Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
mha_hater_No1
I was onboard with this anime at first. I "got it", the tanuki are carefree, and they accept being eaten by humans. I understand that people adapt to the realities of their lives if it is all normalized by their society. I got all that. HOWEVER, I stopped getting it when they Tanuki react to their trials and tribulations as would any normal human being, except when it comes to being vengeful or hateful.
I understand that many Japanese people believe that being hateful is wrong, but hatred and vengeance is a staple of human society, the reason is purely evolutionary. It exists in all creatures, not just humans. When someone does you wrong, you hate them because they hurt you of course, but the evolutionary reason you hate them and want to harm them is to PREVENT MORE harm being done to you…
Read at the sourceLovelyTekki
I am sorry, I really wanted to like this one. Why does a unique show with a beautiful aesthetic, great music, and some really good ideas, have to be brought down by a seriously uncomfortable romance and a story that fails to deliver?
The Eccentric Family follows the story of a family of tanukis, on a mission to uncover the secret of the father's death at the hands of humans. Now I will say that the one aspect I liked about the cast of characters is that the tanuki family felt very tight knit, like a true family. They are, well, weird, but that doesn't change their love for each other. In that aspect, the show did something right.
Also, giving credit where it's due, it really isn't like anything else. and the visuals, as I mentioned, are beautiful. The scenery always looks vibrant and inh…
Read at the sourceHarisrox
Adapted from greatly talented author Tomihiko Morimi's novels with the same names, comes this show which tells a story of Japanese raccoon dogs rather known as "Tanukis". Tanukis have been significant in Japanese folklore since ancient times. The legendary tanuki is reputed to be mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and shapeshifting, but somewhat gullible and absentminded.
The author having all of the above traits of this animal in mind wrote a peculiar and entertaining tale that is sometimes heartwarming and fuzzy, or sometimes is supreme and anarchic. The story surrounds a family of tanuki, the Shimogamo family. They have the ability to transform into anything they wish, from humans to any animate/inanimate object. The family must balance between living carelessly, maintaining re…
Read at the sourceEzekiel_01
On saying goodbye, our great father split his blood into four. The eldest inherited only his sense of responsibility, the second inherited only his easy-going personality, the youngest inherited only his innocence, and me, well, and I inherited only his idiocy. What held us, diverse brothers together was the love of our mother, deeper than the seas. The farewell we bid our great father, sometimes, one heartfelt separation can unite the ones left behind.
- by Shimogamo, Yasaburou, 3rd Son of the “Great Tanuki of Kyoto”, Shimogamo, Souichirou
Uchouten Kazoku or Eccentric Family is a story about a strong family bond that is pure, heartwarming, and inspiring to see. Because of this show bizarre premise, it caught me off guard. I thought this show will be a goofy, comedic, and nonsensical ty…
Read at the sourceLaLeLuLiLo
Eccentric family follows Yasaburou the third son of his family who also happen to be tanuki. They live in Kyoto where tanukis, tengus, and humans live side by side of each other. While the tanuki and tengu are aware of each other, the humans are oblivious of their existence. Yasaburou spends most of his days not doing much other than lazing around or taking care of an old tengu. While this is the story, the plot of the show is Yasaburous older brother being elected as leader of the tanuki, and yasaburou having to deal with a women named Benten and the Friday fellows who eat tanuki once a year and were also responsible for his father's death,Souichirou. The show places emphasis on the mystery of souichirous death, but not on the who since it was already obvious but more on the the how and t…
Read at the sourcecomputerquip
This is a story of a Tanuki who is the son of a great Tanuki. Literally, the entire season is more about his father than the main character. But let me back up a bit to explain these characters...
You have Yasaburō, the main character is a Tanuki, who'm I'll refer to as Yasa for sure.
You have Akadama, the Tengen considered a professor in this season for reasons I'm not sure of.
You have Benten, a very weird girl who is never explained.
You have Sōichirō, who is the father of the main character.
You have Soun, who is the brother of Soichiro. He's the main antagonist.
The rest of the characters are pointless to even mention as they have no effect on the storyline what so ever.
For some reasons I guess, the main character takes care of his professor, Akadama, who has lost his wings as…
Read at the source88expert
I pick this series up as I saw there is going to be a second season coming in the spring 2017 season and BOY!!! I GLAD THAT I PICK IT UP!!!!
