Optical Illusion
Episode 1 of Housing Complex C begins with two children, Kimi and Yuri, running away from a mysterious man who chases them into a storeroom. Before he reaches them, Yuri bashes him on the head with a piece of wood. The man falls. ..
He looks down at the puddle of water and the rainbow projection that was created by the shattered vase. The image of a rainbow is a reminder of how beautiful life can be.
The samurai appear to be from an enemy nation and they’re murdering the island’s soldiers and people. The maidens are inside the cave and they’re successfully murder one of them, leaving the remaining maiden startled and scared.
In the show, a woman named Kimi is killed by a samurai who killed her friend. The man in the present screams her name, but gets knocked out by Yuri’s father. He whispers a terrifying chant, leading into the show’s title card.
While sightseeing in Kurosaki Village, a resident named Taka spots something strange peeking out of one of the village’s caves. When one of the residents asks him what’s wrong, Taka informs them it was nothing and continues sightseeing through his binoculars.
“Hey, Taka,” Wada says as she walks by. “I hope you and your friends can help with the funeral procession instead of relaxing. The Kurosaki family tradition should continue, but maybe one day it will fall apart.”
Kimi, a young girl, greets everyone and complains about the heat. She claims that the water is too hot. After wallowing over the heat, Kimi gets the craving for shaved ice. She gets the idea from Wada to visit the storeroom.
The storeroom is where we learn from one of Taka’s friends that Kurosaki’s residents built this as a safe house to protect them from a war in the past. The last time they visited the environment, they had been looking for a missing man named Kojima. Taka claims that they found him frozen-solid, scaring Kimi. Kojima had been storing items he’d find around Kurosaki, which is why they found him here.
Taka’s friends find the shave ice maker in the storeroom and Kimi is thrilled. Although it’s a bit beaten up, one of Taka’s friends promises to fix the machine. The other two depart, leaving Taka and Kimi alone to explore the storeroom. Despite the storeroom’s worn-out appearance, Taka asks Kimi not to make a mess. Kimi finds a few collectibles and gleefully shows them to Taka. ..
Eventually, Kimi stumbles upon an old zoetrope. Taka explains how the zoetrope works to Kimi. He enlightens her about the device’s ability to create optical illusions and explains the concept to her via drawings on a piece of paper. He tells her that a human’s eyes can be deceived and that there are many ways to convince it. The lies it sees hold the truth, thus creating an optical illusion. ..
Meanwhile, Taka recalls the creature he saw through his binoculars but assumes it was an optical illusion. Kimi looks through the storeroom’s boxes and finds a puppy’s corpse. She tosses it and screams, alerting Taka. Taka’s bewildered by the creature. He’s unsure why Kojima would store a dead animal’s corpse in the storeroom. He finds a strange rock with a marking written on it and exclaims that this storeroom holds value.
At Kurosaki, Taka informs Momo (Wada’s friend) that Kojima’s storeroom was built inside an ancient cave. He pulls out the marked rock and argues that it may have belonged to the Kurokado people (former inhabitants of Kurosaki’s past). Taka argues they should start a large-scale excavation immediately to uncover more information about these ruins. Wada stops by, informing everyone that Kimi looks more pale than usual.
Kimi’s sake, Momo asks Koba to lock up the storeroom to prevent others from entering. Koba claims he’ll lock it up with a padlock after he fixes his motorcycle. Wada informs Taka that new residents are planning to move into Kurosaki village. Taka’s surprised, considering the buildings here are worn-out. Wada theorizes an establishment called Tsurie Fisheries representative Koshide is responsible for enticing people to reside here for work purposes. At the same time, a girl named Yuri and her family head for Kurosaki.
Meanwhile, Kimi shares her experience in the storeroom with Taka with her mother. She’s astounded by her discovery and claims to enjoy looking for treasure and surprises. Kimi changes the calendar and repeats the process the next day after departing. Then we see a group of men at Wada’s doorstep, surprising her. The man leading the group is Yuri’s father, Seichi Koshide, and we learn that Wada is this complex’s manager. ..
He explains that he’s a part of Suriei Fisheries. He says that the gentlemen beside him are technical interns, and it’s his job to act like a troubleshooter for them. These interns are foreigners who have traveled to Kurosaki to study Japan’s advanced technologies. One of the interns, Rubel, introduces himself to Wada and hands her some sweets. Wada closes the door on Seichi abruptly. She’s not thrilled they’re foreigners.
Meanwhile, Keiko Yoshide (Seichi’s wife) and her daughter Yuri introduce themselves to Momo. Keiko apologizes if they’ve caused Momo and her people any trouble. She explains Seichi’s job to connect foreign technical interns with businesses and worries that miscommunication may have caused an uproar. She asks Momo to report any issues to her if any crop up, and Momo responds with a similar reply. ..
Yuri spots Momo’s doorplate and asks her if Hideo is her husband. Momo informs her that Hideo is her son, whose going through some issues. She tells Yuri if she ever runs into Hideo to say hi and that he means well.
