AnimeSuki Forums

Kirarakim · 2013-07-15, 18:14

Last week I thought the Tanuki could transform but not change their voice. Clearly I was wrong.

But I digress, I liked last week's ep & this one even more. Eccentric family is right but there is something very loveable about them.

Beltane70 · 2013-07-15, 19:50

I came into the series a week late, but I at least got to see the first two episodes back to back and truly enjoyed what I saw. It definitely has me wanting to visit Kyoto a second time and stay there more than a mere two days.

DragoonKain3 · 2013-07-15, 22:51

Yep, episode 2 definitely was the pilot episode I was looking for. Now I know exactly who are the members of The Eccentric Family, why they are called that, what each member's unique traits are, and what their past history is. While I had high hopes for this series, the first episode wasn't good enough to live up to it. Now it has potential to be my anime of the season, if they keep this up.

But holy crap, Benten made hot pot out of the dad? Yeah, totally killed BentenXYasaborou for me, to the point that I feel more for KaiseiXYasaborou despite me not even seeing Kaisei properly yet.

jeroz · 2013-07-16, 07:47

Despite the odd middle comedy section with the Ginkaku/Kinkaku, this episode came home really really strong in the end. If the first episode didn't make it clear, this is something magical in the making here.

Obelisk ze Tormentor · 2013-07-16, 08:25

Another great episode. I like the Tanuki-family dynamics. Each member are lovable. Tanuki-mother is my favorite. She’s so cute with her cuddly appearance but with motherly voice (an excellent combination to me

). And yeah, I feel so sad and sorry for Tanuki-dad and the Tanuki-family he left. Now I know why other Tanuki was so afraid of Benten during that bar scene. That said, beside teasing him, was Benten kissing Yasaburo also to “taste” him for a potential hot-pot ingredient?

SeijiSensei · 2013-07-19, 12:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Tanuki-mother is my favorite. She’s so cute with her cuddly appearance but with motherly voice (an excellent combination to me

).

That's Inoue Kikuko, whose long career includes Belldandy in Ah! My Goddess, Miria in Claymore, and now, as she approaches fifty, maternal roles in this show and in the recent Koutoura-san, where she played a distinctly less lovable mother.

I thought her "ouji" voice and inflections were pretty hilarious.

MeoTwister5 · 2013-07-19, 12:16

She's still 17 though.

SeijiSensei · 2013-07-20, 08:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

She's still 17 though.

Which "she" are you referring to? Tanuki-mother? I suppose that makes sense if she gives birth as a raccoon, but on their time scale she'd be approaching death at seventeen. She looks pretty spry to me.

One other thing I wondered about from the first episode is whether Yasaburo can change his gender when shape-shifting, or whether he remains male and was cross-dressing as a school girl. The show suggests the latter, though whether cross-gender shape-shifting can happen isn't really discussed from what I can tell.

Kanon · 2013-07-20, 09:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Which "she" are you referring to? Tanuki-mother? I suppose that makes sense if she gives birth as a raccoon, but on their time scale she'd be approaching death at seventeen. She looks pretty spry to me.

He was referring to Inoue Kikuko. There was an error in your post. As far as anybody knows, she's 17. 17, you hear?!

Kirarakim · 2013-07-20, 15:14

^ before this goes any farther the 17 year old thing is a seiyuu in-joke by Inoue Kikuko, a very lovely and awesome lady. I had the pleasure to see her at Otakon in 2009 and yes she told us she was 17.

SeijiSensei · 2013-07-20, 15:30

Oh, that joke. Yes, I know about her "being seventeen." It just didn't register at the time.

FWIW, she's still younger than yours truly.

Kirarakim · 2013-07-20, 15:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

FWIW, she's still younger than yours truly.

So are you saying you are 18 right?

Dop · 2013-07-21, 13:18

I think the scene where Yasaburou and his younger brother go to visit Benten at the clock tower was just an absolutely beautiful and otherworldly scene.
I think the show's getting better and deeper with each passing episode.

Sphire · 2013-07-21, 14:07

This has become my most anticipated series this summer (for summer titles at least). Awesome cast and what looks like a great mash-up of personalities. It's got that mysterious vibe too.

Benten's still my fav.

Kanon · 2013-07-21, 14:30

The setting and art direction of this show are really fantastic. It's a bit weird but the good kind of weird.

Warm Mist · 2013-07-21, 15:21

Inoue didn't deliver

But still his cut was pretty nice, and it's hard to fault the show for its animation when it's doing such a lovely job with the layouts and art direction.

