Characters/Development
The first several minutes of the first episode will introduce you to the five main characters, showing off their personalities and ways of interacting with one another, having fun and enjoying themselves. This appears to be a typical day of school, with a happy atmosphere and touches of comedy, which then suggests a cute series of friends. However this leads the audience in the wrong direction leaving quite a surprise later on with the use of violence, horror and mystery as indicated by the short sequence at the very beginning. Show here is a young man’s shadow holding a baseball bat being bashes against some bodies, blood scattering about while some gruesome sounds take place bringing up questions about what exactly is going on? Not only does that add to the horror aspect, but so does the opening sequence which has quite a large creepy vibe about it where the flowers add quite a bit of irony to the series, yet the butterflies can signify change and a form of link between individuals, such as twins which are presented in the series.
Amongst each of the five main characters have their own unique personalities and other likable preferences, yet during the series you will begin to notice a few personality changes or as if they were being possessed. Keiichi is the only male within the group who seems to get on well with everyone and cares a lot about his friends. Then there is Rena, an innocent looking girl who likes to collects all sorts of cute items and visits the nearby junkyard to find such objects quite often hoping to find a brand new pile of junk. Apparently from the local police officer, she has quite a mysterious background and past. Mion is a little more of a tomboy at most times, however she does show off a more girly side when scared or in worry. She appears to be part of a high-class family of the village, again with quite some mystery behind it, her family and herself. Satako is a little girl who appears to have a slight uptight personality from time to time, yet she can be quite sweet and childish as she cries for her brother. And finally Rika, another cute and sweet little girl yet seems to have a mysterious side about her as well, seems to know quite a lot too. There are of course several other characters that play major roles within the story, each of course with their own personal touches.
The story however doesn’t flow between twenty six episodes, but in fact spread out across in different story arcs with two different approaches. Question arcs, and Answer arcs, while one arc explains some facts closer to the end in two episodes, yet also adds a few other questions. These arcs are of varying lengths and presented to the audience in a different type of order. The question arcs take place during the first half of the series while the answer arcs will take place during the latter half. However, not everything is covered up, and holes are still left dug up and it’s up to the audience to relate the story together quite like a jigsaw puzzle and working out a solution. This adds a bit more to the enjoyable experience for the audience as they get to have something to think about or analysis, however for others it can come across as confusing.
The general flow of these story arcs usually have a beginning, plenty of events taking place during the middle where questions arise, development of character will take place and the general stuff. Then of course an ending which doesn’t fully conclude this piece of the story, where a decision to the correct answer arc will take place closer to the end of the series. Development of the characters is rather good as we learn something new about them during each different story arc, their changes of personality, the mysteries about them and their relations, and even experience some mental state changes. Each of the characters will have something of interest to know or learn about, usually explained to the audience, or more specifically Keiichi, throughout many different characters depending on the arc. There is quite some violence that takes place in the series, some of which can make people rather squemish due to the nature of these scenes, which come across as quite sadistic while the character’s victim is going through a certain torture or death.
Animation/Scenery
The art style used for the character designs is quite simplistic than in other usual series, of which use a small amount of detail and lots of bright colour tones have been used throughout them. This is what would expect in a children’s series, however the lighting effects have been done considerably well adding some realism to their structure. Other noticeable points of the style are the small size of the hands and feet, the thin look of the arms and legs that seem to take place during many scenes. Close up shots throughout the series during the more latter parts are used to show off some ugly sides to the characters where their eyes are larger with small pupils when they start to go insane. This overall style isn’t too bad though and the characters aren’t defined by using thick lines as a transition between the backgrounds and other parts of their design.
The backgrounds were made fairly well with a variety of locations throughout using a different art style to that of the characters. They use a lot of warm colours, rather than brighter tones, with plenty of detail to make the scenery visually appealing and quite realistic. Many locations used for specific scenes use some very nice lighting effects which can helped emphasis some form of drama or mood taking place during some of the many scenes, especially a few exterior shots. Animation wise is rather average throughout where all the simple actions are done in a simple manner. During scenes that use more movement are done so and quite well, but could have been done better and makes the animation quite a disappointment for such a show but definitely watchable. The violent scenes however seem to have the most detail in this department making them come across as more sickening.
Audio/Music
Sound effects throughout were moderated and used well throughout. The cicada noises that are constantly heard seem to add both a warmer feel to the series yet a disturbing evil vibe and worked considerably well making certain scenes appear creepier. Background music was generally consisted of creepy tracks but the show was generally quiet which helped add a bit of suspense in there as well. As mentioned near the start, the opening theme was fantastic setting the overall mood of the series perfectly, quite mysterious and creepy due to the use of odd introduction sounds and chants. Eiko Shimamiya does a good job of the vocals and creates an enjoyable track to start each episode off with. Never had a problem with the voice actors and quite liked the picks for both Keiichi and Satako.
Conclusion
Mysterious story split up into different arcs that is put together and developed throughout the series. Several likable characters with plenty of learn about each of them, while the flow of the series keeps at a good pace. Average yet quite disappointing animation, with bright toned and simple art style for characters and warm colours for the appealing backdrops throughout.
