Yes, I’m still here. I didn’t do a digest this week because I thought The Fable needed a post to itself. But I did watch Tonari no Youkai-san – I think it’s very likely I’ll watch it all the way through if nothing else – and as I did find it an improvement I wanted to check in with a short post on it. I was pretty close to committing after Episode 4, and not far from dropping it two weeks later. Now I’m right on the fence, which is an uncomfortable perch with the series more than half finished
The reason it worked better this week is because the episode focused (and 100%) on the matter of lifespans. Specifically the gap between youkai and human, and that’s consistently one of the most effective themes in series of this sub-genre. This was approached through several angles, starting with Buchio. He’s such a neurotic, this guy. He’s down because he realizes that as a nekomata he’s probably going to outlive his human family – a role-reversal from the dynamic between humans and pets.
Offering him some support is Wagen (his very existence still makes me laugh). He’s got his own heartache to deal with, as his human Kazuhiko is just not the same after the passing of his wife. That’s a sort of role-reversal, as she was youkai too but not a long-lived one – she was a descendant of a banana tree and when the original dies, so does she. Wagen takes Buchio on a road trip to celebrate getting their licenses, though in reality it’s just to try and cheer Buchio up. Wagen understands that for all that he cares about Kazuhiko, the latter has effectively given up on life already, and it’s only a matter of time.
Betobeto-san has emerged as a sort of big brother/father confessor type for the other youkai in town (and humans like Mu-chan too). He’s the guy who steps back and views things from a distance, offering big picture observations. And he’s been observing Jirou, who also seems out of sorts. The picture being painted here is that Jirou was in love with Mu-chan’s great grandmother (and it might have been mutual). Saying goodbye to her seems to have been hard, and there may be more to the story as well based on his apology to her. And complicating that still further is that Mu-chan is convinced she’s in love with Jirou even if she doesn’t understand what that means. She’s currently way too young for him of course, but she’ll still likely be gone long before he will.
This is safe ground for a series like Tonari no Youkai-san, but it works. The past couple of episodes have kind of drifted, but this constituted a needed course correction. With only five eps left I may just decide to stick it out to the end here, though Sundays being what they are that could mean delaying posts by a couple of days. All options are open at this point but better is always better, and this week was better.
The post Tonari no Youkai-san – 07 appeared first on Lost in Anime.
