Ookami Kakushi - Episode 7

After all the excitement of the last episode, Hiro is more than a little surprised to find himself waking up in his own bed come the start of this seventh instalment of Ookami Kakushi. Was it all a dream? When his father tells him he was found collapsed outside the front door, and the day at school brings no sign of either Nemuru or Isuzu, it soon becomes clear that everything that happened back there was very much reality.

Whilst trying his best to remain grounded in normality, it seems that Hiro's classmate Kana has been doing rather a lot of research on the Jouga wolves, compiling some important and seemingly accurate information about the legends and beliefs surrounding their town. Of course, getting too close to the truth in a situation such as this is never a good idea, especially if you're about to visit the local library to do some more investigating on your own...


Meanwhile, Kaori's condition continues to worsen to the point where she tells Hiro's sister she can no longer give any more violin lessons, while the mysterious man who met Kaori previously introduces himself to Hiro as Shuuichirou Sakaki, as they share what little they know of the murders and overall insanity bubbling underneath the town's surface. While all of this is going on, Hiro's name appears to be attached to some kind of important list, but what could it mean?

As per previous episodes, Ookami Kakushi just about manages to keep the sense of mystery ticking over here, throwing the occasional proverbial log onto the story-telling fire to keep things moving but never breaking into much more than a trot in terms of significantly moving the story forward. To be fair, now I've become used to that particular pacing and the obvious Higurashi no Naku Koro ni similarities I don't mind it too much, and although this series remains as unspectacular as ever my desire to know more about what's going on is still in place even at this point. Let's just hope it doesn't all end in abject disappointment a few weeks further down the line.