What is fun, is good!
What They Say:
“The Eccentric Family”
Tanuki and human worlds collide as both the Nise-emon ceremony and Friday Fellow year-end bash descend into chaos. The scale of the disturbance increases when Prof. Akadama starts brandishing the Fujin Raijin folding fan, but by New Year’s everything settles down and Yasaburo and co. are able to calmly consider their hopes for the future.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
We knew a collision of forces was about to ensue when it was revealed at the end of last week’s episode that the tanuki clans and the Friday Fellows were meeting just a screen partition apart.
What I didn’t expect was the lack of grace when the forces do collide. Accusations fly from Yaichiro towards his uncle, but with no proof they are shrugged off. Yaichiro looses his cool and reveals that the guests of the next room over are the Friday Fellows. The next thing you know there are tanuki running everywhere and humans cowering from an enraged tengu. I was laughing at the complete 180 of the human professor, but when confronted with reality instead of a hypothetical he behaved in a totally believable manner. The scene is a hilarious romp, something more akin to the antics behind the stage of the Muppet Show. The chaos of a raging, drunken Akadama armed with a magic fan is going to be difficult for the residents of Kyoto to explain with normal means.
As for the decision of who would be the next Nise-emon, it’s been put on hold. Suon’s been shamed when his questionable actions were brought to light. Yaichiro couldn’t keep his cool in a tense situation, so he’s not quite mature enough for the important position. I half expected Yasaburo might comes the next Nise-emon, as he’s probably garnered some loyalty with the way he can easily keep his calm, but he wouldn’t step on his brother’s dream.
With the dead serious matter of the hot pot behind them, and the election postponed, it’s time for the friends and family to forgive and move on. Benten returns to Akadama, choosing friends and good times over power, it would seem. Akadama regains a bit of his composure and dignity, somehow. In a touching moment, Yajiro speaks to his mother for the first time in ages. Kaisei still won’t let Yasaburo see her, but she still keeps her eye on him, and her brothers seemed to have softened ever so slightly. The tension between the two families has certainly relaxed.
The series ends with far less regrets than it began with. Yasaburo’s motto rings true as we get a montage of some of the key moments in the series. What is fun, is good.
As the credits roll we get to watch the lazy new year begin, with the family and their friends enjoying a meal together and a snowball fight. Be cool, raccoon-dog.
In Conclusion:
With a surprisingly brisk finale, The Eccentric Family bids us a fond farewell. There are still unanswered questions about the motive of a few key characters, and I honestly didn’t expect a chaotic and messy rampage would resolved the conflict. Despite not matching my expectations, I couldn’t help but smile at the end.
When the show began it was difficult to tell which direction it would take. The death of the family patriarch set the tone, the guilt about his death set the mood. Yasaburo’s understated optimism set the pace for the family drama which followed, and the quirky character designs helped sell the comedy flowing throughout. It’s definitely one of the more unique slice-of-life shows to come along in recent years.
I would have liked a few more episodes to flesh out some of the backstory we didn’t get to see, like Benten and Akadama’s falling out and the role Yasaburo played in that. Of course, it’s difficult to fault the show without knowing if any of that was covered in detail in the original novel. A few slow episodes prior to the conclusion could have been snappier, if not for the obvious budget saving that must have been happening behind the scenes.
This series ended up the surprise hit of the season for me for it’s silly, touching and magical story. Combined with the lovely backgrounds and lively animation it’s been a pleasure to watch. I hope some company licenses it for home release, I’d love to watch it again on blu-ray. I highly recommend it.
Episode Grade: B +
Series Grade: A –
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: 24” iMac running OS 10.6.8, via Safari 5.1.10, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
