J Wada

Sakugan episode 7 is kind of hard to talk about because essentially it feels like a filler episode that exists only to contrive a reason for Gugumber to have to return to a colony he’s been to before (and probably connected with his old partner) next episode.

At the end of episode 6, Yuri and Zacrettu both joined Gugumber and Memenpu on their journey through the labyrinth, for fairly non-logical reasons, but this episode contribute little except occasionally a different voice. Basically, the plot would have worked the same if Memenpu had initially picked the flowers, rather than Yuri, and Gugumber was the only one sick.

All of this leaves me feeling that Sakugan peaked in its first two episodes and since then its been on a steady decline unable to really excite or enthral and this journey through the labyrinth is less one of eye-opening wonder and more one of tedium for both the characters and, sooner if the plot doesn’t contribute a bit more, the audience.

Why is Sakugan losing its way?

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The plot this week is both simple and repetitive (by design). The group are roaming along following Memenpu’s directions, though those directions seem to simply be follow the pipe or road so not so much exploration as driving straight down a path with no obstacles. Along the way we realise all of them have pretty red flowers in their cabins and we learn that Yuri has collected these flowers as they’ve travelled.

Soon the characters are acting increasingly drunk and disorderly at rest stops, repeating the same conversations they’ve had before though it isn’t until after they’ve turned the flowers into potpourri that Memenpu draws the conclusion that they are causing the ill-effects.

Then Sakugan doubles down on this by having the characters make a cure using a cactus but it turns out they used the wrong cactus and symptoms get worse.

It isn’t particularly funny or tense. It’s just kind of there and one particular rest stop has all of the characters other than Memenpu walking just behind something on screen to vomit. The scene drags on and contributes little other than filling the requisite time for the episode.

Outside of the flower crisis, Memenpu is continuing to dream of the tower but under the effects of the flowers her dream begins to change and as we repeat the sequence again and again we eventually see Gugumber dying in the flower at the foot of the tower. What this means is anyone’s guess and who the glow-eyed person in the dream is (or who the person who is following them is) remains a question unanswered.

About the only reason for this is to create conflict between Memenpu and Gugumber as she wants to get to the scene as quickly as possible and he actually wants to get to a hospital to seek medical attention after all the flower/cactus mayhem.

Weird that earlier episodes of Sakugan managed to really sell the relationship between these two as a grounding point but this episode really just has them going through the motions. Memenpu’s point makes no sense and Gugumber reflecting that he’s bad at team-work, when he’s literally the only person here wanting to seek help during their crisis, just feels shallow. There’s no chemistry or humour to be found in the cast this week.

All and all, the shine very much seems to have come off of Sakugan and I’m just kind of hoping it picks up again because this episode was pretty meh, and that’s about all that can be said for it.

Images from: Sakugan. Dir. J Wada. Satelight. 2021

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Karandi James

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Sakugan episode 6 begins with a narration by Gugumber detailing how he came by some money after their last job and invested it before things went wrong. This is played over a dramatic montage of images of him standing in the wind looking out over a colony before we cut to scenes of him blatantly gambling the money away.

Like many perpetually broke characters, at least when they are played for laughs, Gugumber brings his ill-fortune upon himself through his own poor decision making. Which makes it harder to take him seriously when he wants to act as the voice of reason for others when his own life-choices paint him as the perpetual optimistic child.

Sakugan gets political, but not really.

Throughout the episode we see that Gugumber and Memenpu are captured by a character named Yuri because the girl who claimed Gugumber owed her money has asked Yuri to complete a hacking job for her and has said that the money Gugumber owes her can pay Yuri. That we never really established the validity of her claim that Gugumber owed her money doesn’t seem to play into this situation at all. In fact, Gugumber never once protests owing her money even though she kind of decided that on her own.

Anyway, all of that is set up for Memenpu and Gugumber to be brought into a new colony where they hear the local politician speaking about equality and helping orphaned children (so we know he’s evil) before Yuri and his gang lead them into the under-belly of the colony where those who haven’t succeeded end up. Here the episode established a pretty soft ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality as we get yet another montage of Yuri and his gang, accompanied by Memenpu and Gugumber, pull off some basic heists stealing food and money.

