Forum - View topicOtome Yōkai Zakuro (TV).
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Hardgear
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Otome Yōkai Zakuro
Considering that I am not at all familiar with the source material, that my first impression upon seeing the previews was "oh great, yet another show about anthropomorphic animal/spirit people and the humans that learn to love them, more Inuyasha-style furry fodder" and that originally I just randomly decided to watch it to be a completionist (I had free time and it was a simulcast I hadn't seen, so figured what the hell) I am pleasantly surprised that, 3 episodes in, Otome Yōkai Zakuro is shaping up to be my favorite show of the season. The first episode was the required "introduce the caste and set up their situation" episode, and while it didn't do anything epic to catch your interest right off the bat, it didn't drag its feet either. I either liked or was neutral on all the characters so far, so that was a good sign. Just some minor hints of story, but the humor and likeable characters were enough to keep me interested in seeing more. The second episode to me seemed like it was basically the warmup episode, introducing the audience to the type of work these characters are supposed to be doing, why we should care, and why it is important. Some more hints of a greater story sneak through, particularly about Zakuro's past. Also threw out more examples of the unfriendly atmosphere between the yōkai and the humans. The humor seems to be sticking around, which is a good thing IMO. Still kinda slowly trodding along but I found myself more curious as to what is gonna happen next. The third episode is where I think the main storyline is showing signs of kicking off. I really liked the humor in this episode, and the fact that they were able to throw it around during what are arguably the first grim/dark scenes of the show without it being too intrusive is surprising: spoiler[The part where Zakuro asks Agemaki to back her up in a fight and he starts singing almost had me spitting my drink all over my monitor. That is the perfect example of how to set up a joke (over the past 2 episodes) before releasing it to good effect]. One thing that didn't sit right with me is how lightly, despite their initial shock and disgust, the characters were able to take the subject matter of this episode's mystery: spoiler[The disappearing girls were actually lured to a monster's cave and eaten. After beating the monster Agemaki and Zakuro went back to their normal selves and the show completely skipped over reporting to the village mayor what happened (though it was mentioned that they did), which would have been a good character building/drama moment. Also, knowing this SHOULD have given Zakuro some pause, considering what happened to her mother]. Also in this episode 2 of the recurring villains show up for the first time (they appear in the intro/credits, thats how it's easy to tell...). So yeah, overall I like the show, especially how some effort actually goes into the humor and setting up some of the better jokes as opposed to it just being thrown in there as an afterthought. I for one am probably gonna ride this to the end, hopefully it keeps getting better as it goes on. Last edited by Hardgear on Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:20 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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Not bad. So far I'd give it a 6/10.
I'd say they're not handling the drama all too well, and the protagonist's fear of spirits isn't very stable (sometimes he doesn't mind it, sometimes he nearly passed out). As for the heroine, I'm kind of tired of that archetype and on top of that she also looks like the characters who share her traits and whom I'm fed up with (mainly Valkyrie's heroine). Besides that, I'm enjoying to watch the twins, and am not very happy with my favorite seiyu doing yet another dull character whose partner looks [and act] an awful lot like a character from Kimi ni Todoke. |
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Hardgear
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Agemaki's "unstable" fear of spirits to me is done in a believable way. He started out afraid of even Zakuro and friends, but he quickly got used to them. Then he got used to everyone else in the house because, well, if you live with someone you tend to get used to them (how fast? I don't know, it doesn't seem to mention how much time passes between episodes). Now he seems to only be afraid of new, usually scary-looking spirits while being OK with ones he was scared of in the past but got used to.
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24027 |
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This is one of my season faves. I love the simplicity of the set-up, the humour, the tentative romance stuff, the purty piktures and Zakuro herself. I just wanna pinch those adorable cheeks and ruffle her foxy ears. I like the rabbit...thing with fangs. Cute show.
