster's ED has this calm effect of a song, that's just as good. Princess Sakuna being VAed by Uzaki-chan's VA Naomi Oozora, her voice really lends to the bratty princess that is the chibi girl, guiding a group of humans to the Lofty Realm through the Bridge of Heaven, only to ask them to turn back. Otherwise, Sakuna's just a really lazy princess, aside from the other goddess of Kokorowa who can at least invent things. But when the same group of humans invade the palace looking for Sakuna's rice to consume, it caught the attention of the head goddess of Yanato, Lady Kamihitsuki. The humans, from Katsura a.k.a Tauemon, Kinta, Yui, Myrthe and Kaimaru, have lost their only path back to the human realm, and Sakuna is to blame for the mishap, with Kamihitsuki sending her to the Isle of Demons, a place which her parents Takeribi and Toyohana were once sent to defeat the Oni, with banishment as punishment. The bratty princess who doesn't want to follow the path of her parents, Kokorowa emphasizes it dead center to her alongside the humans and Tama who travels to look after her. As an anime-only, it'll take some time to get used to this rather "original" story. |
KANLen09Jul 7, 2024 5:13 AM
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| And so begins the first of three P.A. Works shows that will come out this season, with this being the only one not an original but adapted from a game Ikimonogakari's OP is a catch one for sure. Little Glee Monster's ED sounds like a song straight out of the game. In the ancient land of Yanato, two realms exist: the Lofty Realm, where gods reside, and the Lowly Realm, where humans reside. Sakuna, the daughter of the war god Takeribi and the harvest goddess Toyohana, had been living a lazy life, taking advantage of her privileged upbringing. However, one day, she accidentally allowed humans who had wandered into the realm of the gods to invade the capital. In the ensuing chaos, all the offerings meant for the chief deity Kamuhitsuki were ruined. Of the three P.A. Works shows this season this one looked like the more visually appealing of the three. I've played a bit of the game, and from that bit I just remember it being a farming simulator, so I don't know why they put so much into this one of the three. Maybe there was more fights and I just either forgot or I just didn't get to them lol. Though they did a good job setting up the main premise of the story of Sakuna exploring the Isle of Demons, defeats monsters, and takes care of a small group of humans. Pretty faithful to the game so far. Liking the anime orignial additions too. This'll be a fun ride. |
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| Gorgeous, really loved the visual aesthetic and the soundtracks. Set up for the story is done pretty well, I’m to ready follow this adventure.  |
| "Welcome to the rice fields mf" the anime. Is so great to see Sakuna parents, which barely appear in the game. Let's plant some rice and slay demons, while at it. |
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| 5/5 Cute and Funny first episode |
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| i personaly don't care about the game, i even was not aware of it's existance, but i really enjoyed this anime's first ep and really hope it'll keep on. |
| To err is human. To purr is feline (c) |
| Naomi Ōzora is always like a one-woman-show. And once again she's voicing a spoiled divine being which fell into disgrace xD |
One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron |
FMmatron said: Naomi Ōzora is always like a one-woman-show. And once again she's voicing a spoiled divine being which fell into disgrace xD My thoughts exactly |
| It's a fun story for sure. Great start! Also I loved this world settings. Sakuna hime is very hilarious. |
| I need somebody who can love me at my worst No, I'm not perfect, but I hope you see my worth 'Cause it's only you, nobody new, I put you first And for you, girl, I swear I'll do the worst If you stay forever, let me hold your hand I can fill those places in your heart no else can Let me show you love, oh, I don't pretend, yeah I'll be right here, baby, you know I'll sink or swim |
| I'm glad we got to see Sakuna's parents, building up on what we didn't get much in the game, so happy for the devs and their success story, everyone please buy their game, it is full of charm and passion. I know it never works like this but I hope we get an announcement or something when the show is over, hopefully the next entry starring Kokorowa. |
| Never played the game before but I thought this was a good first episode. Sakuna is giving me flashbacks to Jahy-sama. The ED song is very nice too |
| Why is the score so low? it was actually good |
| ヘルソン |
| Wow, a 6.37 score? People are being really tough with this one, huh? Is it because of the CGI hate? Because as an anime-only I was pleasently surprised by both the story and the animation! Fun character dinamics, an interesting hook, and really cool lore! Wth is wrong with y'all? |
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| So far so good, and it sounds like they have kept the game's voice actors too. This episode has covered about the first hour or two of the gameplay, so it's good for now, hope they keep it up in later episodes. Sakuna's bratty attitude is spot on. Though the opening song I always felt it should be more using the traditional instruments than modern instruments. Maybe just me. |
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| I haven't bought the game (yet) but I'm still gonna watch the show. This is the first ever indie video game title to ever receive an anime adaptation, right? That's so cool. |
