I've finally watched the first episode of Ookami Kakushi, which I've been looking forward to. I wasn't sure what to expect from Ryuukishi after Higurashi and Umineko, and I'm still not. But at the very least, it's more than apparent that it will be some horror and mystery. After all, Ryuukishi is the one who's written it. There's no way it could be a love-comedy.The pre-opening scene depicts the main male character, Kuzumi Hiroshi, being pressed and dragged by a girl, who we later learn is named Tsumuhana Isuzu and allegedly fell in love with Hiroshi the moment she saw him. Some strange, laser-like lights appear in her eyes, as if she was possessed by something. She professes her love to Hiroshi, and then some creatures that look like wolfs appear. One of the beings that crawled out from darkness speaks up to Isuzu, telling her that her idea of love is wrong. And then, that being, holding a big scythe, leaps through the air towards Isuzu and Hiroshi.The opening song, "Toki no Mukou Maboroshi no Sora" by FictionJunction is quite nice. Opening video is a bit above-average; some shots, those with falling fruit, reminded me of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni opening.It looks like a road in HigurashiAfter the opening, we jump back into the time when Hiroshi, together with his father and little sister on wheelchair are just moving in to the town where the story takes place. When they arrive at their new home, Hiroshi meets with Isuzu. She immediately hugs him, introduces herself, and goes away as quickly as she showed up.A few days, I guess two days, later, Hiroshi walks his sister to school, against her objections that she can do that much by herself. They meet with Isuzu on the way, and Isuzu and Hiroshi then go to their school, as they are high-schoolers unlike Hiroshi's sister Mana.Hiroshi's classmates give him a warm welcoming and virtually all of them try to befriend him. When all the lessons are over, his classmates burst at him, trying to lure him into their respective clubs. One of his classmates, Ogasawara, friendly grabs him under his arm and starts to yank him off. However, the atmosphere changes out of blue, as a mysterious girl Kushinada Nemuru walks up to the window and tells Ogasawara to stop it. While Nemuru was approaching the window, Ogasawara clutched Hiroshi in a more violent way. And after he is told to stop it, he runs away and so do other classmates, leaving Hiroshi and Nemuru alone in the classroom.Hiroshi says thanks to Nemuru, but she just replies that she didn't do it for his sake and that his very existence annoys her.Isuzu, and another classmate Kaname then go show Hiroshi around the town. On their way, Hiroshi spots a fruit tree, and is told that it's called hassaku. It's a fruit that the townspeople offer to the local god, who is an incarnation of a wolf who protects the local land. Isuzu says that there was a bad harvest recently, and then she jokingly says that the people of the town couldn't live without hassaku.There seems to be something important about this fruit, and the bad harvest might have brought a disaster upon the town.Later, they walk by the old town, and Isuzu says that there's no point in going there. Hiroshi wants to go there, but Isuzu tugs him away. The people in old town are said to dislike people who came to the town and began to expand it.There's definitely something odd about this town, as they say that all the stores close at seven o'clock.At night, some shadow figures are chasing Ogasawara who has gone mad, and a girl with a big scythe bounds high above him.What exactly happened to Ogasawara is not made clear, but the next day his desk is missing from the classroom, and Nemuru tells Hiroshi that he has moved away.It was pretty much an introductory episode, but I liked it. The story certainly has potential to offer some scary and baffling entertainment. Let's see how it develops.Isuzu is the type of character that's getting on my nerves. But on the other hand, character like her might become a love-sick killer, as the very first scene might have been implying. That would make it interesting.Mana and Nemuru are likely to be the girls that will draw attention. Mana is acting in a haughty way, despite being on a wheelchair. What should be pointed out is that she is voiced by Fujita Saki, who has lent her voice to Hatsune Miku. Then Nemuru is a girl who is shrouded in mystery. She seems to be ousted out of the class society, but given her personality, it's not hard to tell why.I wonder what turnovers in character's behavior we'll see. I believe that might be interesting.
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