Sakurada Reset: Episode 2 (Review)

   By: EyeSpyeAlexI’m back with Sakurada Reset; an anime that fights angst and mystery instead of Titans. Missed my review of episode one? Catch it here!This episode starts off right where episode one ended. Right away we are immediately in the thick of the mystery surrounding Mari Kurakawa. Remember that girl Kei talks to at the end of episode one? The one that died several years ago? That’s Mari, and he’s correct. Mari died seven years ago, during a C-section. The Mari before them was a clone created from her mother’s special ability. At that moment, Tsushima from The Bureau comes to pick up Mari to take her back with them. Mari’s mother stopped believing the lie that her daughter was alive and fled town. When Tsushima goes to take Mari, Kei stops him and asks Haruki to choose. Torn, Haruki decides to reset after Kei convinces her.After resetting, Haruki, Kei, Sakagami, and Soma try to come up with a game plan to help Mari. Their planning comes to a halt when Sakagami says he won’t use his ability to defy The Bureau. To get Sakagami to work with them, Kei confronts Tsushima. He self-harms until Tsushima says that Sakagami has permission to use his ability on Mari’s mother.The next day, Kei, Sakagami, and Soma confront Mari’s mother. They try to convince Mari’s mom that she loves Mari, and she fights them on the issue. Meanwhile, Haruki is with Mari, and both she and Tomoki Nakano try to keep Mari optimistic about the situation. While Haruki and Nakano tell Mari to wish aloud for her heart’s desire, Kei sits down with Mari’s mother and has her remember Mari’s birth. As Mari says that she loves her mom and wishes to spend time with her, her mother imagines that Mari is before her, and collapses into a huddle of apologies over the words she hears from her daughter.Later, Soma stops by Kei’s house to talk. She convinces him that he is a good person and needs to accept that, and that he also needs to accept that he loves Haruki. When he agrees with her, she gives him a sad smile and said she hoped he would have disagreed before getting on the bus.The next day at school, Kei meets Haruki. She also admits she has feelings for him, and the two kiss. After ensuring that she’s saved, Kei tells her to reset. On the second go around, Soma doesn’t stop by Kei’s house. Kei learns from the news the next morning that Soma was found dead by a river in the mountains. At school, Haruki tells him to order her to reset, and he tells her that they already did. When she asks why they couldn’t save Soma, he tells her this didn’t happen the first time.Two years later, Haruki and Kei are leading a school club to help people with their abilities.This was an extremely dense and heavy episode, both in terms of plot and emotion. I am incredibly surprised that the mystery surrounding Mari was resolved so quickly. I'm also surprised that Soma died so early on. As someone who has not read the novels, I can’t say if this is moving at the same pace.As I mentioned in my previous article, this is an extremely dialogue heavy show. Coupled with a lot of major plot points, and it can become hard to keep track of what is going on. Scenes and conversations happen in the blink of an eye, so it’s easy to miss something critical. This will definitely be an anime that benefits from a dub.While the plot may be dense and heavy, the animation of this show is still light and beautiful. Even watching the cars drive by is pretty and well-animated. On top of that, we had a lot of character development for Kei and Haruki. Both have become less jaded, and more trusting. Even after Soma’s death, the two are still working together. It will be interesting to see where their friendship and romantic relationship heads.[yasr_multiset setid=11]