Whether a series follows its original source material exactly, like High School of the Dead, it takes its time telling its story and even adds a bit here and there like Nurarihyon no Mago, or whether it tries to put 180 pages into just one episode: it all has the potential to work out well, as long as the creators have a vision and manage to capture the essence of the source material they’re dealing with. Yakumo is a pretty good example of this: it’s indeed rushed but that also gives it its charms. Making a 13 episode anime is completely different from making a 26 episoded one: with the latter, you can take your time and flesh out the cast and the setting, and carefully build up everything. With the former, you do not.
This show has its flaws. This episode was probably the least interesting one so far due to the time it wasted on that rather long car chase scene, on top of this weird coincidence of Haruka being in the exact same car as the bad guy here as he got possessed (that’s something I also really wonder how the manga made plausible…).
Still, I liked this episode, and especially the chemistry between Yakumo and that detective Kazutoshi. At first Yakumo seems a bit of a clone of Ghost Hunt’s Naru-chan, but it’s these things that form the subtle differences between the two. This episode also established that he isn’t perfect, and that there are also cases in which he fails to make a difference. That’s always nice.
What also impressed me was the soundtrack here. Sure, this series’ soundtrack is nowhere near Bee-Train’s better works, but on its own it really is excellent. It’s not all over the place like usual with Bee-Train, and yet it’s varied, creative. It’s really the soundtrack that saved that car chase scene here.
Rating: * (Good)
“This episode was probably the least interesting one so far due to… this weird coincidence of Haruka being in the exact same car as the bad guy here as he got possessed (that’s something I also really wonder how the manga made plausible…).”
Eh? Did that cross your mind? I didn’t think it was all that weird or coincidental that they were in the same car since Haruka and the bad guy worked at the same restaurant, and they’re clearly friendly enough that the guy drives her around alot. As for why the ghost of the little boy had to strike at that particular moment, did you think that was what needed explanation?
I also enjoyed the car scene too cause it wasn’t over the top. The show knows that Yakumo’s chase after the boy in the tunnel should be more dramatic than your typical Hollywood car chases, and I rather like that.
which manga are you talking about there are two versions with different artwork and differences in the cases (btw don’t know which one is more similar to the novels)
in the manga version i read the guy driving her was a guy whom she met at a party who drove her home because the trains weren’t driving anymore.
In the manga the guy was not possessed. The ghost of the boy was attached to his car. The bad guy was a friend of a friend of Haruka who offered her a ride back home.
The tunnel is haunted by the spirits of those who died there. That night Haruka saw the spirit of a women, but the bad guy saw the boy and fearing that the boy was following him asked Yakumo’s help.
I noticed the anime made the boy cute and sad and gave a him a tragic end, whereas in the manga the boy’s spirit was creepy and evil, and even at the end remained filled with hatred and regret.
I liked this episode better than the last, it didn’t feel as rushed and somehow felt more… complete. I didn’t get the feeling that something was cut out to fit it into one episode like I got it with the last episode.
So I enjoyed this episode quite a bit.
only the comments on how muchit differs from the manga/novel keep me a bit worried.
I hope they won’t screw it up with their ultra fast pacing and all the changes they seemed to have made.
It would be sad if this adaption couldn’t fully use its potential as I think the characters and the setting are really interesting so far.
Still loving this… I wish it were a 26 episode series and followed the original more closely, since its obviously rushing through
I read the manga after two episodes and I have to say, I like the manga (the 2-vol one that got discontinued) better because it had better pacing/the stories made more sense, the mysteries were more logical, and Yakumo was not completely expressionless/cold. 😛
I read the manga after two episodes and I have to say, I like the manga (the 2-vol one that got discontinued) better because it had better pacing/the stories made more sense, the mysteries were more logical, and Yakumo was not completely expressionless/cold. 😛