The Eccentric Family - Episode 3

It's almost Fire Festival time in Kyoto, and that means a day of celebration for more than just humans, as tanuki also have their own festival traditions, that being flying so-called "leisure liners" through the sky as they take their party into the clouds.

This does, however, pose a problem for the Shimogamo family, namely the lack of a suitably craft to call upon.  In the past, this would be their father's domain, but in his absence even the normally reliable Yaichirou has failed in his attempts to bag a suitable vehicle for the occasion.  Thus, there's nothing for it than to leave Yasaburou in charge of procuring a liner in time for the big event.

Although Yasaburou things he has the perfect plan in mind to overcome this dilemma, it seems that he's made rather a big miscalculation, as the flying "inner parlour" he was planning to borrow from Professor Akadama has been given away... given away to Benten, no less.  Thus, off head Yasaburou and his terrified younger brother to try and persuade this enigmatic lady to loan them this inner parlour for the festival.

This week's episode of The Eccentric Family might not have had quite the same impact upon me as last week's instalment, but it's still immensely satisfying in ways that it's a little hard to put into words - somehow, the entire endeavour works really well as a character-driven vehicle, filled with fascinating or just plain likeable characters who fill the screen with their presence, only occasionally stepping aside to let the show's backgrounds and locations take some of the applause.  So varied and beautiful are these locations that they also add a whole other dimension to proceedings, creating what is quite simply a joy to watch.  I still feel like I'm not entirely sure what I'm watching, but I do know that I'm enjoying doing so a whole bunch.