#professor akadama

[soranatus]

Some character designs from The Eccentric Family, with even more from here (x)!

[sailormoonsub]

every single conversation between them is like a ritualistic performance where they both act like Professor Akadama isn’t crushingly lonely and Yasaburo isn’t fully aware of that

[recentanimenews]

The Lonely Queen of The Eccentric Family

Hey all, and welcome back to Why It Works. I have been enjoying the heck out of The Eccentric Family this season, and have been writing up a storm about it over on ANN. The show’s strengths are many, from its gorgeous art design to its thoughtful character work and grand, whimsical vision of Kyoto. But one question I see repeatedly raised regarding the show is “what’s the deal with Benten?” Hauty, ethereal, and callous far beyond a fault, Benten has remained a central character in the show in spite of flitting between hero and villain, and even being largely responsible for the death of our protagonist’s father. The show seems to feel sympathy for Benten, even though she has never repented and never been forgiven. So how can we in the audience forgive her and sympathize with her, or even be expected to?

  First off, I’d say it’s important to draw a clear line between “forgive” and “sympathize with.” In fiction, there are often characters who do heinous things, things that would pretty clearly delineate them as a “bad person,” at least until they’ve clearly and meaningfully repented. But you don’t need to think some fictional character is someone you’d want to hang out with in real life in order to sympathize with them, or believe them to be a good character. Every convincing, human-seeming character will have reasons for what they do, even if those reasons don’t justify their actions. Benten may be a certain kind of villain, but she’s also a person - her perspective is parsable, even if her feelings don’t excuse her crimes.

  Secondly, it’s also important to recognize that The Eccentric Family is, at its heart, a celebration of family. “Family” is right there in the title, and nearly every key dramatic moment of both the first and second seasons has hinged on the importance of Yasaburo coming together with the people he loves. Yasaburo and his brothers bicker and bruise each other, but their underlying love is the foundation of the series, something that their absent father just recently emphasized himself. And “family” isn’t strictly tied to blood relations, either - Yasaburo clearly considers his teacher Akadama to be a member of his family, and even seems to share a familial bond with one-time tanuki-eater Professor Yodogawa. Family are the people you can trust, the people you can rely on to love you even when they don’t like you. Family is home, wherever you may find it.

    Given both those assumptions, Benten’s path through life comes into focus as a truly sorrowful journey. Benten was lifted into the sky by Akadama as a teenager, divorced from the human world where she once belonged. Benten is not a tengu, but she is treated like a tengu by others - afforded deference that only haltingly conceals fear, but never true companionship. Even Akadama, who consistently lusts after her, doesn’t seem to see her as a person. She is an object of worship to him, and the few moments where he actually meets her on her level are precious, fleeting things. Yasaburo seems like the closest person to her, and the one she actually somewhat confides in, but even he sees her more as a goal than a person. Her closest friends treat her with fear and reverence, not familial love.

  Having lost her ties with her original family and found herself unable to relate honestly to her new companions, Benten sought a new family - the Friday Fellows. And in order to buy her entrance into this family, she did something truly unforgivable. Benten’s participation in the capture and murder of Yasaburo’s father was a heinous, callous act, but it was prompted by a desperation she’d never willingly admit. And yet, even within the Friday Fellows, Benten found herself fawned over but never trusted. It’s perhaps only the mercurial and terrifying Jyurojin, the mystical leader of the club, who can truly relate to Benten on her terms. Like Benten, Jyurojin is treated with fear and respect, but never love. Jyurojin has turned his deference into a lifestyle he's comfortable with, but Benten never seems happy with that route.

    Presented with many suitors but no true family or friends, Benten has spent these last two seasons hovering in the periphery of other families, unable to find any true home. With her pride and imposing aura as the only things she can call her own, she cannot simply say “I am sorry for what I’ve done. It was unforgivable, but please, forgive me.” But her actions all through these seasons have reflected her desire to repent. From lending Yasaburo the tea house given to her by her master, to rescuing him at the end of season one, to even consenting to watch over the Trick Magister election, it seems like all of Benten’s meaningful acts have been different ways of saying sorry. And in response, Yasaburo has run from her, cowered before her, and refused to see there is a person standing beneath the moon he admires. What he sees as a funny game of cat and mouse is likely far less amusing to her.

