Now, TMS Entertainment is a studio that covers a wide range of different shows, and over the years, I’ve known that they can make good shows-but they just weren’t making them like they used to. However, I can safely say that it is different with this one. Despite their most recent failures like The Pilot’s Love Song, Yowamushi Pedal ( which I actually liked the first 2 episodes of), and SeHa Girl, it’s a good thing that they managed to pull off a comedy series like Kokkuri-San well enough to keep me interested.
The point is, this episode was funny. What makes Gugure! Kokkuri-San enjoyable so far are the interpersonal relationships between all of our characters, and this episode had a lot of that, by introducing us to yet another interesting person from Japanese folklore. Unlike the first episode, which was a rather mixed bag, this episode was far superior in terms of comedy, and the animation brings it out really well. This anime was directed by Yoshimasa Hiraike, director of the first season of Wagnaria, so no wonder this show was executed so well this far.
The dark humor really works in this series, and finally, it’s about time we got another one. Now, don’t get me wrong, this show isn’t dark enough to be considered a true dark comedy, but hell, it’s been too long since Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei and I need my dark humor fix. It’s a very nice way of bringing out the heavier tone that a premise based on the children’s game this show is based on brings along, while managing to stay humorous and putting a twist on folklore in a way that isn’t annoying as f*ck. That’s how you turn your Japanese folklore into comedy.
I would not call Yowamushi a failure as it has sold well enough to garner a sequel and turned out to be a grew show, it should end with about 62 episodes.
I like Gugure, but it will look more like a failure compared to Yowamushi.