Yozakura Quartet - Episode 12 (Completed)

So, as we reach the climax of Yozakura Quartet, so the series is perfectly poised, with Enjin about to do battle with Hime as the cherry blossoms bloom around the town, and the rest of the gang closely involved too in their own various ways of course.

Given this promise of an all-out, action-packed episode, the first half of this final episode is actually surprisingly luxurious in its treatment of the story, shying away from going too crazy on the action side of things in order to focus on the emotional aspect of the story offered by Enjin's continued use of Gin's body. Even though he claims to have entirely purged Gin's soul from himself, is that really the case? Akina still isn't sure, which causes him to hesitate at a crucial moment.


After all this build-up, the second half of the episode does lean on the action a little more, with Hime's dragon lance (and indeed Hime herself) doing some major levelling up in her final battle with Enjin, and I don't suppose it's too much of a spoiler to say that these additional powers lead her on to an ultimate victory, saving the town and destroying the cherry blossoms in the process. So, normality returns, and the series closes out with a reminder of just why I was so enamoured by the early episodes of this series, with light-hearted banter and every-day tasks being tackled by the major characters, which is somehow quite cathartic.

While Yozakura Quartet is never going to live long in the memory as a classic anime series, it somehow managed to rise about its obvious limitations to become a pretty enjoyable little show, not so much on the strength of its core storyline surrounding Enjin, but more in terms of offering up a bunch of really rather lovable characters who interacted and worked together in a way that was oddly captivating to watch. If you can put aside the blob monsters and insane, deus ex machina level final episode power ups... in fact, if you can forget big chunks of the whole Enjin story, then you're left with a fun series which came as quite a pleasant surprise to me. Despite getting a whole bunch of things wrong (which I won't go into here) that would have added a lot to the series and its major plot points, it's still wormed its way into my affections to leave me really glad that I took up Yozakura Quartet in the first place - At the end of the day, that's what really counts in my mind.

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 11

After "Blob Monster-gate" in the last episode of Yozakura Quartet, I was hoping for better fare this time around, and although said blob baddies did reappear again in this episode this penultimate instalment wasn't all that bad on the whole.

With Hime still laid up in a hospital bed, despite her protestations, it's up to the rest of the gang to save the town, which they plan to do by splitting in to two groups - One to find Enjin, and the other to deal with any demons that appear in town until they do. It's the latter group that sees those blob monsters reappear, although given my dislike for them seeing one hit by a big lamp-post was actually strangely satisying, before their attentions move on to more important matters in the form of Eiji, who proves to be as formidable an opponent as ever.


On the other side of the story, Ao finally manages to find Enjin - Hanging around at Tokyo Tower of all places. Cue the creation of a giant rail-based artillery gun to shoot at Enjin, and to Hell with blowing up Tokyo Tower (which always seems to get a rough ride in anime - Do the Japanese really hate it that much?). This assault causes Enjin to return, just in time to meet the back to full health Hime, who even has herself a new weapon to swing around (and a magically restored scarf too), leaving us with a pretty run-of-the-mill and expected face-off for the series' big climax.

I've mentioned earlier in this series that Yozakura Quartet doesn't always look entirely comfortable with "doing" action-packed, and this episode did indeed veer from the ridiculous to the sublime - I know I should be trying to suspend my logic and disbelief for a show like this, but long-range attacks on Tokyo Tower and the subsequent jump from Tokyo to wherever this town is location seemed a little ridiculous, and pushed things just a little too far despite me being more than happy (and actually quite impressed) to see cars being thrown around and ripped asunder by bare fists. Oh, and Enjin had to go and go the generic "Ha ha! I'm a crazy evil guy, look at me!" laugh, which never fails to get my eyes a'rollin'. Still, even with moments like that which make me giggle at the ridiculousness of it all, and despite the fact that the wider "moral" of this series has lost its way a bit, I still continue to hold a little candle for this series (although it has run short of wick in the past week or two) mainly on account of its main characters, who somehow charm me even when they're carrying out some generic anime action or being a bit dim. Come on, who doesn't want to give Ao a hug and some warm milk?

