Subculture Anime Blog

OP: “Hikari no Machi” by TOKIO – The animation is pretty cool, and the actual song is preformed by the popular band TOKIO. It’s pretty good, but not really my style.

There is a tv news report being broadcasted in a room, when we see one of the eyes in a mask light up. There is a lady being chased down some alleys by a monster while we see glimpses of silver skulls on someone’s equipment. After the monster seemingly corners her, all we can hear is her scream.

After the opening rolls, we see a reporter talking with his boss about investigating the previous night’s incident. Although he is hesitant, the boss eventually agrees to let him do it.

On the train, an old man tells two of the female passengers to be careful with the incidents happening recently. The reporter has been shifting through some of his money, but gets up to go to the bathroom. When he gets there, he is pushed into one of the stalls by a girl. He wonders what she is doing, and it seems that it was to avoid the police who are patrolling the train.

When everyone gets off the train, the girl still wants to follow the reporter around. The old man starts a conversation with them, correctly guessing the reporter’s occupation. He also notices that the girl’s passport is invalid, which is the reason she hid from the guards. The old man wonders if the reporter is interested in the two women who were on the train, but he replies that he is interested in something bigger. Gunshots let out as the guards around the area shoot at a man trying to climb out one of the fences. One man pulls out a gun and shoots him down easily as the rest of the guards thank him.

The reporter shows his passport to one of the managers, but when he asks about the girl’s, he says that she forgot it. The man won’t allow her to get by without it, but the reporter responds by pulling out a card which seems to get them by easily. As they walk out, we see the two women from before being interviewed. When the girl asks how the reporter got her through, he responds by saying it was magic. Elsewhere, two people who seem to be after the reporter are talking in an office.

Once they are out on the streets, the reporter tries to make a phone call but is surprised when the operator tells him that the line has been cut off. The girl who is still with him, tells him that she wants to be a cameraman. She thinks that they could make a good team, since he is a journalist. He declines, thinking she is a bother, and starts to ask people around town about the incident. At the end of the day, they haven’t received any clues. Realizing that they still don’t know each other’s names, the girl finally introduces herself as Mamiya Kiriko. The man responds by introducing himself to her as Minagami Hayato, He then tells her bye, because he wants to get rid of her again.

In a ramen shop, the old man from before notices one of the men we saw in the office receiving a page next to a vending machine outside. Kiriko continues to follow Hayato to a cemetery where he meets someone. They pay their respects, and the man correctly assumes that Hayato is after the Skull Man. As he leaves, Hayato tells Kiriko that he was the mage that allowed her to pass in the station, again showing her the card. Above the graves, we see a woman on a motorbike observing them.

Night falls, and the two make their way to a run down apartment. Kiriko decides to take a shower, and Hayato takes the chance to look through her passport. To his surprise, a picture falls out with Kiriko and an older man with a camera. However, Hayato turns around to see Kiriko in a bathrobe. She yells at him for looking through her belongings as her bathrobe falls off. With this, Hayato is kicked out of his own apartment. The two women from before who were being interviewed are spending the night in a hotel room. One of them is called out for work, so she tells the other to go ahead and sleep. Outside, two men are waiting for her in a car, one of them being the detective who is after Hayato.

While Hayato is walking down the street, he whistles at the woman we saw earlier at the graves, who drives off on her motorbike. Hayato is surprised when the vending machine he was about to use shuts off, and turns around to see a frightened individual. After touching the man’s shoulder, Hayato is thrown an incredible distance into the machines. Blood comes out of his head, when he notices one of the monsters from before. After running a short distance, the troubled man is eventually cornered by the monsters as a car explodes next to him. Looking up, we see the Skull Man. Hayato makes his way there to find the man dead. He looks up to see the Skull Man, but faints before he has the chance to finish his sentence.

ED: “Ashita wa Ashita no Kimi ga Umareru” by Chocolove from AKB48 – once again from a very popular group, the song is kind of slow and poppy. Again, not really my style. The animation is just pans of still shots.

Impression:

This show is being produced by Bones and being sponsored by Geneon. The OP and ED are done by very popular groups, and there are many talented voice actors involved in the show. Newtype USA was making kind of a big deal about it, and I was a bit interested. First of all, the animation is not disappointing, but this isn’t surprising coming from Bones. To me the show has a very “90’s” atmosphere, which is to be expected since the manga was published that long ago. The first episode was pretty slow, basically introducing us to some of the main protagonists. There was no preview, so I don’t really know what to expect of the next episode, but apparently there is suppose to be a lot of action in this show. Depending on that, I may or may not blog this show. Honestly, I’m not super interested and I think the Skull Man looks kind of cheezy.