| This was surprisingly interesting and well-produced. At the moment, I like this more than the other historical-fantasy show, Elusive Samurai. The characters look really distinct and sound a little funny (in a good way). The art style of the divine realm is also kind of strange but beautiful. Animation feels smooth, expressive and in places action-packed. |
| This nose shadow is driving me nuts. Usually I consider myself immune to nitpicking, which is why I'm so surprised at myself for being this bothered by it. Definitely prefer the game design which has those froggier deep-black eyes.  Given PA Works' lengthy and reliable reputation for drawing sameface, I think the diversity of designs caused the studio spontaneously combust. Big dude has an actual nose, that's fine because it's an obvious artistic choice. However Sakuna has an air-brushed nose shadow, brat has a flat-shaded nose shadow, dutch girl has a shiny nose, and then regular anime girl ends up standing out by not having any detail.  It just feels like there's no cohesion to the style. I'd compare it to something like Youjo Senki. Two main girls are uguu big shiny eyes, the men in high command look like fujobait, while the subordinate soldiers all look like Joe McBackground except they're front and centre. Absolute mess. Which I would then contrast to something like Gatchaman Crowds. Even though the character designs all have wildly different proportions and colours and visual personalities, the art director had a firm hand that could tie them together as clearly existing in the same show. |
| I knew about Sakuna as a game because of steam, never got a chance to play it, was impressed about it as I saw some gameplay snippets few years back it still lies in my wishlist even now. But this episode beautifully gave an alternative way to experience and enjoy it. Way to go! Can evidently see the efforts put in the making of this anime. |
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| It was a pretty enjoyable start, with our princess getting banished and leaving alongside a family of humans. Apparently, this is an adaptation of a game, so I might be checking that out. |
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| I knew that was Jahy-sama's voice from the first couple of lines Sakuna-hime spoke! >u< Glad to see another adorably lazy and arrogant character voiced by Naomi Oozora 💖 |
| Bratty goddess needs rice farming correction |
| I wasn't expecting much from this anime based on the poster and rating, but honestly this might be a hidden gem of this season. The animation and art style was gorgeous, I loved the character design, honestly my only complaint is that Sakuna's kind of annoying, but I feel like that's the point of the show- that she's bratty and annoying, but throughout the show will grow and change as a person. Hopefully. Also wasn't expecting any action in this, I definitely had the complete wrong idea about this anime. Can't wait to see the next episode. |
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| this episode was hilarious, i laughed multiple times, like when Sakuna kicked the guy, when she was rolling on the floor or when she threw the ball at the dog or when she went hiding inside her box based on the opening song, i'm sure she will have a lot of fun, for someone who didn't want to go, i'm sure it will be worth it |
favorite "new girls" from fall 2024 <3 (yeah i didn't watch much in 2025...) ... click sig for older seasons  |
| Absolutely couldn't believe the arrogance and sense of entitlement of that human group, wandering into someone else's abode and doing as they pleased, eating what they pleased of someone else's food (the supply of rice offerings in the storehouse), and then acting as if they did nothing or nothing worthy of blame or sanction. |
| I really appreciate the anime version, as someone who loves the game's atmosphere but couldn't get through the tedious gameplay. |
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| I had never heard of the game before watching this, but I rather enjoyed this first episode. What's up with the low score? There's lots of meh anime out this season but this one seems pretty decent so far |
| y u mad tho |
Reply to advent_grade
I had never heard of the game before watching this, but I rather enjoyed this first episode. What's up with the low score? There's lots of meh anime out this season but this one seems pretty decent so far
| @advent_grade People so got used to having mainstream stuff in their minds and have super high expectations. A lot of them forgot the fact that some niche anime works differently and doesn't give you the oomph factor straight away. Having dug into niche anime a lot myself, and I must say, a lot of them deserve much higher score than they deserve. As for this anime, having played the game myself, the story is good and not too long (if you don't hang around all the areas trying 100% the game), and Sakuna had growth. Let's see what score it has by the end. |
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| Cute, funny, and interesting start. Hoping for a good show. |
SerafosJul 13, 2024 6:57 AM
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Reply to GersonSalas
Why is the score so low? it was actually good
| @GersonSalas @CrowTheCryptid @CommanderZx2 Last week I removed this show from my watch plan because of the lower ratings, the MAL one isn't great....but on Crunchyroll is bad - it has a 4 and on Crunchyroll anything below like 4.4 is getting into trash territory - typically Anyway after seeing the second EP was out I decided to give it a chance to see for myself and I am so surprised, I really enjoyed every moment of the episode.
