On the night of a crimson full moon, high school girl Mei Ayazuki, lured by the magic of mysterious magician Charlie, enters into a box. When she awakens, she’s in Tokyo during the Meiji Period. The lost and confused Mei is aided by Ougai Mori and Shunso Hishida, who take her in their carriage to the Rokumeikan, a lavish ballroom full of powerful high officials. where she meets historic figures such as Kyoka Izumi, Otojiro Kawakami, Yakumo Koizumi, and Goro Fujita. In this world, during the “Misty Hour” between sundown and sunup, “mononoke” appear. Those who can see them are called “Tamayori,” and Mei herself possesses this power. As she navigates an unfamiliar life, romance begins to bloom between Mei and these men — and the power of the tamayori will only strengthen their bonds. She may choose to never return to her original time. – ANN
Streaming: Crunchyroll
Episodes: 12
Source: Visual Novel
Episode Summary: Mei Ayazuki is a consummate loner. As a child she had many friends but as it turned out, her ability to converse with ghosts and spirits put a barrier between herself and others. Now she spends most of her time alone listening to music and blocking out the strange voices who sometimes speak to her in the dark. With her headphones on, Mei wanders onto a festival grounds and finds herself the volunteer in a magic show. As she steps in a magic box that will supposedly cause her to disappear, she feels a strange, relaxing sensation flow through her body.
Mei awakens in the middle of a park, and no sooner does she get to her feet than she’s nearly run over by a horse-drawn carriage. A handsome man steps through its doors and offers her safe passage to his destination; though Mei is disoriented, she has trouble refusing, especially since she can’t really remembers where she lives. She finds herself at a grand ball, and as the names of some of the young men at the party begin to make their way around to her, she realizes that they’re all somewhat famous writers. They in turn seem to be fascinated by her ability to speak to ghosts. What could be the mechanism behind this time slip, and can Mei ever find her way home?
Impressions: Another season, another supernatural reverse-harem otome game adaptation, or so they say (maybe?). This is a genre that can be difficult for me to write about because, for all that I enjoy attractive male anime characters and scrappy heroines, the only visual novels I play are the really meta ones (Hatoful Boyfriend being one of the few and the proud), so I don’t always have a lot of interest in the “tropes of the trade.” I also have some trouble identifying with the protagonists and their situation, because as much as they are often made to be blank slates, I can’t find it in me to picture myself in their shoes.
Mei’s character is sort of standard for this genre, from my experience. She’s fairly typical-looking, but has a special skill that sets her apart from other girls her age. Her loneliness, coupled with her special spiritual abilities, makes her a ripe target to become the protagonist in a reverse-harem story. She is certainly charming in her own way, and if there’s one thing that needs no translation it’s her love of roast beef (for me it’s pork belly, but our hearts are in the same place). For the most part, though, I wouldn’t describe her as leaving a strong impression on the viewer.
The male characters in the episode don’t fare much better, though to be fair many of them are only briefly-introduced during the party scene in the latter half of the episode and aren’t onscreen long enough to leave much of an impression. The exception is Ougai, the dashing young man who whisks Mei into his carriage and seems to have taken particular interest in her. He’s very much the typical suave, sexy “main love interest” type (bolstered by his appearance in the episode’s flash-forward opening scene, as well as his protagonist-worthy red hair) and feels the most straightforward of the potential love interests thus far.
Ougai does project some more negative traits which I feel are a near universal issue with adaptations like this; he comes across as possessive and pushy. While I can’t say that it’s ever happened to me, I can imagine that, if a man approached me and insisted that I get into his car, I’d at least be taken aback and probably a little bit frightened of the “what-ifs.” Women face many potential dangers in the world, but none of them are reinforced so often as the potential danger that strange men could pose to their safety (whether statistically likely or not). In addition to that, Ougai gives Mai a weird, diminutive nickname (korisu or “little squirrel) and proclaims her to be his fiancee in the final moments of the episode. While there’s probably a contextual explanation for this to be revealed later, the way it’s presented so suddenly and without warning is off-putting and kind of creepy.
It’s unfortunate that the supernatural elements of the story don’t get more of a feature during this episode, because I feel like that part of the story might be a little bit more interesting. Mai’s ability to see and interact with spirits appears to put her in the same league as the various male characters, though the exact details surrounding their relationship with the supernatural isn’t known quite yet. Do they battle against mononoke? Do they put spirits to rest? It’s difficult to say at this point, though an encounter Mai has with a fox spirit at the fancy party leads one to believe that they’re considered enemy creatures to most humans.
I find that occasionally the female leads in series like this are meant to convey some other viewpoint than what the male characters currently hold to be true. Rather than act to defeat the fox spirit, Mai offers it mercy (or at least chooses to protect it from being cut down). While it’s certainly nice to see young women fight alongside their heroic male counterparts, I think it’s also valuable when their differing viewpoints are utilized to question the status quo (as accepted by the men) even if they aren’t necessarily in the thick of the action. With Mai’s additional insight into what the future of Japanese society holds, as well as her previous benign interactions with spirits, I think she could likely serve to teach her male companions more about holistically dealing with spirits (though as a rule I don’t like to speculate too much about what I haven’t watched).
I feel about this episode the way that I do for most otome game adaptations – it’s solid but unremarkable, with some decently-attractive male characters to liven up the experience for those who are into that sort of thing. I think this series might be more fun for people who are more familiar with Japanese literature from the Meiji era, as I suspect the different authors are meant to be caricatures of their real-life counterparts. With just the surface-level understanding that I have, though, it’s an element that’s mostly lost on me. Still, with cute guys, a supernatural story, and possibly some conflict (romantic or otherwise) between the characters, this could still end up being a fun distraction.
Pros: Potentially interesting supernatural story. The characters are reasonably attractive.
Cons: Enjoyment partly relies on knowledge of Japanese authors that Westerners are less likely to have. Some creepy/possessive character traits.
Grade: C