Chance Encounter Maiden (邂逅乙女, Kaikou Otome) is the second episode of the Tasogare Otome × Amnesia anime series. It was released in April 15, 2012.
The clock winds back at the time when Teiichi Niiya and the mysterious ghost Yuuko Kanoe first met in Seikyou Academy and at the first case of the Paranormal Investigation Club.
Synopsis[]
Seikyou Academy is a private school which has undergone numerous renovations throughout its history. As a result, the entire complex appears to be a puzzle of buildings, with countless corridors and hallways creating a maze within the school premises.
Inside Seikyou Academy is Teiichi Niiya, a freshman who ends up in the oldest building in the school.
And he seems lost.
As he tries to make his way out of the school's Old School Building, he remembers hearing rumors of a ghost residing in a mirror located in the building where he is in. Teiichi because anxious because of this, but he continues walking, occasionally hearing the sound of bells as he proceeded. Soon, he ends up in an old classroom which was converted into a storage room.
Inside, he sees a full-body mirror and he cautiously approaches it, although the thought of the mirror being the same mirror rumored to house a spirit inside makes him nervous. Then, a mysterious voice calls him, and it did not take long before a girl with long black hair and red eyes appears beside him.
Teiichi is startled by her sudden appearance, but the cheerful girl decides to help him get out of the Old School Building.
The girl and Teiichi soon walk together, and Teiichi notices that aside from her glamorous features, she notices that there is something strange with the girl who helped her out. Teiichi soon asks about what the girl meant when she told him that she "hasn't had visitors for a long time". There, the girl tells him with a smile in his face that she is a ghost. Teiichi, however, did not believe her at once.
A thought then crossed his mind. If she was a ghost, then he would not be able to touch her. He approaches the girl to find out of he could touch her, and his hand ends up in her breast. The girl is momentarily surprised by Teiichi's sudden move, and he proceeds to apologize for it. However, the girl tells him that touching her doesn't dismiss the fact that she is a ghost.
Upon reaching the rooftop, the girl tells Teiichi that she is a ghost that doesn't remember a single thing about how she died or how her life had been. But it seems that she accepted how she is, and is contented despite suffering from amnesia.
In the backdrop of sunset, the girl introduces herself as Yuuko Kanoe. Teiichi introduces himself as well, although he wondered why he needed to introduce himself if she already knew his name.
As sunset's orange sky envelops Seikyou Academy, Teiichi slowly becomes inquisitive about Yuuko. Yuuko took this as "wanting to know more about her", so she takes Teiichi to the same room where they first met to show him something.
It turns out that Yuuko wants Teiichi to see her wear her uniform from the time of her death, and Teiichi soon discovers that Yuuko, unlike the stereotypical ghost, changes her clothes like a normal human. Teiichi tries to avoid looking at Yuuko while getting dressed, but the mirror in the same room manages to share him a glimpse of Yuuko's naked body. Yuuko, however, doesn't mind, and as she finishes changing to a new seifuku, Teiichi is taken by Yuuko outside, with her tightly holding his hands.
On the rooftop, Yuuko continues to become clingy towards Teiichi. According to her, she longs to touch someone, so she is happy that she is able to touch Teiichi and is spending every single moment touching Teiichi. Meanwhile, although Teiichi is embarrassed that a girl is this intimate towards him, he thinks that he is more haunted by someone than anything.
Soon, Yuuko becomes serious as she tells Teiichi an old story. According to this story, the land surrounding Seikyou Academy is haunted, and a girl is trapped by a curse somewhere inside the school compound. At that instant, Teiichi is immersed in thought about Yuuko's remains, and he suddenly sees flashes of someone's memory... someone who is asking for help. Thinking that it is Yuuko herself, he runs towards the Old School Building, where he thinks Yuuko's remains are.
As he remembers what the rumors say about the Old School Building, Teiichi returns to the full-body mirror and uses a baseball bat to break it. There, a hidden passageway is exposed. Meanwhile, Yuuko tries to stop him from going in, to no avail. Teiichi steps in, but the darkness causes him to slip and roll down the stairs, and although he is unhurt, he is shocked to discover something at the end of the staircase.
There is a complete skeleton of someone.
And Yuuko, as she stood at the entrance to the hidden staircase, screams in embarrassment. In a peculiar situation like this, Teiichi ends up getting called as a pervert for seeing a person's bones.
