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EP. REVIEW: Mysterious Disappearances


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Farafra



Joined: 29 Jan 2021
Posts: 137
PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 12:58 pm Reply with quote
This is probably going to end up being the next Occultic Nine; un that all the compelling supernatural elements and mystery aspects take a backseat due to one character design choice. Not to say that's a bad thing, I've read the manga and it's pretty good, I just wish didn't always gravitate in that direction.
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WANNFH



Joined: 13 Mar 2011
Posts: 1863
PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 1:41 pm Reply with quote
Farafra wrote:
This is probably going to end up being the next Occultic Nine; un that all the compelling supernatural elements and mystery aspects take a backseat due to one character design choice. Not to say that's a bad thing, I've read the manga and it's pretty good, I just wish didn't always gravitate in that direction.
Nah - if anything, Occultic;Nine (if we're talking about the anime and not the VN itself - cause even if O;N is probably the weakest of Sci;Adv series, anime really did its story dirty a lot) had way more screw-ups straight from the beginning with it throwing too much nonsense and introducing a bunch of quirky tropes as characters without any compelling resolution as the plot continues - than just having oversized funbags in some characters designs.

Mysterious Disappearances on the other side is way more grounded stuff - it's just the good old episodic "detective" with a mystery horror aspect - and while it lacks Monogatari "cinematography", it's still entertaining quite enough to look at, with fanservice aspects or not.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11621
PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 4:01 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
if they're “in your head,” there's no easy way to reach in and take them out.

Unless you're katawarafied like Jinka... Very Happy

This reminds me a bit of Mystic Archives of Dantalian, but even more so of the Imperial Library Information Assets Management Bureau in Libra of Nil Admirari, except the siblings aren't acting in any official capacity.

I'm pretty much in for the supernatural angle, but the camera angles are making it hard to stay. Also not fond of Sumireko's cataract Ragna pupils and "caterpillar" brows. I guess I really don't care for her character design at all, which makes it hard to warm up to her, even if I sympathize with her frustrated aspirations.

You know, if they really wanted to dive into the difference between how she was treated as a young author and an adult one, those latter scenes with the editors would've had them all staring at her boobs the entire time they critiqued her writing. But that would be too uncomfortable for the audience they're designed for, huh. Well, most. I'm sure some would find it hilarious if she were humiliated and/or annoyed by that.
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Leviathonlx1



Joined: 10 Dec 2018
Posts: 211
PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:19 pm Reply with quote
I want to enjoy this show but yea Sumi's character design is awful.
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NeedMoreCats
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Joined: 06 Oct 2018
Posts: 334
Location: Westchester, NY
PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2024 12:02 am Reply with quote
Rebecca wrote:
Why Sumireko nearly died because of her transformation in episode one and has no problems in episode two is a glaring issue, although not as distracting as the show's insistence on cheesecake shots

Yeah, Sumi’s character design and the incessant voyeuristic gaze is a hurdle for the show, but I’m still enjoying the story so far.

As for the transformation issue, I could be wrong but didn’t it take, like, a week before the side effects reached critical mass? I seem to remember the bookstore manager saying she’d been AWOL for a week by the time Ren goes in search of her (but that was 20 premieres ago, and I’m far too lazy to rewatch for clarity).
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Leviathonlx1



Joined: 10 Dec 2018
Posts: 211
PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2024 1:58 am Reply with quote
That was also her turning into a much younger girl.
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druv



Joined: 17 Nov 2020
Posts: 40
PostPosted: Fri Apr 19, 2024 4:28 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, the fanservice really brings my opinion of this show down.
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave



Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 551
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Wed Apr 24, 2024 4:50 pm Reply with quote
In manga Sumireko explicitly mentions her rooftop talk to Manami as the kind of thing she did right and should keep doing, and that hospital scene at the end with Manami's unknowing victims visiting her and showing they care and appreciate their kind (as far as they know) teacher and her words, suggest IMHO that Manami actually already had forged for herself a right way of supporting kids that she could return to, if it's not too late for her.

IIRC in manga it was also suggested that Grandma's death was hastened by worries about Manami degrading her health, which was yet additional heavy blow to Manami, as her bullying was hitting her and her beloved grandma at once.
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AverageAnimeFan



Joined: 25 Jan 2024
Posts: 66
PostPosted: Thu Apr 25, 2024 12:45 am Reply with quote
I love horror/supernatural the most, but this manga really bore me for some reason. I was hoping the anime would remedy that but I guess not. Occultic;Nine ranks higher for now.
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SinisterOracle



Joined: 13 May 2023
Posts: 418
PostPosted: Thu May 02, 2024 2:22 am Reply with quote
The fan service and Sumireko’s design are really off putting for me but I like Oto-chan and Adashino-chan a lot. It’s not as scary as I expected but I can live with that.

I got the absolute best laugh from episode four, when Oto-chan and Sumireko were in the bath.

spoiler[As the camera panned upwards, due to a poor reflection angle for the overhead lights, it appears that Sumireko has had the lightsaber filter applied to her. It was hilarious.][/spoiler]
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Amuro1X



Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 214
PostPosted: Thu May 02, 2024 9:43 am Reply with quote
Sumireko's design is nothing but a plus imo, so I can't particularly relate to the complaints. Some cheesecake on the side of supernatural mystery main dish is a pretty good fit, imo. Now, more adult Sumireko in states of undress and less Oto would be greatly appreciated.

That aside, the mystery between the siblings seems pretty straightforward so it's a bit frustrating that they keep putting off answering it. As to what I personally think spoiler[I think Oto at least is a spirit/ghost that is bound to the mortal plain and the tickets Adashino is trying to collect will allow her to cross over/pass on.] Also, that Cat is definitely an oddity. [/quote]
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NeverConvex
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Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 2568
PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2024 12:37 pm Reply with quote
The camera/artwork being super, uh, horny, is a little distracting when it clashes with the tone of a scene (e.g., selectively burning off Sumireko's clothing during the fight with the bully-battling teacher definitely jarred me out of the narrative a bit Laughing does she have a tailor who specializes in patterned heat-resistant clothing for the occasional romantic inferno?), but for the most part I think it's been done decently (especially since it seems much more Sumireko-centric than Oto-centric). More than anything I was just caught off-guard by it in the first episode or two, though I'm not sure why.
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SinisterOracle



Joined: 13 May 2023
Posts: 418
PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2024 10:56 am Reply with quote
Episode six was pretty good but all I can remember is how Adashino-kun was not wearing a shirt in one scene, wearing it in the next, and then putting the shirt on in the last scene. Laughing Shocked
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dm
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Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Posts: 1480
PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2024 8:47 pm Reply with quote
Adashino and Oto live in Kisaragi Station, a bit of folklore that also figures in Otherside Picnic (it's where the Marines were trapped that Sorawo and Tomoko rescue). So: a weird place where weird things happen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kisaragi_Station -- the original Kisaragi Station story also concerns a mysterious disappearance.


Last edited by dm on Fri May 17, 2024 10:55 am; edited 1 time in total
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11621
PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2024 9:20 pm Reply with quote
It's also a station in Episode 5 of this season's Tonari no Youkai-san. Funny, I'd never heard of it before, and now it's all up in my face.
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