Mayoiga: The Lost Village Episode #4 Review

What is there to discuss? We need to leave as soon as possible.

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)

After Mitsumune and Maimai spot Yottsun's body floating down the river, the group organizes yet another search party to scour the area and uncover his body. In the midst of their search, a loud noise resembling a roar of some sorts is heard off in the distance, prompting the search the end and beckoning the group back to their camp. Upon arrival back in the actual village, tensions begin to rise between several members of the camp. People like Dahara and Mitsumune think the best course of action is to stay where they are until they can figure out what's going on, while Mikage, Hayato, and most of the others think they should leave as soon possible. Needless to say, the increase in tension and difference in ideas sparks two separate groups instead of one large conglomerate. Dahara's group will stay in Nanakimura; Mikage's group will leave in the morning.

On Dahara's side, things remain relatively calm. The biggest concern, however, becomes the bus driver (Who had elected to stay in the village). After Koharun mentions that she has noticed said bus driver acting a little strangely, she and Valkana begin to follow him. Eventually, he stops at what looks like a grave or a shrine or something and starts chasing after a little girl. In the midst of his chase, he is stopped by the rest of the group and forced to tell them what he was chasing after. As it turns out, that little girl was nothing more than his deceased daughter. As if random roars and floating bodies wasn't enough, now we have to deal with hallucinations and ghosts. GREAT.

On Mikage's side, things are a little more interesting. During an earlier conversation between him and Valkana, Mikage raises the question, "What if one of us is trying to kill the others?" Valkana isn't immediately dismissive of this and seems to hear Mikage out as he begins to list his reasons for suspecting Koharun. Unable to convince Valkana to come with them, Mikage and his group set out to look for help in the morning. This group, being the larger of the two, winds up on a lengthy trek in the forest that...doesn't really go as planned. The bus, which the group had planned on taking, was not going to budge even slightly. And, as if that wasn't enough, more noises start being heard off in the distance. As the noises get closer and closer, Mikage's group starts to speed up and, after going in a giant circle, they finally come to a set of train track that they decide on following. Even if those tracks don't lead them where they planned on going, it will still lead them away from Nanakimura -- and that's pretty much the only thing that matters at this point. 

Eventually, those train tracks lead Mikage's group to a tunnel. Of course, this is where the next cliffhanger ending comes into play as whatever the group saw at the other end of the tunnel sends them screaming and frantically running back outside. And, according to Maimai, what they actually did see was...a giant Mitsumune? What?

In Summary: 

This is, in my opinion, the best episode of Mayoiga so far. Tensions finally build up enough to cause a fissure capable of separating one large group into two smaller ones. That being said, we get a steady dose of two linear plots at once that both begin to pick up suspenseful steam. The mysteries become a little less typical with the addition of hallucinations (On Dahara's side) and a [possibly looping?] landscape surrounding and closing in on Mikage's group. Either way, it's definitely unclear what's going on at this point in time and it really makes Mayoiga something to look forward to in the coming weeks. I'm getting flashbacks to Lost while watching this series, and that's totally a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

Grade: A-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll