Recommended
With a very peculiar look into the unique relationships that people forge with each other, the Eccentric Family was a very intriguing show featuring a tanuki named Yasaburo as he interacts with various characters, both protagonistic and antagonistic, as he inches closer to the truth about his father's death. Now with a second season, we're brought back into the world of Uchouten where everything has changed, yet nothing of significance has been really altered. Story: Our story returns us back to the world of Uchouten, where Tengu rule the skies, tanuki mess around like the fools they are, and humans apparently eat tanukiserved via hotpot. It's here where we see Yasaburo's idiot blood get the better of him as he encounters both new and old faces in a strikingly similar plot to the original.
At face value, the story for Uchouten 2 is remarkably similar to the original series, so much so that the series is more or less a shameless rehash of the original. Our main protagonist gets thrown around all over the place screwing about and living his troublesome life, before we the audience are tossed in the series ourselves via a political conspiracy plot thanks to a familiar face. Because of this, the show feels less interesting tension-wise because if you watched the first season, it's not exactly hard to anticipate the end result once everything has been said and done.
That being said, what the show lacks in plotline creativity makes up in heaps and bounds with the characterization with every member of its cast. All faces both new and old are given the limelight in some sense or another, so we're treated to the heart and soul of the series, the characters. A majority of the show's runtime is dedicated seeing what everyone is up to and the kinds of unique alignments that the characters in the show each have. We learn the pasts of the new editions while discovering more about the familiar characters that we didn't know before, thus giving the audience reason to care and be involved into these characters' lives.
Ultimately, the Eccentric Family 2 continues what the series is best at, which is heavy characterization centered around an extremely peculiar cast of different races. Indeed the story itself really isn't all that interesting when you describe it as "A bunch of characters fucking about", but ultimately that's what makes the show interesting in the first place, as these new interactions are what give the audience the reasoning to watch the show. Cause otherwise, it's basically just a rehash of roughly the same plot as the original. (They even did the whole train crash part again. Like seriously?)
Overview:
+ Provides more heavily involved character interactions
- Basically has the same plotline as the original (copying yourself still counts as cheating)
Characters: A majority of the cast stays consistent even through this second season. We still follow the story of Yasaburo as he goes around town messing with his family, his master, and other familiar faces while also tempting fate with newer characters like the Nidaime and other slightly less important, but interesting side characters.
As far as large cast changes go, the biggest changes that we're treated to are the ones involving the new character known as 'The Nidaime', and a more involved role in the series with Kaisei. While Nidaime doesn't get as much screentime or attention devoted to him as I wish he did (what with him being a very weighty introduction to the cast), he still plays quite a relatively large role in the series and provides a new perspective to tengus and their prideful existence, something that the first season didn't really touch up on. As such, the inclusion of his character provides us with a slightly bigger look and welcome into the world of the Eccentric Family. Just personally, I wish his backstory was fleshed out a lot more because it felt so haphazardly placed in the end without much buildup. Kaisei on the other gets a lot more screentime and involvement in the series than before, which was something that I really wanted from the series since she had potential, but just wasn't used that much. The fleshing out of her character and in particular her relationship with Yasaburo was a very nice addition to the series that put in a lot more detail to her character, which was both sweet and very nice to see.
Additionally, the series introduces a multitude of other characters in the series like Gyokuran, a tanuki with some affection for a certain member of the Shimogamo family, and Tenmaya, a sly man who escaped Hell. Both of these and more add to the already vibrant cast of the series. While their roles are less important comparatively to the Nidaime and several other members of the family sans the sons of the Shimogamo, everyone provides their own spin to the overall story, thus making sure that every episode is a fun episode.
Overview:
+ Main cast largely stays the same (and interesting)
+ Large amount of characterization for cast members new and old
+ Everyone is interesting
Art: Produced by P.A. Works, the art for Uchouten is quite different than what the company usually produces. The style replicates that of the original series and has its own sense of boldness with the color palette, and whimsy with the show's stylistic choices. Characters look a lot simpler compared to the normally glossy and shiny look of the company's usual track record, and both the characters and the backgrounds have a sort of painted style that furthers showcases the peculiarity of what the show has to offer.
Overview:
+ Unique art style that works well for the series
Sound: "Nasugamama, Sawagumama", Uchouten 2's OP, is quite similar to the first season's OP as it's made by the same band and bears a similar rambunctious rock song reflective of our main character's typical nature of fooling around and causing a wake of trouble behind him. Though not as memorable as I'd like, the song is still quite good and worthy of a listen due to how energetic it is. Inversely, we have "Moon River" by fhana for the ED, which is a calmer piece that gives a nice, smoother contrast to the chatter-filled OP. Similarly, it's not that memorable, but it still is a nice listen.
Overview:
+ Good tracks
- Not as memorable as I'd like
Personal Enjoyment: Uchouten Kazoku was both a very intriguing series to watch and ponder about. Because a greater majority of the characters aren't human, it made sense that they wouldn't follow by what we would consider to be 'normal human conventions'. As such, they mostly did the opposite of what a human would do, thus leading to very peculiar yet fascinating behavior. On top of that, the sheer volume of involvement the series had with its characters' interactions made every scene, no matter what it was, a joy to watch.
Did I like this series?
I really did enjoy this show. It's very hard to accurately explain this show, so I'm just going to say that I outright loved watching this show and anticipated every episode to come my way. In particular, I adore Kaisei as a character. She serves as a nice compliment to Yasaburou's character and the extra involvement that she got in this season was something of a dream come true for me with her being my favorite character.
What didn't I like about this series?
I have to say that I'm not really a big fan of Benten. I know a good majority of people like her, but her aloofness and typically described as 'selfish' nature really gets on my nerves because I feel like even the show doesn't have a good idea on where she should sit. Her actions to me don't really make much sense, and as such, hampered my enjoyment of the show a bit. (Though her comeuppance was quite rewarding.)
Would I recommend this show?
I would recommend it to everyone simply because this show is an experience. Uchouten is very unique in the sense that the unconventional nature of it all lends itself to be truly something that becomes very hard to describe when you really sit down and think about it. Indeed not everyone may like it, but if you ask me, it's the kind of fun 'unknown' that the show has with its bizarre yet amusingly quirky nature that makes it something worth watching. After all, a fun thing is a good thing, and that's a motto worth living by.
