Ghost Hunt - 17
Short Synopsis: There are two possible options: let Matsuyama die, or send the curse back to the students who originally casted it, dividing its power.
Good: Mai was pretty touching.
Bad: Yet again, despite this arc being very good, it still doesn’t match up to the fifth episode.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6.5/10
This episode was all about Mai. Finding the solution the curse took a step back from what’s really important. The only way to save Matsuyama is to reflect the curse to the students who casted it. It may divide the power of the curse, their lives still are in danger. Mai didn’t agree with this, and she was determined to let the whole world know about it. She even labelled Naru-chan as a murderer, and she wouldn’t even acknowledge that Matsuyama, another human being, would die if the curse wasn’t reverted. The episode ends with a romance-element. It seems that Naru-chan and Mai are getting closer and closer.
Still, I’m getting more and more annoyed with this series. Like mentioned above, I’ve been waiting for something to equal the fifth episode. But so far, the best thing that happened was the ending of episode 13. That doesn’t mean that the previous arcs have been bad, it’s just that they all missed something. The question is: what? Could it be the fact that a high school is the wrong place for a setting for this? While it’s true that I dislike anime which spend too much time inside a high-school, I don’t think that’s all.
Come to think of it, I’m starting to believe that Mai’s the reason to blame. She was very interesting in the second arc. She did things herself, she took initiatives, she wasn’t scared to voice her opinion, and all in all, she acted really professional. But what did we get in the latest arcs? In arc 3, she kept whining and whining about how she feels that Kasai isn’t the real culprit. Apart from that, she walks around the school a bit, and that’s ALL she does. Oh, and she faints once, to get saved by Naru. To make matters worse, what did she really do in the sixth arc? She faints a few times, she walks around the school aimlessly YET AGAIN. She has a few visions, tells everybody about them. This episode, she kept whining about her own morals, and even got herself almost killed, ONLY TO BE SAVED by Bou-san.
I really don’t like what’s happening here. Mai is turning into the helpless Damsel in Distress, who can only whine, and tell others what to do. While I praised the second arc because of its professionalism, the current arcs have been focusing way too much on Mai’s feelings. Not only that, she was way less helpless back in episode five. It’s probably because of Ayami. Because this girl had been entrusted to Mai, she was actually forced to protect someone, instead of being protected. And THAT’s exactly where she shines, and fails miserably respectively.
I now totally understand why the end of the thirteenth episode was so good: Mai disappeared. Because of that, the show focused on factors other than herself.
Dammit, I hate it when a main character ruins an anime.