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[series:4618#628] | ||||||
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(12 (all?) episodes watched): I was expecting another generic demon hunter series when I began watching episode one, but was pleasantly surprised. This show is a good deal more deep than most. Tsukomogami are usually harmless and were dragged to earth against their will and in a confused and disoriented state. Zohei usually talks to them and persuades them to let him send them home. Starting out, you might even say that male protagonist Hyoma is the villain, since he just attacks them. So, not just a simplistic good versus evil premise. Hyoma is sent to stay with a group of six Tsukomogami and their human handler, Botan Nagatsuki, a female college student. He makes his feelings clear and immediately picks a fight with one of them. So, sort of imaginitive; I had been skeptical early on but at the end I was curious where this would go. Episode two was fun as well. The Tsukomogami are hard to distinguish from humans on the basis of what they say and think, because it is virtually identical to what a human would. You would sort of think Hyoma would ask them what the realm of the dead is like, because their minds are quite understandable. I sort of wonder why that is. Weren't they created from inanimate objects? At any rate, the characters are a good deal more interesting in this show than in most. Of course there's the obligatory fight-of-the-week for viewers who are only interested in that, but otherwise this show is intriguing and entertaining. In episode three Hyoma still needs to convince Yu, one of the Tsukomogami, that he isn't a total jerk so that they will all agree to let him stay at the Nagatsaki place. A group of hostile Tsuko- interfere, however, and another fight ensues. I was not all that thrilled by the plethora of supernatural weapons and tactics that were employed; they were not particularly novel and I would have preferred that the time they consumed had been spent on character development. How is Hyoma so deadly once nothing is restraining him? If he is that much stronger than the Tsukomogami, why didn't he kick ass in the initial fight? I have a feeling that his skills ought to be about equal to the Tsukomogami if they are to ever respect each other and be comrades. I had started feeling that there was too much action and too little true drama in this show, but episode four encouraged me and revived my interest. Hyoma gets a surprise: the good Tsukomogami have been acting as matchmakers for Botan and see him as a potential husband for her. Needless to say, this spices things up a good deal. I don't really care all that much whether the bad Tsukos that pop up every episode get defeated nearly as much as I do about how this will work out. Thank God this show didn't rely on just the fights-of-the-week to entertain us. In episode five Hyoma learns that Botan seems to possess some sort of secret, immense power that would be a game changer in the struggle between good and bad Tsukomogami. We learn just what it is in episode six: a Marebito possessed a human rather than an inanimate object. It's not clear exactly what this enables her to do, though. But anyone who gets close to her is viewed with suspicion by several factions. The local Saenome group tries to persuade Hyoma to betray Botan, and needless to say that idea does not sit well with him. I was a bit unhappy at the identification of three dangerous groups (the Saenome being one), since it suggested more fighting and less romance and character development. One thing I did like was the reappearance of Yagen, a likable Tsukomogami who we encountered earlier in the series. Another faction are the bad to the bone Tsukomogami who were created from weapons and instruments of torture. As might be expected, they are just sadistic and hateful, which makes them wonderful targets for Hyoma to beat up but not very deep or interesting. As we neared episode twelve this show was looking like a two-season one since no climax seemed to be looming just yet. There are supposed to be three powerful factions in the area but we have only been seriously introduced to two. Kai, a one-man major faction, suggests that Botan had something to do with the deaths of Hyoma's siblings in the 'Umbrella Incident'. At the climax of episode twelve Hyoma vows to defend Botan at all costs. I was enjoying Mononogatari and intended to keep watching, though it looked like the series might take a break for a season (which it did). Last updated Saturday, October 07 2023. Created Friday, January 20 2023. | ||||||||