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 10

As episode nine left us with a cliff hanger, so the tenth instalment of Yozakura Quartet pushes us heartily off said cliff, with the revelation that the town elders have ordered the destruction of Nana-Gou, and with it the town itself. Needless to say this comes as quite a shock to all and sundry, and even Hime finds herself unable to stand firm in the face of such a proclamation.

Indeed, much of this episode concentrates on Hime, from learning a little bit about why she wears that scarf all the time (my assumption that she was a fan of Tom Baker-era Doctor Who appears to have been unfounded) to, more importantly, seeing her frustrations at being unable to protect the town or handle things alone without the help of her friends. Of course, half of the point of this series is to reaffirm the importance of friendship and teamwork, a lesson which Hime is well and truly reminded of by the close of this episode.


This lesson comes courtesy of what much be one of the most half-hearted monster designs ever witnessed in the history of anime. Is it a Loch Ness monster? Is it some evil, wayward Playdoh? Is it just a pointless blob? Who knows, but while the battles against these non-descript evil lumps is going on, Enjin has taken control of the Nano-Gou from the outside, spelling even more imminent danger for the inhabitants of the town.

While the emotional core of this episode was pretty strong, and pretty well represented in Hime's upset and frustrations, those crappy monsters really did ruin this particular instalment for me - It just felt "wrong" in so many ways that it destroyed much of the suspension of disbelief that I've managed throughout this series, and this weak monster design was only further highlighted by the fact that we seemed to be missing something far more important given that Nano-Gou was being taken over completely off-screen. Yozakura Quartet has actually done reasonably well with its action sequences prior to now, but while the important messages of the series weren't lost on account of the poor effort here, they were diluted, which made for a below-par episode at a time when this show should be at its strongest from a story-telling perspective with only a couple of instalments left to go (and a lot still to fit in seemingly).

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 9

The last episode of Yozakura Quartet left various individuals having to make tough decisions in the midst of the chaos surrounding Enjin, and so in episode nine all of those characters have to live with their choices and the fallout from them.

While the town is relatively safe once again, the after effects of Enjin's "misbehaviour" are still being strongly felt by numerous demons living in the vicinity, as they find themselves unable to control their powers, causing all sorts of problems in the process. Nowhere is this demonstrated more graphically than in the case of Kyousuke's sister Touka, whose strength would be almightily impressive were it not so completely out of control.


However, in many ways this isn't the real story of this episode - Instead, the true focus is on the stressed, tearing and breaking threads that seemed to hold the main characters and their friendships together so tightly at the beginning of this series. I commented numerous times when discussing early episodes of Yozakura Quartet that a lot of its charm was in the close, warm friendships between various characters, and that building up of these feelings was clearly a clever move, as it makes seeing those ties being strained to breaking point all the more harrowing. While communications haven't broken down completely between any parties in this episode, things are clearly at the brink in several cases, a state of affairs which can only be detrimental to the well-being of the town as a whole.

So, once again Yozakura Quartet manages to quietly but successfully continue along its chosen path, as the series equally continues to surprise me with the compelling story that it offers up. This particular episode demonstrated ably the characterisations and interactions between those characters that have been built up over the course of the show so far by breaking them down at a difficult time, and thus creating an episode that managed to glean a certain emotional depth despite presenting the story to the viewer in a somewhat detached way. Once again, the way this has all been handled leaves me handing out kudos for the series for rising above what I was fully expecting to be nothing more than a generic and largely action-oriented anime.

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 8

As Yozakura Quartet has largely avoided being too action-oriented so far, preferring instead to focus on the relationships, thoughts and feelings of the main characters, I was a little wary of just how well the series could pull off an episode that was entirely centred around the main plot line and with a much larger action quota to boot.

Thankfully, I didn't have to worry too much - While episode eight of Yozakura Quartet isn't going to be entering any halls of fame for brilliantly portrayed action scenes, what we got here was actually a more than solid episode that actually gripped me quite substantially.