The next day, Teiichi discovers that the secret room where Yuuko's remains were found are now sealed up, and the room where the secret passageway was discovered now has the sign "Paranormal Investigation Club" posted on it. Teiichi asks about Yuuko's plans, and she tells Teiichi that she was curious about finding out about her past, so she decides to create the club.
Soon, Yuuko begins to play around with Teiichi, and in the middle of their shenanigans, a frantic girl sudden comes to them. In an instant, Yuuko notices that this girl doesn't see her. Meanwhile, the girl tells Teiichi that Yuuko might kill her soon, much to the puzzlement of Yuuko herself and Teiichi.
The girl introduces herself as Momoe Okonogi, who recently played a game called "Hidden Demon". The game is a one-player game that involves hiding a doll with a name stuck on it. After the player counts to ten, the player will stab the doll along with the name, and the owner of the name will now seek the player. The game ends if the players tells the doll to end the game, and if the doll isn't found, "something" will pursue the player for eternity.
Momoe tried the game to end another game played by one of her friends, and with her also caught in the endless chain, she pleads to Teiichi to investigate this case.
Of course, Teiichi doesn't know what to do as he is not really someone who has expertise in the supernatural, so he asks Yuuko on what to do. Meanwhile, this conversation ends up as an unusual one for Momoe, who doesn't see Yuuko and thus, only sees Teiichi talking with something else. Teiichi soon notices this, and Yuuko decides to "communicate" with Teiichi using his phone.
During the conversation, Yuuko appears to be hesitant in helping out, although she might see it as a useful way to find out about her past. She ends up helping Teiichi, and the first step is giving Momoe a charm to help her fight the demon.
Teiichi later discovers that the charm was actually made by Yuuko herself, and is a dud. Moreover, the doll that Momoe used in the game is actually inside the Paranormal Investigation Club room, picked up by Yuuko some time ago. Teiichi scolds Yuuko for ending up ruining the ritual, but Yuuko also points out something.
Momoe might be using autohypnosis on herself.
According to Yuuko, Momoe used the environment and the ritual to create a subconscious entity that can actually kill her if she is not careful. Although a mere fantasy might be harmless, it can prove to be deadly if it escalates. Yuuko decides to step in, and she shares her way of solving this case.
At nightfall, Momoe holds on to the charm she received from Teiichi. However, a gust of wind reveals to her that the charm is merely the back of a handout with calligraphic writing. Also, she sees an ominous presence approaching her. As Momoe is claimed by fear, Teiichi's hand grabs her and a pursuit begins between the spirit and the two.
Teiichi soon explains to Momoe that the spirit is the doll that she lost, although in fact, it is just Yuuko playing the part. Teiichi takes Momoe to a safe corner and prepares a better-prepared charm for the spirit. Then, as the spirit emerges, Teiichi charges to place the charm to the spirit.
As Momoe sees a ghostbusting in progress, Teiichi sees himself groping Yuuko's breast yet again.
Soon, the doll Momoe dropped earlier is now where the spirit stood before the charm was placed on it, and Teiichi gives it to her. Afterwards, Momoe thanks him and leaves for home. Meanwhile, Yuuko, dressed in the costume of a traditional Japanese ghost, meets up with Teiichi.
Teiichi realizes how fear can transform a single object into a fearsome entity, and Yuuko is slightly troubled by it, then he apologizes for groping her during the ghostbusting. For some reason, Teiichi's flustered face made Yuuko happy.
Despite their first case success, Teiichi was not able to find a link between the "Hidden Demon" game and Yuuko's past. Soon, Momoe visits him one more time and formally thanks him for what happened the night before. Meanwhile, Yuuko appears to be jealous of Momoe, and although Teiichi tries his best to credit Yuuko for his success, Yuuko thinks that making herself felt is necessary.
Characters[]
By order of appearance
Adapted from[]
This episode is an adaptation of the pilot chapter and Chapter 0 of the manga.
Changes to the Adaptation[]
- Yuuko wears the new uniform of Seikyou Academy in her first appearance in both the manga and anime, although the anime lacks her blazer.
- The entire scene of Yuuko exposing her identity as a ghost is done in the rooftop in the manga. In the anime series, this is done indoors. Moreover, the scene where the two ascend the stairs to the rooftop happen after this scene.
Trivia[]
- Calendrier, the ending theme song of the anime series, debuts in this episode.
- This episode's featured end card illustrator, Izumi Kirihara, is the author and illustrator of the romance manga series Hitohira.
Cultural References[]
- Autohypnosis is the term used for a type of hypnosis that is self-induced. This was considered as the explanation for the existence of the Hidden Demon game.