Another (generic discussion thread)

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Auria

Spoiler for thoughts about events in ep3:

What happened to Misaki? -> possibly a suicide? Because if she was as popular as described, I thought it would hurt the class the most (blaming themselves because no one noticed what was really going on again, preventing further damage to their soul by imagining she's still there as she always was) would also explain a two-sided attachment to death, though I also like the theory she was murdered by some of Sakakibaras relatives

Class rep -> seemed so shocked when she saw Sakakibara in the end, possibly saw Misaki as well, thus died while running away (it looked like there was something important coming up, possibly family related? so she was asked to get out of the class) -> you see Misaki if you're close to death?

That.. would make sense. Wasn't the MC suffering from some kind of illness for a long(?) period of time? I dunno.

Watching episode 3 was painful and scary for me. And it wasn't just because of the show itself. I was lying down on my couch, fully relaxed, listening to Mei explain the legend or whatever the hell it is. As the music got a little creepier, I became a little anxious. And then, completely out of nowhere, I got a text. My phone is set to vibrate, and the vibration off it always makes me jump up. Which is exactly what happened this time. The only difference this time was that after bolting onto my feet, I remembered that my right leg still hadn't recovered from Saturday. Oh, the pain.

Spoiler for Episode 3 thoughts and speculation:

The OP has really grown on me, but the ED still feels out of place. Since the class rep was the first to get offed, I wonder if the next person to bite the dust will be the character that appears next to her in ED; that guy who wants to go to West High, I think?

I wonder what the connection between the dolls that are ‘hollow’ and Mei is, other than her eye. Oh, speaking of her eye, heterochromia is often used to represent dual personalities in works of fiction. What if the author is intentionally trying to throw us off by making us believe that Mei isn't responsible for killing the class rep? It just seems unlikely that she would something like that. Plus, didn't Mei actually mention something seeing her ‘other half’ in the first episode while holding onto a doll? Or she could simply be a doll since she knows so much about them? I can't say for sure.

Oh boyo, what a way to go. Not only was it gruesome, it also looked to be tremendously painful, as the class rep didn’t seem to die right away. I haven't used an umbrella in the past 2 years, and now, I'm going to distance myself from all umbrellas, especially the ones that have such spiky tips.

Gah, I want to continue watching this anime but I don't have the patience to wait another week. I'd like to read the manga but then again, I'd spoil the anime for myself if I were to do so. Decisions, decisions..

[LKK]

What I found most curious about episode 3 was

Spoiler for ep 3:

the fact that the friend on the phone told Sakikabara that everything would be explained to him next month. Just wait 1 month, ignore the strange stuff, and then we'll explain it to you. Why 1 month? That implies to me that there's a specific time span when bad things are likely to happen. Then after this time span, everything goes back to normal.

Count me among the group who thinks the class rep saw Mei with Sakikabara and that's why she turned and ran.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by LKK

What I found most curious about episode 3 was

Spoiler for ep 3:

the fact that the friend on the phone told Sakikabara that everything would be explained to him next month. Just wait 1 month, ignore the strange stuff, and then we'll explain it to you. Why 1 month? That implies to me that there's a specific time span when bad things are likely to happen. Then after this time span, everything goes back to normal.

Count me among the group who thinks the class rep saw Mei with Sakikabara and that's why she turned and ran.

Spoiler for I agree:

Perhaps there's exactly one month left until the class or perhaps it was this during this month 26 years ago that Misaki died? I have no idea how the school system works there.

I wonder if all of the students in Class 3 are actually the offspring of the Class 3 from 26 years ago?

[warita]

After watching episode 3.... I think the "problem" arises only around the time Misaki died and thats why they told Kouichi he will find out all about it in one month. I think the only people who can see Misaki are the ones who had a brush up with death such as Kouichi (he almost died because of his collapsed lung) or people who are about to die (the class rep. for example). So to see Misaki is a bad omen, thats why she was so shocked, when she run out of the classroom and saw Kouichi standing in the hallway with Misaki. She probably realised that either she is going to die herself or somebody close to her, because the theory that she was called out of the class suddenly because of some emergency at home sounds pretty plausible to me.

