Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin

Episode 4

Now that they've figured out how to keep themselves fed for the time being, this seems as good a time as any to start learning a little more about our core cast outside of our titular goddess. This week, we get to learn a little more about Myrthe who up to this point hasn't distinguished herself beyond her lack of cooking skills and being this world's equivalent to a foreigner. While nothing we learn here does too much to expand her beyond that, it does at least provide an excuse to learn a little more about this show's world.

As Myrthe tries and fails to teach the kids all about God, we see how she came to be in the land of Yanato in the first place. She came as part of a pilgrimage to spread the teachings of Formos, who she believed to be the one true god of their world. While encountering a goddess like Sakuna would seemingly contradict that, she instead sees her and the other gods of the Lofty Realm as angels—and otherwise seems genuinely interested in learning more about their culture. Given the obvious parallels between this and Christian priests who came to Japan for similar purposes before Westernization, I was expecting the difference in faith here to be a bigger topic of discussion so I was surprised that it didn't end up going in that direction. Of course, that also might be because it probably would have been a little more interesting than what the actual conflict of the episode ends up being. Still, it at least made for a good way of naturally expanding the show's world so I can't complain too much.

As for the actual issue that the gang faces this week, they decide to explore the island a little more and run into a group of kappas who seem wary of Myrthe and her blue eyes. The reason for this is that they're a similar color to the eyes of a fish demon that's been hunting them. And after Sakuna manages to deal with it, they decide to start helping around the rice fields as thanks. Between that and a sub-plot about Kinta wanting to make a forge so he can make tools for Sakuna as she deals with stuff around the island, this episode is the most this show has ever felt like a video game adaptation—and it's the most bored I've been with it up till now. It has made me at least marginally more interested in playing the actual game for one important reason: the kappas look adorable. Between their derpy expressions and cute little seaweed caps, I'd get plushies of them. Heck, they were so good I was pretty much contractually obligated to screencap them for this review so everyone could marvel at how perfect they are. With that kind of grade-A monster design, I can't be down on this episode too much. And it does make me more curious about what else the series has packed in that department so that's at least one more thing to look forward to. In the meantime though, while this episode wasn't slow enough to be a total deal-breaker, I'm hoping that things pick back up again sooner rather than later.

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