Review of Sagrada Reset

Review contains slight spoilers about Masamune Urachi Sakurada Reset was a painful but worthwhile experience. This may sound weird at first, but as this review goes on, I hope to make it clear to why I wrote that starting sentence. There are factors that I thought the show did really well, while there were others that ruined the show for me and caused the low average score and the large drop count. The first half of the show was pretty much character introductions and build up. We learn about the town of Sakurada and the gifted people that live in it, following the lives of two highschool students. Misora Haruki is a quiet girl who has the ability to save a moment in time for 3 days and reset everything back to that certain point, causing everyone to forget what had happened after she used her ability, including herself. Kei Asai is a quick thinking problem solver who has the ability to remember everything he has experienced, even stuff that happened during a reset. With the compatbility of their abilities, they go through each arc solving a new case and problem, introducing a new character and learning about their ability and personality. This is where the problems start. The personalities of each character feel incredibly empty. Most of them rarely show any sign of emotions, and the way they speak feels boring and monotone. The dialogue also manages to throw in philosophical questions like the Swampman and the Ship of Theseus. It feels unrealistic that a bunch of high school students are talking about these kinda topics, and it really takes you out of the anime. The fact that the characters are pretty much emotionless androids ruin any kind of drama that the first half tried to create, even though the drama itself was quite interesting and the way they used their abilities to solve them were quite clever. There are also quite a few scenes that feel pretty pointless to the overall story, and some characters that are introduced but having no real importance to offer. All these factors make the first half an incredibly tough ordeal to get through.

The second half is where the story really kicks in. To be more specific, the part where it really starts to pick up is the Eden arc. Old characters start to show a little more emotion, although not that much, while the painful dialogue slowly becomes more tolerable, even though they continue to use philosophical questions and monotone voices. I don't know if this is because the show's script got better or if I just got used to the way Sakurada's characters talk, but I could actually enjoy the anime more than I previously could. The drama feels more genuine as characters struggle to come to terms with the way others use their abilities, truly making it worth investing my time into this show. More characters are introduced and are still slightly unrealistic, but they also feel significantly better compared to the introductions in the first half, especially with the appearance of Masamune Urachi. Urachi is the director of the Administration Bureau's Management Department and becomes the main antagonist of the show. He has one simple goal he wants to achieve, to remove abilities from Sakurada. The show really lets you understand exactly why he wants to do this, and you slightly sympathise with him. Of course, our MC Kei wants to prevent this, and the clashing of their opposing ideals is what the show had been building up to. This is where the show really shines as both characters attempt to outsmart their opponents so they may reign triumphant. The ending is truly amazing as they use the abilities of their teams to solve the issues that had been made apparent in Sakurada.

In the end, I can't say for sure if I'd recommend Sakurada Reset to anyone. I'm glad I finished this show, but if I had to choose between rewatching it or forgetting it, I'd probably never be able to come to a decision. If you think you can endure the dialogue and characters and see what the story has to offer, I would definitely tell you to give it a shot and see if you like it or not. It's sad knowing if these things had been different, the anime would have been more well received and might possibly have become one of the best to come out of this year for me.

Thanks for reading, send feedback if you have any!