Sometimes you just have to reinvent yourself.
What They Say:
When a young tanuki (a dog-like creature resembling a raccoon) named Mameda tries to disguise herself as a human and cause mischief, it turns out that modern city slickers are just too sharp for Mameda’s country tricks. But then Mameda discovers Rakugo, a Japanese entertainment form in which a storyteller uses a fan, unique gestures, and clever wordplay to tell tales with surprise twists and endings. It’s not exactly the same thing as being a trickster… but then again, it sort of is! The tale that follows will have more than a few twists as a teller of tales takes on tutoring one untried tailed trickster!
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this release brings us the original Japanese language track only in stereo using the DTS-HD MA lossless codec. I do wish shows like this had dubs more often if only to give the actors a bit more to work with. What we get here is very much a dialogue-driven series where there’s not much of anything that “goes big” along the way or really stands out. There may be some mild moments where the music swells to give the impression but it is largely a pretty straightforward piece that focuses on the variable levels of dialogue with some minor placements. It’s a very small show in a lot of ways, focusing on two or three character groupings at a time, and the way it comes together works well. There’s some mild placement at times but beyond that, it’s simple but effective. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout and we didn’t have any problems with dropouts or distortions during playback.
Video:
Originally airing in 2022, the transfer for this TV series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The thirteen episodes are spread across two discs in a nine/four breakdown. Animated by Liden Films, the series has a really great look to it with distinctive character designs and a mildly soft filter that helps to bring it all together. Due to the nature of the story, it’s not a series that’s going big on action moments or really high-motion material but this allows it to step things up with color design quality and the details in costuming and backgrounds. The encoding for this works really well as it brings all of that detail and color design to life in a great way. It’s richly done with a clean and problem-free encode as there’s no noise to be had or breakup throughout. I really loved the look of it as it adapts the manga as it gives it a great life here.
Packaging:
The packaging design for this release comes in a standard-sized Blu-ray case with both discs against the interior walls with no hinge involved. The front cover uses the familiar key artwork of the two leading characters together in performance mode which looks good when set against such a traditional backdrop and utilizes the color design that it does to catch the eye. It’s bright and upbeat with an outgoing feeling that works well, especially with a logo that just reads a little weird but has some nice tailed effects to it. The back cover breaks things up with soft tan sections while spreading some small-sized shots from the show along the bottom of it but above the production info. The summary of the premise is clean and easy to read as is the small breakdown of what extras are on the disc. The production credits are straightforward and the technical grid lists how the show was put together for the release in an accurate way. No show-related inserts are included nor is there a reversible cover.
Menu:
The menus for this release stick to a simple static approach with some nice character artwork similar to the cover designs being used. The main cover is used for the first volume and it’s just so much more vibrant and colorful here than the paper cover that it’s almost like a different piece. It helps with the framing as well giving it more space, but everything about it pops beautifully. The navigation is kept to the left with more of the brown and white design with the black and green as well serving as the underlayer similar to the cover. It’s a smooth and easy-to-use design since it’s essentially just episode selection but the second disc adds in the extras with a submenu. Everything looks good and is quick and easy to load both as the main menu and as the pop-up menu.
Extras:
The only extras included with this release are the clean versions of the opening and closing sequences.
Based on the manga series by TNSK, My Master Has No Tail began in 2019 and has eleven volumes to its name as serialized in the seinen magazine Good! Afternoon. The property has done well and has an English release as well for the manga which is good for anime fans who want more after they finish this show. The fall 2022 anime series came from Liden Films with Hideyo Yamamoto directing it and a solid slate of writers that also included Touko Machida. The anime is one that felt a bit odd in that it has thirteen episodes and the vast majority seem to be twelve these days. But more episodes is a good thing even with a fairly simple and straightforward show like this. The series is one that reminded me that a lot of anime are just promotional tools to increase manga sales and I can see that with this because of how distinctive its tale and style are as it’s not exactly mainstream stuff but can draw in a lot of curious people to it.
The concept of tanuki is an old and familiar one for many anime fans and their mischievous nature can be a fun thing to work with a storyteller. I still remember my first encounter with the creatures through Urusei Yatsura decades ago and then with the Studio Ghibli film that focused on them. Here, we get to meet Mameda, a young tanuki who has left home to visit Osaka because they want to follow through on the dream of tormenting humans with pranks and the like. The problem is that when she arrives there, her style and approach are all wrong as the age has changed as it’s now the Taisho era. What’s a young tanuki to do when you can’t achieve what you’ve set out to do? Luckily for Maemda, she crosses paths with Bunko, a young woman who works the realm of Rakugo. This is, quite simple, just a kind of verbal/storyteller approach to entertainment that’s performed on stages without much beyond that. It’s a tried and true delivery method that we see in many forms and designs over the centuries but for Mameda, this offers up an opportunity to mess around and support with what Bunko does. All she has to do is taken on the appearance of a young woman and journey with her.
What’s particularly fun about this dynamic is that Bunko is actually a kitsune who has learned how to adapt to the changing world and that as it progresses, you can definitely view some yuri elements within it as the relationship between the two grows. It starts off as idolization and you can leave it at that for a lot of it but there’s more to it than that and it’s an interesting area to present since both are largely in human form but they’re tanuki and kitsune in the end. The show has a decent cast that grows around it as we get the stories told from Bunko as she works the Rakugocraft and it’s pretty delightful in that kind of simple storytelling. The anime, like the manga, is able to take it visually to the next level and Mameda’s involvement helps to show their own growth along the way and appreciation not just of the world at large but also of Bunko as they spend more and more time together.
While there’s a bit of seriousness later in the series as there’s a chance that out two leads will have to separate, which is where things get clearer on their relationship, the bulk of it is filled with single-episode stories and basically tales being told on stage. Which is fun as we get some solid creativity to it and the way the visuals work as Bunko tells the tale and as Mameda learns and assists in her own way. But they’re very low-stakes things because it is, in the end, entertainment for the audience in the show itself. We get to see what the lives of Bunko and Mameda are like and for Mameda it’s just getting to know more and more of what people are like at this point in the Taisho era. Bunko has largely adapted and found a quiet niche that works for her but we see it through Mameda’s eyes, from shopping to the baths and… all the feelings that come in between all of that. It’s a delightful piece of work but it’s for a very distinctive audience that will thoroughly enjoy it. It’s not that anyone else can’t enjoy it, but it’s a bit of a targeted concept. But it’s also incredibly accessible in introducing people to Rakugo itself and sliding in just enough yuri-themed content to provide for all the right feels there between this tanuki and kitsune.
In Summary:
The fun of a series like this is two-fold. The more up-front and visual one are the stories that are told through the Rakugo form, which may be the first time a lot of people see it. It’s not common in anime to be sure but there have been others before. The other is the relationship between Mameda and Bunko as they spend more and more time together and it becomes something more. It’s a delightful show just for the magic of imagination and creative storytelling but it’s also a very low-key show. It’s one that I can definitely recommend more to watch as one episode at a time rather than binging unless you really connect with Mameda. It’s better to soak up the individual story being told at the time and see the lives of these characters in this period. It’s definitely a lot of fun in that low-key way with some good visuals, some neat details, and a chance to immerse in this world a bit that’s likely new to most viewers.
Features:
Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, Clean Opening, Clean Closing
Content Grade: B
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: B-
Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: August 29th, 2023
MSRP: $59.98
Running Time: 325 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
