First Impressions / Nurarihyon no Mago

「毒羽根は竹林に舞う」 (Dokubane wa Chikurin ni Mau)
“Poison Wings Dance in the Bamboo Thicket”

I find one of the humorous points about this series is how all the Yokai go around and do bad deeds because that’s what they are. It’s similar to Monsters, Inc., where all the monsters scare kids because that’s just what monsters do. Humans, likewise, we go to school, go to work, interact with other people because… we’re humans. Philosophical ramblings aside, the second episode was started off fairly light-hearted, with the introduction of the popular Lord Zen who “unknowingly” pressures Rikuo about succeeding his gourd-head gramps as the third head of the Nurarihyon clan. It’s a similar situation to what Tsuna faces in Reborn, and likewise I assume Rikuo will step up at some time and take the position to protect his friends or family (a common theme in anime).

Indeed, almost right after Zen leaves, his servant Hebidayu betrays him after he refused to secede with the Nura clan. Rikuo shows up, transforms into his Night form, and slices open Hebidayu in one slash. Night Rikuo sure is a long shot from his day form. Not only is he apparently insanely strong (even as a quarter-youkai), he’s also a person of few words, my favorite type of character. For now, he’s back to his kiddy “grandpa-choking” form with no memory of his transformation; such a shame, though it’s funny watching him get teased by “Tsurara-chan” who also causes problems for Rikuo and Kana’s relationship. Well actually Yuki-onna messes with him a lot in general.

As with last time, there was a funny omake-like conversation during the preview (which is similar to what Bleach does). Apparently poor Night Rikuo’s head is elongated because he is a Nurarihyon; and I was thinking it was because of too much hair gel. Also as with last time, at the beginning there was a short scene involving Night Rikuo; at this point I don’t see the connection yet, so I’m assuming it’s a preview of the future. Anyways, with a lot of the manga readers saying this series gets good several chapters in, I’ll keep watching. Next week’s episode will show the final main character, Keikain Yura; from my first impression she looks like a soft-spoken yet serious girl.

 

Preview

34 Comments

    6. Agreed, guys! 😀
      In fact the reason why I first started this series was a screenshot of Yuki Onna… Her eyes just totally got me… Instant-Love! She’s awesome! <3

      Getsuga
      Reply

  2. Wow, I’m really loving how the art was changed in the anime. Most often, the quality of art tends to get worse when transferred from manga to anime, especially apparent in Fairy Tail and Negima, though it’s somewhat impossible to capture Akamatsu’s art. But damn this series looks nice. Just makes me wish Fairy Tail was treated with this much care and respect. Also a comment on the episode, the scene where the wind was blowing Kana back, did that lead to anything at all? There wasn’t any pantsu shown so obviously it wasn’t for service purposes and wasn’t in the manga. Guess it’s just the directors way of showing random love for Kana?

    lHyDrAl
    Reply

    3. I still can’t believe it’s Studio DEEN D: I totally wish Fairy Tail got a better adaptation too. I cry at the animation and turn to the manga for compensation due to butchery of the original.
      Definitely glad no random fanservice xD

      Rei
      Reply

  4. Well, as I said in Ep 1 review, studio DEEN done a great job here, the characters are even better than in the manga (IMO), Tsurara FTW!! After FSN UBW studio DEEN seems to have an upgrade 🙂

    MD
    Reply

    1. Forgot this : When I said the characters here in the anime is better than the manga I mean studio DEEN really gave them “souls” here through great designing and coloring and animation 🙂

      MD
      Reply

  6. Aw man, seeing Rikuo with his grampa’s huge elongated head just took away some of his coolness. Now it’s just… hilarious. 😀
    Can’t wait to see him permanently stuck in Nurarihyon form, if it ever happens.

    Kit Kat
    Reply

    1. It depends in how long is going to be this anime, yes he is 1/4 yokai but there are some times when exceptions occur Show Spoiler ▼

      Ohh and as a side note, good thing they didn’t add transformation secuenses… imagine having to watch rikuo transform every 2 o 3 episodes

      And about the girls, kana doesn’t get enought “screen time” at the manga and as the history goes on she gets even less… maybe they want to get the most from hirano aya

      mako
      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *