Genres: Action, Fantasy, Supernatural

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Kakeru and Kukuri Satsuki had been on their own since they were children; their early years were spent at Ayame Orphanage. It was there that Kakeru met Yuka Minase, another orphan who bonded with him. Soon after his life was torn apart due to his older sister’s suicide. This story takes place 5 years later.

Kakeru and Yuka are still close friends; their friendship helping them cope with Kukuri’s suicide. It is important to note that Kakeru’s right eye is always covered by an elaborate eye patch, due to a condition that causes the eye to be a different color than the other. He does not wish to scare people, nor draw attention to himself. Their friends Tadashi Teruya and Kaori Natsuki try to draw them to the mall after school for a sale but Kakeru is not in the mood. While Yuka wants to go, she decides to stick with Kakeru on their walk home. Yuka adoptive parents are very important to her, but do not make an appearance in the series yet. Kakeru eventually caves in and takes her to the mall.

While crossing a bridge, they have their first encounter with the “Red Night.” Red Night is an alternate world that abruptly overlaps their own, drawing them into a hellish red version of their reality. A black moon hangs overhead and strange beasts roam this world. Before the creatures can attack them, they find themselves back in the normal world. Kakeru makes a promise to Yuka to always protect her, just in case this ever happens again.

It is not long before they find themselves drawn into Red Night once more. It is around now when they meet Misuzu Kusakabe, another girl from their school. She is an accomplished swords-woman and protects the two others from attack. Kakeru begins to hallucinate his dead sister when he sees Kukuri Tachibana (the name similarity isn’t a coincidence apparently), another girl from their school. Misuzu lets them know that they too may have hidden power, as they were drawn to the Red Night like the “others.”

While traveling in the Red Night, the group come across a girl trapped in a crystal. She begs to be released but is then surrounded by a group of Black Knights. They threaten the group and warn that they are basically in over their heads. Before their attack lands on Kakeru, the group are back in the normal world. Kakeru decides to research whatever he can to solve this crisis. He sees his sister again in the library and all that is left behind is a note saying that this is all his fault.

There is a good touch of suspense in this series, and the inclusion of the hallucinations related to Kukuri’s suicide add a nice little creep factor. The Black Knights, the nature of the Red Night and Kakeru developing power all creates a solid draw for the series.

Overall Hook Rating: B

You can watch a bit of episode one after the break…