  The contradiction of Benten is that her only power is fear, but her only desire is intimacy. When Benten says “I like you so much I want to eat you up,” she’s lamenting the fact that she cannot get close to people without losing either herself or them. From the moment she first got stolen away by Akadama, she’s only ever been able to impress and control people by maintaining her air of authority and menace. She is consistently denied an open, honest hand, and so she must play the part of the witch or be abandoned and disregarded altogether. She wants Yasaburo to understand she is vulnerable, and yet she could never possibly be vulnerable with him. She wants people she can trust enough to call family, but if she were to take the first step, she’d lose everything.

    Benten is trapped as the icon of loneliness in a show that constantly emphasizes the importance of connection. Having been cast as a figure of power and mystery all her life, she cannot abandon the artifice, because it is all she has. If Benten were to acknowledge she’s all alone, she could very well lose everything - and given the fact that all of her attempts at finding families have failed, she has no reason to believe things will be better this time. Trapped in the periphery of all these happy families, she has embraced her role as the imperious outsider to the best of her ability. All she can do is play her part and hope, waiting for someone to offer her an open hand.

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Nick Creamer has been writing about cartoons for too many years now, and is always ready to cry about Madoka. You can find more of his work at his blog Wrong Every Time, or follow him on Twitter.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[mitsuhasnolifebutwatchesanime]

The Eccentric Family Season 2- Click above to watch on Crunchyroll for free

Wow, what a season (for this anime) and what a series. I am always so blown away with how Eccentric Family came out of almost nowhere in 2013, and was delighted to see it return this year. If you don’t recall the story, or are interested in the first season, the story follows the Shimogamo family, a family of tanuki in their daily lives, blending into Kyoto and working amongst the underground society of Tengu and Tanuki.

This season, while Yaichiro again aims to become the trick master, Yasaburo encounters the disowned son of his master, professor Akadama. Benten returns, tanuki are still on the chopping block for the Friday Club, and a mysterious ramen shop has appeared to cause trouble in Kyoto.

If you’re looking for consistency in animation between seasons of nearly 5 years, this anime looks just as good as the first season, but just as polished. P.A. works continued to push the envelope with their incredibly designs, beautiful color pallets, and some amazing sequences of animation. The story this time around has what feels like a much larger scope, and it feels like it in many of the episodes.

Between now and season one, I had the opportunity to finally watch Tomihiko Morimi’s other work adapted into anime, The Tatami Galaxy. His style of writing is prominent in both completely different adaptations, but I was so glad to get to see another of his works adapted. Something else I learned was P.A. Works recently told the NHK world’s Imagine-Nation that they would be very interested in adapting the planned third book in the Eccentric Family series into an anime. That’s exciting. I really hope this anime gets more traction so they can make that a reality, because this season didn’t quite end on a full, perfect resolution.

Stylistically, I think the Eccentric Family is one of the most impressive looking series to come out in a long time. It’s simplistic style and pop colors allow the characters to be more expressive and do more interesting things. Still, some faith is left behind to be told through the traditional lore through character designs. The opening song this time around matches the first opening with a gorgeous stylistic aesthetic similar to that of the Tatami Galaxy’s opening, plus many call-backs to the previous anime adaptation. It’s a delight to watch and you find something new in it every time. My only hope for the future of the series is that I hope it still has a future. With the third novel planned, I want to see more anime, or even a feature length film.

[newsintheshell]

“Uchouten Kazoku 2”

Serie TV anime, 9 aprile 2017

Seconda stagione della serie anime Uchouten Kazoku (The Eccentric Family) ispirato all’omonimo romanzo di Tomihiko Morimi.

[PV2] [PV3]

-STAFF-

Regia: Masayuki Yoshihara 

Sceneggiatura: Kousuke Kawatsura

Musiche: Yoshiaki Fujisawa

Character design: Kouji Kumeta

Direttore animazioni: Kousuke Kawazura

Studio di animazione: P.A. Works

Sigla d’apertura: "Nasugamama, Sawagumama"di milktub

Sigla di chiusura: "Moon River" di fhána

-NUOVO CAST-

Nidaime (Junior): Junji Majima 

Gyokuran: Yoko Hikasa 

Kure Ichirou: Yuuichi Nakamura 

Tenmaya: Bin Shimada 

-CAST DI RITORNO-

Yasaburou Shimogamo (iil terzo figlio): Takahiro Sakurai 

Yaichirou Shimogamo  (il figlio maggiore): Junichi Suwabe

Yajiro Shimogamo (il secondo figlio): Hiroyuki Yoshino 

Yashiro Shimogamo (il più giovane figlio):  Mai Nakahara 

Benten: Mamiko Noto

Madre (Tosen): Kikuko Inoue 

Akadama Hideyuki Umezu 

Kinkaku: Shuya Nishiji 

Gingaku: Kosuke Hatakeyama 

Kaisei: Ayane Sakura 

Professore Yodogawa: Takehiko Higuchi

Ambientata a Kyoto, la storia racconta le avventure di una famiglia molto particolare. Gli Shimogamo sono infatti dei Tanuki, i leggendari cani procione capaci di trasformarsi in tutto ciò che vogliono, e il loro compito è quello di vegliare un antico santuario.

