Mouryou no Hako
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Episodes (13)
- 1EP 1
Sekiguchi reads Kubo's transcript while Kanako's friendship with Yoriko leads to tragedy
Oct 8, 2008Tatsumi Sekiguchi reads Shunkō Kubo's transcript "The Woman inside the Box" and imagines himself as the protagonist traveling to his grandmother's funeral with a man carrying a box containing a live girl's head. In the main plot, Kanako Yuzuki befriends classmate Yoriko Kusumoto. Yoriko's mother, Kimie, suspects an evil mōryō spirit influences Yoriko's nighttime walks with Kanako. The girls plan to visit Lake Sagami during summer break. On their departure night, Yoriko sees Kanako crying and notices a pimple on her neck. Shortly after, Kanako is struck by the train carrying detective Shutarō Kiba.
- 2EP 2
Sekiguchi reads a story while Kiba investigates with police and discovers a severed limb near a hospital.
Oct 15, 2008Sekiguchi reads "The Woman inside the Box," imagining himself as the protagonist attending his grandmother's burial and contemplating the girl in the box. In the main plot, Kiba fails to get a coherent statement from Yoriko. Constable Fukumoto takes them to the hospital treating Kanako, where Noriyuki Masuoka, Noritada Amemiya, and Yōko Yuzuki arrive. Kiba and Fukumoto recognize Yōko as former actress Kinuko Minami. After Kanako stabilizes, Yōko transfers her to Kōshirō Mimasaka's hospital. Several days later, Morihiko Toriguchi, Atsuko Chūzenji, and Sekiguchi investigate a severed arm and two boxed, severed legs. While driving around lost, they stumble upon Mimasaka's hospital.
- 3EP 3
Kiba Reflects on Recent Events as Kanako Disappears from Hospital
Oct 22, 2008Kiba recalls recent days through a non-linear flashback where Fukumoto transports Kanako to Mimasaka’s isolated, windowless forest hospital. The facility operates with only two doctors, Mimasaka and Tarō Suzaki, plus a maintenance engineer. Concurrently, Kimie suspects Yoriko is possessed and invites Hyōei Terada for an exorcism, which requires her to surrender material wealth for purification. Yoriko informs Kiba that a gloved man pushed Kanako. Subsequently, Kanako vanishes from the hospital, and Kiba finds Yōko holding a ransom note.
- 4EP 4
Sekiguchi reads a disturbing manuscript while Kiba investigates the Musashino dismemberment case.
Oct 29, 2008Sekiguchi reads "The Woman inside the Box," imagining himself as the protagonist who dismembers girls and seeks a doctor. In the main plot, Kiba continues a flashback and agrees to investigate despite Kanagawa police jurisdiction. Suzaki is found murdered and Amemiya disappears. Back in the present, Sekiguchi's editor requests a review of a manuscript by Shunkō Kubo, while a gloved man dismembers a prostitute. After Kiba is suspended from the Tokyo police, Bunzō Aoki asks for his help with the Musashino dismemberment case and Kanako's kidnapping. Kiba investigates Yōko, finding she was stalked by someone matching Suzaki's description during her film career. He also investigates Mimasaka, who researched artificial immortal soldiers during the war.
- 5EP 5
Sekiguchi reads Vertigo while scholars test clairvoyance and Masuoka hires Enokizu to find Kanako
Nov 5, 2008Sekiguchi reads his work Vertigo, imagining himself as the protagonist pursuing a woman in an empty house. A flashback to 1880 shows scholars testing Ikuko Nagao and Chizuko Mifune for clairvoyance, followed by a 1911 test of Ikuko for psychic photography before a scholar declares clairvoyance fake. In the present, Masuoka hires Reijirō Enokizu to locate Kanako. He explains that Hiroya Shibata, heir to Yōkō Shibata’s fortune, eloped with Yōko Yuzuki, who later bore Kanako. Yōkō funded Kanako’s upbringing on the condition she never learn her parentage, with Amemiya monitoring this rule. After Hiroya died in the war, Kanako became the heir, and Yōkō recently passed away. Sekiguchi then introduces Toriguchi to Akihiko Chūzenji.
