I normally drop shows that I find uninteresting (sorry, Kiznaiver), and such is why I am quite surprised that I even managed to barely waddle myself past this nightmare called Mayoiga. Even so, it’s a show that goes well with a popcorn in hand, rather than hiding underneath a blanket expecting for jump-scares to materialize in a Conjuring-esque fashion.No, Mayoiga isn’t that kind of a show despite of how it introduced itself during its first weeks — it’s a discombobulated mess.
One of which that contributed to this mess is its characters. Honestly, Mayoiga could’ve cut its cast in half and still manage to draw the same conclusion it did — but in a much better way. Its objective of conveying its lesson of “facing your own fears” or “accepting yourself” is even made less effective due to the large number of characters we have to connect and sympathize with. No, I didn’t feel anything when driver-san and his daughter reunited. No, I didn’t listen to Koharun revealing her motives (if it’s something important, let me know). And yes, I had to cringe from Hayato’s ramblings. The fact that such sheer amount of backstory have to be cramped up in 12 episodes doesn’t help much. What’s worse, almost the entire half of the show was spent on us watching the crew finding out what the f is happening, and the rest is practically just a jumbled and rushed attempt at reconciling everything. I wasn’t at all surprised that they decided to, well, just skip a dozen of irrelevant characters by making them “sleepy” through a convenient plot-device. Saves them (and us) the time to listening to pointless ramblings, no?
We never really got a moment to brace ourselves for a gear-shift from mystery to drama. The transition felt so skewed that I had to frown why this guy is joking in a supposedly serious situation. Last time I checked, the atmosphere is meant to be tense. Nope. Guess I’ve been sucker punched! It was probably around episode 6 or 5 that Mayoiga‘s appeal started to wear off. The build-up of the mystery-solving part ended up in a stalemate, with much left to be desired. I found myself watching not because I want to know what will happen, but rather because I want to see what other absurd ass-pulls Mayoiga can think of. Hey, who knows? Maybe there are and aliens crop circles in Nanakimura. At least that can explain its supernatural origin. Well, now…
I guess Mayoiga proved once again that too much of something can’t always be too good. Sure, it’s admirable of Okada and the crew to come up with this and “innovate” something by mashing cliches after cliches together. But from an objective point of view, Mayoiga basically flopped itself. Common, guys. No studio will spend money and resources to animate something that’s meant to be bad and unbearable. Think of all those poor animators! You can’t expect us to stare at a crumpled piece of paper and call it an origami. Still, all of this doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy watching Mayoiga. In fact, I did (which is why I was able to finished it — duh?). Its own absurdity makes up for a fine, good piece of entertainment, and I have to admit that it’s my own fault for expecting something than what I initially thought it would be. A sucker punch, indeed.
Nichi Nichi-chan 
I have to agree. SInce the last episode aired and I’ve been putting together my series review, I have to admit I enjoyed this series far more than I should have. Even if part of the enjoyment came from tearing it apart, I still watched it week after week. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLike
‘from an objective point it view, Mayoiga basically flopped itself’
You might want to notice it’s a parody in your review before you wrongly use the word ‘objective’ to back up a perspective too tethered to crude ideas of quality and little sensitivity to what Mayoiga was in fact trying to accomplish.
LikeLike
Nvm. Found the restore option for comments.
Yes, I agree that it’s unfair to call Mayoiga a flop given that it did manage to seam together its narrative and plot in probably one of the most… bizarre and unconventional way. If Mayoiga is seriously trying to juxtapose both the mystery and comedy genre at the same time, then I guess it’s a hit and a miss, rather than calling a flop. It’s a hit because it did entertain some of us with its next level “intentional”(?) comedy, and at the same time it’s a miss because it simply is leaving a bad aftertaste to the general market (which is obviously not a company/studio’s objective/intention). In my case, I did enjoy it but not after deciding that it’s just parodying itself. Honestly, Mayoiga looks good in paper; Okada? Cool. Mizushima? Even cooler. And then we forget that Mizushima directed Crayon Shin-chan… which explains how that good-looking paper got crumpled and turned into a clusterfuck of weird comedy.
LikeLike
A writer’s history does not ‘explain’ the end product of a work. The work explains that itself.
It wasn’t trying to ‘juxtapose’ two genres; it was a comedy and used the mystery genre as its laughing stock. I don’t think it did that /well/, but accepting the show’s function as that is vital to offering a fair critique of it. Though even then you’d be wrong if you phrased your opinion s ‘objective’.
LikeLike
Mizushima did have a flare for the surreal and unusual comedy, and I’m pretty sure his own quirkiness is what influenced Mayoiga the most. If I knew he directed Crayon Shin-chan, then the thought of Mayoiga throwing a forkball would’ve been easier to bat.
Mayoiga does juxtapose its genres to a certain degree. It tried to be mysterious from the start, but it showed us how easily our expectations can be twisted; It tried to be funny afterwards, but Mayoiga showed us that there’s a different side to the term ‘comedy’. Imo, Mayoiga threw the standards of both genre and sneakily settled with a grotesque product instead, and it’s probably the only good thing thing that kept me watching the show. Should I (we) be laughing now because it’s actually a comedy? No, at the very least, I simply find it daft and peculiar.
LikeLike