La prima stagione è andata in onda da luglio a settembre 2013 per un totale di 13 episodi. Fu l'unico anime TV a vincere l’Excellence Award al 17° Japan Media Arts Festival Awards nel 2013. Un adattamento manga è stato pubblicato con quattro volumi.

Sito ufficiale Twitter ufficiale

[quillandslate]

All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. Read along!

In the ninth episode of All in Good Storytime, we discuss episodes nine to thirteen of The Eccentric Family. We discuss how awesome Yasaburo's ex-fiancee Kaisei is, relive the wild year-end bash that the Friday Fellows held next door to the Tanuki Nise-emon election, complain further about Professor Akadama's role as Benten's creepy kidnapper, and rave about how powerful and intriguing Benten is while questioning what it means that Benten eventually chose to return to Professor Akadama.

Next week we will be reading the first eight chapters of Authority by Jeff VanderMeer.

Listen at Quill and Slate or on iTunes.

[glorioblog]

First Look: The Eccentric Family 2

First Look: The Eccentric Family 2

Alternative titles: Uchoten Kazoku Novel (not a Light Novel for once, just thought I’d emphasize that) adaptation by P.A. Works Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

Time has passed. Benten has gone on a mysterious journey while life returns to normal for the Shimogamo family. Everything seems to be going smoothly until one day the Nidaime, Professor Akadama’ estranged son. With a fight between two…

[rabujoi]

No matter how much you think about someone who's moved on to the afterlife, nothing's going to change. It just makes you an idiot.

Akadama-sensei

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Head Space - "The Eccentric Family" A Bond of Blood

Attack on Titan isn’t the only anime this season returning for a second season after a four year hiatus. The Eccentric Family is back and ready to charm, entertain, and wow us with its beautifully animated portrayal of Kyoto courtesy of its director Masayuki Yoshihara. It’s been awhile since the original, so now seems the best time to cover some old ground by going over one of the central themes of the past season which will hopefully see even more screentime in the present.

The Eccentric Family is an oddball anime, portraying the interactions between humans, tanuki, and tengu in one of Japan’s largest cities. It requires buying into the internal logic of the supernatural creatures and their politics to appreciate the inhuman perspectives of the titular Shimogamo Family of tanuki. Despite all the supernatural chicanery, The Eccentric Family sits on a sturdy foundation of communicating the necessity of close personal bonds. Although still reeling from the death of the family patriarch Shoichiro and embattled with their personal struggles, the Shimogamo family are uniquely blessed by their shared blood. Although their eccentricities vary widely from one another, each recognizes that their siblings strangeness is an aspect they inherited from their beloved father.

The Ebisugawa clan acts as a counterexample, headed by a Soun who cut ties with his older brother Soichiro. Soun’s obsession with revenge against his older brother and willingness to act against his own extended family not only positioned him as the primary antagonist of the previous season, but a creature so perverted by hatred that he had become something anathema to the tanuki. Until his betrayal of Soichiro was revealed, the possibility any tanuki would commit such an act had been literally unthinkable. Raised by a father who lusts after revenge, Kaisei has become a recluse ashamed of her own family and the twins Ginkaku and Kinkaku have grown into cruel schemers with terrible fashion sense. 

Where the Ebisugawa’s hoard their immense wealth, the Shimogamo share their meager resources freely, going out of their way to look after anyone they consider a member of their extended family. In addition to supporting each other, the members of the Shimogamo family have taken it upon themselves to provide company to some of Kyoto’s lonely denizens. Tousen sends her sons to visit Professor Akadama who, having lost the ability to fly and abandoned by his kidnapped protege Benten, lives an isolated existence apart from even his fellow tengu. A friend of their late father, Akadama begrudgingly cares for his transplant family where he otherwise might have no one at all.

Nothing can replace these fundamental connections. Where the Ebisugawa’s have immense wealth, Suzuki Satomi has grown into power sufficient to be referred to after the Shinto goddess of fortune, Benten. Her reputation is one of unrivaled invincibility, provided gifts from tengu and tanuki alike as appeasement. She resides at the top of the social hierarchy among all three races. For all this, she may be the most tragic character in the series.