Story: The story is mainly the struggle on how the characters trying to get over the father's (Don't worry their Tanuki) death as he has been cook in a stew. We mostly follow the third son, Yasaburou but I'm glad that we get to see all of the boys struggle. From the shy youngest son, Yashirou to the oldest son, Yaichirou trying to be the leader of the Shimogamo clan and that's basically it. From the tengu that fly high in the sky to the Tanuki just shape shifting to anything and the human just living a normal and peaceful life. The story didn't felt bored as the other characters have a certain charm in them from making the show felt flat. (I will tal…
Read at the sourceCaterham09
Good coming of age stories are hard to come by in any of today's traditional mediums. However the Eccentric family deserves full praise for weaving together a touching story about the growth of an entire family.
Let's start with the story. The eccentric family starts off pretty mild in terms of the narrative, giving the view bits and pieces of a larger overarching plot for the first few episodes as we get to know the characters. It takes place in a fictional version of Japan where 3 species; tanooki, human and tengu all live together (although its implied that the humans do not know about the other two). Tanooki have the ability to morph into any form they can imagine while Tengu control the wind and can fly. There is a rather peculiar hierarchy in the world with the Tanooki being low ma…
Read at the sourcenightcrawlercyp
the show has a great sound and the animations are amazing. I would say that is a reason to watch. But there is one problem: it is boring. I could not really get attached to the characters at all and it seemed the series did not go anywhere. There is a lot of phylosophy and you will see a lot o weird quotes about the nature of life. Problem is I wanted to enjoy this series and I did not find anything compelling me to finish it besides my desire to see where everything is going. The answer is nowhere. As many other recent anime is just an intro to the manga and nothing more. The only thing that is interesting is the apparent love triangle of Yasaburou Shimogamo with Ben Ten and Kasei but this does not get any closer to resolution by the end of the series. Also the only characters that are no…
Read at the sourcesongwind
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Tolstoy's quote could have been written about the Shimogamo family (and their close acquaintances.) Uchouten Kazoku's focus is relationships - between the brothers and their mother; between the Simogamo and their Ebisugawa cousins; between Yasaburo and his teacher; and between the different factions of intelligent beings living in Kyoto.
It was thought provoking, bitter sweet, funny and strange.
It has a bit of a surreal quality about it. The character of Benten can fly and use other Tengu magic despite being human, but no one seems to find this strange. The tanuki are weirdly placid about the idea of being eaten. The humans in the story are also strangely unaffected by the idea of eating a fellow sophont. T…
Read at the sourceskysonglark
Where to even start! Welcome to Uchouten Kazoku, set in Kyoto where humans, tank and teenage coexist in a weirdly wonderful dance of living. This show is all about living, living in the here and now and enjoying all of life's wonderful little moments. This is a show about family, adopted or biological, and how family should be cherished and understood, and how brothers should never drift away.
Man, this is a show. Let's start with the art, shall we? Kyoto lives and breathes in Uchouten Kazoku, with every background watercolored and alive and telling us a little more about the world the show has unceremoniously dumped us into. The show rarely tells you anything outright, but everything is revealed like the unfolding of a flower in the little moments of character and sometimes even setting.…
Read at the sourceFlawfinder
I've been meaning to revisit Uchouten Kazoku aka The Eccentric Family for a while now. See, when I wrote my first review, I was going through a phase where my tastes were sine-waving between exploitation lover and dirty elitist, which didn't go over well with a lot of my readers at the time. And by Christ was that phase bad. I mean did I really say the show sucked by comparing it to Utena? That's like saying Texhnolyze sucked by comparing it to Legend of the Galactic Heroes. My views on the show haven't changed since then, but now that I've mostly embraced some sort of middle ground between enjoying Ingmar Bergman and Russ Meyer at the same time, I thought I'd give a second shot at describing why I wasn't into PA Works first "good" anime, as most people call it.
Let me just reiterate befo…
Read at the sourcejust_a_thought
Uchouten Kazoku is a bizarre show. In fact, as you watch the show, you realize that the shape shifting Tanuki (originating from Japanese folklore) is the least bizarre aspect of the show. However, note that I’m using the word ‘bizarre’ as a compliment. In fact, the bizarreness is the true allure of the show.
Adapted from a novel by Tomihiko Morimi’s (the guy who blessed us with The Tatami Galaxy), the foundations of the unconventional plot is laid by the setting itself. Humans, tanuki and tengu all residing in the bustling city of Kyoto is a pretty intriguing setting, not least the tanuki being the main protagonists.