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The problem Sakugan has is that we have no attachment to this colony and the shallow over-view of the situation we are given barely sketches in enough for us to care. Even the politician announcing they will close all the orphanages because of complaints that not all orphans are helped equally if only some are in orphanages is just kind of there as a catalyst to push the climax of the episode rather than something that seems plausible.

Weirdly, no one seems to ask where all these orphans will go or what the impact of a massive increase in homeless children could be to the colony. Nor does anyone seem particularly willing to ask why there are so many children without parents in the first place in this colony.

Without background or context, its Sakugan becomes bad politician must be taken down vs more lovable under-dog whose own ideology gets a little twisted along the way until Gugumber, our weird source of wisdom, manages to show him the error of his ways.

I guess, compared to episodes that focus more on Memenpu and Gugumber’s relationship, or even episodes where its more focused on survival in the labyrinth, this episode just didn’t quite hit the mark. The story felt shallow, the new characters barely got time to be more than just a name and one personality trait, and honestly the resolution here was pretty ordinary.

Yuri’s struggle and anger could have been a really decent plot point to build a story around if handled a little more deftly but honestly it all just kind of happened.

About the only thing of significance is that Gugumber and Memenpu aren’t leaving the colony alone at the end of the episode and I kind of hope that without all the extras that the characters who have joined them on their journey will now get some decent fleshing out. Otherwise, this could be quite the step backwards for Sakugan this season.

Images from: Sakugan. Dir. J Wada. Satelight. 2021

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Karandi James

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As smart as Memenpu is, she’s clearly never heard the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’ and Gagumber has clearly learned that there’s no stopping her once she is set on something. Given the near disaster that occurs in this episode of Sakugan you’d hope that maybe she’d learn a bit from the experience but it seems unlikely that she’ll pause to consider the possible danger the next time something grabs her interest.

Sakugan brings a child-like joy to discovery and an adult view on the dangers that come with it.

In episode 4 of Sakugan, Memenpu and Gagumber were in trouble with some bureaucrat over their antics in the labyrinth and this episode sees them heading out to perform some labour to make amends. However, it is clear that Merooro, the bureaucrat, and Memenpu are kind of on the same wave-length as when they arrive at their destination they are both pretty thrilled by trees, wind, birds and just generally looking around.

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In this sequence, Gagumber is most definitely the odd one out with limited curiosity or care for things that don’t serve an immediate purpose for him and largely he just wants to get whatever the job is done and get out of there.

There’s a solid attempt in this episode to link to our society as Merooro makes repeated comments about the need to preserve culture and locations, such as the forest in this instance, for the future. Unfortunately, it is about as subtle as a brick and feels like kind of unnecessary messaging intruding upon a story that more or less would have conveyed the same meaning without the heavy-handed approach.

I kind of feel writers need to trust audiences to get the point. We don’t need a character in Sakugan to lecture us and even if he was actually talking to Gagumber, it comes across as a little patronising.

Not to mention, Merooro as a character hasn’t exactly won audiences over. This weird guy who showed up last episode and has some quite quirky mannerisms being melodramatic about the destruction of an environment is hardly the best way to get the point across.

Anyway, turns out that there’s an area near the forest that Merooro names the ‘God of the Wind’ and for whatever reason its a giant ancient piece of technology that controls the winds and part of it is broken. Of course just getting to the broken part is going to be an adventure all on its own but Memenpu is on the trail of something new and exciting and she’s not going to let that go.

Though she suffers a number of set-backs in this episode, including two near-misses, it is disappointing to see that nothing really seems to have any impact on her as a character. While I love the dynamic between her and Gagumber, at some point on this journey I really want to see Memenpu start to grow up a little because after five episodes her character is pretty fixed in place and it just doesn’t seem likely that she could go through all these things and not change even a little.

Though Sakugan has brought Gagumber a little further than where he started. He now at least accepts that he can’t shelter Memenpu from everything. All he can do is go with her and try to keep her safe. A task made somewhat more difficult by her own choices.

I do kind of hope that Sakugan explores more about this old technology and the reason all these colonies are underground. I mean, I suspect we’ll get the usual kind of answer about some kind of apocalyptic scenario, but it would be nice to get some kind of answer about how all this came about.

Plus, I’ll give this episode points for cute vultures.

