The search for the perfect ride for the Obon festival is on.
What They Say:
“Yakushibo’s Inner Parlor”
In order to uphold a Shimogamo family tradition, Yasaburo needs to do what Yaichiro could not and come up with a leisure cruiser for them to launch. He asks to borrow Yakushibo’s flying inner parlor, but ends up having to make a dangerous deal with Benten.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This Eccentric Family certainly knows how to build atmosphere. Whether it’s the quiet tension as Yasaburo and his little brother make their way through a secret back entrance to the mysterious submerged clocktower, or the casual quiet of a visit to Akadama’s place, the show enjoys setting a mood. I love the juxtaposition of these supernatural happens and magical places just out of sight of everyday life.
Just out of sight quite literally, in the case of the tanuki family the show is following. In looking up Kyoto after watching the first two episodes I discovered that the Shimogamo Shrine is apparently quite old and extremely famous, UNESCO world heritage famous. There’s obviously a layer of familiarity that the Japanese audience is going to pick up on that us foreigners simply won’t. Suddenly all that lovingly recreated scenery makes sense.
This episode opens with a flashback to the conversation Yasaburo has with his mother at the bar. It turns out the family needs a sky boat of some sort for the Obon holiday coming up. It’s a tanuki tradition to take in the view of the bonfires from the sky. So Yasaburo sets out, with little brother in tow, to ask sensei Akadama if he can borrow his ‘inner parlor.’ I can’t help but wonder if there’s something lost in translation there, but even Akadama seems confused at first when Yasaburo asks him. It turns out, of course, that Akadama gave the mysterious object to Benten, along with that fan Yasaburo shot.
It’s interesting to note that sensei had another tengu guest over to visit, and much like Yasaburo he seemed to be just as comfortable in human form if not more so. He’s featured on the show promotion art, so chances are we will be seeing him again.
The two brothers set off to find Benten, and here’s where thing get interesting. They find the mysterious woman sitting at a table in the middle of a lake (or sea?), under the shadow of a submerged clock tower. The unexpected scenery is at odds with the land-locked Kyoto of reality. Inside of this interesting pocket reality we get another scene of banter with Benten, who relents to letting Yasaburo borrow the floating tea room. Then she promptly strips, dives into the water to catch a ride on a whale’s tail. Benten is many things, but boring isn’t one of them.
Also interesting is a bit of information that Yasaburo drops earlier in the episode. He was formerly engaged to the daughter of the Ebisugawa family by his father, but that arrangement ended with his death. There’s obviously some lingering guilt or feelings of some sort there, but with Benten literally floating around I can’t blame him for moving on.
In Summary:
I’m starting to see a pattern emerging in The Eccentric Family. It mostly consists of Yasaburo running errands for various family members or associates thereof, most of which lead directly back to Benten in one way or another. At least this time it’s leading up to an event for the next episode. I can forgive it for it’s slow paces, considering it makes everything looks so lovely. Rather than drop a whole pile of exposition on the audience, this is a show which likes to slowly ease us into Kyoto as seen through the eyes of it’s unseen residents.
Episode Grade: B +
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: 24” iMac running OS 10.6.8, via Safari 5.1.9, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
