And so the body count rises, in grisly ways.
What They Say:
Matsunaga’s tape has at last revealed the measures necessary to stop the calamity once it has begun. Kouichi, Mei, Teshigawara, and Mochizuki try to think of a way to bring class 3’s continuing tragedies to an end, but when the tape falls into the wrong hands…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the progress that has been made since the discovery of the tape, it’s definitely a sort of fate that now has the class out on a trip to the mountains where all kinds of bad things can happen. The setting throughout the series has been strong in making ordinary places seem terribly creepy and atmospheric, but this change of location just adds to it in a very blatant way that you can’t help but to love. Having Kouichi and the others starting to understand the tapes more that they discovered become key to their survival works well in this atmosphere as it’s a blast from the past in a place that reeks of days gone by, albeit ornate days. But it’s impacting the students in general as well as they’re falling apart and we’ve even had a new death happen that’s pretty shocking.
The whole situation has taken on an even darker tone because of these events now as blood is starting to turn up everywhere, tensions are rising and there’s a feeling that evil is lurking around every corner. The buildup for all of this is fantastic as it unfolds, even with the almost but not quite comical cries and screaming happening elsewhere that Kouichi and Mei end up hearing. It’s going back to basics in using some of the familiar sounds that classic horror movies have used over the years to great effect. The slaw drawing of the moments, the tapping in the distance, the rain and sounds of the night are all expected in a way but they take on a great feeling here. So when it then shifts to the far deadlier and more violent angles with others coming to kill in a very blunt manner, the dynamic between the two is simply beautiful.
What sets everything into motion here is the intercom system of all things as the key part from the tape is played about sending the dead back to death. It’s a haunting mix as you have a voice from the present speaking clearly and without emotion and then to shift to the tape recording itself, which lends it some weight. And then to go all emotional after coming back is fantastic as it plays right into the mindset of the class as they’re beyond hope at this point and will do anything they can to break the curse for at least this class and find a way to survive. With so many having died so far in so many different ways, it’s just the start of what’s to come as the body count begins to rise even more through the panicked students who admittedly just want to live.
In Summary:
With this series starting off kind of slow and awkward in some ways because of how it wanted to introduce what was going on, it’s turned into a fascinating, creepy and thoroughly engaging show ever since. It hooked with good visuals and delivers with a steady pacing for a horror story done right, with grisly deaths out of nowhere and revelations etched out bit by bit. As the series readies to draw to a close, we get a number of revelations along the way and here in particular we get a whole lot of death and big moments as events sweep up into a crescendo. Watching as these events unfold is thoroughly enticing to behold as there is a lot of manipulation going on and things are going faster than before. You can’t help but to be drawn in as the blood flows, the weapons come out and the voices start to get louder…
Grade: A-
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
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.
