What They Say:
The “life-and-death sibling” story follows Utsutsu and Yume Hasegawa, a boy and his little sister who find themselves all alone. One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Having one of your leads turned into a demonic monster is one thing, having them eat the other lead is kind of problematic. That’s dealt with in some form here as Utsutsu ends up coming back to life here (is that hairpin responsible?), but not before some other quirky things happen that involve a kind of surreal approach to how Yume is handling the whole situation. Though her body has changed, it seems like she resides within it in some form, which involves her talking with a twisted little stuffed animal head that has quite an attitude. Yume’s had a simple feeling since her introduction, but with what we get here she becomes a bit more complex in a way as she struggles with the hunger within. There’s a curious inner sequence of sorts that has a reunion with Utsutsu and that potentially helps his rebirth in a way, but it’s one that’s just so twisted with how she devours parts of him, apologizing all the way, but unable to stop.
In Summary:
Pupa doesn’t hold back here as it works the sibling relationship in a twisted way now that she sees Utsutsu as a way to satisfy her cravings, something that he may be able to survive for some unexplained reason so far. A lot of it is the kind of work that you have to use your own imagination to fill in some of the blanks along the way, but there’s something hugely addictive going on here that leaves you wanting more. Craving it, but not like Yume craves her brother. The show doesn’t hold back in some ways and it’s creepy and disturbing, but that’s more than half the point right there.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
