OP Sequence
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OP: 「いのちのパレヱド」 (Inochi no Parade) by (Kujira)
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「あんや」 (Anya)
“Dark Night”
Four minutes into the premiere, and I already knew that I liked it. The animation for one was very nice- the focus on time of day, the shadows, the reflections of light. The entourage of yokai introduced was also quite fanciful, it really pulled me into the world. The OP and ED were tasteful as well, I might add- especially the ED with it’s artistic melding together of real world and animation.
Where does that leave the story and the rest of the production? Promising, I think. The narrative did rely a little too heavily on exposition, however, given that the source material is a novel, that’s to be expected, unless you have a director/scriptwriter of the highest caliber. It felt like this episode was a prologue, the set up for what’s to come after, which is at it should be. If this was just a taste of what’s to come, then I certainly can’t wait for more.
A LOT of yokai were introduced right from the get go, so I want to define them a little here. An inugami is a dog spirit, created by beheading a starving dog- rather gruesome. A hakutaku is a white ox that has multiple eyes and horns (creepy!), and is also thought of as a medicine yokai. It’s unclear whether the inugami and hakutaku where just magically sent to Grandfather or if he created them through magic rituals (I hope it’s the former and not the latter). Yanari are exactly as they appear- tiny, noisy yokai. Byobu Nozoki– Byobu means “painted screen” and “nozoki” means “to peek”, so pretty self-explanatory, given that said yokai emerges from a painted screen.
We’re introduced from scene one to a little boy, Ichitaro (Yamashita Daiki), who’s sickly from birth and bedridden. His mother already lost one son, and has difficulty conceiving. His family are devotees of Inari-sama- his mother prayed fervently to Inari-sama for a child, leading to Ichitaro’s birth, apparently, and his grandfather asked Inari-sama for companions to watch over his grandson, which also was granted in the form of an Inugami and a Hakutaku- Nikichi (Okino Kouji) and Sasuke (Yashiro Taku). Now, I find it interesting that there was an older brother who passed on, especially given Ichitaro’s name- his appellation is one that would typically be given to an eldest son because of the “Ichi”, “number one” in it. Now, I don’t know if I’m reading too much into things or if there is something deeper behind it, we’ll have to see.
Thanks to some medicine from grandfather and the loving care of his family and yokai guardians, Ichitaro lives to young adulthood. Albeit, very coddled- much to his (understandable) irritation. He has no freedom essentially- if he wants to help out in the family medicine shop or take breakfast outside of this room, everyone starts fussing over him, and gets told to go back to bed.
Like any self-respecting teen, he’s not going to take no for an answer and finds his own way to sneak out, thanks to the help of a Byobu Nozoki who acts as a stand in while he slips out. Curiously, Ichitaro mentions something about going to see “him”- who “he” is, we don’t know- is it a yokai, a human? Is it someone/something his yokai companions would approve of him going to see? A lot of questions, and 12 more episodes over which to answer it.
A young lad in his position would be practically starving for adventure, and it lands right at his feet as he wends his way back home in the dark of night, accompanied by a bell-turned-spirit, Suzuhiko-hime (Sekine Akira). She smells blood, and not long after, a creepy guy with a bloody knife runs in hot pursuit of Ichitaro. Being close to an Inari shrine, Ichitaro calls for backup from Furabiri, a fire sprite, who arrives right in the nick of time. There’s still that blood smell, so following the source, spirit and Ichitaro run into…a dead body. Of course, you can’t just let dead bodies lie, so we know there’s going to be a follow up to this- a good boy chomping at the bit for freedom like Ichitaro is, is going to take matters into his own hands.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「脈脈」 (Myakumyaku) by (KAFUNÉ)
