The Eccentric Family 2

Episode 7

And so ends the sordid tale of Soun Ebisugawa.

I didn't expect his story to end here. If I did, I probably wouldn't have written an article hyping his villainy just a couple days ago. Though The Eccentric Family's first season was prompted by a key death, I expected Soun of all people to always bounce back, cursing his foes while vowing to get them next time. Soun was a monster, but he was still an important figure to many of The Eccentric Family's central players. He was family. And now he's gone.

Soun's death comes after a long build-up through the latest meeting of the Friday Club. Having been rescued from Hell by Benten, Yasaburo finds himself meeting with the ominous Jyurojin, Friday Club head and owner of the famed painting. Jyurojin was a figure of mystery and menace in the first season, so it was nice to get a closer look at his personality. Like Benten, he seems to be someone who's rarely fooled by what's going on, but he can be managed as long as you keep him amused. And Yasaburo is extremely good at being amusing.

This episode's first half also offered many opportunities for The Eccentric Family to stretch its visual muscles. The show's beautiful backgrounds and whimsical sense of magic came together in Jyurojin's fabled train car, a triple-decker destination featuring some pleasingly impossible dimensions. Like Nidaime's estate and Benten's lake, Jyurojin's train car is an expression of both power and personality, its interior spiraling into impossible contortions in order to fit such luxuries as a bamboo forest and an open-air bath. Benten and Yasaburo's journey through these places offered some of the most beautiful compositions of the season so far, making strong use of both heavy shadows and rich sunset colors.

The lights were turned up for the evening's feast, a rare meeting between the Friday and Thursday Clubs. This event was important for both Soun and Yodogawa. While Yodogawa planned on disrupting the evening with a passionate speech, Soun was all set to accept Yodogawa's former place in the club. Unfortunately, neither of their evenings went as planned.

On Yodogawa's side, the talent for aimless philosophizing that helped kindle his friendship with Yasaburo was much less effective when aimed at his former clubmates. In response to his plea for tanuki justice, the Friday Club members quickly derided him as Professor Sophistry, and it felt tough to disagree with their assessment. Yodogawa means well, but he feels first and rationalizes later - his current philosophy is always a justification of his underlying passion, not the coherent result of any consistent worldview. While individual lines like “love is something you force on others” were interesting arguments in the abstract, they didn't add up to any sort of convincing point. And so, tired of Yodogawa's nonsense, Jyurojin ultimately had him bound and lined up to be shot at.

Yodogawa's failure tipped Yasaburo's hand, prompting him to loudly decry Yodogawa in order to save him. Leaping onto the table, Yasaburo railed against Yodogawa's tanuki sympathies - but Yasaburo's trickery ended in Benten asking if he'd like to join the Friday Club, lightly offering the seat that Soun viewed as his final salvation. This was the last straw for Soun. After an evening that began with disappointment and ended in torment, he called out both Yasaburo and the Friday Club itself, ultimately losing his temper and transforming. Confronted by an oni choking his new friend, Jyurojin acted swiftly and decisively, firing his rifle and sending Soun to the great beyond.

This episode's dinner scene felt like an intentional echo of the first season's Friday Club meeting, something underlined by its title. By intentionally drawing that contrast, the episode made the distinct mood of this season's meeting even more clear. In contrast with the first season's mix of goofy antics and romance, this meeting felt fraught with danger from start to finish. Between Jyurojin's clear and confident villainy, Soun's desperation, and Tenmaya's lurking smiles, the appearance of Jyurojin's rifle felt like an inevitability. But even still, the shooting of Soun came as a terrible shock.

This episode's finale found the show at its most somber and intimate, as Yasaburo tracked his dying uncle into a forest grove. Despite possessing every reason to hate his uncle, Yasaburo couldn't find any joy in his defeat. Soun was an unrepentant monster, but he'd still been close to Yasaburo all his life. Kaisei's appearance only underlined the ambiguity of the moment, as she thanked him for his kindness while he considered just how much this death was his fault. This episode presented its violence as sudden, meaningless, and without any sense of consolation or triumph. But although he could never find peace in life, The Eccentric Family still managed to grant Soun some dignity in death.

Overall: A-

The Eccentric Family 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.