With Ao taken hostage by Enjin and the rest of the gang now facing off against him, we finally learn what the baddie of the piece is after and why - Put simply, he wants the key Akina holds to access Nana-Gou, so that he can make this ancient tree blossom and thus free all of the demons that have been sent to "the other side" over the years, bringing them all back to life. I'm sure I don't really need to explain why that isn't a very good idea from the point of view of the citizens of the town...

So, from there we're basically offered up plenty of fighting and action, mixed in with the whole dilemma surrounding fighting an evil demon who has overtaken the spirit and body of an old friend, a dilemma which Enjin makes use of with relish. While there isn't much time to concentrate on it in the midst of the action, the fallout from actions both earlier in this series and during this episode is building up quite clearly, particularly on the part of Akina, and no doubt this will cause some friction as we move on through the series. Of course, in the short-term this all takes a back seat to saving the town from the immediate threat, a problem which leaves Hime having to take drastic measures which themselves have unknown (to us the viewer anyhow) consequences.

I thought that if one episode would "trip up" my liking for this series, it would be this one. In terms of action, Naruto or Bleach this ain't, yet all those build-up episodes have given me so much time to invest in the major characters that I found myself on edge throughout the action scenes, cheering on Hime and company and holding my breath when they got into tight spots. It just goes to show that half of the battle (with every pun intended) of putting together a good action-oriented anime episode is in having characters that you have at least some emotional attachments towards, and this particular instalment allowed Yozakura Quartet to cash in on the groundwork of the series so far in spades to keep it running as an unlikely hit in my current anime viewing season.

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 7

It's festival time in Yozakura Quartet, with the entire town celebrating the sacred tree which protects them from evil. This once again allows us to enjoy the friendship and camaraderie of the main characters as they work towards and enjoy the festival itself, although the post-festival party ends up becoming arguably just a little too enjoyable once the water starts flowing.


Yes, I said water - Apparently (although this makes no sense in any practical terms, but I digress) water is to demons what alcohol is to humans. Thus, when that water gets flowing at the party, everyone ends up thoroughly drunk... Aside from poor old Akina that is, who (human that he is) enjoys no benefits from the water and has to put up with everyone else's drunken antics.

Amusing though this is, the whole festival plot is really nothing more than a side dish to the main course of the episode, which sees Genjin taking Ao hostage (making every use of the fact that he's stolen her brother's body for his nefarious ends) and calling out her friends to meet him, building up to what is looking likely to be a pretty action-centric episode next time around. Just what is he planning for Ao? Indeed, what is planning to do with Hime and company? Cliffhangers being what they are, we'll have to wait and see.

While I've praised the feelings of community and friendship engendered by Yozakura Quartet over the action within its main story arc thus far throughout this series, things are finally really starting to get interesting within the main Enjin plot, to the point where it's beginning to feel like a proper part of the story rather than a simple distraction from the fun side of the series. Having said that, there's still much to be said for the more light-hearted aspect of the show, with the water-fuelled drunkeness on show this time around vaguely amusing in its own right, while all of the mian characters remain very much likeable in their own way. Still, with a potentially action-packed episode on the way, I'm curious to see how this series can handle such a 'pressure', given that its livelier moments haven't always worked out so well in entertainment terms previously.

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 6

After Ao got an episode virtually all to herself last time around, this time Yozakura Quartet dedicates an instalment to Kotoha, the group's half-human half-demon employee.

This perhaps somewhat goes against what you may have been expecting, given that episode five ended with the revelation that Gin (whose body has been possessed by Enjin) is in fact Ao's brother (which I should have guessed right at the start, now I come to think of it). However, this only gets fleeting coverage here, as this chance meeting of siblings gives Enjin some literal headaches to deal with, so he sends off his subordinate to cause some ruckus while he's doing that.


Said ruckus, of course, is aimed squarely at Kotoha, as Shinozuka is also a human-demon hybrid as she is, and he clearly hopes to bring her over to "the dark side". While this conflict makes up the conclusion of the episode, we also get the inevitable coverage of Kotoha's past and origins, as well as getting to see her sparring with Hime and spending time with her friends at school.