You don’t see enough vultures in anime.

Anyway, it was a fun episode of Sakugan with a bit of a mission, some sight-seeing, a random game of shogi mid-way along, some near-death experiences, cute vultures, and some more father-daughter moments. Looking forward to seeing what is next.

Images from: Sakugan. Dir. J Wada. Satelight. 2021

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Karandi James

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While Mieruko-Chan is giving us a beautiful friendship between main characters Miko and Hana, Sakugan is really going all in on the odd-couple dynamics of father-daughter duo Memenpu and Gugumber. Which kind of works because they are fun enough except that it kind of feels like any growth these two make toward accepting the other and working together kind of resets at the start of each episode and we’re back to shouting and smug one-upping each other.

And that is probably my biggest complaint so far with this series because everything else is pretty solid from the fun opening song to the ongoing journey this team is on, Sakugan keeps pushing forward and each episode moves along at a pretty rapid pace bringing us to the next event that the pair encounter.

Sakugan is a fun romp but with the characters feeling stagnant it may not rise to be more than that.

This episode of Sakugan begins with Gugumber imprisoned for whatever it was they did in the labyrinth that the regulators didn’t like. However, while waiting to find out what the penalty for that is both Gugumber and Memenpu are left to explore the colony of Jolly-Jolly.

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It’s the viewer’s first look at a colony outside of the one we began in and while on the surface level it looks much the same (given it is a subterranean city) this one has all the trappings of a pseudo Italy with an ancient colosseum, fake canals that trains run down, pizza and other Italian specialties as foods to purchase.

Memenpu takes to tourism in a flash happily taking in the sites and we get a montage of the two doing the tourist thing. It’s actually kind of a sweet father-daughter moment. Then Sakugan pushes things forward again with Memenpu running off to try a new restaurant and Gugumber heading to the bar to try to pick up a date.

It goes about as well as you would expect.

After repeated rejections the girl he does pick up is clearly following him and up to no good and naturally he ends up embroiled in a situation well outside of his control. Despite separating Gugumber from Memenpu they still bring her back to the bar in order to put in yet another visual gag where the father-daughter team are so embroiled in their own argument that they don’t see the gangsters entering the bar until it is too late.

The scene works but it makes you wonder why they bothered to send Memenpu off in the first place if they were going to use her to set-up the next sequence.

The rest of the episode of Sakugan is more or less Gugumber being held by the gangsters, rescued by the lady he was trying to pick up, and a series of chase and fight sequences. It’s all pretty silly and clearly doesn’t have much bearing on anything other than introducing the sassy female character who is apparently going to turn up again. But it doesn’t really need to. It’s fun to watch and the episode comes full circle with the regulator stepping back into the scene for the final word on the caper.

I still would like more from the central duo here. As much as the story is fun and I’m loving the adventure they are on, I really want to see some growth from the main pair. It’s what will change this from being fun to being great but right at the moment it isn’t quite there. I kind of hope Sakugan manages to be great.

Images from: Sakugan. Dir. J Wada. Satelight. 2021

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Karandi James

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You would think a high risk environment with life and death hanging in the balance of every decision that you would put aside your personal baggage and work constructively with the person whose actions may very well cost you your life. Not so it Sakugan where dysfunctional father and daughter team, Memenpu and Gagumber, continue to flail their way through the labyrinth following a glowing map to a dream tower.

In case that makes it seem like the episode wasn’t fun to watch, I apologise. This was a very fun episode. Not really logical and there’s no reason why either character should still be alive but seriously the dynamic between father and daughter established in episode 1 continues to be a blast even if it isn’t overly helpful.

Sakugan’s Motto: I Can Do It Alone; Until I Can’t.

The opening sequence this week has Gagumber collecting some pink crystal thing and then Memenpu locking him out of the controls and claiming she’s going to do better. She probably would have except that she gets distracted by something in the distance and ends up crashing, skinning her knee in the process.

As usual though, this isn’t the time for either character to learn a lesson in communication. Gagumber continues to be snide and sarcastic, and throughout the episode gives Memenpu directives and ultimatums that she promptly ignores, and she continues to think she’s above him, knows everything, and brashly charges into danger.

