Michelle Topham 
Otherside Picnic, Season 1, Episode 2, “Surviving Lady Hasshaku” recap and review
Episode 2 of Otherside Picnic (aka Urasekai Picnic) begins with Toriko pointing out that one of Sorao’s eyes is now blue, while her own hand is bluish but translucent.
When Sarao asks her how she did that to her hand, Toriko replies “Come on, it’s not like I could do it on purpose”.
She then goes on to rationalize it probably happened as they were hunting the wiggle-waggle in the previous episode.
It’s then we start to realize Otherside Picnic is all about Japanese urban legends — the wiggle-waggle being one of the most famous.
Plot of Otherside Picnic “Surviving Lady Hasshaku“
In the second episode of the isekai anime series, Toriko decides it might be a good idea to get an Otherside researcher to take a look at both her hand and Sorao’s eye, to see if they know something about the effects of the Otherside the two girls may not.
So the pair heads out to see the researcher only for Sorao to realize when they get there that she lives in the house the neighborhood kids say is haunted.
Once in the house, however, although Kozakura the researcher is interested in the girls’ new physical deformities, she has no idea what caused them as she herself has never been to the Otherside.
Toriko and Sorao decide to go back to the Otherside to search for Toriko’s lost friend Satsuki, but they haven’t been there long when they meet a man — Mr. Abarato — who is looking for his wife. She was spirited away from their own living room in just the few seconds he looked away from her.
He also warns the girls about the ‘glitches’ — areas of the Otherside that will pull a person in and burn them into ashes — and about the ‘denizens of the Otherworld’ who sneak into our world to abduct people.
When asked why he didn’t think they were two of those people, he explained Otherworld inhabitants don’t have emotions and, as Toriko and Sorao were arguing when he saw them, they couldn’t be part of that world.
Upon arrival at a deserted mansion, however, Mr. Abarato suddenly sees footprints and rushes off to follow them with Toriko in tow.
Sorao realizes the footprints are not human and starts to run away, only to stop as she remembers Toriko saying her friend Satsuki was more important to her than anything.
She then rushes into the building to tell Toriko that whoever or whatever is in there, it isn’t Satsuki, only to see Toriko and Mr. Abarato staring at a tall woman with long black hair wearing a white dress and a sunhat.
According to Japanese urban legend, she is Lady Hasshaku — a spectre who will attack you if you get close to her.
Mr. Abarato rushes towards Lady Hasshaku, believing her to be his wife but, at the last minute realizes she is not. As he turns to run away, he disappears.
Meanwhile, Toriko is still under Lady Hasshaku’s spell and continues to walk towards her with Sorao begging her to stop.
But, as Sorao moves towards Toriko, she hears Toriko herself shouting to her and feels the girl’s hand behind her.
She then realizes she was the one who was being tricked, as it was Toriko who was behind her telling her to stop, and Sorao walking towards Lady Hasshaku as the spectre used Sorao’s feelings for Toriko against her.
Then, as Toriko fires her gun at Lady Hasshaku, Sorao asks her to remove her glove and to push her translucent hand through a whirling vortex that has appeared in front of the spectre.
When she does, Sorao can use her blue eye to clearly see the spectre and fire the bullet into her head that kills her.
The girls then find themselves back in the normal world, but in the mountains in the place where Mr. Abarato had told them he had entered the Otherworld.
Review of Otherside Picnic “Surviving Lady Hasshaku“
While the second episode of Otherside Picnic makes more sense than the first, the truth behind the story is still being spun out ever so slowly.
That causes each episode to pull you in, as you learn enough about the Otherside to keep you interested without it revealing the whole story from the get-go.
The characters in Episode 2 are also more developed but, as Toriko becomes even nicer and sweeter, Sorao shows her more morose and more independent side as she wants to rush away from Toriko in the Otherside preferring “to be alone”.
In Episode 2 we have also learned more about Toriko’s friend Satsuki, who was apparently something of a mentor for Toriko, introducing her to the Otherside and using her as her assistant.
It also becomes obvious we will be meeting a different Japanese ‘urban legend’ every week. Urban legends that could prove dangerous to the two girls. Especially if they are fooled as easily as Sorao was by Lady Hasshaku.
What Otherside Picnic has also done well is in setting up a creepy, supernatural world that is just as mysterious and frightening as it would be if we were there ourselves. Particularly with the constantly swirling mists, and the hazy shapes all around them.
The various threats too are quite believable, although the lead up to them so far has been more interesting than the threat itself.
Especially as the pacing is nicely done, and the various close ups interspersed with shots from a distance often serve to make you feel as though you know more about what is going on in this strange world than the girls do.
In the first two episodes, Otherside Picnic established the rapport between Sorao and Toriko extremely well, quickly making it not only believable but also quite touching and sweet.
The first yuri scene also appears at the end of Episode 2, promising quite a bit of confusion on Sorao’s part, although Toriko seems to already be yuri enough for both of them.
The only thing this and the first episode of Otherside Picnic have not offered as well as they could have done is in the depiction of the urban legends themselves — the wiggle-waggles in Episode 1 and Lady Hasshaku in Episode 2.
Neither were particularly frightening or threatening, with the spooky lead up to them delivering a bit of a let down.
So far though, Otherside Picnic is proving to be a solid supernatural anime series, with characters I have quickly grown to like, beautiful artwork, and a nicely created misty and very creepy parallel world to discover.
Now I’m looking forward to Episode 3.
You can watch Otherside Picnic on Crunchyroll.
Related: Read the review and recap of the first episode of Otherside Picnic on Baozi Buns
About the Author