Existing above everyone else also means being separated from them. Kidnapped as a high schooler, she was removed from her family and deprived of forming connections during what is considered to be the most socially formative period of Japanese life. As much as she is respected for her power, Benten is also feared among the tanuki and tengu. Left alone at the top, she has grown capricious, seeking out entertainment by playing individuals against one another. Her life has become a constant search for brief moments of happiness, leading to her reputation for early exits when, as her amusement fades, she departs in frustration. Everything else comes to her so easily that this mysterious, unattainable thing hangs over her.

The first season revolved not only around the Shimogamo family, but also around the interactions between Yasaburo and Benten. His ability to approach her without fear or want represents the single most intimate relationship she has. They may both find each other fascinating because each possesses an excess of what the other lacks. Despite this, Yasaburo is the one who is content with life. Benten laments her own fickle nature, thinking it a shame that one day she may end up eating Yasaburo and, in doing so, kill her golden goose of kindness. Despite her warnings, she has never turned Yasaburo away when he requests a favor and offered her aid unasked when his family is endangered.

It was the Shimogamo clan’s friendships with both Akadama and Benten, as well as their own willingness to put themselves at risk for their family (where others might be more inclined to protect their own butts) that ultimately saw them through the end of the first season. Although each of their personal struggles were far from resolved, the season ended on an optimistic note that their mutual support would see them through any adversity and even implied Akadama and Benten may yet find peace in their familial warmth.

Despite Benten’s departure, the cast of The Eccentric Family continues to grow with the introduction of Akadama’s son(?) Nidaime and yet another brother of the Ebisugawa clan in Kureichiro. It's my hope that these newly revealed members of the Shimogamo's extended family will drive the season toward new insights and resolutions in the conflicts that have fractured their homes. The first season did a wonderful job of signaling the importance of the Shimogamo's close ties and building upon their deep bond. Perhaps Yasaburo's talent for getting himself involved in the affairs of others may coax them into that same warmth. Blood may be thicker than water, but you need both to live.

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Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll and author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[recentanimenews]

milktub and fhána Perform Theme Music for "The Eccentric Family 2"

  Originally announced back in January, Crunchyroll missed covering that the opening and ending theme performers have been announced for The Eccentric Family 2, the upcoming TV anime sequel series based on Tomihiko Morimi's novel about a family of shape-shifting tanuki living in modern Japan. Now new details are available:

    The opening theme, entitled "Naru ga mama Sawagu mama", is performed by milktub. The ending theme, entitled "Moon River", is performed by fhána. Both songs will be released as singles in Japan on April 26, 2017, and each song will retail for 1200 yen ($10.60 US) plus tax. Additionally, the single for "Moon River" will come in 2 versions, one featuring original artwork and one featuring artwork from The Eccentric Family 2 anime.

    The Eccentric Family 2 is directed by Masayuki Yoshihara and features animation by P.A. Works. In this sequel to the 2013 TV series, the Shimogamo family are a carefree group of tanuki who transform and blend in with human society. Once again their lives are thrown into chaos when the estranged son of their tengu friend, Professor Akadama, returns home after a century-long absence and begins causing trouble among both the tengu and the tanuki.

    The Eccentric Family 2 will begin broadcasting on Tokyo MX, KBS Kyoto, and other Japanese TV stations beginning on April 09, 2017.

  Sources:

Ota-suke

Official The Eccentric Family 2 TV anime home page

  Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[recentanimenews]

