“Akaname and Tenjoname”
What They Say:
This is the visual diary of Kiitaro’s experience with youkai. He’s a boy with a very strong spirit sense, but when he entered a forbidden storehouse, he was kicked out of his home. He soon found a new place to live, where he met a zashiki warashi (house spirit) named Suzu. He and Suzu soon began to attract all kinds of spirit creatures, starting with a nurikabe (appears as a wall that impedes travelers) and mokumokuren (appears as eyes in a torn paper wall). What kind of folkloric creature will he meet next?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I had pretty low expectations going into this series but the first episode provide more fun and amusing than I expected, even as it deals with the all too familiar yokai. With this episode, the focus is on Kiitaro as he’s ready to go enjoy a bath but has to deal with the discovery of the yokai that we saw previously, Suzu. Their introduction as a second episode story is familiar, allowing the first to go big with action, but this lets the slower tone here work pretty well as we see them becoming friends and the kind of relationship dynamic that exists between them. The two certainly complement each other well and seeing the kind of yokai that they have to deal with that lick the house clean provides for its own kind of humor that I know works, though not so much for me.
In Summary:
The second episode of Kiitaro takes a slower approach that’s certainly appreciated after the massive amount of chaos the last time around with the big yokai battle. Suzu and Kiitaro definitely are fun to watch and their interactions and dealings with the various yokai that come into it will provide for some good humor as well, though it’ll be hit or miss for me since I’m kind of blase about yokai in general. But with some really nice animation and designs, the show can carve out a nice piece of the season for itself that will definitely work.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
