Makoto is shown playing an electric guitar in his room. Meanwhile, his eccentric looking grandmother has a guest. She performs some sort of ritual.

Tarou is at Masayuki’s house. He tries some virtual reality device that make’s one feel as if flying. Mayasuki tells him that the head mounted device is equipped with a gyroscope, used to maintain orientation. Tarou finds it amazing. He asks if Masayuki plays with it a lot. Masayuki replies he doesn’t. He says it’s not so much a game compared to therapy. Tarou asks Masayuki if has a condition. Masayuki tells him he only has a small fear of heights. He thought he could get rid out it with virtual reality. Tarou then asks if it would be possible to cure it that way. Masayuki tells him it is, by intentionally experiencing the cause of the phobia. Tarou says he remember it’s called “exposure”.

Masayuki’s dad arrives. He works for Japan Bio Tech and has lived in Suiten for three years. Masayuki then tells Tarou that he is only afraid of heights, Tarou’s must be much worse. He asks if Tarou still feels frightened. He also asks if Tarou dreams about the incident. He says it’s no wonder Tarou has weekly counselling. Tarou says he doesn’t think it’s still necessary. Masayuki then suggests that Tarou undergo phobia exposure and go to the place where he experienced the trauma. He says it’s raining but they might be able to go to the old Kameura village behind the dam some other time. The hospital where Tarou and his sister were kept is located there. Tarou thinks about it. He hasn’t gone back since it happened.

Tarou arrives at home. He assists his mother, who is cooking, a bit. He asks her if she still dreams. She replies that she is on medication so she no longer dreams. She says sometimes the incident from eleven years ago seems to be a dream.

At her school the following day, Miyako while chatting with her friends, sees an apparition that looks like Tarou and his sister. She stares at it blankly. Her friend interrupts her and asks if there’s anything wrong. Miyako replies it’s nothing.

During Tarou’s counselling, Dr. Hirata asks if Tarou is afraid of his sister. Tarou replies that he could never be afraid of her but he is always scared of something. He then asks the psychologist about exposure. The doctor replies that it is effective for some patients. The method however is not without criticism. He says Tarou’s case is more complicated. Exposure would be impossible. Dr. Hirata then tells Tarou that he’d like to meet his parents in their next session.

Masayuki is waiting for Tarou outside. He asks if Tarou has decided already. Tarou tells him he agrees. Masayuki then instructs him that they will meet at the Kameniwa shrine at one o’clock, Sunday.

Masayuki leaves the school somehow feeling proud of himself. He looks at the shadow the school building has cast on the ground. His expression changes to that of fright. He looks up at the building and remembers something from the past. It seemed someone Tarou fell off a building. Tarou’s finger trembles. He tries to dismiss it as just acrophobia.

On the set date, Tarou goes to the shrine. He finds that Masayuki is already there. Masayuki tells him that he is waiting for someone else. Moments after, Makoto arrives. He frowns when he sees Tarou and tells Masayuki that he must be mocking him. He asks why Tarou is there. Tarou tells him he didn’t know he would be there either. Masayuki tells the two to calm down. He says it’s exploration so the more people, the merrier.

Makoto scowls at Tarou and announces that he’s not going. Masayuki calls him chicken. This angers Makoto. He grabs Masayuki by his jacket.

The man who seemed to be Miyako’s father notices something outside.

Makoto holds Masayuki by his shirt over the edge of the steps that lead out of the shrine. Masayuki looks down. It’s a long way to go. Makoto tells him that he has no qualms about killing someone. Tarou tries to stop Makoto, telling him that Masayuki is afraid of heights.

A metal pail is suddenly thrown near them. Miyako has come. She tells them that the place isn’t a playground. She leaves and Makoto pulls Masayuki away from the edge. Masayuki asks Makoto again to go with them to the hospital behind the damn. Makoto insists he doesn’t want to go. He is about to leave but Masayuki tells him it could be related to his father’s death. Makoto eventually relents, on the condition that Masayuki wouldn’t bother him anymore. Masayuki agrees. Tarou, however, says he doesn’t want Makoto to come. Masayuki tells him to stop making more trouble as it’s settled already.

Miyako watches as the three boys enter a path behind their house. The man with her asks if something happened. She tells him it was nothing.

Masayuki tells Makoto and Tarou that it might take an hour and a half to get to the hospital. Makoto tells him it won’t take that long. Masayuki asks if Makoto has gone there but Makoto does not reply. Masayuki then asks Tarou if he and Makoto have talked to each other properly. Tarou says they haven’t. Makoto says they see each other sometimes though. Masayuki asks if it’s outside school. Again, Makoto does not reply but he tells him that he and Tarou are relatives.

The path where the three followed was the same path that Tarou saw in his dreams, the same path that Tarou tried to explore on his own. He remembers the spot where he saw the creature that took the form of his sister and the spot where he saw the giant in his dreams again. Tarou does not feel comfortable. He averts his eyes from those places.

