Bai Yao Pu

This donghua was quite the surprise. It's not a show you can light-heartily watch, because each episode does its best to wring on the audience's heart strings. And this is exactly what this season is about: unraveling all the colors of the human heart:
"Who will break the deadlock,
Hard to heal the mind, at least there is the heart" - (from the opening)
A powerful yet mysterious bell.
A name that makes spirit hope for salvation or run away in fear.

We follow the wandering about of a young girl called Táo Yāo (桃=peach; 夭= die young). She is a doctor, ... but she only treats spirits and not humans. However, through each episode we learn more about human emotions and behaviors.
The English title of the show is: "Manual of Hundred Demons". It tells us a lot about the story. Although we don't know a lot about this mysterious book, there is one certainty: Bai Yao Pu doesn't focus on the main character, but on the Demons. Every couple of episodes tells a self-contained story. They are the beautiful stories of the demon-patients, their memories of the mortal realm.

Every episode touches the strings of the tragic and the comic of life. The latter is expressed through the relationship between Tao Yao and her companions, while the first one is represented by the stories of the demons.
Their memories are told through flashbacks and direct narration and have a "tragic" dimension in the sense of classical tragedy: emotion and struggle against fate, which can be life or the limits of one's existence. Laughs, first times, tears, joy, pain all come together as the story of each character develops. The power of the narrations in each episode makes Tao Yao almost disappear; she is, in fact, the "glue" that works as a bridge between each episode and, on another level, as the bridge between the outside and the conscience of the patient.

She is the bridge between us and the "xin" (to use the Chinese word for heart that also indicates the mind, so the "heart-mind"). She is a psychoanalytic device that can bring to the outside the problems that involve the "inside". That's what she does: through the power of the bell, she finds the string of the heart that contains the illness, which means she cures the root of the emotional and physical crisis (which is understandable also because ancient Chinese thinkers believed in a powerful relation between the heart-mind and the body).

But, even though demons are the ones to be cured, at the end of each episode they seem to have unraveled a new aspect of human mind-heart and morals. They say there's no better way to understand one's reality than understanding the reality of others, this show proves this idiom is right. Demons try to understand humans and us humans can have a cathartic realization of what makes us humans:

"The true meaning of great love is dedication" (-from the opening)

All the stories are not banal and therefore are plenty of details that make them "particular" (special and peculiar, unique); but at the end of the day they underline all the ways in which human relations are given and show all the types of love and dedication. All these things have the right to be heard. Emotions overcome the ideas of "right and wrong":

"Unwilling to listen to others/the wind blows. We walk through the snow
together/Good will bloom/Forget the pain/Blame the bell/Couldn't wake up
the indistinguishable soul/ Wait till dawn /Clear black and white / Gods are
dumb during the showdown between justice and evil/ Forget sorrow and joy/
Pawns in the game correlates with right and wrong/ Who will break the
deadlock." (- from the opening)

Tao Yao seems also to have a story to tell and a deadlock to break in the future of the series...

In conclusion, this is a story about demons. But at the end this ends up to be the most natural expression of humanity and the of meaning of being human, of the meaning of being alive and have a dedication. For a show that is set in a world of gods and spirits, everything screams "MORTAL" and death.

"There are hundreds of fairies
All can distinguish good from evil
Humans only have one heart
But it's unpredictable" (-from the ending)

What happens when a "mind" that can only see black and white meets a heart that is blinded by the shades of grey? They complete and become each other, understanding more of themselves, while the spectator has the privilege to see the whole picture: "heart-mind", xin, indeed.

OVERALL: 8/8 (very suggestive, although lacking the features of a masterpiece)
ENJOYMENT: 8/8 (I would define it as an emotional experience, that can make
you bore or cry and smile; it's not an epic journey, nor a life-
changing masterpiece, but it manages to make you think
about reality, relationships and emotions)
STORY: 7/10 (hope it'll get better in season 2)
ART: 9 (wonderful palette of colors and very good animation)
SOUND: (the original soundtracks are really evocative)

For sound and art, check out the opening theme:
https://youtu.be/FaAcojegweY

Bai Yao Pu is often said to be a Chinese Mushishi. On the surface, they're very similar, but peel back a layer and they're distinctly different. Whereas Ginko from Mushishi travels around to solve problems for humans related to mushi, Tao Yao from Bai Yao Pu is a famed doctor that travels around to cure diseases for yaogwai (youkai in Chinese) related to humans. Tao Yao resolves these anxieties in exchange for part of their bodies as medicine in the future. She has a Hundred Demon Manual with the names of each race of yaogwai, which she had lost prior to the start of the ... show, so in essence the meta-plot is like a reverse Natsume Yujincho, where instead of giving the names back to the youkai, she is looking for her stolen book. None of this comes up in the plot, so it is unimportant for the first season.

Structurally, Bai Yao Pu is much simpler, choosing to forgo much development on the protagonists in favor of sticking to 2 episode arcs, focusing on the anxiety of the yaogwai by exploring their history. She is accompanied by an annoying self-righteous monk child that serves as comedic fodder. I often wished that he would shut up, but luckily most of the time in episodes were spent on the yaogwai flashbacks, which were surprisingly dramatically satisfying and engaging, never felt superfluous, and never dragged out their welcome. These stories have a timeless dimension that generalize. They don't focus on trifling angst of many shounen anime. There are no crying children or shallow plots of revenge here. They are more along the lines of finding happiness in simplicity, or becoming jaded in adulthood, or sacrificing love for a friend -- themes that well-rounded adults could contemplate.

In further contrast, the philosophy behind Mushishi is more introspective and abstract, where the mushi dwell in subconscious of human culture. Mushi are on the whole separate but sometimes interact, incidentally threatening humans. They are born out of emotions and insecurities. It could be said that the yaogwai from Bai Yao Pu often exists to interact with humans, where myths are born from their presence instead of the reverse. They are more benevolent and exist as part of the societal order. Therefore, while each story in Mushishi starts off human, then goes off into some philosophical perspective, Bai Yao Pu remains grounded in the human experience. The philosophy is very much focused on human relationships, human tragedies, and finding beauty from the silver lining.

Ultimately, I find Bai Yao Pu fulfilling and rewarding, if not a bit difficult due to how relatable the stories are. It is not an archplot that drives a narrative forward. It does not draw me in to escape into a fantasy world. Rather, every story, every world relates back to a difficult emotion in the real world. Every arc causes me to ponder very much like Mushishi did, except instead of mulling over obscure insights I've never before considered, Bai Yao Pu invites me to revisit family and friends, and life goals.

Do not get mistaken by the suprisingly low rating. This is a 5 stars anime. For the simple reason that Bai Yao Pu did simples things right: Clean art, a setting which makes sense, good pacing, attention given to every single episode and authentic characters.

Bai Yao Pu isn't action packed nor does it have a general arc. However it doesn't need to since it tells stories so well it will leave you craving for the next episode. It may give you an athmosphere similar to "Violet Evergarden" . With a very different female MC but equally likable.

Usually I am not a fan of the episodical ... arcs format. But the last scene may gives us something for season 2. If it doesn't I do not care too much. If the quality matches this season I will be very glad.

I prefer taking a break between 2 seasons and watch a different genre. But not this time. I gave it a 10 because I do not find the overall rating reflects the quality of this anime. So far it is the show I've enjoyed the most in 2022.