(L+CR) Uchouten Kazoku (The Eccentric Family)

[nojay]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

^ 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.

Yoshinoya-sensei in Hidamari Sketch is "Forever 17" in her high-school yearbook.

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

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

...and the fan isn't something special she got from the professor? I'm finding your reaction more and more confusing now.

[kyouray]

Originally Posted by Warm Mist

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.

More or less. It can't be helped since he shared animation direction with Noboru Sugimitsu and didn't bring his pals. Inoue probably have been responsible of B part.
The clock tower part sure is good :

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There were others nice bits (trees, corridor) but I can understand your disappointment since I also expected more. I didn't feel it was a Inoue episode, it was more he corrected some stuff and delivered his cuts. The credits kinda illustrates it with his name isolated

I first thought the producer Horikawa was the main reason Inoue was involved but it seems Inoue also has connections with the director Masayuki Yoshihara. Horikawa did production works for Production I.G then he had to leave due to personal circumstances and founded PA Works with Masayuki Yoshihara and two others guys. Yoshihara already has teamed up with Inoue (Yoshihara as director/storyboarder and Inoue as key animator) with GitS SAC 2nd GIG so I guess that explains better layouts for this episode since he knows how to work with Inoue. I wasn't familiar with Yoshihara but he looks a competent veteran and he apparently did most of the storyboard of this series so that's good news. I also like his art in the ED.

[Cadallin]

Wow, this show is really good. I'm willing to excuse a lot on the animation front, the world just draws me in. It's a fascinating bit of world building, and I'm a sucker for writing.

Benten remains both fascinating and menacing.
Really looking forward to more of this.

[DragoonKain3]

Yeah, I'm like the mom, as I've grown rather fond of Raisei myself, especially when they revealed that her and MC were engaged by the dad (I dunno, but I adore the arranged fiance). And when Ebigusawa dad came and dissolved the engagement? Yeah, I almost went into a frezy like the mom did.

Otherwise, a good world-building episode. Apparently, these races hold events too. Though why tanuki want to parade themselves in the sky for a festival when they have to blend in with the crowd else they becom hot pot, I don't know. Guess we can just chalk it up to their 'idiot blood'. XD

Benten is still an enigma, as she seems like a frenemy to the tanuki family. On one hand she eats tanuki hot pot, on the other she only lent the parlour because it was MC who asked. After last episodes reveal, I can't help but always be wary about this sly girl. Really sure she's a human? Her foxy wiles makes me suspect she's really a kitsune...

[Kirarakim]

Yeah Benten is the one character I don't get what she is supposed to be. But I guess that is kind of the point.

[Dawnstorm]

There's so much I loved about this episode:

The scene where the visiting tengu talked with our main character was wonderful. You feel there's always more going on in the conversation than the speakers openly acknowledge. The story about tanuki dad transforming into a mountain... very well presented (and also it develops the clan politics a bit more; apparantly tanuki dad was an ally of tengu sensei).

***

The clock tower scene was wonderful. I've seen submerged churches, etc. in real life before, so what really got me was the shot from below with the submerged telephone wires. The characterisation of Benten in that scene was awesome; what really motivates her: pulling the tail of whale. That's the impression I get of her; why she's involved with the Friday gents I don't know. They seem the sort of people who'd bore her to death. She's certainly not the type to run errands for stuffy old men.

***

One of the things I'm not completely sure about is the status of humans in the show. How much is generally known/acknowledged? I've always had a hunch that it's pretty much like our world: some believe, but most don't. There's a shot in this episode that I'd like to take as confirmation: we see them fly the Inner Parlour, and then there's a shot of a man, looking down. I take that as a representation of people "not wanting to see". It's not necessarily that they don't know: it's more a sense of "as long I don't notice it, it's not my responsibility". A sort of wilful ignorance.

There's a sort of isolationism going on in the show, and I think what Tanuki protagonist, tengu sensei and human femme fatale have in common is a frustration with these limits. Note that all the social conflict we heard about so far is race-internal bickering: tanuki family feud, tengu clan wars... And next episode we have tanuki celebrating in the air in a tengu vessel they borrowed from a human. I think that's the spirit of the show.

There's one thing I feel I have to stress: breaking open the barriers between tanuki, tengu and humans is not the same thing as "let's all get along". It's a step before that. Currently, they're all keeping to themselves.

***

Currently, the total lack of a Friday Men character is something I find suspicious. The hot-pot story sounds like some sort of cautionary myth, sort of like Trolls snatching your babies. How do they know the father was boiled in a hot pot? Could Benten be the sole source of the rumour? (I could totally see her messing with everyone: the tanuki think they're being eaten; the humans think they eat tanuki - and Benten is really tanuki dad - or she's in league with him.)

