Nurarihyon – Together With Japan

Why We Watch Anime, Part 3: Visual Art

J Sensei — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 18:07:32 +0000

Creativity + Visual Art

While other nations have no lack of artists, it is Japan’s mix of creativity and visual art involved in the cel (celluloid) animation used for anime. While hard economic times and an improvement in technology have created a great rise in the use of computer-generated graphics to supplement cel art, it is ultimately an issue of highly varied visual styles.

I say highly varied, but detractors will say things like, all anime looks alike! and, all anime characters look alike! They’re separated at birth! This criticism is not one I like to indulge in, because I can see a lot of differences in most characters, but I’m looking for them.

Disney Roots

The Japanese style of animation is largely drawn from the rounded looks, including the rounded eyes, used in animation by Walt Disney Studios in its famous films. Certainly, this is augmented by decades of experimentation in manga, styles which are copied to the television or theater screen by hard-working animators diligently working to bring animation to life for the masses.

Still, and this is the issue that I alluded to in my first article in this series, as much as being an animator requires great skill, being a creator requires creativity that simply cannot be acquired by skill alone. This is why a flawless forgery of the work of a master painter is not regarded as equal to the original creation.

Samples of Anime Art

As usual, these are for EDUCATIONAL purposes to present a sample of Japanese culture. A picture is worth a thousand words, and I write too much as it is. – J

For more information on these anime – which are all currently airing – see this early impressions post for the current anime season.

Nurarihyon no Mago

Fortune Arterial

Hakuouki – Hekketsu Roku

To Aru Majutsu No INDEX

Amagami SS

Nurarihyon no Mago, ep. 10

J Sensei — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 06:43:13 +0000

If time truly permitted I’d relate from the beginning but, this is a transition to a new arc so it’s as good a place as any.

Spoilers: show

So Rikuo finally ascended to take over the Nura-gumi as “The Third” (3rd leader of the gang). Meanwhile, Yuka is having her 13th birthday. As it turns out, she had a childhood encounter with a “mirror” youkai that takes the life of a girl on… her 13th birthday. As Yuka’s classmates study this youkai, and as Yuka’s fending off messages inside her head, Yuka runs off from the group and soon finds herself chased by the youkai on a fruitless journey home.

In fact, she’s been trapped in the school on the other side of the looking glass, so to speak. As a cell phone given to her (in the form of a creepy youkai-ized doll) exposes her plight to those on the other side, leading to a frantic search. Of course, Rikuo is the only one who can actually see her through the mirror. The youkai is very unamused and breaks the mirror and nearly has Yuka absorbed when Youkai Rikuo pulls her out of the youkai fully, asking what it’s doing grabbing chicks on his turf.

So, the mirror monster creates perfect copies of itself all around Rikuo and Yuka. It sounds very impressed with itself until Rikuo, sword drawn, simply cuts all of them at the same time. That solves the problem.

While Yuka manages to make it seem like she was just imagining things and waves off the search, she tugs on Rikuo’s kimono and demands to know more about him. He grants her request, in his own way, leading her on a trip to the stomping grounds of the Bake-nekos (Ghost Cats), who were featured early on getting their butts kicked by what you might think of as were-rats, but who are part of the Nura-gumi. So Rikuo gives her an introduction tot he world of the youkai, including how it is both scary and fascinating, making her realize that yes, Youkai Rikuo really is a youkai, and after a long night out, he takes her home.

Rikuo ends up back at his own house at morning, something that his grandfather and mother remark upon, thinking that he must’ve scored with a girl and being quite fine with that. (Now that’s some family…) Actually, Rikuo is pretty out of it as he walks to school. Somehow Yuka is not at all tired (granted, she looked like she’d passed out from sake, so she was nice and out of it while Youkai Rikuo carried her on his back), and wants to ask Rikuo something. Rikuo, breaking character, says “sorry about last night,” sending Yuki Onna into a tizzy, and Yuka grabs Rikuo and goes off with him.

So, it basically goes like this.

Youkai Rikuo (whose name she obviously hasn’t heard!) tends to be around where Rikuo is.
There seems to be a connection between the two.
Therefore…
Rikuo: (I’m busted…!!)
“You must be friends with him, right?”

Rikuo, welcome to The Friend Zone, Clark Kent version. If the glasses fit, wear them.

Incidentally, the episode ended with some “recon” being done by three youkai of another “gang” that figure it’ll take a week to completely conquer the town, given that the Nuras are softies.

We’ll see about that, won’t we?

Rating: 9/10. Great ep. Many horror movies could learn from the competence with which the first half was done, and the second half included a lot of real character building that did not feel cheap at all.

Nurarihyon no Mago

J Sensei — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:54:50 +0000

Theme: Friends & Family

In actual Japanese mythology, Nurarihyon is a “youkai” (妖怪) believed to be an old man with a gourd-shaped head residing in Wakayama Prefecture. We might think of youkai as spirits, though “demons” is not really much of a stretch. However, as youkai can include humans who were reborn after death as youkai, spirit kind of works.

Anyway, in this manga/ anime, Nurarihyon was a much different looking guy in his younger days. Nurarihyon no Mago (Nurarihyon’s Grandchild) is about, well, his grandson, with his son – the second leader of the Nura Gang (Nura-gumi – no seriously, the Yakuza call their gangs -gumi, which is -kumi at the end of a compound) of youkai. Nurarihyon expected his grandson to fill his father’s shoes.

There’s a little problem with that, though.

You see, Nurarihyon himself married a human, and his son married a human, so Rikuo, our hero, is a 13 year old bespectacled (that is, wearing glasses) boy who thinks of himself as a normal human and aspires to that life. He lives with the youkai at his family estate normally, and they are like a big, extended family to him, but on the surface, he doesn’t have a smidgen of power, nor any inclination to lead at all.

On the surface, that is.

In times of peril, his youkai blood will awaken, and Rikuo looks like he does in the image above: a katana-wielding, long-haired complete badass with massive confidence and great calm, a fine leader of youkai, but fully conscious of his human form and his human priorities, like protecting the friends he cares about from high school.

At the beginning of the anime – and my understanding is, this is not the same as in the manga – this is not reciprocal, and human Rikuo doesn’t realize he has that kind of power. This doesn’t last; he becomes aware as he is forced into dangers and must sink or swim or see those he cares for, suffer or perish. Well, we can’t have that, can we?

A Vast Cast Of Oddballs

One of the characters I like in particular is the young Yuki Onna, “Snow Woman” (another famous youkai). She apparently isn’t the first; there was an older and more mature-looking one in a flashback featuring Nurarihyon himself. This Yuki Onna disguises herself so that she can go to school with Rikuo, or “waka” (Young Master), as one of his designated bodyguards/ protectors. Her main power is blowing snow and ice; her powers activate on their own when she is emotionally distressed or not concentrating, such as when Rikuo gets a cold. (You’re not supposed to put an iced-over “hot cloth” on his forehead, Yuki!!)

She’s one of the potential “love interests” in this show. Put simply, it’s very obvious she likes Rikuo, and is overprotective to a fault, and not quite mature enough to pull it off well. But therein lies her essential cuteness.

This show features a lot of characters, many youkai, others not, such as a transfer student on-myouji (yin/ yang practitioner; mystic/ spiritualist) who, besides a childhood friend, round out the “potential love interest” trio.

A Fine Show

Production values are high, and most importantly, the show is just a really good ride. It’s not over the top with fan service, it has some actual good action in it, it has a likable hero with an even more likable alter-ego (a guy I can actually get up and cheer for), and it has a lot of rich Japanese feel to it, both modern and older.

I strongly recommend this show to a broad audience.