Ghost Hound 15

Focus:15 Toward An Abandoned City
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Taro is on a train to Kumada to see Kei, who is also in the said town visiting her grandfather, the former master brewer of the Komori Brewery. Apparently, Taro blames himself for the fact that Kei's new sake failed when, contrary to her instructions, he went to the fermenting room.

Also earlier, Taro tells his Mom about the possibility that Mizuka might still be alive but reincarnated as someone else. He is thinking, of course, of Miyako. His mother does not verbally react but Taro sees her eye start to twitch again.

At that moment, Taro's father arrives and father and son have a talk. It is during this time when Taro discovers what his meddling in Kakuriyo has done to Kei's new sake mixture. That's when he decides to see her in Kumada.

Taro is later joined by Makoto on the train. Earlier, Makoto has received a note from Noriko, containing Sanae's address in Kumada, and that is supposedly why he is going to Kumada now, although, by the pocketknife he carries, it's not for happy reunions.

Meanwhile, Masayuki and Micchio catch the PR guy on camera, talking with some mysterious people over the phone about industrial espionage. But instead of telling on him, Masayuki makes a deal: in exchange for information about the BioNippon Lab, he wants to know a few things, too.

Kumagusu is visited by some people he is none too pleased with. But when asked by Miyako about the visit, he refuses to answer her.

Back with Taro and Makoto, they finally arrive in Kumada. But instead of going to his true destination, Makoto suddenly decides to go with Taro.

Meanwhile, Hirata is listening to some more of Taro's audio-recorded dreams when all of a sudden, he finds himself in one of Taro's recurring dreams. Hirata is experiencing what Taro must have experienced but this time, he could clearly make out what Mizuka is saying: she tells Taro to live.

Hirata wakes up from the dream, all terrified and shaken. He immediately calls Dr. Reika Otori, who unfortunately is away from the phone.

As a matter of fact, Reika is waiting outside the lab for Professor Nakajima, Masayuki's Dad. And while watching him drive in, she says something odd: she addresses a "Dr. Frankenstein" and tells him to please hurry before his family is destroyed.

In Kumada, Kei is surprised to find Taro and Makoto come to visit her. Taro apologizes to her, with some help from Makoto. However, Kei only says that the yeast bacteria ate more sugar than she had anticipated.

Even so, because they caught it at the fermenting stage, the sake is not entirely destroyed and is actually better because of it. Kei is only in Kumada because her grandfather is sick.

Meanwhile, Professor Nakajima arrives home and Masayuki and Micchio follow him inside his study, saying something about the internet connection being down.

However, the boys only make this as an excuse; their real intention is to get the password to Professor Nakajima's computer so they could look into his files about BioNippon Lab. While looking inside his father's study, Masayuki notices an old portrait of their family during happier times.

Back in Kumada, after their visit with Kei, Taro decides to accompany Makoto, who still does not say where he is going. However, it soon becomes clear to Taro where Makoto is headed as he recognizes the name of the street they are in. At that moment, the man with the glasses who seems to always accompany Sanae appears and recognizes Makoto.

COMMENTS:

Sorry if it took a little while to blog about this episode. I actually had this two weeks ago, but between finals and Holy Week, I couldn't find the time. So anyway, this is another building up episode but interesting things also happen. For instance, we finally know what Taro's sister is saying that time when the two of them are in that basement room in the abandoned hospital.

Hirata is such a useful character. I swear, there's no one else more useful in this anime. He is like a combination of that Star Diviner guy and that weird shaman woman from Seirei no Moribito.

On a different note, Noriko is acting weirder with each episode. Who were those guys she was conferring with? And I bet Kumagusu's visitors are none other than those black-suited guys that Noriko has been meeting with. It could explain why Kumagusu is so upset by the visit.

I am not surprised at all that Reika is not quite as wholesome a character as, say, Hirata. Unlike Hirata, who seems genuinely interested with all that's happening, Reika is acting a bit too detached, even for a brain scientist. But I was slightly piqued to find that she's only apparently using Professor Nakajima to get information about his project (he is obviously Dr. Frankenstein). And yet, it does make sense, especially after what the PR guy told Masayuki and Micchio. Probably, Reika is an industrial spy.

The reference to Dr. Frankenstein is significant in later episodes. It gives a clue as to what Professor Nakajima is experimenting on.

That glasses guy really looks like Ishida Uryuu from Bleach. I've already seen Episode 16 and I swear I'm surprised about his identity, but I still don't get what is his role in all this.

I'll blog about Episode 16 once Shinsen-Subs has it out.