The Eccentric Family 2

I really enjoyed the first season of The Eccentric Family. It was whimsical and magical in a very low-key way, even when the stakes became very high for Yasaburo and the rest of his tanuki buddies/family. Of course it always helps when the art is pretty as well, I liked the semi-flat, far less moe than most PA Works shows, style and there are still so many scenes that I can crisply remember thanks to both this artwork and their tone. I was excited for the second season of the show, I wasn’t quite sure what else needed telling in the story but I was up for it! And now that the second season has ended I’m left asking myself, What was the point of that season? The second season was not bad but it did not have the clear character developement and drive of the first season. I’ve seen folks mention that the source material for The Eccentric Family is a book series and while it’s set to be a trilogy the final book isn’t out yet (all I’ve heard about it is that it contains The Great Tengu War WHICH I AM SO DOWN FOR). That would explain some things, in my opinion the middle installment in a trilogy is the trickiest story to tell satisfactorily since it lacks the natural draw and tidiness that comes with either a beginning or an ending.  And it certainly feels like we’re in the middle of Benten’s story. I was a bit frustrated that this season didn’t do even more with her since she is the most fascinating character in the series. It’s not that I don’t love our tanuki main cast but we already know them well; from their histories, hopes, to why their conflicts play out as they do. But Benten, born human Satomi Suzuki and spirited away and then trained by Akadama into becoming a tengu, is a real mystery all around (fun tidbit, it looks like Professor Yodogawa’s assistant is her brother!). Equally mysterious is another character with a name that’s not a name, Nidame (literally, The Second) who appears to be Benten’s inverse; a tengu (whom at this point I’m presuming born to Akadama) but who vocally eschews his tengu status, despite constantly doing things no human could. This is a thematic conflict ripe for development, even though I fear it might make the story messier as a whole (if, as Yasaburo says, there are tanuki, humans, and tengu, is it possible for someone to switch classes? And what about those oni in the demon world? Etc etc)  The Eccentric Family 2 advanced some of the plots surrounding the Shinogami Family but it did not change anything about the larger tanuki society, or the even larger Kyoto society, really at all. And that’s where this season fell flat for me. The Eccentric Family is clearly a story with ideas of mixing in themes and conflicts between both personal and larger levels and yet it didn’t deliver this time. I can only hope that this second season was one of house-keeping, merely tidying up, for a grander, more foolish, finale.   By: noreply@blogger.com (Helen)

[recentanimenews]

Failed Tanuki and Half-Baked Tengu: Identity and Community in "The Eccentric Family"

Failed Tanuki and Half-Baked Tengu: Identity and Community in The Eccentric Family – Part 2

By Dee Hogan

“Tengu, tanuki, humans... why are all of you so foolish? I'm completely surrounded by fools!”

In Part One of our winding two-part Tour de Kyoto, we talked about the assumptions and expectations attributed to the tanuki, tengu, and human populations that inhabit The Eccentric Family's world, as well as how the pressures to live up to an unattainable group ideal affected Akadama and the four Shimogamo brothers. Here in Part Two, we'll take the show's exploration of personal and group identity one step further, looking at the characters who defy their “natures” and deny their names, and how the lines between the three groups get blurrier as the series progresses.

What does it mean to be a tanuki? A tengu? A human? Is there any real distinction at all? Our characters insist there is, but their actions tell a different story.

“Tanuki Don't Do Horrible Things Like This” - Stereotypes and Falsehoods

“A tanuki who boils tanuki in a hot pot? We're not talking about tengu or humans here. Such a cruel tanuki does not exist in this world.”

It seems like for every individual who's the epitome of what a tengu, human, or tanuki is “supposed” to be, there's another who doesn't fit that generalization at all. Akadama is fierce and proud to the point of hurting himself because he refuses to ask for help or admit he's lonely, but his retired tengu buddy is amiable, looks after others, and is more than happy to join tanuki on a leisure cruise without making a big fuss about it. Likewise, Friday Club leader Jyurojin is a self-serving human who uses others and takes what he wants, while Professor Yodogawa sacrifices his career and throws himself in front of a gun in order to protect tanuki.

And, of course, standing opposite the “magnificent tanuki” Shimogamo Souichiro is his estranged brother, the embittered Ebisugawa Soun. Clinging to his goal of becoming the Trick Magister, there's no question that Soun sees himself as a tanuki even as he sheds (sorry) the characteristics that supposedly make tanuki what they are, going so far as to conspire to have his fellow furballs boiled in hot pots.

Soun makes for a dangerous antagonist not just because he's the antithesis of assumed tanuki behavior, but because he's aware of those assumptions and uses them to his advantage. When Yaichiro publicly accuses him of conspiring with the Friday Club to have both him and his father killed, Soun argues that “no tanuki would ever do that,” so clearly Yaichiro is lying. That his words echo Tousen's from the previous episode shows that the rest of tanuki society is inclined to agree with him.

The fact is, though, that Soun did do everything Yaichiro says he did. So either he isn't a tanuki even though he calls himself one, or the image that tanuki have of themselves is at best over-simplified and at worst flat-out wrong. Just as a “self-serving” human can risk their life to defend a tanuki, so too can a “peace-loving” tanuki betray his own. And if that's the case, then what does it mean to be a tanuki, or a tengu, or a human at all?

