English Dub Review: Shikizakura: “Flight / Jump,” “Family / Brother”

Overview: Kaeda (Alyssa Marek) is guilt-ridden after using an Oni exploit to win a competition with Haruko (Cat Thomas) worried for her. Later, Kakeru (Bryson Baugus) and Kippei (Clint Bickham) relieve some of their old childhood memories as a big argument erupts between them. 

Our Take: As expected, the quality of the storytelling doesn’t do a complete 180 and suddenly deafen the hero outcry that serves as a loud reminder for what a simple Saturday morning superhero tale this is. However, to give credit where credit is due, it at least extends that to it’s other characters besides Kakeru with his team members Kaeda and Haruko. It’s a fairly ordinary hero arc with Kaeda being weighed down by the burden of helping carry the team and eventually finding an even greater power through her friendship with Haruko. Although even with its paint-by-numbers proceeding, it at least helps one understand her tough exterior and the soft kindness within it. And with Haruko it established her as a caring, steady rock of best friend, trying to look out for Kaeda. Ironically enough, it also does a great job of showing Kakeru to be more than just a simplistic happy-go-lucky protagonist with how perceptive he is in understanding how Kaeda may be feeling despite how she acts. 

Beyond how Kakeru helps his friends and wants to yell about truth, justice and the American way, it is also his past that helps define him. Kippei and him share more of a heartwarming tale than what Kaeda offered with how he helped Kakeru with his early childhood anxiety regarding his family’s death. There are also some real world implications for how Kakeru must treat those on the outside now that he hunts down Oni in the secrets he must keep. Although pretty pedestrian, Shikizakura at least takes the concept of being a heroic figure in the crosshairs seriously, making for real stakes and it’s characters as well, despite how mundanely it gets there at times. 

The animation also, surprisingly, continues to be solid with decent CG animation that stands out from it’s clunky looking Berserk brethren. The series has started tossing 2D animation into the mix, with excellent execution as it is often crude or distinctly unique, to establish extreme comedic value or a certain genre of anime like that of visual novels or 90’s anime as a whole.