Sakura Quest Episode 2 Review – “The Gathering of the Five Champions”

Two more girls join the fray! Meanwhile, Yoshino tries to weasel her way out of her year-long contract!

(Spoilers in this review) 

The old man is willing to let Yoshino out of her contract should she manage to sell 1,000 Chupakabura manju within a week. The outcome should be obvious (I mean, the series had just started and there’s no way people would buy that many maju within a single week), but Yoshino tries her best. “The next year of my life is at stake here!”

Yoshino heads into a pub to see if she can get locals to buy the manju. She also gets some advice from a fortune teller – it seems like she really buys into the whole fortune telling thing since she did the same thing back in episode 1 when she really couldn’t afford to.

Yoshino and Shiori decide to listen to the fortune teller and ends up at a Japanese Sweets store. Unfortunately the place is run by a old lady who doesn’t get along with the old man, so it seems unlikely that they can get the sweets shop to sell the manju. However, Ririko, Shiori’s shy childhood friend, is willing to tell them all about the Chupakabura. One would think Shiori would already know what those are considering that she lives here, but I guess the narrative needed a way to introduce Ririko.

Armed with the knowledge of the Chupakabura’s origins, Yoshino decides that they should create a website with an emphasis on occult. It just so happens that Sanae, a web entrepreneur, recently moved into town. Time to ask her for help!

In this episode, we learn that both Sanae and Maki do not hold Tokyo as high regard as Yoshino does. Yoshino continously claims that Tokyo has everything and anything as Japan’s economic center, but she did not actually manage to find a job. Even though Sanae admits (later on) that she was thinking of moving back to Tokyo, she also states that she had gotten tired of city life and that people need to spread their wings and not fixate on city life. “With the right mindset, you can find a place for yourself anywhere.”

Maki similarly admits that she has done many things as an actor (it’s tough work that receives little pay) yet she resides in the country side. Does one really need to go to city to live a fulfilled life?

Maki and Sanae end up getting to a bit of an argument (since Maki implies that Sanae is only helping them because she wants to feel useful or something). After apologizing for saying too much, Maki suggests that the girls make a promotional video of sorts.

Ririko comes to help out (by sneaking out) and is asked by Sanae about who she is. Unlike Yoshino, Ririko is comfortable enough to say that she’s a normal person. Maybe there’s something to be said about that, but I can’t think of anything.

So it seems like we’ve been introduced to Yoshino’s future team / co-workers. They seem to work pretty well together and are entertaining. This bodes well for Sakura Quest, in my opinion!