I really had no idea I’d manage to write so much while at work … All hail being a full-time secretary!
The story of Uchouten Kazoku is the story of a family of tanuki, these tanuki each have their own personality and quirks and they are all weird. We follow them through fun and less fun events.
It sounds like something really dramatic doesn’t it? But actually it is not. This series is told through the eyes of one brother, Yasaburo, who has a very optimistic take on life. As such, what seems like a string of sad and stressful events appears to be fun and light-hearted and it becomes quite a comedy.
At first, I decided to watch for two reasons, the first one being that it was about tanuki, them being quite the cute mythological creature and everyone knows I always fall for anime about mythological creatures, especially when they are from the Japanese folklore. The second reason being that the character designer was Kumeta Koji, I figured that if he was involved there was a good chance for the anime to be funny. Or at the very least entertaining.
And I was right.
To be fair, the story was not all that appealing. It could have been since struggles for power between rival families and people trying to eat each other definitely can be interesting. The problem is that it may have been too heavy on the comedic elements. It was at the very least a little bit funny, or at least it made me smile, but it did not emphasize a lot on the actual story.
On the other hand I also find it was an interesting way to tell said story. Thanks to Yasaburo’s personality, it was also a tale of a hero facing hardships with a smile on his face, no matter what. In a very strange way I found Uchouten Kazoku to be quite an inspirational story.
I guess that is the kind of series that can be watched at two levels of understandings. It is a light-hearted comedy but also kind of deep. I like this kind of series.What I liked best though was the characters. Especially Yasaburo, it is not often that my favorite character is the main one but I cannot help but admire his personality and take on life. He is the kind of character I would like to have as a friend. He faces his problems but still smiles no matter what. The rest of his family is as much as interesting as he is, between the big brother who tries to take his father’s place but bursting into tears every time something goes wrong, the one who took the form of a frog and retired at the fond,? of a well and the little one who just tries to grow up in the middle of all this chaos, they are probably never bored, and so are we. The villains were petty and for once very unlikable, but I do not want to spoil so I will not tell you everything. And, last but not least, a small mention to Benten, dark human beauty raised by a tengu, she goes between nice and pretty scary. I find she is secretly in love with Yasaburo but I am not sure she would like to admit it. After all of this I still am not sure I should recommend this to you. I mean, I sure had fun and, thinking back on it, definitely think there is more to it than meets the eyes but, as pretty much everything Kumeta Koji is involved with, it is best watched by someone with a strong exposition to anime and Japan in general.
