C Danchi

As a fan of HP Lovecraft and not knowing anything about this show before going into it, I was delighted to find out how many lovecraftian allusions are present within the story. I was a little saddened by the rather rapid pace and somewhat haphazard approach to the story but these feelings of mine could just be due to my longing for slow burn horror fiction. The twist was interesting and gruesome but in the end I felt like there was something missing.

Overall, it’s definitely worth a watch especially if you’re a fan of HO Lovecraft. It’s a fun and gruesome watch that doesn’t ... take too long to get through

I thought it was interesting at times and I genuinely wanted to see how it went but.. with this type of horror you have to let things bake instead of making a narrative where the eldritch plot points feel like they were just popped in there? It wants to intersperse any suspense building with traditional slice of life humor and moments which ruins it. If you are just a regular anime watcher, I would recommend this, but if you're into Lovecraft, do not watch this lmao it's like a mish mash of the barebones of several stories. It just doesn't approach the Mythos with the ... detail it deserves.

“Housing Complex C” is what happens when someone who doesn’t understand horror tries to write one.

So yeah… this one hurts me. I was a big fan of horror back in the day, I have watched so many horror movies that I shouldn’t have as a kid that… never mind... Anyway, this show is just bad. It’s rather clear that the author had an idea, the last episode is proof of that, but had no skill to bring it to life in an organic, genre appropriate way. There is a plot here but the story is very mishandled.

Before we start I would like to explain something. ... I will be talking about “plot” and “story”. Many people use those terms interchangeably. I’m not one of those people, so to make sure everyone is on the same page…
I use the definitions for “plot” and “story” as Lisa Cron describes them:
“What happens in the story is the PLOT, the surface events.”
“STORY is about how the things that happen affect someone in pursuit of a difficult goal, and how that person changes internally as a result”.

First things first. This show uses some Lovecraft inspired imagery but does close to nothing in terms of cosmic horror or existentialist dread. Shame because episode 4 shows that there is a place for that. But parts that would actually work for any of those are just skims over them. It even uses Cthulhu. No, not something like a Cthulhu, Cthulhu. It shows on the computer screen the words “Cthulhu mythos”. No, I’m not against adding to the works of Lovecraft. Many did after his death but this… eee… that’s not it. It tries to establish Cthulhu as a different name for another deity. Not exactly a bad idea but the implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

Fun fact: there is a story here. The problem is that revealing it would be spoiler territory and as a general rule I try to avoid any meaningful spoilers whenever I can. But, despite there being a story here and being a story that has a ton of potential it’s handled just horribly. There is even something that almost looks like a second story, it’s handled a little bit better. Still awful so don’t get Your hopes up.

Horror and mystery have much in common. You could say that a lot of good horror stories are also mystery stories. The thing is, writing a competent mystery story is no small feat. You have to leave clues, false trails and give enough knowledge to the viewer or reader so they could figure things out on their own if they wish to. This show tries to do it, but does it poorly. I will give credit where credit is due, it gives clues but does it in a way we have to wait an episode or two before knowledge about what it means. But that’s to be expected when the show changes the POV character whenever it sees fit. But I’ll get to that.
It also wastes two first episodes on establishing status quo (the first episode) and a cultural conflict (second episode). On its own those aren’t bad moves, but for a 4 episode show it’s too slow. Both things should be established in episode one, so that other episodes could focus on the main mystery and horror elements.

And here we come to a problem. The horror elements. In horror the most important thing is creating a sense of tension and dread. You do it with music, diegetic sound and obscuring visual information. This show does nothing of the sort. Even if it does (yes, there are two examples of that) You get the reveal in the next 2-3 scenes. There are scenes that visually could work for building up tension but the music and sound kills anything of the sort. It’s almost like they wanted to create a horror but make it bland so that no one, no matter how young or prone to fear, wouldn’t be afraid.

The racial conflict that becomes prominent from episode 2 is a rather good idea. It should create tension, drama and build-up for the horror. It does not. It’s not that it’s used incompetently, I would say it’s use is acceptable, but there are two problems: it’s used more like it should be used in a drama not horror, and the second thing is that it’s never resolved in any meaningful way. I thought (my bad, I know) that the main mystery would be solved by way of putting the differences of the inhabitants aside and working together, but no. That would require at least one more episode and a writer that doesn’t rush things.

Now let's talk about the POV characters. We actually get two — Kimi and Taka. Kimi is more important to the plot but Taka has a much better story and both mystery and horror elements. I understand why Kimi would be a good POV choice but because of the twist in the opening and 4th episode there is a problem. Either Kimi was misplaced as a POV character, or someone changed the ending last minute. It makes very little sense for things to unravel the way they do given who she is. Again, I would have to give a massive spoiler to elaborate. Taka on the other hand would be the perfect POV and protagonist of this show. It would even turn it more Lovecraftian. Taka solves most, if not all, mysteries that are presented. He does the leg work, he has the knowledge needed for this kind of detective work and acts accordingly to get more. He should have been the MC. He even has a story and a much better one than Kimi. I have no idea why he’s just a background character. Is it because of his age? Changing his age would change very little in the grand scheme of things. Yes, it would position him differently in the interactions with Kimi and her friend but that’s all. Everything else could play very similarly. What a waste.

The thing that really pissed me off as a horror fan is the fact that the show has the gall to ruin one, and hint about the second, of it’s own twists in the very effing opening. Just how much the creators hate this scenario? You don’t just fuck up one of the most important plot point in the very beginning. The person who approved the opening animation should be fired, or at least demoted to a janitor for the next year.

That said there is one thing I actually liked. The misdirection in the first episode. That was actually a good idea with a solid execution. It changes your expectations for the show and builds at least a little tension. But then we see the opening and it’s all gone. Seriously, the opening is that bad and destructive for anything horror and mystery related.
Unfortunately, this show is a waste of time and potential. It only has 4 episodes so I won’t blame You if You want to watch it, just don’t expect much.