Mouryou no Hako

[Revenger1589]

It is real, god damn I can't believe this.

2010 is already an awesome year.

[-KarumA-]

Originally Posted by Revenger1589

Last Episode was subbed. Mind = Blown

I'm downloading right now so I can't confirm if it's real.

Yesh, it was catching dust for so long that I stopped checking. Seems like I can get my hands on all of them subbed now X3 finally!

[Shiroth]

Yes finally!

Will hopefully watch later today.

[Dop]

And now Aoi have posted one as well - a smaller file, by the looks of it.
Truly we are blessed with riches!

[achirist]

Wow! It's been years...maybe I will download all of it and marathon some day soon.

[Echoes]

Abbsolutely brilliant ending. Worth waiting for; without a doubt.

A huge thanks to the fansubbers, I'm so glad I was given the opportunity to finally complete this masterpiece.

Now, off to finish off Aoi Bungaku.

[Shiroth]

I haven't seen any of the series in months, and it's crazy how episode 12 explained pretty much everything. The whole show makes sense now!

[-KarumA-]

for me it has at least been a year since I last touched this, this is a perfect New Years pressent
I dropped it after everyone stopped subbing it for some reason, but now =D yayz!
Lets hope the older eps have enough seeders, cause I deleted those D:

[ragnarokr]

For some reason I can't seem to download the files from anirena, is there some problem with it?

[Shinkun]

Works fine for me.

[Pixelation]

Wow, episode 13 finally subbed. Sounds promising too...

I know what I'm doing when I get home... =D

[White Manju Bun]

Brillant. Why cant more series be like this. I cant believe I actually finished this since usually when series subbing slows I tend to drop it but I couldnt drop this and am glad about that.

[Dop]

I'd decided a long time ago that I wasn't doing this series any favours by watching the odd episode now and again whenever one appeared. So I'd decided to wait until I'd got every episode, and then one day I'd sit down and watch the lot.

Well, today was that day, and I have to say that it was totally worth waiting for. What a wonderful, stylish, and well thought out show that made you really engage your brain. Intelligent anime, for grown-ups. More like that please!

If only one of the western anime companies would take a chance on a show like this, just to show what anime can be like when it tries.

Finally, applause to all the fansubbers who translated this show over the last fifteen months or so - it's been a long wait, but we got there in the end. I think I appreciate that it can't have been an easy series to do.

[Revenger1589]

Dekigari released episode 14, I think it's just a special but more Mouryou is always good.

[SeijiSensei]

Among the many reasons I wanted to watch this show was the presence of Kuwashima Houko in the cast. So it shouldn't be too surprising that I was disappointed by how quickly her character disappeared from the story line. I'm glad she got an episode of her own (14), even if it was largely a recap of the first half of the series.

This is probably one of the creepiest shows I've ever watched. I'm still not sure I understand exactly what transpired, particularly the line between science and the supernatural. What powers the girl in the box? Was there really ever a girl in a box, or was this simply the product of Kubo's imagination? The opening presents the event as if it were true, but then later we're offered the plausible explanation that it's simply a scene in Kubo's novel. Yet at the end the tables seemed to have turned once again, and we're led to believe it really is Kanako's head moving in the box.

Other than the extraordinary character of Kyogokudou, I was most drawn to the star-crossed lovers Kiba and Youko. I so hoped they could end up together, though I knew it would never come to pass. The confrontation between Kyogokudou and the sham exorcist is perhaps the high point in the series for me.

Finally, the artwork in this series was just magnificent, probably the best I've seen since Moribito. I watched the OP on almost every occasion for its beautiful mixture of art and choreography, especially the segment where Kanako dances across the screen exposing Kyogokudou's room in the background.

Originally Posted by Dop

If only one of the western anime companies would take a chance on a show like this, just to show what anime can be like when it tries.

Shows like these seem so far removed from what gets licensed these days. No ecchi and no real "action" to speak of makes it an unlikely candidate for licensing, but maybe a sub-only operation like Sentai might take a chance on it. I suspect Mouryou no Hako will sit on the shelf at Madhouse right next to Dennou Coil. I can't find any sales figures for the DVD or BD releases in Japan, though Hako's viewing numbers weren't that great (look for Tuesday, 25:29).

[SuperKnuckles]

Wow. I hoped we got to see more of Kyogokudou's sister like in episode 14 thoughout the actual series. I thought the men were pretty, but then she comes along...

And wow, though only 15 minutes or so, it has quite the retrospective on the whole thing. This show even does recaps right..


As for the science of the show and the girl in the box, I think it's fairly evident that they were actually there. And the heads in the boxes being preserved like that, being a failed attempt at immortality.. And to think of it, the show ends with the start of television broadcasting in Japan. How ironic that they were going after such a forbidden and impossible science and then the TV turns on. lol

[White Manju Bun]

Wow I think epi 14 answered more questions for me then 13 did. Kyogokudou's sister's perspective on anything was a fresh way of looking at it. Id almost forgotten she was in the story since I didnt watch it back to back to back most of the time.

Her monologue at the end was awesome along with her walking to the box as the credits rolled. Simple amazing.

I agree with Seji, definitely one of the creepier anime Ive ever seen but I truly loved every minute of it.

[achirist]

I've just watched through the remaining episodes I hadn't seen, and I have to say this is probably one of my favorite series of all time. The artwork is wonderfully beautifull, the writing is intelligent, the characters are complex, mature, and fleshed out. While it crossed slightly into the 'horror' genre it managed to preserve an overall sensitivity and did not descend into thoughtless, immature gore. I remember way back when admiring the first episode very much for the romantic attitude of the two girls, and soon I came to adore the male characters as well. Such a good plot! But I couldn't believe how naive Kanoko was to just agree to meet this obviously creepy person at his dark house alone.

I didn't like episode 14 very much--one of the pluses of this anime for me was that it wasn't narrated/centered around a girl like that.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles

As for the science of the show and the girl in the box, I think it's fairly evident that they were actually there. And the heads in the boxes being preserved like that, being a failed attempt at immortality.

When the box was in the laboratory it was connected to lots of tubes and wires which presumably provided the necessary infrastructure to keep the head "alive." On the train none of these support structures were there, thus my original question, "What powers the girl in the box?"

[achirist]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

When the box was in the laboratory it was connected to lots of tubes and wires which presumably provided the necessary infrastructure to keep the head "alive." On the train none of these support structures were there, thus my original question, "What powers the girl in the box?"

They explain in the show that, just like your laptop, once you unplug the girl she will still work to some extent for a day or two, but then she will die. So the girl in the box was essentially dying when Kubo saw her, which is why she could only make a slow, abbreviated attempt to speak.