The problem with Mayoiga is that there is no mystery.
That's a quite peculiar premise for a mystery anime, isn't it. Of course a show doesn't exactly have to invest that much to the story, instead it can pursue developing human relationships and studying its characters. Nothing like that here. It's a wonderful thing how it's possible to pump these 12 episodes of an anime full of cliches and idiotism no one could have come up with without laughing at such ludicrous ideas. Some people, spooky surroundings, a supernatural threat, hidden scars from the past. These lost people end up in... THE LOST VILLAGE! A touching masterpiece with a great sense of delicasy.
Obviously the first thing that a seasoned watcher would consider would be the following: The creators need to be joking. Even more seasoned watcher would consider the option ”not this goddamn toxic waste again”. A good amount of blank characters made out of the most used and generic molds taken to a creepy village while out of nowhere people start dying? Only a few characters receive any kind of background? Such a funny way to play with us... if there were anything to support that. The first episode indeed seemed like a parody made so obvious that people would actually take it seriously. Epic and corny introductions for the crew! Singing! Gloomy omens! I tend to expect the worst from anime nowadays, so while I toyed with the thought that the terrifying monsters behind this all weren't doing it with a straight face, the answer would be the usual one. As it got more and more embarassing to watch, I still wanted and sincerely hoped that in the final episode everyone would just wake up and discard the whole thing with a ”as if that all could have happened, it was only a dream”. Mayoiga ended with no dignity at all. The joke wasn't a joke.
In the end Mayoiga isn't even entertaining, it's a complete bore. The opening song is not too bad and it's quite catchy, gives one bonus point to the final score because I'm nice like that. At least there's no need to mourn for the lost potential, it becomes evident that this anime was rotten to the core from the beginning. I would have rather spent the time cleaning the house, now it will never get clean and my poor soul will be lost in the dusty whirpool of awful anime.
