Forum - View topicTonari no Youkai-san (TV).
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smurky turkey
Posts: 1957 |
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Oh boy, I may need to watch episode 4 a second time since there was so much to take in. There is the presumed danger of whatever that rip in the sky was and judging by the reaction of the people in the command center it was far from the first time. There is also Buchio dealing with getting a drivers license, finding a job and meeting new people/yokai including a demon king and a god.
In the case of the demon king I want to give him the benefit of the doubt but he does seem a tad shady. As for the tsukumogami, I imagine that the car that you have driven for dozens of years suddenly turning into a person would be pretty wild. Also kudos to the emotional moments of Buchio with his family and just how much worldbuilding is being done almost constantly. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2858 |
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#4
There's a surprising amount of worldbuilding packed into an episode which partly serves to introduce more characters featured in the OP and ED animations. As a work of fiction, a lot of thought has been put in to imagine what a world where the supernatural and humans co-exist together would look like if set in Japan. The combination of pseudo-realism and traditional fantasy is a peculiar one, but it suits the tone conveyed by the franchise. Buchio playing his part saving Jirou earns him an interview with the Youkai's public face and secular leader Sanmoto. First impressions aren't great (this is a demon lord after all) but he's very approachable and clearly has an open approach to anything which isn't conventional (serving Thai speciality dishes to a visiting nekomata is not a sentence I'd thought I'd ever type in my lifetime). Sanmoto being who he is doesn't endear him with the traditional spiritual guardians of Japan, so Buchio gets his first taste of what could be described as Youkai politics. Interesting that Jirou sent him on to Sanmoto for several reasons: 1. As a thank you to Buchio for his help. 2. Sanmoto specifically asked to meet Buchio. 3. Jirou has not forgotten Buchio isn't aware of why he transformed and thought Sanmoto (and Sakaki) could help. Buchio going to driving school is another attempt at the franchise trying to show what bureaucracy would be like if it had to handle non-human entities. Unsurprisingly, Mr Wagen is a tsukumogami, but I mistakenly thought he was a toy car rather than a full-blown automobile. Another surreal vision is the automobile driving himself up to a parking space and then transforming, which is probably illegal if he didn't have paperwork proving he is attending driving school as a "learner driver". The nod to modern society's self-driving cars made me laugh as well. The starting sequence ties in with the Dragon God's visit, and that one is also amusing in that Dragon Gods having a PR role similar to Demon Kings find it necessary to adopt a more human appearance to better deal with counterparties. She picked the look of real-life Japanese Idols, which is a peculiar choice but it makes sense when taking into account who she is. It's not all fun and games though, the gods have their own responsibilities which they have to juggle the same way white collar employees deal with project deadlines. The theme of appearances in this franchise is more important than one thinks. The important entities all adopt facades to adapt to society, whereas Buchio spends virtually all of his time in his original nekomata form. He can transform at this point (albeit not consistently well over long periods) but unlike Sasaki (who's been "alive" since the feudal era) he doesn't choose a particular human appearance to spend most of his public-facing time in. This marks him out as a minority amongst the shapeshifters, and it might be important down the line. Tears in the space-time continuum are monitored the same way modern-day Japan relies on modern technology to protects its residents from the devastation of earthquakes and typhoons. Guardians like Jirou have the same role to play as disaster management, so the next arc about unexpected visitors might shed more light into Mutsumi's central issue: the disappearance of her biological father. It'll be interesting to see Jirou having to deal with human bureaucracy in his capacity as the valley's guardian. |
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Edjwald
 Posts: 1145 |
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This is one of those shows where watching as the world expands is one of the main draws. I loved the tsukogami character. Especially the way he invested and animated an object with electrical capabilities, making it clear that there could be animated spirit objects like...oh, I dunno...a coffee maker, for example.
The other main draw for me is - and I know I've said this before - the way the anime walks such a strange but cool line between being seriously heartwarming and making with the creeping tension. The dragon god was awesome. The demon king was eyebrow lifting. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11378 |
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I thought tsukumogami didn't get invested with souls until they were 100 years old. Which was why many people tried to make sure they got rid of things approaching that age.
Anyway, they missed out on a great visual when Wagen (this world's humanoid Molcar) got all verklempt and got misty headlights. My head canon insists he cries from the windshield sprayers and wipes away the tears with his wipers! 
Though this is a mostly sweet, quiet, pastoral work, the premise kind of reminds me of Blood Blockade Battlefront, with the everyday coexistence of humans and...others. So far it's doing everything right and I love it. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23802 |
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Ha ha, yeah, that windshield wiper thing would have been great! But even without that it was nice to finally meet Carhead. Actually, Wagen-kun is a pretty cool name. Has anybody here ever seen Natsume's Book of Friends? I own the first 4 seasons (the NISA releases) but haven't watched any of it yet. Does this show have some similarities to it? If so, that would probably speed up my Natsume watching plans.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11378 |
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Natsume seems to be the series most people compare this to, so yes, I'd say so, in general tone (mostly sweet and soothing, until it's not, then it's a bit scary or angsty). All kinds of interesting youkai, some friendly, some really not so much. Same goes for the people in it. If you like this, I think you'll like Natsume. It's one of my favorite series of all time, and I've watched everything they've animated at least four times, probably five or six for the first 3 seasons, since they've been around longer (not because they're better). I've even read some of the manga, and I very rarely read manga. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23802 |
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Thanks, Gina!
