Bold Will to dream The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, I wonder if that sounds as cool as it did in my head when I was picking a name for my post topic for this month’s OWLS. Hey everyone!!!!
And welcome to my first post for the OWLS this year. For the new readers, what is the OWLS you ask.
What is the OWLS?
OWLS – Otaku Warriors for Liberty and Self-Respect.
We are a group of otaku bloggers who promote acceptance of all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and disability through the use of anime and manga. We emphasise the importance of respect, kindness, and tolerance to every human being.
It’s a group I have been a part of for a year plus now since my post, Thankful, 2 Anime I’m Thankful For which coincidental one of my topics on that post is what I am going to be talking about today.
So our topic for the month of February was Legacy.
Legacy
We have mentors, teachers, coaches, and role models whose stories inspired us in some way. Even when these role models are gone, their stories will live on from generation to generation. For this month, we will be exploring stories that have inspired or taught us some important lessons about life.
So for me, the story that inspired and taught me important lessons of life was The Pet Girl of Sakurasou (Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo).
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou
Author: Hajime Kamoshida
Episodes: 24
Premiered: Fall 2012
Studios: J.C. Staff
Plot
After being kicked out of the normal dorm for keeping a stray cat, Sorata Kanda moves into Sakura Dormitory. As he starts to get used to life in the dorm, Mashiro Shiina, a world-famous artist who cannot even take care of her daily life, moves in. Sorata is forced to become Mashiro’s caretaker.
Why did I pick The Pet Girl of Sakurasou?
There are tons of amazing anime I have enjoyed over the years. Some anime shows were hilarious; some made me cry inside for the characters and some had scenes I found myself coming back to rewatch weeks and months after I finished the series.
But in the end, not many have pulled at my heartstrings has The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, it’s a show that’s easy to relate with. It spins the usually age-old battle of hard work vs. talent idea on its head and shows just how much hard work is needed by anyone even a talented person who wants to accomplish a dream.
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou (Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo) is one of my favourite animes, maybe it’s because I can really connect with Kanda Sorata, he’s confused, conflicted and insecure but now that I think about it, am I that special aren’t we really all like that in some way or form.
He isn’t talented, I mean in a prodigy way like Shiina Mashiro. I’ve been confused about what I want to do and even now that I think I do, I’m still not sure I’m doing it the right way.
I mean I have my goals, aspirations, dreams or whatever you want to call it now but I’m always still second-guessing myself a lot and wondering if I’m actually really good enough to accomplish them, which sometimes makes me wonder if I should stop, especially sometimes when I see someone else doing that same thing I am doing or want to do better.
I mean the creativity of others sometimes is just really amazing, and that makes me wonder if even putting in the hard work, could I come up with a fraction of that creativity?
But this all changed after I saw The Pet Girl of Sakurasou you can call it a slice-of-life, romantic comedy, but this description hardly does it much justice. When it first got recommended to me and I decided to watch it, I went into it with fairly low expectations expecting the same old same old from it’s type of genre, but it ended up being much more.
Watching a group of six high school students living in Sakura Hall: a dorm for troublemakers and misfits. Chase after their dreams even though socially they were all different – from the average student to already-established geniuses.
But even though they were all still your same typical teens: they made mistakes, got jealous, and even lash out. But they also listened, learned, and persevered. They all still need to work late nights and long hours to be good at whatever they wanted to be good at.
I wanted to join them on this adventure and have friends like these, that pushed me to be better. I wanted to face those challenges standing by their side, laugh, cry and share in their victories.
I mean this really was the push I need to keep trying and not give up, even if I wasn’t one of the best now I could improve and get better and maybe one day I would be one of the best.
Throughout the story, all of them grow more with each other than they would have alone. The Pet Girl of Sakurasou is an anime about the bonds that are formed from the pursuit of impulsive dreams, that through both laughter and tears create a bond that is more than friendship but family.
And honestly, there is a thrill of racing forward to your dreams, and yes you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but later you’ll remember these beautiful times of hard work. And to be that’s worth it. It’s more about the journey than the destination.
Thank you for reading to the very end. Jack from Animated Observation went right before me with March Comes in Like a Lion which you can read right now if you haven’t. And tomorrow Mel from Mel in Animeland is writing about Various Series (Underdog in Anime) so check it out too.
Until next time, keep dreaming….