Tonari no Youkai-san

In the town of Engamori, supernatural beings known as yokai, gods, and humans have been living amongst each other for centuries, each striving to lead ordinary, peaceful lives. One day Buchio, a 20-year-old cat, mysteriously evolves into a nekomata, a feline yokai, near the end of his life. Although this allows him to stay with his human family longer, it also makes him question the reason behind his evolution, along with the special abilities that have recently manifested in himl.

Meanwhile, an elementary school girl named Mutsumi "Muu-chan" Sugimoto begins to feel more attached to Jirou, a tengu—a crow-like yokai—and Jirou begins to fill the void left by her late father. While both are unable to properly communicate their intentions at first, they gradually form a companionship where they protect each other.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ooishi, Buchio Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Jirou Main

Higa, Ryousuke Japanese

Sugimoto, Mutsumi Main

Yuikawa, Asaki Japanese

Hayachiyo Supporting

Kaida, Yuuko Japanese

Nishiya, Chiaki Supporting

Kawashima, Tokuyoshi Japanese

Ooishi, Takumi Supporting

Tamura, Mutsumi Japanese

Kobayashi, Tenmaru Supporting

Tachibana, Tatsumaru Japanese

Nishiya, Kazuhiko Supporting

Tanaka, Hideyuki Japanese

Tsubaki Supporting

Ishii, Mizuki Japanese

Patrick Supporting

Kaito, Tasuku Japanese

Yamauchi, Ami Director

Yamaki, Daiki Sound Director

Ikeda, Yuuki Episode Director, Storyboard

Akiyama, Tomoko Storyboard

Reviews

Jun 29, 2024

KANLen09

Recommended

Tonari no Youkai-san - Humans and mythical beings living in harmony...what could go so wrong?

In the era of never-ending wash, rinse, and repeat of fantasy shows (well, most of them being Isekai in their premise), pure fantasy works get lost in the lurch being categorized in the same bunch as their no-life Isekai works, and it's really a shame that we now rarely get these shows that embody a unique sense of originality that you just can't find anywhere within AniManga. Such is the fate of series like the famed female mangaka Yuki Midorikawa's Natsume Yuujinchou a.k.a Natsume's Book of Friends, in which both the ... manga and the anime series are still going strong to this very day after 2 decades. But what if I tell you that there is a work that is just like it, similar but not so much to a degree? Yes, it does exist, and it's one of the underrated hidden gems of the Spring 2024 season: mangaka noho's Tonari no Yokai-san, with the anime being the complete package of the manga's rather short 4-volume long story that's serialized between July 2018 and January 2022.

This seemingly simple story/plot is told through the POV of Buchio, a 20-year-old human evolving into a nekomata a.k.a cat Yokai, residing in the rural village of Fuchigamori, where a small community of humans and Youkai live their daily lives interacting with one another, it's all about finding one's purpose as a new Yokai fledgling and trying to make sense of what he can do so as to not lapse into an existential crisis. At the same time, the human side of the equation, seen through the eyes of Mutsumi "Mu-chan" Sugimoto, apart from witnessing Buchio's evolution into a nekomata, gets interested in Yokai in general, and one such party would be the Fuchibiyama family of the son-grandfather duo of crow (Karasu) Tengu Jirobo a.k.a Jiro and human (Hanataka) Tengu Tazenbo a.k.a Occhan, whom she interacts with a lot.

On the outset, this rather particular community of humans and Yokai seems to be alive and well on the outside. I mean, you have Mutsumi's family that opens their arms to Buchio, letting him understand and develop the peculiarities of Youkai with the people around him, as he attempts to re-learn how to live life in a Youkai state, and yet, still has a human heart within him that feels emotions the same as any other human. On the other hand, Jiro and Tazenbo being Fuchigamori's literate inter-generational Tengu guardians to protect the peace within the village from external factors, the place itself may be the "grass that's greener on the other side," but make no mistake that it's still susceptible to affecting just about anyone not in the know. The kids are the most vulnerable of the group, especially Mutsumi, who, despite feeling right at home with her family, feels that her TRUE identification of a family feels like love so unexplainable that, as jarring as it is, the attachment is there despite the rather unkempt execution that still makes you feel so emotionally raw, and in a harmfully good way.

I shall not go into spoilers (since there's just so much that this show does right, even when you least expect it), but it's better if you go into this show VERY blind, because it is a literate wreck to the heartstrings, teaching about stories of connecting bonds; Yokai trying to learn how to assimilate and acclimate themselves into a very new being of nature; and the most important of all: love and affection that may be the Power of Friendship, but plays out so differently that you don't know what to anticipate. It's a chronicle of many tales, but these tales exist to help and support each other, connecting the physical to the mythical with expressions that are not tropes at all, just the daily vibe of ordinary humanely works that keeps everyone on tabs at all times. You can't ask for a close, well-knitted community like this, it's almost rare to even see one so intimately related.