Everything's suspicious in this show. But the characters appear real. I've always liked tanuki stories (Pom Poko is amongst my favourite Ghibli films), and Uchouten Kazuko really captures the spirit. I'm in love with this show.

[Tyabann]

Benten terrifies me.
Looks like we're getting an action-y episode next week. Certainly not something I expected from this show.

[Ialdaboth]

Originally Posted by kyouray

I first thought the producer Horikawa was the main reason Inoue was involved but it seems Inoue also has connections with the director Masayuki Yoshihara. Horikawa did production works for Production I.G then he had to leave due to personal circumstances and founded PA Works with Masayuki Yoshihara and two others guys. Yoshihara already has teamed up with Inoue (Yoshihara as director/storyboarder and Inoue as key animator) with GitS SAC 2nd GIG so I guess that explains better layouts for this episode since he knows how to work with Inoue. I wasn't familiar with Yoshihara but he looks a competent veteran and he apparently did most of the storyboard of this series so that's good news. I also like his art in the ED.

Thanks a lot for all the information

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

Yeah Benten is the one character I don't get what she is supposed to be. But I guess that is kind of the point.

She is a Japanese, modern-day Circe I tell you.

[MeoTwister5]

I'm already more willing to believe that Benten isn't exactly as human as the characters in the show believe her to be. She's coming to be more like some sort of... Goddess acting nearly on whimsy.

[LKK]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

I'm already more willing to believe that Benten isn't exactly as human as the characters in the show believe her to be. She's coming to be more like some sort of... Goddess acting nearly on whimsy.

I'm beginning to believe that Benten isn't wholly human either. Maybe a human x something else child? First we learn that she can fly, and now we learn that she's strong enough to prevent a whale from diving?! That doesn't sound like an ordinary human to me.

(I didn't include what she did with the fan because the fan was originally the sensei's and is most likely infused with some of the tengu's power.)

[philip72]

Well Benten is the Japanese name for the Hindu goddess Saraswati. Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science. She's also a guardian deity in Buddhism who upholds the teachings of Buddha by offering protection and assistance to Buddhists.
In Shinto, she's one of the Seven Gods of Fortune and plays a role in bestowing monetary fortune.

Perhaps this Benten is her human avatar.

I think there's more to Benten's actions, particularly in regards to the fathers death. than we are currently being lead to believe.

[GDiddy]

I think there's more to Benten than meets the eye myself.

I do ship her and the MC though. Though I"m not sure about her relationship with Old Tengu....other than that I got the impression that Old Tengu adores her.

[alunde]

My theory is that Benten learning to fly was an outward manifestation of some inner transformation, and she's become a bit of a shinto miko, witch, or something like that.

[D-KLAC]

well this series finally tempt me in to watch yea indeed mostly watch for mam noto’s version of ben10.

really show stealer to watch.

[GundamZZ]

Originally Posted by GDiddy

I think there's more to Benten than meets the eye myself.

I do ship her and the MC though. Though I"m not sure about her relationship with Old Tengu....other than that I got the impression that Old Tengu adores her.

She's the member of a club who ate his father. His kind is afraid of her. Her flirting is more like death threat to him. It's hard to think humans and youkai would have romance.

[Ayu-ayu]

Originally Posted by philip72

Well Benten is the Japanese name for the Hindu goddess Saraswati. Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science. She's also a guardian deity in Buddhism who upholds the teachings of Buddha by offering protection and assistance to Buddhists.
In Shinto, she's one of the Seven Gods of Fortune and plays a role in bestowing monetary fortune.

Perhaps this Benten is her human avatar.

I think there's more to Benten's actions, particularly in regards to the fathers death. than we are currently being lead to believe.

This. The show actually even calls it out pretty clearly.

She's even first seen in episode one with the other six Gods of Fortune...or their human avatars or something along similar lines (I expect). He even goes to look for her with "the Seven Gods of Fortune" as mentioned in his own monologue before he shoots the fan. Count the other people at the party and check out their appearances.

I guessed it as soon as I heard the name Benten, myself, thanks to Urusei Yatsura being one of my earliest gateway anime back in the 80s.

[nojay]

Originally Posted by Ayu-ayu

I guessed it as soon as I heard the name Benten, myself, thanks to Urusei Yatsura being one of my earliest gateway anime back in the 80s.

I'm getting a Kamichu! vibe from this series, and Benten makes an appearance in that series as the Goddess of Rock'n'Roll.

[RollingPenguin]

I guessed it as soon as I heard the name Benten, myself, thanks to Urusei Yatsura being one of my earliest gateway anime back in the 80s.

Now that you mention Urusei Yatsura didn't that scene with underwater clock tower look a lot like Beautiful Dreamer.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by GDiddy

I do ship her and the MC though. Though I"m not sure about her relationship with Old Tengu....other than that I got the impression that Old Tengu adores her.

That playful nee-sama air she gives off with Yasaburo is just practically crying for shipping no?