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Mayoiga (Anime) add (All reviews)
Jun 17, 2016
Mayoiga (The Lost Village) is a really strange series and to watch it, you’ll really need to do it with some attention or an open mind. I can’t remember the last time I watched a show with such amount of absurdity, to a point where I feel just as lost as the characters in the story. Directed by Tsutomu Mizushima (Shirobako, Girls und Panzer), the series takes the genre of mystery but what you expect isn’t what you’ll likely get. And in many ways, Mayoiga sends a wrong message that makes the show look like a borderline comedy.

As an original series, the premise itself sounds interesting. Think about it. You have a group of characters each with their own personalities but all end up in the same place, a village named Nanakimura. It invites a lot of questions about what takes place and the discoveries they’ll make. Those who have seen series such as Another, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and Ghost Hound may be in for a treat. On paper, the show looks intriguing. However, the first episode gave me a mixed impression especially when it introduces 30 characters. What goes on my mind is: how on Earth do they plan to give characterization with this many people? The show is also only 1 cour so my expectations was rather dense about how much they can focus on the story as well.

Essentially, the show is pretty much about a group of characters being lost in a remote location after being dropped off by the bus driver. The setting (Lost Village) invites a lot of attention because by plot formulaic standards, there’s bound for a lot to happen. It’s not strange in the sense that everyone on this trip gets lost but why they are there. And it also sets up developments related to survival, trust issues, and possibly even death. The show already establishes a few given ideas though – being that no one really knows why they’re there, what’s at the village, or how to get back. There’s a lot of diverse personalities all mixed in at once if we take at the characters individually. Their common goal of course is to get the hell away from there as fast as possible.

On paper, there’s 30 characters but the series does manage to show some background stories for some of the more prominent individuals. Besides Mitsumune, we also get some storytelling about Hayato (Mitsumune’s best friend), Valkana (a man that is trying to build a new life from his previous job), Lovepon (a girl obsessed with execution), Nyanta (a kid with fondness with guns), the mysterious Masaki with connections with the bus driver, and among others. While their background stories doesn’t have direct connections to the main story, it does identify their characteristics. And that’s an important part of the show. The characters in this series needs to know who each other are to build trust. In a place of unknown, the last thing they need is betrayal or turmoil between each other. The show only does a moderate job at crafting relationships because quite honestly, there’s just too many characters to work around with. In retrospect, most of the character relationships are based more on how much they want to know about each other.

After seeing a fair amount of episodes, I find it hard to understand the purpose of the show. Yes, it’s supposed to be a thriller but a lot of times, I find it rather amusing with the amount of superstitious events that occurs in the series. Perhaps it’s surreal comedy? Who knows but some of events going on are rather unbelievable. In addition, the story feels more like a skit where the characters are there for entertainment. Their established personalities become more and more evident as each episodes ventures on. At some point, I have to wonder if it series is trying to be unintentionally funny or not. For instance, the show at one point decided to actually make Lovepon into a prominent character for the viewers to take seriously despite her behavior being borderline insane. It’s definitely not scary if that’s the original purpose because just how ridiculous it has been. The first two episodes actually makes the series somewhat compelling because of the way it sets everything up. However, the amount of absurdity that builds up more and more and later feels just like popcorn comedy.

While the artwork isn’t great, it isn’t bad either. It’s more like somewhere between the middle where it’s acceptable. The setting does have a genuine feeling of horror with its eerie atmosphere. Character designs aren’t impressive but they are fresh enough to show that each individual has some unique trait. The fun part about the show is the character expressions as we see how they react to certain situations. Lovepon is the gold standard for this while there are times when see others behave in ways that are laughable.

Soundtrack on most part works for the show. It works in the way that it portrays the atmospheric setting well. The OP and ED theme songs aren’t very impressive but the OST has the general idea of giving mystery vibes. Character voice mannerism actually deserves some praise especially with the female characters because of how they react. Meanwhile, the show also crafts some dramatic scenery accompanied by the choreography of intense music at times.

“What did I just watch?” You’ll probably ask yourself that question more times than you can count by the time this show is over. Make no mistake, Mayoiga is more about entertainment than an intriguing mystery or horror story. It has the general premise but it hardly delivers at what it tries to do. There’s also a lack of sorrow felt during the show despite some key staff involved and writing. So what is Mayoiga really? Is it a show that is “so bad, it’s good”? Well to me, it’s more of a “I’m so lost”.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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