© ぬじま・小学館/ 「怪異と乙女と神隠し」製作委員会
Who are Oto and Adashino? Where do they come from? Why do they live in an abandoned train station? Oto doesn't want to answer those questions, and certainly not when Sumireko asks them, but we still get some clues this week. Most prominent is Oto's dream of herself as a little girl; we see her walking along a vast rocky field with strange piles of rocks dotting the gray landscape before her brother appears in a swirling black vapor. That's by no means certain, but when combined with her upward gesture when Sumireko asked where she came from, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that she and Adashino aren't human – Or at least much longer. The stretch of rock feels like it could be the banks of the Sanzo River, the Shinto equivalent of the Styx (though it's not a perfect comparison), with cairns suggesting Oto died from the ghosts of his children. Dead children are sometimes said to have built such rivers. things. In that scenario, is Adashino also dead or is he some god trying to rescue Oto?
The answer to that question can also be found in his eyes. When Oto mentioned the “wounds” he received from the (still not over) ushi-oni incident, it was easy to assume she was talking about the obvious cuts and bruises. But when Asashino started looking for the “old man” who could help him, it turned out that the real problem was his eyes, which were red, rough, and terrible. The cuts are superficial compared to that, and the old man reminds him that using his eyes will shorten his life, meaning he will die before he can buy Oto a ticket.” go home”, wherever that is. Did Adashino take Oto out of the natural cycle of birth and death? Are they both fallen gods? We know that Adashino has access to where the old man is, something he is not allowed to do, which could suggest some fall from grace, plus that dark vortex in the dream about Oto's past is quite disturbing.
This episode proves that Mysterious Disappearances can be gripping when it wants to be. Sumireko and her fanservice are also toned down just right this time around, which helps; Not a single piece of clothing slipped off her body. That created space for us to get to know Oto a bit. She's irritable but can be easily subdued with food and kindness, and she really doesn't want to talk about herself or her brother. Or was she told not to? Because Sumireko can catch her off guard a few times, Oto's main distraction tactic is to turn the question to Sumireko…who answers and then asks again. The biggest surprise to me is that Oto is only fifteen because she really doesn't act like it; I pegged her at twelve or so based on her appearance and behavior. But it would make little sense if she was a child who should never have grown up (at least on Earth). And even if that doesn't happen, she still lives a very isolated life with only Adashino as her main source of human interaction. He's also a bit quirky, but in a more intentional way, like he's playing a role. It almost felt like the old man called him out when they met, but since Adashino had fully prepared him with appropriate gifts, he had to let it go. Everyone is playing their own game in this story; they just happened to do so on the same board.
Things are far from resolved with Curiosity, which Adashino and Sumireko are dealing with at Oto's school. Uname still has horns on her head, and the girl's question outside the hospital room remains unanswered. And now we have someone with a special interest in women's underwear lurking in the shadows, so another curiosity is emerging. Adashino had best heal his eyes quickly, because as Alice once knew, curiosities wait for no one.
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Mysterious Disappearance is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
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