Recommended
Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. The Chinese Zodiac is a figure that has long since been used to identify one's characteristics and personalities, since there's a saying that people are like a certain way on account of their perspective zodiac animal. So, with an anime about this particular zodiac that is NOT Fruits Baskets, what are we to expect with Etotama? Story (6.34/10): Etotama's story is based around the life of one particular individual named Amato Takeru, a high school student who moves into a rather large house by himself in Akiba. There, he notices astrange hole in a corner of his house, a hole that for some reason leads to the world of gods (probably). Here, he meets a girl who comes out of the hole, a cat-girl by the name of "Nya-tan", sending Takeru on a journey with this strange eto-musume (basically, a god-like girl, but not an actual god) on her goal to become one of the twelve members of the zodiac.
Etotama plays off from the original legend of the zodiac, where the rat tricked the cat before the start of the footrace to determine the twelve zodiac animals, leaving the cat no chance. With the main story being surrounded around the idea of Nya-tan collecting the twelve sol-lull seals (basically, sol-lull is moe power/gratitude from humans and such) of the twelve zodiac animals so that she can become a member of the zodiac. The show itself plays with this VERY straightforward plotline for literally the entire show. Within a given episode, Nya-tan will fight any given Eto-shin (aka, the zodiac animals) in a battledome-style fight where if she wins, she can get their seal and continue off towards the next one sort of like your classic tournament-style anime.
Its simplistic plot really only scratches the surface as to what kind of story Etotama has. The biggest issue I have with Etotama is that for the most part, it's inconsistent with the way it wants to deliver its story, particularly in the latter half in the show, which is, mixing comedy, with a serious, dramatic plot. I see this as Etotama's main problem because a good chunk of the time, the show will not only go serious for a brief moment and try and instill an actual plot aside from a cat dicking around with eleven animals and a dragon, which heavily clashes its for the most part, light-hearted and comedic tone that it sticks with most of the time. They just don't really fit together well, and that's my main issue with this show. Another problem I have is the fact that this show REALLY has no consequences with what it does. Because it mixes comedic elements with an attempted serious tone, a lot of the more dramatic aspects/plot points that are presented in the less funny moments of the show basically get resolved later on when the show decides it wants to bust your funny bone. To me, it's a bit of a distasteful experience because serious and funny don't really go together all that well, especially when your characters are gods that have the ability to reincarnate, essentially disregarding any sort of serious moment you attempted to put in the show to begin with.
Another thing that bothers me with the show is the fact that it has all of these commandments, rules, and terms that while do get an explanation, don't really retain that explanation all that much. Really, you're told what a certain term/rule is, then you'll probably forget it in a few episodes because the underlying complexity of these terms racks the brain quite a bit on account of their definitions taking at least 3-4 lines of text just to explain, so yeah, I'll pass on that.
In terms of a comedy aspect, Etotama is a show that heavily references the fourth wall. (Insert there is no fourth wall joke here.) Most of the show's comedy comes from Nya-tan herself as her crazy and varying antics boot us from scene to scene of her ridiculous hyperactive personality. But that's not all. While a lot of the moments are created thanks to Nya-tan, a lot more of them become more prominent because of the expansive zodiac girls cast, which each have their own unique personality to give every joke a little bit of a different twist. But, like all comedy, it's really depending on whether you think it's funny or not, since all comedy is subjective.
Overall, Etotama's story isn't really all that fantastic in any real story aspect. All it is mostly just a group of characters fooling around in an episode by episode story where each episode differs from one another with different and sometimes random topics like Shogi, a horserace, kick the can, and even just straight up bribery on several occasions. (Nya-tan will do anything to get those seals.)
Overview:
+ Easy to follow base story
+/- Good comedy (if you're a fan of fourth wall breaking)
- Has serious moments that clash with the show's mostly comedic aspect
- Terms within the show are somewhat complicated to actually remember (for the most part, you just know what the purpose of said term is, then move on with the show)
Characters (7.72/10): Characters in Etotama are what I think really the selling point of the show, and really the bigger reason as to why someone would really want to watch this show.
But since we have to be follow the rigid formula put in place by the reviewer himself, we'll start with Takeru, the only important human character in this show. (Yay for continuity...) Takeru as a character really...isn't all that special. As a person who produces very good Sol-lull (aka, that moe power thing I was talking about earlier), Takeru is for the most part put into this plot device role rather than an actual main character that has a grave impact on the show. Most of his work within the show is done in the sidelines as a source of power to Nya-tan, and doesn't really involve himself as much with the affairs of the zodiac or Eto-Shin as one may think. He does have this development where he "appreciates" the company of Nya-tan a lot more, but to me, it feels like forced development to give the serious areas of the show more impact, when in reality, it really doesn't. I mean, he's already WAY too accepting of a literal dozen of animal girl gods just showing up in his house randomly. He doesn't even so much as flinch when he learns that gods and a world of gods exists.