Masayuki suggests they take a short rest. Tarou and Masayuki sit on a log. Makoto asks if Tarou’s mother is alright. Tarou pauses for a while then replies that she isn’t getting worse. He then asks about Makoto’s grandmother. Makoto says he doesn’t know. He doesn’t see her. Masayuki finds it weird since Makoto and his grandmother live together. He then says he’s surprised that Tarou and Makoto are related. The three of them coming was a good idea. Makoto comments that Masayuki just wanted to fill the third spot. Tarou asks about it. Masayuki only replies that the three of them going has a meaning

He explains that he did research on the incidents at the hospital. Some other events occurred there, apart from Tarou’s case. Makoto asks if he means the curse story. He says it’s ridiculous. Tarou doesn’t know about that story.

According to the students Masayuki interviewed, the dam was built thirty years ago. It caused a third of the water supply to dry up. Back then, high schoolers would go to the old village for kimodameshi, a test of courage. A year after the dam was built, three teenagers went to the hospital and found a secret underground chamber. It was like a prison inside. One of them entered a room and saw somebody there. They ran away but the one who went in the room later died.

The three reach the top of a hill marked with some stone monument. Tarou has seen that place in his dreams too. Masayuki says the place is called Kamen Rock. Their destination lies beyond. From that place, Masayuki notices that dad’s company from a nearby mountain is visible.

Tarou, Makoto and Masayuki reach the old village behind the damn. Everything is covered in soil and rock except for a few structures such as the hospital. Tarou wonders why he agreed to go. Makoto asks if they should go inside. Masayuki asks Tarou if it would be alright. Tarou tries to convince himself that it isn’t a scary place. It’s just where his sister died.

Masayuki mentions that the guy who was kidnapped and kept at that place (Tarou) is finally there, so as the one who’s father died a week after (Makoto). Makoto then asks him why he is there with them. Masayuki replies that he’s killed someone before. Tarou and Makoto look shocked somehow. Masayuki says that they have different backgrounds but irreversible things happened in their lives. He then says something about having a friend. He goes inside. Makoto comments that nothing changes. He follows. Tarou is left outside. In his mind, he could hear the drone of flies.

Anyway, it’s amazing how events in the previous episode foreshadow facts revealed in this episode. When Masayuki looked down from the bridge, I thought he saw something horrible. It turned out he was afraid of heights. And oh, he and Tarou are friends already. Tarou did came to his house to play. Still, I find Masayuki creepy.

Ghost Hound is said to be a story about two worlds. Up to this point, the other world is not yet revealed. I wonder how they are going to merge that concept with all the psychological stuff that is happening.Similar Posts:

• Ghost Hound - 01 “Lucid Dream”
• Ghost Hound - 02 “EMDR (Eye Motion Desentization and Reprocessing)”
• Mouryou no Hako - 03 “A Sense of Release”
• Mouryou no Hako - 02 “The Deception of the Tanuki”
• Claymore - 24 “Critical Limit Pt. 2″

Tarou dreams of a time when he was little. He is waiting for his sister outside her school. She comes out and scolds him. He cannot see her face. The scene changes and her sister is running. The young Tarou is barely able to follow her across some labyrinthine passages. They reach an exit but a giant takes his sister. She struggles in the giant’s hands then becomes still.

Tarou wakes up from that dream. It was a dream he did not want to see. He records it but realizes he’s out of tape.

The following day, as Tarou is about to leave for school, a man visits their house. He says the year’s rice harvest is good but the Suiten dam still lacks water. Tarou’s mother becomes nervous after hearing it. Tarou’s father suggest they continue to discuss some other time. The visitor realizes he said something he shouldn’t have. He apologizes.

At the school library, Tarou researches for something in the Internet. Masayuki comes. He says he heard Tarou’s family brews sake. Masayuki asks if his family were once landowners of the area. Tarou says he doesn’t know. Masayuki tells him it must be why the incident from eleven years ago happened. He then mentions Tarou’s sister, Mizuka. Masayuki finds it amazing that he would befriend a kidnap victim. He tells Tarou that he’s been researching the case over the Net. He says, because of the police’s mistake, the one who kidnapped Tarou and his sister got hit by a truck. The kidnapper demanded for ransom but Masayuki wonders whether he really did it for money.

Tarou is annoyed with Masayuki. He asks him if people from Tokyo ask frank questions to people they aren’t friends with. Masayuki only smiles. Tarou leaves. After he left, Masayuki checks the Internet browser search history. It seems Tarou was researching dreams and out-of-body experiences.

According to Masayuki, on the 22nd of September, 1996, Komori Yoshida, the owner of Suiten’s oldest sake brewery, found his children, eight-year old Mizuka and three-year old Tarou missing. At midnight, he received a call from the kidnapper demanding ransom. He didn’t however explain clearly how it will be delivered. He just ordered that the Komori family stop on the overpass of a toll highway and from there, throw the ransom money down to him.

The kidnapper must have found out the police were on that area because he was nowhere to be seen. The police successfully traced the transmission from the kidnapper’s prepaid cell phone. They also found a suspicious white van parked in front of a closed-down pachinko parlor in the outskirts of Suiten. The man in the building tried to escape by running to the nearby road. He was hit by a passing truck and died instantly.

