Sounan Desu Ka? The Fanservice That Teaches Survival Skills

Hello everyone and welcome to the Anime Shelter! 🙂

As promised, the Anime Summer Season has started and, with it, I’m back! And let me tell you, oh boy, that was a START! The very first Anime from this Season I decided to watch was Sounan Desu Ka? – Translated to English you get “Are You Lost?”.

Right from the bat, we get a right on your face panty shot and I was sure that I just got another full fanservice Anime. However, I couldn’t be far from the truth. Yeah, there is fanservice, but I never expected to learn so much about survival and how to find a water source in a Desert Island.

Ok, let’s rewind a bit. Let me explain what is this Anime all about. By the way, I haven’t written for a long time now. So, I’m sorry if my writing comes out a little rusty >.<

Sounan Desu Ka? Synopsis

In an overseas school trip, the plane crashes, letting 4 girls floating in the middle of the sea. They end up floating to a nearby island where they decide to go and stay for the time being. Or, at least, until they are found by a rescue team.

Each one of the girls has their own strengths. If Suzumori Asuka is the athletic one who is in both the basketball and the track team, Amatani Mutsu is the smart one who is the first in her class since freshman year. Then we have Kujou Shion who is… Probably the pretty one? I don’t know, she introduces herself saying that she plays the Piano and that she has a dog. So, I’m not sure what to say about that.

However, the last girl, Onishima Homare… Well, what is special about this one you ask? She has been traveling with her dad since she was little and she ended up in similar situations (of being lost in a Desert Island) at least 4 times. So, yeah, all the information you will get in how to survive in the wilderness will come from her.

Each episode has 12 minutes which, in my opinion, is just the right time. If it was longer then I feel the episode would just drag itself. However, if it was shorter the creators would not have the time to deliver everything they want.

Yes, because in the middle of panty shots and funny jokes, you actually get interesting and reliable pieces of information in how to survive if you ever end up in a Desert Island by yourself.

What I’ve Learned So Far With Sounan Desu Ka?

Episode 1 of Sounan Desu Ka? centers in how to get a reliable source of water, the most important basic necessity a human body needs.

So, imagine for a second that you are floating in a small piece of the crashed airplane you were just flying some hours ago. You feel hot and you feel that you are going to get water? I mean, it’s common knowledge that seawater is a no go! This, because the salt of the water will actually take out more moisture in your body than what the water you are actually drinking provides. So, what you do?

Well, after Onishima explains the same thing as I did right there, she gives us two options. One, it’s to drink your own pee. In this case, she actually takes out her panties and tries to pee under one of the girls’ mouths (though she misses the spot). The second? Well, get water from the flying fishes surrounding them. Basically, she catches one fish, takes out her shirt (boobies!) and then beats the crap out of it while having it rolled inside of the shirt. What happens? The shirt becomes soaked in blood which she proceeds to drink. Disgusting? yeah… Life Saver? Heck yeah! I mean, don’t take me wrong, drinking your own pee is also disgusting…

So, 5 minutes in and you already know a couple of things. However, that’s just one example in how this Anime is able to combine fanservice, jokes and actual interesting information. Truth is, the rest of the episode delivers and, by the end of it, you will know how to get water in 5 different ways, how to scare a shark with my phone battery and how we can only see 5 km far away into the horizon. A lot of interesting information which I hope I will never have to use in my life!

What About The Rest?

Truth enough, Sounan Desu Ka? does not offer much more than that. So, if you are not into this kind of setting don’t expect to like it. The Anime is not really that deep and does not have much story and I imagine that it won’t be much character development, I may be wrong though.

However, here’s an example. These girls were just in a plane crash and are now completely lost in the middle of the Ocean. Well, if I were them I wouldn’t be so calm and relaxed. In fact, the only emotion they show about what they are passing through is one of the girls being slightly disappointed in how her first school trip was ruining. Girl, that should be the last of your concerns at the moment!

Both the animation and audio are average and nothing new to the Anime industry. Thought it is nice enough! I mean, nowadays, what we call average Animation would be completely out of our minds some years ago… So, yeah, average is not bad in no shape or form. Nevertheless, the voice acting is pretty good which helps a lot when those comedy bits happen.

Last, but not least, the fanservice is also ok. We get some wet panty shots, wet white blouses, legs close-ups and all of that. Being gay and all, I can’t say that the images arouse me that much. But, I have to say that I’ve seen worse. Yeah, the fanservice is obvious and right in your face. However, it’s not like the Anime tries to be something completely different and then throws these “ecchi” frames when you are less expecting. Well, I wasn’t expecting that Onishima actually tried to pee to a girl’s mouth, but that’s another story…

Conclusion

As you know, I always wait for episode 3 until I give a final verdict. I think that, with only one episode, it’s very hard to actually have a full opinion on something… I mean, unless the show is terrible… Or great (that can also happen).

In the end,  Sounan Desu Ka probably won’t be one my favorites of all time. However, I have to say that enjoyed the first episode a LOT!

If you want to laugh for almost 12 minutes, see some nice fanservice and still learn great tips in how to survive in the wilderness then you should definitely watch this! It’s an interesting and fresh concept that I’m pretty eager to see more!

Have you watched Sounen Desu Ka? What are your thoughts about it? Tell me all in the comments ^^ If not, just tell me if you are thinking on watching it or not :3