English Dub Review: In/Spectre “Or You Could Wish Upon a Star”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Tae talks about her past, and Kotoko figures out a way they can defeat the Electroshock Pinocchio.

Our Take:
Last week’s episode introduced us to a new set of characters that Kotoko and Kuro are assisting: an older woman named Tae and her obnoxious cat spirit. But they’re not the only ones that the goddess and her boyfriend are confronting. We’re also introduced to an animated wooden boy who isn’t as kindhearted and innocent as Disney’s take on the character. It might not be able to sing, dance, and even grow its nose by lying, but it can turn you to dust with its electric abilities. There are definitely no strings holding this mysterious creature back.
This brings us to this week’s episode, which continues where we last left off, with Kotoko and Kuro answering Tae’s call for help dealing with the wooden creature. Upon further investigation, it’s revealed that the doll is made out of a tree with a meteorite stuck in it. Since this is a world full of yokai, the meteorite also contains a power source, allowing the doll to manipulate electricity. But, of course, that power is dangerous enough to affect the balance between Yokai and humans, so they decided to set a trap for the wooden doll.
While doing so, we see a brief flashback involving Kotoko revealing another secret behind Zenta’s shocking creation. The doll Zenta created is made from voodoo magic. Additionally, Zenta planned to use the curse to murder the people involved in his grandson’s death, including the four college students and Tae. So instead of destroying the doll, Kuro and the others scrapped off the people’s names hidden on its torso. Fortunately, the meteorite’s magic isn’t strong enough to harm its targets.
We also get a brief look at Tae’s past afterward, in which her family died from tragic accidents years ago. Her two children were killed in a car accident, and her husband passed away from drowning a while later. Due to her gaining her family’s wealth and the despise she got from other people, Tae was on the verge of killing herself. Thankfully, the doll’s arrival caused her to reconsider her decision and help her people instead.
Like the previous episodes, this one can be convoluted at first regarding its amount of exposition, but it’s also easy to decipher once you put the pieces together. Since I watched the show’s first season before season two, it became easier for me to understand the process. “Or You Could Wish Upon a Star” is no exception, as it made my wish of concluding another brief arc with a suitable bang come true. With another supernatural mystery closed instead of prolonging it, I still feel that the sophomore season could be an improvement over season one regarding its arcs. We’ll see how the last few episodes turn out before jumping to that conclusion.