Wagaya no Oinari-sama #09 – Oinari-sama. Walks About.

Greetings from the wee hours of the morning! Hunting feverishly for a decent, unclaimed anime to blog, I wound up scoping out Wagaya. Guess I’m a sucker for anything remotely fantasy related…

Episode #09 is a welcome change of pace after eight episodes of rinse-and-repeat monster battles with little indication of an overriding plot direction, just in time to quell my outrage at the fact that ‘Youkai Baba’ probably won’t be showing her face again anytime soon.

No, Ba-chan isn’t back yet, but I think Wagaya is finally taking a break from the lulz to head somewhere interesting. The Reverse Circle incident is turning out to be much more serious than I would have expected, especially for some lame, over-sized magic bracelet that we haven’t even seen in action. And Mubyou’s glum countenance hints strongly at unresolved business with her fellow divine beings… Who is this so-called “god of gods” anyway?

This episode gave me the impression that Wagaya is just about done scattering its backstory threads — the question is, has it paced itself well enough to tie them up neatly? Personally I cannot imagine what kind of connection Mubyou’s Reverse Circle hunt will have with Kuu-chan’s/Ebisu’s/Miyako’s past (assuming that there is a connection in the first place O_O;). Needless to say, I am definitely curious to see how everything turns out.

Impressions:

This was the most satisfying episode yet, even if it was composed almost entirely of magic-hurling action. Now that it’s “god against god”, the fights are a bit more intricate, though they don’t seem to give a damn about elemental manipulation… maybe that’s youkai territory.

Noboru-kun launches into one of his usual freakouts — this time, over the tanuki god that shows up at his door. Actually, its an owl. If the fight in the beginning wasn’t enough to dispel any lingering suspicions that Tanuki-chan is a nothing more than a youkai, then this scene confirms it. Ah yes, and for once, Kou-chan isn’t in the kitchen dropping dishes. There’s a fine line between endearing and infuriating.

This show has a real fetish for baiting people. I’d like to think that Kou-chan isn’t quite as air headed as Touru-kun, but then again…

Call me crazy, but I still don’t see the purpose of having a male version of Kuugen, especially when female Kuu-chan is so much more charming. This is only his second appearance in nine episodes, and it’s way too short leave any kind of meaningful impression.

Yes, the fan service meter is officially on the rise. I have a theory that the amount of fan service in non-harem/ecchi anime has a positive correlation to the intensity of the plot, but I’ll save that for another time XD. Having one or two sparsely-arranged bishou shots of male Kuu-chan for female fans is a slap in the face, considering the way Wagaya drools over his foxy female alter ego.

Yes, Saku-chan too. Nothing is sacred as far as ratings are concerned.

I was pretty shocked when Kuu-chan lost her nerve and decided to rip the tanuki-owl a new one. This marks the rather unanticipated beginning of a major battle that lasts until the end of the episode. Wagaya is very skilled at slipping between moods, what with its impeccable sound score, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when the plot suddenly lunged in an unexpected direction. Still, I wonder if Kuu-chan’s ire was simply the result of her capricious nature, or if she had some other motivation behind starting this fight.

Meanwhile, Noboru-kun enjoys summer night of fireworks with his classmates. Although I’m not exactly sure what purpose it will serve in driving the story forward, the fireworks scene provides a nice contrast to Kuu-chan’s heated battle.

Noboru-kun finally notices Saku-chan ‘neath the summer moonlight. Must be the yukata ^^. Maybe now she’ll stop acting like a spaz…

…NAH!

WTF, the director took the most roundabout way to get a beer into Kou-chan’s hands. She just *happens* to perform a random exorcism on some drunk dudes who *happen* to have a case of beer on hand. How convenient! Maybe the animators had a few themselves when they were drafting the storyboards.

Still, it was worth having to suspend my intelligence, uh, I mean, ‘disbelief’, to see Kou-chan drunk. Leave it to Kou-chan to bring the lulz! Kou-chan: “I will bring the lulz. Even at the cost of my life.” Who knows, perhaps in her drunkenness she will make some heartwarming confession to Saku-chan. This is one of her first experiences of friendship.

The last time we saw Kuu-chan go toe-to-toe with a god (Ebisu, not counting her skirmish with Mubyou), she nearly got stomped because she was so weak from performing the Mitama Okuri. This time, she manages to hold her own against Tanuki-chan. What I find very interesting is how Kuu-chan makes such a big deal about having to follow orders from the Mizuchi brothers, and yet she can ignore them when she decides its time to send someone to an early grave. *Sigh* just as Ba-chan said…

Ironically, the damage to the surrounding neighborhood escalates when Ebisu joins the fray to prevent his land from being demolished. The gods in Wagaya are easily the most mysterious characters. It’s hard to say whether they are benevolent or ill-intentioned, and it definitely doesn’t help that they each have explosive tempers. Ebisu is out for blood for the time being.

After 20 minutes of emotional meanderings, episode nine returns to its original premise — the Reverse Circle. The innocence in Touru-kun’s eyes made me want to melt. Somehow, this human child is the only one perceptive enough to understand that the Reverse Circle is an item of deep and possibly tragic significance to Mubyou and the other gods. It was impressive how the story sunk back into the seriousness that it began with.

Mubyou is damn lucky that Touru-kun is on her side, especially after she tried to perform brain surgery on him a few episodes back.

Next Episode:

TWO MUBYOUS!?