Sasaki and Peeps gives us plots galore being brewed up, as you might expect from Ep. 15 “Concealment and Infiltration” with that title. Complete with both the faking of a death and an undercover operation to investigate the death game faction. It’s all great ingredients for some serious political thriller stories. Alas, while it does succeed in some areas, it also fails in others. The result is an experience that can best be described as “okay” in terms of stories.
Sasaki and Peeps Ep. 15 “Concealment and Infiltration”: Details in Brief
Sasaki and Peeps Ep. 15 “Concealment and Infiltration” is the third episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 1 and Ep. 2 here) of the second season of this anime series. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the light novel series of the same name by writer Buncololi.
Silver Link (Brave Witches, Bofuri, Mission: Yozakura Family) is the animation studio behind this anime. Yūshi Ibe is the director of this second season of Sasaki and Peeps, taking over from Mirai Minato. Deko Akao is the writer, with Nippon Columbia as a whole claiming credit for composing the music you hear in the anime.
Speaking of which: the first opening theme music in Sasaki and Peeps Season 2 is “Unbroken” by Madkid. Meanwhile, “Sukipi no Okage!” (すきぴのおかげ！) by Nonfic is the ending theme song for the same.
Sasaki and Peeps Ep. 15 “Concealment and Infiltration”: The Good
As you can guess from the title, Ep. 15 “Concealment and Infiltration” is a very political episode. To the point where the entire episode might as well be a pair of political thriller stories running in tandem. Let’s start with the first one: faking a death to avoid a forced marriage that disadvantages our faction.
Specifically: it’s Sasaki (voiced by Tomokazu Sugita (JP) and Tyson Rinehart (EN)) working with Peeps (voiced by Aoi Yūki (JP) and Erin Nicole Lundquist (EN)) in order to fake the death of Elsa Mueller (voiced by Miyu Tomita (JP) and Lisette Monique Diaz (EN)). All to keep the eldest prince of the land from forcibly taking her hand in marriage and using her as a political hostage against her own family. The result is a complex political drama in which Elsa actually gets some surprising amounts of character development, showing that she is fully aware of what’s being done to her and the effects it would have on her family’s political prospects. Enough that the episode starts off revealing that that’s the reason why she attempted to commit suicide at the end of the previous episode. It shows off that she has a lot more depth to her character other than just simply being the young daughter of Viscount Mueller (voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto (JP) and Ray Hurd (EN)).
Even better: the solution they come up with results in Elsa staying in modern Japan for several months of Japan time while the whole political situation in the fantasy world dies down. It’s a good recipe for some reverse isekai shenanigans, with Elsa going on an internet quest to bring back intel and technology that would benefit her family. All in all, it’s a good plotline brewing up here. Now we just need to see if Sasaki and Peeps does something more with it later.
From Political Thriller to Espionage / Crime Thriller
The second half of Ep. 15 “Concealment and Infiltration” shakes up the plot even more, turning it from a political thriller into an espionage / crime thriller by having Sasaki infiltrate a particular high school in order to uncover more details about the “new psychics”, with Shizuka (voiced by Naomi Ōzora (JP) and Robin Clayton (EN)) playing support remotely. It’s a fun moment in the story since Sasaki is slowly peeling back the layers of mystery surrounding the death game faction. It’s basically him going on an investigation to find out that these “psychics” may not be psychics at all.
Oddly enough though, Hoshizaki (voiced by Rie Takahashi (JP) and Julie Cleburn (EN)) isn’t a part of this investigation despite her being a student in that very high school. The reasoning for this comes from Sasaki’s direct superior: Akutsu (voiced by Ryōtarō Okiayu (JP) and Reagan Murdock (EN)), with him insisting that it’s to avoid a conflict of interest. However, that explanation falls apart very quickly if you think about it for even a second, so it heavily implies that more politicking is going on behind the scenes. Does Akutsu not trust Hoshizaki to remain objectively neutral when it comes to classmates? Is finding out about this going to drive Hoshizaki away from the government, or at least make her doubt their intentions? Again, we’ll just have to see in future episodes of Sasaki and Peeps Season 2 to see if it goes anywhere.
Sasaki and Peeps Ep. 15 “Concealment and Infiltration”: The Bad
Alas, while Elsa’s storyline is quite satisfactory thus far, Sasaki and Peeps still can’t quite seem to decide if it’s a serious story or not. Case in point: Ep. 15 “Concealment and Infiltration” has Elsa literally go from attempted suicide (alas, without realistic injuries from an attempted hanging) to squealing over romantic soap operas in the span of maybe ten minutes of showtime. While yes, much more time has passed in-universe, the effect is a mood whiplash for the audience that may not be to everyone’s tastes.
Meanwhile, Hoshizaki has her own problems with her story. It feels like she’s being deliberately left out of her own story here. She is literally the perfect agent to infiltrate her high school because she is a student there and is a trained psychic. And yet, Akutsu sends Sasaki instead because…reasons. It feels like a lesser story because of this, and I don’t like it. Here’s hoping that Hoshizaki stumbles onto Sasaki’s rather clumsy attempts to hide at some point, and become involved in the investigation. With or without Akutsu’s knowledge.
And on top of that, Ep. 15 “Concealment and Infiltration” is a bit lacking in the action department. Yes, we are getting some setup for action in the next episode with that closed space at the end of this one, but it’s a promise of action. Not actual action. We’ll need to wait for the next episode for that…hopefully.
Anime Recommendations
Fortunately, if you want action, then you might want to check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, Nyaight of the Living Cat, May I Ask for One Final Thing?, TRIGUN STARGAZE, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, and / or Kagurabachi. However, if you want a more story-focused anime that does it better than this one, then you might also like Spy x Family, Senpai is an Otokonoko, Apocalypse Hotel, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, My Dress-Up Darling, This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Hana-Kimi, Journal with Witch, Witch Hat Atelier, Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, The Apothecary Diaries, and / or the 2026 reboot of Magic Knight Rayearth.
What did you all think of this week’s episode of Sasaki and Peeps Season 2? Tell us your political thoughts in the comments section below.
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