Frankly some of the dialogue in this episode just went over my head. It seems to be something the writer likes to do if I remember correctly from Tatami Galaxy, but sometimes it seems like characters go in circles about one single subject, and a lot of the time it's hard to make it interesting on a script level.
I got the flow of this episode fairly well without trying to pay attention to anything that was being said, which in turn speaks volumes of the production. While it's not out of this world, that it can be enjoyed on a purely visual/aural level is something I appreciate, and it really helps compensating for moments where the script might not be as strong.

SeijiSensei · 2013-07-21, 17:30

I'm liking this show more and more, especially for its overall "vibe." While we know there are dark things in the background like tanuki hot pot, the show generally projects a very soothing and upbeat feeling. The performances are all top-notch, and some of the scenes are truly lovely. Two of my favorites this episode were Benten's swim with the whale and the flight of the tea house.

Benten must have some magical hair, though, since it stayed piled on her head even after going underwater a number of times. And what was up with that thunder display? Do humans have magical powers, too, that we have yet to hear about?

I love how the tanukis' pants shape-shift to create a hole for their tails to pop out.

On the subject of cross-gender shape-shifting, I'll just observe that our boy had a well-developed bust when he was in his Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm mode watching his mom play pool.

Does anyone else think that when the mother is not in her ouji form she looks a bit like Benten?

From the conversation with his brother in the well, I take it that the father arranged a marriage between Yasaburou and the sparkle tanuki we saw under the bridge in the last episode.

Clarste · 2013-07-21, 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

And what was up with that thunder display? Do humans have magical powers, too, that we have yet to hear about?

You're asking this now, after seeing her fly in the first episode? Although in this case I thought it was pretty clearly the Fuujin-Raijin fan that she got from the old tengu, mentioned earlier in the episode. So essentially she owns a powerful tengu artifact that can control the weather.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

On the subject of cross-gender shape-shifting, I'll just observe that our boy had a well-developed bust when he was in his Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm mode watching his mom play pool.

We also saw him explicitly shrink one of his breasts in order to fire the arrow in episode 1.

Kaoru Chujo · 2013-07-21, 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dop

I think the scene where Yasaburou and his younger brother go to visit Benten at the clock tower was just an absolutely beautiful and otherworldly scene. I think the show's getting better and deeper with each passing episode.

I think so, too. It's not the plot that grabs me (yet), but the general vibe (as Seiji Sensei wrote), as well as the great look of the backgrounds (variable as that look may be).

Yes, the scene with Benten was wonderful, otherworldly -- and Noto Mamiko helped make it so. Great laugh.

I noticed that the episode director is 許琮 (which looks to me like a Korean name, and is transliterated on ANN as "Heo Jong"), who has directed multiple episodes of various PA Works shows: true tears, Canaan, Hanasaku Iroha, Tari Tari, etc. I've liked his episodes before, and I liked this one. The music by Kikuchi Hajime (Futakoi Alternative, true tears) also worked very well for me, helping strengthen the gentle, otherworldy feeling.

SeijiSensei · 2013-07-21, 18:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clarste

You're asking this now, after seeing her fly in the first episode?

I wrote that off as something special she got from the professor. Apparently there's more to humans than meets the eye.

2013-07-15, 18:14	Link #81
Kirarakim Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007	Last week I thought the Tanuki could transform but not change their voice. Clearly I was wrong. But I digress, I liked last week's ep & this one even more. Eccentric family is right but there is something very loveable about them. __________________ Twitter MAL

2013-07-15, 22:51	Link #83
DragoonKain3 Osana-Najimi Shipper Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Mt. Ordeals	Yep, episode 2 definitely was the pilot episode I was looking for. Now I know exactly who are the members of The Eccentric Family, why they are called that, what each member's unique traits are, and what their past history is. While I had high hopes for this series, the first episode wasn't good enough to live up to it. Now it has potential to be my anime of the season, if they keep this up. But holy crap, Benten made hot pot out of the dad? Yeah, totally killed BentenXYasaborou for me, to the point that I feel more for KaiseiXYasaborou despite me not even seeing Kaisei properly yet. __________________ Yes its YOU childhood friend - source of BERZERKER RAGE since forever Childhood Friend couple STATISTICS(spoilers abound though)

2013-07-16, 07:47	Link #84
jeroz Art Block Specialist Join Date: Jun 2007	Despite the odd middle comedy section with the Ginkaku/Kinkaku, this episode came home really really strong in the end. If the first episode didn't make it clear, this is something magical in the making here. __________________ [TAC]