One obvious answer is that it ultimately comes down to that “blood” which is so important to the Shimogamo family. After all, despite not perfectly matching the stereotypes associated with their groups, no one ever denies that Akadama is a tengu, Yodogawa is a human, or the Shimogamo and Ebisugawa clans are all tanuki. Others might call them “pathetic,” “outcasts,” or “failures,” but they don't question their places among the three Kyoto spheres. So maybe “to be a tanuki” is simply to have been born to a couple of raccoon-dogs, and there's nothing more to it than that.

Except, well... there might be more to it than that.

“I Am (Not) a Tengu” - Birth and Choice

“I'm sure you'll become a sly old tanuki someday.”“And you'll become a magnificent tengu, Nidaime.” “I'm not going to become a tengu.”

Just when it looks like we might have a neat, tidy explanation of how to define the three spheres of Kyoto, Akadama's two “kids” have to come along and throw a wrench in the works.

Benten and the Nidaime are a pair of mirrors, identical and opposite. They both have all the fierce pride and elemental powers associated with tengu, but while Benten was originally a human forcibly trained to become a tengu, the Nidaime was originally a tengu who chose to reject that role. In so doing, they both challenge the idea that one's birth determines one's place on the “ladder” of Kyoto society—but they also imply that the price for breaking away is a great deal of loneliness.

Benten flies between spheres and worlds, a force of chaos existing everywhere and owning little. The Nidaime holes up in an isolated mansion, a force of order surrounded by a mountain of possessions.

Benten accepts and collects identities (Suzuki Satomi, Benten, human, tengu, half-tengu, celestial maiden, demon) as if they're gifts she doesn't hate but isn't all that attached to. The Nidaime won't take any identity at all, rejecting “tengu, tanuki, and humans” alike as unrefined fools. He doesn't even have a name, really, as “Nidaime” is just a title meaning “second generation.” He denies this title but never offers an alternative, leaving him functionally nameless. His lack of identity stands in sharp contrast to Benten's surplus.

“Dammit, you humans really are so nasty...”“I'm a tengu!”“Nope, you're a human. No matter what you do, human.”

In short, Benten defines herself as positive and multiple while the Nidaime defines himself as negative and null. Yet there's an awful lot of similarity in those differences as well. Both struggle to (or are unable to?) establish a single affirmative identity because none of the ready-made labels fit who they want to be. And, when they do attempt to define themselves, Yasaburo denies them those labels, as he initially insists Benten is a human (although in Season 2 he does seem to have accepted her position as Akadama's successor) and teases the Nidaime for saying “tengu-like” things.

Perhaps most importantly in a story with “family” in the title, both exist just outside the three Kyoto spheres. They lack a proper supportive community, with only the tenuous (if not outright hostile) bonds with Akadama, Yasaburo, and one another to keep them anchored to the city at all. Lost as they both are, lacking not just a group but a solid sense of self entirely, it's no wonder they're simultaneously drawn to and repelled by each other.

Rumor has it The Eccentric Family is intended to be a trilogy of novels, and I suspect that however Benten and the Nidaime's stories conclude will tell us a lot about where the series falls on these questions of identity and blood relations. Given the way Yajiro has returned to tanuki society and Yasaburo has accepted his betrothal to Kaisei, it's entirely possible Benten will go back to being “just a Suzuki Satomi” and the Nidaime will accept his role as Akadama's successor.

Personally, though, I hope that's not the case, or at least that it's not that simple. The series has already spent a lot of time blurring the boundaries between groups and suggesting that the lines between tanuki, tengu, and humans are either very flexible or outright nonexistent. Maybe they can't control the accident of their birth, and maybe that birth will affect some of the things they can do, but The Eccentric Family doesn't seem to think it fully defines them, either. It's more complex than that, particularly when those spheres start to mingle and clash—for better and for worse.

“Poking My Nose In” - Blurred Borders and Fallen Walls

“Long ago, a wise, old tanuki once said: 'Tengu getting involved in tanuki disputes...this is no good.  Tanuki getting involved in tengu disputes... this is also no good.' I didn't like that saying.”

In addition to the variety of individuals within a group, there's also a growing sense throughout the series that there's a lot of similarity between groups as well. Despite those allegedly separate spheres of ground, city, and sky, our three groups are not nearly as distinct as they think.

Everywhere in the story we find instances of the groups interacting and interfering with one another. Our “model tanuki”

Souichiro starts this trend when he helps Akadama kick a gang of rowdy Kurama tengu off his mountain. Yasaburo carries this proud tradition into the next generation, as his two “sensei” are a tengu and a human, he's initially smitten with a human/tengu, and even briefly has the “honor” of being a member of the Friday Club.

