Sakura Trick
Episode 2-A: More Sakura Coloured Beginnings

I’ve been looking over my winter season anime picks and I’m starting to see the exact opposite of what I predicted. Pupa hasn’t been as terrifying as I expected, each Tonari no Seki sketch focuses on one particular way to waste time and Sakura Trick combines two stories into one full episode. With more yuri and more laughs (just by a bit) than the first episode, there are two interesting stories to be told so let’s not waste any time and dive straight into it.

Much like episode ones structure, this first half does more character establishing than the second, only this time it’s Shizuku and Kotone’s turn to share a special moment. The whole story revolves around a misunderstanding that occurred when Kotone was staying over at Shizuku’s house; at first she states to the other girls her plans to draw all over Shizuku’s face, offering a small attempt of humour before going into the real problem.

While Shizuku was sleeping Kotone expressed how much she loved staying over at her house and gave her a kiss on the cheek, leading to all four girls over reacting (although one appears to be a bit too happy). Kotone now thinks Shizuku is avoiding her because of the kiss, but in actual fact Shizuku believes she is being used because her house is close to the school. The scene where they confront each other does convey genuine emotions on the part of Shizuku; unfortunately the moment gets broken with an attempt to add humour, but luckily kicks back into serious mode at the end when they both share a special kiss.

I did find the relationship between Shizuku and Kotone really interesting compared to Haruka and Yuu’s special moment; both times there were misunderstandings, conflicts, and genuine feelings towards each other, leading to a kiss that seemed natural and real. Unfortunately because of the use of an unnecessary callback, moments that relied heavily on the moe factor and the fact that one scene almost ruined an emotional moment, the humour was as hit and miss as the first episode.

Episode 2-B: School with Harry Chan

Whether we like it or not, studying is one of those things we all have to do, it especially becomes important when your school is about to close and failing will result in you not being able to graduate. Because of Yuu’s tendency to sleep during class and always borrowing notes, Haruka and the girls decide to hold an after school study session for Yuu’s sake. After the traditional way of reading the textbook fails, they try to memorize their science equations by playing volleyball, a decision that Haruka immediately regrets when the ball goes to Yuu. As the hours go by with no amount of studying done whatsoever, Ikeno suggests remembering their notes by engaging in something that would be unforgettable… I think we can all assume what’s going to happen next, and it does. After the other four girls leave, Haruka helps Yuu by kissing her after each question she reads out and judging by the look on Yuu’s face, it looks like she has every answer locked in her head.

There was a slight running gag that involved Iizuka always getting blamed and the Harry-chan mentioned in the title was just a hedgehog charm which was used as another technique to help Yuu study (and also failed). The one thing that did annoy me with this story was Haruka’s imagination, I couldn’t stand how she reacted when she thought about Yuu calling her “Ms. Haruka” and asking to fix her neck tie, her behaviour was too immature and especially irritating when she does it again during the end of the episode.

I cannot end this impression without telling you about the funniest two scenes, one involves Yuu’s reaction when Haruka suggests kissing each other and the other is when they play volley ball. The way Yuu slowly backs out of the class room after hearing Haruka is timed very well, which is made all the more funnier by her blank facial expression. The Volleyball scene however is the funniest moment from the anime so far, I’ve re-watched this scene at least 15 times and it still has me laughing. The scene has a pretty good build up and an even better pay off at the end, everything from the lines used to the sound effects are combined to make a great moment that is even funnier than the veranda jump. 

Sakura Trick is animated by Studio Deen and is currently being streamed by Crunchyroll.Don’t forget to check out our Anime Impressions page to see what shows the other Capsule Computers anime crew is watching this season.

Check out more Sakura Trick Impressions HERE.