Pet Girl of Sakurasou - A Review

                 "I realized... It wasn't that the days were boring. It was being just like everyone else."

Pet Girl of Sakurasou (or just Sakurasou as I will refer to it) is a surprising anime. What appears, at first, to be a rom-com slice of life series about a group of eccentrics, geniuses, and weirdos becomes an emotionally complex look at the impact talent and genius can have on average and gifted people alike. Our protagonist is Sorata Kanda, a high school boy of average intelligence, talent, and looks who is hard-working and kind-hearted. The former trait allowing him to be enrolled at a private high school for the arts named Suimei, the latter trait leads him to taking in every stray cat he sees and thus getting him expelled from his dormitory. He moves into Sakura Hall, an off-campus residence for "problem students" where he meets peers of his who are exceedingly talented, but also exceedingly strange. And while he cares deeply for his new friends, he is also deeply conflicted as a result of being around them.

“[You know...] with talented people... They draw people to themselves and without trying to, they tear them to shreds. The closer you are to them, the more viciously you’ll be torn apart.”

The main conflict of the series is an internal one Sorata, and another girl in his class Nanami suffer through; that no matter how hard they work, no matter how much of themselves they sacrifice to try and get ahead, the world is an unfair place and those with raw, natural talent will always come out ahead. It's played out time and time again for our two more average protagonists that failure is a very real and often unavoidable thing, and it's often juxtaposed against the successes and achievements of their talented peers. The show goes to great lengths to allow us to see the emotional toll these events take on our characters, and isn't afraid to make them lash out nastily or react in a very negative, but human, manner. Threaded into this central conflict are a handful of romances, often interrupted, derailed or complicated by the failures and successes of the characters. It comes together to created a detailed and emotional mosaic of life among those who are both very skilled, but still immature.

"Hey, what color do you want to be?"

But, the show does not let you down on your initial impression of the series as being a funny one, because it is very, very funny at times. The dialog is sharp, the characters very fully-formed, and the interactions they have are often the biggest highlights of the show. But, the real meat of the series lies in the (sometimes uncomfortably familiar) feelings of coping with conflict and failure, and where a person's true value lies. The show is also animated almost excruciatingly beautifully, with the smallest details left in, like seeing a character's pupil expand and contract as they become emotional. Overall, this is a powerful series that deals with the one thing modern fiction especially doesn't like to, which is the fact not everyone has some secret hidden talent that will just come bursting out if they work hard enough and believe in themselves. Sometimes, your best won't be good enough, but that doesn't matter as long as you do try, and are a good person to those around you. That's the real message of Sakurasou, and it's a message that will resonate long after all the other series about incredible, limitless heroes fade into the background.

Pet Girl of Sakurasou: 9/10