Mekakushi no Kuni 目隠しの国

目隠しの国

Company: Marine Entertainment
Based on: Manga
Released: 2001.07.25

Mekakushi no Kuni is based on the shoujo manga series of the same name. Ootsuka Kanade can see people their future when she touches them. If she sees something bad will happen to them she can't help but try to save these people, even when they often think she is a strange girl. At the beginning of the story she meets Naito Arou, who can see people their past when he touches them.

While Kanade (CV: Shiina Hekiru) wants to try and save people who's unfortunate future she has seen, Arou (CV: Seki Tomokazu) thinks she should leave them alone because they won't understand what she is trying to do anyway. However Kanade her positive attitude start to make Arou think otherwise.

And then the two of them meet Namiki Masahiro (CV: Ishida Akira) who can also see the future. However he doesn't seem to care about what happens to them. Through an adventure saving a girl from school Namiki eventually falls in love with Kanade and he softens up a bit.

The drama CD covers most of the first vol of the manga, though not all of it. A shortter comical story called 'Bistro Arou' is also included, in which Kanade comes to eat at Arou his place, and Namiki is acting as a waiter, but eventually all of them end up cooking together.

And finally there are 11 tracks with short messages from the characters for different situations (when you've had a fight with your lover, when you are trying your best at studying, in case you are forgetful , etc). The messages are really cute, except maybe for those by Namiki who says some comical things.

The story is really cute. Kanade her positive mindset and willingness to help people are sort of heartwarming. Despite the concept of Kanade/Arou/Namiki 'seeing' things being quite hard to put into just sounds, they've managed to do so pretty successfully with the use of bgm.

The way Kanade likens her ability to a blindfold is also pretty interesting. She sees everyone in the world as being blindfolded, we don't know where people come from or where they are going (hence the title "the Land of the Blindfolded). But when she bumps into people her own blindfold loosens a bit, and she can see a glimpse of where someone is going.


Conclusion:
Whether you know the manga or not, this is a very cute story. You can understand everything perfectly without knowing the manga, and if you feel like diving into the story a bit more you can always read the manga afterwards.