The police found the prepaid cell phone inside the building and confirmed that he was the kidnapper. The Komori siblings, however, were nowhere to be found. The kidnapper was Sukuai Yachio, a man from southern Tokyo. He did not have any relatives in or near Suiten. He had no prior criminal record and his occupation at the time of the kidnapping was unknown.

Four days after their disappearance, the children were still missing. The local dam lacked water because of the dry season. Because the low water level made access to an old village behind the mountains possible, the police were uneasy about it. They obtained tips from the townspeople and they searched an abandoned hospital. There, they found the siblings but Mizuka, the older sister, had already died. Tarou was in a state of shock. Food and drinks were left but since the children were tied, they couldn’t eat nor drink anything.

In the six-month span during the kidnapping, children all over western Japan went missing. It was only in the Suiten case that a ransom was demanded.

On the 2nd of October, 1996, Ogami Hideo, the second representative of a small religious group in Suiten, the Ogami Worship Assembly, was discovered dead. He was locked inside a room and his eyelids were cut with a dinner knife. It seemed he slit his throat after then died. Nothing more was discovered so the police concluded it was a suicide. Because the kidnapping case occurred only a week before that, the people suspected a connection between the two events. No evidence though was found that could link the two cases.

Tarou went up the stairs leading to the shrine. He looked for the path he saw in his dreams. A man who lives nearby notices that someone is outside. At the same time, Miyako, the girl whom Tarou saw in his dreams, arrives after buying some groceries. Miyako asks the man if someone stopped by since she saw a bike at the bottom of the steps.

Outside, Tarou decides to go into the path. In his dream, it seems to lead to the dam, near the abandoned hospital. Tall trees towered around the path. A low mist begins to envelope the surroundings. Tarou thinks something isn’t right. He looks around and suddenly sees an apparition that looks like his sister. Tarou calls out to it but realizes there’s no way it could be his sister. The apparition slowly changes form, revealing a thin humanoid creature with a long, oval head. Tarou then sees the giant from his dream. He runs away wanting to wake up but it wasn’t any dream. Up ahead, he sees someone watching him the same way he watched Miyako before.

Tarou sees Miyako sweeping the ground. She notices him and tells him that the place isn’t something for playing around. Tarou tells her he knows that. Tarou then asks her what she was looking at. The girl replies it’ a Ryuujin, a sea god in Japanese folklore that can appear as a dragon or as a man. Miyako then leaves but Tarou asks her if she saw him when she was standing at the steps. Miyako’s only reply is “Maybe”. Tarou, however, is sure that Miyako saw here.

During his counseling session the next day, the doctor instructs him to look at his forefinger as he moves it sideways. Tarou does so. He then recounts his dream of waiting for his sister outside the school. Tarou tells Dr. Hirata he doesn’t feel sleepy at all.

The doctor explains to him that he isn’t performing hynoptheraphy but rather EMDR (Eye Motion Desentization and Reprocessing), a treatment used for trauma victims. As one moves the eyes, one imagines tragic events from the past. Dr. Hirata explains further that the mechanism towards it isn’t fully understood but by stimulating the two halves of the brain, memory is activated. EMDR is a known method for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Tarou does not exhibit symptoms of PTSD but he wants to recover lost memories.

Dr. Hirata resumes the treatment. Again, Tarou recalls the dream with his sister and the giant. The doctor tells him that the giant is already gone. In Tarou’s mind, the giant’s face begins to take form — that of Sukuai Yachio.

Meanwhile, at a bridge, the nosy Masahiko is interviewing a schoolmate regarding the kidnapping case. The boy he asked told him that it was Ogami’s grandmother who told the police that the children were in the abandoned hospital. Masayuki thinks that there is some connection between the kidnapping and the suicide. The boy tells him that the people also thought so but it was only a rumor. The boy also says that there were rumors regarding the hospital by the dam. Masayuki asks him about it but a group of boys pass by and the boy he asked has to go. Masayuki hands the boy a game CD (interestingly titled “Ghost Hound”) in exchange for the information the boy gave him.

As the boy left, Masayuki looks below the bridge. He sees something horrible and looks away.

Anyway, details regarding the kidnapping are revealed but a lot of questions are still unanswered. For one, what was the kidnapper’s motivation? Was the Suiten case related to the other kidnapping cases throughout Japan?

Masayuki is deeply interested in what happened eleven years ago. I wonder why. Is he somehow connected to it? Or was he also kidnapped when he was little?

EMDR, by the way, is a psychotherapeutic approach developed by Francine Shapiro to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. EMDR works by processing distressing memories. Symptoms are said to arise when events are inadequately processed but it can be resolved when memory is fully processed.Similar Posts:

• Ghost Hound - 03 “Phobia Exposure”
• Ghost Hound - 01 “Lucid Dream”
• Mouryou no Hako - 03 “A Sense of Release”
• Hanazakari no Kimitachi e - 12 (Finale)
• First Impressions: Mokke

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.Similar Posts:

• Ghost Hound - 03 “Phobia Exposure”
• Ghost Hound - 02 “EMDR (Eye Motion Desentization and Reprocessing)”
• xxxHOLiC Kei - 04 “Dream Buying”
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