Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Sep 2013)

[The Millenium Walken]

Honestly? I think a twelve-thirteen episode series each month would be a smart way to go, at least this early in. A lot of people on Gaia have school to deal with, so their level of commitment is already low, and then there's people like me, who despite having a lot of free time are always actively watching at least one show. I'll give Nura the old Five episode Try, since I have tuesday night off, and I'll post my first impressions on it, but yeah, shorter shows would be way more accessible.

Out of curiosity, how are these anime being chosen?  

[Unheard TK]

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan
or
Nurarihyon no Mago

Since it being our Anime of the month and i have never seen it before, i watched a few episodes, enough to write up a first impressions of it. =D

First off i want to mention the opening theme, its fine and all but i felt like it was cut off when the song 'ends' and the actual Anime begins. That is all for that, onto the actual Anime and my thoughts on it.
When i first saw this, my mind immediately went to Inuyasha, Though not as serious. I kinda found it refreshing that they were not always in a battle with Spirits, they are doing normal High School stuff...although an odd club that goes looking for Spirits, but it seems natural. I could also see other inspirations other then Inuyasha in there as well.
The Main character, Rikuo is a nice character but he didn't grab me like some of the other characters did. The characters that i did like the most were surprisingly the support characters. Tsurara, the snow girl; Aotabou, the large spirit that hangs around Tsurara (Even though he didn't say very much in the first few episodes, i really liked the character XD.); and Zen, the bird spirit (I think). I would love to see more of him in the future.
I also find it strange that everyone can see spirits. Another thing is the potential future love triangle between the main character Rikuo, Tsurara, and Rikuos friend Kana. I can see it coming and I cant say i enjoy love triangle (depends on the situation), honestly i thought that it would start early, but what do i know! We got spirits to fight and another interesting character to introduce! Yura who is, to put it simply, a skilled exorcist who i am eager to see more of as well.
So far i like "Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan" and excited to see what happens next.
...although what is up with Rikous hair when in his Spirit form... O_o  

[Soaring Sheep]

Unheard TK

...although what is up with Rikous hair when in his Spirit form... O_o

It's because of his heritage.

The Japanese title, "Nurarihyon no Mago" translates to English as "The Grandchild of the Nurarihyon". Rikuo is a quarter yokai, but more specifically one quarter Nurarihyon.

In mythology, Nurarihyon is depicted as having a long head... actually, just go here, there are pictures.

The entire show is based off some other piece of Japanese mythology, the night parade of one-hundred demons or something... It's definitely different from InuYasha, albeit still leaning on the side of unoriginality. Just for a different reason.

Basically every non-human character in the show is based off a mythological figure of some sort. For example, "Gozu" and "Mezu" (Ox-Head and Horse-Face) are guardians of the underworld. "Zen" (Zhen or Zhenniao) is a kind of poison feathered bird. And so on.

Since it's an anime, it obviously takes a lot of artistic liberties though! Otherwise adorable little Tsurara would be a lot scarier...

I knew all this stuff from the beginning though, so I've always wondered how it looks to someone who doesn't know.

On topic:

I only watched a few bits and pieces of the anime. First because I was curious about how Mezumaru sounded, then because I was curious again on account of it getting dubbed.

This is important, because Mezumaru is my favorite character.

My sister used to buy the manga, so I read those by leeching off her... but once she stopped buying them, I became too lazy to read and/or buy them on my own, haha.

It's pretty generic shounen, in my opinion, but definitely good if you're into that sort of thing. Which I definitely am.  

[The Millenium Walken]

I know I said I'd reserve judgement on this show until the fifth episode, but two episodes in, I'm already starting to wonder if the writers had any contact with an actual editor, or if they just shouted "We're done" after finishing the second draft.  

[Unheard TK]

Aoto-Gonzales

Unheard TK

...although what is up with Rikous hair when in his Spirit form... O_o

It's because of his heritage.

The Japanese title, "Nurarihyon no Mago" translates to English as "The Grandchild of the Nurarihyon". Rikuo is a quarter yokai, but more specifically one quarter Nurarihyon.

In mythology, Nurarihyon is depicted as having a long head... actually, just go here, there are pictures.

