Sakugan

The "Labyrinth" is an expansive space deep underground where humans live in clusters known as "colonies." Over the years, the surface has become a distant memory—even perhaps only a fantasy to those who have never experienced its wonders.

Making sure humanity survives the harsh conditions of the underground, a colony's citizens can take on a variety of specialized jobs. These include "Workers," who mine precious ore to fuel the colonies, and "Markers," who journey into the Labyrinth's surprisingly lush environment to bring back information that eases navigation. However, humanity also faces a threat to its existence—creatures called "kaijuu" whose sizes range from that of a small child to an enormous building, and are hostile to any human they see. Moreover, kaijuu that are large enough can force their way into the colonies, further increasing their threat level.

Memenpu is a nine-year-old college graduate whose inventions have greatly benefitted the Workers in her local colony. Recently, however, she has been dreaming of a place with a neverending ceiling not bound by bedrock. These aspirations fuel her desire to become a Marker and explore the Labyrinth's vast unknown in search of such a fantastical place. Despite her father Gagumber's vehement disagreement, a certain incident with the kaijuu jumpstarts a dangerous yet exciting adventure that will surely alter humanity's course forever.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Memenpu Main

Amane, Kanon Japanese

Gagumber Main

Touchi, Hiroki Japanese

Zackletu Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Yuri Main

Toyonaga, Toshiyuki Japanese

Rufus Supporting

Midorikawa, Hikaru Japanese

Fidelio Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Boss Supporting

Koyama, Tsuyoshi Japanese

Sina Supporting

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Muuro Supporting

Watada, Misaki Japanese

Merooro Supporting

Hosoya, Yoshimasa Japanese

Cao, Cong Producer

Horikoshi, Masaru Producer

Hata, Hideaki Producer

Takano, Kenichi Producer

Reviews

Dec 23, 2021

Stark700

Recommended

Sakugan, is sort of an anomaly, as in the type of show that takes off on an unique adventure in a science fiction realm. It's also unique in that the anime is based from a story contest novel that ultimately became what we see today. From the science fiction category, Sakugan is really something an underrated gem I don't see people talk about much this year.

At first glance, the premise doesn't sound too special and seems like something anyone could come up with. A science fiction adventure usually depends on characters that are worth investing into and an imaginative setting. Memenpu and Gagumber are two ... characters that exmplify the daughter-father relationship in fictional stories. Both of them clearly cares for each other but aren't always on the same page. For someone her age, Memenpu has big dreams and is eager to prove herself. Meanwhile, Gagumber tries to prevent his daugher from taking risks that jeopardizes her life. And to make matters more complicated, he himself often gets on the wrong side of the law. Watching their adventure no doubt brings plenty of drama.

With 12 episodes, Sakugan chronicles its science fiction adventure by showcasing the skills of Memenpu. Trust me, she is a lot smart than she looks. Being able to repair complex machines and piloting a giant mech, you should know that Memenpu is what people call a child prodigy. She still has her childlike traits but displays characteristics far above her age. My impression is that there's lots of untapped potential about Memenpu. Watching Gagumber is a different story, as he seems like a womanizer and often getting into trouble. For instance, he managed to find himself being in debt to the thief Zackletu. And that's not all, he also gets into trouble with the law dealing with gangs, gambling, and other sheneingans. At some point in the story, I think viewers should just accept Gagumber for his behavior. He's not exactly a role model father.

For Sakugan to succeed, it definitely need a supporting cast that appeals to an audience. I will admit that the cast can be somewhat of a hit or a miss. Yuri, for instance, is a leader of orphans with hacking skills. Similar to Gagumber, he runs into trouble with the law. But through his interactions with him, Yuri takes on a more relevant role in he show and provide invaluable skills as a hacker. Other characters such as Lynda, Rufus, among others feel less relevant because honestly, it's more of the main cast carrying the show. However, the familial relationship between Memenpu and Gagumber is a major selling point. The anime takes every chance to highlight their relationship and does its best work at capturing their chemistry.

Story presence of Sakugan remains somewhat scattered with each episode. The first half of the show mainly focuses on their adventure but these episodes are standalones, almost like a monster-of-the-week format. The second half's pacing picks up more that focuses on character relationships. It also throws in a otherwordly episode full of peculiar comedy if your stomach is up for it. To be honest, Sakugan's story structure definitely needed more work as it does feel directionless at times. But, it makes it up for the overall sci-fi themes and main character relationships.