The scene where the class rep. dies was impressively done and looked pretty gruesome, yet not gory enough to make my stomache turn.

So it all starts now.........

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Kismet-chan

Spoiler for Mei's Eye:

It's not how her eye looks that's important... It's what it does/where it came from...

I thought it was simple heterochromia, but the truth was indeed much more interesting. There is more than meets the eye here (hurr). I'm reluctant to believe that eye really has any kind of supernatural power, though.

Originally Posted by konart

I don't even know why anyone would wait for it. She was without the eye patch on novel cover and Young Ace cover too.

Anyway - Le Coup Du Parapluie!

The novel cover only shows the right side of her face, and I've never seen that Young ace cover. I'm trying hard not to get spoiled anything about the story, as the main appeal of this series is the mystery. I love speculating about that kind of show too.

I found the umbrella incident kind of funny. I didn't expect that girl to be first one to die. Congrats to the nurse for not transferring first!

Originally Posted by Saturn Beaver

Finally, the other shoe has dropped.

Spoiler for Ep 3:

Well, at least we still go the mystery of what spooks her so hard in the first place, especially when she saw Sakakibara and run in the opposite direction (so, can other people really see Misaki or not?)

I'm sure everybody can see her and were instructed to pretend she doesn't exist. The blue haired guy clearly saw her on the roof in this episode, and that is why he went to the sports dude. Twintails also saw her last week and was quite annoyed Kouichi went after her. I'm sure there were other instances I'm forgetting about. So far, however, I believe only students from Class 9-3 were shown to notice her presence, so it's possible they are the only ones able to see her.

Originally Posted by papermario13689

Spoiler for Maybe:

With the way it was hinted to us, I think something devastating happened on the trip to Tokyo that fateful year. Maybe one of the rides in the amusement park malfunctioned. Maybe something bad happened and she fell from Tokyo Tower. Either way, the fact that the school changed the period in which the trip is taken after so many years of tradition is an important thing to notice.

I'm not sure Tokyo is that important, but I agree Misaki most likely died on a field trip. Kouichi's talk with Umbrella-chan about field trips seemed like an important clue.

Originally Posted by LKK

What I found most curious about episode 3 was

Spoiler for ep 3:

the fact that the friend on the phone told Sakikabara that everything would be explained to him next month. Just wait 1 month, ignore the strange stuff, and then we'll explain it to you. Why 1 month? That implies to me that there's a specific time span when bad things are likely to happen. Then after this time span, everything goes back to normal.

Count me among the group who thinks the class rep saw Mei with Sakikabara and that's why she turned and ran.

My theory is that until the anniversary of Misaki's death has passed, students from Class 9-3 must never talk about nor acknowledge Misaki's existence or else... people die. At least that's what they believe.

Given what happened at the end of the episode, it's getting hard to deny the involvement of something supernatural (hard, but not impossible; it could be a simple freak accident), however I at least remain utterly convinced that Mei is not a ghost. Maybe I'll become the Battler of this thread, that could be pretty fun. Following that line of thought, I'm curious to find out why the teacher called Umbrella-chan out. That was pretty fishy.

[ars89]

So Mei's eyepatch covers the eye from her doll look-alike that she has. Wonder why its the dolls eye. Finally we get to hear some part of the story surrounding Misaki from Mei herself since no one will Kouchi. Didn't get what she was talking about with the hollow of the dolls. So Kouchi's mom was in class 3 26 years ago. I loled when there was a test sheet on Misaki's desk.

So that girl bites the dust in a brutal way. So i believe that the reason she turned around and ran the other way from Kouchi was that she saw Mei and freaked out. Now the reason i believe that she was able to see Mei was the reason that a teacher ran into the room and then she took her stuff and wa running out of school. That would be that someone in her family must have died. I think only people that have some connection with death are able to see Mei. Since 26 years ago the whole class were close with her and knew she died. So the reason why Kouchi was able to see Mei from the beginning was because his mother had passed away. Also i think that's why there are old blood stains around the school because kids saw Mei and died.

