The last plot of Soun Ebisugawa.
What They Say:
Episode #11: ““The Blood of the Tengu, the Blood of the Fool”
The day that the tanuki in Kyoto pick the Trick Magister has arrived. Yaichiro, Gyokuran, and the other head tanuki head to Nidaime’s mansion. Meanwhile, Tousen gets an emergency message from Yashiro, who’s working at the Ebisugawa Trick Denki Brand factory and she quickly heads over to the Ebisugawa power plant.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Everything takes a sudden turn for the worse in this episode before it can take a turn for the better. A dark plot hatched in the previous episodes comes to fruition here as the Ebisugawa clan tries to frame the Shimogamo family in the death of their father, Soun.
Let’s face it, their attempt at framing is shoddy and their logic terrible. It’s built on a lab explosion, a planted gun, and a dramatic confrontation during the swearing-in ceremony for the Trick Magister. The gun is a fake, sold by Tenmaya in a stroke of evil genius that happens to help out one of his greatest foils. The Nidaime realizes quickly that it’s not his gun. The plan also doesn’t take into account that there’s a good possibility that the real eldest son of the Ebisugawa might return or that someone might realize he’s not who he appears. Tanuki are animals first, tricksters second, and yet none remembered to smell him out until it was almost too late?
I’m disappointed that Soun didn’t perish when we thought he did. True, that would’ve meant pulling a new antagonist out of thin air, but we’re getting a rehash of the showdown at the end of the first season. Regardless, Soun, scumball that he is, was playing the long con and went so far as to fake his own death. Did he set up his own daughter to take a fall? Does he even care? Did he think his eldest son wouldn’t someday find out he was impersonating him or did he think he wouldn’t care enough to return home? Death is too good for him, and with any luck, he’ll end up in that painted hell for all of his crimes. I mean, he has to, right?
Meanwhile, Yasaburo talking to the spirit of his father is a scene taken straight out of the first season. He complains once again that he left the family alone, which proves he’s still not quite at peace with his father’s death. However Yasaburo resolves to fight back, and he has plenty of help in his escape attempt. First and foremost being Professor Yodogawa who arrives disguised as Pompoko Mask to attempt a rescue. Slapstick ensues. Yet more reliable help arrives in the form of Yaichiro and Gyokuran in tiger form to wreck the place. The whole throw-down is a tangled jumble of insanity which ends with the triple-stacked train cars descending to earth.
And then there’s Benten. While most of our protagonists in this episode resolve to act and do something she simply disappears during the majority of the conflict. She had a chance to rescue Yasaburo and Kaisei and doesn’t take it. She cries over the idea of eating Yasaburo but acts as though it’s an inevitability. So we learn she has a heart and it’s completely and totally busted in the face of her inexplicable reasoning. The preview for the next episode appears that it might finally delve into what’s making Benten tick, but is it too little too late for her character?
At this point, you might be wondering if we need a third arc, but since we’re baring down on the end of the season and still know very little about Benten of the Nidaime then I would say there are a few loose ends to tie up. Yajiro took quite a liking to the girl tanuki who introduced him. Her name is Seiran, apparently named by Yajiro’s father. Perhaps this too is set up for the third arc, as it would pair each son off with girls that truly suit them as partners.
In Summary:
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Even though some of the events of this episode of the Eccentric Family were basically handed to us in the previous episode, it’s nice to see the brothers rally to help each other. Yajiro returns from the north with the truth about the identity of Kureichiro. Yaichiro gives up his ambitions to save Yasaburo. Yasaburo, well, he hasn’t given up on life and even resolved to confront the leader of the Friday Club to save Kaisei. The family ties remain strong, even when they are all distant they still come to support the family. I just wonder how they plan to wrap this season up.
Episode Grade: B +
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
