Review of Mouryou no Hako Ep 1

Mouryou - a collective word to describe spirits which reside in mountains, rivers, trees, stones and tombs. So is this anime about spirits which are in boxes?

Just from the title of this anime you may be under the impression that the story is all about horror. However, after finishing the first episode, I think it is more of a mix of horror, supernatural happenings and suspense. Especially since there are lots of mysteries surrounding the characters who have been featured so far and that the key person, Chuuzenji has yet to appear (he's like an exorcist who seems to end up providing the solution to the mystery), I guess we will have to wait and see before we can ascertain which direction the anime is heading towards. Will they be heading more towards the horror scenes or put more focus on the reason why certain things are happening?

In the scene which takes place on the train, Sekiguchi Tatsumi, who is heading home for his grandmother's funeral, meets a mysterious man who sits opposite him and has a strange box on his lap. When he hears some sounds coming from the box, the man opens the door and Sekiguchi is shocked to see a head inside which is surrounded by flowers. I can't judge whether this head belongs to a boy or girl though. Although this event may seem random and not have much meaning, Sekiguchi seems to be quite affected by what he has seen and that may have something to do with the main plot introduced in this pilot episode.

The two main characters in this particular arc are Kusumoto Yoriko and Yuzuki Kanako who are classmates. Kanako seems to have everything in the world i.e. brains, beauty and charm while Yoriko's family is poor, she's quite plain and boring. In short, they are people who are extremely different from each other. Nonetheless, Kanako approaches Yoriko and they soon become close friends.

However, something is not quite right about their friendship. Or at least that's what I feel. It appears that Yoriko is mesmerized by Kanako to the extent of appearing as if she believes wholeheartedly whatever Kanako tells her. For example, the part that they are each other's past lives just seems like a concept which Kanako is administering into Yoriko's mind without much resistance on the latter's part. My guess is that Yoriko has been too lonely for ages and Kanako's companionship makes up the void in her heart. As such, Yoriko may be willing to listen to Kanako and believe her without any doubts. Of course, this is frowned upon by Yoriko's mother who seems to be seeing a doll maker, Sasagawa. This Sasagawa seems to be another puzzling figure as he gave a doll which appeared to have a soul to Yoriko. I don't know whether this was deliberate though. Well, it is no wonder that Yoriko freaked out and views Sasagawa as a suspicious figure.

At the end of the episode, we are faced with the mystery as to why Kanako committed suicide (or so it seems) and what significance this has on the events that would follow. From the way it looks now, I think the anime will be divided into a couple of main arcs so it would probably take some time before we can know what is going on.

One funny thing is that the main character Chuuzenji Akihiko is still missing from the story. I suppose he would only appear when someone enlists his help to solve the mystery.

With regards to the OP and ED, the former is OK but I didn't like the ED at all. I wonder if NIGHTMARE is somehow related to NTV in one way or another because it just seems strange for them to be singing themes for big-name animes consecutively despite the fact that they are not that well-known. It appears that this anime will only run for one season so there is little chance for the OP and ED to change. For those who don't like the songs, I guess we have to bear with it.