[Daikaijuman54]

SHIKIZAKURA

As of today, I have finished watching Shikizakura as it aired, and am here to present a review of the season. Hopefully DS is cool with me setting up a review here, since this is technically a Toku-inspired Anime. Without delay, here is my spoiler safe review.

So first off, what is Shikizakura? it's a debut Anime for a Nagoya Anime Studio using 3DCG animation, which is chock-full of references to Tokusatsu like Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Super Sentai. The plot centers around Kakeru Miwa, a boy who survived an incident where an entire town was devoured by Oni. One day he encounters a mysterious girl (as you'd expect) and is dragged into the conflict between humans and Oni, and makes a pact with an Oni sealed in a Yoroi (armor) suit, Ibara, and the two join forces with other armored warriors to become Heroes and defeat the Oni.

Simple plot, right? Well, no jokes, it is.

I think it's best to start with the negatives, since I'm sure you can tell exactly what the first issue is. The CG. Now, I wouldn't have minded it, until you realize that only the main characters are CG while everything else is 2D, heck, during flashbacks and a couple of episodes, you get all traditional animation. The problem with this CG in particular, is that it feels robotic in a lot of places, making everyone's movements rigid and uncanny, but also doesn't look that good to start with. Except for the Yoroi Suits, which is where it works the best. The thing about CG Anime to me is that trying to animate them to appear 2D often doesn't work in the Anime format (at least as far as I've seen), the Netflix Ultraman probably had the best use in making it motion captured, giving them a natural pace, rather than aping the way regular Anime are animated.

Next up, our protagonist, Kakeru Miwa. His motivation throughout the greater length of the show is to become a Hero. No "to protect my friends," no " so nobody else loses something important," no "because there's someone I idolize." He just says it like anybody donning a suit is a Hero and that's it. Granted, he does find a reason later down the road, but that's still far too long for a Hero's origin, and even if we, the audience, can interpret his motivation from the previously mentioned options, it helps to have your Hero declare this reason to all, as it shows their determination instead of just saying something a kid would say. Though this is only a minor nitpick, I still feel like it plays into how I view this show.

For the shows plot, if you've seen enough Toku from the big three, you've got a good idea what you're about to watch, except that there's no monster of the week, just swarms of mooks, with the occasional special boss and final boss. There's nothing in this show that's exactly mind-blowing, being pretty simple as far as any show goes, but there are some things this series does that even some of the big Toku shows seldom explore, like the victims of the Oni, or taking an obvious route only to twist it further. Remember those all 2D animated episodes I was talking about? They're honestly some pretty funny episodes that not only reference Tokusatsu, but some other bits of Japanese media, even having one focused entirely on a Super Hero Stage Show. However, the main reason for this show and it's story is revolved around something anyone who's seen a couple random Anime and maybe played some Video Games could figure out where it's going, is something I still find myself wondering whether it stuck the landing for me or not.

For some positives, the supporting cast got some good spotlight episodes *glances at Ultraman Trigger*, even getting upgrades *glances at recent Sentai Seasons*, and the action scenes are pretty fun, despite not going nearly as crazy as some animated action shows. The Yoroi have pretty neat designs, reminiscent of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and Gatchaman CROWDS (another Toku-Inspired Anime), with an interesting blend of Japanese Culture, which is funny since this thread's currently watching one. And this show's Momotarou/Vice, Ibara, is ironically the best character, with the protagonist's nerd friend coming in second.

Overall, this show was clearly influence by Tokusatsu, even going as far as to reference them in bringing about the final product. It's not perfect, it could have had better work on the CG, or forgone it completely with the out-of-suit cast and left the action scenes 3DCG, but even the 2D isn't comparable with Mad House or Bones. The show has heart, but it doesn't do much to elevate the vessel it bears itself upon, but as a first attempt, it's not something I dislike, heck it could have been a dumb Isekai clone, which is saying a lot.

In the end, this show is a 2/5, or 2.5/5. Nothing ground-breaking, but nothing I didn't find some enjoyment in watching. If only it was worth falling behind on Revice (which it isn't, I just couldn't find the time to track down the episodes since I was recovering from sicknes). I guess, next year will be when I start watching more Toku, but not the end of Toku/Anime as we have a couple down the road I'll probably check out.