Taka and his friends spot one of the large bulky interns standing by a nearby tree. Taka tells the others to keep their crude first impressions of the guy to themselves, but before he could introduce himself, he witnessed bubbles floating around him and Kimi standing outside a railing. ..
Kimi wishes them good morning and Taka and the others greet her. One of Taka’s friends notices that Kimi’s standing outside the railing. They warn her to stay put, but Kimi trips. Thankfully, the bulky foreigner saves her from the fall as the others rush by to scold Kimi for her actions. As Taka introduces himself and Kimi to him, the muscular man tells Taka his name is Kan. Koba, and the others introduce themselves to Kan, as they all share a few laughs and comments.
At night, Kimi is standing atop the complex and gets startled by Yuri. The two introduce themselves to each other, as Yuri’s happy to meet someone around her age range. Yuri asks Kimi to be her friend, and Yuri documents the occasion with a selfie. Kimi’s astounded by Yuri’s phone and bombards her with questions about how it works. Kimi informs Yuri that she enjoys the locales and people in Kurosaki and Yuri hopes she can feel the same way.
They turn to see a figure in the shadows, watching them. Yuri is hesitant to make eye contact, but Kimi seems confident. The figure moves closer and Yuri can see that it’s a man. He has a long, dark hair and he’s wearing a black cloak.
The two girls explore a strange room covered in drawings when they find an individual walking toward them. Yuri asks Kimi who it was, but Kimi is unsure and suggests they check that area to see what that person was up to. The two investigate and find a mysterious entrance that leads them to a bizarre room covered in drawings. They’re taken aback by the artwork and decide to visit Momo.
Momo greets them and informs them that she plans to finish preparing the shaved ice for tomorrow’s activities. Kimi hands Momo a pen, which Momo recalls having at her former business. Momo asks where they found the item, but when Kimi brings up Hideo, Momo’s startled. Kimi asks if they can return it to him, and Momo allows them to do so. However, she reveals they’ll have to return it to him alone since she and Hideo aren’t on good terms.
Kimi rushes to Hideo’s door and apologizes for her and Yuri peeping in on his activity. They promise they won’t tell his mother about the drawings, even though they feel the artwork signifies that he’s in a lot of pain. Hideo opens the door in a creepy fashion and stares at the girls menacingly. He grabs the pen from Kimi’s hand and swiftly closes it. Hideo slips a drawing he did of them under the door to make the girls feel at ease.
We discovered that it was the 18th and turned our attention to Koba and Taka. These two stumbled upon numerous fish lying around in a nearby park. We heard some people chanting as Wada noted many dirty clothes thrown around the apartment complex. Wada knocked forcefully on one of the intern’s doors and rushed into their apartment, demanding to know what they were doing. ..
The intern apologizes for the disruption, saying that it’s a part of their morning prayers. However, Wada stops him mid-sentence complaining that they’ve ruined the washing area. Taka and his friends hear the commotion and try to calm Wada down. Unfortunately, she’s not having any of it and doesn’t like that the interns’ daily ritual gives off a cult-like vibe.
The residents of this small town are not used to the heat, and as a result, they are all looking at Taka with funny eyes. Kimi, however, plans to revisit her friend Momo to get some shaved ice. Everyone is hoping that the heat will finally stop and they can all go back to their normal lives.
In Kimi’s apartment, she finds that no one is answering their calls, leading to an investigation of the apartment. Kimi crushes one of Hideo’s anime figurines and slowly looks into Hideo’s room since his door is open.
In the episode, Kimi discovers that Hideo’s corpse is strangely laid on his computer desk. She denounces the scene in front of her as an optical illusion.
The Episode Review
This anime is set in a housing complex that is haunted by the ghosts of its residents. The characters are all interesting and the setting is well-done, but I feel like the anime could use more horror content. It’s expected to have four episodes, each lasting about 24-25 minutes.
While I found the episode’s minor comedic and cheerful scenes charming, there needed to be more emphasis on the show’s horror. Visuals like the man-like fish, Hideo’s eye, and the dead puppy’s corpse sent chills down my spine. However, these visuals didn’t leave an impact as the episode would drop us into a more laid-back scenario.
Episode four of “Kurosaki-kun no Iinari ni Naru” was slow paced and could have been faster. This episode was necessary to introduce the characters but I’m unsure if it was a good idea to do it in four episodes. ..
The episode begins with a reveal of Kimi’s true identity, which is a bit of a surprise. It’s also interesting to see her backstory and what led her to become the way she is. This provides more context for her character and makes her more relatable. Additionally, the reveal of the mother’s role in Kimi’s life is very interesting and provides some new insights into the character. Overall, this episode was well-done and I look forward to watching it again soon.
This episode was a slow-burner with a lot of meaningful details. While I had some issues with it, I’m excited to see how this mystery involving Kojima’s storeroom and Kurosaki unfolds. Let’s hope the next episodes will feel more spooky and less joyful.
