(Nitsuj): Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. It’s Aniween time where we take a look at anime that have a horror theme to them. Horror can work on two levels, there’s the physical horror and then there’s the psychological horror.
(Seras): I’m a fan of the former.
(Mira): I enjoy the latter.
(Nitsuj): Both of these two are great and when done correctly they create great and suspenseful stories that keeps everyone on the edges of their seats.
(Seras): But when done incorrectly they create a boring drawn-out mess that leaves everyone pissed and disappointed.
(Mira): Case in point, Mayoiga.
(Nitsuj): Also known as The Lost Village, mayoigas are actually a part of Japanese folklore. It’s believed that they’re mystical villages hidden in the mountains where legend says that whoever finds them will be rewarded with riches. We don’t get that here.
(Seras): Released in 2016, this anime was an original idea written by Mari Okada who actually did the series composition for a number of animes such as Black Butler, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, and of course Kiznaiver.
*Shizuku comes busting in*
(Shizuku): You guys reviewing something from Studio Trigger without me again?
(Mira): No. We’re reviewing Mayoiga.
(Shizuku): Oh the hell with that.
*Shizuku leaves the room*
(Seras): That sounds like everyone’s reaction to this series.
(Nitsuj): The anime was produced by Diomedéa (Kantai Collection) who have a track record of giving us bad animes. While they have produced some good animes, they’re mostly overshadowed by the bad ones.
(Mira): I really felt disappointed by this anime. I really wanted it to succeed because it had a good concept. Throw in the fact that Mari was writing the series, it was taking place in an isolated location and you have yourself the recipe for a good horror.
(Seras): And they found a way to screw it all up. Let’s not delay any further. Let’s take a trip to Mayoiga.
(Nitsuj): Not to be confused with the hentai under the same name.
(Mira): Wait what?
(Nitsuj): Start the review.
Opening and Ending
(Seras): So the opening is “Gensou Drive” by Ami Wajima who fun fact, was actually 17 when she sang this song so props to her. Too bad it was for an awful anime. The song itself is actually pretty good. I like the heavy rock instrumental and Ami’s voice is very good here. I like how the song gives you time to stop and catch your breath before it starts picking up speed again to increase the intensity. Again, it’s a good opening for an anime that doesn’t deserve it.
(Nitsuj): The ending is “Ketsuro” by Rina Katahira. A very nice and pleasant song that does relieve whatever stress or tension you have from watching the anime. Again, this song, way too good for this anime.
Episodes 1-4
(Mira): So the anime starts off on a bus filled with these people who are listening to the member of a cult called It’s Super Genesis or ISG for short (Seras: It’s Super Stupid if you ask me). The cult guy tells them how they’re the chosen people destined to rule the new world and are going to a utopia where they’ll be able to live in peace and paradise (Nitsuj: So Shido from H.O.T.D found more followers). After introducing themselves (Nitsuj: With a majority of them having ridiculous names. (Seras): Like you’re one to talk) we find out they’re going to a place called Nanaki Village a mysterious village where people have been said to disappear out of nowhere (Seras: And then the villagers eat meat for dinner the night of the disappearance). On the bus ride we focus on a boy named Mitsumune who seems to have run away from home due to his overbearing parents. He tries to get along with a few of the passengers such as Hayato aka Speedstar who’s only here to expose the cult as a fake (glad to see there’s at least one sane person here) and Misaki who’s a little strange (Nitsuj: Don’t kid yourself she’s crazy as shit. I bet that girl goes Yuno on everyone. (Mira): I wish, that would have made the anime somewhat interesting). As the bus ride continues the bus driver tired of all their nonsense speaks his mind and calls them all babies for giving up on life and running away. This doesn’t sit well with a few of them who talk trash about him which pisses him off (uh crazy people it’s best not to provoke the man who’s driving the bus) and he decides to commit suicide with everyone else on the bus. He soon regains his senses and after Misaki throws up on him he stops the bus at a station where the group is greeted by a female member of the cult named Koharun who tells them they’re close and the episode ends with them about to enter the mist.
