In/Spectre Episodes 1 and 2 Premiere at Crunchyroll Expo

Crunchyroll Expo in San Jose saw the world premiere of the first two episodes of mystery thriller In/Spectre on Saturday evening. At a screening hosted by producer Tatsuya Ishiguro, the audience was treated to a show that won’t air on Japanese TV until January 2020. It looks very promising, but brutal cliffhangers leave viewers with lots of questions, and having to wait until next year to have them answered makes reading the manga a very attractive prospect.

The show centers on Kuro Sakuragawa, a college boy, and Kotoko Iwanagi, a high school girl, both of whom have supernatural powers involving the unseen world of Japanese folklore: yokai, ayakashi, and the like. The two of them team up, although only very loosely in the two episodes screened, to solve mysteries involving ghosts and goblins.

At the same time, there is romantic and sexual tension between the two, as Kotoko pursues Kuro rather aggressively. With one eye, one leg, a rather shapeless body, and a penchant for lolita fashion, Kotoko is also aggressively moe.

She looks good, so does Kuro, and as do all of the impressively designed ghosts and goblins. Producer Ishiguro praised studio Brain’s Base, of Durarara!! fame, for their focus on 2D animation in an industry that increasingly favors 3D.

The first episode screened established the background and relationship between the two protagonists, while the second showed how they handle their first mystery. Although, because of the cliffhangers I mentioned, we did not actually get to see how that mystery is resolved.

It involves characters we never met, and see only in theoretical flashbacks as Kotoko pieces together the mystery after-the-fact. It’s a unique way to frame a mystery story, but it does mean I had a tougher time connecting to the people involved.

Still, I’ll definitely be watching the show when it airs in 2020. If for no other reason than to see how the mystery they had me start ultimately ends up.