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Mouryou no Hako - 01: Not Awesome, I Can’t Deal With That

Posted by blissmo 9 October 2008 14 Comments

Girls talk too much … right?

I honestly don’t know why I held high expectations—-or any at all—-for CLAMP’s new anime entitled Mouryou no Hako. I was quite sure of myself when I told hazy that it couldn’t get any worse than long legs, but the first episode definitely proved me wrong. In fact, it was so urgh that I don’t think I care what happens next. And I’ll just quickly apologize beforehand if I’m starting to sound really harsh, but let’s face it, this is what I truthfully felt. And in case you’re wondering, I did watch this RAW, but even with subtitles, this episode would have most certainly bored me anyway.

Even though I know I really shouldn’t be judging this series from the very first episode, it just really sucked full-stop. Sure, you’ve got the creepy white-faced talking dolls and ugly men, and if that wasn’t frightening enough, you’ve got a pair of homosexuals cast as the main female leads. Personally, I don’t have anything against homosexuals, really, but I didn’t think the first episode was going to focus entirely on Kanako and Yuri’s relationship … and … funny dancing.

While the plot regarding mutilated bodies found scattered across the town and a group of high-school detectives investigating on the matter sounded cool—-I mean: awesome—- it seemed almost as if CLAMP suddenly remembered that Mouryou no Hako wasn’t about two chicks making out and decided to chuck in a “scary-cliché” train scene in the last few minutes to grab our attention. But I was long gone before that. I don’t know what disappointed me more: the fact that this episode was terrible, or that I was actually expecting something from it.

14 Comments »

  • kuromitsu said:

    This is not a “CLAMP anime,” CLAMP only did the character designs. It’s an adaptation of a novel by Kyogoku Natsuhiko.

    Btw, I thought the first episode was awesome.

  • hazy said:

    How come the character designs in the caps look cutesy? It looked so much better when I looked at the sample drawings that were in Newtype(?) I’d still check out the series anyway, even if just for the first impressions if ever I won’t like it. xD

  • hazy said:

    Wait, what?!? *re-reads the post again* I never knew that this had Yuri vibes (unless maybe it was just for this episode?)… I guess I got too engrossed on the “mystery” aspect of it and my brain was selectively processing what I read. Orz. Anyway, I guess we’ll just see.

    (Sorry for the double post, the edit button was gone before this particular info sunk in ^^;;)

  • Ryan A said:

    hmmmm, I was going to look into this series over the weekend… meh, go listen to Santo

  • blissmo (author) said:

    @kuromitsu: Thanks for letting me know, I really should make sure I get my facts straight next time :P I still didn’t like the episode though

    @hazy: I was engrossed in the mystery part as well, but …

    @Ryan A: I’ll listen to Santo over the weekend too

  • Hynavian said:

    blissmo, this series reminds me of Lament of the Lamb (the one that I was complaining on my blog). Maybe it’s so psychological to the extent that I totally don’t get what’s happening. Yes I watched it raw too but I’m not so n00b as to don’t get what they’re saying in Japanese. I just don’t get what they’re doing, too mind boggling for me. The “horror” moments, like the mum’s creepy slow motion shouts and come to live dolls, are so boring that I won’t exactly categorize them as horrifying or terrifying in anyway. @_@ Really, what is episode 1 on would be my question to those who understood what’s happening for this series.

  • blissmo (author) said:

    @Hynavian: I barely understood the Japanese as well, but I knew something “wrong” was going on lols. For some reason I’m glad you didn’t enjoy this much either XD

  • killbethy said:

    You were probably bored because the first episode only introduces one main character (and that’s barely for a few minutes), as the girls are not the leads in the story… they merely introduce you to the main characters. Suffice it to say, the real story begins after Kanako is taken away to a hospital and disappears; bizarre murders of girls being dismembered and put in boxes begins shortly after… along with the story and introduction of the main characters.

  • 21st Century Digital Boy said:

    I swear to god it feels like you just set out to piss me off sometimes. this is my favorite of the season.

  • blissmo (author) said:

    @killbethy: That makes this series sound a whole lot more awesome

  • mellow_bunny said:

    blissmo: (sorry to hijack this post comment area buuuut) WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS POST D: http://yukan.dasaku.net/miscellaneous/site-news-miscellaneous/site-news-and-thats-the-end-of-that-chapter/ ????? I never got a chance to read it… it blipped and then when I tried to load it nothing @_@

  • blissmo (author) said:

    ohhhaha, dw, im sure you’re in for a better treat :D

  • Laiba said:

    just by reading ur post i can surely say that u don’t know anime, u dont even know is not clamps work but just the characters were designed by them. and that’s not u all r judging a masterpiece when u don’t even know who the creater is and what the girl’s were talking about ,she is not yuri she really love another girl for her beauty ,u can see it where she was lloking at herself in the mirror she thinks she is no pretty but the other girl is and she wants to be reborn as her.that’s not yuri! and u watched it raw when u know nothing just don’t judge it. :roll:

  • blissmo (author) said:

    @Laiba: I understand where you’re coming from, but I don’t think people can “know” anime. I respect your opinions, but don’t tell me not to judge something when clearly you’re judging me just by reading an article based on an anime I obviously don’t like. You can’t say someone “knows” anime because people have various opinions so when they watch something, they interpret it differently. Just because someone doesn’t like an anime doesn’t give you the right to tell them that they don’t know what they’re going on about, but yes, I admit that I didn’t know the full details of this anime so my “review” on it was not fair or totally honest, but here’s the gist of it: I don’t like the anime at all.

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