Enmusubi no Youko-chan – 02

「蘇る記憶」 (Yomigaeru kioku)
“Resurrected Memory”

For all the issues with Enmusubi, part of me cannot come to hate it. The voice acting is as I hoped it would be and the minor tweaks in narrative keep the immediate story making sense. Sure I’m biased in what I know is coming, but it’s no lie saying Enmusubi has successfully converted the original (at least so far) into decent Japanese. For a Chinese-made anime, that’s no small feat.

While there likely won’t be any new fans this week considering the episode largely follows the last (i.e. at a breakneck pace), the premise has at least started fleshing out. Spirit and human fall in love, human dies, but love is revitalized with the assistance of a fox matchmaker. Simply imbue an item with those memories of love, ensure said human holds onto half the item when they die, and locate the human’s reincarnation. Oh and whack the poor suckers over the head with a magical mallet, definitely the most important part. It’s a pretty intriguing setup for a romance all things considered, especially when noting the potential for rejection or conflict still exists. What if the human hates the spirit, what if they receive their memories and simply not care? Setsuya’s love-hate (more love than hate) relationship shows the possibilities. In this case it all falls onto the matchmaker’s shoulders to repair and revitalize the relationship because the job demands it. You can probably guess the direction of Susu’s development at this point.

The other factor of course is Gessho, of which the more keen eyed may notice the breadcrumbs of future developments. The kid remains unabashedly shameless, but it makes some sense when you’ve been promised in marriage 500 years before your own birth. No excusing daddykins though, that guy just plays dirty. The circumstances of this marriage and the nature of the two betrothed will become important later, but it’s pretty easy right now to guess who Gessho’s betrothed is. It’s not like it was teased or anything after all. For the moment, however, resident moneygrubber’s task is reuniting a thoroughly broke sand fox prince with his recalcitrant lover, all to avoid that prearranged marriage. It’s the first true arc of Enmusubi, even if Fuuki’s role still remains ambiguous at best (for now) and the comedy continues being hit or miss. It’s a difficult first bit to work through, but if Enmusubi can keep trickling out the answers and start feathering the brakes, it will be a smoother ride than the original ever was.

With two episodes down into a knowingly chaotic start, I honestly do not know yet if I’ll continue blogging Enmusubi. I enjoy this show guilty pleasure-like, but not enough to eagerly jump at the commitment, particularly when having seen the majority of the original. Plus with so many good shows on the weekend and no bloody time, someone must be the unlucky loser. Nevertheless whether I keep blogging Enmusubi or not, I’m still sticking around with it for the long haul. It’s too hard passing up on watching a cute little airhead do her thing.

Preview