And of course, we have the true star of the show (quite literally, cause she has a starfish thing on her head for some reason. I don't know how that thing works tbh. I swear it's like alive or something...), Nya-tan. As a cat eto-musume, Nya-tan aspires to be a member of the zodiac for reasons that she herself doesn't even remember. Oh well. As the central character for the show, Nya-tan is a very exuberant character, attempting to find a character-type for herself so that she can shine and basically, make better ratings for the show. (Or something like that.) What I like personally about her is that she's not a very grounded character. She's selfish, greedy, sometimes smart, sometimes helpful, determined, lazy, all sorts of adjectives. I think that's what really makes her so much of a memorable character and truly stands above all the other characters in the show. Of course, whether or not you like her is really your decision, cause she is a character that goes on quite literally, opposite ends of the spectrum.
And finally, we have Chuu-tan, the rat Eto-Shin. Personally, I felt like this character deserved mention specifically because she mainly serves as the show's antagonist and has a creed to "destroy the cat clan!" and all of that lovely business. As far as villains go, Chuu-tan is a lacking character for no other reason than her lack of screen time. While acting as the bad guy for basically the entire run of the show, she doesn't really appear all that often and has a very lackluster existence overall because she not only doesn't have much to go off on on account of how little she actually appears in the show, but because her actual motives for wanting to slay the cat clan was something I felt was explained very poorly. It didn't really make sense, so I really just had to go along with it, even if I didn't truly understand what was being talked about. That to me, is a major flaw.
But truly though, I believe that the real stars of the show belong to the side characters, particularly the eleven Eto-Shin in the zodiac. While each one of them really gets 1/2 - 1 episode completely devoted to themselves, and they all basically have one-note personalities, they don't actually falter all that much in that aspect. In fact, the one-noteness actually makes most if not all of them more memorable characters. They're a colorful cast that are all fairly easy to remember, and they all show up so often that it really makes it hard to not at least recognize the lot of them right away. And besides, how can you forget characters like a perverted cow, a traumatized horse, a rooster with a three step memory, a sheep nurse, and the exposition pig with the sesame oil addiction?
Overview:
+ Interesting female lead
+ Great supporting cast
- Male lead leaned towards supporting
- Villain was for the most part, not present/unexplained
Art and Sound (7.44/10): The art for Etotama was made by a little known animation studio by the name of Shirogumi, a studio that really...hasn't done all that much in terms of quality work. Nonetheless, Etotama's art style leans heavily towards the moe-style of animation. With big eyes, cartoony expressions, and these very innocent looking ears on the girls of the show, with the standard animation not really looking all too different from animation these days. For the most part, it's standard fare. That is, until you get to the battles.
Etotama in addition, also uses CGI whenever the characters within the show do battle. And contrary to what you may think, it's not actually that bad. The CGI for these specific scenes doesn't actually look all to bad in terms of Japan's CGI standards and does actually give a new depth to the visuals for the show. Of course, it clashes with the original visuals for the show, that's an aspect of it on account of how glaringly different they look from one another.
In terms of sound, the OP in particular for Etotama is a very...interesting track to say the least. Similar to the show itself, the OP switches its tone as well, going from a rock sounding theme with the guitar before leading towards a bouncy melody and cute lyrics. Personally, I found this song to be VERY addicting and found myself listening to it an absurd amount of times. Is it a good song? It's ok, not the best, but decent enough. The ED on the other hand is a very mellow piece, reminiscent of sleeping on a meadow with its calm atmosphere and tones. The tracks for Etotama aren't bad per say, and they're actually quite memorable, but they don't really stack up to be anything more than a fun song. They're good, but not masterpieces.
Overview:
+ Standard fare animation
+ Decent soundtrack (that I personally find to be memorable)
+/- CGI is good, but clashes with the standard animation
Personal Enjoyment (9.00/10): Admittedly...I had more fun with this show than I really should've. Not only am I a big fan of girls with animal ears (yes, I'm that kind of person), the fourth wall breaks and the overall comedic style of the show just perfectly suited to my personal tastes.
Did I like this anime?
Far too much. It was fun for me to watch, I enjoyed the characters, and I really liked the style of randomness and just overall oddity that the show presented itself to be. I'm a personal big fan of fourth wall breaks, so that was definitely an aspect of the show that I really liked. The music for me is one of my favorites this season, and even with the flaws that I will mention very soon, I really enjoyed this show regardless.
What didn't I like about this anime?
The clash between serious and comedy was really the only true personal downfall I felt. It's tough to balance comedy and plot together, and when you don't succeed, the end result doesn't really turn out well. That being said though, every other flaw didn't really stick out or bother me too much, and because I really enjoyed the show a lot, there's really not much to complain about.
Would I recommend this anime?
If you're looking for something that isn't too thought provoking, Etotama is decent for that. It's by no means a masterpiece, but rather just a fun show with randomness, CGI, some ecchi acts from a questionable cow, and lots and lots of fourth wall breaks. This show really doesn't serve much beyond a casual watch on account of its material and style of comedy. It's a decent show, and if you're into slapstick or random episodic episodes, and want something new, Etotama's a good pick for something of that category.
Overall Score: 7.23/10
