Forum - View topicThe Eccentric Family (Uchōten Kazoku) (TV) (w/ index).
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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We might be a bit more concerned if we knew that busdrivers were hunting us down, though! Still, I think you're right that it fits with the laconic culture of the tanuki. Being hunted and eaten is just part of the normal flow of their lives. When a loved one dies, you grieve, and then you move on. It was the tanukis' apparent acceptance of this fact of life that I found especially jarring when the show began. I always found the entire premise disturbing, but I grew to accept their reaction to it as the story unfolded. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11352 |
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But they aren't always being hunted down.
 At least in this story, their only real fear was the Friday Fellows, who were maintaining a tradition that had otherwise died out. I don't know how many Japanese eat Tanuki today - I'm sure some do - but the Kyoto Tanuki didn't live in fear of being eaten, except around the New Year, unless I've misremembered since I last watched it.
They did talk about it as if it were the fate they would all fall to, but I always took that as sort of a metaphor from a past reality that hung on even after the likelihood had waned. Kind of like people talk about avoiding something like the plague. Plague still exists, people still die from it, but it's extremely rare now and we don't live in fear of it despite it still being part of our lexicon of disaster. |
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leatherhead333
 Posts: 1187 Location: Kansas |
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That kind of goes into my point about them ending up like Souun. Even when he was emotionally distressed he never reverted back to his normal form and while it is implied he was cooked in a hotpot we are never told exactly what happened to him (which could mean many things). If they developed a more human way of thinking I don't believe these issues would be a problem for them. I still think the Tanuki are still WAY more laid back about life than humans. I mean if you were put in their shoes and were told that one of you is going to die every year that you wouldn't take any drastic actions? I'd freaking move out of state or even country if I was told something like that. You'd have to be irrationally insane to continue to live in such a place where your kind is eaten for tradition. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11352 |
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If you leave out the "eaten" part and just leave it as killed, then people live under those conditions all the time, with the threat of death hanging over more than one or two. That's kind of what a military draft during wartime is, isn't it? Every year we will take some of your children away and a lot of them will be killed. Also, see The Lottery.
Even if they knew their particular family was being targeted, they still could not leave because of their position in the hierarchy of Tanuki society. It would have dishonored their father to do so. |
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leatherhead333
Posts: 1187 Location: Kansas |
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You are comparing everyday life to something that does not happen very often anymore. I don't feel that's a good comparison. You keep changing the circumstances but they do not fit into the same scenario. Plus if they are going to war there is not an absouletly 100% chance they are going to die. Here is different. When it's time for someone to get picked whoever gets caught dies. End of story. This is just a guess but i don't think that Tanuki have the same population scale as humans. So it's not like they could say "What are the chances of me being picked?" like humans could since they have a much more limited number of people. Honor is one thing but constantly throughout the show Yasaburou remained rather empathetic about the idea of him being chosen. Sure he tried to hide and run at times but he never carried the same amount of worry a normal person would if they found out they were going to get eaten. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15462 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Season 2, Episode 12 (finale)
Most discussion of this second seems to have been in the review thread, nothing was posted here and there did not seem to be a new thread made, but I will take to here to talk about this second season. I don't know if there was something different about this season or my tastes changed in the time between, but I enjoyed season 2 much more than 1. Kind of felt less antagonistic as Soun had been removed with the titular family being able to garner some respect, the two idiots being put in place. Also quite a bit with Yasaburou and Kaisei, a kind of sad twist between them, but also the very end seeming tie that they will continue together. I think maybe somewhat out of Yasaburou kind of getting past Benten, probably from the inclusion of Nidaime who would not take any of Benten's crap where she tries to push herself around. Felt so satisfying seeing someone who would show Benten as the pitiful and ugly person she is. It even ended with her moping in her bed asking for pity. I enjoyed how this season in general felt like things were moving forward. Like frog brother working on his transformation and leaving the well, the eldest getting his girl and working to really become a leader, and the youngest was also doing his thing. Relationships were much more in flux, with also less pandering the delusional old Tengu who never does anything except talk himself up. I would give this season a rating of Very good (8/10), I quite enjoyed this in comparison to the first season. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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Well, I was a huge fan of the first season (rated it Excellent) and I'm delighted I feel the same way about the second (also rated Excellent). Nick Creamer in his reviews noted how a lot of the same situations were revisited in the second season but with different twists on them and viewed this as a negative. I actually dug that aspect.
I found the finale to be incredibly satisfying, especially since it is now completely clear that Yasaburo and Kaisei are an item. I was shipping them like crazy this season. We got more insight into what lead Nidaime and Akadama to have a falling out in the first place (Akadama interfered in a relationship with a woman Nidaime was in love with). I was kind of sorry to see Benten laid low. Her origins as a human with tengu powers have never been dwelt upon in the show, but we know she was kidnapped as a schoolgirl by Akadama to be raised as a tengu. I have to assume that that traumatic event shaped her capricious nature. According to Wikipedia, a third novel is planned (the two published so fair provided the source material for seasons 1 & 2) so I have hopes for a third season at some point. There was an 8 year gap between book 1 (2007) and book 2 (2015) so I hope that period of time gets significantly shrunk for the third. |
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