You would think one or two life threatening scenarios would be enough to teach her some basic caution but about the only consideration she gives Gagumber’s words this episode is taking on the notion that if you feel right you should go for it. And admittedly, on this one point in common the two do sync very well for a brief moment at the end of the episode.

Given the episode of Sakugan is called Brains and Hearts, it isn’t too hard to see what they were going for in this episode. But if that were the case you would think they’d make Gagumber’s case a little more solid. Largely he sits back and waits for Memenpu to fail rather than trying to explain to her what the potential problems are with her plans. Or he just insists they are going to do things his way without giving her a reason why.

Understandably, someone like Memenpu isn’t finding his arguments particularly compelling and ultimately she does things her own way. Whether that has her falling from a cliff, nearly sliding into a waterway, running into a blocked passage or in one case nearly devoured by bugs, doesn’t really seem to have her change her mind that she is somehow right.

However, despite the plot feeling as rinse and repeat as watching Wile E Coyote trying to catch Road-Runner, where Sakugan shines in episode 3 is in the fact that despite both of these characters being pig-headed and butting heads constantly, you can still feel the sense that these two are genuinely family.

In Memenpu’s most desperate moment she does call out for Gagumber and Gugumber, while he might grumble and complain, trusts Memenpu enough that he doesn’t pluck her bodily from her chair while she’s controlling the robot even if she’s taking them a direction he doesn’t want to go. While they are coming at everything from a different perspective, the two of them are alike in stubbornness but also alike in that they are connected.

The other enjoyable part of episode 3 of Sakugan is that we finally really get a look at this Labyrinth. We learn about red flags and marker routes and we get to see the dangers of the earthquakes and shifting paths first-hand. Also, a close-up look at some of the monsters and dangers that lurk in the darkness.

I’m definitely looking forward to more of the journey these two characters are on even if this anime is a little light on logical consequences.

Images from: Sakugan. Dir. J Wada. Satelight. 2021

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Karandi James

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The second episode of Sakugan picks up exactly where episode 1 finished with Gugumber and Memenpu trying to get his old vehicle moving. The two are still bickering but it is clear Memenpu is in a bit a shock about the violence and death that has just intruded itself upon her life. Despite her earnest desire to explore, Gugumber has done a decent job of protecting her from these harsh realities up until now so seeing them come crashing down upon her emotionally added a bit of weight to this sequence.

However there isn’t a lot of time for emotions as the fight is still ongoing and for whatever reason the kaiju that broke into the colony seem to be targeting the pair. Seems likely it is because of the mysterious map that the unknown person left Memenpu in the last episode but we aren’t going to get any kind of answer from this episode. This episode of Sakugan seems to want to hit the accelerator on the action sequences and really not let up until the end.

Sakugan is balancing comedy, action and raw emotion in one explosive sequence involving giant monster and mechs.

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The series of action set pieces could have become quite dull as really it is just Kaiju chasing after a blue tank-like-robot and destroying buildings with dust and rubble flying. This continues for the vast majority of the episode. What keeps the audience engaged though is the focus on what is happening inside the mech with Gugumber clearly falling into an old role but still maintaining his presence as Memenpu’s father.

We also learn more about the world of Sakugan as we learn about the Kaiju having cables that tether them to the ground. While a lot of these rules seem to be explained to us just so we can be impressed when these Kaiju break them doesn’t change the fact that are knowledge of how this world is going to work is expanding. Then we find out about the sheer bureaucracy at the heart of the colony where Gugumber can’t even get a gate opened even though his intent is to lead the giant kaiju out of the colony and probably save a lot of lives.

The fight moves throughout the colony, we encounter the other Markers who were waiting for Walsh’s return and we get to see the emotional impact of a death that occurred last episode. That’s something that doesn’t happen often enough in anime. Too often characters die and nobody really brings them up again or at least supporting cast members don’t seem to really acknowledge they died. Here the death had real weight and not just on the young Memenpu.

Then Memenpu and Gugumber lead both of the Kaiju out of the colony and at this point we see what makes this father-daughter team so good. While Memenpu is still in a little shock, Gugumber has finally got her calm enough to employ her usual stellar mind to the problem at hand. With Memenpu directing, Gugumber executes a plan that is suitably spectacular to end such a set-piece and brings the fight to a decided close.

