Wednesday 21 August 2013

The Eccentric Family - Episode 7

While Yasaburou waxes lyrical about the ties that bind the extended tanuki family, younger brother Yashirou has a rather more immediate problem that he's struggling with.

Unsurprisingly, Professor Akadama is playing up without Yasaburou's attentions, refusing to take a bath and quite literally whipping up a storm if anyone tries to persuade him otherwise.  Alongside some other issues, it's all too much for the little tanuki, and so Yasaburou has to come to the rescue to face down Akadama and persuade him that he really has no choice but to join the brothers and take a trip to the bath house.


Once there, Akadama still isn't exactly the perfect guest, but his role is soon overshadowed by the appearance of the Ebisugawa Elite Guard, headed up by Ginkaku and Kinkaku.  The reason for this little visit is obvious - they want to persuade Yaichirou to step down from his attempts to become the next Nise-emon.  This isn't all the two brothers are here to say however, and although their iron underpants (I'm not kidding) don't save them from embarrassment at the hands of Yaichirou, they arguably have the last laugh as they reveal what they claim is the truth behind the events leading up to the death of Souichirou Shimogamo.  Is Yajirou's involvement in those events really true?  Needless to say, Yaichirou in particular is determined to find out straight away...

I'm still not sure where all of this continued focus upon the family's deceased father is leading us, but The Eccentric Family still continues to be entertaining in a wider sense - I'm a big fan of its quirky soundtrack, its visuals continue to be occasionally stunning when Kyoto's streets and landscapes are involved, and the show's characters are hard not to fall in love with from the chilled out Yashirou through to the thick as thieves Ebisagawa brothers.  Aside from a distinct lack of Benten this week, there's still a lot to love here.

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