*advances Natsume's Book of Friends several hundred slots up the queue* |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1145 |
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I don't know if I should thank Gina or not. Another one of the joys of a new season is that they inadvertently expose me to old anime that I missed while scouring back catalogs. In recent seasons, I wound up watching Chihayafuru and Bartender and Mix well after their premiere dates.
But I've already added two shows to my weekly rotation, watching them one episode a week because I kind of enjoy pretending that they're new and that this season is just that good, but mostly because this is a busy time of year for me, and I literally don't have six to eight free hours to binge an anime right now. And one of those anime I've added is Sand Land, a show Gina alerted me to. But I can't *not* check out Natsume's Book of Friends now. |
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smurky turkey
Posts: 1957 |
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I want to say that I love Natsume's Book of Friends just as much as this show, but having only seen the first season I would be lying. The former is far slower pacing wise and there is very little focus on other (human) characters, something that I love about this show. It could be that later seasons of Natsume are far better though.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11378 |
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This, and people talking about it has made me long to visit Natsume again, and I watched the first five eps tonight.
 So I'm not sure whether to thank you for asking or not. 
To my surprise there's no place to discuss the first two seasons or season 4, though I guess you could add comments to the end of the 3rd season, if you have any (so we don't derail this thread). It's weird that as beloved by so many as this series is, discussions of it seem lacking. 
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smurky turkey
Posts: 1957 |
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I will probably try the second season of Natsume later this year, I just hope that it manages to hook me more than the first season did (or rather did not).
As for Tonari: every week makes me more interested/invested in their world and all the dangers and wonders in it and this week was not different. There being countless other dimensions is rather wild while also having a darker and more dangerous side to it. If you are unlucky you get spirited away to who knows where or you end up being in a parallel world (which would drive you insane). The fact that Yuri could be saved using tried and tested technology suggests that similar incidents are not at all rare. |
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Harleyquin
Posts: 2858 |
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#5
I never thought I would watch an adaptation which borrows one of the most infamous urban legends of Japan and puts its own spin on it. Even the station name used is straight from the source. It's a clever link to the previous episode, and an interesting way to expand on the world the franchise is situated in as well as giving Yuri the spotlight in an unusual way. If anything, the franchise has given people in real life one way to rationalise a similar experience if they were unfortunate enough. The technology in the Tonani world is much more advanced than real life, what with the investigation into wormholes and the ability to accurate identify parallel worlds to resolve the urban legend body swap problems for specific individuals. Their version of the International Space Station is even more progressive than real life with human and non-human interaction and cooperation accepted as a norm. Despite their technological development, they have yet to figure out how to stabilise their space-time continuum and it's more than likely this week's accident is going to repeat itself elsewhere for the foreseeable future. Throughout it all, the focus is actually on Yuri's background and why she occasionally lashes out at Buchio. It wouldn't be wrong to say she's envious of how well Buchio gets along with her adopted family, since she tried to discard her real one years ago. Tazenbou can't do much more than tell her to face her demons, since it's not the first time he's had to hear her out. Being the local agony tengu together with Jirou really shows in his even-handed approach despite her visible frustrations. Jirou in a blazer and shirt was probably the best they could do given he's a tengu. I don't think he looks good in a suit and tie, so the animators did the best they could (I'm surprised he didn't dress in his festival attire, but for this franchise that would be inappropriate given the context). Unsurprisingly he was roped in to help with the rifts from last week, and that issue is still unresolved. Seeing the pair exchange name card so formally is just another reminder of how integrated the supernatural and scientific is for this franchise. Will the adaptation continue with the rift story arc (it is related to Mutsumi's background as her father disappeared through one) or will they go with something else for the next episode? |
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Edjwald
Posts: 1145 |
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I love how this show keeps pulling new rabbits out of its hat. I wasn't expecting some Fringe like development between parallel universes, but it was as well handled as everything else on this show has been IMHO. The strange world is the focus of this anime more than any one particular character, and I'm loving it.
BTW - in some ways this is the opposite of The Book of Natsume approach, which is more about the one stranger in the strange land, at least so far. I don't really find the two anime similar in tone or approach though they both have talking cats and are both an odd fusion of slice of life and fantasy. That said, I like Natusume pretty well and have added it to my weekly rotation retroactively, dammit. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23802 |
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I wasn't expecting parallel worlds either but it certainly makes perfect sense in terms of explaining why the world of Tonari no Youkai-san is the way it is. Have we ever seen that image of a fan on top of a utility pole before?... that certainly would have been a big clue. I'm a little disappointed that Yuri was yanked back so quickly because it would have been interesting to see her navigate what I assume is our world, just as it would have been interesting to see human Yuri grapple with the other. Mind you, chances are this kind of switching may happen again and not necessarily just to Yuri. I confess I don't quite grasp the full nature of the beef between her and her family. She's from the head family and I guess you're supposed to believe certain things and she doesn't? I'm not real clear on what those differences in belief are but that may resolve in future episodes. In any case, the show continues to be a weekly highlight for me.
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