English Dub Review: Sakura Quest “The Queen, Convicted”

They say you can’t go home again.

Spoilers Below

After the events of the founding festival, all of the girls are shaken up. On one hand, they put incredible effort into pulling off the festival and accomplished more than they ever had before. On the other hand, forces out of their control made all that hard work moot. There was very little in the way of results, and there wasn’t much of a positive effect on the town. With this defeat in hand, each of the girls needs to refuel. Maki goes to stay with a friend and will be watching her in a small play. Sanae returns to Tokyo, staying with her parents. Yoshino, on the other hand, heads back to her home town, small as it is. She’s pretty depressed and sleeping all day. Her parents are wondering what her plans are after the Manoyama job ends, and want her to come back to work there. But, that doesn’t sound like her.

Maki and Sanae’s trip bears fruit. Their old acquaintances note how the job has changed them, given them strength, confidence, and professionalism. Yoshino, on the other hand, joins her family at the local festival. She hears the story of how her parents had their first date at this festival, and that convinced her mother to move to their home town. This is inspirational to her. It wasn’t just her father that made her mother stay. She fell in love with the town. Just like Yoshino was falling in love with Manoyama. Seeing how her town is revitalized, she decides with renewed vigor to do the same for Manoyama. Speaking of which, Shiori and Ririko are working on a new project. Since the Founding Festival had a problem with places for visitors to stay, they start working to turn some of the empty houses into charming bed & breakfasts. Everything seems to be working out, but they run into a bunch of men who have been lurking around town, hiding in the abandoned homes. To make matters worse, these guys don’t speak a lick of Japanese! Is that Spanish? Oh, Noes! What do they want with our Manoyama maidens?

This episode was charming if a bit sullen. Each character got a bit of time in the sun, even if Yoshino was the focus. I liked that her inspiration wasn’t somebody coming by with a pep talk, but hearing the story of why her mother left the city. This was a plot that the story needed to come back to. We heard ample mentions that Yoshino was from a small town, but nothing was stated about why her family was still there if it was dying. Apparently, it wasn’t. Yoshi was just dead set on being special and going “out there”. Now, she may be finally making the decision to settle in a small town herself. I thought the scenes with Sanae’s friends was good. Each of them was business women, with their own paths carved for themselves. They had fun together, but it wasn’t frippery and bubbliness. I felt like it was well written, and made me admire them.

The voice acting was great for this episode. You could hear how each girl was uncomfortable with going home and trying to integrate, even for such a short time. Alexis Tipton did a good job with Yoshino. I could connect well with her emotions here. Similarly, the animation is quite good, as is the background art. There weren’t any errors at all, and the characters were extra expressive. I don’t know what it was about the Spanish-speakers, but their animation seemed a step above the rest of the episode. It felt fluid. So, I’m going to say that this episode was worth eight trips home out of ten.