Contrary to what others have said, this anime is NOT a romantic comedy in the least. Sure, it has some decent comedy but not a lot. What it gave me was an engaging drama with two great leads and a lot of emotion.
Let’s start off with the bad stuff though: Sankarea really doesn't have that many flaws honestly. Maybe the biggest flaw it has in my opinion is the character of Chihiro's pervert red headed friend whose name I can't recall. He was a VERY annoying character, being inconsiderate of other people, totally flat and as a comedic relief he failed miserably. In one scene, he actually makes Rea's situation WORSE giving me more reason to dislike him.
Another flaw that I can't really call a flaw so much as my own opinion is Rea's father. Oh my gosh, Rea's father is one of the most obnoxious, hateful, loathsome, horrifying, selfish villains I have ever seen in any medium. Unlike other truly evil villains like Griffith from Berserk or Johann from Monster, he has absolutely no redeeming values. The only time he did do something that wasn't self centered was ruined by the fact that he still engaged in horrifying and selfish desires after it. He's by no means a badly written character because he was very well written, it's just that he really, really isn't fun to watch. But maybe that’s a good thing though.
Now for the good stuff: animation (which was excellent and atmospheric) and sound aside (which was good), the characters of both Chihiro and Rea were just great. Chihiro isn't a typical romantic protagonist; he's not bland or boring, in fact he's rather quirky, can be funny and under his jerkass exterior is actually a rather swell guy. I immediately liked him and the story showed that he was a great guy by showing him being kind to Rea.
Speaking of Rea, she ahs to be one of the greatest female anime characters I've ever seen. Not every female anime character has to be a badass like Rukia from Bleach nor do they have to be well adjusted people. In fact, Rea's back-story really hit me. When I found out what happened to her, I wasn't angry. I was FURIOUS. Ballistic. It was the kind of righteous fury where you want to do anything and everything to solve someone else's problem and that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to save Rea from her abusive home, I wanted to hug her and comfort her. Her personality was also really great. Beneath her suffering and the fact that she is a zombie, Rea is still a very normal girl, one who wants to do normal girly things. I like how instead of making her into a typical introverted girl who keeps to herself ala Rei Ayanami, they went into a different direction. Because of that, Rea feels like a real person and not a typical cookie cutter anime girl.
Then there are Rea and Chihiro's interactions: there’s some obvious sexual tension and the anime does point that the two will end up with each other and I'm really rooting for them to do so. Chihiro is a really kind person at heart and his declaration of protecting Rea and standing up to her is really sweet. As for the other characters like Mero, Ranko, Grandpa etc... They’re all OK and memorable and interesting and with the exception of redhead pervert and Dan'Ichiro Sanka, they're all pretty likeable.
Overall, I give this anime a solid 9 out of ten for excellence. I wish a second season came out soon because frankly, I want more and the 'ending' does sort of point out that the story will continue. It's not a 10/10 as it's not something like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood or Monster but it doesn't have to be. Is it recommended? Highly so, but don't except this anime to be some ecchi rubbish because it is not. While it does have some fanservice, it also has a lot of fan disservice and the tragic moments should not be taken as opportunity for engaging in lustful thoughts.
