Since Nyanko-sensei is responsible for like ninety percent of the lulz in NYC, it should come as no surprise that an episode *about* Nyanko-sensei would turn out to be MEGA-LULFEST. Prepare to laugh your ass off. The fat cat commits one too many atrocities (namely, eating all the shrimp in the fridge) and Takashi finally loses his cool and kicks him to the curb. The prideful ayakashi skulks away in a huff and goes on an alcoholic, gluttonous rampage around town. Oh yea, I forgot to mention that there's a little girl in there somewhere too, but she's just a cleverly disguised plot device used to usher in a heartwarming ending. Stupid androids. Anyway, look forward to it!
(Note: Please forgive me for the late post. I have been tied up all day doing panel reports at Anime Weekend Atlanta 2008. I am surrounded by kyaaing fanboys and fangirls, and I am nearly at my wit's end with exhaustion after having written for a nearly 12 solid hours. Give me a shout if you were here!)
Another long night, eh Nyanko? Nyanko with a hangover trying to catch "three little birds" is pretty entertaining despite being rather Garfieldesque. These two fat cats may need to duke it out to decide who gets the dibs on the jokes. And if you think you know whose side I'm on, think again. I actually love Garfield, at least the Garfield that reigned before Jim Davis put down the ink pen. Anyway, this joke is a pretty standard opener; it doesn't betray a bit of the awesomeness that lies in wait.
Nyanko-sensei's attempt at a live breakfast fails miserably and he falls into a random ditch. Enter the cute little plot device (see image above), who happened to have fallen in there herself. From last week's preview, I was anticipating a cheap knockoff of Alice in Wonderland (what with the whole 'falling into the hole' business - call me crazy), but thankfully, the writers didn't take it in that direction. Little missy will appear two more times before this ep concludes.
Takashi returns home and discovers that Buta-neko has pilfered the shrimp from the fridge. To add insult to injury, Nyanko denies the allegation and accidentally cracks the plastic case of a CD that Takashi is borrowing from one of his friends. This all sends him over the top and he tells Nyanko to GTFO.
I think Takashi blew everything out of proportion. How easy it is to forget that Nyanko is not really his pet cat, but probably the baddest youkai around (how many other youkai has he seen sealed away by a keikai?) And Madara has saved his life, like, how many times now? Furthermore, had he actually stopped to think about it he would have realized that those CD cases are extremely easy to replace (they can be disassembled and reassembled within minutes, by hand.) But angry people will be angry people and do the things that angry people do, brashly, in the heat of the moment.
Apparently the local ayakashi were none too happy with Nyanko's ravenous appetite, drinking habits and off-key singing. Too bad he's about to stomp them for talking trash. They should know their place.
Maybe "beating a dead horse" is a better expression. Madara's meddlings in the human world force him to take don his schoolgirl disguise. Here, he asks the local priest (the father of Takashi's classmate) to exterminate those "ungrateful ayakashi" out of spite. Onto the next event, as the rampage continues!
Fresh meat Takashi's friends!
Since Takashi's best buddies have between them little more intelligence than an amoeba, She-Nyanko convinces them to take her out on a date (what better way to get back at your ex than dating the best friend???) Nyanko enjoys long walks in the park, sake, and...
...All-you-can-eat buffets! Suspiciously similar to Garfield, wouldn't you say? If I were that poor waitress, I would have called the police and had her detained for examination in a military research facility.
Next stop: the arcade! Nyanko has little trouble coercing Takashi's friends into treating her to a few games. Maybe they thought they were going to *score* muahahahaha (yes, horrible pun intended.)
Meanwhile, back at the house, Takashi's host parents wonder aloud at how they haven't either of them seen Nyanko in a good long while. Now, if there's only three people living in that house, I wonder who they thought was responsible for stealing the shrimp from the fridge. If Takashi had said "it was the cat", they might have been inclined to ask what manner of cat Nyanko would have to be in order to manipulate the fridge door open. But that's assuming they would take it that far. The reality is that out of necessity, all side-characters hover around in a mundane haze, oblivious to more things that just the hidden world of ayakashi. All eyes on the protagonist.
I swear I could do an entire editorial on loli plot androids, the most obscene and sophisticated example being, perhaps, an actual android -- Pino, the Auto-Reiv from Ergo Proxy. But I digress. Takashi makes a deft escape after his stalker gets distracted by the Tamiko-chan. Along with the bus-stop escape from an earlier episode, that makes two for two. Run away!
Remember that machine from The Fly? If you took Noah's Ark and chopped it in half and stuffed one half in each side of the machine, you *might* produce something as ugly as this week's youkai. Forget about chimeras and Chinese dragons (tail of a carp, mane of a lion, etc.), this dude is just an inglorious trainwreck of Neopolitan ugly.
