The final third of Uchoten Kazoku to me… is probably its worst part. Allow me to elaborate why:
Basically it boils down to that the conclusion was too cliched for its own sake. And I don’t really say that for the sake of it being cliched, but rather the implications that this had on the rest of the series. Two implications really stood out:
– The frog, the second son. I really liked how he actually felt responsible for the death of his father. That was some really good drama, and I loved the episode earlier that was dedicated to his feelings about it. But no, the father was just caught by his brother who turns out to be this stereotypically evil bad guy who just justs after some woman. True, without being drunk there was a chance that the father would have seen through the trick, but nevertheless he doesn’t feel guilty anymore about his actions.
– Wat made Uchoten Kazoku great? Its dialogue and its focus on cultural values, customs and legends. The whole succession story just took too much time away from that, and unlike the first two thirds of the series it brought relatively few new things to the table. You can also see this in the character-development, which while there, could have been much more if the plot was a bit more catered to it. Benten for example: we never really got to see what goes on inside her head.
Does that make these four episodes bad? Nah, just not as good as what they could have been. These episodes still were fun to watch, and at least it did try to stay somewhat true to itself by never forgetting that the simple minds of the characters who on one point can be entirely serious, and then can be goofing off or really stupid again. The chaos in the final episode was a neat anti-climax, and the whole frying tram rocked. Uchoten Kazoku was definitely unique and really refreshing as an anime.
Yojou-han, Uchoten Kazoku. This writer needs to have more of his stories adapted to anime!
Rating: 5/8 (Great)
Benten is actually the reason why their father is dead, which was partially the reason why she distanced herself from Akadama, that and the previous incident where her and Yasaburou’s prank caused Akadama to injure his back and loss of ability to fly.
She’s as developed as she can without losing her mystery, she’s selfish and shallow like a human, because she’s half human, but she’s also egotistical and powerful like a Tengu because she’s half Tengu, However, she is terribly lonely at the top because she cannot genuinely fit in with anyone, which is why she took special interest in Yasburou, because she envy him, his ability to be so carefree and loved.
I think you’re wrong on the assumption that he doesn’t feel guilty anymore. If that were true, he’d not have remained a frog. The guilt was lifted because he wasn’t the reason that his father is dead, but that’s not his only or greatest sin, as you can tell with his tearful first words to his mother. He abandoned his family to hide in a hole and lost sight of what his father left him, that’s his sin.
I cracked up so much seeing all the (old but very cute) tanuki losing the plot and scrambling around.
Benten is still the only character story that makes the least sense to me. Love to see more series like this.
worst review ever!!!!
^ Troll up above…
While I agree Soun’s reasons were pretty petty, they way he went about it was anything but cliche. He didn’t twirl his metaphorical mustache around, he definitely thought out his plans, right up to the eventuality that Yaichirou would escape and try to tell everyone and he didn’t present himself like a bumbling fool, unlike his two sons.
This time I am disagreeing with you. I think these last few episodes were the most enjoyable. I love all of them of course, but in these last few eps, we got fun character development and interactions in a story that wasn’t just random antics of said characters. A greater purpose was added and the characters still shined.
You say cliché, I say classic. I didn’t mind the final plot at all since it was so well packaged, with an ending that was balanced and consistent to the rest of the serie. And such a darling cast! Even the more elusive characters got a proper conclusion, so all in all, it was one of my favorite endings. Way better than Gatchaman’s.
whereas I loved the ending of Uchouten! The build up was great, and the last episode in particular saw me getting caught up with the excitement and with a smile on my face.
I would place this as number one anime of the past season, out of all the ones I watched.
I wish I’d gotten to understand Benten, but I think it’s also good that she remains a whimsical mysterious lady.