3 Episode Rule – Are You Lost?

As a part of the continuing journey to cram as much anime into my brain as possible, I’ve been watching as many new shows of this summer season as I’ve been able to lay eyes on. My goal; to use the general rule of thumb in that you can usually tell if a show it worth pursuing after watching just the first three episodes. This time, I look at Sōnan desu ka? called Are You Lost? on streaming services.

Another shorter format show, each episode being around 12 minutes. The series focused on four young girls who have become stranded on a deserted island after surviving a pretty horrific plane crash. Strangely enough they have no injuries whatsoever. Each of the girls fills a different anime stereotype; the cheerful, but dumb athletic one, the quiet and shy intellectual one, the spoiled rich girl and the forth being the near emotionless, hyper competent one. Admittedly, the final girl seems like she’s out of a different show.

Each episode is split into two short vignettes that detail the girl’s setting up their camp, searching for food, water and shelter. Actually, that’s dishonest. Homare, the girl who seems to know everything about survival thanks to extensive training from her father as a young child, does all the hard work while the other girls waver between hindering her efforts or being very dainty and leaving her to do everything alone.

While none of the girls are especially unlikable or malicious, the way they’re behaving given their dire situation makes me think they’re not really grasping how lucky they are. Or they’re just taking advantage of Homare being there to do everything for them. Asuka, the sporty one, already does this in the third episode, throwing a tantrum because she knows Homare will get get her some food.

I tried to not take the whole, life or death aspect of the girl’s situation too seriously through, considering the show itself really doesn’t. Instead of being about actual survival, the situation just seems like the catalyst to squeeze as much soft kink into the series as possible. Gratuitous panty shots and getting the girls in their underwear at every opportunity. I mean, there’s a scene about peeing in each other’s mouths to avoid dehydration in the first episode…

Going forward, I’d imagine there will be an arc of the girl’s growing closer as friends. And the three girls who seem more interesting in having a shower instead of eating well will learn the skills needed to survive without leeching on Homare all the time. And it’ll be very touching.

My Verdict: Do Not Continue

Honestly, this show does nothing for me. At it’s core, this is a show about four girls and their growing friendship. One that has a pretty dire situation as the backdrop. The girls themselves are pretty blandly designed, and the animation is nothing to shout about either. There’s nothing striking or exciting about it whatsoever. The fact that these episodes were only 12 minutes was a blessing for me, as the mild titillation and very, very light drama of the series was more likely to put me to sleep than anything.