- 6EP 6
Atsuko investigates witnesses while Sekiguchi and Toriguchi learn about spiritual leaders from Chūzenji.
Nov 12, 2008Atsuko interviews local children regarding the crimes, all of whom describe a man in dark clothing and white gloves. Meanwhile, Sekiguchi and Toriguchi continue their meetings with Chūzenji, who explains the distinctions between espers, diviners, mediums, and priests. He warns against treating mediums like religious prophets, noting that religions are organized by believers rather than leaders. Toriguchi shares how he acquired a list of followers for a new religion labeled "Onbako-sama." This name refers to a box owned by Hyōei Terada, the leader, who was formerly a box-maker. Terada claims the box is the source of his spiritual power, which he inherited from his grandmother. Scholars had previously studied her abilities. She left a box containing a tin vase with a paper inscribed with the word "mōryō." Terada began gathering followers after discovering this box in an attic following the war.
- 7EP 7
Sekiguchi reads The Woman inside the Box while investigating Terada and the dismemberment case.
Nov 19, 2008Sekiguchi reads "The Woman inside the Box," imagining himself as the protagonist who recalls being alone in his childhood home. He later sells the house and rents a single room, filling it with custom-made boxes. Meanwhile, Sekiguchi and Toriguchi meet with Chūzenji. Toriguchi explains that Onbako-sama’s teachings state mōryō gather in enclosed places. Chūzenji notes Terada understands the nature of mōryō. Toriguchi adds that Terada convinces followers to reject impure materialism. Toriguchi aims to expose Terada as a criminal linked to the dismemberment case, noting all victims are daughters of Onbako-sama members. Sekiguchi discovers Shunkō Kubo is on the follower list.
- 8EP 8
Sekiguchi reads a story and shares registry details while Kiba learns Yoko's true relation to Kanako.
Nov 26, 2008Sekiguchi reads "The Woman inside the Box," imagining himself as the protagonist who fills his room with boxes before receiving notice of his grandmother's death. He travels by train to the funeral and sits with a man carrying a box. In the main plot, Sekiguchi provides a copy of the Onbako-sama registry to coroner Satomura, who passes it to Kiba for Aoki. Sekiguchi, Toriguchi, and Enokizu meet with Chūzenji, where Sekiguchi notices Yoriko's mother on the list. Kiba arrives and overhears Enokizu revealing that Yōko is Kanako's mother, not her sister. Chūzenji suggests Kiba share information. Yoriko is locked out of her house as Enokizu and Sekiguchi arrive to talk. She excuses herself to meet the gloved man, who claims to know Kanako's location. He takes Yoriko to an abandoned temple filled with boxes.
- 9EP 9
The Daughter Doll Incident reveals Shunkō Kubo and the diary's significance
Dec 3, 2008Enokizu and Sekiguchi travel to meet Yoriko, realizing Sekiguchi left his copy of "The Woman inside the Box" at Chūzenji's. They encounter Shunkō Kubo in a cafe, showing him Kanako's photo, which shakes him enough to offer assistance. After meeting Yoriko, who departs to see Kubo, the pair break into her home to find her mother attempting suicide, urging her to protect Yoriko. Later, Yōko informs Kiba that Mimasaka attempted to treat her mother's myasthenia. Chūzenji, having read the diary, deduces Kubo is the dismemberment culprit after learning he wears gloves. Aoki arrives to report that Yoriko's severed arms have just been discovered.