In episode 2 much to the bus driver’s protest they drive into the mist where they go down a cliff and get stuck (alright, they survived the first disappearance). They decide to ditch the bus and go on foot leaving the bus driver behind however they give him all their money (Seras: Where they’re going they won’t need money. (Nitsuj): And possibly clothes for that matter). As they all walk through the mist, we learn that Mitsumune and Hayato are childhood friends with Hayato always looking out for Mitsumune since he’s easily fooled by others (Seras: Making him the perfect pawn to control). After much walking they finally make it to what they believe is Nanaki Village (Nitsuj: I am not impressed). They decide to explore the village which is abandoned with no one being seen at all (either the village has been abandoned for years or everyone’s dead. (Nitsuj): Without a drop of blood anywhere? (Seras): The killer is an amazing cleaner. (Mira): Yes, a very smexy cleaner at that. (Nitsuj): You two have been hanging out way too much). They do find a clean water source and the bus driver also makes it to the village where he decides to join them and watch over them as an adult (Nitsuj: He saw a bear and didn’t want to get eaten, right? (Mira): Most likely). As everyone gathers in the town square, they discover that Misaki and another character named Yottsun have gone missing (and the disappearances begin).
Okay, things start to get crazy in episode 3 (Nitsuj: Already? That was fast. (Seras): Gather up a number of stupid people and watch them go Lord of the Flies on each other quickly). The group realizing that Misaki and Yottsun are missing go to search for them. In their search they manage to find the claw marks of a bear and they find Misaki alone in the forest shaking in fear. Misaki explains that as she was being led away by Yottsun he spotted something and went to go check it out by himself. After that, he disappeared on her and when she went to go look for him she fell down a hill and got hurt. Some of them don’t believe her story saying it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense (Nitsuj: Of course it doesn’t, that guy was going to rape her, why would he leave you alone?) but Mitsumune stands up for her and protects her from the barrage of everyone else. One of the characters named Valkana decides to go search for Yottsun instead of stand around arguing with everyone on what happened. After this bit of chaos, order returns as they decide to split up and do chores around the village however Misaki has gone off on her own for some stupid reason. Another incident occurs when one of the characters named Jack tries to take a pick-axe and kill one of the other male characters for bullying him (my God everybody is going to be dead by the 6th episode). They stop him and tie him up where Maimai reveals that Jack actually went to juvy for stabbing someone in school because he was the victim of extreme bullying. Because of this he has a criminal record, and everyone begins to panic again (Nitsuj: Okay, that’s it, no more classified information. Everybody come clean and air out their dirty laundry). Once again Mitsumune stands up for him (Seras: Man, he really is too trusting) but Valkana has another idea. In his search for Yottsun he found an underground cell. He has Jack spend the night in the cell until they can decide what to do with him and we learn why Valkana is so obsessed with finding Yottsun. He doesn’t want to be the scapegoat. In the past Valkana was a successful cyber engineer that major corporations used to hire but one day some business had their information leaked and blamed him and his team saying it was caused by human error which they asked him to eliminate (Nitsuj: That is impossible. Humans are full of flaws thus anything we create will have flaws as well). As a result of this he became shunned by society losing his business and everything so now he’s determined not to be labeled the scapegoat once again. Night time finally comes where Mitsumune sees Maimai going to see Jack since in the past they used to be classmates and she feels a little responsible for him getting locked up. Another character named Lovepon shows up thinking that they’re on their way to kill Jack (uh no. Why would we want to do that?). Yeah, throughout the episode we see that Lovepon is very eccentric and tends to go off the deep end from time to time. The reason for this is because she believes that tragedy needs to be destroyed otherwise more tragedy will occur. Since Jack is a criminal he deserves no pity and thus deserves to die before he delivers more tragedy to the world (Seras: That is the logic of a madwoman). No longer able to stand it she tackles Mitsumune and tries to drown him in the river (oh look she’s about to cause tragedy. That means we have to kill her before she brings more tragedy). Mitsumune manages to fight her off and as he runs in the river, he sees the body of Yottsun float past him (Seras: Well that’s one body down).