Interesting that Kouchi's friend was going to tell him next month. Wonder what the significance is of the current month. He also said to not get involved with things that don't exit. Interesting that Mei herself told Kouchi that she didn't exist. Though how could that girl who dies that day in the hospital be her cousin if she died 26 years ago?

[warita]

Originally Posted by ars89

Also i think that's why there are old blood stains around the school because kids saw Mei and died.

Hui, i must have missed that totally. Where were the blood stains?

Originally Posted by ars89

Now the reason i believe that she was able to see Mei was the reason that a teacher ran into the room and then she took her stuff and wa running out of school. That would be that someone in her family must have died. I think only people that have some connection with death are able to see Mei. Since 26 years ago the whole class were close with her and knew she died. So the reason why Kouchi was able to see Mei from the beginning was because his mother had passed away.

Yupp, I agree with that. Its the brush up with death..... although I think that In Kouichis case its not because his mother died, but because of his collapsed lungs?

[LKK]

Originally Posted by ars89

I loled when there was a test sheet on Misaki's desk.

I missed that detail. That implies the teacher is honoring the tradition of acting as if Misaki hasn't died just as the original class did 26 years ago.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by ars89

Though how could that girl who dies that day in the hospital be her cousin if she died 26 years ago?

Though I have seen a few cases of wide age gaps between cousins (I've got cousins 20 years older than me) I'm with Kanon on this one , Mei isn't a ghost and others just pretend to not see her and what you just mentioned could be one of the little details that point to it.

I know there's a bunch of evidence that points to her being a ghost and all the theories I've seen posted here are interesting but it all just feels too darn obvious.

Even her "I don't exist" line feels like some kind of jedi truth that means " people ignore me so from a certain point of view I don't exist"

[Flower]

Hmm ... well, ep 3 was better for me than ep 2.

This ep was much more successful in "sucking me in", so to speak, even though it still feels to me like it is "trying too hard".

To be honest the story is still not particularly engaging for me - prolly b/c I do not enjoy following horror/suspense/mystery series, as opposed to any particular "fault" of its own.

7.5/10 vote from me for ep 3, but to be honest I will prolly be dropping the series for now - maybe I will pick it up later.

[DXMichael]

Oh, damn! I decided to watch this episode in the dark to try and make it a scarier experiance. Unfortunately this episode didn't seem as creepy as the other two. But what I did get was my hand over my mouth as I squirmed repeatedly when I saw that umbrella impale that girls throat (I'm assuming it's the throat?). It didn't help that they added the choking sound effects once it happened, I was cringing like there was no tommorow.

I was going to say this episode was rather uneventful...until the last few minutes. Now all I can say is that this anime keeps growing in mysteries and that i'm preparing myself for even worser deaths in future episodes. Ouch! In the meantime, i'm going to just stay quiet about what I think until later on when more information is revealed in later episodes.

We at least learned more about Mei and the incident that happened in class three 26 years ago. I really want to hear what happens after they graduated, I personally think it has something to do with the graduates dieing or something.

I'm assuming the empty space in the top right of that black and white picture is where the graduade students say Misaki's pale but smiling face is seen?

[Utsuro no Hako]

Finally, the story goes into full-on horror territory, no more doubt that this is just a dark mystery.

Earlier I compared the story to the Omen, but I couldn't really explain why without spoilers. But now:

Spoiler for The Omen. Mildly NSFW, but tamer than episode 3:

The Omen is full of deaths like this that are seemingly just macabre accidents but might point to a supernatural explanation for what's going on. The class pres impaling herself on an umbrella would fit right in to the film.