- 10EP 10
Kubo's Demon Incident Involves Confronting Terada and Uncovering Yoriko's Fate
Dec 10, 2008Chūzenji, Sekiguchi, and Enokizu confront Terada regarding the Onbako-sama phenomenon. Chūzenji explains that a tin vase labeled "mōryō" served as a clairvoyance test for Ikuko Nagao, while Onbako-sama is an iron box holding the fingers of Terada's master. After proving Terada's practices are fraudulent, Terada confesses to the police and reveals Kubo is his son. Chūzenji informs Sekiguchi and Toriguchi that Kubo targets victims alphabetically, identifying Yoriko as the next target. Aoki visits the abandoned shrine Kubo uses but is injured when Kubo escapes. Aoki subsequently discovers and opens a box containing Yoriko's head. Later, Kubo's severed limbs are found.
- 11EP 11
Chūzenji reveals Mimasaka's wartime experiments while Kiba confronts the doctor about Kanako.
Dec 17, 2008Chūzenji informs Sekiguchi, Toriguchi, and Enokizu that he collaborated with Mimasaka during the war on a project involving mechanical body part replacements for immortal soldiers. He shares that Mimasaka's wife was named Kinuko. Meanwhile, Kiba reveals to Yōko that he knows she is Kanako's mother. Yōko explains she seeks Kanako's inheritance to cover medical expenses. Kiba proceeds to Mimasaka's hospital to confront the doctor, accusing him of dismembering girls for research and demanding to know Kanako's fate. Sekiguchi, Toriguchi, and Enokizu retrieve Yōko to intervene and stop Kiba from escalating the situation with Mimasaka.
- 12EP 12
Sekiguchi reads Vertigo while allies stop Kiba and Chūzenji reveals the truth about Mimasaka and Kanako.
Dec 24, 2008Sekiguchi reads his story Vertigo, imagining himself as the protagonist facing an assassin. In reality, Sekiguchi, Toriguchi, Enokizu, and Yōko arrive to stop Kiba from killing Mimasaka. Yōko reveals Mimasaka is her father, and Enokizu strikes Kiba. Chūzenji arrives with Masuoka, Aoki, and Fukumoto. He explains that Yoriko pushed Kanako onto train tracks. Mimasaka kept Kanako alive mechanically at high cost. Suzaki blackmailed Yōko, knowing she and Hiroya Shibata faked Kanako’s parentage despite Yōko being pregnant. With only Kanako’s head surviving, a kidnapping ransom scheme was staged. Chūzenji confirms Mimasaka keeps Kubo’s head alive, using the hospital as a mechanical body.
- 13EP 13
Chūzenji recounts the grisly history of severed heads, brain implants, and the tragic fates of Kubo and Mimasaka.
Dec 31, 2008Chūzenji details the timeline, revealing that the initial severed limbs belonged to Kanako before her abduction. After Suzaki decapitated her, Amemiya killed Suzaki and fled with the head. Kubo encountered Amemiya on a train, witnessing Kanako’s head alive in a box. Driven by this, Kubo attempted to preserve other girls' heads, but Yoriko warned him about Mimasaka before his death. Kubo documented this in "The Woman inside the Box" and traveled to Mimasaka, who subjected him to the same experimental procedure. Mimasaka’s project to implant human brains into machines originated from his treatment of Kinuko’s myasthenia. When police moved to arrest Mimasaka for his crimes against Kubo, he attempted to escape with Kubo’s head and Yōko. Kubo bit Mimasaka’s neck, killing him, which prompted Yōko to kill Kubo. Kiba subsequently arrested Yōko for the murder.
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Frequently asked questions
- How many episodes does Mouryou no Hako have?
- Mouryou no Hako has 13 episodes.
- When did Mouryou no Hako come out?
- Mouryou no Hako came out in 2008.
- Which studio made Mouryou no Hako?
- Mouryou no Hako was produced by MADHOUSE.
- Who directed Mouryou no Hako?
- Mouryou no Hako was directed by Ryousuke Nakamura.
- Is Mouryou no Hako finished?
- Current status of Mouryou no Hako: Finished.