Don't read the synopsis or think about what this show is about, just shut up and watch it. I know the premise is nowhere as glamorous as Shirobako's anime production setting, but if you've watched Shirobako I would ask you to simply trust the production house and don't ask any questions. To me I think this is just a bit better than Shirobako in almost every way.

If we have to talk about specifics, the first thing would have to be its incredibly mature understanding of accomplishment, change and meaning. By the end of the show, not much has changed really, The protagonists have really failed a bunch of endeavors, the stats haven't improved significantly, or even at all, it's still a small town, yet the sense of what the protagonists have accomplished competes directly with even the most epic of stories. It deeply understands that success is not measured by numbers or scale, you don't have to save a million people, stop a meteor striking Earth, or topple an evil empire to do meaningful work. Even within the small town scope of the story, our protagonists fail basically everything for the first half of the show, but it is not depressing because of all the meaningful growth acquired by the characters and the audience through those failures.

Characters are of course amazing in this show. One of the biggest complaints I had with Shirobako was how 3 of the main cast don't work at the studio and feel like mere excuses to show off the work they do. There is certainly no such problem in Sakura Quest, the 5 girls work tightly together both in terms of their contributable skills and personality/growth. Each girl have about 2 dedicated episodes of development but of course Protagonist Yoshino has more, all these stories are intertwined naturally, it never feels like going down a list of "who still haven't has their second development yet?" This is because character flaws and potential paths are hinted as early as possible, a masterclass in writing really.

Other than the 5 protagonists, the towns people are also fantastic because again their lives are woven together around strong themes, the same character shows up all the time even if they have next nothing to do in the episode, the bus driver shows up to say hi and gives a character a ride. This makes the town feels so realistic and basically a character all in its own, which is also the reason why this show ends up so satisfying even if no major material change happens, it's as if the town itself has had a grand character arc.

For those worried that it might just not have enough hook or gimmick, I understand you, I feel no shame to admit I need some cheap immediate hooks to watch a show as well. For that I really enjoyed the humor of this show. Protagonist Yoshino is appointed as Queen of Chupacabra Kingdom, she holds no real power other than some dwindling tourism promotion funds, and the ridiculousness of her title makes for some good jokes in the early parts of the show. Plus it has a few good shower scenes, short but good.

Second part of the show actually starts to get philosophical, it asks real questions about what small towns are about, what should we think about the realities of population decline, demography collapse within these towns. What does it even mean to "rejuvenate" a dying town? These questions hit very hard because there are almost no plot armors in this show, I keep saying the protagonists achieve very little because that's the reality of small towns, there aren't enough people, outsiders don't care, and people growing up still want to move to Tokyo. The show does not deny any of those personal choices, but it also doesn't just give up and be like oh well nothing you can do. The 5 girls absolutely have things they can do, and this Sakura Quest of theirs is as heroic as any other grand fantasy/sifi adventure.

The show looks extremely solid and consistent, however there's no fancy visuals or music to take it to the next step. Bonus point for the Garage Band Bonus point for 五人の勇者