But my, how news travels. It took little more than a day for Enkou (ugly) to find out that Madara had quit his job as protector of the Yuujin-chou, so he figures it would be a good time to snatch it. Notice, however, that he approaches Madara first, just to make sure that it was true and that he wouldn't encounter any resistance when he took the book. Basically, he knew from the get-go that Madara would be a tough nut to crack. Nice try, ugly. This was actually a pivotal moment in the episode, because Madara encounters the final and most important sliver of his ties to Takashi, his agreement to protect him and the Book of Friends. Protective fury wells up out of nowhere before he has a chance to comprehend his actions, not in response to Enkou's threats to steal the book, but at his taunts that Madara has begun to "care" about humans. It is a truth that Madara has not fully accepted and is only beginning to acknowledge.
Blasphemy! How dare a presumptuous kitten sully Nyanko-sama's royal food dish!? Off with its head! We'll show no mercy! Throw the parents in the pit! ::Ahem:: and now, a haiku:
The plot device makes her third appearance. She has snuck out of her parents' sight to embark on a forbidden picnic and manages to fall in the same ginormous (new dictionary word; check Webster) hole a second time. A for effort, Tamiko! Shortly after, Nyanko wakes with a hangover and pulls the same stunt with the three birds that he did at the beginning of the episode and, predictably, joins Tamko-chan in her 'secret hiding spot.' Edit: The plot device actually only appears twice, chronologically speaking. The final scene is a flashback to where the beginning of the episode had left off, with Nyanko and Tamiko-chan stuck in the hole. When it starts to rain (goodness knows she might have caught pneumonia if she had been alone!), Tamiko panics because her mother told her that rabbits will die if exposed to rain, thinking that the rain may also be detrimental to buta-nekos. She throws an adorable little fit and eventually cries herself to sleep. Something in him shifts, and he makes an interesting choice...
The minute it begins to rain, Takashi goes searching for Nyanko. He was thinking about him the entire time! Considering NYC's delicate sense of symmetry, I'm tempted to say that Madara has now come full circle (similar to Takashi-kun) in that he appreciates human beings, just as Takashi-kun has learned to appreciate youkai. But that may be a bit of a hasty conclusion. After all, Madara was never socially-isolated or shunned because he could see humans. As far as I can tell, ALL youkai have that ability. Also, I'm willing to bet that it was a human that shut him up in the keikai. But I thought it was worth mentioning nonetheless.
10 Comments
The title “Spirited Away” flashed through my eyes during that second last picture, anyone else?
For me, it’s less “Spirited Away” and more “The Never Ending Story.”
I think that after the girl asks Nyanko how he fell in the hole at the start of the episode, Nyanko flashes back to a couple of days ago to when he argued with Natsume. Remember how Sasada asked what the girl was doing and she said they were shopping to go on a picnic? That makes a bit more sense than them both falling in the same hole twice (Nyanko-sensei would not be defeated by a mere hole twice , even when hungover).
Sigh, I wonder where he puts it all once he transforms. Could be a secret fat compartment in his tail or something like that. Geez talk about revenge, asking the exorcist to go crazy blasting spiritual energy at those youkais.
Overall a very funny and relaxing story. I wonder if he will ever be on a diet.
I never realized how LARGE Nyanko was until that little girl hugged him… He IS a buta-neko… He was nearly the size of the little girl… He needs to go on more walks, though I never knew one walks cats with leashes until this manga showed how.
I can’t wait for next weeks episodes, one of my fave chapters~ Yay its HINOE, but alas she only appears in one extra chapter T___T.
@Vin-nii: “My real name is Nigihayami Kohakunushi!”
@JHL: Yes, Madara’s got the Falkor vibes.
@Omisyth: Thank you for catching my glaring error. It didn’t make much sense to me why they would play the exact same animation sequence over again. This is what happens sometimes when you watch anime in a sleep-deprived stupor ^^ Well, maybe just me.
@Cherubium: Something tells me that youkai don’t really need to worry about high cholesterol, so I suspect he won’t ever diet haha.
@Machi: Nyanko may be more well-suited to a leash because he doesn’t exactly get the rips like some cats do. But generally I don’t think the leash thing goes over well with them. Looking forward to meeting this “Hinoe”.
Ok. The little girl are so cute that I want to take her home. LOL no bad intention though.
She is so innocent. She like cat. So, she hugged Nyanko-sensei very hard. I know that feeling. LOL
I’m a bit worry as the final drawing near. I hope that they can pulled-it-off beautifully. And, why they have to do this kind of story now in episode 11. They should do it (the ‘broken’-relationship) early.
So I heard that there’s gonna be a season 2 set for January, 2009….? All I can say to this news is…..HOORAY!!!! >_<
How many episodes are left? Better get busy downloading this anime ASAP! I’ve only watched 6 episodes so far at crunchyroll. :-S
@jonaht-amoeba: The break-up to make-up sidestory seemed to me rather appropriate at this point in the series, because Madara had not really developed a relationship with Takashi earlier on. They were both reluctant to engage in a mutual friendship for various reasons. It was kind of nice how they grew on each other as time passed, as though all the various experiences served, in part, to cement their friendship ties.
@delphyne: Yes, you are correct! I saw the announcement on Anime News Network. I will look forward to it ^^ Gonna try to catch up on the manga in the mean time.
@Eri: Probably two left. Put that mouse to work!