I’m calling it: Tonari no Yōkai-san is the show of the season.
The character designs (both human and non) are excellent. The attention to body language, light and shadow, backgrounds, mundane things like food and tools… beautiful.
The world-building is not too heavy-handed, and there are already a few different threads to pick up. What happened to the father? How will the nekotama adjust to his new form(s)? What’s the deal with the two different kinds of tengu? Etc.
The first episode struck a great balance between its slice-of-country-life, magical realism, and mystery aspects. I hope it can keep that tone going.
(Also I am intrigued by the car-head person we saw in the OP and ED.)
Another strong episode. I love the contrast between mundane life (the garden centre, school sports day) and the yokai. The kappa girl is adorable! And we’re taking small steps down each of the mystery paths. The balance of the elements is just right.
In this episode we are shown that there are some very dark and dangerous spirits, and that even very old and powerful friends are not invincible. And that is contrasted with silly shapeshifting hi-jinx.
The lab-coated scientists who arrived to add a dash of sci-fi to this fantasy were very unexpected. I’m not sure whether I need wormholes in this story? Surely there are enough folk stories about a barrier between the mundane and magical worlds that could have achieved this?
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