English Dub Review: In/Spectre “A Monster of the Imagination”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After coming upon Kuro fighting with Steel Lady Nanase, Kotoko and Saki look on as he tries to finish the deal. Saki is astonished at the levels of hits he can take, and so Kotoko relates the history of his past, starting with his family’s love of experimentation. When Kuro isn’t able to defeat Steel Lady Nanase, Kotoko realizes they will need a special method to defeat the spirit because she is not an ordinary spectre – she’s something far more sinister that has been born from what else? The Internet!

Our Take:

At this point in the story arc, things are starting to feel a little drawn out. We’ve seen enough of the Steel Lady Nanase to know how dangerous she is, so instead of showing us more of the same thing, the show decides to give us some Kuro backstory instead. It’s a good choice that adds in some new details, but I’m not sure it entirely flows well in the episode itself. The group meets back up at Saki’s house afterwards and Kotoko spells out her theory on what caused the spectre to appear so strong so quickly following Nanase’s death. It’s interesting, but not really in a visual way.

The best part of the episode is Kuro’s backstory, if only because it’s disgustingly fascinating. His family started experimenting on themselves decades ago, eating the flesh of magical creatures and ingesting their healthy body parts to fix less-healthy ones of their own. The way Kuro’s grandmother carried on the experimental legacy of her predecessors is truly dark. She feeds her family the flesh of mermaids and kudons and watches with glee as Kuro is the sole member to survive the ordeal. She proceeds to delve into even deeper realms of torture, brandishing a knife and literally killing her grandchild in order to see if he’ll come back with knowledge of the future.

Like, she’s the scariest monster on the show yet! Kotoko even tells Saki that she gave him so many mortal wounds that he eventually stopped feeling pain… meaning he did feel pain at first! It’s funny to see how judgmental Kotoko is of Saki’s aversion to this tale of Kuro’s special powers. She just looks at it like a normal thing because she’s so used to the supernatural, whereas Saki tries to justify herself in breaking off their engagement.

Later on, Kotoko informs the others of her theory on the spectre’s existence. It is definitely a unique way of bringing about a ghost’s presence, and it does make a sort of sense when she talks about how rumors created the ghost faster than if the ghost had originated the rumors… but at the same time, I’m wondering what the differences are from Steel Lady Nanase and actual spectres. Sure, she doesn’t have any willpower of her own, but she exists in the real world and as Kuro can attest, she hits hard. Does that mean any ghost can become real if enough people believe in it? These are interesting questions that the series brings up, and I’m excited to learn what answers it has hidden in the shadows of the web.