Again, the reality of this world is enhanced when we find out through listening to the DJ that their actions weren’t without consequences. Such a bureaucratic society wasn’t going to just let their actions pass without some kind of penalty.

However, Gugumber and Memenpu are now both kind of ready for the journey that Memenpu has wanted to take. Gugumber wasn’t emotionally ready to take a risk and move on before. Memenpu had no real understanding of the dangers they were going to face. Both of them are now in a place where a journey is possible. And the episode ends on that note with the two setting out leaving us to wait for episode 3 to really start the exploration beyond the colony.

And you know what? Sakugan has done a really decent job of making me want to see that journey. I’m looking forward to episode 3. I am loving the father-daughter dynamic that has been established and the way that relationship isn’t stagnating but rather continues to be build on and fleshed out. The action was decent but we never lost emotional connection with the characters throughout. All things considered, I’m really hopeful that Sakugan will remain solidly entertaining.

Images from: Sakugan. Dir. J Wada. Satelight. 2021

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Karandi James

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I’ll admit, Sakugan wasn’t high on my priority list for the Fall 2021 season. I had planned to check out the first episode and maybe come back and binge watch it later if it seemed okay but after watching the first episode this anime has rocketed up my watch list.

Part of my concern was the write up given to Sakugan which more or less made me think this was going to be Made in Abyss (but a lesser version). The promotional image with the young girl plunging down into an underground passage with a robotic thing and the description of the markers who are making maps of the Labyrinth as well as the missing mother all just kind of made me feel like this was going to feel derivative.

While there’s certainly all of those similarities, I’m very pleased to say that episode one of Sakugan most definitely managed to find its own identity and set up a pretty compelling premise as well as the father and daughter team that seem to be at the heart of it all.

Though I am still a little cautious given the director was also credited with the mess that was Caligula. I know director’s alone don’t make or break an anime but I am at least going to keep my expectations moderate until I see that this isn’t dissolving into an incomprehensible mess.

What works in Sakugan?

Perhaps because the source here is actually a novel, but the two main characters, the nine year old Memenpu and her father Gagumber, come across as really well developed. Admittedly, that doesn’t mean you always like them and the introduction with them shrieking at each other after taking each other out in a mock battle of sorts doesn’t exactly endear them to the audience.

However, as the episode proceeds we see that these two characters are very real with a history together. They also have rhythms for their normal everyday life as well as a mix of love, pride, and aggravation with one another that comes from the life they’ve lived prior to the story starting. This isn’t just a young female character being plopped into the life of an adult male and watching a relationship grow.

It is also pretty amazing how hard the father is working to protect her even while acknowledging at some point Memenpu is going to leave the nest. While his efforts aren’t exactly the most nuanced or reasonable, his motivation is a well grounded one.

This is a well established father-daughter dynamic and it kind of elevates what ends up being a pretty basic introduction to a dystopian world.

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While I said Sakugan is a pretty basic dystopian, keep in mind we’ve only had one episode of introduction. What we get is an underground city that feels authentic and lived in as well as roles and jobs within the society. We also get an indication of other colonies and a vast underground labyrinth connecting it and the hint that there is a tower on the surface, somewhere.

Why humans are underground in colonies and why it is so unstable with earthquakes and the like has yet to be answered by Sakugan. Nor do we know why there are Kaiju, giant monsters that cause great damage that we see first hand in the final act of this first episode. These are questions I’m sure we’ll get answers to as the world expands and our characters move beyond their starting point.

I think I preferred this to a narrator simply telling me about some tragedy that lead to humans abandoning the surface with a montage of images. Its left me curious and gives the story directions to explore and fill out rather than taking a narrative short-cut gets the job done but is hardly compelling viewing.

There’s a great balance in this first episode in setting up Memenpu’s quest with her receiving what is most likely a map of the underground, as well as establishing her relationship with her father, giving us some world building, and finishing with an action set-piece that is both visually interesting and provides a real reason for the characters to get moving.

Sure there’s a blatant attempt to tug our heart strings or shock us in all of this but basically this is a solidly built first episode. Sakugan is definitely one on my watch list after that effort.

Images from: Sakugan. Dir. J Wada. Satelight. 2021

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Karandi James

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