The mob has spoken and they want the monster dealt with, whatever it is. What They Say:
There is a rumor going around about a monster called Akahito. The students are adding to the rumor and it is getting out of hand. Mob rule breaks out leaving the paranormal investigation club in danger.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the series progresses, we’ve had a bit more focus on the paranormal itself, something that wasn’t too strong overall during the character introduction episodes beyond Yuuko herself. Now things are picking up a bit as it deals with largely standalone stories while showing us the bonds that are driving the lead characters closer together. This episode does a lot of that in pretty good fashion as it introduces the school at large to what’s going on as there are rumors of a monster running amuck at times and everyone is getting caught up in it. It doesn’t take long for rumors to spread and become powerful on their own, especially if the thing in question isn’t real, but with there being a chance of something sinister out there, it’s no surprise that the club gets involved.
Of course, it’s kind of over the top when they get “asked” to be involved after a public incident occurs and seemingly the whole school swarms to their doors, almost like a wave of anger and fear that’s pushing them to get answers and clear up what’s going on. It’s more than just that though as it unfolds in the kind of stark, beautiful and disturbing way the series can work. The use of the supernatural is something that has been somewhat muted over the last few yeras, often going for cute and colorful rather than atmospheric and disturbing for many series, but here it utilizes things in a way to really drive home the moment and the power of it all. The core cast isn’t exactly suited to it in some way, outside of Yuuko, but they do provide some balance to it in personality and color.
The mystery that gets involved here, as the “monster” gets named as Akahito and is now known to be hunting Yuuko, the dynamic of the show gets into defensive as there’s a definite offensive side to it with the student body in fear and looking for ways to deal with it. The show has a lot of fun with the cast overall, at least from an observers point of view, since there’s lots of chases going on in the rickety old hallways, people screaming and lots of tension throughout. The show has a good series of events here where it gives us the monster in a creepy way, hidden in the shadows and off camera for most of it, so that when we do see it, we’ve built it up more ourselves so there’s less real work to do beyond going all out in the attacks, which again are simply staged very well more than anything else.
In Summary:
Dusk Maiden of Amnesia continues to be a strong show based on its visuals and direction as each episode gives you something that’s very memorable in that department, even with some of the costume silliness we get here. What it’s also doing is giving us a fairly decent at best cast that has its moments but has yet to really drive home these characters in a big or engaging way. I like them, but they’re mostly fluff, which makes the stories feel much the same way. It hits the atmosphere and mood just right, and this one in particular, but I felt no real connection to the story itself as it unfolded because of how the cast is just kind of there. They’ve worked to build the Yuuko and Teiichi relationship, but that only seems to succeed when it’s just the two of them alone and talking. The rest of the time it’s interchangeable with nearly every other series. There’s more to like than dislike here though, and I’m curious as to how it’d hold up in marathon form as well, but the show is just hitting a middling feeling at this point now.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
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