Mayoiga: The Lost Village Episode #2 Review

So we've finally found it...

What They Say:

A shady bus tour of young men and women are headed to an elusive village called Nanakimura. A destination where people can partake in a utopian existence, free of the world's obstacles... or so goes the rumor. Heading deep into the mountains, the bus is carrying 30 different individuals, each harboring their own expectations and troubled hearts. What they had arrived to was an uninhabited village with lingering, faint scents of life. It was falling apart. Just what is the secret of Nanakimura?

The Review:
Content:(Please note that the content portion of the review may contain spoilers)

As you may have guessed from the tagline of this review, the group has finally reached the lost city of Nanakimura. Of course, that didn't happen until they abandoned their bus driver, gave away all of their money, hiked like one million miles and nearly died. You know, normal stuff that everyone does right before going on vacation. But, despite all these hardships, they did make it. So that in itself is applaudable. I guess. Dude, I don't know. 

One thing to note, though, is that Mitsumune and Hayato/Speedstar are totally not gay. We know this because Mitsumune says it like four times while talking to Lion on the way to Nanankimura. But even though the two boys are not, nor will they ever be romantically involved with each other, they still have a strange friendship that stemmed from Hayato claiming that he would protect Mitsumune from bullies back in school. And we know the flashback is legitimate because it had that gray tint to it that all good flashbacks have. You know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, upon reaching the village, the tour group finds that the previous inhabitants seem to have vanished, leaving several traces of life behind them. Just how they vanished, though, is still uncertain at this time. Of course, this leads to everyone devising their own theories about what possibly could have happened. Most of the theories seem pretty G-Rated for the most part -- until Lion (Also known as best girl) raises the question, "What if they all died?" This, of course, spirals into a burst of more grotesque ideas and prompts Lovepon (Also known as second best girl) to say, "Well what if they were all executed one by one?" Uh-oh. Things could be getting intense. Well, at least they could have gotten intense. The director wound up breaking up the discussion. Buzzkill.

Eventually, the group splits into several smaller groups and each one heads off in a different direction. The largest of these groups winds up heading toward an abandoned, run-down house. Remember that dude who rapped on the bus? Yottsun, I think it was? Well, now he and that one unmemorable guy in the yellow shirt are talking about taking advantage of some of the girls in their group -- mainly Masaki. Of course, no one notices when Yottsun (Or whatever) basically forces Masaki to come with him to one of the private rooms. At least, not until the all the smaller groups coalesce and those two are still missing. Dun dun dun. The episode ends on that note and leaves us with a pretty solid cliffhanger to hold us over until next week.

In Summary:

Despite my comic breakdown of the episode, the second installment of Mayoiga impresses once again as it furthers the mystery surrounding the village. It is still unclear whether or not the series will take a much darker turn but, once again, I would not be surprised if it did. The whole thing with Rapmaster Yo and Masaki is definitely a little weird, and it's hard to tell exactly what happened and why the two have not returned yet. Characters who didn't receive sufficient screen time back in the first episode wind up receiving more in this one, but I worry that overall character development may suffer because of the projected 12-episode length of the series. That is...unless everyone dies? Gasp. Someone save Lion.

Grade: B+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll