In the last episode, the girls finally arrive at Higashi-Agano, and the people with mushrooms on their heads greet them. You may think they are friendly, but there is something that Akira, the girl who gets into arguments with Reimi, is very suspicious of them, and probably for a good reason.
Believe it or not, I find it fascinating how these people at Higashi-Agano had mushrooms growing on top of their heads. With that, I decided to put up a poll to see if the girls should trust them on Mastodon.
Woud you trust a lady that has a mushroom growing on her head?
From the results, people think the woman with a mushroom growing on top of her head is a bit suspicious. I feel this might be the case as a fungus that greeted them, Matsuta, that greeted them may seem nice, along with the other people. With Shizuru mentioning bitter melon, Matsuta appears to give a dirty look. You might see why later on. Also, Matsuta doesn’t care about Ikebukuro and her former life anymore. It becomes more apparent later.
Of course, Akira becomes very suspicious of the people laying out the red carpet. Even Pocchi seems concerned. The funny thing is that Akira didn’t go into the sauna nor eat the food, which was just mushrooms. Maybe mushrooms from people that grew on top of people’s heads?
To make matters worse, Akira notices that mushroom people are looking at them. She tries to warn her friends, but they brush it off as Akira overreacting. Even after she woke up and overheard the people saying that the outsiders were dumb and happy to get new members, it’s apparent that they intended to keep them in the town forever and become mushroom people.
Of course, Akira accidentally stepped on Pocchi’s tail and almost got detected. Thankfully, Shizuru came to take her to the bathroom. Of course, the next day, they intend to leave and see the bitter melon has overgrown. Of course, Akira tries to warn them, but they won’t heed their warning. As Shizuru tries to start harvesting the bitter melon, Akira checks on Reimi and Nadeshiko. Even after getting the supplies, the lady doesn’t need them anymore. Akira noticed that people suddenly collapsed, and she freaked out.
While they returned to the train, mushrooms started growing on their heads, and Akira tried to snap them out. While the mushroom people want to stop her, the bitter melon stops them until Akira tries to snap Shizuru out of the influence by remembering her goals. Then, they proceed to save Nadeshiko and Reimi. That is after she did Morris code with that train conductor for help on helping to deal with the mushroom people. Mushroom grows with mist, which can explain why Akira is not affected by her friends.
Of course, the mushroom people conceded in the end. Still, it’s funny how Shizuru whips out the bitter melon to push them back. Still, I wonder why the mushroom people hate bitter melon.
That said, seeing the flashbacks Shizuru had with Yoka was interesting. Yoka seems very shy, but she warms up to Shizuru. In another flashback, Yoka did Shizuru’s hair. In the third flashback, Yoka wants to go to Ikebukuro, which can explain why she decided to go there, but we don’t know exactly why.
Ultimately, the poll is correct that the mushroom people are genuinely suspicious. They are trying to make them join the mushroom cult, which will lead them to a peaceful death in 1-2 years. Thankfully, they dodged that bullet, thanks to Akira. However, Pocchi notices something coming out of her butt. Oh no, is that a tail? Is she turning into an animal already, or is it something else? After all, she seems to notice things that her friends don’t. We hopefully find out next time as 7G changes the law of nature. After all, bitter melon manages to grow quickly and without sunlight. The mystery deepens.
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@chikorita157 Well I was wrong. I thought it would be more chill. Sure it’s a fairly mild scare as far as scares go, but I assume that’s because the target audience.
But those thin strands that must have gone into the brain, and the people just dropping dead. There’s some really scary layers if you start thinking about it further.
Yep, this episode gets a bit unsettling, especially with the mushroom people being so happy for the girls for falling into their trap and also people dying on the streets and the mushroom people.
But all scary stuff, it seems as if Akira was about to loose her friends her friends, but thankfully got caught really early on… not so sure about what she is hiding through.
@chikorita157 I realized it on a rewatch, but Akira skipped the sauna but went to the bathroom in the middle of the night. She must have been 'exposed' to the mushroom mist from her bottom instead.
So it's a mushroom, folks. 🍄
I have a strong hunch that this might be the case. After all, why else Akira seems to want to hide it and gets the dog’s attention, but of course I’ll leave what it is in the review.
Mushroom Town did its job of being the “third episode”. Now we can be more prepared for things to get extra creepy from time to time.
Nice to see Shizuru’s dedication to Yoka is stronger than mind control. NEED for their relationship to be more than besties.
Worried about Akira. Hope she’ll be okay.
Yep, the mushroom town is just really creepy, but I have a feeling that that there will be scarrier stops than here.
At least Shizuru managed to snap out of it, but still worried about Akira for sure.