[DezoPenguin]

Whoa, so much stuff. For some reason, the CR sub was delayed today, and it didn't even have the "Episode X in Y hours" thing showing, hence my fear. Maybe it had to do with why they had to add the "18 or older" thing at the beginning, which made no sense unless nipples on the dolls in the opening shot is somehow supposed to be adult content. Broadcasters are weird.

Spoiler for Mei...Ghost?:

I'm going to go with Kanon and decide that I'm going to believe Misaki Mei is not a ghost unless it's proven otherwise. My theory is that the whole "I don't exist...they can't see me" thing is that Class 3 is willfully pretending that she doesn't exist, in essence the reverse of what they did for Misaki in the 26-years-ago story. Possibly they feel this is necessary to break/hold off the "curse" in some way (hence the countermeasures, etc.).

Spoiler for Kouichi's mother:

My theory about Sakakibara's mother being the original Misaki is obviously wrong, now, since the "26 years ago" figure is given in the "current" time, in-story, so it's not retrospective. Ah, well. I suspect that her death is still connected, somehow.

Spoiler for Eye:

Mei's "doll eye" is intriguing. The idea that she keeps it covered to keep her from seeing things is a common theme in anime and manga (Lucia in Venus Versus Virus, Itsuki in Rental Magica, I'm sure you can name many more). It's also one of the things that makes me think she's not a ghost...why would a supernatural creature wear an eye patch to hide/contain a supernatural ability? One thing I find funny is that her "fake" eye is green and her "real" eye is red--one would suspect those colors to be reversed! That whole first scene was so laden with oblique hints that I'm sure will come clear on a second watching of the series (if the first one keeps holding my attention).

Spoiler for Umbrella:

Glasses-girl's (I feel bad, now, that I can't remember her name!) death (or at least critical injury...we don't actually see her "dead," per se, though I'm sure she is) was certainly a shock! As others have mentioned, it reminds me of the "convenient fatal accident" cliché from horror movies, the suggestion that a supernatural power was responsible. Why on earth her umbrella was polished to a stabbing point is a good question, although I suppose if a supernatural force could trip her on the stairs, fling the umbrella out of her hand, and have it and her land just so to stab herself, it could also get out a metal file and sharpen the tip during the fall. But what interests me is why the teacher came and got her out of class, and why she turned and ran away from Kouichi and Mei in the blind panic that led to her fall?

Spoiler for Timing:

Both Aunt Reiko and Kouichi's classmate made it seem if timing was important, somehow, as if "making it through the month" was relevant...if there is a curse, that seems to be an element of it...but why?

[Xaturas]

Story gets thicker.
That sight of her on umbrella and blood flowing was kinda nice.
Yet now that I think about it, she did indeed bang her head, but shouldn't she um USE HER HANDS so that she would impale them rather than her neck? But its a curse so people need to die stupid way, Darwin Prize for next school kids here it comes.

[Saturn Beaver]

^I'm assuming the 18+ warning is for the scene at the end of the episode, it is pretty graphic. I think I saw similar scenes that doesn't get that rating, but CR probably just want to play it safe.

[Jerseykid]

Spoiler for Umbrella:

That was a very creative way for someone to die, was that an anime first? Death by accidently falling headfirst into an umbrella

[Demoned Away]

Spoiler for Small Theory:

Does anyone else think that the order in which people appear in the ED song have anything to do with the series?

[LKK]

Originally Posted by Demoned Away

Spoiler for Small Theory:

Does anyone else think that the order in which people appear in the ED song have anything to do with the series?

I hope not. That would take some of the surprise out of things if it starts to come true.

[Xaturas]

If people would die in the order of ending it wouldn't be that bad either.
You would anticipate how and when each and every one of them would be taken down.
Until the last ep where misaki story would be resolved, just like how the ending goes.

[warita]

I am not sure it really matters, but I thought she fell with her eye on the umbrella.... and if I am right, then there would be a connection to Mei. I could be wrong, but remember the broken glasses lying next to her? One of the lenses had a hole on it. I think it was the eye and that would explain the twitching too as she was dying.