Once again come the end of this episode I'm left a little perplexed as to why I like this series, but the fact remains that I do. I have little interest in the main Enjin storyline, the action sequences are generally rather weak, and there's nothing which should particularly make it stand out in a crowd, yet its main characters and their closely bonded relationships continues to be compelling for me - There's just something about it that's really rather heart-warming, to the extend where even cliched "happy ever after" endings to episodes become more that tolerable as you just enjoy seeing the main players in the series happy and enjoying one another's company. This series has absolutely no right to be enjoyable by any calculations of anime success I can come up with, yet enjoyable is exactly what it is, so I can only salute it for not breaking any moulds yet still proving to be a pretty tasty jelly. Or something.

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 5

After its last episode focused on what can undoubtedly be called the main story arc of Yozakura Quartet, this fifth instalment of the series allows it to take something of a back seat once again, instead deciding to focus its central theme around one of the main "quartet" of the show's title.

This means that we get an episode filled with Ao's sweetness, as she faces the rather obvious dilemma surrounding the use and abuse of her mind reading powers - An ability she uses to win over a bunch of kids at a school that she and the gang volunteer to supervise for a while, but misjudges the use of her powers badly in the case of one boy to make things better not worse.


So, what follows is some pretty predictable soul-searching on Ao's part, but of course it all comes good in the end and everyone lives happily ever after... Until we flit back to the main story courtesy of a revealing cliffhanger that is.

Amazingly, despite its continuing predictability, Yozakura Quartet continues to be a pretty entertaining little series, largely on the strengths of its main characters above anything else. Sure, it may not be particularly exciting even at its most action-packed, but you can't help but feel a certain connection to the stars of the series, revelling in their chat and banter and genuinely feeling a little sad when they're upset. That feeling of empathy towards the series' inhabitants make it worthy of enjoyment, and it certainly deserves some kudos for managing to engender that kind of feeling in such a simple and almost relaxed manner.

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 4

Yozakura Quartet continues on its merry way, this time giving us a proper introduction to the villain of the piece - Enjin, a demon who has possessed the body of someone called Gin, an old friend of Hime and Akina's. In other words, the scene is set for a lot of emotional conflict and turmoil... After all, how do you fight an enemy who is also your friend?

With that in mind then, this episode gives us some flashbacks to the time before Gin was possessed and went AWOL, before having Enjin finally breach the town's barrier, no doubt with an eye towards wreaking havoc. Oh, and we also get introduced to a nun with two swords, which I suppose can never be labelled a bad thing per se.


The way that Yozakura Quartet handles its story remains quite an interesting affair - While this instalment gives us a fair amount of action in its latter half, it always tries to mix it in with plenty of conversations and interactions about every-day life in the town, from Hime's weight and preferences in food through to the broadcasting of a new town song. I still wager that were this series to forgo all that just to concentrate on the action, then it would end up as a far less enjoyable show in general, as to be honest it's those interactions between the main characters that really makes the series for me. Sure, it isn't a deep or thought-provoking study of equality or friendship, but it's nice to watch... The kind of anime that gives you a bit of a warm, fuzzy feeling every episode. That can never be a bad thing either in my book.

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 3

I've already marked out Yozakura Quartet as being oddly likeable (and from what I've seen it's currently going down pretty well in Japan too), but somehow being entertained by an episode about a fat dog who gets turned into some kind of speeding bullet has to pretty much cement that "I'm not sure why I kinda like this, but I do" sentiment that this series gives me.


The dog that I'm referring to turns up on Hime's doorstep in the middle of training at the beginning of the episode, before we flash forward one month to find that the animal (called Silver, in case you care) has become a loyal pet, and a decidedly fat one at that. The bad news is that Hime's devotion to Silver is seen as weaker leadership by some of the residents, an issue which burns at the heart of her commitment to the mayoral cause, and thus gives her some tough decisions to make.

In essence, these decisions are made for her as Silver runs away after she punishes him a little too sternly, at which point the evil fox demon who we still don't really know a lot about happens upon him and turns him into "super evil speeding bullet demon dog thing", before eventually making him into a full-on demon that has to be dealt with in the usual fashion.

