×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
REVIEW: Eccentric Family Sub.Blu-Ray


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Endoger



Joined: 07 Dec 2014
Posts: 11
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:14 pm Reply with quote
Still one of my favorite anime of all time. Such a good watch.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 5516
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:24 pm Reply with quote
fantastic anime. good review. I do disagree with your negative mark though "The dialogue of the Ebisugawa twins is simplistic and sometimes out of step with the rest of the show's mood and writing.". Well, I don't DISAGREE with it, but I disagree that it's a negative mark. It seemed completely intentional to me. I felt they were a good contrast.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address My Anime My Manga
Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5400
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:03 pm Reply with quote
To me the Eccentric Family is a Very good anime with ambitious ideas, but the execution could have been better. I am not as impressed with the writing as Nick is. I found the first half especially messy because there was little sense of where the narrative was going.

In the second half things improved when it seems like the producers decided to give up their lofty ambitions in favor of a simpler and more streamlined story about family. I respect this anime for giving us something different some food for thought.

But at the end of the day I was not impressed with how the narrative was handled. The one thing that impressed me a lot was the background visuals. P.A. outdid themselves in that department.


Last edited by Angel M Cazares on Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:09 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Themaster20000



Joined: 05 Aug 2014
Posts: 863
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:54 pm Reply with quote
I have to finish it,but it's excellent from what I watched so far. It's nice to see a show tell a story with such maturity for it's material. As mentioned in the review,the show's love for Kyoto really enriches the show. Also a big fan of Kumeta's character designs.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4064
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 3:06 pm Reply with quote
I'm still stuck on the whole "this transforming tanuki is really relatable as a human even if he's a guy posing as a physical girl" core concept. There's metaphor and then there's this... why not do a story about people? At least I'd know where to stand.

Example: "Oh, the female wizard just kissed him, I mean her, probably should go with it seeing they're shapeshifters and all... despite knowing what it is." He's excited {Why? I know the show creators are human but the tanuki? He should be disgusted}, she's... something. I only know of one author who did the shapeshifter justice and that's Clive Barker, enriching multiple stories with gender roles and complexities about a species that has to live being what it is, when it feels like it, along side people who are far more rigid in thought and identity.

These guys? They have an identity, they just take different forms because...

This series loses me in one episode, it's remarkable.

Is this a "feel, don't think" series? Because I still can't get over the fact that I should care about a group of people getting together and eating a raccoon dog, even a thinking one {Blame Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for that one} or one with a family, as all animals have. Food chain, that's life for you.

Quote:
If you like stories about characters outside of anime's usual genre wheelhouse, you should watch Eccentric Family.


I hate stories about youkou/skinwalkers almost as much as stories about ninjas. Whether tanukis or foxes in the forms of humans, this is part of anime's "oh god, not these guys again" well of overused/underthought ideas.

It was done well in spoiler[Kanon] for two reasons: It happened once and it came at a price. If there are no rules {he deflates his boob in the first episode} then there's no point, no drama.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
albanian



Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Posts: 133
Location: UK
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 3:38 pm Reply with quote
A very fine show with barely a false step from beginning to end. It already ranks very high in my own personal canon, and I suspect that it will become more and more appreciated as the years go by.

Oh... ...and may the Lord be praised for multi-region BD players!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Knoepfchen



Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 698
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 5:15 pm Reply with quote
Wonderful series, great review. There was so much melancholy within all the beauty, and it managed to be mature and serious and wonderfully playful and innocent at the same time. Great cast of characters, great performances, and the way Kyoto is portrayed really did that magical city justice.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9798
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 6:55 pm Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
Quote:
I hate stories about youkou/skinwalkers almost as much as stories about ninjas.


Then why did you even attempt to watch the show? Why bother commenting on a show where you dislike the entire concept? Do you have a problem with other supernatural creatures such as elves and vampires? Strictly speaking they are not human either.

As to why such shows are made, most folklore worldwide has shape shifting characters. Japanese fables are especially rife with them. It is not surprising that they include them in their fiction.

I suggest you just accept that some shows are based on concepts you dislike and avoid them. Not every show can be tailored to your likes and dislikes. It is obvious from the other comments that there are a lot of people who like this show and are not put off by what you are. It is not like there is any lack of other anime to watch that doesn't bother you is there?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Redcrimson



Joined: 30 Mar 2013
Posts: 160
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 7:42 pm Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
why not do a story about people? At least I'd know where to stand.


Right now I'm just imagining someone screaming at their TV in frustration while trying to watch The Lion King.

"Singing lions? WHAT IS GOING ON?!"
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
MangaRocks!



Joined: 23 Jul 2011
Posts: 9
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:03 pm Reply with quote
A fantastic review for a fantastic show! <3

I completely agree that The Eccentric Family is a gift, and that pretty much everyone should watch it (I have it rated a full 10/10 for a reason-- multiple reasons, actually-- and your review sums up those reasons perfectly).

Can't wait to rewatch this once I get the set!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Wingbeats



Joined: 23 Feb 2015
Posts: 272
Location: Boise, Idaho
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:51 pm Reply with quote
Someone on the internet who noticed I like Natsume Yuujinchou recommended this show to me recently....and I accidentally marathoned it in two days. Oops!

But I loved every bit of it to death, and I definitely have it on my re-watch list. I wouldn't mind this blu ray collection gracing my shelf someday Smile

I would say that this series DOES probably require at least a smidge of knowledge of Japanese folklore to really get into...I'd say it helps with the suspension of belief with all the crazy stuff casually thrown at you from moment one.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:07 pm Reply with quote
It was a great show (especially the visual), but I strongly disagree that the character felt human. I'd say quite the contrary they felt inhuman, like animal trying to imitate human but ultimately failing at it. My best example is how every Tanuki (including the main character) is completely passive at the idea that every year a group of human just randomly murder and eat one of them, they just don't care, they have more than enough resource to deal with it (an entire society of shapeshifting tanuki with some magic power vs. a bunch of old guy)… but they just don't. Even the main character seemingly doesn't care, and his relationship with Benten take this very strange aspect to the limit spoiler[when he eventually find out she did play this huge role in murdering his father, but he barely even register that fact and ultimately no one even bother to do anything about that.]

This make it very strange when drama scene about there dad happens, they obviously care about there loved one, but not enough to take action and prevent his death, which is definitely not something human-like.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
JaffaOrange



Joined: 01 Apr 2011
Posts: 250
PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 4:22 am Reply with quote
A 2.5k word review and not one mention of Kaisei...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ppppp754



Joined: 13 Mar 2010
Posts: 1
Location: NZL
PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 5:21 am Reply with quote
Wow, another amazing essay Nick. You pretty much sum up why its such a beautiful show.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
DmonHiro





PostPosted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 5:45 am Reply with quote
This show bothered me because of its premise. If a magical tanuki is captured by humans, he is supposed to just accept it and let himself be eaten, even though he could escape with minimal effort. What the hell?
Back to top
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group