Summary
Warning: This contains spoilers for Undead Murder Farce, Episode 10, “Misty Hollow”, now streaming onCrunchyroll.
Central to the appeal of this series is the intersection of classic mystery storytelling and supernatural myth, in which the rules behind literature’s popular creatures play a huge role. However, with the newest episode ofUndead Murder Farceasks how one defeats a beast when it has evolved beyond the rules established within its fiction.
Last week,Rindo and Co. followed their leads to a villagein the Alps, but without the knowledge of how to reach the Forest of Fangs, they made a deal with the village in exchange for solving a mystery. A werewolf has been kidnapping and supposedly killing young girls over the past year, but every clue just raises more suspicions that things aren’t as simple as that.
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The Evolution of Werewolves
Monsters are traditionally meant to have weaknesses and while various fictional works will pick and choose which rules apply and which don’t, there are a few that are essential. Vampires, for instance, are vulnerable to crosses, garlic, wooden stakes, sunlight, and holy water, among other things. Werewolves are weak against fire, silver, and wolfsbane, to say nothing of their human forms in which they are far more vulnerable.
Nowimagine taking away some or all of these weaknesses. Suddenly, these monsters seem overpowered and lose some of their innate vulnerability which evens the playing field for the protagonists. It risks compromising not only the identity of these monsters, but hurting the story, so it should be a red flag that the werewolves inUndead Murder Forceare becoming invulnerable to such things, but it isn’t.
The weaknesses of classic monsters aren’t merely there to create a compelling playing field for the narrative but to paint them as complex creatures within a living, breathing world. They have strengths that make them significant and weaknesses that can compromise them if exploited. As these species are intelligent, they possess history and lineage, which also implies evolution.
By characterizing the werewolves asselective breeders, there exists a possibility for future generations to inherit resistance to the storied weaknesses of famous monsters. It becomes little surprise that Moriarty is searching for such a legendary creature capable; it’s capable of overcoming its own lore.
If Episode 9 was primarily concerned with the kidnappings themselves, then Episode 10 is concerned with discerning how one might unmask a werewolf. The process by which this is done is methodical,which is to be expected of the storytelling. Through flashback, the audience is shown the testing done on suspected werewolves.
The hypothesis is that since werewolves are only born from werewolves, the suspect would have to be an outsider from the village. But if all three outsiders - Doctor Heinemann, Cnut, and Alma -passed the test, then either the hypothesis is wrong, or the werewolves have evolved. Rindo visits all three and Alma is the most suspicious, but even after she’s seemingly revealed to be a werewolf, something still feels off.
This concept of werewolves evolving beyond their weakness actually strengthens the mystery, because the audience can’t take the evidence at face value anymore. A conventional understanding of werewolves is useless, andthus the investigation has to look elsewhere. There have been enough inconsistencies to know that someone isn’t telling the truth. It’s a fun kind of mystery that encourages a rewatch of the previous episode to pour over every detail.
The New Royce Agents
In addition to Moriarty’s crew creeping onto the scene, there are two new Royce agents arriving to fill the bloody holes left by the previous two. It’s been hard to decide if this organization is really adding much to the story besides another inconvenience for the protagonists. To their credit, their designs and personalities are a lot more appealing this time around.
Alice Rapidshot is a typical cowboy toting two revolvers and while Kyle Chaintail’s skill set is as yet unknown,his glamorous look immediately catches the eyealong with his disarming kindness. They’re more interesting than the last pair for sure, though hopefully, they don’t end up feeling like an afterthought by the time the credits roll.
Shizuku’s Stand
Over the season, Shizuku has yet to be given a moment to truly stand out. There’s still so much about her that remains unknown and outside of those who are invested in seeing what becomes of her, there’s not much reason to be that excited about her. That said, it feels like that’s about to change, or at least it better, lest this episode’s cliffhanger be an insult to injury.
Ever since the premiere, Shizuku has always reacted to Shinuchi and Rindo’s kisses with intense jealousy, though this episode isonly the second time they’ve been shown kissing. Even so, her rush to pull the two apart and Shinuchi’s frustration add further texture to her implied relationship with Rindo prior to the beginning of the story.
Shizuku is attracted to Rindo, but she’s been forced to watch her master kiss a man she loathes who has almost “stolen her,” and who has handled much of the heavy lifting. Now, up against a monster that her silver rifleshouldbe able to make short work of, she instead finds herself fighting a werewolf immune to her weapon. If this isn’t the moment that Shizuku’s self-doubts incur a change in her, this will have been a wasted moment.
For what it’s worth, this episode already drops the ball somewhat with the animation. As stated previously,this series doesn’t have the flashiest action. This production team seems to be doing the best it can with what it has, and to its credit, it mostly exceeds expectations thanks to strong art direction and clever directing. Episode 10, however, attempts some more ambitious shots, but without the level of quality fans have come to expect.
Some of the effects look neat, but they can too often be followed up with cuts that look a bit too inconsistent and rough around the edges. With some serious correction by the animation director, things like the perspective shot on Shizuku’s attack might have looked gorgeous. Unfortunately, the rough line work doesn’t inspire enough imagination through its movements to surpass the lack of fidelity.
This new episode ofUndead Murder Farceis hard to judge too harshly before seeinghow the whole case comes to a close, but some criticism is due. Given the lackluster animation, it doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence for the action to come in the last batch of episodes. On a positive note, however, the storytelling continues to go strong, making up for its few blemishes, and it would be a lie to say this story doesn’t have its hooks deep.
