Mayoiga: The Lost Village Episode #9 Review

I've had enough of being led by the nose! I'll never let anyone have their way with me ever again!

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)

Episode #9 of Mayoiga starts off with something we can all relate to -- accompanying a delusional middle-aged on a bus man as he speeds through a haunted tunnel in the middle of the night in hopes of seeing his deceased daughter. You know, just normal stuff. As the bus continues to traverse the dark passageway commonly laden with monsters, the bus driver DOES, in fact, reunite with his daughter. But, like her eyes are all black and lifeless -- this is most likely due to the fact that she his dead. Apart from that, Tokimune...err, Mitsumune (Sorry, bro) is once again chased by a giant penguin, while Hayata is chased by his...grandma?

After the nightmare-fueled bus chase, the group comes across what may be the village from Masaki's past trip to Nanakimura. Etched on a nearby stone is a message [probably] from her cousin, Reiji, beckoning her to "Trust Nanaki." Obviously, no one in the group understands what this means and Hayato decides that they must investigate further. Masaki, on the other hand, really wants to go home and doesn't feel good about intruding on new grounds. So, just like girls always do, she fakes having to go to the bathroom and totally bails on Hayato and Mitsumune. Her timing was actually pretty impeccable considering the next thing that happened between those two boys was a quick argument about how Hayato is a possessive boyfriend and how Mitsumune is tired of him looking at other boys. (That's not really what the argument was about, but I feel like it's a good representation).

Hayato's past (Which is revealed amidst the argument) is actually kind of interesting. Kind of. As it turns out, he comes from a relatively wealthy family where his parents attempted to control every aspect of his life, from what he'd wear to school to who he would associate with. If he refused or deviated from their desires of him, they'd beat him and toss him up in the attic -- which is apparently the same thing they did for his grandma when she went senile. Talk about worst parents ever, right? Needless to say, the lone picture of his grandmother displayed in the attic was burned into Hayato's memory and has haunted him since. 

Meanwhile, Valkana and Koharun are trying to figure what is going on with Hyouketsu No Eyepatch. According to him, he was rescued by "That guy" and was forced to shoot arrows at the duo on their way to Masaki for reasons we currently do not understand. Once Eyepatch-Man reveals that he was forced into this dilemma, Valkana sprints off and declares that Koharun is now the babysitter. After an offscreen chase, Valkana accidentally meets up with Mitsumune, though their reunion is brief due to the monsters that appear before them just seconds later. The good part about this, though, is that Mitsumune's penguin demon brother is now like ten times shorter and just hobbling around like he's a newborn. A newborn that falls off a cliff a minute later. Anyway, Mitsumune chases after the penguin, does an Assassin's Creed slide down a cliff, and winds up hearing his mother's voice from across whatever body of water he just discovered.

On the other side of the village, the trio of the two best girls, Lion and Maimai, as well as the detective girl who can't stop grabbing her kidney/spleen/love-handles, Nanko, arrive at the evil tunnel. Nanko and Lion are about to force Maimai through the tunnel (Because that's what friends do) but then BOOM, more arrows -- this time, they're fired by Jack. But don't worry -- just as Jack is about to charge the three girls, a mysterious man shows up and punches him in the face. That's how the episode ends.

It's probably Reiji.

In Summary:

The ninth episode of Mayoiga: The Lost Village is actually somewhat lacking in terms of content. Yes, there is a bit more background information for Hayato, but other than that it's really just a few members of the cast walking or running away from something. The discovery of the new village in Nanakimura definitely adds to the mystery factor of the show, but is slightly diluted due to the fact that we've already seen it once before in Masaki's flashback. With only several episodes to go, Mayoiga is really going to have to work hard to tie up all of these loose ends. It's either that or have everyone just randomly die for some reason -- which would be kind of cool, I guess. Despite the underwhelming feel of this episode, Mayoiga still [most likely] has a lot to share. The tough part is going to be in how they wind up sharing it.

Grade: C+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll