Ghost Hound 13

Focus13: For Snark is a Boojum, You See
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Taro has another out-of-body experience (OBE). In his astral form, he goes around him home at first, watching Kei check the yeast cultivation room in the brewery section, his mother praying over a picture of his sister, and his father listening to opera music. Next, Taro goes to Miyako's home where he finds her in bed with a fever.

While Taro is staring at Miyako's sleeping face, he has a sudden image of his sister. The next moment, Taro finds himself in front of his grade school with a younger version of himself. It is that old dream again where for some reason his sister, Mizuka, is mad at him and tries to keep him from following her.

At the end of a narrow alley, the giant shadow appears and grabs Mizuka. Taro tries to fight but when he lights upon the giant shadow, he finds himself thrown into a different space where a magnified Hirata is performing E.M.D. For some reason, Hirata is able to control Taro's movements with E.M.D. and Taro shouts for him to stop to no avail. Finally, Hirata "throws" Taro into another different space.

When Taro wakes up, he finds himself in a strange place filled with old people, being taken care of by nurses. The sign on the door says "Kameiwa Chest Hospital." Taro befriends an old man who tells him that he's been in that place for so many years that he does not know what year it is anymore.

Taro tells the old man a little about himself. He reveals that although his family's business is sake, he does not like the taste of alcohol much. He remembers the first time he tasted sake and got sick because of it. The old man surmises that it is because of this experience that Taro is not looking forward to succeeding in the family business although he feels like he is obliged to do it. The old man then comments that Taro has only the future to look forward to, and adds that all of them at that hospital don't have a future because they're long dead.

Realizing that he is in the place where dead people go, Taro leaves the old man's side and runs out. He reaches the edge of a cliff where he sees synapses and figures out that he is inside his own brain. But this makes him all the more confused.

Taro then looks up at the sky and finds a huge black spot for a sun. He starts to levitate until he enters that huge hole in the sky. Inside, there is nothing but darkness and some blue light. A voice from nowhere suddenly tells him that "If you don't look, you'll find nothing."

Taking this advice, Taro closes his eyes and when he opens them again, he finds himself in the middle of a road. Further in the distance, he finds another astral body and tries to call for it. But the astral body only runs away so Taro ends up chasing it.

After catching up to the astral body, it introduces itself to him as "Snark." Snark tells him that they are in an abstract space. Taro asks him if Snark is dead but Snark says that his physical body is very much alive. Then, he adds that Taro should be turning back. Taro, however, does not know how to go back and so Snark tells him to think of the place he wants to go to.

Taro does as Snark says and when he opens his eyes again, he is back in his family's brewery house. He notices the cultivation room and remembers that Kei warned him not to enter. But Taro's curiosity gets the better of him and he enters the room. What he sees there amazes him.

Because Taro is in his astral form, he could see spirits. These spirits are slowly being born from the yeast bacteria. After a while though, Taro grows sleepy and he slips back into his body.

The next morning in school, Taro is still worried about Miyako so right after classes are over, he, Masayuki, Makoto and Micchio decide to visit the Kameiwa shrine. Masayuki at first teases Taro for "spying" on Miyako in his astral form when Taro tells him how he found out about Miyako's fever, but Taro blushingly denies it.

Once they made it to the shrine, Komagusu tells them that Miyako's fever has gone down. Taro then tells him that he was the one who pulled Miyako out of the river. He also tells him about the spirit that possessed Miyako. For some reason, when Komagusu hears about this, he gets mad and tells the boys to leave, shutting the door right in their faces.

Left with no choice, the four boys leave the shrine. But once at the bottom, they find Makoto's grandmother's maid waiting for them. Makoto immediately realizes that it was his grandmother who sent her there, so he starts running, presumably for his home. Taro and Masayuki immediately follow, while Micchio tags along. While passing by the maid, Micchio unexpectedly catches her smiling evilly.

COMMENTS:

Well, this was a very interesting episode. Not much has happened here in terms of plot, but we do see how Taro's OBEs are increasingly developing. Now, he is able to visit the world of the dead by entering his own brain. How strange is that?

But perhaps the most curious thing about this episode is this Snark person. I wonder who he is. At first, I thought he might have been Hirata, because of the cow's lick hairdo. But the voice seems to be different, so I don't know. And he talks far too cryptically to be Hirata. The man is a scientist; he tends to be frank and to the point even as he uses scientific jargons.

It seems that Miyako reminds Taro of his own sister. Maybe that's why he likes her? To be sure, I think most people would want to look for the familiar features in someone, the traits that are similar to someone close to you. That's how most people interact and ultimately connect. So it's not unusual at all that Taro sees his sister in Miyako and that it is because of that he is so interested in her.

Now, I'm curious as to what kind of spirit it was that possessed Miyako in the previous episode. It identified itself as some kind of god that could lead all good and all evil to an end.

Also, the maid is creepy. I think Makoto's grandmother is dead or dying. It's the only reason why the maid was sent there. Although how she knew Makoto would be at the Kameiwa Shrine is a something of a curiosity.

Can't wait for the next episode.