Review of Sagrada Reset
Sakurada Reset is unfortunately another one of those series that got literally zero attention from anywhere in the anime community. On top of that, out of the people who have started the show, over 25% have dropped it. However, in my opinion, and to my surprise, this turned out to be one of the best written stories of this year. --- ***REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS*** This is more about outlining why I enjoyed this show despite its unpopularity and high drop rate. --- One of the things I liked most about the series was the way the story progressed. In the beginning, the characters are rather closed-off and almostseemed dull. Much of the communication between characters is done through riddles, thought experiments, or metaphorical stories. Over 1/4 of viewers quit watching the show just because the characters were "boring and emotionless." However, as Ive said before, the characters were intentionally made this way, and in that respect they are very well written. The characters at first seem to be static, but in the second half, they turn out to be dynamic characters with internal change
Haruki is a very timid and unambitious girl with zero self confidence. She lives strictly by her own set of rules, but she also has a high dependency upon others. However, in the second half, she slowly realizes her own desires and preferences; and eventually, she is able to act on her own accord. Haruki also begins to feel resentment and jealousy towards Soma, sensing her as a threat of being replaced as Kei's partner.
Kei is a very level-headed character who is able to develop a plan for any situation. Soma, having the ability of clairvoyance, is naturally several steps ahead of Kei's plans and uses him; however, she also depends on Kei in her shortcomings. Kei and Soma are very similar characters in that they both act out of selfishness, but their selfish desires also coincide with the interests of the people who are dear to them. Kei does everything in his power to stop Urachi from erasing abilities from Sakurada for selfish reasons; however, he also wants to rescue Soma from her internal conflicts. Soma goes as far as killing herself and using Kei for her plans to selfishly escape her fate of being captured by the Bureau and becoming the second Witch; however, at the same time she chooses her actions with the desire to fulfill Kei's happiness. Soma is deeply conflicted because she wants to be the one that Kei loves; but she knows he will choose Haruki, not her. In the very beginning of the show, Soma brings Kei and Haruki together for the sake of both her plans and Kei's happiness, knowing that it will ultimately damage their relationship. Soma acts for Kei's happiness even though it pains her.
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Another aspect of this series that is really well-done is the use of abilities. This isnt just some shounen anime that shows off flashy supernatural powers; and it isnt a repeat of Charlotte's trainwreck. The series is good at defining both what the ability can do, and what limitations the ability has. The show also focuses on how different abilities can be used together in complex ways to achieve the characters' goals.
Right up front, we are told Haruki's Reset ability has 3 limits: she can only Save once every 24 hrs; and that save only lasts for 72 hours; and like everyone else, she loses memories after a reset. However, with Kei's Perfect Memory ability, together they are able to circumvent Haruki's memory loss flaw and effectively change the past. Kei instructs Haruki to Save immediately before a pivotal point in time; then he uses the next 72 hours to discover the events that happen; then instructs Haruki to Reset before the Save expires, so he can change the past. Because Haruki can only Save once every 24 hours, Kei only has one chance to change what happens in the first day after a Reset; however he effectively has 3 chances to change the events that happened in the final 24 hours of the 72 hour window.
Urachi's ability first seems like it can only remove people's memories; however, he actually has the ability to turn back the time for one specific object. He uses his ability to frequently turn back the time for his own mind, thus intentionally losing memories. This can be used to circumvent Sakuin's lie detection and Soma's clairvoyance, which depends on conversation. Kagaya's ability first seems like it can only be used to lock/seal doors; however his ability permanently seals objects in space and time, and can be used to petrify people, or freeze the exact current condition of an object. Object that are sealed with Kagaya's hand do not change even after a Reset. Therefore, Urachi uses Kagaya's ability to seal notebooks that contain his memories; that way he can later remember the things he intentionally forgot.
There are also a couple occasions where several abilities are used together to accomplish a goal. There were 5-6 (i forget) people and abilities involved in reviving Soma. Another number of abilities were used together to bluff the Bureau and kidnap Urachi. And these are just a few examples. In fact, there aren't many instances where only one ability alone is used to do something significant. The well-defined structure of abilities and the ways abilities are used are what makes the supernatual aspect of the story interesting.