We have actually been speaking about “that” area of interest so much right here these days (I actually need to provide you with an official identify for it). And boy, if a present ever regarded like central casting for it, Tonari no Yokai-san is that spectacle. To be trustworthy, it nearly regarded prefer it at concerning the cash, a priority that’s tough for me to quantify, however which I think a few of you’ll perceive anyway. Nonetheless, I at all times take pleasure in having a collection deliberate on this slot, and this one was the pure candidate going into the season.
Irrespective of the way you butter the toast, Tonari no Youkai-san checks numerous my bins. Shinto, cats, idyllic rural setting. Based mostly on a accomplished four-part manga (suggesting that one cour is possible for a full adaptation) it’s set in a small Japanese village referred to as Engamori, the place the presence of ‘neighbours’ is a routine a part of on a regular basis life. Amongst them is Buchio (Kaji Yuukisigh). Buchio lives with Ooishi Takumi (Tamura Mutsumi) and his household, and he has not been a youkai (referred to as “ayashi” on this mythology) for very lengthy. He’s a home cat who break up his tail in half on the age of twenty and developed right into a neokamta.
A bit background right here. In Japanese folklore, older home cats typically evolve into nekomata or bakeneko (which have just one tail). In actual life, legends declare that these creatures – particularly nekomata, that are smarter and extra highly effective than bakeneko – are at greatest mischievous and sometimes hostile and harmful in the direction of people. However right here there appears to be no such concern. Buchio’s household is joyful that he’s staying (“20 is an outdated age for a cat, however nothing for an ayashi”). As for Buchio himself (who now speaks the human language), he’s fairly neurotic and insecure about the entire thing.
In the meantime, we have now Mu-chan (Yuikawa Asakiwho will play Tokiyuki The elusive Samurai, so it is attention-grabbing to get a style of her work). She appears to have a capability to see ayashi that even on this metropolis most individuals do not see, and never solely that – she will be able to see The Void, “an imaginary dimension between right here and the afterlife”. And evidently her lacking father could also be consumed by it, though the ghost of her lifeless grandfather advises her in opposition to believing that (right here Obon is offered in very literal phrases).
The leaders among the many native ayashi look like the pleasant tengu – patriarch Tazenbou (Urayama Jin) and younger grownup Jirou (Higa Ryosuke). Jirou provides recommendation and luxury to each people (particularly Mu-chan) and ayashi. It’s he who Buchio turns to for assist in creating the custom of Youkai (this being Japan, the paperwork is a nightmare). Jirou-san units him up with Yuri (Taichi you) which, as peaceis effectively positioned to information Buchio within the strategy of studying to remodel (the essence of nekomata-dom).
General Tonari no Youkai-san performs like a reasonably pure slice of life and wistful to the harmful fringe of ‘therapeutic’. Even usually scary youkai and ghosts are pleasant and heat attendees right here, and everybody will get alongside. However the reference to The Void and the truth that it seems to be following Mu-chan means that there may very well be no less than one thing darker right here as effectively. General, it is a good mixture to this point – the premiere was profitable in its world-building and fairly partaking, and as I’ve come to anticipate from Lidenfilms, the visuals have been very pleasing. I am not utterly satisfied but, however the match appears fairly good.
