“According to rumours among informed people, there is a deep connection between Imago and Cybercures.”
Dennou Coil, Episode Nineteen - The Black Visitor
Yasako can only watch helplessly as her sister’s cyberbody is lead into the other realm by a tall, humanoid Illegal, the keyhole door disappearing behind them. Fumie notices Kyoko’s body still in bed, but with their glasses on, her figure is black with the words “No Data” across it. They have a short disagreement about whether this incident is related to the story they were discussing downstairs just moments earlier, and if Kyoko is still with them or not. However, they’re cut short by the invasion of similar Illegals in their room. Fumie quickly finds that her megabeam has no effect, and resorts to a metatag which seems to give the Illegal some pain. The Illegal falls, and they take this time to quickly get out of the room before the other catches up.
However, they find that the cyberfog is polluting Yasako’s entire home, and their every route is waylaid by yet more humanoid Illegals. The Illegals they locked in the bedroom has also started breaking through the door. Fumie throws up a brick wall to give themselves a breather, but it proves to fall to the Illegal’s erosion as well. Even the second floor proves to be hazardous, as an Illegal is waiting for them at the top of the stairwell, but Densuke bravely attacks the creature - Not before Yasako is grazed by the creature’s touch, however, which triggers a series of flashbacks within her mind. Densuke disappears into the fog, but the creature emerges again, seemingly unharmed.
Finally, running into Megabaa’s area of the house, they find that the place has been protected with metatag wards to keep the intruders out - A save haven, for now. Fumie once again tries to dispel their fears by claiming that the tale of dangerous Illegals Yasako is bringing up is a bogus story, but Yasako points out that Kyoko’s real body is feverish.
Isako is still out in the night looking for cyberspace alterations, but is not successful in her endeavour. The words of a certain bespectacled man echo in her mind regarding the emergence of the passage to the other side and its conditions, and she wonders about it, before realizing that it means Haraken’s encounter with the passage earlier in the day was in no way a coincidence - Haraken himself somehow caused it to open.
Fumie and Yasako try all the phone lines and everyone they know who they think could be of help to them in their situation, but all the lines are dead. They decide to try send an E-mail.
During this time, Isako found Haraken’s house, and they begin to discuss the current turn of events. Haraken reveals that he found Kanna at the bottom of the strange world he entered, but despite being so close to meeting her again, his aunt had confiscated his glasses, so he can’t do anything dangerous even if Isako warns him not to anyway. Nevertheless, Isako leaves a last grim word of warning before she leaves.
Fumie and Yasako continue to have a half-hearted debate about the current matter. Fumie is still unable to believe that the urban legends are true - That people’s souls are able to be stolen by the Illegals. She stammers that no one has died from Illegals before, but Yasako reminds her of a certain case - Kanna.
In the other world, Fumie’s cyberbody is wandering similar-looking corridors, before she eventually comes to a doorway with light pouring out of it.
Haraken sits brooding in his room before realizing the obvious - He can still use Kanna’s glasses. He begins to log in and plan his next move.
Fumie searches the cupboards for the black metatag Yasako described, which enables the reunification of a body and the cyberbody, used on Haraken by his aunt. However, none appears to be in the immediate area. They don’t have time to spare, either - They find that the Illegals outside the barrier are causing the barrier-tags to erode, making Fumie wish Megabaa was there to help them. As though on cue, the old phone in Megabaa’s cupboard rings, and surprise surprise, Megabaa’s voice comes through. Megabaa confirms that they need the black metatag, called a Coil Tag, to cure Kyoko’s current condition. Turns out that there’s one in the store, but it’s in yet another room, so Yasako has her glasses tied up as a precaution. Fumie wants to come along as well, but Yasako tells her that she has to protect Kyoko’s body. As Yasako heads off, she sees that the first barrier has already been broken - The cyberfog is flowing into the corridor.
Upon entering the store, Yasako wastes no time looking through the counter, but it’s too dark to differentiate the metatags, so she stores a pile in her bag. She suddenly sees the figure of an Illegal looming above her, and in her panic, throws another stack of metatags at the creature. At the same time, Fumie is receiving instructions from Megabaa on the application method of the Dennou Coil - They need the cyberbody to be of relatively close distance before it can work.
Yet more Illegals walk into the store, murmuring a disembodied, “Give me… Give me…” Yasako backs off into a corner, and accidentally activates a hidden switch which brings her into an unseen corridor, which lights up as the barrier-tags activate.
Megabaa tells Fumie that she can dial Kyoko’s number for something, but Megabaa runs out of coins just before she is able to complete her sentence. And to make matters worse, part of the room’s wall begins to erode away, the telltale signs of Illegal invasion. Fumie backs into a wall, and is doubly frightened as Yasako emerges from another secret doorway. Fumie throws up a steel barrier this time, and finding the Coil Tag among the tags that Yasako brought back, Fumie tells her what Megabaa instructed earlier.
Back to Kyoko - She is wandering about a strange environment, and comes across a set of stairs with torii about them - Not unlike what Yasako often sees in her dreams. Up she goes, and passes some stalls, but in her sleepy state, she accepts an apple candy from one of them. The people at the stores urge her to eat it, but before she can do so, she gets a call. It turns out that Megabaa meant that Yasako and Fumie would be able to call her on her number, and they instruct Kyoko to throw away the candy and escape. Kyoko drops the candy, and the coating cracks against the stone steps - But when she looks up, the stalls have disappeared, and Illegals are marching en masse from the top of the steps towards her. Screaming, she runs down the steps. Fortunately, she runs into Densuke, who gives her a piggyback ride while running past the Illegals blocking their path. Not so fortunately, Isako and Fumie find that the steel wall has given way, and retreat into the hidden chamber. There, they find that part of the corridor is leading into the other side, and from there, Densuke appears, Kyoko’s cyberbody in tow. With a quick application of the coil-tag, they are able to heal Kyoko’s condition - But they’re still in hot water, as Illegals are emerging from the very entrance that Kyoko exited. Fumie and Yasako brace themselves as they prepare to blast into the store area to escape.
Thoughts: One of the cooler episodes. I like how they made the series take such a creepy turn with all the zombies/trick or treaters/Illegals all about the place. Almost looks like a ghost town or something. The fog only serves to add to the haunting environment.
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