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

Souma, Shouji Producer

Sakamoto, Kousaku Producer

Reviews

Sep 29, 2013

Stark700

Recommended

Among the many stars in the sky, there's always one that shines brilliantly. But from this summer 2013 lineup, there's also series that shines among the group as well. Perhaps one series that might of slipped under some people's radar is Uchoten Kazoku. (also known as the Eccentric Family)

From P.A. Works comes forth a new anime this summer. Based on a novel written by Tomihiko Morimi (The Tatemi Galaxy), Uchoten Kazoku takes the setting to Kyoto with an eccentric family. Why is the family eccentric? Perhaps one of the reason is that none of them are not actually human. Rather, they are unique or more ... specifically categorized as tanuki. The series details the family, and in particular one child by the name of Yasaburō Shimogamo - the main character and the third son of the Shimogamo.

To start off, the setting of the show takes place in Kyoto. As such, expect an old fashioned and traditional city in a modern life setting. There's the Japanese like atmosphere but combines that with elements of fantasy. That's because the characters of the show are tanuki; Japanese raccoon dog beings native to Japan. But in this story, we have this child named Yasaburo Shimogamo who stars as the main character. He has the ability to shape-shift and plays on a gender bender role in the some of the episodes. Even when we first meet him, he is in the clothes and body of a girl. Oddly enough, Yasaburo plays the role of an ordinary boy with abnormal powers. We also find out that exactly how he lives his daily lives ranging from observing human behavior, engaging in extended conversations with others, and even to warming his butt. Now, that is abnormal.

It's hard to be original these days in the anime industry. Many ideas have been explored but I find this show to be quite refreshing. It takes the Kyoto setting and transform it into an urban fantasy without violence, shounen battles, or a guy being the hero to save the day. Rather, we have dynamic character relationships with the eccentric family being a center of the plot. As for the plot itself, the majority of the series takes on an approach similar to a narrative. Yasaburo is the main character so naturally, we get to see his life from his point of view. The relationships he has with the other family and characters are explored throughout the series. Among one of these relationship that is most noticeable involves with Benten, a member of Friday Fellows. This relationship can be described as very peculiar as maybe on the lines of love/hate. From the surface, we can assume that Yasaburo has a crush on Benten even from the very beginning. On the other hand, Benten is a woman with a mischievous personality and hard to read. Most of the time, viewers will have a hard time figuring out what she's thinking. In one particular moment, she teases that Yasaburo will be her dinner all the while putting on a poker-like face with a noticeable 'smile'.

The show explores the eccentric family so naturally, we get to see their backgrounds as well as their past stories. Some of these stories could spawn emotions especially later on when some truth is revealed regarding Yaichirou and his generation. Perhaps most importantly though is how the characters deal with revelations. Eccentric Family takes on the approach of sadness and presents in a way that seems to be more natural. It's obvious that there are moments when characters wishes something that has happened never happened. However, it's too late now to change anything. Instead, the characters moves forward and accepts the truth but with a silent tone.

As with most family goes, there's also fun and comedy as well. Tomhiko Morimi's Tatemi Galaxy had plenty of comedy presented in an absurd yet very entertaining way. As for this show, it similarly has that style of comedy but presents it in a more sensational way. Yasaburo indeed has character relationships with many of the characters, some more striking than others such as Benten. On the comedy side though, Akadama is perhaps the guy that makes up one half of that duo with Yasaburo. The silliness can also be traced with the family origins in regards to their shapeshifting abilities. Yasaburo can shapeshift and takes form of a girl effectively making him a trap. But more figuratively, he likes to do so especially when visiting Akadama as a way of teasing. Speaking of Akadama, he also sometimes denies what's really there. It's silly in the way of comedy rather than being forced. There's no random scenes of awkwardness in terms of compromising positions to present its comedy. Instead, it's natural and fun. Now, that is effective comedy.

If we talk about dialogues though, this show has what it takes. The dialogues in this series can be taken in as impressive in the way of its style. The words being spoken can be taken with both a sense of realism and also fantasy. It also mixes in the a sort of complexity as family origins are explored that details to their generations. As such, viewers should absorb and take these dialogues for granted as they can be important to recall later on. Finally, the dialogues has a sense of maturity to it. At times, it might come out as silly but its presentation makes it dramatic to listen to.

