| Book of Fetus | |
|---|---|
 Episode 2 Episode 01: Shem-ha-mephorash | |
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Japanese Name |
胎児の書 |
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Romanized Name |
Taiji no Sho |
|
Airdate |
July 23, 2011 |
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Adapted from |
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Manga counterpart |
N/A |
"Book of Fetus" is the 2nd episode of The Mystic Archives of Dantalian anime and the second story shown in the adaptation. It's also known as Episode 01: Shem-ha-mephorash.
Hugh accepts a job to assess a collection of books, part of an inheritance Miss Estella Lilburn obtained.[1]
Summary[]
Hugh, in his child form, is in the Labyrinth Library with the girl in white. She talks about all the wisdom contained in that place. She gives him a book and a tablet. Teary-eyed, she tells him to go away before the doors of the library are closed. Hugh affirms that he will be back.
Hugh and Dalian are having tea with Miss Estella Lilburn. Both Wesley and Estella's grandfather, Colonel Lilburn, have passed away around six months ago. She apologizes for sending a letter to Wesley, requesting his services. However, Hugh accepts the job in his stead. Dalian is interested in Colonel Lilburn's collection, though she's not happy with the exchange of pleasantries between Hugh and Estella. The latter shows them her grandfather's study. Since her parents have already passed away, Estella inherited the mansion, along with her grandfather's collection of books. However, she needs someone to assess it. Some bells can be heard. Estella explains that the source of the sound is the carillon of the mansion that plays every hour. Her grandfather amassed his fortune manufacturing musical boxes, and applied the same techniques to construct the clock tower.
Hugh starts his job. Dalian is not impressed with the Colonel's books, comparing it to Wesley's collection. Dalian blushes when Hugh shows interest in Estella. Dalian assumes that he's attracted to Estella's hair. They are interrupted by Martin Geese, Estella's cousin. He notices how Hugh avoids using his right hand to shake hands. Martin explains that he's serving as Estella's guardian, checking her every week and making arrangements related to food and servants. Hugh is concerned about Estella, who seems to be isolated. Martin affirms that she's isolated due to a curse which attracts murder to everyone that tries to take her out of the mansion. Even her parents fell victims of the curse. According to Martin Geese, the source of the curse is a Phantom Book buried somewhere in the Colonel's collection.
At night, Hugh enters his room, where Dalian is reading a book. She's interested in the Colonel's tastes, different compared to Wesley's. Hugh has the Colonel's scrapbook, which shows records of the murders around the Lilburn family. The first one occurred 50 years ago, when Estella was not yet born. The scrapbook gives information about more than one hundred cases of deaths or missing people. The incidents suddenly stopped for a while and, after decades, started again around Estella. Dalian affirms that the curse doesn't exist and that Phantom Books do not affect those who only possess it. Through a window, Hugh sees Martin and Estella walking together. Dalian provokes Hugh, saying that Martin and Estella must have a twisted relationship. When they hear the bells from the clock tower, Hugh tries to make Dalian leave his room so he can sleep. She blushes while pretending that she's not afraid of the curse.
Hugh and Dalian hear someone screaming. Outside, the full moon is covered by the clouds. Hugh sees the bloodied body of Martin Geese in the arms of an artificial creature. Estella is next to it, also covered in blood. The creature withstand Hugh's shots and leaps to the top of the mansion, going away with Martin's body. Hugh asks if Estella is fine. She worries about Martin, apparently oblivious to what just happened. She shows a creepy smile for a moment and then profusely apologizes to her late grandmother when she realizes the state of her own dress.
The next day, Dalian tells Hugh that the monster they saw is a golem created by someone that used the Book of Fetus. Another Phantom Book, called "72 Sacred Notes of the Shem-ha-mephorash", is being used to control it. Dalian leaves to find the Phantom Book. Hugh follows her, noticing that she put something in the pocket of his coat. Dalian reads a book about the history of the Lilburn family and learns that Colonel Lilburn's wife is descendant of people hunted down due to a string of murders within their territory.
Estella brings lunch, interrupting them. She tells them that she prepared it herself, as the servants left the place after Martin’s death, fearing that they would not receive their pay. She asks if Hugh will be with her forever. She is taken aback when he calls her Miss Lilburn, not Estella. She leans against Hugh and stabs him with the kitchen knife she was using. The bells of the clock tower ring. Estella explains that she kills to prevent people from leaving her. The Golem breaks through a wall, revealing the bodies of all the servants. Dalian affirms that the women of that household are born with an impulse to kill. Hugh shows that he was saved thanks to the book put in his pocket by Dalian. The latter reveals that the Golem was created to hide the evidence of Estella's crimes. Hugh grabs Dalian to protect her from the Golem. She gives Hugh the right to open the Labyrinth Library. He uses the key in his hand and, like seen at the beginning of the episode, he receives two Phantom Books.
