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“Blinding Mist”Arriving at Nanakimura: This episode of Mayoiga wasn’t packed with surprises, but one thing that has caught me off guard is how slow the build up is compared to what I imagine will be absolute mayhem in the weeks to come. I expected some less relevant characters to get offed in this episode, but that is not the case (or so it seems…). In fact, the first half of the episode still focused on the characters journeying to Nanakimura. But for as slow as it was, I must say that my favourite scene would have to be the opening one: when the bus slowly drove over the bridge and through mist, accompanied by the dramatic and invasive music. It felt like a scene from a horror movie, more specifically, It Follows. There were a few noteworthy details scattered throughout this episode, and as you’d expect this early in the game, we’re not getting any answers just yet. That may annoy some people, but considering this is a mystery that’s likely going to be dragged out till the end, I have no qualms in waiting. Scenes like the bus driver looking shocked as someone approached his window after everyone else had left him, for example. Who could that have been? Is it perhaps the same thing that left those marks in the ground? I’m not an expert in animal prints, so if anyone could identify what could have caused them, that would be very helpful. But even that may not be easy to answer if things are going to get supernatural. We also see something darting through the forest, and a purposeful shot that makes it seem like something was watching everyone arrive at the village. And what a village it is. Something is watching them from the shadows, but it appears nobody has lived in Nanakimura for over a year (according to the dust expert). I liked seeing the characters wandering through the broken buildings and overgrown streets – it sets up the uncertain mood before things go awry. One detail that stands out to me is the e-mail sent out so the group would know how to reach the village. Since there’s no connection that far in the wilderness, who could have sent those directions? Is someone trying to lure them all there to murder them one-by-one? Have the previous inhabitants turned feral and need investigating? Is this a never-ending cycle where a new group arrives before they eventually vanish (with no sign of foul play) before another group comes along? So many questions, so many possibilities. A Plethora of Unlikable Weirdos: One reason I hope characters start dying soon (and I’m sure they will) is that there’s just far too many of them. It doesn’t detract from my enjoyment, but once we narrow down to a more manageable sized group, things should become easier to understand and we’ll see what roles everyone fits into. For now, there’s just a bunch of unlikable weirdoes doing and saying shifty things. We’ve got a possible detective in the group, a deranged girl who is obsessed with executions, and a rapper who appears to be taking advantage of Masaki. I sure hope we don’t have to witness him assaulting her next week; hopefully he never gets that far. By the end of the episode we find out that both of them have gone missing, which pretty much confirms that Yottsun will be the first character killed off, which pleases me. He’s the most unlikable of the bunch, but there appears to be plenty more detestable characters hanging around still. Overview – What’s Next?: Not as exciting as the premiere, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The high tension opening and slow build-up should pay off in later episodes once things get crazy. Mayoiga does seem like a show that would be fun to binge watch, but there’sto be plenty to get out of it from watching week-by-week. As the mystery builds and we get more hints to the truth of this abandoned village, things could get really interesting. Or ridiculous. Or both. |
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Apart from Yottsun and the lovey-dovey couple, I’m glad to see there seems to be more to everyone than whatever first impression we’ve gotten. Take Maimai, for instance. First episode gave the impression that her role would be the typical “eeeeh choo~ arienai desu kedo“-type bitch, that she’d pretend to be nice to Mitsumune only to somehow humiliate him in a way that’d make me cringe. But after her conversation with him in the forest, my bitch radar went down to zero. Heck, she even straight up told him she was teasing him, instead of secretly letting it drag out throughout the series.
About the bus driver scene after everyone left him, I don’t think it was some kind of creature that knocked on the bus. The knocks seemed way too civilized, so I’m assuming it’s a person (despite the expression he made).
Well, it could have been some crazy cultist wearing one of those famous Japanese masks. And then that person forced the Bus Driver to side with them and sent him to the village.
Seeing as crazy cults in backwater villages are a popular trope in Japan, I find this to be likely.
I’ve read a theory that whatever knocked on the door of the bus ended up taking over the bus driver’s body, meaning when he turned up later in the episode it’s not really him? That would certainly be interesting.
The Thing?
Precisely! It’s probably the most reasonable theory so far.
This is a very weird show. Weird characters, weird story.
Something better start happening soon.
I have a feeling that before too long you’ll be asking for things to slow down and not be too OTT. I’m sure the madness will come… we just need to give it time.
It appears as if this series will be a very slow burn. And that’s fine as long as the story keeps moving forward. At this point I don’t have a clue where it’s going and that’s always a good thing.