The term 'fantasy' spells out many ideas. In recent years, anime series have taken on the fantasy to the virtual world, to ghost haunted schools, or to a dark age when Titans are the dominance of its land. However, Uchoten Kazoku takes on the fantasy theme and conveys it in a more traditional way. The tanuki is just one prominent example relating to traditional Japanese folktale based on its raccoons possessing the ability to shapeshift. In such legends, the tanuki uses such ability to cause mischief. This folktale legend can be seen as parallel to this series in the case of Yasaburo. Then, there's also Benten whose character spells out mischievous all over her face. There are also other mystical creatures such as youkai and tengu.

Though the show has an impressive stance and presentation, there are sometimes I scratch my head and wondering what's really going on. The drama around the show sometimes also becomes almost overdramatic and focuses too much on Yasaburo. Additionally, there's a certain lack of diversity in terms of its mythological creatures. Along with that, some of purpose relating to the characters are also vague as a narrative often explores them in concrete details. In this case, narrative takes on a more textbook approach where we sometimes have to go deeper with what Yasaburo sees the modern world as. Finally, there's bits of fan service showing in the case of Benten as a form of tease. Heh, maybe she' just a femme fatale or something but good luck reading her. She's not a textbook with an answer key.

Uchoten Kazoku is adapted from P.A. Works. As a production studio, fans should be aware of their works by now. Their most recent project, Red Data Girl also takes on some Japanese traditional themes and transformed it into anime form in modern era. As for this series, P.A. Works once again puts their talents at work. It does look a bit different though with the character designs looking more simple with nothing breathtaking. The raccoons of the show has an innocence to them while Benten is designed with a mischievous figure. Masayuki Yoshihara's direction of the series also takes on that narrative style so some characters talking might give them a more direct way of speaking; sometimes as if conveying to the audience of their feelings. The backgrounds looks interesting enough though to convey the modern setting of a Japanese folktale lore.

A less noticeable factor of the series could be the soundtrack. As far as music goes, Uchoten Kazoku takes on a natural style of tone with its smooth OST. Yoshiaki Fujisawa coordinates the music and makes it calm to listen to but at the times forgotten since the dialogues and comedy dominates the music base. The OP song also presents an odd feature of an opening while the ED song ("Qué Será, Será) has a more catchy tone. But for all else being said, I give praise to Yasaburo's VA Takahiro Sakurai for voicing the main character. With over a decade of experience, we can clearly see a talent in his character as Yasaburo as whether being a guy or a girl. Additionally, Benten's VA Mamiko Noto gives her character that mischievous tone of voice.

Overall, I would describe this series as fascinating in the sense of its narrative. It's not every day where we see raccoons running around in a human community. But more importantly, we can see a main character's point of view in a modern Japanese city. The dialogues spoken in this series may be difficult at times to interpret or absorb. However, make no mistake as they tie in with a lot of the themes together. As one of the underrated series, I definitely recommend giving Uchoten Kazoku a try especially if you're a fan of comedy-drama or if you've previously enjoyed The Tatemi Galaxy. It's a tale of family fun, storytelling, relationships, and brilliance.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Apr 30, 2017

computerquip

Mixed Feelings

This is a story of a Tanuki who is the son of a great Tanuki. Literally, the entire season is more about his father than the main character. But let me back up a bit to explain these characters...

You have Yasaburō, the main character is a Tanuki, who'm I'll refer to as Yasa for sure.
You have Akadama, the Tengen considered a professor in this season for reasons I'm not sure of.
You have Benten, a very weird girl who is never explained.
You have Sōichirō, who is the father of the main character.
You have Soun, who is the brother of Soichiro. He's the main ... antagonist.

The rest of the characters are pointless to even mention as they have no effect on the storyline what so ever.

For some reasons I guess, the main character takes care of his professor, Akadama, who has lost his wings as a Tengen (literally) due to a reason that is supposedly partially his fault. This is never explained in detail outside of giving the accident a name (The Demonic Tree incident I think? It's mentioned exactly one time).

The story quickly goes into the character of Benten, who we quickly learn joined the Friday Fellows, captured the main characters father, and literally ate him in a pot of soup. Is she the villain? No. The anime paints her as a friend of the main character. The main character doesn't care that she literally ate his father which is frustrating in the least. As a matter of fact, he is for some reason attracted to her. Even then, this Benten character *literally* tells the main character that she will eventually eat him. And yet, he doesn't care. Okay.

Anyways, half the storyline is about a feud between the family of his father's, and the family of his uncle's (from his father's side of course). A quarter of the story is about Akadama losing his wings and him seemingly losing his sanity like an eldery person in an elderly home does (which is apparently "interesting" to other people). The other quarter is the main characters father. Notice that I didn't say the main character has any part of this story line because he doesn't. The storyline shoves in a weird tension between Benten and the main character but it doesn't develop into anything.

**SPOILERS**
The season finale is the main character and his family being captured by the Friday Fellows. They end up learning it was the working of the uncle, Soun. The end. Wait, no explanation on Ben Ten? Or the incident removing Akadama's wings? Or what happened to the Friday Fellows? Or why the main character has no remorse of his father or Benten literally eating his father? No. None of these are answered. There are no clues, there are no dotted lines to put together. I haven't read the manga (if there is one) but this is one rating train I have no intention to jump aboard.

As a matter of fact, this anime left me so wanting for an equalizer, this review is currently acting as a buffer. I feel like this really could have been a good show. But potential is not current reality. Perhaps in later seasons, they will fill in various gaps that are essential to understanding this world but as it is now, you literally don't have enough information to be able to relate to a most characters in this world. Nobody would look at someone who ate their father and not feel something. Nobody but a complete psychopath would eat someones father and not have remorse over killing the father of someone they like. Akadama is relatable but in a way that is nothing but sad, tormented by the fact that he was something great and is no longer. The father was friends with Akadama who didn't seem to give a single shit about the father's death. NONE OF IT IS RELATABLE.

I've read other reviews and some of them just straight lie. Some claim each character is explained very well and go on to say the anime helps us relate by showing their past stories. The main characters past outside of maybe sometime explaining his relationship with Akadama which is where he met Benten, is never explained. Benten's past, the most complicated character in this series, is never even touched outside of the fact that she joined the Friday Fellows and ate Yasa's father. Yasa's brother who turned into a frog is explained but it doesn't explain why other Tanuki are not stuck like he is or why he's treated like some type of folk lore. His mother's past is never explained on why she's afraid of lightning, why she dresses like a captain and plays pool. Yasa's bride-to-be is never explained. She literally saves the mother and THAT'S IT. We know the uncle cut off the marriage (who'm we later learn is the main antagonist) and the mother was upset. BIG section of important story line there just kinda jumped over. The biggest past story is the Father's. We learn why he became respected by Akadama, we learn why they were friends. What we don't learn is why Akadama is okay with him literally being murdered and eaten by some fat fucks in Friday Fellows who frankly should be powerless against both Tengu and the Tanuki. We don't learn about the Friday Fellows other than they're greedy man children who eat Tanuki for seemingly no reason.

There's just not enough information and too many gaps. It's designed as a linear story but it's all over the place.

But... at least the art and sound was well done. Later seasons might also fill in a lot of the gaps and if they do, this season could make a hell of a lot more sense. There's potential but I'm not judging based on potential here.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 27, 2015

Flawfinder

Not Recommended

I've been meaning to revisit Uchouten Kazoku aka The Eccentric Family for a while now. See, when I wrote my first review, I was going through a phase where my tastes were sine-waving between exploitation lover and dirty elitist, which didn't go over well with a lot of my readers at the time. And by Christ was that phase bad. I mean did I really say the show sucked by comparing it to Utena? That's like saying Texhnolyze sucked by comparing it to Legend of the Galactic Heroes. My views on the show haven't changed since then, but now that I've mostly embraced some sort ... of middle ground between enjoying Ingmar Bergman and Russ Meyer at the same time, I thought I'd give a second shot at describing why I wasn't into PA Works first "good" anime, as most people call it.