These relationships can get messy and cause trouble, but they can also be quite beneficial. Despite that “wise old tanuki” who warned everyone to stay out of each other's business, the series itself doesn't seem to be advocating for “like to stay with like.” It's more nuanced than that.

True, humans getting involved with the supernatural has led to Jyurojin taking to the skies like a tengu and Tenmaya being able to trick tanuki. But Yodogawa's connection to Tousen and Yasaburo could spark an end to tanuki hot pots (two years in a row is a good start!), and Akadama's reluctant “adoption” into the Shimogamo family has helped both him and the tanuki  (Yaichiro and Gyokuran might never have gotten up the courage to say “I love you” without his interference, after all). The “good” or “bad” of each relationship all comes down to the individuals themselves.

These blurred boundaries aren't just a matter of hanging out together—it's also about how each character thinks and behaves. Benten may have the pride of a tengu and the fickle possessiveness of a human, but she also has the fun-seeking impulse of a tanuki. Like Yasaburo, she can't resist the urge to get involved in others' disputes, so it's no wonder the two echo each other in their excitement about things getting omoshiroi (a catch-all term the subtitles translate as “interesting,” “amusing,” or “fun” depending on context) in the second season.

There are echoes like that throughout the series, in fact. Jyurojin and Souichiro both like to say that “an omoshiroi thing is a good thing,” and Yodogawa surprises Yasaburo when he blames his love of eating on his “fool's blood.” All of which continues to hammer home the point that the clear lines between tanuki, tengu, and human simply don't exist. Everyone can be fickle, or possessive, or so wrapped up in themselves that they lose sight of others. Everyone has their pride. And everyone has more than a little of that fool's blood running through their veins.

“Everything is Fun to Me” - Eccentric Families and Interesting Lives

“I don't care if you're a frog or what you are. I'm just happy to have you all in this world.”

So if a tengu can be flightless, and a tanuki can boil his own kind in a hot pot, and a human can have a love of the omoshiroi, and anyone can decide to become a tengu (or not), then what the heck makes someone an anything at all? Are we defined by who we say we are? By how we act? By the place we were born? What makes someone tanuki or tengu or human?

This is normally the part where I'd come swooping in with a Grand Conclusion, but the more I examine the series, the harder it is to find a single, succinct answer. Just when I think I have it in my hands, like a wily tanuki or a whimsical half-tengu, it always finds a way to slip free, scrambling into the underbrush or flying off into the night.

And maybe that's the point. Like the doors that fall down between the humans, tanuki, and tengu during the first Trick Magister election, or the train that crashes Benten's chaos straight into the Nidaime's order during the second, maybe it's so mixed-up and muddled that the lines are supposed to disappear altogether.

Yes, there are arbitrary divisions and power structures within this Kyoto, but should there be? Why must tengu be obeyed and respected? Why do tanuki have to accept their fate as part of a human's hot pot? And why do humans need to put tanuki in hot pots at all?

There's no reason, really. Yasaburo proves that when he cheerfully outwits and uses the tengus' pride to his own advantage. Yaichiro and Gyokuran prove it when they crash the Friday Club's party to rescue Yasaburo and Kaisei from the hot pot. And Yodogawa proves it when he founds the “Thursday Club” to keep tanuki safe.

So maybe this idea that tanuki, tengu, and humans are “like this” or “like that” is fallacious from the get-go. Maybe each character's “identity” has nothing to do with the groups they were born into or the arbitrary name they call their own, and everything to do with their individual temperaments and—perhaps most importantly—relationships with one another.

None of our characters are who they are because of some ingrained “truth,” but because of the lives they'd led and the relationships they've had with others. It's enough to be a single person meeting another single person, clashing or commiserating, forming bonds of love or hate or both. A Benten influencing a Yasaburo. A Tousen changing a Yodogawa. Teachers instructing their students. Parents leaving their marks on their children. And on and on.

Ultimately, then, maybe it doesn't come down to broad social groups based on faulty generalizations, but to families—to the community each person decides to trust and spend time with and protect. To the “home I can come back to,” as Yajiro says when he leaves on his journey.

The Shimogamo mom and brothers are so tightly knit and their senses of selves so much stronger than the Akadama “kids” not because they identify as tanuki or share genetics, but because they look after and support one another. Their community isn't defined by arbitrary expectations and stereotypes. It's defined simply by having people who love them.

