Uchouten Kazoku

Kyoto has been populated by groups of tanuki and tengu for years, living alongside humans who are oblivious to the existence of these creatures. Yasaburou Shimogamo is the third son of an influential tanuki family who spends his carefree days taking care of an old tengu, observing humans through his ability to shapeshift, and dealing with the mysterious woman named Benten.

Behind the peace and tranquility, however, is a painful memory from long ago as Yasaburou's father, head of the tanuki community, was killed and eaten by a group of humans known as the Friday Fellows. Uchouten Kazoku follows the trials and tribulations of the Shimogamo brothers as they struggle to avoid their own grisly demise while coming ever closer to unraveling the truth behind their father's death.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shimogamo, Yasaburou Main

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Shimogamo, Yajirou Main

Yoshino, Hiroyuki Japanese

Shimogamo, Yaichirou Main

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Shimogamo, Yashirou Main

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Benten Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Ebisugawa, Kaisei Supporting

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Shimogamo, Tousen Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Akadama Supporting

Umezu, Hideyuki Japanese

Shimogamo, Souichirou Supporting

Ishihara, Bon Japanese

Ebisugawa, Kurejirou Supporting

Nishiji, Shuuya Japanese

Horikawa, Kenji Producer

Saitou, Shigeru Producer

Kitada, Shuuichi Producer

Souma, Shouji Producer

Reviews

Mar 24, 2022

pumpkinboy

Recommended

It's hard to believe I haven't heard about this anime from anyone else because after watching this, I'm just so thoroughly impressed. Uchouten Kazoku must have one of my favorite story and characters pretty much ever. To start, the storyline is kind of run-of-the-mill, but the absurdity and quirkiness throughout the show is really well done, and it reminds me of those mystical yet well-grounded stories I read in Mushishi. It's just a really good and entertaining setting to unravel a story with. Next, each of the brothers are well made, unique, and complete characters. There's lots of nuance and history behind each character, and ... the way each of their stories unravel is well done, like in Baccano, or Monogatari series. You know it's good when it feels like any of them could have been the main character. And I loved the interactions between them and how it plays out. Although sometimes I kinda don't get it.
My favorite component of the show is honestly the romance. I've never felt like a show was so nuanced and had so many hints towards the dynamic between each character, and yet it never felt like romance was even a part of the show. In other words, it just felt so natural I could really feel like this would be something I'd see in real life. And there's definitely some notions in my own head about the characters which I couldn't even explicitly say are really there. But that makes it feel even more life like.
Probably my biggest gripe was in the end, I didn't get that "legendary" feeling you sometimes get, like at the end of Evangelion. Like was there another season on standby? Or was it all so casual it wasn't meant to be anything left after all? In the end, I guess I didn't really feel like I had much to take away from the show. But in terms of watchability, this was to me peak entertainment.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 15, 2020

LovelyTekki

Mixed Feelings

I am sorry, I really wanted to like this one. Why does a unique show with a beautiful aesthetic, great music, and some really good ideas, have to be brought down by a seriously uncomfortable romance and a story that fails to deliver?

The Eccentric Family follows the story of a family of tanukis, on a mission to uncover the secret of the father's death at the hands of humans. Now I will say that the one aspect I liked about the cast of characters is that the tanuki family felt very tight knit, like a true family. They are, well, weird, but that doesn't change ... their love for each other. In that aspect, the show did something right.

Also, giving credit where it's due, it really isn't like anything else. and the visuals, as I mentioned, are beautiful. The scenery always looks vibrant and inhabited, the animation is well executed, and the action sequences felt impactful. The music fit the moods and were very well orchestrated.

Now, the show runs into it's major issue when a bland and downright unhealthy "romance" is brought into play. Benten was a downright frustrating character, and every moment she was on screen detracted from my enjoyment. She gets everything her way, she forces herself on the main character, she proudly kills tanukis constantly, and yet the narrative doesn't frame her as a bad person at all. Yasaburo acts like such a doormat that he actually was ok with her, someone who kills tanukis and would love to do the same to him. I even felt that at some moments, the show sexualized this aspect of her personality, which was even worse. She gets no sort of consequences for anything she does, and we are supposed to accept it because "that's the way the world is".

Well, it would have been a much more interesting story if Benten actually challenged how she treated tanukis after meeting Yasaburo, but season 1 doesn't appear to have that at all, and the story delivered here did NOT make me want to watch on. Or better yet, not have a romance subplot at all! Romance doesn't need to be in absolutely every story, and The Eccentric Family's failed attempts at making me want to ship a mass murderer of tanukis with a tanuki is a prime example of a story that didn't need a romance. Even if they had taken the gloves off and made her a full villain instead of someone who constantly does bad things and yet is somehow sympathized with way too much by everyone else, the story would have been better.

So in short, when I watch this show, I get disappointed by what could have been. Maybe if you can handle the badly-written romantic subplot, you'll get more enjoyment out of it than I ever could.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 25, 2021

mha_hater_No1

Not Recommended

Funny

I was onboard with this anime at first. I "got it", the tanuki are carefree, and they accept being eaten by humans. I understand that people adapt to the realities of their lives if it is all normalized by their society. I got all that. HOWEVER, I stopped getting it when they Tanuki react to their trials and tribulations as would any normal human being, except when it comes to being vengeful or hateful.
I understand that many Japanese people believe that being hateful is wrong, but hatred and vengeance is a staple of human society, the reason is purely evolutionary. It exists in all creatures, ... not just humans. When someone does you wrong, you hate them because they hurt you of course, but the evolutionary reason you hate them and want to harm them is to PREVENT MORE harm being done to you or your family again in the future.
As antagonist and protagonists go in this show, you have to turn off your brain to watch this anime. In many cases, you have no idea what goes through their minds at times. I will not post spoilers but I'll give you a story. Imagine your brother gets mutilated and skinned alive by someone in your city, then you go out for a walk with that guy knowing that he might go and mutilate more people, forevermore, and you treat him as a friend, including all the people who help him, or try to push you down to get ahead in life. I am down with Tanuki being accepting of being eaten, but I am then not down with you trying to make me feel sorry for an organism that has the defense mechanism of grass.
There is so much cognitive dissonance in this show I feel that the people who wrote this show were smoking lead fumes when they wrote the story. This truly has so much potential and yet it is an infuriatingly frustrating show. The first few episodes were fine and by the end watching more episodes was like pulling teeth. If anyone you know liked this show, just never speak to them again. They might be walking next to you as you get mugged and then they might want to go get a few beers with your mugger.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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