Of all the Liden Films shows over the past few years, Tonari no Yokai-san is a luscious treat for the eyes. It's just gorgeous and beautiful, and at the same time, not too complicated since the series doesn't have any fancy of the usual genre tropes and the like. Even compared to recent shows like last Summer's Ryza no Atelier a.k.a Atelier Ryza, and especially last Spring's Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia a.k.a Insomniacs After School, it shows that, as a studio, Liden Films could benefit more from the slice-of-life aspect showing off what they're capable of, apart from the countless Shonen works produced over the same period of time. And despite a rather B-team of sorts with Ryman's Club director-cum-series composer Ami Yamauchi (with this show being her 2nd directorial work) together with series composer Tomoko Konparu, this is a ladies'-helmed team that doesn't need to be the most exquisite, but it shows that they could flex too, even if by a teeny-weeny bit.

I just love the OST here, it's so calming and slow-moving to a degree that perfectly hits a series like this, though it does have its hard-hitting moments as well. Pii's OP may be all green with the rosy feeling of rejuvenation, but once you get to Aoi Kubo's ED, just when you think the show couldn't hit you hard enough, it just delivers more with a lovely and calming, yet depressing song that shows the vignettes of a very unforgiving yet thematically unapologetic show in its approach.

In hindsight, you would think that a slice-of-life story involving humans and mythical beings has nothing going for it, but believe me, you'd be only scratching the surface at how deep this series has going for it with its very unique, yet unheard of, approach to storytelling. So much so, that despite this being a manga adaptation and not an original show, this sparks so much originality and creativity that I'm left with a lot of feelings and emotions that just leave me speechless at how good (or great even) the author takes tropes and turns them into a wholly original take to teach the frailties of life and death. You don't get works like Tonari no Yokai-san quite a lot, and to the producers, whoever found this manga and want it to be adapted into an anime, I sincerely thank you for green-lighting this project, because it rocked me to the very core of what it means to be human, Yokai or otherwise. I can't tell you how many times this show made me cry, and for a VERY GOOD reason, because it's just emotionally heartbreaking.

Give Tonari no Yokai-san a try, you'll never find something as unique as this show does. An absolute hidden gem of a dark horse, this show is one certified homewrecker.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jul 3, 2024

red-artist

Mixed Feelings

Informative

Tonari no Youkai-san is a Slice of Life with elements of mystery and heavy drama. The setting is a fantasy world where "yokai" (imaginary beings brought to life due to power of rumors, emotions, desires etc..) live with humans.

Plot
The show starts when a 20 year old pet cat is reborn as a nekomata (a yokai cat with two tails and power to transform). As a newborn yokai, he starts learning the ways of this world and this allows us audience to tag along for the lessons. We keep meeting new characters (around 15+ major cast members at this point) which all have their own ... stories/backgrounds (both current and some flashbacks). At the same time, there is a larger mystery plot unraveling in the background. The pacing is great, leading to a decent climax that provides enough closure for this season.

Review
I definitely love the setting of humans and yokai living together in a slow slice of life with a rural backdrop. And the mystery behind the world's lore is also intriguing. And there are some ridiculous characters (eg: wagen-san) which are memorable.

But, the series has a few negatives:
1. The background stories of characters are often boring and predictable. And they say lines like "How could you understand how I feel?"..
2. Unnecessary "power of friendship" moments. Some dialogues like "I want to protect/save you" feel cringe when its middle schoolers (or even younger children) saying them.
3. Some drama is stretched too much and takes you out of the story.

I would recommend just watching the first episode. The series maintains the same vibe throughout the entire season and you can easily judge if it is to your taste. While I don't regret watching it, I don't exactly feel glad either. Its a decent enough series, that is worth its runtime, but nothing memorable.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 21, 2024

PixelB

Not Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (3/13 eps)

What I hate about this show is that it just slaps on some supernatural beings into the show without integrating any of the actual historical accounts to the shinigami/Japanese folklore. For example, Tengu are said to be mischievous and enjoy playing pranks on humans. Why is Jiro just a literal human being in an anthropomorphic crow body? How about the fact that Buchio was reincarnated from a cat, so wouldn't it make sense for Buchio to have cat-like tendencies, reflexes, etc? I just fail to see the appeal. Even in a game like Touhou, Tengu are seen as people who love gossip, which makes sense ... since their nature is to enjoy pranks. It's not an exact connection, but at least there's some sort of background that makes sense to the folklore/legend that they're portraying in the game.

This show fails to even do the bare minimum when it comes to connecting folklore to characters, which makes me give it an extremely low score. The setting and characters are mere surface-level and don't create any depth for the story.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Tonari no Youkai-san Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - May 25, 2024	31 replies	by Thaliel »» Jan 6, 12:05 AM
	Poll: Tonari no Youkai-san Episode 3 Discussion Stark700 - Apr 20, 2024	26 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Jan 3, 7:35 PM
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