2013-07-16, 08:25	Link #85
Obelisk ze Tormentor Black Steel Knight Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Indonesia	Another great episode. I like the Tanuki-family dynamics. Each member are lovable. Tanuki-mother is my favorite. She’s so cute with her cuddly appearance but with motherly voice (an excellent combination to me ). And yeah, I feel so sad and sorry for Tanuki-dad and the Tanuki-family he left. Now I know why other Tanuki was so afraid of Benten during that bar scene. That said, beside teasing him, was Benten kissing Yasaburo also to “taste” him for a potential hot-pot ingredient? __________________

2013-07-19, 12:16	Link #87
MeoTwister5 Komrades of Kitamura Kou Join Date: Jul 2004 Age: 39	She's still 17 though. __________________ Medical Student vs. Anime Last Exile - Fam the Silver Wing -

2013-07-15, 19:50	Link #82
Beltane70 Member Join Date: Mar 2007	I came into the series a week late, but I at least got to see the first two episodes back to back and truly enjoyed what I saw. It definitely has me wanting to visit Kyoto a second time and stay there more than a mere two days.

2013-07-20, 15:14	Link #90
Kirarakim Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007	^ before this goes any farther the 17 year old thing is a seiyuu in-joke by Inoue Kikuko, a very lovely and awesome lady. I had the pleasure to see her at Otakon in 2009 and yes she told us she was 17. __________________ Twitter MAL

2013-07-20, 15:30	Link #91
SeijiSensei AS Oji-kun Join Date: Nov 2006 Age: 74	Oh, that joke. Yes, I know about her "being seventeen." It just didn't register at the time. FWIW, she's still younger than yours truly. __________________ Taking Anime Seriously - Politics by the Numbers - Sports by the Numbers - MAL List - Avatars - Images

2013-07-21, 13:18	Link #93
Dop Mmmm.... Join Date: Sep 2006	I think the scene where Yasaburou and his younger brother go to visit Benten at the clock tower was just an absolutely beautiful and otherworldly scene. I think the show's getting better and deeper with each passing episode.

2013-07-21, 14:07	Link #94
Sphire Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: UK	This has become my most anticipated series this summer (for summer titles at least). Awesome cast and what looks like a great mash-up of personalities. It's got that mysterious vibe too. Benten's still my fav. __________________ ---MAL // Dark Souls Vids // FF XIII-2 Vids // Tales Of Xillia Hard Playthrough School Rumble Forever!

2013-07-21, 14:30	Link #95
Kanon Kana Hanazawa ♥ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: France Age: 37	The setting and art direction of this show are really fantastic. It's a bit weird but the good kind of weird. __________________

2013-07-21, 15:21	Link #96
Warm Mist Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2011	Inoue didn't deliver But still his cut was pretty nice, and it's hard to fault the show for its animation when it's doing such a lovely job with the layouts and art direction. Frankly some of the dialogue in this episode just went over my head. It seems to be something the writer likes to do if I remember correctly from Tatami Galaxy, but sometimes it seems like characters go in circles about one single subject, and a lot of the time it's hard to make it interesting on a script level. I got the flow of this episode fairly well without trying to pay attention to anything that was being said, which in turn speaks volumes of the production. While it's not out of this world, that it can be enjoyed on a purely visual/aural level is something I appreciate, and it really helps compensating for moments where the script might not be as strong.

2013-07-21, 17:30	Link #97
SeijiSensei AS Oji-kun Join Date: Nov 2006 Age: 74	I'm liking this show more and more, especially for its overall "vibe." While we know there are dark things in the background like tanuki hot pot, the show generally projects a very soothing and upbeat feeling. The performances are all top-notch, and some of the scenes are truly lovely. Two of my favorites this episode were Benten's swim with the whale and the flight of the tea house. Benten must have some magical hair, though, since it stayed piled on her head even after going underwater a number of times. And what was up with that thunder display? Do humans have magical powers, too, that we have yet to hear about? I love how the tanukis' pants shape-shift to create a hole for their tails to pop out. On the subject of cross-gender shape-shifting, I'll just observe that our boy had a well-developed bust when he was in his Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm mode watching his mom play pool. Does anyone else think that when the mother is not in her ouji form she looks a bit like Benten? From the conversation with his brother in the well, I take it that the father arranged a marriage between Yasaburou and the sparkle tanuki we saw under the bridge in the last episode. __________________ Taking Anime Seriously - Politics by the Numbers - Sports by the Numbers - MAL List - Avatars - Images Last edited by SeijiSensei; 2013-07-21 at 17:43.