Subculture Anime Blog

OP: “KI-ZU-NA ~Haruka Naru Mono e~ 「KI-ZU-NA 〜遥かなる者へ〜」” by Hitomi Yoshida – The animation is pretty standard, but I don’t have any real complaints about it. The song is pretty fitting for the show, and I think it’s kind of catchy.

Summary:

When Noboru arrives back home, he asks his father if it would be okay for a yokai to live with him. He is surprised when he doesn’t mind at all, but Tenko believes this is as expected from the man that Miyako chose. Ko meanwhile observes a picture of Miyako, the boys’ now deceased mother. When Tenko enters the room, she remembers the time she met Miyako in the past. While Noboru prepares dinner, the boys’ father gets acquainted with Ko who will be staying with them. Despite her suggestion that she does not need one, it is suggested that a room will be prepared for Ko. When Noboru presents dinner, Ko and Tenko reveal how unfamiliar they are with things such as utensils and the television.

The next day, Toru accompanies his friends as they go to the convenience store to buy a game. One of the employees there compliments the band on Toru’s wrist, making him remember how he got it. Before Toru left the house, he explained to Tenko that he was going to see his friends because it was summer vacation. Tenko decided to cut off a piece of her hair to give to Toru, making it into the form of a band. Tenko explained that her smell was on the band, but it was not one that humans could sense. While the kids walk home after visiting the store, they discuss how young the owner was and how impressive this was. While Noboru does chores around the house, Ko insists on helping him with some chores. Noboru enters the kitchen to start cooking lunch, then seeing an unfamiliar person in front of the refrigerator. This happens to be Tenko in male form, who simply felt like changing genders for no reason. Tenko then tells Noboru where his brother has gone, assuring him that it was fine that he did not go with him.

Toru arrives home shortly after, and Noboru calls on Ko to have lunch. Tenko asks where the nearest shrine is, then explaining his need to meet the god there. Tenko is disappointed that the boys do not know much information about the deity, but Noboru insists that not many would. Tenko and the boys set out to the shrine after eating, but Ko decides to stay in order to complete her duties. The boys meet the owner from earlier on the way, but they are shocked to find that he realizes that Tenko is a fox deity. Tenko wonders who the owner really is, but he has Tenko introduce himself first. The owner is surprised to hear Tenko’s name, bringing up the rumor about his being sealed by the Mizuchi family. Of course, Tenko explains that he is now in the care of the two Takagami brothers. With this, the owner introduces himself as Ebisu and explains his position. He then reveals that the entrance to his shrine is right next to the store.

Noboru and Toru are surprised that a god would work in a convenience store while they walk up to the shrine, but Ebisu convinces him that this isn’t that strange. Once reaching the top, Ebisu introduces the group to two creatures known as Kouga and Eiga. Ebisu suddenly has these attack Tenko and the boys, confusing them. Toru desperately asks why Ebisu would do something like this, but this does not prevent him from continuing his challenge. Tenko has no objections to the fight, transforming back into a female and generating a flame in her hands. Tenko does well to face the Kouga and Eiga, but she is eventually put at a disadvantage. Toru attempts to help Tenko, but she simply throws him to Noboru for protection. Ebisu quickly captures the two boys in a shadow binding technique, but Ko soon appears to help them. After Ebisu learns who Ko is, he releases the boys from the bind. Ko soon relays information about the deities she is fighting, making Tenko look to the sky. As it is working towards her advantage, Tenko generates a thunderbolt from the sky and has it crash into the ground below.

In the aftermath, the group is surprised to hear Ebisu laughing about the results. He had only caused the ruckus in order for Tenko to destroy the shrine, as he could not do this himself. With this, Ebisu reveals that he only had the shrine destroyed so that he could advance in his business. As the group leaves afterwards, Tenko has them go on without her so that she can talk with Ebisu. When she reaches the top of the shrine’s stairs, she sees that Ebisu now holds a very serious face. Tenko learns that Ebisu had known of Miyako’s presence, and she is shocked to hear that her soul is still lingering. Ebisu regenerates Kouga and Eiga after Tenko leaves, then wondering what would happen from now on.

Preview: Tenko and Ko attend school?

Impression:

So, after watching the first episode for a second time last week, I actually ended up liking it a lot more. I can only suspect that I went into the first episode with the wrong expectations, since I can kind of see this going in a slight slice of life and light comedy direction. The family themes are already pretty enjoyable, and I love Tenko and Ko’s ignorance about modern technology. Speaking of Ko, she is already becoming one of my favorite characters. Her unique character aside, it’s hard not to appreciate Hayami’s voice. I also started liking the ED a lot more after giving it a few listens. On the topic of seiyu, the male Tenko was played by Nakamura Yuuichi (Tomoya in Clannad, Ikuto in Shugo Chara). As fine as his introduction was, I’m definitely a lot more attached to the female Tenko for obvious reasons. More interesting was Ebisu being played by Daisuke Ono. It’s not like he hasn’t done any serious roles in the past, but it has been awhile since I’ve heard one. Despite the humor implemented into this episode, there has already been a lot of development set up dealing with Miyako. The fight was pretty fun to watch as well, so I will probably be able to find this side of the story pretty interesting. I’m more excited about seeing Ko and Tenko’s usual antics though, especially when they head to school in the next episode.