tgoyette - 2016-08-13 11:26:13

                                                                      魍魎の匣

Mystery as a genre has existed for a long timenow, and it has been seen so much that one might think they have seen it alland that every mystery follows the same road as the previous ones. In 2008studio Madhouse release an anime that is a detective mystery with a plot thatwe have probably heard from before, although with some  alterations.

Thisis an anime series with heavy references to Japanese and even Chinese supernaturalfolklore, literature, science fiction ,and it also uses some historicalincidents for its story – which show us how to truly make a dark mystery animeabout the criminally insane.

Story

Thebasic plot is set in Japan in 1952, a few years after World War 2, with the countrytrying to rebuild itself. The story is about a series of bizarre murders whereschoolgirls have been dismembered and stuffed into boxes. And we have a privateinvestigator hired by one of the girl’s mother who along with some other, aretrying to find the killer.

So,the story seems relatively simple, albeit gruesome, and it seems like yourregular detective show, though I find the title kind of misleading. The story isdifferent because of the vast amount of dialogue, the reason for this isbecause through the series they are rather than just searching for physicalclues, they are searching for psychological ones, they are trying to explorehow a murderer thinks, and the reason behind these grotesque murders. Thewriting of the dialogue is top notch, every word has meaning, doesn’t matter ifit’s from a detective making his observations, a person whispering about alover or the hardships muttered by a mother who wants her girl back, it is phenomenal.

Inever liked shows that spoon feed you with its story, especially if the pointis for it to be a mystery and a “complex” story. Thankfully this anime neverdoes that, there are lots of scenes that don’t have a direct meaning, they areusually there to flesh out the setting or to put the person watching on a side-track,while the show never loses track of its goal, with everything coming to an endin a fantastical way. The plot is multi layered, with references andflashbacks, every detail is important and you have to keep an eye when watchingthis anime.

Themain issue people may find with this anime, is the dialogue itself, if you arenot used to the vast amount in just one scene (add translator’s notes aboutcertain phrases) this might be a downer for you.

Characters

Thereis a variety of characters, another wonderful thing this anime does. They areanother selling point of this anime, every one of them contributes to the storyand even though it’s only 13 episodes, you never get the feeling one characteris left out or is there but never helps us with the story. Their personalitiesare amazingly done, with each of them having their own idea of a criminal mind.

Themain cast consists of:

 Akihiko Chuuzenji, an antique book seller,that is a part time “exorcist” who tries to solve psychological mysteries, eventhough he himself doesn’t believe in the supernatural. He is one of the mostinteresting and well done characters here, his vast knowledge never feels cheapand everything he does has meaning behind it, even when others think it ishopeless.

Reijiro Enokizuis a young private detective who has this weirdness about him that is somethingthat actually helps him in solving cases, because of his different approach tosituations.

Tatsumi Sekiguchi is a novelist, but his short storiesdon’t help him enough for a proper living, so he works for the press. He haspoor social skills, and he has also served in the war where it is implied thathe was a deserter, and he suffers from psychological disorders because of thethings he saw and did during World War 2.

Shutaro Kiba,our final character of the team, he served in WW2 in the same regiment asSekiguchi. While he isn’t a deserter he still has many mental scars from thewar, such as loosing fellow soldiers under his command and just the constant fightinghe saw, though he tries to hide this side of him and stay a true soldier, hehas many regrets.

Art and Sound

This anime series wasdone by studio Madhouse, and should go without a notice that the art is asexpected, beautiful. The start shows us very crisp and clean looking characterdesigns, along with gorgeous backgrounds. They don’t hold back on the murderscenes, showing off dismembered bodies.

Sound wise, I neverfound it special, the soundtrack does tend to repeat and never actually found apiece of soundtrack that truly stands out. The OP and ED were done byNightmare, the ones that did OP1 and ED1 for Death Note, so you can expect somenice music there.

All in all, this animeis a masterpiece when it comes to horror detective mysteries, showing us justwhat kind of mind it takes to commit some bizarre and grotesque murders, itnever spoon feeds you and expects a mature audience, one of the reasons why it’sso underrated. I highly recommend this to anime watchers who want a goodmystery and also because I want people to watch something that is actually goodfor a change.

Alternative animerecommendations:

Aoi Bungaku Series – itwas made by the same studio and many of the staff members were involved withthis anime, hence the same feel. It goes into classic Japanese literature, withsome very dark and depressing themes, showing us the human mind on the verge ofcollapse.

Shigurui – also by thesame studio, but set back in history during the Edo period. An anti samuraianime that shows us what people do to gain power and what happens when wrongpeople gain it, also tells us what happens when we seek revenge.

Erased – I had thechance to watch this anime when I was watching Mouryou, Erased has some darkthemes, but also has supernatural themes like time travel, watch it because itdoes have a nice story, about trying to change a horrible event from the past.Though it tries to be a “mystery” it was simpler than you thought it would be.

beahan.derrick - 2015-05-21 01:10:38

this anime is a little bizzare but have a awesome Thriller in it for like a anime like that you really need to follow each things they said and dont forget anything and the more important you need to like Thriller at 100% so lets begin

About The Story
the story is a little bit bizzarre at the beginning but more explaination will be present later like every Thriller , so this is about a serial killer and a strange story i will not say for not spoil something , each things in this serie is very important seriously you need to follow every things in the anime for not be lost because the large of time this is just conversation and by conversation i mean 2-3 episode just of conversation with each others so follow everything dont miss anything because you will be fucked if you dont listen everything they said , everything are Logic and a Real Mystery thats make the anime a good point in the story !

About The Animation and Sounds
the animation have a dark or bad ambiance if you know what i mean and this is the style i like , some people can feel bad in this kind of environment if you prefer say this like that but dont forget too this is a old anime so the graphic are a little bit not soo HD and thats can bother some people.. for the sounds they are mysterious sometimes.. i talk about the BGM and SFX because of his mysterious side thats make the sound awesome so you can feel the ambiance of the anime correctly , the opening is a little cool i like the feel i got when i watch the opening so i give you the link 

About The Characters
normally i talk about each characters but for this one i will talk of all character in one text because you have a large of characters who are important and thats gonna be bored for you if i talk about everyone so... anyway the characters have all their place all the role but you can't really like 1 characters because the story is the most interresting in it so you dont really grab a characters who you gonna follow and like during the anime this is a little bit hard to explain you really need to watch the anime for understand me but i can say the characters can be cool o:

About The Enjoymentthe more important in this anime and the point of the review i will be clear on this you really really really need to like Thriller - Mysteries - Logic thats very fucking important guys because you can be bored if thats not your genre , this a critical point on the anime some episode can contain only conversation about important things so you need to follow each things because everything is Logic and can be complicated or bored if you dont like this , but for people who like this genre i can say thats freaking fking nice in Thriller ! you're not gonna laugh or think this is funny this is only serious at 100%

so if i recommand this one.. all i can say is you need to like the genre just here Thriller - Mysteries - Logic if not you gonna be bored this is guarranted and i can say this a Mature anime and can be complicate to follow if you become bored and dont give all the attention on it so.. yeah i recommand only for people who like the genre i have say , if not past your road you will be bored guarranted and you gonna waste your time , but for me i have really like this one for his Logical Strange Story.