In episode 4 a search party is organized to find Yottsun’s body in the river. They have no luck and once they hear the roar of a creature they’ve never heard before they return to the village in fear. A majority of the group has had enough and decide to leave the next day (not sure if that’s a bad idea or a good idea. (Nitsuj): Bad. They’re in too deep. You had a chance to leave in the second episode but didn’t take it. (Seras): Now, it’s either die in the village or die in the forest). Hayato tries to get Mitsumune to leave with him but Mitsumune wants to stay (Nitsuj: Stop listening to your dick man. That girl is nothing but trouble) and Hayato says fine. The next day a majority of the group leaves using a map given to them by Dahara (Seras: I don’t trust that girl). They try to leave with the bus but can’t get it unstuck and when they start hearing the roar of the unknown creature they start moving on foot where they mark the trees so they don’t get lost, but they somehow wind up back where they began. Confused by this everyone begins to panic and then Jack appears where the one who bullied him scared out of his mind runs, slips, and falls down what I believe is a cliff (Seras: And that’s two bodies down). They run away and come to a cliff where they see railroad tracks and begin to follow them believing they’ll lead them out of the mountain. The episode ends when they come to a tunnel, go inside and run away screaming with Maimai saying there’s a giant Mitsumune inside (Nitsuj: Say what now?).
Episodes 5-8
(Seras): We begin in the village of episode 5 where the bus driver claims he saw his daughter. A noble gesture but his daughter died 10 years ago (Mira: Say what now?) and now he’s determined to find and bring her back with him believing his life will return to normal if he does (what exactly is normal? (Nitsuj): For me, it’s reviewing an anime with you guys. (Mira): For me it’s enjoying a nice book while eating slices of a green apple. (Seras): The point I’m trying to make here is normal is an illusion. It’s all subjective and differs from person to person). The people who left the village come running back saying they saw Jack stalking them in the forest and after going down to the cell they see he’s gone meaning someone let him out. Suspicions soon begin to rise among the group as the leader of the group that left isn’t exactly sure who to trust. This causes a division within the group and later on in the episode Lovepon along with three other characters capture Mitsumune thinking he’s the most suspicious person so far (him!? I’m sorry but shouldn’t we be locking up Lovepon the girl who pretty much has every intent to kill people and has attempted to kill someone not too long ago. I think she’s the most suspicious person out of everyone in the group). They take him down to the cell where they’re about to interrogate him (Nitsuj: Except for Lovepon who wants to torture him. Crazy bitch. This isn’t Yandere simulator) but they smell a fire and bail. The fire was started by Masaki who saves Mitsumune and as they escape they see some giant creature (Nitsuj: What the fuck is that?) which Mitsumune recognizes as Tokimune.
Things start to get interesting in episode 6 as we start to learn about some people (Nitsuj: Oh thank God. You think watching a bunch of people run away from home to start a new life in a secret village would keep your interest. But once you discover they’re all idiots and annoying you just want to get out of there like a man at a hair salon). In the episode we focus on Lovepon, Jigoku no Gouka (a military nut), Nyanta (another military nut who is a girl and speaks like a cat), and Mikage (failed corporate man) the people who kidnapped Mitsumune in the last episode. Throughout the episode we begin to learn about their past and why they wanted to start over as well as shed some light on their personalities and fears. We start with Lovepon (Nitsuj: Yeah let’s get the crazy one out of the way first) whose family was in debt thanks to her father who ran out on them. In order to get money, Lovepon’s mom gave her body to a corrupted monk who abused her and slept with her (Mira: No matter where you go you’ll always find corruption in a culture’s religion). Lovepon hated the monk and whenever she tried to stand up to him she got beat up and her mother did nothing to stop it. Lovepon even tried to kill the monk but failed miserably and got beat up again (I’ll kidnap him for 50, torture him for 100, and kill him for 200. (Nitsuj): Why the extra 50 on the killing part? (Seras): The extra 50 covers the cleaner cost. (Nitsuj): Ohhhh~). So this gives you an idea of why she’s the way she is and why she believes all evil in the world should be executed. We shift our focus to Nyanta next who was bullied by her classmates because she was powerless. One day, she bought a BB gun and began shooting the bullies from sniper spots in order to get revenge on them but got caught and the bullies tied her to a post and shot a beehive on her head where she got attacked by bees and became so traumatized by the event that she became afraid of them (and yet she moved to a village in the middle of the mountainous forest). Next up in Jigoku no Gouka who had dreams of joining the JSDF but was afraid he wouldn’t get selected because of his height (Mira: He doesn’t have to worry about that in today’s culture). In order to gain a little more height he implanted silicone into his head (Nitsuj: That’s disgusting) but even that wasn’t enough to help him pass the test. Finally, we have Mikage (who next to Hayato is the only person with the most common sense. Not that that says much in this anime) who in the past worked for this model train making company. He was leading this big train demo at an expo and was in charge of everything looking to make an impact on the higher ups. However, at the expo he had no model trains because he told the company that made them the wrong date (Nitsuj: Oh shit you fucked up big time. That’s like one of the top 3 mistakes you never make in a corporate setting). So the expo turns into a huge failure and everyone laughs at Mikage for being so full of himself and making a rookie mistake. Because of this he developed an inferiority complex and hates it when people laugh at him. After seeing everyone’s past, the village begins playing with them as they see their worst fears come to life and chase them. Lovepon gets chased by the logo on the monk’s favorite bottle of sake (ironically the logo is a demon. (Nitsuj): How fitting), Jigoku gets chased by a big silicone (Mira: He is way too innocent), Nyanta gets chased by a huge bee that spawns tiny bees (https://youtu.be/tmxfZGkfByE), and Mikage gets chased by a model train that laughs at him and tries to run him over (glad to see Thomas finds this whole thing funny). Everyone hears all the screaming and finds Jigoku, Lovepon, and Nyanta who tell them what happened. Koharun comes to the conclusion that they all saw their worst fears come to life which according to a song from the village happens occasionally. She also talks about her investigation of the village where during her research she came across Masaki who disappeared from a village not too far from Nanaki Village about a year ago and now everyone thinks she’s a ghost (Nitsuj: At this point I would not be surprised if that were true).
In episode 7 we learn about Mitsumune’s past (because his life is so interesting). We find out that Mitsumune had a twin brother named Tokimune who unlike Mitsumune was reckless, wild, messy, and adventurous (Mira: Clearly the more interesting of the two brothers). But tragedy struck when Tokimune feel off a bridge and died on his mother’s watch. The death of Tokimune hit her pretty hard (Nitsuj: Pretty? Try seriously), so hard that when she sees Mitsumune she mistakes him for Tokimune and keeps calling him that (so Mitsumune meant nothing to you?). So Mitsumune became Tokimune in order to keep his mother stable for years until he could finally take it no more and ran away from home (Mira: Wow, who can blame him. He was forced to be someone he’s not and erased his true existence). Mitsumune tells Masaki this story and she leads him to a station tunnel where she says that’s the way out of the village however in order to reach the other side and return to your old life you have to face yourself (your fears, your monsters, and yourself. (Nitsuj): It’s getting all Persona 4 up in here). Masaki and Mitsumune enter the tunnel where they run into Tokimune (the monstrous penguin not the actual person). Masaki passes right through him with ease while Mitsumune has difficulties fighting him and retreats back to the villagers who trick him into telling them where Masaki is and they go off to hunt her because they honestly believe that she’s a ghost and that she’s responsible for everything they’ve been seeing (https://youtu.be/s_8pKe0PT58). So they capture her, tie her to a stake (Nitsuj: Okay this is turning into a lynching), and interrogate her where Hayato (who I’m pretty sure has a god complex and is jealous at the fact that Masaki is getting Mitsumune to think on his own instead of listening) takes a knife and cuts her arm where she starts to bleed. Mitsumune sees this and he punches him only to get tackled to the ground by the group until Masaki begs them to stop saying that she’ll tell them everything.
So in episode 8 you would think we would learn just what the hell is going on with this village but no we still learn nothing about this village. Masaki pretty much just talks about her cousin Reiji who was looking for the village and she tagged along with him. They managed to find the village and when they go to leave, the village pretty much plays with Reiji’s mind and has him see a monster. He panics and runs away with Masaki (who can’t see the monster so this proves she has no fears from her past) where she falls off the cliff and becomes unconscious. When she awoke she looked all over for Reiji but couldn’t find him and since she couldn’t find the village she stayed at a nearby village claiming to be working part-time until she finally heard about the tour and decided to join it in the hopes of returning to the village and finding her cousin (Nitsuj: That’s all fine and well but that still doesn’t address the elephant in the room. The elephant being the matter of what the hell is going on here and how do we leave?). Many people don’t buy her story because it’s so vague (Mira: I agree she’s still hiding something from us) and turn on her once again with Mitsumune trying to hold them all back until the bus driver shows up in the bus (he got it out of the mud?) clearly off his rocker (Mira: Well this had to happen eventually. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re all crazy at this point) and kidnaps Masaki along with Mitsumune and Hayato. After driving out into the forest he stops and begs Masaki to show him his daughter again believing she’s a ghost just like his daughter (Nitsuj: Well she’s clearly a liar, but she’s no ghost). Back in the village everyone decides to go after them where Valkana and Dahara go off on their own and get attacked by a man shooting arrows at them. In the end we see that the person shooting at them was Hyoketsu the guy who fell off the cliff back in episode 4.
Episodes 9-12
(Nitsuj): At the start of episode 9 Valkana manages to capture Hyoketsu who says he was saved by someone and is now doing their bidding. Before Valkana can question him, he gets knocked out by a shadowy figure and Valkana goes chasing after him (Mira: Don’t blame us if you die). Back with Mitsumune, Hayato, Masaki, and the crazy bus driver they drive into the tunnel against the plead of Masaki with the driver believing that he’ll be able to see his daughter again if he goes into the tunnel (come play with me daddy). They drive into the tunnel where Mitsumune and Hayato see their worst fears come to life. Mitsumune is the deformed penguin (Seras: It looks like a rejected mascot from Freddie’s pizza parlor) and Hayato sees his dead grandma (oh you are going to have an interesting backstory). They manage to reach the end of the tunnel where the driver vanishes on them after seeing his daughter again (later crazy) and the three come across another village (Seras: This one abandoned, damaged, and covered in fog). So the three go exploring the village where Masaki makes the excuse she has to use the restroom and ditches the boys while the boys go and search an abandoned factory building where Hayato opens up to Mitsumune about his past. It turns out he comes from an abusive home. On the surface his parents are nice folks but only when he does what they tell him to do. Anytime he got out of line it was a hit to the face (Mira: One of these days Hayato, bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon! (Seras): You tell him Mira). His mom treated him as a doll, his dad took no interest in him whatsoever, and they would punish him by locking him in the attic where a picture of his dead grandmother was (and in his defense her eyes were pretty scary. It’s like they’re looking into my soul). Hayato literally had no freedom until he finally met Mitsumune and decided to make him his puppet (Seras: I knew it! I knew he was a control freak). With Mitsumune under his control Hayato finally got a sense of freedom (yeah manipulating people behind their back is a good sense of freedom) but ever since they’ve come to the village he can feel Mitsumune slipping through his fingers and he can’t stand it. He wants things to go back to normal with him controlling Mitsumune but Mitsumune says he won’t go back to who he was before. He’s determined to change and start over. Mitsumune runs away from Hayato and makes it to the outskirts of the village where he runs into Valkana and they each face the manifestation of their fears. For Valkana it’s the wood he saw as he was bowing to the corporate scumbags (Seras: Oh please, since when has wood ever been intimidating?). Mitsumune faces the penguin again only this time it’s smaller and takes him to a river where he hears the voice of his mother and goes to her. Back in the village a few of the girls want to test a theory about the manifestations of the village so as they approach the tunnel Jack comes out and attacks them, but he gets knocked out by a mysterious man.
Things start to get weird in episode 10 (Mira: How much weirder could they get?) but at the same time they start to make sense. The episode starts off with Mitsumune waking up in the hospital where his dad is there to greet him (where the hell did he come from?). He apologizes to Mitsumune for everything he’s done and hands him a piece of paper from the person who saved him telling him to head to the roof of the hospital at 2am to learn the truth about Nanaki Village. Back in the village everyone besides Lovepon and Mikage have started acting weird and stopped caring about Masaki (Seras: I find it weird that the series is almost over and so far only one person has died). We then cut to the girls where we see the person who saved them from Jack was Reiji who’s been here the whole time but refuses to leave the village (please explain). He shows them how to get back to the village but he tells them that it’s starting to change. Back with Mitsumune he goes to the roof of the hospital and is greeted by Yottsun (Seras: He’s alive!? Oh~ this anime trolls you so hard) who takes him to meet a scientist named Kamiyama or Kami as Yottsun calls him. Kamiyama is the one who saved Mitsumune and Yottsun and he’s been studying Nanaki Village for quite some time. He explains that in the past he presented his research on Nanaki village into how it was a place that made the psychological scars (aka trauma) of a person’s past come to life. Naturally nobody believed him and he got laughed out of the science community but despite this continued researching Nanaki Village until one day he found it and faced his own psychological scars where he conquered them and then was back in the real world (so Nanaki Village is in some kind of alternate universe?). He tells Mitsumune that the monster he’s been seeing as well as everyone else has been Nanaki a creature that shows everyone their psychological scars with the only way to escape is to face Nanaki and accept your scars (Mira: So in other words face reality just like the bus driver said at the beginning. (Seras): Too bad he’s pulled a 180 on us and is now crazy). As long as you have a psychological scar you can find your way back to Nanaki Village however facing Nanaki comes with consequences. Once you face Nanaki and accept your past a part of yourself gets left behind with it because it’s a part of you. For Kamiyama it was proving his research was right (which it was) and once he proved it he lost his psychological scar and returned to the real world however it made him age rapidly. The man’s not even 50 and he already looks like someone’s grandpa. But hey it’s better than staying and cutting yourself off from your psychological wounds.
(Seras): Why is that bad?
(Nitsuj): Because if you don’t accept your Nanaki as they call it, you can’t leave the village and you’ll eventually stop functioning as a proper human being which is what’s happening to everyone in the village right now. But all of this is not the big shocker in the episode. No, the biggest shock comes at the end where we see that the boss of Jack and Hyoketsu is Koharun (Mira: What the fuck?).
Episode 11 opens up with the bus driver finding his daughter Misato (come play with me daddy). Back in the village, Valkana returns to see everyone become sloths and the girls return to tell him what’s going on. As they talk, Jack and Hyoketsu shoot fire arrows at them (Mira: Idiots. The arrows aren’t enough to start a fire). Valkana and the girls go after them where they take two of the girls hostage and reveal that Koharun is their boss who knew all about Nanaki and everything (Seras: That bitch). She wanted to bring everyone here in order to make Nanaki stronger (Mira: Uh sensei, question. (Nitsuj): Yes, Mira? (Mira): Why the hell would she want to do that? (Nitsuj): No idea). She tried to use Valkana but he turned out to be a failure so now she’s shifted her focus on Hayato who is slowly losing it now that Mitsumune refuses to be his puppet and Koharun exploits this in order to make Nanaki stronger. We then shift gears and return to Mitsumune trying to get back into the village but it’s impossible for him. Now that he’s accepted his Nanaki he can’t get back into the village which means everyone is screwed (Seras: Ironically, I get the feeling this is the good ending). But hope literally comes driving his way (at about 45 mph) in the form of the bus and the bus driver who has made it out of the village because he finally accepted his Nanaki. For years he blamed himself for his daughter’s death and ignored the pain of losing his daughter but now he’s ready to face it and won’t forget his daughter for as long as he lives. He got out with the help of Reiji who tells the bus driver to bring Mitsumune back and to tell him to save Masaki from herself. It turns out the Reiji we’ve been seeing all this time is actually Masaki’s Nanaki. Mitsumune and Yottsun get on the bus and they speed up off a cliff where the bus driver mysteriously disappears so Mitsumune takes the wheel and they somehow wind up back in Nanaki village just in time to save Masaki who has just been caught by Mikage and Lovepon (oh these two again) and the episode ends with Nanaki appearing (Mira: In a horribly rendered and ugly CGI creature. God, Pixar would be shooting them if they saw this).
In the final episode we find out that the Nanaki appearing belongs to Hayato and the creature actually listens to him (man he is a control freak! Look, he’s even got Mitsumune’s Nanaki in a cage). He attacks everyone trying to kill them all until Mitsumune speaks out to him telling him that the reason he came to Nanaki Village was to make himself a better person and help Hayato (Seras: You wanna help him? Call child services and sign him up for therapy). It turns out Mitsumune knew about Hayato’s family problems but didn’t know what to do (Mira: Just like Seras said call child services) so he figured he go on a trip in order to be Hayato’s equal where the two were true friends who could depend on each other. This gets Hayato to stop but Koharun shows up to provoke him some more but Mitsumune tells him it’s all lies, and he falls off the creature hurting his leg and having to be carried by Mitsumune as they all continue to run away. As they run Koharun picks up Mitsumune’s radio and speaks to Kamiyama who just happens to be Koharun’s father (Mira: Whhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaat~). That’s right, Kamiyama is Koharun’s father and the reason why she’s putting everyone through this mess is to save her father. She believes that if she can create enough trauma among everyone it’ll bring out her father’s trauma and she’ll be able to give it back to him stopping his rapid aging and returning him to normal (well after hearing her reason all I gotta say is: this is dumb). Kamiyama tells her it won’t work (exactly, the guy gave up his trauma because he proved that he was right. He has nothing more to feel bad about) and that each Nanaki is different (Seras: To each their own as they say) so it’s impossible to get back his Nanaki not that he cares, he’s at peace with himself, and just sees himself as an experiment still studying Nanaki. Back with Mitsumune and the others they arrive in a tunnel where Hayato decides to face and accept his Nanaki and he succeeds thus he returns to the real world (so does this mean he’s done being a control freak? (Mira): Doubt it, but time will tell). After Hayato vanishes, Reiji appears before Masaki and Mitsumune and reveals himself to be Masaki’s Nanaki. We find out that Reiji never existed, he was Masaki’s imaginary friend that she thought up at a young age and kept him all throughout her life because she didn’t have friends and always said what Masaki wanted him to say (Seras: So he was basically her dream guy). Not accepting this, Masaki runs away and Mitsumune chases after her while Reiji goes to tell everyone else in the village how to escape (Seras: Or we could just let them all fade away. I wanna see somebody die or suffer. Come on! Give me something). Mitsumune catches up to Masaki where she says she knew all along Reiji was fake (oh good we can skip that pointless segment and get to the part where you and Mitsumune become an adorable couple) and accepts Mitsumune as her rock to lean against whenever she’s in trouble and leaves the village (alright 2 down and a bunch of other people I don’t care about to go. I know it’s wrong to say that, but I honestly don’t care about any of these people). Back in the village, Reiji tells everyone how to leave just as Valkana and the girls show up with their captives who they easily beat. Many of them decide they want to leave and accept their Nanaki while some want to stay in the village and Koharun offers to stay and continue studying Nanaki Village to find a way for people to stay in the village without fading away. So in the end a majority of the group faces their Nanaki and leaves the village along with Mitsumune, Hayato, and Masaki already there and they go back to their normal lives (Say it with me now. (Nitsuj, Mira, and Seras): Worst. Seminar. Trip. Ever).
Final Thoughts
(Nitsuj): Like Mira said the concept for this anime is good and there’s a mystery that keeps you guessing, but the writing and the characters are just awful.
(Mira): There’s too many characters and not enough time to get completely interested in them. While some of them do get explored they still aren’t well-written and have such unlikable personalities that you really don’t care for them. Seriously, there’s like over 20 characters and the only ones I can even remember or keep track of are Mitsumune, Hayato and Masaki. Everyone else you’re either going to forget or not care about.
(Seras): The biggest fault with this anime is that nobody dies and it’s not scary. The Nanakis look awful and don’t hurt anyone so there’s no sense of fear or panic for the characters or the situation they’re in. If the Nanakis actually hurt them or were haunting them throughout the anime then this anime could have worked and been interesting. The characters are beyond stupid that it’s laughable and the ending is the cherry on top that pisses everyone off. Why aren’t any of these characters mad at Koharun for deceiving them, why do some of them want to stay in this God forsaken village, and what’s going to happen to the characters that faced their Nanaki? Are they going to start rapidly aging too?
(Nitsuj): The animation and music are nothing special. Especially the CGI. It is some of the worst CGI I have seen used in an anime. If you think the bear from Golden Kamuy is bad, then take a look at the CGI they used in this anime. This shit makes the bear look like Pixar.
Final Score
(Mira): My final score for Mayoiga is a 4/10.
(Seras): I’m giving it a 2/10. It fails as a horror anime. No death, no fear, no joy whatsoever.
(Nitsuj): I’m also giving it a 4/10. On paper this idea sounds like it could have worked, but when executed, it’s a huge letdown.
(Mira): So our score for the anime is a 10/30 and averages out to a 3.3 which going by our system translates to a 3/10 as the final score for Mayoiga. Some people have said they enjoyed this anime, and to them I say good for you, but I think I speak for everyone here when I say that this anime just sucked.
(Nitsuj): Definitely. Well guys this was fun. Thanks for helping me with this review. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go watch something way better to purge this awful anime from my mind. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj. MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
*Nitsuj gets up to leave only to step on a rake and get smacked in the face by the pole*
(Nitsuj): Ohhhhhhhh~! Rake, my Nanaki.
(Mira): I always assumed bats were your Nanaki.
(Nitsuj): I can have more than one.