What this show excels at, is assimilating the supernatural aspect into the everyday life of the city residents. In doing so, it also imparts hints of allusion to the real w…
Read at the sourceShole
Story:
You are put into the amazing world of Kyoto where humans live in the city, while Tanuki roam the earth and Tengu, the sky. You follow the adventures of a young tanuki (raccoon) Yasaburou Shimogamo and his family. I wont tell you much about him or his family not to ruin your fun. The important thing is that humans eat tanuki, every year a group named "Friday Fellows" eats a tanuki pot, so roaming through the city is dangerous for the tanuki. They have a society and have a ruler. I wont tell more about the story, but I was really amazed with the details put into it and the way it was all described. Most animes give you enough information to keep you interested in the back stories of the characters and their lives, but this anime has gotten me really interested in everyone's back stor…
Read at the sourceyuridice
Uchouten Kazoku opens with Shimogamo Yasaburou, an energetically laid-back shape-shifting tanuki, giving us a quick rundown of his hometown of Kyoto. This is a city with a storied history of mostly-regular humans, proud tengu magicians, and oh, playful tanuki shape-shifters, of course and here, he tells us, there are endless quantities of amusement to be had. As the camera follows him deftly navigating the beautiful cityscape, he declares with conviction that while he is a tanuki, he's far too proud to be a mere tanuki and is instead one who passes his days admiring tengu and imitating humans. He assures us that he is so busy that he doesn't even have time to be bored.
The introduction now complete, the opening theme plays.
And with that, the frenetically paced Uchouten Kazoku is now ove…
Read at the sourceLlamaSensei
I have to say, I did not expect this anime to be so fantastic. It's one of those that just pulls you in. It's an anime where you fall in love with the characters, find yourself screaming at the screening, "D'aww"-ing at some points, and outright relieved at others. This was my favorite anime of the summer, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The fact that it had to end felt bittersweet. You're happy it's over, because all good things have to end, but you're sad because you know that the feelings you had towards the characters and the show will never be replicated.
I would recommend that, if you read any of these reviews, you give the show a chance. You won't be disappointed at all.
Read at the sourcestraggy
2013's summer season was highly dominated by some big name series with vast popularity, so much so that more than a few series slipped under the radar. Uchouten Kazoku is one of those series, which I think is a real shame for everyone, since I truly believe that this was the anime of the season and not to be missed.
This anime is, in many ways, a truly unique experience. I honestly can't say that I've ever seen anything even vaguely like it, and that it in itself was a breath of fresh air. From start to finish, there's a definite sense of originality that strives to remind you that this isn't just another anime popped out from a genre mould. In fact, I'd struggle to even categorise this into MAL's genres of my own accord. As a result, I very much didn't know what to expect when I opened t…
Read at the sourceBaconzombie
Coming into the summer season, Uchouten Kazoku was undoubtedly my most hyped up anime. With source material coming from a novel written by the author of the Tatami Galaxy and being directed by PA Works, who have recently been on a slump in terms of producing any semi-enjoyable show as of late, I had much reason to eagerly await its airing debut while nervously hoping that PA Works would throw its budget at something more than just its production values. What resulted after a satisfactory 13 weeks was undoubtedly the best summer season had to offer.
Story (9/10):
Shimogamo Yasaburou is the third of four sons in the Shimogamo family, a tanuki (raccoon dog) family that lives in a modern, fantastical depiction of Kyoto where tanuki, tengu (crows), and humans live “peacefully” amongst each ot…
Read at the sourcepost_human
In this day & age it's sometimes very hard to find something original, the anime as a form of art has now become so generic & predictable with typical shounen & typical ecchi spewing around us from all direction that it is really hard to remember sometimes that this is not only a form of entertainment (or rather shameless fan service) but it is also a form of art. And fortunately there are still anime's like "Uchouten Kazoku" still being made to remind us just that.
Story
This was actually based on a novel by Tomihiko Morimi which is the story of a family, of a certain peculiar family at that, cause the members of this family aren't human. This is a story of a "Tanuki" family. Early on our protagonist tells us about the world he lives in, a fictional version of modern Kyoto, where Tanuki,…
Read at the sourceStark700
Among the many stars in the sky, there's always one that shines brilliantly. But from this summer 2013 lineup, there's also series that shines among the group as well. Perhaps one series that might of slipped under some people's radar is Uchoten Kazoku. (also known as the Eccentric Family)
From P.A. Works comes forth a new anime this summer. Based on a novel written by Tomihiko Morimi (The Tatemi Galaxy), Uchoten Kazoku takes the setting to Kyoto with an eccentric family. Why is the family eccentric? Perhaps one of the reason is that none of them are not actually human. Rather, they are unique or more specifically categorized as tanuki. The series details the family, and in particular one child by the name of Yasaburō Shimogamo - the main character and the third son of the Shimogamo.
To…
Read at the source