Sakura Quest Episode 15 Review – “The Queen’s Return”

(Spoilers in this review) 

The show has returned to its previous format where every mini-arc is finished within two episodes. And it seems the key players for episode 15 and episode 16 will be Ririko and…the old man! Ririko’s character could stand to be fleshed out more, after all. And we still don’t know much about old man Kadota. I’m sure this mini-arc will shed some light on him. Seems like there’s something in the Sakura Pond, which is being drained for the first time in 70 years, that he wants no one to see.

Despite the episode title, Yoshino plays a minimal part this week. She does help Ririko realize that going beyond Manoyama is an option since Yoshino has come to accept her hometown and the countryside as a whole. She, Shiori, and Ririko also all get a little depressed when they remember that Yoshino’s contract is ending soon (which means she might leave Manoyama and return back home).

As expected of PA Works, the background art is beautiful. There’s also a few yuri shiptease moments here and there, hooray. I’m still shipping MakixSanae and YoshinoxRiriko.

The episode gets me excited over how we’ll finally learn some details about a side character who’s been around since episode one. Hopefully next week’s episode makes this whole affair meaningful in some way since the series is slowly running out of episodes. Not a bad episode.