Despite its hardly world-class animation, and pretty basic plot points that make even Wagaya no Oinari-sama look complicated, Yozakura Quartet continues to 'just work' on some level, which I can only put down to the fact that all of the main characters have a refreshingly simple, warm and enjoyable relationship with one another - Despite their individual special powers (and all that lightning, which seems to be the special effect du jour for this series) they really do often seem like a bunch of normal people sharing an office, which makes for a surprisingly down-to-earth tone for the show even when it gets speeding flying demon dogs thrown into the mix. In other words, it's just a bit of uncomplicated fun, which isn't a bad thing every once in a while.

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 2

I marked out the opening episode of Yozakura Quartet as having some potential, which is usually the kind of proclamation that sends a series into a nosedive faster than you can say "and at the end they all take up knitting". Thankfully, this series saw fit not to take that nosedive in quality quite yet.

Overall, the episode continues to focus on Rin, the new demon in town, who gets away with only a small handful of restrictions to her freedom after the incident last time around, but still finds it incredibly hard to come to terms with the fact that she has to share her surroundings with humans. We get some flashbacks to see exactly why this is the case (which really wasn't surprising at all), but unfrotunately that really doesn't help poor old Akina, the resident human and demon tuner... or demon murderer, as Rin prefers to look at it (and she isn't the only one).


In the meantime, we finally get a proper introduction to the baddie of the piece, a demon fox (demon foxes always get the blame) with a penchant for lightning bolts... In fact, the whole series seems to have a penchant for lightning bolts, so I suppose I shouldn't really single him out. Anyway, numerous demons are finding that their powers are suddenly going out of control and causing damage, which it seems it most likely related to Br'er Fox, and of course when Rin is caught up in these goings-on who is on hand to save her? That's right... Akina. Thus, Rin no longer hates humans and all is well with the world again. Until the next episode, no doubt.

While the overall content of this episode from a storyline point of view was really quite predictable, and almost seemed to be ticking off boxes as far as giving us glimpses of some of the major character's histories was concerned, it still somehow managed to remain pretty watchable throughout. Last episode I couldn't quite put my finger on why I felt the series had potential, and largely speaking I feel the same with episode two - I should be shrugging my shoulders and writing it off as a piece of mediocrity, yet somehow I still rather liked it. Whether those feelings will last for the full twelve episodes I have no idea, but while Yozakura Quartet is hardly pushing the boat out as a must-see show this season, it's looking set to be worthy of a look if you have some time to burn.

Yozakura Quartet - Episode 1

Acting as Mayor of a town is usually a pretty boring job - Lots of long meetings that run late into the night, signing documents, wearing more bling than even your average gangster rapper would feel comfortable and being driven around in a big, gas-guzzling limousine. Not so for Hime Yarisakura, the mayor of Sakurashin, who instead gets to spend her days leaping between buildings, throwing spears around and swatting bullets to protect her town from any bad stuff that may be happening in the vicinity.


In short, Sakurashin isn't a dull place to be in charge of, thanks to its rare place as a home for both humans and demons alike and everything that entails. Thus, Hime and her counterparts (three of which make up the "Yozakura Quartet" of the shows title) each have their own powers and place in keeping the town and its inhabitants safe and happy, be that replacing some roof tiles or chasing down a manic guy with a penchant for shooting at young girls but not killing them, both of which take up a portion of this opening episode of the series.

While there are some pretty major parts of this first instalment that are hardly awe inspiring (with the bad guys we've seen so far proving to be your typical run-of-the-mill "act crazy and laugh evilly and I will surely succeed" type), and the animation quality is pretty average, there was something about this series I can't quite put my finger on that holds some promise. It could be that the juxtaposition of the every-day minutiae of running a town contrasts so nicely with the more typical chasing around using superpowers that it adds an extra layer of interest to the series, or it could be that I'm already warming to the main quartet of characters slightly, but there is at least some potential here for this to become a watchable little series. Of course, having said that it will probably crash and burn into the sea of anime mediocrity, but from this first glimpse of Yozakura Quartet it does at least seem to be holding steady at a respectable altitude.