This was a fairly good episode of Tonari no Youkai-san General, though not among the best. However my takeaway is how vital Buchio is to my enjoyment of the sequence. This was the primary episode with out his presence (except for a non-speaking cameo). And he was missed. Partly due to the principle characters (his and Mu-chan/Jirou’s), Buchio’s is all of the extra compelling and relatable. But in addition as a result of he tends to hold a unique thematic facet than we noticed this week, and that is true Tonari no Youkai-san appears to have essentially the most narrative affect. No less than for me.
Earlier than a full episode of Mu and Jirou, we bought a bit sneak peek with Rain and Ryou (which I assumed was the perfect a part of the episode). The latest chills from the rain have a medical trigger: ‘return’. What are you asking? On this mythology, a return happens when a youkai returns to an earlier level in its evolutionary (mythological?) improvement. In her case, kappa crawled out of the rivers and climbed mountains to hibernate within the winter. She will probably be high quality, her Kappa physician says, so long as she stays indoors on very chilly days and avoids chilly water. That is Chekov’s prediction if I ever heard one.
All of it comes all the way down to Ryou – feeling responsible for giving Rain the chilly (no pun meant) shoulder – falling right into a gap within the river whereas retrieving a cyclopean soccer. That is winter and the river god is sleeping, however it’s a heat day, so solely superficially. Rain dives into the chilly water to avoid wasting him, after which has to avoid wasting herself (I feel it is because she falls down the river as a toddler within the Kami’s dream). In steps Jirou as common, and flying solo as common. However Mu would not need to hear about it, and everybody steps in to assist. Rain is saved, however it means she goes into hibernation for some time.
The remainder is a return to the essential Jirou-Mu-chan themes we noticed within the first eight episodes. There’s actually not a lot new to see: it is sort of a lather, rinse and repeat. Mu is offended as a result of Jirou is reckless together with his personal life, Jirou zealously guards his emotional heart. The brand new factor right here is the revelation that Mu-chan’s grandmother finds in a letter Haru wrote to Jirou, through which she admits that she wished to be with him eternally, however apologizes for the truth that she plans to order him round to neglect her when her time is close to. . That is not a request Jirou can grant, and he is just about wasted his life attempting to take action.
The opposite wrinkle right here comes within the epilogue, which felt for all of the world like a finale (I used to be prepared to take a look at ANN and MAL). I can solely assume that the hand reaching out to Mu from the shadows was her father, trapped on the earth Betobeto stated he wanted to flee from himself. That guarantees to be a significant plot level for the ultimate few episodes, although I would be completely happy to see Buchio come again into the image for a significant half.
