So here’s a genre that I don’t normally tackle that often. Hell, I don’t even know what to CALL this genre. It’s not magical girl…it’s not shonen…the hell is it? It’s like if Kill la kill was chibified…Weird. Anyway, let’s get right into it so I can explain what i’m talking about.
The series starts off with telling us the same thing that Fruits Basket told us a decade ago. (Jesus has it really been that long?) The cat of the chinese zodiac got tricked by the rat so it missed the party and therefore couldn’t be in the official chinese zodiac. And..just like in Fruits Basket, she’ fighting to get back in. Only this time, there’s no hugging involved.
So we come across the only real male in the show, and let me tell you, he’s pretty hilarious. He moves into a house where there’s a hole in the floor. The floor happens to be a portal to the realm of the gods. (Convenient!) And out of there comes Nyan, our aforementioned main character catgirl.
Only, while she’s trying to be cute and adorable for him, he isn’t having any of that shit and threatens to call the cops.
The scene that really cemented me liking this guy though comes up right after. You see, Nyan is trying out different personalities to see which would make him grateful (i’ll explain why that’s a thing in a minute) and in one of them, she is naked about to take a bath and the guy walks in. So she tsundere punches him. Now anyone who reads my reviews knows I HATE this trope. However, this is where this guy shines. After he gets punched, he picks her up by her head and throws her out of the house.
A short while later, the boar of the zodiac, who is revealed to be the cat’s friend (huh. kind of also like Fruits Basket?) begins to explain the premise of what’s going on to him with the whole zodiac thing.
And that’s when the dragon of the zodiac comes along and destroys the main guy’s house. Because…why not.
The dragon reveals she’s there to fight Nyan. However, Nyan can’t fight unless she has special energy. Energy that is released from a human when they are grateful for something.
So she tells Takeru (the main guy) that she refilled the soap. Apparently this is enough to give her energy.
Now, if you’ve seen anything about this show its probably the CG fights. At first, I thought the entire series was going to be in that weird CG style, but thankfully only the chibi battles are like that. Because as they enter the battle world, they become CG and chibi.
After a battle, the dragon beats the crap out of the cat. It’s then revealed that the dragon isn’t really her enemy and was just testing her.
As Takeru screams at them for blowing up his house, the episode ends.
Honestly, I had more fun with this show then I thought I would. It’s silly, the characters aren’t exactly deep, but it has a cuteness going on. They break the fourth wall quite often and it works for this show. You can’t really take it seriously as it’s meant for a good time.
Hell, the rest of the zodiac are running around the city seeing if they can get anybody to remember all of the zodiac animals in order. (Hell, “I” can’t even do that. I mean…I could NAME them….but not in order)
Now onto the scoring
Head: Like I said before, the chinese zodiac personification thing HAS been used before in Fruits Basket, but at the same time, this is cute. It’s a cute premise and seeing a young dense girl trying to get back into the zodiac as opposed to a broody Kyo will be interesting. Its also odd that all 12 are girls so that will be interesting to see too. True, the plot isn’t going to win points for originality, but at the same time, it has enough unique twists to be interesting. 6.5/10
Eye: All I have to say is, thank god that the entire series isn’t in the animation that the fight scenes are. That was really the only reason I was hemming and hawing over whether or not to watch this show is because i’m not really a fan of the whole “CG anime” thing (Hence why I never saw that Ghibli one back in fall) but i’m glad I watched it because like I said, only the battle scenes are in that style, and that’s just enough for it to be cute and not overstay its welcome. The animation in general is cute, it’s chibiness is done well, and I like the style. No real complaints. 8/10
Heart: I have to admit, I found myself chuckling a couple of times at the 4th wall breaks
Normally with show like this, I don’t find myself enjoying them that often, but there’s something sweet and charming about the comedy of this show that just makes me laugh.
While tropes, the characters are still inventive and I want to see more of them and learn more about them. Can Nyan get annoying? Yes, but I want to see where her character goes. Also, like I said, I love Takeru. He’s hilarious. 7/10
Total 7/10
So there’s our first episode into the wacky world that is Etotama. Am I going to cover this show? Yeah. I am. It’s pretty fun to watch and leaves me smiling at the end. So that makes it all worthwhile. Let’s see if she can fulfill her wish and get back into the zodiac!
See you next week!
Watching: Yes
Blogging: Yep!
-Hideki