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Bento-Box
 Posts: 1049 Location: Florida |
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After reading what you guys said, I think I may end up checking this series out. I'm not into the whole "ears and tail" stuff and I'm not really into the whole "demon falling in love with a human" stuff either. Although, you'd never know that by the series I've watched. LOL
I have a lot on my plate though... so, I'm gonna ask some exploratory questions before I burn an evening on something I may not like. Is the animation quality, musical score, and voice acting good? Also - is there an excessive amount of chibi? |
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Hardgear
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I think the animation is great, the background art specifically is top of the line. Music goes from average to good, same with the voice acting IMO. No chibi at all! |
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the Rancorous
 Posts: 2248 Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys |
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Yeah, I see your avatar 
If you mean stuff like this, then no, there's none at all. This show, along with the maid-cafe show and Squid Girl are my picks for this season (and so far, the only ones I'm really keeping up with), though I've yet to see Star Driver, so that statement could change. I like the interplay between Agemaki and Zakuro. Zakuro is the 'tsundere' type, yet she's not unstable or abusive at all. Plus, thus far, Agemaki has given her genuine reasons to get upset with him (candles anyone?). It also helps that she is genuinely grateful to him when he does come through. I don't think this show will amount to "greatness," but it's definitely worth watching. One of the betters of this season. |
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Mister V
 Posts: 1000 |
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This series falls squarely into the comfort food slot, that had been empty since Maid-sama. The voice acting is generally very good (just take a look at the cast); the humour is simple, but generally works; the art and animation are a wonderful surprise, especially the OP and the chanting scene.
It doesn't have anything too... mature so far, I would like it to bare its seinen fangs once in a while (even if they are cute little fangs compared to other series). I would also fault it a little for setting up its relationships too obviously, but I suppose it just can't be helped. Oh and by the way, the candles thing was actually very well-played, I think. On one hand, it's just silly, but when you think that a Japanese person actually had to go and do research on what fox spirits like... and that it turned out to be completely false, and a gaffe, despite sincere intentions. |
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Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter Exempt from Grammar Rules  Posts: 4629 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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No chibi, but there's a rather large amount of bishonen cuteness that can be a turn off- isoscoles triangular chinned pretty boys- blushing girls averting their eyes. They make some fun of this trick by making the sparkly eyed blonde the one that is terrified of spirits in decidedly unmanly ways but they still play by the bishonen rules to some degree. On the other hand this form of prettiness also allows for the beautifully orchestrated dance/battle scenes, complete with swirling cherry petals.
Not to say it is all prettiness. When I say that the bishonen characters and blushing girls can be a turn off- I'm talking about me as an example- I don't like that stuff. But the art direction goes beyond the trite and the story elements promise allegories on tradition and prejudice that promise to go beyond the usual shallow fare. |
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egoist
Posts: 7762 |
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So, they'll use that as a gimmick from now, is what I'm guessing. I believe it's the same problem a few too many series have with balancing the size of giants and mechas when standing near something smaller/bigger, except that in this case it's done on purpose. |
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GeekyBlackGirl
 Posts: 52 |
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I started watching last night and I thought it was cute. It gave me few laughs which is all I really want. I have enough dark anime on my plate so I need something to liven it up.
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EireformContinent
 Posts: 977 Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land) |
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Episodes 1-3
So far it's the most promising anime of that season and prove that even most common clichés can be used in creative way. We have "from hate to love", magical girls transformation, monster of the week but as I was watching it I didn't think about that, but simply enjoy. Characters are predictable, but reasonable- especially Agemaki with his fear of demons and literally treating of army rules cached my eye. "The cuteness" of youkai girls seems so natural that it didn't scare me off (that's a great pro). The thing that can make it more interesting than regular shoujo no. XYZ is setting during Menji era. Seeing society in the turn of the time is always interesting and I hope they won't give it up. So far we could see reactions of people from minor changes (milk and cattle) to great ones and references to mythology. I'm looking forward to next episodes and hope it will work. |
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Hardgear
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I keep expecting a letdown, but after episode 4 it's still going good. Episode 4 seems to think that this is a Shōjo series, so that might turn some viewers off. As a whole the series is entering the "let's introduce the side character's powers" phase, and it looks like that is set to continue into episode 5 at least. More hints at the bigger plot are dropped spoiler[and there is definitely some sort of anti-Zakuro conspiracy going on (no joke!)]. If I were to guess I would say another 1-3 episodes and the main plot should start taking off.
Last edited by Hardgear on Mon Oct 25, 2010 6:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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LKK
 Posts: 426 Location: Virginia, USA |
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Otome Youkai Zakuro is a seinen series. It runs in the men's magazine Comic Birz. |
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Hardgear
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That's what they want you to believe
So far the anime seems to have more in common with Shōjo, but point taken, modified that post. |
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