Sankarea – “It’s All Fun & Games Until…”

Sankarea’s sixth manga volume simultaneously belittles itself before getting quite serious story-wise – a scene of yuri bathing precedes a revolutionary point in the plot where the zombie lifestyle seems threatened.

While the anime instead gives precedence to flashbacks, or random irrelevant side-stories, the manga of Sankarea has many a moment in which daily life is highlighted atop everything else – general interactions are given more focus, likely due to the lesser limits present with a manga, and considering the circumstances of our characters, such a basic spotlight on standard life is certainly not only rather unconventional in the case of Sankarea, yet quite critical to truly understanding each character.

As part of taking advantage of all the greater freedoms of being on paper however – this also results in Sankarea utilizing the opportunity to include some fanfare, such as typical service moments. Yet of most importance is the manga’s current route, the expanding central core underneath the many gags and breasts inevitably present on a solid portion of the pages.

The neko of the series has gained a role even more substantial than his original debut – Babu is essentially serving to foreshadow the path Sanka Rea may face. Having become a zombie before her, the cat is of course experiencing the life of the undead one step ahead of our heroine – and while the neko subsided from the series’ concentration after Sanka Rea became our protagonist’s main specimen, the cat never completely faded from the center of attention.

When getting deeper into the manga, this is where one realizes that it is almost as if the neko is mirroring the fate which awaits Sanka Rea. It’s simple to insinuate this early on – however, the progression makes it all so apparent. As the cat settles down after becoming a zombie, Sanka Rea similarly has little problems to be concerned over – yet this volume introduces the question of calamity.

Our protagonist was never certain as to whether it was the proper choice to resurrect his neko, and despite how he loves the ideas of zombies and whatnot, he’s not a fool – he’s been constantly contemplating the side-effects of zombies. He knows that while all seems well, there’s bound to be more than he will see at face value – and indeed, he does find such, a very harsh sight grinds into him like sandpaper, leading to a horrific strike of realization.

Furuya spots his neko cannibalizing another neko – and the method to react to this is tough, yet Furuya determines he must, our of love for it, eliminate it.

Two significant details sprout from Furuya’s choice of action, with the first being that Sanka Rea rages over the incident – apparently, she cared more about the neko than Furuya ever knew, reason being that it is a reflection of herself almost. It’s the only creature that can relate to her current state of living. And secondly, if the neko is showing us what Sanka Rea will eventually face – then clearly, something quite tragic is awaiting us.

Indeed, this series gets awfully playful – although it’s not afraid to deviate away from a cheerful outcome, the conclusion may very well be a disastrous nightmare for our Furuya-kun.

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