Written by: Gabriel Castillo | Published on: February 9, 2021
Night time on the Otherside is a whole new world of trouble: nonsensical phone calls, gigantic grotesque creatures, and a train filled with disgusting horrors. Life will never be the same.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Summary
Sorao and Toriko meet rest of the tired American soldiers camped near Kisaragi Station. Despite the soldiers’ advice against using cellphones, the ladies make a quick but unforgettable call to Kozakura. A giant horrendous creature heads for the camp and a battle ensues. After a short firefight, Sorao and Toriko are forced to flee from the Americans.
Soldiers and their Hellish Experience
The Americans recount the recent horrors they’ve experienced: from some soldiers losing their minds to others dying from bear traps (glitches). Supplies are scarce and the strange creatures of the Otherside continue to hunt them. Everyone is tense and approaching their limits!
Creepy Call
For some reason, the American soldiers advise against using cellphones. However, while resting in a tent, Sorao and Toriko end up calling Kozakura. Big mistake. The conversation starts off normally but takes a bizarre and haunting turn towards the end. The tense background music and sound effects during the call excellently create a freaky and thrilling atmosphere. After calling, the ladies find out why cellphones are a bad idea.
Holy Cow!
Immediately after the call, a gigantic caterpillar-like creature made up of what looks like faces charges toward the camp. Interestingly, the approaching monster had its own accompanying music. The soldiers line up and barrage the enemy with bullets, bombs, and some classic English lines — such as “DIE DIE DIE” — that seem a bit more comical than serious. Sorao perceives the true nature of the monster using her special eye and she sees a cow heading the trail of horrors. The ladies climb up a military vehicle and, for some reason, bring out a sniper rifle-type weapon to shoot down the cow. The American soldiers cheer as the monster disappears. The English cheers are quite funny.
"Did you guys do that? HOLY COW!" -Master Sergeant Greg
The Meat Train
Shooting the powerful rifle dislodges the contact lens concealing Sorao’s oddly-colored special eye which causes some of the soldiers to question the ladies’ true nature . Feeling threatened, Sorao and Toriko make a break for the train station where an oncoming train makes its approach. The train itself seems to overlap with the real world and that made escape possible. More interestingly, the very sight of the locomotive, which they call the meat train, scares some soldiers out of their minds. With no other choice, the two ladies jump into the train.
VERDICT
Author's Rating: 6.8/10
This episode was mildly entertaining but also somewhat disappointing. The scene with the phone call was plenty creepy and the show did an excellent job of cranking up the horror factor. Sadly, the spooky vibes drop from there. The large creature was incredibly vague and only close-to-scary. That whole scene against the monster started off well with the accompanying background music but everything else felt rushed. The most disappointing portion of this episode was the meat train (which felt more like a might train because it might be scary but not really)! This particular scene could have been one of the top freakiest sequences in the series since the train had an immensely disturbing depiction in the source material. Unfortunately, they only showed glimpses — very vague ones — of the horrors inside the train. On a more positive note, the background music and sound effects were good. Additionally, the voice acting from the American soldiers was quite fun to listen to.
o We are halfway through the series already! Now that Sorao and Toriko are back in the regular world, what will they do next? What will happen to the soldiers they left behind? Why was their phone call with Kozakura omega bizarre? Will there finally be a picnic? Find out next week!
How do you find the series so far? Let us know in the comments!
Official Anime Website: Otherside Picnic
Official Anime Twitter: @OthersidePicnic
Otherside Picnic is available for streaming on Ani-One Asia every Monday 23:30 PST
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