Anime Review: Sasaki and Peeps
We first meet Sasaki at his day job, a salaryman at a small trading company in Tokyo. He’s good at his job, and well liked by his coworkers. But it’s clear that his career stalled out years ago, and his salary can be generously described as modest. By frugal living, he can afford an okay apartment in a run-down building and a few small luxuries from time to time. He’s also approaching middle age and realizing he is lonely, with no real life outside the job. Perhaps he should get a pet. Like, that Java sparrow in the pet shop really speaks to him.
No, seriously, it talks. “Peeps”, as Sasaki nicknames him, is the reincarnation of the Starsage of another world. Despite being comfortable in the shape and general lifestyle of a pet bird, Peeps has been dying for the right person to have intelligent conversations with, and to teach magic. As part of this training, Peeps can transport Sasaki to the fantasy world he’s originally from so they can use larger spells in the wilderness.
Sasaki soon realizes that items that are commonplace to him in modern Tokyo are rare luxuries in the other world. And having been trained in trading company methods, he soon has a thriving export business and investments–once he has enough wealth, he plans to take early retirement and live a slow, quiet life in the other world.
So far, so good. But now things get complicated. It turns out that the Tokyo Sasaki lives in isn’t as mundane as he thought. There’s a secret underground subculture of psychics. Sasaki uses his magic to assist one of the government psychics against an attacker, and is mistaken for having psychic powers himself. He’s recruited into their organization to fight rogue psychics (at a rise in salary, at least).
Oh, and there are “Magical Girls” that are specifically not psychics, with the two groups not getting along at all. One of them becomes interested in Sasaki when he claims to be a “magical man.”
Plus, in the Other World, Sasaki is being forced to acknowledge the existence of politics as his friends there are drawn into war and succession crises.
Oh, and there’s Otonari, the girl who lives in the apartment next door to Sasaki, though she always seems to be locked outside. Maybe Sasaki should have been asking more questions about that.
This anime is based on a series of light novels written by Buncololi and illustrated by Kantoku. There’s also a manga adaptation with art by Pureji Osho.
Good: It is a delight to see an anime with a visibly older protagonist. Sasaki is very much an adult who’s been in the working world and learned skills appropriate to his trade. He tends to think things through, and prefers to settle matters with negotiation and equitable deals when he can. His magic by itself isn’t a “win button.” Peeps’ magic is much more of a win button, but since he’s pretending to be a normal if chatty bird, it’s not always the best solution.
Sasaki doesn’t seem to be at all interested in romance or sex, though all his close friends are male. I don’t know if it will be confirmed, but protagonists on the aromantic/asexual spectrum (and not some kind of robot) are rare. A major character comes out as homosexual, though we don’t see any of his love life (and Sasaki isn’t his type.)
While the premise is convoluted (and from descriptions of the light novels, getting more convoluted by the moment), it’s presented in manageable chunks for easier digestion. It’s noted that the time dilation between Earth and the Other World, initially at one day Tokyo time/one month their time, is rapidly shrinking, and no one knows why, giving a certain amount of ticking clock urgency to the plot.
Less good: All plot-relevant female characters are either young teens or look like young teens. And some of them seem to have crushes on Sasaki. Kind of creepy. This may be meant to preclude actual romance in the storyline, but is also reminiscent of the Hollywood practice of “mature male lead, ingenue female lead.” I am hoping that an adult woman who can act as an equal to Sasaki will come into the story in the second season.
Some of the plotlines are much less interesting than others, and the magical girls thing is woefully underexplained.
Funny: Peeps has a taste for steak, and every time he gets some, a little reminder pops up that you should not feed meat to normal Java sparrows.
Content note: It’s heavily implied Otonari is being criminally neglected if not outright abused. One magical girl’s parents were murdered in the backstory. Peeps wipes out an entire army of presumably human soldiers, though we don’t get close enough to see any details.
Overall: An interesting series with a sadly unusual protagonist for anime. Try a few episodes and see if it’s to your taste.
