Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin

Episode 10

Well uh…that sure didn't go as expected. Between all the revelations we got last week and the fairly dark cliffhanger it left on, I figured that even if things weren't going to get too dramatic, we'd at least see the stakes raised a bit as buildup for the finale. Instead, this episode is more or less business as usual regarding the show's general vibes. This isn't to say that the previous episode's events don't play into things, as there are still consequences but some of that is bogged down by moments that don't feel like they translated too well when going from game to animation.

The others survived the fields' destruction and managed to escape before the demons could get them. It's a little anticlimactic but killing off most of the cast would have been too dark for a show like this. I appreciate that it didn't waste any time confirming their safety. This doesn't mean there were zero setbacks though, as the fields are still gone and they fall into despair. That loss is too much for Sakuna to handle and for a moment she falls back into old habits and tries to run back to the capital to escape thinking about what happened. This time, however, she realizes that she's grown too attached to this place and the others to abandon it and decides to stick it out and start over. The others all come to the same conclusion—and before long they all start working to remove the ash from the soil and restore their rice fields. After how badly everything was destroyed, I was expecting to see Sakuna confronting the demons as her big moment of resolve. Sakuna and the others might have lost their harvest but everything they've gone through on the island has changed them all for the better, so seeing them work together to restore everything cements that growth—and how close they've become.

Unfortunately, all that only lasts about half the episode, and the rest comes off as a bit shaky. To do something about their damaged rice fields, Kokorowa suggests that she and Sakuna go to retrieve something called the Orb of Transformation which has the power to help restore them. I was expecting that to be the focus of the episode's back half, but instead, it's over in 3 or 4 minutes, and even when the two of them encounter some monsters that were guarding it, the ensuing fight takes place entirely off-screen so they retrieve it without too much trouble. This feels like something that was probably a carryover from the game since losing all that progress with the rice fields would be even more detrimental within the context of gameplay, so it would make sense to have a quest or something for getting them back in order as quickly as possible. Within the context of the show though, it's underwhelming. Considering we get this after Sakuna decides to spend as long as it takes to restore the fields to normal, it comes off as more of a cheap fix than was probably intended and feels like it undermines their resolution.

I also felt mixed about the episode's final scene about the follow-up with everything going on with the demons. Realizing that this could all happen again if they don't defeat Omizuchi, she decides to fight him but before she can do that, she discovers that Kaimaru has secretly been nursing the demon rabbit that led the other demons to their rice fields and destroyed them. At first, Sakuna is out for blood but realizing that holding onto a grudge won't get her anywhere, she decides to spare it and let go of her hate in favor of forgiveness. Breaking cycles of hate and vengeance are themes that I'm usually all for in most media but the scene is let down a bit by the reality that we haven't seen much of the demons in the show, and this is the first time it's ever played with this idea. As is, this moment feels a little less powerful than it otherwise should have and easier to imagine how much better something like this probably hit in the original game where there'd be more time spent fighting them. Still, it makes me curious to see how much this theme would play into the finale and if the same kind of forgiveness will be extended to Ishimaru, who still seems determined to cut Sakuna and the others down. If nothing else, I am at least excited to see the show commit to something a little less straightforward than I would have expected late into everything. While it's hard to tell if it'll stick the landing there, I hope it manages to pull it off.

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Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.