Occultic;Nine Episode 05 Review: She's Lost Control

I. Am. Seriously. Hooked!!! Occultic;Nine successfully managed to get me super hyped because of the new clues and plot advancements! Well, I did already express my interest during my previous reviews, but the latest episode was just raring with excitement!

Japanese Original Episode Title：ここが新しい世界なのね

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Plot

I’m incredibly glad that the story is becoming more solid. We were finally given some hints on what everything is about, like Hashigami-sensei’s connection to the hundreds of bodies in the lake. Aside from that, most of the characters have already met, with four of them already teaming up to solve the mystery, and our detective investigating every single one of the main cast. It was such a treat to finally have some puzzle pieces form a concise picture, though we really still have a long way to go before the whole thing is completed!

Episode Highlights

Seeing Gamon finally have someone to share his involvement in Professor Hashigami’s case with was quite a relief for me. Surprisingly, it was the victim’s son who listened to him, and he actually believed he didn’t commit the crime! Although, I somehow felt that Sarai trusting Gamon was too easy. I get that he really just wanted to shed some light on his father’s death, but letting a complete stranger into your house is kind of a long shot. Though, given that he’s a really logical person, he might’ve already thought things through. I just wish they made it clearer so there won’t be any plot holes.

Then, we have Moritsuka finally confronting Gamon about his involvement to the crime scene! I thought he was just going to investigate some things, but I should’ve known better. As with the other characters he met up with, he was trying to confirm things instead of looking for clues. I was quite rattled (like Gamon was) when he was asked about the victim’s teeth, wondering what was going to happen next. Surprisingly, again, the detective never prodded him further about it. It makes you wonder what deductions he had already formed, especially since afterwards he went to Aria’s shop.

And we have the big clue: the fact that Professor Hashigami and the 256 dead bodies are linked! Not only that, but the list Moritsuka was trying to find was actually at the professor’s ceiling! That’s so sneaky and crafty! I did guess that something was up with the ceiling, but it’s only thanks to the seemingly necessary focus on it, so you really have to commend Gamon for figuring it out! We also have to give Sarai credit for discovering how to decode the list. Once you try looking up the Baudot Code, you’ll figure out why.

There’s also the thing with Ririka’s BL doujin becoming even more connected to the crime. More necessary ‘evidence’, in Sarai’s words , are coinciding. She said she saw those things in a dream, but what exactly did she see? And for what reason did she put those in her manga? Inspiration? Clues? We’ll just have to see. Also, she was talking to the creepy, weird kid about cryptic stuff and…stitching souls together? What is that about?

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Themes & Trivia

Baudot Code – The code used by Sarai to decipher his father’s list is a character set invented by Émile Baudot in 1870. It was used to transmit messages before the ITA2 (International Telegraph Alphabet 2) was developed, and then ASCII characters. I tried figuring out how to use it, but either I’m just really slow with these things, or it’s a system beyond the modern mind. So definitely kudos to Sarai and his dad for applying it.

Frankenstein – Not sure if many of you already know this but, contrary to popular belief, Frankenstein is actually the doctor who made the monster we all know. They’re from a novel of the same name written by Mary Shelley, which was published in 1818. Doctor Frankenstein actually never gave the monster a name due to rejecting it as his creation.

Kotoribako – What the cage/box in Ririka’s doujin didn’t immediately register to me since I’m not really good in Japanese. So I had to consult good old Google. All it had for me was multiple links of a creepy pasta titled ‘Kotoribako.’ After some research, I think that the word probably refers to a certain kind of puzzle box called himitsu bako, a box that can only be opened through non-obvious means. Though it does look like a bird cage in the manga.

Comments

It’s amazing how the writers manage to make every episode so mysterious yet not confusing at all (except for really fast blubbering, which were not present in this episode). There are certain times when mysteries get frustrating because you’re kept in the dark for so long, or there are just so many questions that you eventually don’t care for anymore. It probably could’ve happened if they didn’t reveal some connections to the two cases in this episode, so I’m happy they did.

The really odd scene directions also added to the charm of the mystery. I don’t know if it’s just me or these oddities were different in every episode. Like, episode four showed random backgrounds, while episode five had scenes showing sideways. Maybe we should keep an eye out for those changes.

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Stitching souls together

With Occultic;Nine’s intriguing developments, I hope you are as hyped as I am for next week! The preview makes me really, really curious on what else the story has for us. I hope we can put together some more clues! Do you guys already have an idea on what might be going on? Share it below, and see you in the next review!

Don’t forget to check our latest Fall 2016 episodic reviews!

NEXT TIME: She Took a Long Cold Look: アンタの方だったんだね (Anta no Hou Dattanda ne)