The death of a writer causes much angst for poor Dalian who must now turn to fanfiction.
What They Say:
Dalian is currently mesmerized by a certain novel series, but the author was attacked and killed before he could write the last book. Dalian is quite despondent, but a letter arrives from the author for Huey’s late grandfather. The letter is a request for help, so they immediately head to his residence. There, they find the wife of Lents, the author. She says that Lents does not receive visitors when he is writing, but after learning that Dalian is a fan, she agrees to grant them an audience. However, they soon discover Lents’s dead body…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the first three episodes of the Mystic Archives of Dantalian, we’ve gotten a show that’s definitely got an interesting premise about it but hasn’t won me over with execution. It’s largely felt like this seasons version of Gosick, which is both good and bad. This episode does start off well as it has Dalian being completely enamored with a series of novels from Lenny Lents. The author was writing a trilogy but ended up dying after the second book was completed, so no third volume was ever made. This puts out Dalian completely as she wanted more to see what would happen, but Huey is smart enough to put the onus on her for opening up a package that was meant for him. As it turns out, the author sent a message to Huey’s grandfather and that’s now ended up in his lap to go and figure out. Of course, Dalian is driving this particular train as she wants to see what she can find out about the final novel.
Of course, there’s also that issue in the letter about him being imprisoned by a bizarre book and that has both of them definitely intrigued to see what the reality of it is. The reality is, of course, stranger than fiction as they find that Lenny is indeed alive and in a way trapped within the residence where he writes. His wife is of an unfriendly sort and does her best to keep them separate from each other, but eventually she relents on it and allows them to see him. But not before they discover his dead body elsewhere down the road in another building. The mystery of what’s going on is fairly layered as it goes on, but as the pair find out when they go back, Leticia is the one that’s really controlling the situation. The back and forth nature of it is curious to watch unfold, but I loved how Lents began to talk and write at the same time and put the truth of the matter into the writing for Huey to understand.
Leticia certainly runs an interesting game here as she does her best to re-educate Lenny and it’s something tied to one of the stranger books that, as we know from past episode, should not exist in this world. The why of everything is a bit haphazard when it comes to revealing what Leticia is up to and how she’s spiraled further into insanity in a way. It’s a vicious trap that she’s been caught up in with a really strong sense of horror about it when you get down to the reality of the situation. Forcing Huey and Dalian to watch it is hard at first, mostly for Huey, but the show goes in the familiar direction of resolution which isn’t a surprise. The story at hand is what works and though it may feel disjointed at first, it does all come together fairly well.
In Summary:
Though the story goes a bit too far at the end with what it does, it is poetic justice in a way as well so it’s hard to not give it the space to unfold. It’s not exactly out of place for the series either, though part of me feels that it’s just a little too much in a way, both in how gruesome it is as it unfolds and the scale of what’s happened to Lents and the woman he was with. Still, there’s something very appealing about the story compared to the last couple and it feels like it has a better flow overall, as though the series may be finding itself better now when it comes to pacing. There’s plenty to like here in general, but Dalian steals the show once again as she deals with the trilogy itself and its resolution.
Grade: B
Simulcast By: Nico Nico
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
