Mayoiga: The Lost Village Episode #6 Review

Then she really is...a ghost?

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)

Oh man, I don't even know what's going on in this show anymore. Well, I mean, I kind of do. But I still don't. You know what I'm talking about. When we last left off, Mitsumune and Masaki had spotted a giant stuffed animal thing towering over the trees of the Nanakimura forest. This week, we get to deal with several other exponentially enlarged objects that tie to various other characters. Some of which are rational, some of which are...wait, none of them are really rational. They're just all giant, weird objects. Huh. Apart from just huge items, though, this is a backstory-heavy episode. In fact, we learn more about the characters in this episode than any of the others so far -- and it winds up working out.

First, we get a glimpse into the past of Lovepon. Apparently, she grew up raised by a single mother that struggled to keep the two of them afloat. Having little money, Lovepon's mother essentially sold herself to a local monk who would then go on to "support" the two. However, that monk wasn't really the greatest guy. It quickly became apparent that he was abusive toward Lovepon's mother, which in turn, prompted Lovepon's affinity for execution. She went on to spend the rest of her childhood plotting ways to kill this monk dude. Unfortunately for both her and her mother, that never really worked out and, instead resulted in Lovepon having the daylights knocked out of her by an old man.

The next backstory we get to see in Nyanta's. As it turns out, she was a victim of bullying in school. After rejecting to shoplift things for the girls bullying her, Nyanta visits a gun shop and purchases her first weapon, albeit just a small BB-gun. Wanting to break out her new toy, Nyanta begins sniping the bully girls as they walk down her street and isn't discovered until days later. Of course, when the girls do discover her, they don't necessarily treat her with respect. Instead, they tie her to a chair and shoot down a beehive that lands on her head. Teenage girls are the worst, I swear.

Our third backstory is that of the fauxhawk guy, Hellfire or whatever. Hellfire has apparently always wanted to be a military ranger. The downside to this, though, is that he doesn't really fit the bill. One day, after overhearing of a surgery that involves silicon implants in the cranium in order to increase height, Hellfire obliges and signs himself up. Finally meeting the height requirements for the military, he signs up and begins training. The only downside is that now he has to deal with silicon implants in his head, which can't be comfortable in the slightest.

Our fourth and final backstory is Mikage's. As expected, he was some business/marketing dude that specialized in toy trains or something. With a large toy convention looming over his head, Mikage pitches an idea for a new train set that is reluctantly accepted by his team. However, on the day before the convention, it is revealed that Mikage entered in the wrong delivery date for the prototype train set, resulting in his reputation being tarnished as everyone in his workplace erupts into laughter with him at the center.

Anyway, now that all that's covered, it's become clear that whatever the new villagers of Nanakimura are seeing in the forest relates directly to them. Each one seems to be having visions of their greatest fear -- or something along those lines. The mystery, at this point, becomes the question of, "Why?" Is there truly a monster out there? Does the village have a soul or mind of its own? Who knows? The only thing I'm certain of at this point in time is that I would never want to live in this village. I don't even care about the real estate pricings. This place blows.

In Summary:

Sporting excellent character development and interesting backstories, episode six of Mayoiga follows a slightly different formula than the rest of the series. More time is spent establishing why characters are seeing things instead of just building up ominous mysteries. Over the next several episodes, I assume that we are going to see more of what we saw in this one. Quite frankly, I'm excited to see the rest of the villagers' lives before their arrival in Nanakimura. This show is getting extremely weird. With the help of some disturbing and surreal imagery mixed with an ever-building story, Mayoiga is definitely becoming pretty damn cool.

Grade: A-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll