Nura: Rise of the Youkai Clan - Demon Capital

apismellifera May 3, 2017

8

I finished this anime this morning and really enjoyed it, but I do have a few things to say. This review contains no spoilers. :) Story: The story, which overall wasn't that bad, could have definitely been fleshed out more. There were a lot of plot twists, especially towards the end, which I guess made it more fun to try to guess what the relationships between characters were. I thought I had the story mostly figured out towards the beginning of the second season, but the longer I watched the less sure I became. The downside to this was that there was almost too many plot twists and the last few episodes seemed to be really rushed. If the writers had crafted a simpler story then it would have fit nicely into a 24-episode bundle, but unfortunately, it felt like they bit off a little more than could be easily digested in such a short time span.  But putting aside the size of the plot, I liked how there was a specific thing that the characters were working towards. I saw that another user compared Nurarihyon no Mago to Inuyasha (which incidentally is one of my favorite anime,) and while there are a lot of similarities, something that Nurarihyon had that Inuyasha didn't have was a manageable goal. Instead of wandering Fuedal Japan, fighting monsters and trying to round up all the tiny pieces of a shattered jewel, the characters in Nurarihyon are simply trying to avoid the destruction of Kyoto. While the antagonist is still quite powerful, the target of Nurarihyon is something that can eventually be achieved, and the anime pushed towards the objective at a rate that is admirable. There are no filler or extra episodes, and almost everything (even the often random plot twists) is relevant to reaching the destination of peace in Kyoto. Because the goal of the anime was something concrete and relatively simple, the conclusion was quite satisfying. Watching the anime, I found myself thinking that I would hate the end, but I was wrong.  Animation: I thought the animation was great, but this could be because I've watched a lot of older anime. If you put this anime up against something like Inuyasha or Heroic Age, it would come out on top every time. I won't say it's as good as Sword Art Online or even Noragami, but it is well done. Sound: The sound was very good. I liked the intros/outros, and the soundtrack to the anime itself was great. I was pleasantly surprised by its quality, and how the anime's creators utilized sound and silence equally well. The moments that I feel illustrate this the best occur in the last two episodes of the series. During the final boss battle, all the characters rally behind one single leader and the soundtrack kicks in with a groovy rock theme reminiscent of the intros. If you listen to the entire anime carefully, you can hear the same theme occurring in other places. This lent a feeling of cohesion to the anime as a whole and a sense of importance to the specific scene. Later in the anime something tragic happens in the middle of the final battle. Suddenly, all of the background noise of the fight ended, and all we were left with was silence and no choice but to focus on the character on the screen. Once again, a masterful way to create a sense of gravity in a scene. My only complaint for the sound was in the dubbed version, where I found many of the actors' voices irritating. This is really just a problem I have with dubbed anime in general, and Nurarihyon isn't to blame for it. Many people would probably disagree with me on this point, and since this anime's dubbing wasn't the worst I've heard, don't let the possibility of irritating female voice acting deter you from watching this show! Characters: I loved the characters in this anime. There were so many wonderful ones with so many wonderful backstories, and I wish that we'd had 24 more episodes to get to know them better. The designs and original voice actors were consistently great, and I did not encounter any that I hated. Even the antagonists had good reasons behind their actions, and it was difficult for me not to sympathize with them. I believe that if your audience can sympathize with even your most notorious villain, you’ve done your job as a writer, and the only thing I would change about the characters is to give them more time to become even more likeable. Overall: Overall, the anime was great. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in anime about traditional Japanese mythology, onmyouji, or yokai. It’s not the best, but it is one of the better. I enjoyed it, and will continue to be interested in the Nurarihyon franchise. Give it a shot; you’ll like it or you won’t. Either way you’ve lost nothing, and might have gained a new show to watch. If only it were longer!

delolmo Jul 8, 2016

6

This is a review for the two seasons of Nurarihyon no Mago. Having just finished the two seasons I felt compelled to write a review about my impressions. This review does not contain any spoilers but there is information that is suggestive of the plot. Story I want to start off by saying that this anime reminded me highly of Inuyasha. The feeling to it is very similar but with a focus in modern times more so that feudal era Japan. The first season was a nice introduction to the Nura Clan in modern times and the world of demons. While the plot is not necessarily original, the anime was enjoyable to watch. During the first season the plot was actually much more relaxed, I laughed a lot and did not take the plot very seriously. There was some action but nothing major. The second season starts off with scenes from the past and it provides some new foundations for the plot ahead. As much as I think the plot got better in the second season, I continued to feel that the story had a major problem with it. The main problem being that if felt rushed. From the second part of the first season to the end of the second, there were several parts that had intricate stories but the fact that each of them was resolved within 3-4 episodes was terrible. I mean, they build up so many moments and had so much to work with that it became disappointing time after time when the issue continued. My guess is that the manga may go into more depth for each moment but perhaps the anime failed to translate it. Also, the plot had many “holes” and “inconsistencies”. I understand that no anime is perfect, particularly when attempting to develop a whole new “world”, but this one really made me wonder many things. For starters, why do all demons from back to when they originally fought with the supreme commander (stated as 400 years ago) look exactly the same while the supreme commander aged so much and lost his abilities? Why does the main character who is said to be 12 years old becomes a full grown man when he converts to his demon form? I actually did not know how to feel about the fact that the main character was so young, it was a bit disturbing to me if I am honest. I absolutely hated the fact that in so many battles, the characters are talking to one another while fighting and because they literally stop to talk mid fight they get knocked out of battle or fatally injured, I mean, really? It’s like the typical story where the villain loses precious time talking about their evil plans just before exterminating the good ones and is this same action that causes their downfall.   Furthermore, I was most disappointed about the very ending. How they managed to get out of the last battle makes no sense to me. Also, while I thought that the school club was going to play an important role in the story, they were basically non-existent in the second season.  The story could have gone in many directions and developed much better but the plot development definitely fell short. Animation I am no animation expert, but I felt like the characters’ designs where very genetic. There was nothing unique about the animation in my opinion, nothing that awed me including the landscapes that were drawn. The images of the sakura trees were the only ones I liked.  Although the animation was not bad, it was not great either. The characters also varied significantly from one to another. Sound Several music songs were played for the openings and endings of the anime. Some I liked more than the others but I did not feel that they were that great. The mix of English with Japanese words does not appeal to me so maybe that is why the music did not impress me. The voices for the characters were okay. Maybe it was the fact they had a lot of characters because I felt that MANY of them sounded very similar to one another. Characters Overall, I felt that the characters were interesting and some interactions where fun to watch but there was not enough good on this area to make up for the issues with the plot. The main character of this story is Rikuo Nura. The essence of this character is the same as a human than as a demon, but his personalities are very different. For example, the human one likes to please others and is gentle while his demon counterpart is a bit arrogant and has a sense of leadership. The fact that such main personality traits are so opposite to one another can be a very good thing or a very bad one. To me it was good because it remained consistent with the main ideals that were clear to the character but to others this may seem as a terrible way to gain credibility for the story among other things. Yura Keikain has special powers of her own but her development was not as good as I would have hoped. She seems to struggle with grasping the “gray” areas of her ideals which is somewhat understandable considering the situations she is put it throughout the story. The problem with her character is that is hard to connect with this her as we don’t understand much of her past and her motives and other than seeing her grow in power, there is not much else there to see. The other characters are mainly composed of demons and the school club that studies demons but as I said, although they all are fairly present throughout the story, there is little depth to anyone to make a lasting impression. Overall This anime will be enjoyable for people who like action (mainly sword playing) and Japanese mythology/supernatural. The plot is okay but not very well developed so be aware of that before diving fully into it. Consider the fact that you may not find the characters relatable but there may be some intricate ones that may keep you entertained.

Melourn Apr 27, 2012

9

Story: 8/10 As far as the stopry goes, Nurarihyon no Mago Sennen Makyou is a great continuation of the first season of Nurarihyon no Mago. The way the story unfolds is epic in nature, especially when you consider that the Nura clan has a 400 year old history with the enemy Hagormo Mitsune and that Hagoromo Mitsune has been attempting to birth her child for about 1000 years. (I wouldn't e surprised if Hiroshi SHIIBASHI and Studio Deen decided to get together and create a prequel to the whole Nurarihyon series. I gave the story an 8 because of the crappy recap episodes (they took away from the effectiveness of the series), the continuity of the episodes being off (sometimes they would jump into a fight without having shown how the fight got started as if things had happened between the episodes...onyl happened two or three times...but it is annoying and it would have taken all of 2 hours to add the necessary content to the reel), and the endless need for Rikuo Nura to power up in a short amount of time in such a relatively small series. Animation: 10/10 The animation quality is fabulous (at least to me). I love it when an artist puts effort into creating so many different visuals for mood, special effect, and in character design without using the same scenes over and over again in different settings (and honestly, I've seen that in a lot of animes). I gave the animation a solid 10 because I could see nothing wrong with how the anime was visually potrayed. Sound: 9/10 The sound (as usual for me) was natural enough to the characters that I found nothing wrong with it. I liked the opening cedits music as well as the ending credits music and the scores during the anime were well timed and packed just enough "punch" to help keep the different moods from overpowering each other as the anime cut from one scene to another in each episode.I gave the sound a 9 because I found some of the characters voices to be annoyingly high-pitched and the incessant screaming during the "silly" parts of each episode were grating on my ears. Characters: 9/10 The characters themselves were (as I said before) varied greatly in form and appearance. Because the vast majority of the characters are yokai/ayakashi from the Japanse culture, their appearances can range infinitely. Anything goes, whether we're talking about the Natto demon or the third heir to the Nura clan: The Lord of Pandemonium - Rikuo Nura (1/4th demon and 3/4ths human), the character designs are fabulous and entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the design for Awashima's character that is a man during the day and a super-hotty woman at night. (I am by no means bi-curious, but still...) The characters various voice actors were marvelous. They were all capable of setting the mood or lightening it with just enough pep to "make a funny" in a dire situation. I gave the characters a 9 because I felt that they didn't explore any of the characters well enough. Most of the characters were givena  super-brief spoken history in which they just conveniently told us why they were important or for what reasno they were fighting on which side. However, with the Toono Village Yokai, the best explanation as to why they don't pledge their allegiances to anyone is simly that they have all fought for weak leaders at some point or another, so they became strong in order to defen themselves. (So why in the hell would they bother getting involved with this war in the first place?...kind of a stupid thing if youi ask me. They should have explored the issue a little better....and that goes for almost all of the "explanations" for why certain people do certain things in this anime). Overall: 9/10 Overall I gave this anime a 9 because it is by no means perfect, but it's hella awesome in my opinion.