And I’m loving every moment of it. Loving it so much.

Where can you get fansubs of this?

KYAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Avoiding all this OMG THIS ANIME IS SO F**CKING AWESOME preamble, let’s get straight to the analysis.

What struck me most about the opening scene is that Sekiguchi seems to be attempting something, by which I mean, I believe he may be trying to revive Mamisaka’s immortality experiment; this is mostly supported by the fact that he’s wondering if “the doctor knows how to do it right”, which I assume to be Mamisaka, simply as ZOMG Sakari dies so damn quickly!

Mamisaka = SUSPICIOUS. There’s just something about his expression the moment that Kanako was discovered to be missing that screams this is all part of my evil scheme, and this is in no way helped by his connection to immortal soldier experimentation. On a side note, Ishii’s reaction to that entire situation makes me believe he is nothing more than a superior officer who’s managed to snake his way up through the ranks by opushing all his problems onto his subordinates; when confronted by officers, he immediately looks to Kiba to do something after standing dumbstruck and gawking like an oaf. Him and Fukumoto just seem pathetic to me.

Yoriko. You’ve got a few screws loose. And I love it I’ve long given up on how their dying/rebirth/butterfly ascension? thing works now. Focus is now on delicious criminality.

Youko looks as if she’s being held back by some barely-kept secret. It seems to me that she has every confidence in Kiba’s skills, but until we get the background on Kanako’s family/inheritance, we can’t truly learn why she considers him her enemy. Sexual tension ftw.

Creepy, disturbing, beautiful and weird are all I can say about the “clock-work shoujo” scene. What’s interesting is Kanako’s feelings on her sister’s movies; she hates them. Perhaps there was more animosity between the two than we are lead to believe? And something’s nagging me; did Kanako refer to herself in the plural in the past, or is this the first occurence? If so, who is she speaking of when she says “we”?

Sekiguchi’s character comes off as introspective and lacking in confidence, and perhaps even dangerously melancholic. He certainly seems like someone who could end up getting caught within his own fantasy world and begin slicing and dicing those arond him. He even says (though indirectly)that when he’s writing about such things as absurdity and insanity, he’s just writing what comes to his mind. C-C-C-Crazyyyyy. And I will never stop protesting that the original head in the box was Atsuko. NEVER!!!

The fact that different body parts are being discarded leads me to believe (most likely as you do)that the white-gloved man (who I think is safe to assume is the serial killer, at least at this point in the narrative) is creating what he considers “a work of art” from assembling different pieces of women and attaching them to Kanako’s body. Move over Mamikasa, there’s a new Frankenstein on the block.

The possiblity of Youko being forced out of acting adds yet another layer of deceit to this already intricate web of deception. Though, I don’t know why Kiba would suspect this of being Amemiya’s doing. THe guy’s completely unassuming! And simple-minded. A shadow… that’s disappeared…

Have to mention the strangely deformed tank that Kiba saw as being the Kasha. There was something strangely hypnotising about this scene, and there’s every reason to believe that it represents more than Kiba’s inner thoughts (and trauma?)

Introduction of amazing detectives and clairvoyance ftw.

@lonewolf: I actually think we’re on the same page about most of this. I hope my post wasn’t too confusing, but I do agree that Kanako actually had her limbs removed. I just thought that the scene in the white room was her delirious interpretation of it all, what with the legs and arms walking up the ceiling and getting sucked out a trap door.

My wish was to suspend any further speculation until more clues were available, but I just can’t resist a good mind game. One thing I thought about is this: if Masuoka’s innuendo was true, Youko seems poised to benefit from Kanako’s death in some fashion. Yet, at the same time, she really seems to care for Kanako as a sister… to an extent. Consider this: what if Youko wanted to find a way to have Kanako “die”, but keep her alive at the same time? Perhaps she hated working as an actress for money, but say, for instance, she had no access to an massive inheritance that Kanako was intended to receive. When she ran off with Amemiya, he could have told her about a *method* to immortalize people that was left over from military experiments of the past. In short, she could have her sister die but keep her alive at the same time. The plan then would have been to get her in an “accident”, “try” to “save” her, stage a kidnapping and have the real surgery done. But something went horribly wrong… or maybe Youko just got cold feet and decided she couldn’t go through with it when she heard that other women were being butchered in the process for their body parts… this theory is probably WAY off, but I thought I would share it for shits and giggles.

@Martin: Glad to see someone’s out there who shares my taste in dark/trippy anime! ^_^ The mature context and refined directing style for this anime definitely put it a notch higher than Chaos;HEAd for me. And I think the animation is gorgeous — it looks like a frigging OVA! …Hmm you, didn’t like the stills? I can see why you might have felt like they interrupted the suspense of the scene. But I really liked how they focused on the people’s expressions at that point. I almost think a straightforward dialogue wouldn’t have been able to capture it all in the succinct timeframe that they set aside.

I’m enjoying Chaos;Head for the head-trippery and ‘whodunnit?’ as well, but the more…mature?…way that Mouryou no Hako is directed is making it the more enjoyable for me. It is indeed a shame that it’s not more popular with fans, but I’m appreciating the fact that it’s something a bit different…and wonderfully chilling.

I find it interesting that both of us can be watching the same 4 episodes and have slightly different interpretation or speculations of what has been going on. This to me is a true sign of story telling at its finest!!

Here what I think is the deal with Kanako. She was really pushed by a man in dark coat and white glove (not Yoriko imagination) who I highly suspect to be Masuoka. She was so badly injured that the only way to keep her alive is to bring her to the MimiSaka Medical Centre so that her limbs can be replaced with mechanical arms and legs. I do not think that part was a dream.

Suzaki probably has a hand in Kanako’s disappearance, probably together with Yuko and Amemiya (who has not shown up since) That’s explain why Yuko freaks out when Suzaki was killed because Kanako got taken away to a place she no longer knows.

The opening sequence is probably just Sekiguchi’s visualisation of his writing process and which he has taken inspiration from after talking to Kiba’s junior at Lake Sagami.

But if the man-with-the-glove is Masuko, why is he committing the murder and stuffing limbs in the box?? And why go to a detective agency?? Somehow the two does not connect yet so I probably not correct with my speculation too ..lol

I’m hoping this series will get more attention to others. In my opinion, a better fansubs group is needed to bring an even better quality of translation (no offense to Aero fansubs). ^.^