Sukasuka had a nice set of ideas to become a good light novel adaptation. But the foundations weren’t set right; the characters being the first problem. With a multitude of characters introduced in the first few episodes, the show should have explored them all a little more thoroughly to bring its themes to life. Furthermore, some side characters introduced in the latter half of the show lacked any authenticity and served only as plot devices for information on the plot without playing active roles as proper characters that can serve the themes and story. The setting also had a lot of potential for some exploration on issues such as child soldiers, war, conspiracy and potentially other themes relating to the situation that the anime presented. There were plenty of instances where some side characters had potential to be explored to support the larger narrative and the setting, but the show opted to go for a more passive take on fantasy conflict by attempting to depict a romance between the two protagonists which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It could have given it a unique edge against other anime in its genre that all rely on action as their main appeal to attract an audience, but it’s unfortunate that the romance between the protagonists was poorly illustrated.
From the very first scene in the anime, the main male character Willem conveniently stumbles upon the main female character Chytolly and within an instant they go on a date together. From the beginning of the anime their relationship began on a forced note making it already feel unnatural as both characters fell for each other far too quickly and it could have benefitted the story more had the progression of their love felt natural and realistic. In effect, this makes the development between them not as engaging as it could have been and took away emotional value in later events. What also doesn’t help the case is Chytolly’s overabundance of emotional breakdowns which led to a lot of excessive melodrama that came off as unwarranted and annoying rather than genuine emotion that could also have made for some touching scenes if they weren’t excessive and had the romance being good enough for me to care. The only sort of silver lining the romance between the protagonists has is some of the quirky dialogue the two share that managed to at least put a little smile on my face and it was quite endearing to see, but overall it’s clear to see that the romance could have been portrayed with more care and its clumsiness is clearly visible.
In contrast to the side characters, both of the protagonists as individual characters were fleshed out and developed. Each with their own dilemmas and this is the only worthy praise that I will give sukasuka excluding the audio-visuals. Chytolly’s and Willem’s traumas tied in with the central themes of the show and were also used as a way to reflect their progression to mutual love. As they got closer to conquering their ordeals, the more they fell in love with each other. Also the subject matters of happiness, finding a place to call home, fighting for people you love and loosely family were all present as themes in sukasuka. They were all expanding upon and depicted thoroughly enough to make the backstories of the protagonists engaging. Its execution in this department was rather straight forward but satisfactory enough to get a pass mark. Everything the show aims to accomplish is brought together in a thematic sense and the relationship between the mains hits a surprisingly enjoyable and well produced emotional climax. But once again; its lack of care in the romance department hindered the emotional impact of the ending a little and it could have been far more emotionally gripping had the romance been depicted better.
The setting itself is what showed the most potential in sukasuka out of all its features. World-building is of utmost importance in a fantasy anime. In a story that doesn’t take place in the world we know today, viewers have to be informed through the plot how the world works, how people in the world interact, the lore of the world and more. Sukasuka wasn’t completely devoid of world building. On the surface level it had established an interesting world that set the stage for a tragic story. The tragic backstory of the protagonist Willem was also tied in with the lore of the world to provide some much needed synergy between the characters and the setting, especially in a show that was lacking any sort of connection between the world and its characters. What ultimately let the show down in this department was not using the full potential that its setting provided. It set the stage for some potential theme exploration on controversial topics that would have made for an interesting experience. The group of children Willem has been tasked to care for are all ancient weapons fielded off to face the enemy and misleads the audience into thinking this would be a very important plot point for the anime, but due to the direction the anime took this plot point was sidelined. As a result the show spent time on cheaply telling the audience on the dilemmas faced by the children rather than showing many consequences as a result of them being used as weapons of war.
By far the best element of Sukasuka was the beautiful OST which was used to perfection. Placed in important and impactful scenes to heighten emotional impact and never overused to make the soundtrack feel redundant. Both the OP and ED were a pleasure to listen to and even work well as standalone listeners at any time. Alongside the audio the visuals also thrived. The show had a nice clear and neat colour palette that was exquisite to look at. The character designs were quite generic in appearance but were drawn neatly and attractive. Backgrounds were up to standard and the animation was quite good at times during some of the fight scenes.
This anime certainly isn’t an outright calamity. Compare it to most anime that air today and it will look like a gem to recent catastrophes like Eromanga-sensei. The ideas were all there. Under the hands of a more competent and experienced writer the show could have flourished into a fine fantasy anime. Yet it never set the foundations well enough for all of its ideas to wholly blossom which is a shame considering the show did have good intentions. Under the rubble it still has some merits to take away, and it’s these positives that set this anime apart from the vast majority of light novel adaptations that are pumped out consistently every season. It is fully recommendable to hard core fantasy anime fans or just casual fans looking for an anime that offers some easily digestible entertainment. But it is instantly passible for experienced fans that are demanding more out of the medium than a simple romance story that isn’t competent enough to do a satisfying job and would turn out rather average for those people. Sukasuka is not a bad show. But it simply has far too many shortcomings to be considered a success story.
