English Dub Review: Shikizakura: “Determination/Re:Start”

Overview: Kakeru (Bryson Baugus) struggles to pick himself up after Benio (Christie Guidry) defeats him and takes Oka (Melissa Molano) to perform the sacrificial ritual that will mean the shrine maiden’s demise but the human race’s salvation.

Our Take: Does Shikizakura have any determination to defy it’s superhero roots and pave it’s own path by building Kakeru in a distinctly original way? No, not really. It follows the classic structure that many stories that have come before it  have been beholden to in giving our main hero his ceremonious downfall, both physically and spiritually, before inevitably believing in himself once again. However, although it colors inside the lines without much deviation, the end product because of how charmed the characters have become and how the story helps expand upon them ends up being relatively decent to other paint by numbers stories, even with their cheesy and basic tendencies from time to time that are less so. 

Benio, more pissed off than a bull at a matador in red, finds Kakeru and gives him a rude awakening in the form of an asskicking. More so than I than would have expected is how much Benio has come around as a character with how much she cares for Oka so much so that she desperately wanted for Kakeru to best her in battle with how, even with it being at odds in her duty she’s sworn to uphold, creating a compelling complexity. Smartly so and without forced dialogue, it can be seen in how she treats Kakeru in how she tries to pin the blame of the catastrophe that took place years ago on him in an attempt to get him angry and incite an overwhelmingly powerful reaction out of him. A reaction that is all for naught at that moment as Kakeru loses and Benio takes Oka to perform the ritual. The rest of it proceeds as has been previously described and seen time and time again. Although, yet again it is the characters that truly do the heavy-lifting when the story cannot. This is reflected through the kindness and friendship Kakeru extended to Kippei when he was most alone as a child, offering a sweet juxtaposition to vice versa earlier in the season, as Kippei helps Kakeru get out of the rut he finds himself in. 

Also, although a smaller one compared to Kakeru’s, Haruko’s past insecurities about herself and how envious she is of Kaede are also a vocal point. This is one aspect of the show that is always commendable in that it takes the time to explore the other characters beside Kakeru. What isn’t praiseworthy though is how this time around with Haruko’s pent up feelings about herself they tend to fall under the simple and cliché category with a spooky version of herself, trying to create a sense of dread but coming up short in how generic it is. While very much conventional, narrative wise, this tees up the beginning of the ending battle to save Oka’s life nicely as Kakeru finds the spirit within himself we all knew he would.