Story (9/10): The story of Sakurasou, as I will refer it to as henceforth, revolves around the life of our main protagonist Sorata. Because of his obsession with saving cats from the streets, Sorata is deemed to be kicked out of the dorms of his prestigious school, and forced to live in a small dorm known as "the sakura dorm", a place where all the reject and strange students go to. Until one day, the dorm manager of the sakura dorm tells him to go pick up her relative, which results in Sorata, meeting the lovely kuudere Mashiro, the newest member of the Sakura dorm. Unable to take care of herself, Sorata is deemed on "Mashiro Duty", meaning, he has to take care of essentially all of her basic needs. And well, hilarity ensues. Regardless of the fact that I said "hilarity ensues", the story of Sakurasou is incredibly deep. The main focus and the high point of the show, are its characters. (I'll get onto that later.) The show itself has great pacing and can hook the watcher into the show with its drama and comedy. However, I have to say that the way Sakurasou shines the most, is in its realism. Even though the characters themselves don't face ordinary problems like most people do everyday, each of them is relatable in some way, and that just makes the show fantastic. It's the pure fact that the characters can be portrayed as real people, that the show excels at doing so.
Characters (10/10): Rather then doing my normal spiel of naming off certain character names and describing their personalities and whatnot, I'm going to go a different route in summarizing them and explaining without heavy spoilers. (Cause doing that WILL give huge spoilers away.) As I have said before, the reason why this show is such a gem, is in its characters. Each of them starts off as a basic one-liner cardboard cutout where they're only defined by that specific trait. However, as the series goes on, each character is hit with certain problems that pertain to them, that change them drastically. By the end of the series, they're almost completely unrecognizable from when they were from when they started. The characters are also great because of the show's length. With 24 episodes, the show has so much time to work with, using every bit of that timespan to give gradual changes that make the characters wonderful. Another thing that makes the characters great are their bonds. The main characters in this series are seriously tied together and as the series goes along, the way the characters grow together, is a gem in and of itself. It was fantastic to see such great development as they all laughed and cried with each other. The supporting cast isn't anything to shy away from either. Though they barely play a role, they do a good job at interacting with the main characters, and helps progress the story further in their own special way.
Art and Sound (9/10 and 8/10): The art in this animation is very nice. It uses a great palette of light colors and give it this nice and fluffy feel. On the other hand, the palette can be used in its more dramatic scenes and give a fantastic contrast compared to the normal fluffy feel. Although, I would be lying if I said I didn't like the actual paintings that was featured in the anime. As for sound, the anime hosts 2 Op's and Ed's. The first OP is probably my favorite track out of the 4. It's sounds just so happy and fulfilling, that it just wants to make you smile. Not to mention the scene in the OP where all the characters are covered with paint, great touch there. The first ED is also good and gives a nice resolution feel with the anime. As for many anime, the OP's and ED's are replaced with new tracks. Which can or cannot turn someone to skip them. For the second OP, I have to almost put it up with the first OP. It sounds good, it does, but it sounds a bit more sad and less upbeat then the first OP did. As for the second ED, I don't like it. The first time I saw it, it just made me turn away from it. In my opinion, it doesn't sound good.
Enjoyment (10/10): Ever since I watched Clannad:Afterstory, I could never find a good enough anime to fill the void it left me with. Angel Beats! was good, but it wasn't able to do enough for me. Until this show came along. Sakurasou is definitely one of those shows that touched my heart. Just to see the beauty of friends getting along, the trials and tribulations that they had to go through, the bonds that the characters achieved along the way, it was all nice to see. Also, to see such change from the main character, I was just happy. I think I cried a few times as well. The story of this anime is very touching, and I would highly recommend this to pretty much anyone because of just how wonderful these characters are. Although, one thing that bothered me a little bit, was the slight inconsistencies with the story telling. It jumped from one person to another, and it seemed a bit random at times. Another thing that bothers me is if I want a second season or not. The thing is, the anime opens itself to a second season, but I feel as though the second season wouldn't be as great as the first. There's also the matter of following the light novels, which according to what I heard, ends a bit weird, so I'm a bit skeptical. On that note, I love Sakurasou. There, I said it. And you should to.