Studio Satelight is known for their range of sci-fi works so having them helm the show's production makes sense on a technical level. And because it features an adventure, it's important for the anime to take advantage of its world building. On paper, the worlds and places our main characters journey across doesn't look very complex. But upon a closer look, it's shown that Sakugan is able to define the imaginary creativity of the creators. Indeed, we see corruption and dystopian-like themes spread across their journey and and the art style makes the magic happen. Character designs are also influenced by their personalities such as Memenpu's tactical mind or Zackletu's mischievousness. Nonetheless, I urge viewers to watch the show with an open mind because at the end of the day, Sakugan rides as the sci-fi adventure it wants to be.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 23, 2021

deku1997

Mixed Feelings

The show started off strong with an interesting premise and fell completely flat once I realized the writers don’t know what the meaning of character development is. Memempu starts tolerable, quickly turns to unbearable and stays firmly planted in that region throughout the show. Gagumber is barely any better and his dynamic with Memempu is horrendously annoying. It gets no better throughout the season. I only gave it a five because other than hating how the two of them interact the show still had some promise and hopefully season 2 shows us some massive changes to the characters. The other side characters are aight, but ... nobody is fantastic.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 23, 2021

KANLen09

Not Recommended

In order to understand what Sakugan: Labyrinth Marker a.k.a Sacks&Guns!! is all about, we need to know the origin story of how it's all conceived: Project ANIMA. This is a large-scale project in which DeNA's MangaBox, Nippon Cultural Broadcasting, Sotsu Co. Ltd., and MBS (Mainichi Broadcasting System) jointly produce 3 original TV anime series made respectively by studios Satelight, J.C.Staff and Doga Kobo, written by the general public in 3 categories: Science-Fiction/Robot, Alternate World/Fantasy and Kids/Game (you can see the respective studio-genre correlation) that's judged by the various Project ANIMA teams, to help discover hidden talent and help propel the anime industry forward.

This is the ... first of 3 Project ANIMA works, and is an adaptation of Nekotarou Inui's Sakugan Labyrinth Marker novel which clinched the runner-up in the "Science-Fiction/Robot" category. Please note that this novel didn't win a grand prize, and in there so, the anime itself, if I was a judge on the team itself, I would have also given this work a runner-up position, because it had a very good concept but the execution is just so-so.

Sakugan's story and plot would be best if you read the extensive synopsis done by the brillant folks of the MAL Rewrite team, but the takeaway is this: it's a father and daughter's journey through an uncharted and hostile underground labyrinth, combining a gritty science-fiction setting, utilitarian yet charming mech designs, and a deeply human tale of love, loss, and family. And that's the case of father-and-daughter protagonist duo Gagamber and Memenpu crossing distant land as "Markers" to explore the deep regions of the Labyrinth, and avoiding the Kaiju creatures which are big enough to put entire colonies on a high alert level because of their destructive capabilities. The case of the 9-year-old daughter Memempu that's a college graduate and a smart aleck all in one, a dream of a place that's unexplored fuels the desire to become a "Marker" to go down to the Labyrinth's vast places and colonies yet discovered to reach to that dream place, that despite her father Gagumber's constant disagreements, starts the journey of a lifetime that will chart new territory and an adventure that will change the course of humanity forever. And no doubt, when you see Sakugan and the environment that it encases, it gives a very similar vibe to both Made In Abyss (for the adventure and emotions) and Deca-Dence (for everything else from world-bulding to characters). I was stoked because I loved both Made In Abyss and even more so highly for Deca-Dence (because it's been only a year since it ended), and Sakugan got the concept right from the get-go.

The characters, as much as the original novel is trying to be ambitious, is the only sin of the entire series of just trying to give some appeal to us the audience to enjoy, but coming up a bit short. Starting off with the father-daugher duo, I have no qualms with trying to make the 9-year-old Memempu sound like she's earned a PhD in every single thing that their underground home colony of Pinyin has to offer. But I'd at least like to expect that Memempu would at the very least present a humble heart like Deca-Dence's Natsume, that despite all the bickering back and forth, she would be able to suck up her ego and not be complacent, even if it feels like she needs to rebel against an adult when it feels right that's depending on the situation at hand. But this kinda obnoxious character is heavily implied because of her tulminous relationship with her father Gagumber. Gagumber is no doubt being very protective of Memempu, seeing that her expanding knowledge will fill her head to more dangerous territory, much more so when it comes time to fill in the position of the "Marker" that unlike Deca-Dence's Kaburagi whom is able to discern what's appropriate and not, Gagumber just is hard-headed and untrusting of his own daughter if it came to the crunch and concern about life and death issues. Talk about a bickering family relationship that had the unintended effect of crossing the threshold of tolerance and being bearable, that sometimes can come off as being toxic. Also, Gagumber being known as "Gale-Force Gagumber" because he has a chip implanted in him with the illegal "Gale" function that acts as a speed boost at the cost of his nerve damage, that section I feel would've best be left out because it wasn't really chimed in much except when there's trouble and action looming.

