Kai to Otome to Kamikakushi is the flip side of the Tonari no Youkai-san and Bartender debate for me. Objectively I feel like this show is pretty good. It does a lot of things well, and has some interesting elements to it. But it’s been increasingly clear to me over the past few episodes that it just doesn’t fit with me. Sometimes series like that do end up working, but the margin for error is a lot smaller. And with this episode, I feel like Mysterious Disappearances has exceeded it.
Mochizuki Tomoki is a creator I thoroughly respect while acknowledging that there are many entries on his resume that don’t float my boat. Including some outright turds, and this show isn’t that. But really, the point of all this – as has become clear – is the fanservice. It’s not about the mysteries or the mythology – they’re just a veneer. It’s all about fetishizing underage girls (and busty of-age ones) in a fairly stylish way. It’s not a cute girls doing cute things so much as a cute girls doing hot things. That’s not enough for me, so this was probably the last episode I’m going to cover (though as always I reserve the right to change my mind).
I compared this series to Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge and I do think the shoe fits. So why did that one totally work for me while Kai to Otome to Kamikakushi doesn’t? Because Dansai Bunri had nerves of steel and a commitment to the premise. It embraced its dark and disturbing fetishistic side, and brilliantly so. Ultimately the cute girls and fanservice weren’t the point of that series, they were the veneer. And in the final analysis I think that’s why it was widely rejected by otaku.
Frankly I expected this series to win the Patron Pick ballot (which went to Bartender, a major surprise to me). And if it had it wouldn’t have been a disaster for me or anything – there’s enough auteur stuff in each episode to at least break up the monotony. But episodes like this week, boy, I can’t deny I found it a total bore. So much navel-gazing and blatant pandering, with no purpose behind it other than the pandering itself. This show is good at what it does, but while it wasn’t obvious after the first couple of episodes, what it does just ain’t my thing.
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