First Impressions / Nurarihyon no Mago

「花開院ゆらと清十字怪奇挖偵团」
“Yura Keikain and the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol”

This episode had me laughing out loud quite a few times. Rikuo sure doesn’t get a break in these episodes — from the haunted building two weeks ago to his own home this time. The introduction of the (what I assume to be) final main character, Keikain Yura, was nothing short of a heap of trouble for Rikuo. Considering Yura’s first few lines consisted of a Miyuki-type encyclopedic definition on Youkai, anyone could see misfortune coming from a mile off for our unwilling heir to Master of All Monsters. I’m not surprised that neighbors would catch wind of something amiss next to a house full of spirits. Even if they didn’t, looking at Rikuo’s very suspicious reaction whenever Youkai are mentioned is enough. When the “Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol” decided to hold their inauguration ceremony at his house due to rumors that it’s haunted, his poor minions suffer as well. Being head of the spirits really isn’t that bad, but Rikuo is quite resolved to keep things under wraps from his friends. When he burst through his house and pooped the party, I felt sorry for his youkai, especially since they had been all excited over Rikuo’s recent transformation.

Thanks to his friends’ eagerness to find paranormal beings, Rikuo yet again had to run around frantically on cover-up duty, as he did back in episode one. It’s obvious Rikuo is hiding things, and human nature is curious. So as soon as he’s out of sight, they immediately ditch him to go hunt around the house. Undoubtedly, the best moment was when Yura opened the door only to meet a very angry Lord Zen. The long comedic pause there was absolutely hilarious. The several other human-like youkai they met only aroused mild question marks, but I’m rather surprised they didn’t interrogate Grandpa Nurarihyon and his very suspicious head. Etiquette dictates that one does not draw attention to other people’s “deformities”, but this bunch can’t exactly be considered well-mannered, looking at how they invited themselves to someone else’s home then started snooping around without permission.

As with previous episodes, things took a more serious turn near the end this time as well. After incinerating a rat youkai, Yura reveals that she is an Onmyouji and has come to Ukiyoe Town to hunt spirits (no surprise there). Luckily however, the Paranormal Patrol finally leaves Rikuo’s house, so he’s off the hook for now. It’s only a matter of time before the truth breaks out of the bag though. Later, several beast youkai attack Yura and Kana, and she responds by whipping out the shikigami, summoning a wolf to fight them. Unless Kana gets some abilities too, she’ll probably remain the weak damsel-in-distress character, so the monster-slaying Yura eclipses her easily.

Preview

26 Comments

  1. I’m not feeling the rat youkai in the anime. For some reason, I seem to remember them looking better in the manga. *shrug*

    Also booooooo @ them skipping the chapter that involved going to Kiyotsugu’s house to investigate the possessed doll. I take it they’re also skipping one of the earlier parts of Rikuo’s past?

    Jaysus
    Reply

  4. A great episode, but they squeeze together and mix some chapters to cover more each episode. Perhaps this season covers more from the manga then what we first thought. They do a really good job of combining the events, and I’m really REALLY thrilled that Koyasu Takehito is voicing the rats leader. Can’t go wrong there. 😀

    Vermillion
    Reply

  5. Animation bothered me a bit this episode. Things weren’t nearly as smooth as I would have hoped for. I’m worried on how the fights are going to look. DEEN does great on episodes where it’s all talking and exposure, but I’m not sure how they’re gonna handle future fights. Let’s just hope they’re saving up the budget for the fights.

    lHyDrAl
    Reply

  9. The reason no one seems bothered by Rikuo’s gramps’s huge head is precisely because he is a Nurarihyon. His ability to sneak into houses and act as if he owns the place makes him capable of deceiving others into thinking his presence is not abnormal. He even made a remark in he manga that wasn’t included in the episode how he used to walk into the Onmyouji HQ and eat their food without getting caught.

    justpassingby
    Reply

    2. That is hilarious! They talk about how evil they are, but I really haven’t seen them do anything that would be considered evil. Is the term “evil” used differently in this show than we normally use it irl?

      Booty Hole
      Reply

      1. Nah, there’s youkai eating people and all that too, and some of the youkai that serve the Nura clan do have a rather… nasty history. Gyo-thingy (from the first episode) being one, and him playing an important part later on.
        Not to mention Kitsune later on… Bathing in the blood of freshly killed women and all that.

        But yeah, the Nura clan mostly isn’t that bad at all.

        Michael Chandra
        Reply

  13. This series is a lot of fun. Peopel mention the poor animation, but that doesn’t bother me so much. The character designs are very nice and unique, and the color palette is beautiful, especially how they blend in gorgeous CG backgrounds.

    Booty Hole
    Reply

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