Pupa Episode 4
What They Say:
The “life-and-death sibling” story follows Utsutsu and Yume Hasegawa, a boy and his little sister who find themselves all alone. One day, Yume sees a mysterious red butterfly and her body undergoes a strange metamorphosis—into a creature that eats humans. Utsutsu struggles to find a way to restore his sister.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With Utsutsu coping with the big bite his sister took out of him in the previous episode, we definitely got an idea of how they can continue moving on. Having Yume returned to normal after all of this, with so much blood around her, Maria is following through on her promise to provide the cleanup for everything. For Yume, the shock is huge, but more so when she discovers her brothers body being carted off as Maria makes it clear the difference between dying and killing. But we know that there’s something more to this as Maria has a plan in motion and it just feels positively disturbing. Even more so when we see her where she’s hidden the real Utsutsu and begins to show him what he’s capable of while also revealing a touch of what’s going on.
In Summary:
Pupa at least gets what the title itself is about and means but that’s just a tease in the end. The show has played with some interestingly violent material so far and put the siblings in a really difficult place, but you have to wonder just how much of it comes down to what Maria is manipulating and orchestrating here. Yume’s back to normal and freaking out and you can imagine Utsutsu is largely doing the same, even as he realizes that something has changed him. It’s a frustrating show to be sure, but they pack a lot into just a few minutes that keeps me riveted to the screen.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.