He reads the Book of Styx to summon a shield and block all the punches from the Golem. After that, he uses The Clay Tablet of Ugarit to summon a lightning attack that goes through the roof and hits the Golem. The creature loses his right arm at the same time that Estella is pushed away. Hugh is exhausted after using two Phantom Books. Hugh and Dalian see the Golem getting up. Hugh learns that the Golem is immortal and that it can only be stopped with the destruction of the 72 Sacred Notes of the Shem-ha-mephorash. He asks Dalian if there is a Phantom Book that does not use letters. Dalian confirms that such Phantom Books exist. He realizes that the Phantom Book they need to destroy is in the form of the carillon made by 72 different musical boxes. He uses The Clay Tablet of Ugarit to destroy the clock tower. The Golem falls to pieces. A flashback shows how Estella was mistreated during her creation. Hugh and Dalian prepare to leave the collapsing mansion. Hugh calls for Estella, but she affirms that she will stay, as promised to her grandfather.
A few days later, Hugh reads a newspaper about the fate of the Lilburn family. Dalian explains that the curse affecting the women of the Lilburn family might be a psychological change due to the abuse they suffered in childhood. Hugh laughs at the fact that Dalian is trying to mimic Estella’s hair.[1]
Light novel-anime main differences[]
| Light novel[2] | Anime[1] |
| Hugh enters the Labyrinth Library as a young man. He asks if the girl in white feels lonely. She affirms that she forgot this feeling. | Hugh enters the Labyrinth Library as a child. The girl in white tells him about the contents of the library. Hugh affirms that he will be back. |
| The chapter starts with Hugh and Dalian walking through a forest and crossing a bridge to reach Estella's mansion. A landslide blocked the road, so Hugh can't drive through it. | The episode starts with Hugh and Dalian talking with Estella. |
| Dalian uses Hugh's back as a stepladder to reach a book. | - |
| - | Hugh uses his left hand to shake Martin Geese's hand. |
| Hugh almost opens the Labyrinth Library when he sees the Golem for the first time. Hugh gives up when the Golem goes away. | - |
| Dalian rudely wakes Hugh up. She informs that the bridge collapsed. | - |
| Estella brings the meal prepared by Martin Geese's servants. | Estella cooks the meal, since Martin Geese's servants left the mansion. |
| Estella reveals her true self when Hugh affirms that he will take her out of the mansion after the road is cleaned. | Estella reveals her true self when Hugh affirms that he will stay only until his job is finished. |
| Hugh and Dalian read The Clay Tablet of Ugarit to destroy the carillon. | Hugh reads The Clay Tablet of Ugarit to destroy the carillon. |
| - | A flashback shows Estella's awful past. |
| Hugh asks if Dalian feels lonely. | - |
Trivia[]
- Hugh investigates the Colonel's scrapbook to know more about the murder cases around Estella.[1] One of the photos in this scrapbook was published in the 1870's on the Illustrated Police News, one of the first British tabloids.[3] It's related to a girl that died, probably from a heart disease, and had her body eaten by rats.[4]
- The same scrapbook shows a real record about auctions published on The Standard, a British tabloid created in 1827, today known as London Evening Standard.[5]
- A newspaper clipping from The Times, a British national newspaper founded in 1785, also describes the auction of English banker and politician Stephens Lyne-Stephens' collections after the death of his wife, the notable French dancer Pauline Duvernay.[6] The arrangements were made by executor Horace Pym and the sales happened in 1895, at the rooms of Christie's, a historic British auction house active since 1766.[7][8]
- The book also has an announcement from the Queen's College, founded in 1341 in Oxford, in honour of Queen Philippa of Hainault.[9] It reports about five lectures given by Dr. Edward Moore about the "purgatories of Dante". The former was indeed a tutor of the Queen's College between 1862 and 1864. The scholar was specialized in Dante Alighieri, a Italian poet and author of Divine Comedy, considered a masterpiece of world literature.[10][11]
- There's a widely known oil painting at the guestroom where Hugh and Dalian have a conversation. It's La Grande Odalisque, a 1814 art by French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.[12]
- During the fight against the Golem, Hugh is seen with a glove in his right hand, although he had just removed it to open the Labyrinth Library.[1]
- The book Dalian is reading at night is called "Arrow of Time I". Arrow of time is a concept developed in 1927 by British astronomer Arthur Eddington, describing how time appears to have a direction: the past lies behind us and the future lies ahead.[13]
- In the last scene, Dalian is reading The Entertainment in Conversation and Verse.[1] There's a 1976 work from R. D. Laing called "Do You Love Me? An Entertainment in Conversation and Verse". It's a collection of dialogues about relationships.
- In this episode, the opening is shown for the first time.[1]
- The clock tower is shown many times throughout the episode, making possible to know the time of each event.[1]
- There are four named books in the last scene.[1]
- Apocalypse Now: 1979 American epic war film.[14]
- The Odyssey of Homer: a Greek epic poem.[15]
- Only the good die young: a proverb from Roman Titus Maccius Plautus' play Bacchides, inspired by a record from historian Herodotus.[16]
- In Search of Lost Time: work by French novelist Marcel Proust, first published in 1913, known for having "involuntary memory" as theme.[17]
- Dalian plays shiritori with names of desserts during the preview for the next episode.[1]
References[]
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