Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Another episode 3: Let's hate the rain together!


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WE SEE EVERYTHING!

I am a very hungry Tenchi who needs to search for food. So let’s just hope into this anime post shall we? XD Up now is Another episode 3. Spoilers for rainy days and creepy dolls!


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Then take it out of your head?

Episode Summary: Mei shows Kouichi what is under her eye patch. A fake green eye that she claims is a doll eye and can see weird things. After saying some really creepy things about the dolls, how they are empty and wish to be filled Mei suggests going upstairs where it is safer. Kouichi gets a little worried because Shop Granny said HE was the only customer in the store (which can probably be explained away that Mei lives there) but sits down and asks Mei about why people are so secretive. She tells Kouichi the story of how 23 years ago in Class 3 a young popular girl died…in some way. Students pretended that she was alive after her death and in the graduation picture the dead girl shows up. Mei says that everyone must be hiding the second part of the story from him. But Kouichi’s grandmother calls right at that second to summon Kouichi home and Mei disappears. At school the “main” cast talks to Kouichi about their graduation plans and how they have been close since childhood while the other classmates look at Kouichi like he is a dog turd. Yukari in particular seems eager to get out of this town and go to Tokyo. Overall the students seem down when talking about their futures. After school it rains so Yukari offers to share her umbrella with Kouichi. She lets a little information slip, that their school goes on class trips in year 2, not year 3. Kouichi decides that is a perfect time to ask about Misaki and Yukari begs him not to say that name. Teshigawara comes by and is informed that Kouichi knows some of the legend. He brushes it off as being nonsense but then tells their art teacher in front of Kouichi so there is not much hiding going on there….

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Well ya'll keep glaring at the girl who DOESN'T exist!

At home Kouichi asks his Aunt what class his mom was in. She avoids the question as well as what happened with the Class 3 so many years ago. Eventually she says her sister was in Class 3 but tells Kouichi to not meddle. But meddle is what Kouichi does as he continues to chase after Mei. Teshigawara eventually tells Kouichi if he just waits one month he will tell him anything he wants to know. There is also a scene with the nurse confirming a person named Misaki did die recently. Regardless Kouichi walks out of an exam when he sees Mei in the hallway. She confesses the person who died recently was her cousin and she felt very close to her. She also reveals that the reason everyone treats her weird is that she doesn’t exist, that no one else can see her. While Kouichi’s mind tries to process that information Yukari gets some information that causes her to leave class suddenly. When she sees Mei in the hallway she flips out and falls down the stairs. Her umbrella flies open and she is impaled in the throat. She flails about for a while Kouichi slowly loses his mind. THE END!

This episode was a bit slow. Like slowly we are working towards answers. Then BAM the last minute was a whammy. Sorta reminds you of another anime right?

Mei doesn’t have a big hole in her head. Woe is me. Just kidding. She has a fake glass eye that is a different color than her real one. So she can be edgy. And the eye patch is to keep her fake eye from seeing weird things. I SEE FOLKS.

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Me thinks the shop will be burnt to the ground before the series ends.

This goes along with what Mei says about the dolls in the shop. How they are empty vessels that just want to be filled. HMMM wonder why there are so many deaths in this town? Maybe Masaki wants an army full of living dolls. Wonder where their souls end up. So when Mei was talking about her fake eye and the doll looking like her….seems to me that her eye can see things she doesn’t want to because it is an doll eye. She is part human part doll and people fear her. Like they don’t want to become the dolls but aren’t strong like Mei to fight their fate.

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I think the manner of death is super important there Creepy-Chan!

Mei’s story took quite a bit of time in our short episode. Of course it was necessary to tell Kouichi all of this but to the viewers it was a bit of a waste. Because Kouichi (or someone who sounds just like him) told us in episode 1 all of this lovely stuff. Misaki was a popular student, died, and her classmates carried on like she was still alive. Very important for Kouichi to know and for us to see his reaction. It just made the episode feel shorter since we already knew.

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Yes. Now tell us the rest of the story NOW!

But there were a few interesting things that took place in this conversation. One Mei told the story the exact same way Kouichi did in episode 1. The whole Misaki was popular and what not. Now maybe she is telling the “safe” version when in reality she knows the truth but there was not much smirking going on. More like she implied there was stuff AFTER that main story that Kouichi did not know. Which would surprise me. I was thinking there was some resentment towards that girl. But since Mei was vague on how Misaki died maybe there is still hope. The other interesting points were of course Mei saying that there was more to the story and how she told the story. Like there was no real emotion in her voice.

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We are so creepy!!!!! WEEE look at us stare.

Life is still creepy at school. It is subtle but when the “main” cast is talking to Kouichi the other kids are shooting him death glares. Now since there are people who are willing to talk to Kouichi I am not thinking he is the problem. So why is the rest of the class so worried? Because he has talked to Mei and ruined what they are trying to do? But it is hard to be resentful of someone who doesn’t know the rules. So what is with all the glares?

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Is today like the 27th? Because then I could understand. But if it was the 3rd I be like PSHT whatever dude.