Let me just reiterate before I start that I by no means hated the show when it was finished and that I was exaggerating for comedic effect as well as to counteract all the unanimous praise regarding an anime that I desperately wanted to like and yet it failed me more than a racing horse that kept farting tires out of its ass whenever it ran half a mile (don't think too much about that metaphor. I certainly didn't). With original source material written by the man behind The Tatami Galaxy and an artstyle completely different from PA Works' usual stuff, something that not even PA Work's second elitist-bait show could get away from, you'd think nothing could go wrong. Well this show and Kyoukai no Kanata sure showed me.

Sometime around the show's end, I read an excerpt that stated that Uchouten was adapted from a book that was actually the first part of a planned trilogy that hasn't been completed yet. And by Christ did that show, because the way this anime played out was like Durarara channeling Ghost Hound in every single negative way imaginable. The anime starts off by throwing you into its fantastical world with no explanation and letting the character interactions do the talking; which sounds cool at first until you realize that by the end of the premiere, they forgot to give you a reason to care and expect the audience to just go along with the whimsy with the promise of paying off at the end.

See, I'm really opposed to this style of storytelling. Just because a good groundwork is required to make an engaging show doesn't mean you're supposed to rely on said groundwork for said engagement. Because more often that not, said groundwork isn't actually as good as it wants you to think and by the end of the show, you realized you got hoodwinked and all you can do is cry whilst Stephen King laughs at you. Every scene should have momentum. It should have a point. And hopefully at the end, said point is actually interesting.

This problem is that you need a plot to have an interesting point and when I realized by the second episode that Uchouten is all story and no plot at all, it just lost me. I know it's a style of storytelling that a lot of people seem to not mind considering the stuff that makes it onto MAL's top 30, but I personally tolerate said style at best and despise it at worst. Characters talk with each other in an attempt to build something up, but they forgot to give me a concrete reason regarding why I should care about the build-up in the first place. And no, I didn't dislike any of the characters or anything. But as much as I like the cast of Rocky, that doesn't change the fact that the fifth film was a giant dull turd.

The show never really gave the tanukis, the Friday Fellows, and especially not Benten anything to do besides talking about their lives whilst building up to a story that doesn't seem to be in service of anything really meaty. Sure Benten riding on a dolphin whilst nude before participating in a fireworks battle is cool to look at, but to what end? Well the end is revealed in the last stretch. It's just that said end is predictable as fuck, and it doesn't even conclude in a satisfactory way, coming across more as sequel-bait to something that hasn't even been written yet. So even if you were into this show for the pure storytelling, Rage of Bahamut-style, I'd argue that the show still falls flat. Did we really need thirteen episodes dedicated to a fizzled climax and family themes are the same standard "family must always stick together no matter what" stuff you see everywhere? I personally don't think so.

Yeah, the dialogue is nice and the presentation is good, but they should inform a plot. Not be the plot. Even the "good" animation showcases have more going on in them underneath "yes, this guy can direct". I mean take Cat Soup (the OVA) for example. It also had great aesthetics and a subtle storytelling method, but in addition to being much shorter, what really makes it stand out as one of the best anime short films in the medium is that the story was about how if you screw with the universe, it'll screw you back. That's an interesting message. That's something I can't learn from high school. "Fun things are fun" is neither of those things - unless you apply said message to something really ironic like Jake Gyllenhal's "I screw people to get the story that'll allow me to obtain money, women, and power" character in Nightcrawler or something. But we're delving too far into subjective territory even by my standards right now, so I should probably wrap things up before I end up trapped in a black hole of no escape.

All in all, the reason I didn't like Uchouten wasn't because it didn't make anything exciting happen week after week (well okay that is the reason, but I didn't necessarily need sword fights occurring on a sinking ship to keep my attention). The reason I didn't like the show is because for all the creativity going into the aesthetics, the actual core is just too safe in its goals to really be filling. It's comfort food anime at the end of the day, and in my screwed-up universe, comfort food anime is about as comforting as anesthesia. You'll feel better after waking up, but you were supposed to pick up your girlfriend an hour ago.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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