Oni: Kamigami Yama no Onari

Oni: Kamigami Yama no Onari - from here on just referred to as Oni - is an unassuming little show I found on Netflix and just went in completely blind due to it very charming stop-motion animation and all of the characters looking like little dollhouse toys. And for the most part, that is where I think Oni is at its strongest.

The environments feel lush and beautiful, all of these fantastical creatures are like tiny children in a big, beautiful forest. The Animation itself is a hybrid between actual stop motion and CG-Animation, which for the most part blends incredibly well and helps make the ... most of the characters and their different textures as well as ways to move around. Some don't have appendages, others can fly, but all emote fairly well. Ostensibly, this show is meant for children, and the fairly simple, straightforward story and simplistic characters confirm that, but due to how well-made, lovingly detailed and genuinely charming Oni is, it's really watchable for everyone. The locations especially- the house Onari lives in with her father, the school, the clearings in the forest - show plenty of things to see if the story or any given scene doesn't particularly grab your attention. Because attention-grabbing definitely is one thing this show is not, apart from some dramatical scenes with heightened emotions and the last episode, it's mostly a show to kick back to and enjoy the environments, like a walk in the forest.

As for the story, as I eluded to before; originality isn't its strong suit, showing a headstrong little girl named Onari, with a mysteriously absent mother who left her just one item, who finds that she doesn't quite seem to fit in with her peers of other little Yokai children, discovering their mystical powers for the first time. Later on, the story is paralleled with another child finding themself in a predicament similar to Onari's, and it's also a very nice bond that deverlops between the kids. Even the conclusion foregoes the obvious solution and instead encourages Onari to choose her own path despite what others think. I am not a child, but I have relatives who are, and I can definitely see the message reaching them.

In the end, the show kinda just comes in, does its thing, and then leaves, but once in a while, having a show like that is just fine, and if you have really young pre-teen siblings, relatives or even children of your own, this show is wonderful as a thing to be shared between you, or even just for yourself to return to childhood feelings of whimsy for a few hours.

Oni is a very cute, whimsical little show featuring a cast of Yokai from Japanese Mythology.
It is about Onari and her small village preparing for the next blood moon. A time where the evil Oni spirits will attack the small village, but it is also about her complicated relationship with her mute father.
The characters designs give a very soft and fluffy feeling and exude personality. The environments and effects are gorgeous to look at.
It is a very touching story for kids.

HOWEVER, my biggest complaint is the animation itself, the creators were originally going to make this a Stop-Motion animation before the scope of the ... story got to big to do it in this style, so they decided to go for 3D animation with a "Stop-Motion" style mixed with an old 80s animation style by giving it strong key frames, BUT, this just doesn't work. It takes almost an entire episode for your brain to adjust to it and even than it still give you a headache. at first I thought Netflix was having trouble streaming the video before I realized it was on purpose. It just comes across as lazy like the animation team exported everything at like 10fps because they had issues with render times. For me this choice kind of ruined the entire series for me. If this was rendered at a smooth 24-30 fps it could of been one of my favourite shows this year.