The other characters are all walking plot devices and nothing more, which when I look back at Gagumber and Memempu's erratic family relationship, are only meant to serve to the delicacy of repairing the strained relationship between father and daughter. The closest being the new-found outcasts of Zackletu and Yuri: the former is a thief whom has a ransom on her head, saves Gagumber from his usual debt problems, and is the younger sister of his now-deceased former partner, which the former abandoned and left him to die from the Kaiju attacks, hindering his behaviour and regressing into a reckless attitude that caused him to retire being a "Marker". The latter is a hacker with his group of orphans being shunned from the eyes of his own colony, whom Gagumber managed to sever their relations due to the amount of corruption that's rampant. The most obtuse character of them all belongs to Merooro: an agent of the Bureau of Regulation to maintain law and order, and someone whom is the equivalent of a preservationist to protect the "nature" of the underground Labyrinth. The best example of a plot device character would fall to Lynda, Memempu's friend and "partner" whom's a fellow Marker as well as an acting older sister, only to be killed in action for Memempu to prove her case why she should be a Marker. All in all, I believe that the character department could've been done better, instead of just using characters as just mere "anime feelings" to rouse some drama just for the sake of padding the source material, which referencing this back in the eyes of the general public work (as is with Nekotarou Inui), still has aways to go to properly understand how to write some good character development and establish the relative good relationship overall.

In other cases, Satelight's visuals are rather fine for what it is, being one of the few studios capable of producing lots of sci-fi fantasy mecha shows, something that is which of the studio's bread-and-butter business. The only thing worth of note is some of the more notable staff team behind Sakugan: director Junichi Wada (which directed the incredible Spring 2017 show SukaSuka), mecha designer Stanislas Brunet, Kaiju designer Shoji Kawamori, producer Takayuki Funahashi. Going off by the excellent interview done with ANN with these people, it's clear that the staff team were very ambitious with this project, and tries to do something different with what we've come to expect of the usual studio production. And truth be told, Sakugan displays that exact difference with some creative flare, and throughout its production phases, it was a constant work-in-progress so I'd fathom that Junichi Wada and his Project ANIMA team were trying out different methodologies to shape the series as a whole, and I'd think that it worked out good.

Music-wise, I have no complaints at all, but only if it felt like it sounded a bit too harsh sometimes with trying to juggle the always erratic changing atmosphere in the show. This is Kanon Amane (NOT the JAV actress, same name but different person)'s MC debut as the 9-year-old Memempu, and indeed it felt like the sound director Eriko Kimura just gave her the one sole mission: to act as a 2-in-1 child-cum-prodigy. Acting as a prodigy is easy for the highly intellectual girl, but when it comes to displaying her childlike affections, that in itself presents a challenge to portray those feelings when all is stripped away, and I think that for a first effort, the Aoi Yuuki and Rie Takahashi-admiring Kanon Amane did a pretty good and convicing job at playing as Memempu's character. The OST really though was kinda impressive as well, with the action scenes giving the Yuki Kajiura feel. Masaaki Endou of JAM Project fame helms the high-octane OP, and I didn't even realize that he was the face of the band until his voice just shoots the roof. MindaRyn though, really has made a name for herself from Kami-tachi Otoko and TenSura, and this is her 3rd theme song performance which is really the best out of the trio so far. Some pretty good work here, and probably the highlight of the show itself.

If this was the adaptation of a manga like Made In Abyss, it would not have worked out at all. Same "what if" situation if this was an original like Deca-Dence that requires you to not have expectations, then it would've missed the mark too. Either way, Sakugan really has a lot to offer, but just at the behest of it being the work of the general public, that draws the line of profession between established authors and ordinary citizens whom had ideas but just didn't know how to pull them off. Worth a watch just for the beginning, but it made sure to drag on until it loses sight of its original goal, then pull off the rollercoaster plot twist. A decent show all things considered.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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