AKA: 天穂のサクナヒメ ; Tensui no Sakuna Hime

Genre: Period Fantasy

Length: Television series, 13 episodes, 24 minutes each

Distributor: Currently available streaming on Netflix.

Content Rating: 12+ (Violence, alcohol consumption.)

Related Series: Season 2 (TV), Video games.

Also Recommended: Ranking of Kings; Ah! My Goddess

Notes: Based on a video game developed by Edelweiss, published by Marvelous

Rating:

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin

Synopsis

Princess Sakuna is a lazy, spoiled Harvest Goddess, who has no real experience with harvests at all; she's maintaining her status in the Lofty Realm with offerings not from her own efforts, but from the store of rice her missing parents left as a legacy. But when she makes two major mistakes in a row- letting humans into the Lofty Realm, AND accidentally burning up that legacy- Lady Kamuhitsuki, the Chief Goddess, exiles Sakuna to the Isle of Demons, where her parents lived.

Review

There are two major themes here. One is the centrality to the Japanese culture, and reverence, for rice; the other concerns redemption. (Of Rice and Redemption would have been a much more attractive, AND a much more precise, English title than the one it has.) Sakuna's struggles embody both, as her first task on the Isle of Demons is to finally get some intimate experience with Harvests, as she has to put in some physical efforts to plant and grow rice, since the abilities of her human companions (the human intruders got exiled along with her) are somewhat limited. Fortunately, they find an instruction manual (OK, instruction scroll) written by Sakuna's parents. (The minutiae of rice growing occupy much of the first episodes, which might make the pace a bit slow for the juvenile audience that this seems mainly aimed at.) Both Sakuna, and her (usually best friend) fellow goddess Princess Kokorowa, are drawn as little girls, while the humans are rendered in a simplistic, caricatured way; the character art reminded me a little of Ranking of Kings, though this one never gets quite as dark as that one sometimes did.

Sakuna DID grow on me after a while. She even proves an excellent fighter; I guess that's partly in her genes (her father was a war god), while part of it is due to her magical sash, which she can use like a whip, or rope, or even a protective shield. (Both Heaven Official's Blessing and (God help us!) Tsugumomo were recalled here.) She still needed one more weapon to deal with the final villain(s) here, though- a weapon she couldn't acquire without some emotional torment.

Speaking of tormented souls, I really liked Princess Kokorowa, who's the Goddess of Invention. I have to acknowledge that she did have one SERIOUS moral lapse, but gods are reputed to do things they later regret, and the show's not just about Sakuna's redemption. After all, Kokorowa's blue costume nicely complements Sakuna's red one, and I was fascinated by the gears that are always turning behind her back. (Remember, Goddess of Invention?)

The show has a mascot character, a lion-dog (I guess) named Tama, that usually floats around with its tongue sticking out, and tries to give Sakuna sound advice (as per Sailor Moon's Luna et al), which often gets ignored (as ALSO per Sailor Moon's Luna et al.)

The goddesses I thought interesting, well-developed characters. But the humans... less so. The roster:

-Katsura Takamori (AKA Tauemon) is a failed samurai, and a clumsy fellow in general. He was once in a gang of bandits, but ended up saving their captives (the rest of the humans here), which earned the enmity of the bandit leader, named Ishimaru, who we'll be hearing from, from time to time. Katsura's got probably the most substantial backstory of any of our human cast- which isn't saying much.

-Myrthe is a missionary for a monotheistic religion, so I was a little curious how she dealt with the existence of goddesses. Well, she DOES fit them into her cosmology, and she does like to take notes (in a little notebook) on all the extraordinary things she experiences, a nod to the scientific method that I of course found commendable. Her hair is quite attractive, the ONE time we see it; it's usually covered with a bonnet.

-Kinta is a boy with a bitter, sarcastic attitude, especially toward Yui, a young girl we'll consider next. I always found him obnoxious. He turns out to have some talent as a blacksmith, which helps in creating farming tools, and weapons of war, AND implements that serve either function in Sakuna's hands.

-Yui is a timid young girl whose origin, one could say, is from a very disparate genre from the rest of the show, but a credible job is nevertheless made of fitting her into the mythos of ancient Japan. Her specialty is weaving.

- And finally there's Kaimaru, a child that seemingly is unable to speak. (EVERYONE gets at least some important function in the show; his takes quite a while to reveal itself.)

Villains include that bandit leader Ishimaru (who somehow ends up on the island with everyone else); a number of demons, many in the shape of rabbits, and many of which are, fortunately, completely edible (remember, food is scarce here, until Sakuna et al can get their rice crop going); and the Final Demon Boss, named Omizuchi. Does Sakuna finally prove up to the task of taking out these evil creatures? Well, remember this show IS aimed at younger viewers...

Again, the goddesses were fine, but I would have chosen a different human cast, or at least developed them a little better; and the final showdown didn't surprise me all that much. Still, Sakuna DOES grow a lot as a character over the course of the show, and (except for that one LITTLE hiccup) I very much liked Princess Kokorowa. Still better for kids, though. — Allen Moody

Recommended Audience: Crunchy says 12 and up. Some violence and scary spots for the younger viewers. There's what looks like alcohol consumption by a minor. (Except she really ISN'T a minor; to quote Jessica Rabbit, she's just drawn that way.)