Yumihara Saki Returns // In/Spectre Ep. 3 Review

Episode 3: The Rumors of the Steel Lady

Otaku Voice Staff

I’m glad to see that after all of the second guessing the giant serpent finds this story rather winding and melodramatic. Even in In/Spectre episode 3, we are continuing the murder mystery surrounding the dead body in the serpent’s lake. After seeing how Kotoko wraps up the mystery, I really believe it could have been squeezed into the last episode.

It isn’t as if Kotoko has actually solved the mystery. She has just managed to make enough logical jumps to satisfy the ever increasing curiousity of the lake ayakashi. All told it might have been a better use of time to spend the episode focused on our re-introduced character, Yumihara Saki.

Yumihara Saki, Traffic Cop

Not having read the source, it took a minute for me to figure out Saki’s place in the story. I didn’t realize Saki is Kuro’s old flame, turned traffic cop. Her original appearance in episode one did feel overexposed for an assumed non-essential character. Now makes sense that she is crucial to the story.

In episode one, Kuro trips and falls into Kotoko, involving himself in a life debt to her. This episode, Kotoko falls right into Saki, and can barely bother to offer her an apology. Just goes to show how calculated Kotoko is under normal circumstances, finding herself in a position to entrap Kuro to further her purposes. Had she any consistency she would offer more to Saki for her assistance.

Timeskip and Further Thoughts

I am interested to see how much changed in Kotoko and Kuro’s relationship during the timeskip. Its not an insignificant amount of time to push forward. Two years is a lot of time for young Kotoko to make advances. Advances she makes allusions too in Saki’s presence. I’ll be honest. Kotoko probably deserves that punch in the face.

Kuro is pretty conspicuously absent from In/Spectre episode 3. He appears only in brief at the lake, and in Saki’s memories. Have to wonder what he is up to as of late.

[Source and Further Reading]
[Image via Crunchyroll]
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