Synopsis: Komori Tarou is having recurrent dreams. He thinks the dreams have something to do with an incident that happened eleven years ago.

In a dream, a girl, who seems to be dead, is shown. A fly alights on the girl’s lips. The scene changes to show another girl climbing up a stair towards some shrine. She notices that she is being watched. She looks back at the one watching her.

Komori Tarou awakens from his dream. He makes a record of it. He’s been having the same dream for quite some time. The dead girl was his older sister. As for the other girl, Tarou doesn’t know her but the place where she was is not far from his house.

Tarou goes outside. A woman tells him that if he thinks of doing something malicious, he will get scolded by Matsuo-sama, a god of sake brewing. That woman is Kei. She says the old man next door wants to drink. She shows Tarou a bottle of some alcholic beverage. Tarou asks if it’s genmaishu, sake made from unpolished brown rice. Kei says it is and that it is said that it lowers blood pressure if drank every night. She approaches Tarou and tells him that the boss said that next year, after they stock up, they will start getting serious. Kei wishes they could stock up for next year’s brewing soon. Tarou looks at her and asks if she’s wearing perfume. Kei replies it’s probably her shampoo. She can’t wear perfume while working. She comments Tarou has a good sense of smell. Tarou denies it. Kei says it’s expected from the brewer’s eldest son.

During dinner, Tarou’s dad tries some beverage. Tarou asks if it’s any good. His dad replies he’d like to think it gets good once you become accustomed to it. Tarou then tells him that Kei said she’ll be making genmaishu next year. According to Tarou’s dad, at first Kei didn’t like being the head brewer but when the old man next door got better, she got over it. He asks Tarou about school. He replies it’s just the same. Tarou’s mother mentions that quite a few new students have transferred into the school since September. Tarou’s dad says that it looks like the plant just beyond the mountain is finally starting up.

Tarou then asks his dad if he still wants him to inherit the brewery. His dad becomes silent. And so does his mom. She tells Tarou that she thought he hated sake. He replies that it’s because when he was a kid, he drank some of it and got sick. Tarou’s dad says he doesn’t know if the water around the place will still be good in Tarou’s time. Tarou tells him he had always thought his sister was going to inherit the brewery. His dad becomes silent once again. His mom looks like she’s about to cry. It seems she hasn’t recovered from her daughter’s death yet. Tarou excuses himself.

He goes to his room but stops by his sister’s room first. It’s empty.

Tarou spends the night listening to the radio. He then realizes it’s already late.

The following day, a drowsy Tarou goes to school. Outside his classroom, he sees a new student talking to someone. The new student looks at him. Tarou goes inside his room. His classmate comments that Tarou looks tired. Tarou says he hardly slept. Another classmate announces that Ogami from Class B showed up. He hasn’t gone to school for around two weeks. The teacher arrives and tells the students to settle down.

During class, Tarou finds himself sleepy. He eventually dozes off.

Tarou then finds his body slumping in his desk. He leaves the classroom and goes to the mountains, near the shrine. He sees a white car then notices a path behind the shrine. He follows the path and sees something he doesn’t like. A shadowy figure towers over him. He finds himself locked up with his sister. She doesn’t move. In a bed besides hers, he sees a boy. It looks at him.

Tarou awakens from his dream, sweating. The teacher is reprimanding a classmate behind him. The teacher then goes to Tarou and tells him to go see the principal after school.

As Tarou goes to see the principal, he sees Ogami at the hallway. Ogami stares at him. Tarou looks away. The transfer student from before asks if he is Tarou from Class A. He seems to have heard of Tarou. He then introduces himself as Nakajima Masayuki from Class B. He invites Tarou to come to his house and play. Tarou leaves.

At the principal’s office, the principal tells Tarou that the clinical psychologist has been replaced. He introduces the new shrink, Dr. Hirata Atsui from Tokyo University. Tarou will be receiving counseling from him. The psychologist greets Tarou. The principal leaves his office which will be used for the counseling session.

Dr. Hirata says that the surrounding area has lovely scenery. He then tells Tarou, as he reads from some record, that he hasn’t gone beyond the previous doctor’s work. He asks if Tarou still becomes lethargic from time to time, during the day. Tarou tells him he does, sometimes. He asks if Tarou keeps a record of his dreams. Tarou replies he’s been recording them into cassette tapes. The doctor asks if he could listen to it sometime. Tarou objects. Dr. Hirata tells him it’s alright if he doesn’t want to. Tarou says he hasn’t kept them in proper order. The doctor then asks the boy if the events that happened eleven years ago has caused any hardships or emotional pain.

Eleven years ago, Tarou and his sister were kidnapped. Only Tarou was rescued alive.

Meanwhile, Masayuki introduces himself to Ogami. He asks if it’s alright to call Ogami by his first name, Makoto. Ogami tells him he’s annoying.

Back to Tarou, he asks if the doctor performs hypnosis during treatment. The doctor asks why. Tarou replies he was wondering if hypnosis could help him remember things that he has forgotten. Dr. Hirata asks him if there are things he wants to remember. Tarou nods weakly. The doctor tells him he does not value hypnosis as an effective form of treatment. It is possible that the patient will fabricate memories during hypnosis. He says he wonders what Tarou wants to remember. Tarou recalls his sister. There was something she said to him.

Masayuki continues to follow Makoto. Makoto tells him he only goes to school when he feels like it. Masayuki then asks him why he hates Tarou from Class B. He is about to say something about what Makoto’s father did but Makoto grabs his collar. He lets go of him and says it has nothing to do with him.

The girl whom Tarou saw at the shrine sees an apparition at the road. It seems like Tarou’s sister. Tarou passes by, on a bike. He observes that the girl is looking at something ahead. He looks but there is nothing there. The girl notices him. Tarou realizes she’s from the dream. He tries to talk but the girl ignores him and leaves. Tarou leaves too but he looks back a short distance after. There really is nothing there.

Anyway, I find Ghost Houndd interesting. I like how it deals with the psychological, particularly memories and dreams. Some may find the episode slow and boring but I think the pacing and the quiet give it a creepy atmosphere.

Also. at this point, several questions have built up an air of mystery. What were the details regarding the kidnapping? How did Tarou’s sister die? How was Tarou rescued? What does he want to remember regarding that event? How is Makoto related to it? What about his father? Why is Masayuki interested in Tarou and Makoto? Who is the girl at the shrine and why can she see Tarou?

Ghost Hound, being Production I.G.’s 20th anniversary commemorative work, might be the season’s most awaited show. So far it does not disappoint. The animation is crisp and the backgrounds are stunning, as expected from the studio. The character designs are simple, reminiscent of Jigoku Shoujo, whom Oka Mariko, Ghost Hound’s character designer also worked on.

The opening theme, “Poltergeist” by Kojima Mayumi is a funky piece. The ending theme is a slow ballad, “Call My Name~Kazenari no Oka~” by Yucca.

A lucid dream, by the way, is a dream in which the dreamer is aware that he is dreaming while the dream is in progress. During lucid dreams, it is often possible to exert conscious control over the dream characters and environment. Some lucid dreamers who perform wake initiated lucid dreams report out-of-body experiences. In Tarou’s case, he is aware that he is dreaming but has minimal control (perhaps he does not know that he can control his dream). Tarou also shifts from dreaming to an out-of-body experience.

Dreams are subconscious experiences occurring during sleep, particularly REM sleep. Dreams are said to be associated with memory processing. Well, there’s more regarding dreams in the next episode.

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