Dimension W Episode 4 [ Well – ..what??! ]

Dimension W is normally a show that alludes to a grandiose mystery and a horrifying alternate world while drawing the viewer in with something succinct and interesting. Episode 4 is the first episode in Dimension W I can honestly say does not do this: but not for the reasons that are typical of a show. No, Dimension W merely created an almost unintelligible episode that is meant to be explained through two episodes. While episode 4 is meant to be viewed in terms of two episodes, I think it is almost appropriate you see my reaction to the first part because it is what any viewers would be: What did I just watch and did someone put LSD in my drink?

I have actually viewed this episode several times and skimmed it as well. I have never watched an episode of a show and felt so hopelessly drawn in by sheer confusion. The episode makes perfect sense until nearly the end: Kyoma and Mira are sent to a place where abnormal sightings are common after an incident took the lives of many students during the forced construction of a river. Albert is the reason they take this mission so of course this leads to this big fun mystery of Numbers. Though they were sent to investigate an abnormal death that cannot be traced because of interference with coils, the truth lies buried in a secret about the Numbers. This dates back to a time before the towers, the system that the Doctor invented, which created the coils and allowed for a prosperous humanity. Numbers were an immensely powerful thing and of course, New Tesla would love to find the Number because it was never located after the incident. Woops.

A lot of characters are introduced this episode, including a small blonde girl named Elizabeth. Yeah. . .I’m a little sick of people making the same character in anime and Elizabeth doesn’t look like she’ll ever be interested at all with such an already generic existence. There are lots of introduced elements and things in this episode that didn’t make me care as much as the backstory and the murdered writer but. . .uhm. Well, I hate to say fanservice is the devil but it is the devil. I was actually annoyed to see Mira’s funny gag this episode of needing to seem like an emotionless robot tempered by an absurd amount of fanservice beyond anything we have seen so far, but then things took another turn.

The fanservice sent us all into a portal of Hell. Mira begins to see phantoms and the laws of the phantom world begin applying to her, showing us that the mystery behind the episode definitely has to lie with a Number. The Numbers seem to possess a terrifying power that alters reality to the rules of, well, there is the trouble. The rules of the Number we’re seeing aren’t explicitly known to us at the moment, beyond knowing that they alter more than just the ability of a victim to fight back. The Number reality becomes incredibly confounding when Mira is well. . .I wish I could honestly explain to you how a character can be force choked by a horde of crazies only to end up facing a murdered person who is in the face of someone else but might be a representation of someone else and many other things we can’t possibly do more than guess about. Simply put: I think fanservice just became a drug psa. Is fanservice now meant to destroy my hopes, my dreams, and my very comprehension of existence? I never thought boobies would do me like this.

Seriously, go watch this show, because as much sense as I feel I make out of it, the more I reason this episode out the more I am sure I have no idea what just happened, I’m pretty sure this episode gave me nightmares. Someone send help.

Oki