11 year olds these days be acting out too damn much.
On a serious note, that was a very good first episode in my opinion! The seriousness and the comedy balanced very well and it was hard for me to get a read on how much of a threat Kuro was and how godly Kotoko was. So everything was a surprise, which was nice.
It seems like both have almost two personalities to each other. Balancing a very serious role in the otherwordly matters while still trying to be normal students in the real world.
Like many others, I was a bit iffy on the romance aspect, but this seems much more like a professional relationship with flirting here and there. Despite being a goddess, Kotoko is still a high-school student and still mostly acts like one. This episode didn’t really preview any powers she may have, apart from being able to see and interact with the ayakashi of course. It also seems misleading to call her a goddess. In theme with common lore, they removed her eye and leg (although the legends say usually one or the other so it seems like she got a raw deal to be honest) but that was moreso to become a conduit to the actual gods. She’s more or like a glorified mediator, who has come to be respected by the yokai. I don’t really understand yet how an 11-17 year old is handling these matters, but we shall see I suppose. They made a point of showing off her maturity so maybe the romantic aspect is kind of what’s concealing her normal god-like abilities.
On the other hand, Kuro’s weird balance of acting innocent vs casually getting his arm bitten off has me a bit confused. He seems somewhat like he doesn’t have any emotions, with that turn at the end. But he was also in a committed relationship for years and was more or less guilt-tripped into helping Kotoko. Maybe it’s specifically yokai that trigger that state of mind. I mean, he fucking ate them at as a kid. I’m sure we’ll here more about that…
On the softer side of the show, I can’t say I’ve ever heard someone praise goats so much. At first I was like, this is weird, but by the end of her speech she got me like, ‘damn, maybe goats are pretty cool.’ She’s also just a loli with a badass cane. I mean, that’s just cool!
When they flashed to the Kappa in the river, I’m ashamed to admit my first thought was Sarazanmai. Here we go again. C’mon, bring the transformation scene. That also would have justified Saki leaving him, I think. I don’t know if I could look at my S/O the same after watching a frog creature eat and eject him out. Maybe I’m being unreasonable, but I don’t think so. Honestly, I don’t even think I could really blame Kuro if he was a normal dude that had run away. If I saw a green dude with a bowl cut, but bald in the middle, pop out of a river and stare at me, I’d run like hell.
All in all, I very much enjoyed that first episode. I think it had enough substance to get me interested while still maintaining a light hearted air about it. I’m excited to learn more about the yokai world because I feel like everyone does it a bit differently. We definitely got to see some of the contrast, when you see Kotoko’s goofy assistant vs the cute creatures (WHO KIDNAPPED HER BY THE WAY OMG I JUST REALIZED IT WAS THEM SPECIFICALLY) vs the pretty large and scary thing at the end.
The show has definitely peaked my interest and I am excited to keep watching and blogging it!
Possibility of blogging: yes!
Source manga is by the same author who wrote Zetsuen no Tempest and Spiral – Suiri no Kizuna.
If you liked those works, then you’ll like this one.
I haven’t heard of those works but I’ll definitely check them out now! I’ve been looking for manga to read.
Iirc Zetsuen got an anime some time ago; lots of Shakespeare allusions.