Our central community doesn't stop there, though. Thanks in large part to Yasaburo's mingling and meddling, he's expanded his family to include the tengu Akadama, the human Yodogawa, and the two tanuki Gyokuran and Kaisei. You could also argue that he's (hesitantly) extended hands to both Benten and the Nidaime, though both are so caught up in trying to stand apart as individuals that they haven't accepted his offer yet.

In The Eccentric Family, individuals and communities aren't about three distinct groups and their rigidly defined spheres. They're muddled: Tanuki and frogs, tengu and half-tengu and not-tengu, humans who eat tanuki and humans who defend them. Unique, messy individuals with unique, messy relationships. “Delicate balances” and “wise old tanuki” be damned, Yasaburo has the right idea here. Watching this diverse, chaotic wheel spin is a whole lot more interesting.

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About the author, Dee Hogan

Dee is a nerd of all trades and a master of one. She has bachelor’s degrees in English and East Asian studies and an MFA in Creative Writing. To pay the bills, she works as a technical writer. To not pay the bills, she devours novels and comics, watches far too much anime, and cheers very loudly for the Kansas Jayhawks. You can hang out with her at The Josei Next Door, a friendly neighborhood anime blog for long-time fans and newbies alike, as well as on Tumblr and Twitter.

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    The Eccentric Family is available now for viewing on Crunchyroll!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[quillandslate]

All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. Read along!

In the seventh episode of All in Good Storytime, we begin watching The Eccentric Family an anime based on a 2007 Japanese comedy-drama novel written by Tomihiko Morimi. In The Eccentric Family we are introduced to a group of tanuki and tengu in Kyoto. Tanuki are mischevious shape-shifters and Tengu are bird-like creatures.

The protagonist is a Tanuki named Yasaburo of the Shimogamo family. He was once taught by a Tengu, Professor Akadama, along with a mysterious human woman with Tengu powers named Benten. We explore the love connections that Benten has formed, discuss the hot pot induced death of the father of the Shimogamo family, make predictions regarding an arranged marraige, plan our vacation to Kyoto, gush over how cute Tanuki are, and complain about the rude Professor.

Listen at Quill and Slate or on iTunes.

[recentanimenews]

Crunchyroll Adds "The Eccentric Family" to Anime Catalog

If you've been wanting to go back and check out the first The Eccentric Family series, or revisit it for a repeat viewing, Crunchyroll has you covered. The series has been added to the anime catalog, with all episodes currently live.

  The Eccentric Family is available to Crunchyroll members in the United States and Canada.

  Synopsis:

In Kyoto, humans, tanuki, and tengu live side-by-side. The Shimogamo family lives in Shimogamo Jinja’s Tadasu no Mori. The father, Soichiro, used to be the head of tanuki society, but without warning one day he was made into tanuki stew, and no one knows how it happened. He left four sons behind. They all live happily with their mother. After taking care of Professor Akadama, the Shimogamo family suddenly finds itself in a desperate fix. Will the truth behind how their father got stewed be revealed?! What does fate have in store for this strongly bonded family?!

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Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his webcomic, BIG DUMB FIGHTING IDIOTS, every week at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[recentanimenews]

Key Visual and Trailer Herald the Return of "The Eccentric Family 2"

  The Eccentric Family is returning for a 2nd season in April of 2017, and the official home page for the TV anime based on Tomihiko Morimo's novel about an ecclectic family of shape-shifting tanuki living in the human world has updated with a new key visual (above), a new trailer (below), and new cast listings for new characters in the upcoming season.

    The new cast members announced include:

    Junji Majima as Nidaime.

    Yōko Hikasa as Gyokuran.

    Yuichi Nakamura as Kureichiro Ebisugawa.

    And Bin Shimada as Tenmanya.

    The Eccentric Family 2 is directed by Masayuki Yoshihara and features animation by P.A. Works. In this sequel to the 2013 TV series, the Shimogamo family are a carefree group of tanuki who transform and blend in with human society. Once again their lives are thrown into chaos when the estranged son of their tengu friend, Professor Akadama, returns home after a century-long absence and begins causing trouble among both the tengu and the tanuki.

  The Eccentric Family 2 will begin broadcasting on Tokyo MX, KBS Kyoto, and other Japanese TV stations beginning on April 09, 2017.

  Sources:

Ota-suke

Official The Eccentric Family 2 TV anime home page

  Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[rabujoi]

- I told you, didn't I? To go easy on the screwing around? - At any rate, I'm a tanuki, so I can't do that so easily.

Akadama-sensei and Shimogamo Soichiro