In honor of Bunka-no-hi (Culture Day in Japan), Nov 3rd, previously known as the b-day of the Meiji Emperor. This show is so cute!
Zakuro, the protagonist, is a half yokai/human girl. Yes, a half-breed, hybrid girl. That’s why she has foxy ears. Foxy lady. And she’s very tsun-tsun (stuck-up, bad mood), always mad at her project partner, Kei Agemaki, an Imperial Army officer. Kei is ikemen, but unreliably hetare. Zakuro reminds me of Holo, a wolf girl from Spice And Wolf. So, Zakuro and Kei is like Horo and Lawrence. But Yokai and the Hetare, instead of Beauty and the Beast.
The story takes in the Meiji period (1868-1912) when westernization was taking place in Japan. And because of that, city development is driving off yokais, and yokais are resisting. So, to suppress yokai (Ministry of yokai calls it “harmonize”), the Imperial Army sends young officers to pair up with half-yokai human girls. But Zakuro hates westernization. She constantly curses anything European “Bateren,” a derogatory word for Christian missions in Japanese (etymologically from “padre”).
But I love the scenery of a Meiji city. Mixture of the West and the Japanese tradition. A transitional period from the old to the new.
Ah, this show is really romantic! Yeah, it’s shojo, what can I say? That’s why I’m loving it! Flirtation between girl and boy, the heavenliest of all! I wish I could be a military officer, but I’m soshoku-kei, I wouldn’t have been able to pass a boot camp…
And Ganryu, a baby face officer, is constantly sexually harassed by the twin yokai girls. Ahhh!!! I wish I had a baby face too!!!
And there’s a jukujo store owner, employing an oni-kid. Was child labor okay in the Meiji era? Onikko or oni-kid, goblin kid, 鬼っ子。日本鬼子。
Ah, I’d never been to countryside in Japan. How I wish I traveled country with a girl… And stay at a local traditional hotel, and sleep with her side by side.
I don’t care if a girl is a yokai as long as she is moetically cute. As long as she’s in a human shape. 2-D girls are awesome! In turn, 3-D girls are pain. Why never reciprocate my romantic feeling? How many times I’ve thought of giving up my life…
Don’t they realize how much I’ve been craving for romantic skinship? In fact, I always leave my phone on and put it beside my pillow before I sleep. So I can pick up my phone any time. In case of emergency a girl feels lonely or hurt, she can call me and I can hop into my car and drive to her place to comfort her. Even 3 o’clock in the morning, I’m ready to wake up and drive down to her place. But, my phone never vibrates, though I always tell them, “Call me or text me any time.” But they never do. Oh yeah, once in a blue moon they send me email, and I keep my most favorite one and read it so many times that I can recite from my heart, and yet I still read it just before I go to bed. But, that doesn’t help me at all. Because in cyberspace, skinship is impossible.
Therefore, anime is the only salvation for our romantic poverty. And this show, Otome Yokai Zakuro, serves us best!
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