So, Mysterious Disappearances is over. And I have just as many mixed feelings about it as I do momogatari series, which is either the greatest praise or worst indictment I could give a show. (This is my way to say that if you have monogatari brainworms you’ll like this show, probably.) Otherwise, I can’t really in good conscience recommend it to anyone.
This has a lot of the anime bullshit you’d expect from the protagonist being massively endowed, though if you’ll allow me to cope a bit, this at least doesn’t stoop as low as Monogatari’s pedophilic moments; though I’m sure the apparent age gap between mr. mysterious disappearances and our protagonist is enough for a lot of people to be understandably put off by it.
Putting such caveats aside for a moment, this show made me feel things, man. It had such funny and witty moments, and it had an emotional core that resonated with me a lot and in ways that i’m kinda ashamed to admit. “Apartment wife”, who is a girlfail so emotionally stunted that her superpower/curse is fucking age regression, struggles with her writing and feels like she peaked long ago, increasingly disappointed in herself and her creative output. Until one day, she meets a weirdo that takes her out of her comfort zone and allows her to meet new people and new experiences. She’s literally meeeeee
And that’s just her arc, there’s like at least three other girlfails on this show who get equally compelling explorations of their past and how that continues to influence them into the present. There’s this recurring theme of being caught up in the past, former relationships, and obsession.
There’s this moment in the last episode when disappearances’s little sister takes a moment to thank Sumireko (apartment wife/protag) for her company her assistance and having taken care of her throughout the show. She breaks into tears, knowing that she is very likely to never see Sumireko again, and the way the scene was framed, the character animation, along with the character writing over the entire show really made me feel it with her in a way that I’d honestly hadn’t felt for some time. I’m sure film nerds could explain in minute detail why that scene works, but I’m honestly stumped for describing it.
I think the following screenshots perfectly encapsulate everything about this show tbh, watch it at your own risk.
