Gugure!! Kokkuri-San Episode 11 + 12 [Final Impression]

Inugami-san becomes a kid. Welp, we’ve covered genderswap so why not cover the ever looming comedy trope of aging down? To be fair Inugami really deserved it. And so did. . .Shigaraki. . .who. . . dammit. Everyone ends up drinking Kokkuri-san’s magical water that he bought for himself. You know what? One of my genuine problems with this show is that everything that happens happens at Kokkuri-san’s expense, and that’s some bullshit. I love the silver haired fox trope of a character and screw everyone in this show for always picking on him.

If I had to give this show an overall feel even before reviewing the content, it’s that Kokkuri-san is always the joke. Inugami and Shigaraki can do despicable things, but they’re never so horribly or easily put down. They’re proud of the way they are and Kokkuri-san is instead made fun of and his weaknesses exploited for a laugh. Well what if your favorite character is Kokkuri?!

I felt bad for him most of this episode because as Shigaraki and Inugami drank the water, he ended up having to take care of them to protect Kohina and how does that come back on him? Welp, as nothing. He gets over tired having to raise two babies and ends up drinking some of the water himself, becoming a child and forcing Kohina to ask the cat lady for help since she is a kid. Ultimately they do turn back, because it turns out the water is a fake knockoff of the real product, but the issue is the same- cut him a break!

But I do have to give the show this. Before Kokkuri turns back into his older self Kohina does basically admit how much he means to her and how nice it is having Kokkuri-san as he is no matter what, and that ‘Kokkuri-san is still Kokkuri-san’. When these two actually manage to bond it makes all the comedy really worthwhile and it makes me want to cry.

Turn it around and 12 just starts off freaking hilarious. The entire beginning deals with a lawyer who says the stupidest, and funniest, shit I’ve ever heard in my life. He has a phobia of things he can’t sue and can’t handle children, including buying his daughter a Christmas present, because they can’t be tried under criminal law. He sounds like a bad Phoenix Wright villain and that’s the entire reason I like him. The saddest part of this show is how easily it can just give you pieces of soft sweet pain.

Why? Well, Kohina and Kokkuri-san help the man find a present for his daughter and then go see her. It’s cute and all fine, until you realize something is wrong and Kokkuri-san tells him his good luck charm is almost gone. The man reveals he has died recently but wanted just one memory of being there for his daughter after he realized he had failed her. The memory was the only happy one he had, but it allowed him to pass on. Kokkuri-san walks with Kohina and once again the show reminds me why I like it.

At the end, Kokkuri-san and the rest make a wish on New Years. The way it sets it up, it seems like Kokkuri-san has either lost a woman he loved or perhaps Kohina is the reincarnated version of her- either way she invokes a memory of a woman who, if the monologue serves any indication, died because humans don’t live long enough. ‘Our lives are too slow to live with humans, but they’re too long to live by ourselves.’ The show returns to status quo soon after but, basically, that’s it.

And you know? That’s why I like this show. That’s what’s up for me. I think a reason why the comedy became so hard to bear is because underneath it I saw the feelings and emotions and dammit, I want more of that. I want the feelings in the show to come out and play. I guess it’s a good thing I ended this season on this show because now, in a similar vein, is Kamisama Hajimemashita which at least has a serious notion to it and has a lot of the ancient spirits this show called on.

This show is worth watching. I wish it had been picked up by someone in America because I’d own it! I can’t say it’s my favorite because again, that Kokkuri-san is so ruthlessly tormented by his friends really makes me angry. If I had to give it a recommendation or a rating, I’d say it’s a solid 7.5 when it’s a comedy, and an 8.5 when it’s talking about feelings. A good anime when you’re feeling down and sometimes a bad one, because it has the ability to make you laugh and cry at the same time.

Oki’s recommendation: Give it a watch, cry, and love it.

Oki