Lost Village Episode 6 Review

There has been a couple episodes in between the start of the review of this show. Alexandra Atkinson, our previous writer, decided to write about her other passions, and I'll be gladly taking over for the review of this show! First off, let me tell you, although I don't think this anime is the greatest, it's the one I look forward to the most each week. It's great to see such a huge cast being utilized in such a great way, like Lord of the Flies: Anime Edition.

WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS BELOW, THIS ANIME TAKES IT'S STRENGTH IN IT'S SURPRISES SO GO WATCH THE EPISODE FIRST!

Although this anime was pretty crazy the first couple episodes, this one is where the anime took a huge turn and showed us the craziness that the show is capable of. Not only that, but we had one episode packed with huge character development, teaching us about the people we see as crazy psychos and giving them a bit more reason in our eyes.

We have the events from the previous episode, where Mitsumune and Masaki are running away from some type of crazy penguin monstrosity, but they are put on the back burner to give their pursuers some good old fashion backstories. The backstories in question are of Jigoku no Gouka, Love-Pon, Mikage, and Nyanta. Before knowing these backstories, I gave Love-Pon a lot of crap, she's crazy, but she has her reasons.

Growing up in a household where her mother has to sell her skills and body to a strange man, as well as taking physical violence from that same man would drive anyone a little insane. That terrible priest changed Love-Pon from a cute little girl to a crazy woman who seeks vengeance for any type of suspicion. Back in current time, she is being haunted by a large oni-type head, reminiscent of the face on the bottle of alcohol that the priest would drink. Out of all of the illusions that tormented the characters this episode, I believe this one had the least creative design. Thought they took inspiration from her past, I just feel like this was one of the things I'd be least afraid of. (though I'm a scaredy-cat, I'd still be afraid of it) Either way, we really get to see why she is so passionate for vengeance, it seems like it is the one thing that drives her in this world. My only gripe would be that it doesn't really show where she gets her love for "executions" in particular, which is a big deal because her love form them is a large part of her character.

Contrasting Love-Pon's issues, Nyanta's past seems a bit less traumatizing. To take revenge on a bully and her friends, Nyanta's younger self comes across a gun shop and purchases an pellet loaded pistol and constantly shoots her bully in the head from far distances out of view causing confusion and pain to her. You really can feel joy for Nyanta since she wasn't doing too much damage, but annoying your bully mildly seems like a just reward for dealing with them in the first place. After a couple incidents of her attacking her bully, she gets caught and KIDNAPPED by her bully's group who decide the only fair to shoot Nyanta from barely 6 feet away and placing her right under a beehive. It cuts back to Nyanta getting chased by a giant bee with nests of smaller bees on them, a horrendous sight even for someone who isn't afraid of bees. I don't get the reasoning with cutting off whether or not her friends hit the bees nest or not, in fact, they SHOULD have, it would have given more reason for her to hate her past so much to leave the world. As much as he monster was creepy, I don't think her past justifies her wanting to go onto this trip.

Nyanta's partner-in-crime Jigoku no Gouka has his own past demons chasing him in this episode as well. Where I couldn't see Nyanta wanting to leave on this trip, Jigoku has better reasons. After working so hard, and showing amazing results to join the Japanese Self Defense Force, as well as getting a minor surgery to help his chances, he ends up getting denied because he was too short. Jigoku seriously deserved his spot in the JSDF, I really felt for him this episode. Not only was his past just ridiculously unfair, but his illusion he sees is just the stuff of nightmares. I don't care if people call the silicone-crab monster some type of boob joke, the sounds and visuals of this thing would make me crap my pants. These are the types of backstories I can get behind, where his life just didn't have direction anymore after he gave his all in one thing, I think many people can relate, myself included.

Last but not least we have Mikage's backstory and illusion. Let me tell you, that train from hell was the most disturbing thing I have seen from this show. You think Thomas the Tank Engine's blank stare is scary? Square off with this demon train and tell me you didn't pee your pants. Mikage is a character that I really have grown to dislike, on purpose. I think one of the best strengths that Lost Village has is it's ability to make you feel emotions towards each character, especially with ones they want you to hate. The story of Mikage's past is harsh, but in the end it seemed like he brought it all upon himself, and honestly I feel like he deserves to be run down by this train. Though Mikage was humiliated by his co-workers, he was originally cocky about his situation, where the higher-ups in his company told him be realistic. I don't think anything wrong about showing gumption and hard effort, but when you're cocky about things and it ends up biting you in the back, I won't feel bad for you. As much as I can understand Mikage wanting a new start, I still don't feel much simpathy for him.

Other great moments in this episode include the thoughts that Masaki might be a ghost, making you wonder wether all these illusions are being caused by her or not. I for one hope the village itself has a larger story than that. Masaki seems unusual, but not enough for her to be a ghost, I think her natural superstitious self just makes her more aware than others of what is really going on. Either way, this episode really pushed the plot forward, including some terrifying and comedic moments all together. This anime is making a name for itself as a comedic horror.

#Review #Anime #LostVillage