Introduction
In the town of Engamori, supernatural beings known as yokai, gods, and humans have been living amongst each other for centuries, each striving to lead ordinary, peaceful lives. One day Buchio, a 20-year-old cat, mysteriously evolves into a nekomata, a feline yokai, near the end of his life. Although this allows him to stay with his human family longer, it also makes him question the reason behind his evolution, along with the special abilities that have recently manifested in himl.
Meanwhile, an elementary school girl named Mutsumi "Muu-chan" Sugimoto begins to feel more attached to Jirou, a tengu—a crow-like yokai—and Jirou begins to fill the void left by her late father. While both are unable to properly communicate their intentions at first, they gradually form a companionship where they protect each other.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
8 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
fictionaloveward
I have never seen an anime that hit so close to home. The 4 episode rule absolutely doesn't apply, you need to see it to the end.
I'm always generous with my scores, but this one really deserves a 10 and possibly more than that. You can tell the studio and the author put so much care into every little corner.
This anime navigates all types of love. Unrequited love, platonic love, romantic love, familial love, and mostly the bittersweet grief that comes with loving someone. You'll always outlive someone you love, or maybe just drift apart before that, but is the solution simply not loving anyone at all? of course not.
"Everyone is born alone, connections are what make people." that quote is the perfect summary for this show.
It's a love letter to the world, the words that form it, and t…
Read at the sourcePixelBrush
This anime isn’t your typical slice of life. It combines the calm day to day with the supernatural and fantastical. It’s moved me to tears multiple times throughout, while repeatedly completing subverting my expectations as to what’d happen next.
This is an amazing anime for people who like folklore and endings that want to make you binge all episodes in one go.
The ending was a massive 360°, and some people apparently don’t like it because of that, but it honestly felt like it built up to it quite naturally, slowly introducing the relevant concepts throughout.
The world building is top-notch as well.
Read at the sourcejoemaamah
This was my biggest surprise of the season, and I came to love it and looked forward to each episode. It definitely deserves more attention, If you like Miyasaki-san, while it's not quite to his production level, it has a very similar vibe. The art work is beautiful, and the animation, while not mind blowing, is very skillfully rendered with few shortcuts taken.
I've always loved Yokai as a concept of Japanese culture, and they are lovingly displayed here along side their human counterparts, as equals in a peaceful and serene community. The writers do such a wonderful job of fleshing out the characters. It's hard not to love, or at least understand, them. Another brilliant stroke for the writers is they weave a sinister undercurrent to the world, and they make this hidden conflict work,…
Read at the sourceAllsaints112
Very emotional at times. Found myself very emotional throughout this anime with so many sad episodes or moments. However...
It can be frustrating depending on the character you're watching. Some relationships and characters i hated seeing such as mutsumi and jiro. The screen time these two characters had and the relationship they had is the most infuriating. My guy jiro is trying to protect everyone and this girl is holding him back at every turn. When the Oni attacked she had to stop him and do a big speech when he is off doing patrol she is following him. I was watching thinking leave my boi alone!.
Apart from the relationship between jiro and mutsumi I do have some favourites. Buchio and his mum is adorable seeing the flashback of how she saved him and then his struggles to come to te…
Read at the sourcered-artist
Tonari no Youkai-san is a Slice of Life with elements of mystery and heavy drama. The setting is a fantasy world where "yokai" (imaginary beings brought to life due to power of rumors, emotions, desires etc..) live with humans.
Plot
The show starts when a 20 year old pet cat is reborn as a nekomata (a yokai cat with two tails and power to transform). As a newborn yokai, he starts learning the ways of this world and this allows us audience to tag along for the lessons. We keep meeting new characters (around 15+ major cast members at this point) which all have their own stories/backgrounds (both current and some flashbacks). At the same time, there is a larger mystery plot unraveling in the background. The pacing is great, leading to a decent climax that provides enough closure for this se…
Read at the sourceGsarthotegga
Browsing through slice of life titles can be tricky, and it's easy to incorrectly stereotype SoL, thinking certain trends are representative of the genre. The older film and literary SoL (say, Yasujiro Ozu for film) was more traditional in style, then you have the later atmosphere-focused ones, with anime examples being Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou or Mushishi, and quite a few of them being iyashikei. Finally, there's the podiatrist-pandering brand of slime of life that you will find with the current deluge of CGDCT's patented cupcake and tea philosophy. Tonari no Youkai-san is in the atmospheric camp, for the most part, though it has the sentimentality common to the more traditional SoL, and a touch of introspection that spills onto the scenes with blush-inducing blunt dialogue in what can som…
Read at the sourcebossunhimeswitch
This was an interesting anime. Not just because of the mythology influencing the story or the ayashi living alongside humans, but also what the anime chose to say about things like connection, grief, and anger. The characters were endearing and while some aspects of the story seemed abrupt, the ending fit what the story was trying to do and say, so I liked that about it a lot. I also liked how calm the vibe was for the most part with this series. It was very relaxing at times even when it was dramatic. The biggest downside to the anime was that I got some characters confused with each other because their designs were too similar. This might not be a worry for the majority of viewers, but I always run into trouble when characters look too similar to each other.
If you like a mix of fantas…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
Tonari no Youkai-san - Humans and mythical beings living in harmony...what could go so wrong?
In the era of never-ending wash, rinse, and repeat of fantasy shows (well, most of them being Isekai in their premise), pure fantasy works get lost in the lurch being categorized in the same bunch as their no-life Isekai works, and it's really a shame that we now rarely get these shows that embody a unique sense of originality that you just can't find anywhere within AniManga. Such is the fate of series like the famed female mangaka Yuki Midorikawa's Natsume Yuujinchou a.k.a Natsume's Book of Friends, in which both the manga and the anime series are still going strong to this very day after 2 decades. But what if I tell you that there is a work that is just like it, similar but not so much to a d…
Read at the source