this is now the third show I have watched this season that has a criminally low rating which does not match its quality, what the hell is going on with summer lol! |
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Reply to YordaTrico
@GersonSalas @CrowTheCryptid @CommanderZx2
Last week I removed this show from my watch plan because of the lower ratings, the MAL one isn't great....but on Crunchyroll is bad - it has a 4 and on Crunchyroll anything below like 4.4 is getting into trash territory - typically
Anyway after seeing the second EP was out I decided to give it a chance to see for myself and I am so surprised, I really enjoyed every moment of the episode.
this is now the third show I have watched this season that has a criminally low rating which does not match its quality, what the hell is going on with summer lol!
Last week I removed this show from my watch plan because of the lower ratings, the MAL one isn't great....but on Crunchyroll is bad - it has a 4 and on Crunchyroll anything below like 4.4 is getting into trash territory - typically
Anyway after seeing the second EP was out I decided to give it a chance to see for myself and I am so surprised, I really enjoyed every moment of the episode.
- nice OP and ED
- nice animation / colourful art
- interesting characters
- good VA
- good world building
this is now the third show I have watched this season that has a criminally low rating which does not match its quality, what the hell is going on with summer lol!
| @YordaTrico From what I've read on this thread and elsewhere, it appears that some group of people decided to give all shows this season an incredibly low rating, and it's mostly affecting smaller shows, since popular ones can mostly shrug it off due to their larger fanbases. |
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Reply to CrowTheCryptid
@YordaTrico From what I've read on this thread and elsewhere, it appears that some group of people decided to give all shows this season an incredibly low rating, and it's mostly affecting smaller shows, since popular ones can mostly shrug it off due to their larger fanbases.
| @CrowTheCryptid that is so annoying, they don't understand that these unfounded ratings could damage the creators and also anime fans because if it under performs we don't get more seasons. Or maybe they do understand and just don't care. I see the ratings for this one are improving a bit already, increase of .1 on both MAL and CR, hopefully this continues. |
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Reply to Shiraori247
@CommanderZx2 They did this to Yatagarasu and Sengoku Youko too. There's just a bunch of people underrating shows because they hate non-mainstream titles.
| @Shiraori247 I think it's not the mainstream, but the fact that anime tourists downgrade all shows that they don't consider big or serious enough. |
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| Looks amusing. Animation is solid. Sakuna is a fun character. Her VA does a good job voicing annoying brats :D |
Reply to WatchTillTandava
Absolutely couldn't believe the arrogance and sense of entitlement of that human group, wandering into someone else's abode and doing as they pleased, eating what they pleased of someone else's food (the supply of rice offerings in the storehouse), and then acting as if they did nothing or nothing worthy of blame or sanction.
| @WatchTillTandava Hahaha, had the same feeling initially. But the guy did say there's famine and war in human world. Maybe anime failed to make them look desperate enough? At the end of the day can't blame them for not going back or eating rice. I'd assume the situation is too dire in human world so going back may as well equal to certain death. Though yeah, the group acted a bit too entitled, especially the brat calling Sakuna "loud" and then the big guy casually grabbing her like some sack of potatoes and taking her to the ship. She's a goddess ffs. The group was more afraid of that lone samurai than they were of gods! If the anime portrayed them as more humble and desperate I think we'd empathize with them more. Now that I think about, this reminded me of border crisis and illegal immigrants issue in the west. Guess it depends on gow we look at the situation. Should we focus on empathy or hatred? Desperate people or ungrateful thieves? We can agree that these people run because they apparently have no other choice, but at least try to show some respect and try to assimilate instead of committing crimes and acting like the natives owe you something, right? Dunno, I think thinking about this further will only ruin my experience with the show so I'll try not to cloud my mind some more. Gonna check ep2 now. Maybe characters will become less irritating later. |
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