Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: The Lost Village
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2515 |
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@stilldemented, I for one think your proposition about the nature of this show is an interesting one, I can see some earmarks too, and if true marks the boldest departure Japan has seen from traditional narrative storytelling that I've ever heard of. However, I really hate the sort of intellectualism that gave birth to surreal humor and absurdist theater, dadaism, etc. and don't find it funny in the least. I loved Monte Python, Candide and all but this show would be the driest surreal comedy of all time. I think equally plausible is that the writers are inept in this genre and the result isn't consciously absurd, it is just badly handled storytelling. I stand by my earlier assessment that this may be an anime version of Lost and in the final moments we may see the evil government experimenters at last. However, if not, I think the concept that people who conquer their inner demons can escape the "cursed village" would still be an interesting mystery/horror twist.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11363 |
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But not being suitably moving is different from being unbelievable and silly. If Nick's not affected by their backstories, for whatever reasons, then he's not, but to say they're unbelievable suggests he lives a very sheltered life...or just used the wrong word to convey his reaction.
I thought Valkana's line was humorous too, but I took these less powerful versions of their demons as a visual illustration that he and Mitsu were beginning to get a handle on their traumas, with Mitsu almost seeming to make peace with his. Although it might not be mutual, if his location in the tag is where I think it is. Still, the music in that scene almost made me start to buy into Nick's interpretation of all this.
It did. I wondered about that too. Different tunnel? |
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Bobduh
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I don't find Hayato's backstory ridiculous because it's focused on child abuse. Many of my favorite shows actually focus directly on the long-term effects of abuse, from Monogatari to Evangelion. Shows that thoughtfully handle the psychology of a deeply wounded person are one of my favorite kind of shows. Hayato's backstory is ridiculous because Hayato's backstory is ridiculous. The writing, the framing, the way it was revealed in this narrative - all of these elements were handled in such an absurd, drama-averse, poorly written way that, like everything else in this show, the final result is not tragedy, but comedy. I can understand not finding a show employing abuse for comic effect funny - that's certainly a pretty dark choice, after all. But personally, I think The Lost Village's alternately flat and hyper-exaggerated character writing allow it to get away with this trick. Hayato's big reveal is of a piece with everything else The Lost Village has constructed - an intentionally exaggerated B-movie horror-drama full of tiny running jokes and various structural gags. |
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Gan_HOPE326
Posts: 31 |
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I guess he means this, that they're unbelievable in the sense that they don't do a good job of letting you believe this specific iteration of the story, not that they're impossible or ridiculous (though some of them WERE ridiculous, like the guy who got refused by the military after trying to cheat on his height by implanting a silicone boob in his head). Said this, I really didn't find Hayato's story moving NOR funny. It seemed to me a very cliché story (probably purposefully), but other than that, it just bored me to death, like everything else at this point. The last two episodes haven't interested me in the slightest, the joke has ran thin for me. I'll probably drop the show and only watch the rest if hear it suddenly became amazing or something. |
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Pierrot.
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Best part of the episode was Yottsun's reveal and Maimai declaring to punch Reiji for being an enemy to all women.
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seoulman1985
 Posts: 94 |
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First thought when the couple started showing cracks in their relationship, "Captain, captain! The ship's sprung a leak!"
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Muffum
 Posts: 100 |
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This was probably my favorite episode of the show so far by a longshot; I couldn't help but laugh at most of the ridiculous reveals. I've always been of the opinion that The Lost Village is better when embracing its campy, intentionally bad nature than when attempting to be a legitimate thriller, so having the show embrace that during what's supposed to be such a pivotal thriller moment just made the entire episode for me.
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DRosencraft
Posts: 665 |
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I think the unique brand of story this show is going for is to both show the seriousness the characters have in their perceived social issues, and the absurdity that the rest of the world sees in their predicament. It comes off as a muddle because that is what it really is. These backstories seem difficult to grasp because it comes after we get the backstory of a guy implanting silicone in his head to reach a height requirement alongside the story of a girl who was abused while her mother was selling herself to a pervert priest. Both, however, are tragic stories that individually could make up several episodes of a series if expanded on. Yet, put all together with everyone else's stories of social ineptitude and the overhang of supernatural manifestations of those very traumas, it's too much to deal with. There is "inevitably" a distinction drawn saying one is clearly more tragic than the other, and thereby one is worth more narrative-wise than the others.
I think this episode (ep.10) reminded of that fact in the news show interview briefly shown, and brought it up earlier in the series with the bus driver's rant. If taken one at a time, if the show itself took one or two characters at a time, and presented this situation, there would be an easier time in accepting and empathizing. But, like that bus driver, like the interview, like most folks watching the show, taken altogether, it's like a bunch of kids with bad personalities who can't be bothered to find a better way of getting along in society. I think the series is trying to tackle these two realities at the same time, with a supernatural tilt to it, and in doing so revealing just why it is an issue that is rarely tackled this way. |
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whiskeyii
 Posts: 2245 |
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Welp, that has to be the most sheer WTF-ery I've seen crammed into a single episode ever. I'll give it this: The Lost Village seems hellbent on making each entry more nonsensical than the last. I'm not even sure that the show knows what it's saying now. Overcoming your trauma leads to an early death? Or is it the way you overcome your trauma that matters?
I never expected actual straight answers would just lead to more confusion, but I think that's summing up The Lost Village in a nutshell. |
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maximilianjenus
Posts: 2863 |
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so, evil koharun is the mastermind, I hope there's really a good koharun as well, just to make this show more ridiculous.
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HaruhiToy
 Posts: 4118 |
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Just a minor point, but I think the explanation was that once you LOSE (not fight) your Nanaki those bad things happen. I am pretty sure the difference will become apparent at some point. Or not. |
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seoulman1985
Posts: 94 |
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This is just a theory, but to humor the idea of facing demons, drama, skeletons in the closet, or trauma in such an intense way should come at some price and take its toll on people in a way that would be ridiculously supernatural.
Makes me think it's a Rip van Winkle, or Urashima Taro effect. Guess we'll find out for the few "lucky souls" that overcome their Nanaki. |
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13229 |
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The way I saw it, God didn't 'overcome' this trauma so much as he just ignored it until it went away. He didn't face his Nanaki (we see he only hides from it) and eventually he stopped caring about the trauma of his colleagues' ridicule because he had proved himself right to himself. Everyone has experienced some degree of trauma and it's made us into who we are today. By accepting trauma we grow as people. To ignore/forget about it is denying part of ourselves. I think that's the message Okada is trying to get across. |
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wolf10
 Posts: 906 |
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This show is turning into what I always wanted but never expected: a stealth remake of Okada's Black Rock Shooter TV series. Here we have a shapeshifting monster instead of color-coded alter egos, but the underlying "message," such as it is, is pretty much the same.
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Z-Raid
 Posts: 132 |
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This is the most disappointing mystery psychological thriller anime I've ever seen. Thank god there's only one episode left.
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