The students that are talking to Kouichi aren’t being very helpful. Teshigawara in particular. Like look dude something weird IS going on but we will tell you next month. Now if someone told me that I would be hunting down answers right then and there. It is a miracle I am not opening all the presents and rewrapping them before Christmas. But yes if someone told me that it would be over folks. Red flag all over the place.

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Getting answers from these fools is like pulling teeth.

Auntie Reiko is also suspicious. Which concerns me. These kids might be concerned for their own well-being but what does Reiko have to worry about? Oh yeah dead sister. Well since she has already lost her sister shouldn’t she be giving her nephew the heads up? Trying to give him a fighting chance and all? She just seemed ready to brush everything under the rug. When the time is right? Well umbrellas of the world are rebelling so I think the time is right now. Thanks Aunt, you want me to die or something?

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And you couldn't say that before because....?

Right before the WTF moment Mei and Kouichi were having an interesting conversation. You know when he randomly walked out of the room during an exam. It is possible he finished early (like he said Mei did) but the fact that everyone looked at him when he left makes me think that is not the case. Like he saw Mei and went into the hallway to talk to her. And the teacher doesn’t care enough to stop him. Because getting involved would be silly.

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If I was being ignored I wouldn't go to school. Unless Mei is under the curse too.

Putting that aside Kouichi actually started asking some questions. I like that he hasn’t been totally in a fog in this show. Only when he has to look at Mei does he seem to lose all reason HMMMMM! But he asked why no one really notices Mei. Several students told Kouichi to not bother with things that do not exist. That is all crazy right? Nope. Mei says that she does not exist. In such a way that she was talking about what she was eating for lunch. I am taking that statement with a grain of salt though. Clearly the students are seeing SOMETHING. They have looked up at Mei and made faces before. And obviously Yukari saw Mei before she ran down the stairs. So Mei does exist. To what extent remains unseen.

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So if Mei doesn't exist was she freaking out over Kouichi? Does he look weird when he is around Mei?

I see several people thinking that Mei is the bringer of death. That if you see her you are cursed to die soon. Others say that the class is trying to recreate the class from 23 years ago. I think that might be possible. Declaring that a living girl is dead and ignoring her to somehow taken down the dead girl haunting the class. Also I am not sure we can blame Mei for these accidents. We don’t know how the other classmates have gotten hurt or sick but as it was said in episode 1 this class is closer to death. Like a normal person would walk into a wall and be okay. A Class 3 student would walk into a wall and the screw would come loose and they step on the screw and fall into a glass window. That kinda thing. The mere presence of Mei might also scare some students into creating more accidents that might not otherwise exist.

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I told you rain was evil!

So on to the WTF part of the episode. Yukari fell down the stairs. She did have a mini freak out when she saw Mei but upon viewing the episode again she didn’t appear to be running frantically. Just that she slipped by accident. So it is unclear if Mei’s presence really had any effect on Yukari’s death or if it truly was an accident.

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It was so realistic it was creepy! XD

But what an accident it was folks! It was not censored at all. We got a flailing dying girl on the ground with an umbrella. People are calling this Final Destination for some reason. Well since we didn’t get 283928 fake outs beforehand I am going to say no. Just a very VERY random accident because Class 3 is close to death. Me thinks that someone is not going to Tokyo now.

Now that things just got real I am thinking that Kouichi is going to question people on what the heck is going on. Obviously after a certain month things become safe. So….I expect this series to be wrapped up before that month. XD Yay for body counts.

Important things I noted:

The bird feathers in the still after the opening song. That bird IS saying the wrong name.

Mom was from Class 3 but lived long enough to have Kouichi. So the curse follows you even if you flee (despite the students thinking otherwise).

Family members might be compelled to send their kids to Class 3 to satisfied the grudge. Like Dad tried to leave this town but was forced to bring Kouichi back and Auntie can't help at all.

2 comments:

eternia said...

That last scene made up for all the prior boredom. It was exciting. *lol* I wish body count will increase one by one starting next episode.
Another speculation I want to make is, if that honor student Misaki died because of normal circumstance such as plane accident, she shouldn't hold any grudge? She should re-appear on the class graduation picture and freaked everybody out?
The important clue must be how Misaki Mei told several possibilities / uncertain story of her death, which imply that the whole class might be responsible for her death. They felt guilty afterward and treated as alive and even gave her a place in graduation ceremony. Of course, such petty things couldn't enlighten a vengeful spirit holding a grudge. So she cursed them all and the classroom as well. How's that sound?
:-)

Christina said...

Eternia- I agree that it started off slow but ended with a bang. Well more like a CLUNK and SPLAT but still. XD

I am not sure if the current students know what the truth is behind the 26 year old Misaki death issue. Mei might be repeating what she was told but it is unclear if she is right with her suspicions or if something else is going on. But I agree most NORMAL people don't run around pretending a dead person is there if they died from normal causes. Maybe they could see her ghost from the start and the best way to appease her was to pretend like she was still alive.