With this strange question starts the story of a couple of “problem children” at Sakurasou. A dorm for students who have violated Suiko (a.k.a. high school affiliated with Suimei University of the Arts) policies, Sakurasou shelters a diverse group of students each with a unique personality. As a result, there isn’t one day that the dorm stays quiet, and the students are free to express their creativity without worry of getting kicked out.
At the start of the story, everyone starts on an empty canvas, each with a brush that has yet to be dabbed in any specific "color." As viewers follow along the process of each character realizing his or her dream and pursuing that dream, it starts to become clear who they are, or what “color” they paint with. With its many heartwarming as well as heart-wrenching moments, this unusual group of friends at Sakurasou all together paints a masterpiece that will leave the viewers smiling from start to end.
(Below I provide the “pluses” and “deltas” of the show. Pluses will signify the positive aspects of the anime, while deltas will signify aspects of the anime that could have been changed or improved upon.)
Pluses:
(+) Overall message: The world is unfair. Those who are gifted are acknowledged and those who cannot keep up are left behind in the dark. Sooner or later, the feeling of frustration, depression, and helplessness will overcome anyone left in the dark, pulling them further and further back. The main protagonist, Kanda Sorata, suffers the most from the unfairness of this world, and cannot help but vent his anger out on others and blame others for his misfortunes. However, the anime sends out a positive message for those who suffer like Sorata, and that is to accept the fact that the world is indeed unfair and face the failures head-on instead of trying to run away. The anime reinforces the fact that failure is but a stepping stone to success, and there’s no need to become discouraged from it. Seeing Sorata overcome his struggles and move on with his life to tackle his next challenges is emotionally satisfying and surprisingly inspirational. Sorata proves that being optimistic and never losing sight of what you want to do will eventually lead to better results. With such a deep and meaningful message for the young demographic, it’s hard not to like this anime.
(+) Character development: Everyone in this anime has a goal that they want to reach. The anime shows the process of each of them trying to reach that goal, while they constantly go through struggles. And along that process, viewers see the characters gradually learning, maturing, and becoming better people overall. As much as I would love to expand on how each character changes throughout the series, I’ll leave the joy of watching each of them change to the viewers. The developments are perfectly paced so that they help viewers naturally develop deep connections with the characters. Towards the end of the anime when time inevitably drifts them apart, there’s a strong sense of bitter sweetness because one side of you is happy for them and the other is sad that they’re moving on.
(+) Realistic emotions: The emotions expressed and experienced by the characters as they go through their individual development are all too realistic and relatable. The fun yet exhausting nights of working on a project or practicing for a competition, the anxiety before an interview or presentation, the joys of getting accepted, and the frustrations of getting rejected – these are all experiences that all of us have experienced at one point or another in our lives. And some of the emotions that we express during these times are not pretty. This anime delivers the raw and ugly emotions such as jealousy, anger, bitterness, and hopelessness. Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is indeed darker than it seems. The anime is not about the characters starting from the bottom and making it big within 24 episodes, but about people starting from the bottom and struggling to make it big. Such is the stark reality of society right now, and the anime teaches the painful lesson that people who think determination and hard work are all they need to reach their goal are overly naïve.
(+) Well-developed ending: Unlike most anime whose ending comprises of both the climax and resolution of the story, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo manages to space out the climax and resolution over the last three episodes of the series. As a result, the ending is perfectly paced and not rushed at all; the buildup of emotions leading up to the climax is perfectly delivered; and the resolution is overall satisfying and doesn’t leave the audience wanting for more.
Deltas:
(-) Fan service: Anime productions often seem to feel a need to please the fans with underwear scenes, cleavage shots, and sexual innuendos. As enticing as these scenes are the first few times, the fan service quickly becomes stale, repetitive, unnecessary, and uninteresting. If anything, fan service hurts the value of the anime because it demonstrates the desperate measures that the production took to maintain or gain popularity. Sadly enough, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is no exception. Expect a lot of underwear scenes, cleavage shots, and sexual innuendos whenever the anime isn’t trying to be serious.