In case no one has noticed, this is starting to look like Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”, but with Mitsumune, Masaki, and Hayato to be the sole survivors at the finale episode.
Is it evil of my being if I were to say I want Cat-girl, Rapper Man, and the LoveBirds couple to die on the same episode?
Because I was so glad that Izumi (the so-called caretaker of class 3-3 “Another”) died in the end.
I’m sure you guys would know about the 4 people I’ve mentioned and why I don’t want them to survive.
Man, if this is how things are gonna be, I might as well hope that the show pulls a Siren, albeit in a more parodical and outrageous manner.
I really want to see Valkana die. However, I got the feeling that he will be one of the spared ones because usually they made a character so infuriating at the start to suddenly made him do or reveal something in the end to make people go “oh he has a heart of gold anyhow”, “oh he only got everybody’s best interest in heart.” I can still hope, though.
He annoys me as well, perhaps more than anyone else. But I do have a feeling he’ll be around for quite a while. Looks like he’ll get a flashback next week as well.
I get the feeling that he’ll go down near the end of the story. The annoying ones are like roaches that don’t die easily.
around 30 misfits, half of whom never worked, lands in middle of nowhere in what looks like “lost colony” or Jonesboro or Hinamizawa after military purge…
if they won’t start killing each other for food (remember the mentiion of cannibalism? in 1st episode)
then there is every possibility someone lured them intentionally here (mafia/evil corporation/secret services/military/aliens) and if there is one thing 100% sure:
bear tracks are ruse
bears dont send e-mails
of course someone send them there.. How put them all in this Bus?
That’s what the Government wants you to believe.
Bears invented E-Mail.
The plot thickens.
Plot Twist: It was Natsu (Kuma Miko) all along!
A considerable number of the characters are just really easy to dislike, even hate…especially the misogynistic, sickening visor guy and the desperate, overly sensitive girl. I was going to lump Valkana with them, but then he did seem genuinely upset when they lost Yottsun and Masaki. So I guess he’s just abrasive.
I still can’t really tell what direction this show is heading toward, but…Lion is still best girl (and possibly best chara) for me, followed by trusty friend Hayato. Hopefully she will get a more prominent role later on.
Honestly, the one character I hope survives at this point in the bus driver
It was nice to see him bring up in the previous episode how a lot of the people there are probably just trying to “start over” because they’re just running and hiding from some sort of responsibility, or some sort of otherwise superficial reason, rather than staying and facing it as opposed to having a real major reason for wanting to start over, especially since they’re all still quite young.
The bus driver is an interesting character. A bit of hypocrite, but seems to be well-intended. Obviously his reasons to stay is bs, I think he seeks protection.
bus driver will be probably the first one to die since he is only one with a bit of decency and common sense, and would possibly be a leader if they wanted to get back…
You’re kidding, right? The dude tried to kill everyone on the bus last week because he couldn’t afford anymore eggs. He’s just as whack as the rest of them!
@Samu: I don’t think he tried to kill them, but to scare them. Bad enough, but not nearly as bad as really trying to kill them.
The email thing, make it even more suspicious. You don’t have to trust science chick alone, which a sane person wouldn’t do, but the anonymous email writer too.
she reminds me of certain nurse with interest into folklore of Hinamizawa…
so yeah she might be unreliable informer 😛
Definitely hoping for Yottsun and the lovely-lovey couple to go first – they’re the most dispicable/annoying! The weirdo girl who keeps going on about executing people is definitely going to cause trouble… she’ll be the first to go crazy and start murdering for sure. Valkana is reeeeally annoying, but I get the feeling he’s going to come good and prove useful somehow so he gets a pass.
I think the girl who wore that tiny dress and heels (forgot her name) must be a hostess or something? Just from what she said about only owning heels, and also joining the tour to get away from a stalker. I’m actually quite intrigued by her so I hope she doesn’t die early on. Also intrigued by eyepatch guy. My bets are that his persona is all one huge act. Even the eyepatch is a fake. Calling it now.
Love Jack, Lion and Speedstar – more of them please!
Welcome to Nanakimura. Your typical tourist *death* trap. Yay!!!
It’s obvious that the situation will start going downhill soon. However, I am interested in whether the danger will come from an internal or external source from the group.
External sources: aliens, supernatural, psychopathic murders, government conspiracies, biohazard, etc.
Internal sources: groups’ own fear/distrust/lack of morals tears itself apart
Making a wild guess, Nannko will die first.