(-) Stereotypical characters: When it comes to school-life + romantic comedy anime, nothing bothers me more than seeing the same personas fulfilling the same stereotypes. For example, there is always the overly enthusiastic character that usually brightens up the mood. There is always the quiet one with an emotionless face or a soft-spoken voice, and these characters tend to be airheaded, socially awkward, gifted with a talent, or all of the above. There is always the hardworking one that often works his or herself to the point of becoming ill. There is the overly cynical or critical one that says what is on his or her mind, but doesn’t mean it in a bad way. There is the tsundere, or a typical girl that is tough as nails, but emotionally sensitive. And of course, there’s the average male or female protagonist that is overly optimistic and unnaturally oblivious to the idea of romance. Of course, these stereotypes are simply some of the most common personas that I see in a school-life + romantic comedy anime and thus might not apply to a lot of school-life anime that I have yet to see. However, at some point I, as a viewer, will get tired of seeing the same persona, with more or less the same backgrounds, and more or less the same problems. Having said that, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo fulfills MOST of the stereotypes mentioned and thus their personalities felt familiar at best and not really interesting. What kept me interested in the characters was the realistic side of them, the side of them that tries to reach their goals.
(-) Lack of Art: As an anime about students at an art school, there is an unsatisfying amount of artworks shown. Also, as an anime that explores the world of painting, voice acting, anime, manga, and gaming, the anime only touches upon the surface-level knowledge of each world. However, the lack of art and the knowledge doesn’t take much away from the anime. This delta is more of a personal complaint, because the anime seems to only be TELLING how hard the characters work and how passionate they are, rather than taking the time SHOWING these things through artworks that characters produce.
(-) Depth of the relationships: There are romantic relationships developing left and right between the characters, so it is quite difficult to take all of them seriously. There is only one relationship in this anime that is explored deeply, and that is the only relationship the viewers should have been introduced to (namely, the Jin and Misaki couple). The other relationships take the focus away from the anime because they are neither realistic nor relevant (to the main story). For example, there is nothing more frustrating than an oblivious protagonist failing to notice two girls trying to get his attention. Many times I had to skip through the scenes that show the “progress” of the protagonist’s relationship with each of the two girls, simply because the conversations, the reactions, and the progress of the relationship seemed too cliché and superficial. Not to say I disliked the characters, but I preferred to see their serious side more so than their awkward romantic side. (If you’ve grown jaded from the harem-type anime, you’ll know what I mean).
Overall: Although Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo fails to escape the stereotypes of a typical school-life + romantic comedy anime, the masterful development of the story and the characters, along with several enjoyable and hilarious moments, is enough to make this anime a must-watch.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Review by MAL criteria:
(This section will be kept short because I will simply be summarizing some of the points I made above)
Story: 9/10
The masterful development of the characters as they pursue their dreams, along with the various emotions that they express or experience, are very relatable and real. The story is perfectly paced and tries to deliver a positive message for those troubled like the characters.
Art: 9/10
Even if I complained about the lack of art in this anime, I could tell that the production spent countless hours trying to perfect the additional artworks while having to animate the characters. The watercolor artworks, the 3D rendering portion, and artworks for games were all beautifully done and with great detail.
If that wasn’t enough, some of the scenes in this anime were drop-dead gorgeous and stunning. I will leave the surprise for the viewers, but don’t underestimate a school-life + romantic comedy because of its school-life setting.
It goes on without saying that the characters are well-designed and beautifully animated. The style of characters is kind of generic and simple, but each of the characters have distinguishing features that make them unique.
Sound: 7/10
The soundtrack is nothing too special. Most of the tracks are short so that they fit a certain situation or mood in the anime. Both the openings and endings are your typical upbeat cheerful songs that are catchy but not quite noteworthy.
What gives the sound at least a 7 is the perfect voice acting, especially when the actors express realistic emotions like sadness, anger, bitterness, hopelessness, and jealousy.
Character: 8/10
Although all the characters are well-developed and lovable, they still fail to be 100% relatable due to their cliché personas of a typical school-life + romantic comedy anime.
Enjoyment: 9/10
There is not one moment when I felt bored while watching this anime (maybe except the cliché romantic scenes). The anime elicited out of me various emotions, so a lot of the times I found myself laughing one moment and then choking up the next.
8.4/10