The entire show is based off some other piece of Japanese mythology, the night parade of one-hundred demons or something... It's definitely different from InuYasha, albeit still leaning on the side of unoriginality. Just for a different reason.

Basically every non-human character in the show is based off a mythological figure of some sort. For example, "Gozu" and "Mezu" (Ox-Head and Horse-Face) are guardians of the underworld. "Zen" (Zhen or Zhenniao) is a kind of poison feathered bird. And so on.

Since it's an anime, it obviously takes a lot of artistic liberties though! Otherwise adorable little Tsurara would be a lot scarier...

I knew all this stuff from the beginning though, so I've always wondered how it looks to someone who doesn't know.

On topic:

I only watched a few bits and pieces of the anime. First because I was curious about how Mezumaru sounded, then because I was curious again on account of it getting dubbed.

This is important, because Mezumaru is my favorite character.

My sister used to buy the manga, so I read those by leeching off her... but once she stopped buying them, I became too lazy to read and/or buy them on my own, haha.

It's pretty generic shounen, in my opinion, but definitely good if you're into that sort of thing. Which I definitely am.

That is really interesting. Indeed i didn't think this was part of Japanese Mythology, but just made up to make a show.
After looking up some of the Yokai, why wouldn't they just have their characters look like the ones in mythology, like some of the other Yokai that are not on screen as much as others. Like Gozu and Mezu as human-like and again Tsurara as an adorable sidekick. To make the Anime more like-able? Or perhaps a rematch where everyone transforms and becomes more powerful rolleyes
i would love to see Tsurara as originally depicted in Mythology, though. XD If there is such a thing.  

[Unheard TK]

The Fullmetal Narcissist

I know I said I'd reserve judgement on this show until the fifth episode, but two episodes in, I'm already starting to wonder if the writers had any contact with an actual editor, or if they just shouted "We're done" after finishing the second draft.

Yuras encounter with the Anchient Rat Clan

ARC Leader - Let's fight!
Yura - Ok

*Off screen fight*

ARC Leader - Clearly you can kill me now, but let me distract you by talking
Yura - Ok
ARC Leader - I have captured your friend!
Yura - I give up

lol. I'm still interested in it, though. I'm around episode 8 although i cant remember what happened since i haven't watched it for a week. I shall get back into it, soon.  

[Soaring Sheep]

Unheard TK

Aoto-Gonzales

Unheard TK

...although what is up with Rikous hair when in his Spirit form... O_o

It's because of his heritage.

The Japanese title, "Nurarihyon no Mago" translates to English as "The Grandchild of the Nurarihyon". Rikuo is a quarter yokai, but more specifically one quarter Nurarihyon.

In mythology, Nurarihyon is depicted as having a long head... actually, just go here, there are pictures.

The entire show is based off some other piece of Japanese mythology, the night parade of one-hundred demons or something... It's definitely different from InuYasha, albeit still leaning on the side of unoriginality. Just for a different reason.

Basically every non-human character in the show is based off a mythological figure of some sort. For example, "Gozu" and "Mezu" (Ox-Head and Horse-Face) are guardians of the underworld. "Zen" (Zhen or Zhenniao) is a kind of poison feathered bird. And so on.

Since it's an anime, it obviously takes a lot of artistic liberties though! Otherwise adorable little Tsurara would be a lot scarier...

I knew all this stuff from the beginning though, so I've always wondered how it looks to someone who doesn't know.

On topic:

I only watched a few bits and pieces of the anime. First because I was curious about how Mezumaru sounded, then because I was curious again on account of it getting dubbed.

This is important, because Mezumaru is my favorite character.

My sister used to buy the manga, so I read those by leeching off her... but once she stopped buying them, I became too lazy to read and/or buy them on my own, haha.

It's pretty generic shounen, in my opinion, but definitely good if you're into that sort of thing. Which I definitely am.

That is really interesting. Indeed i didn't think this was part of Japanese Mythology, but just made up to make a show.
After looking up some of the Yokai, why wouldn't they just have their characters look like the ones in mythology, like some of the other Yokai that are not on screen as much as others. Like Gozu and Mezu as human-like and again Tsurara as an adorable sidekick. To make the Anime more like-able? Or perhaps a rematch where everyone transforms and becomes more powerful rolleyes
i would love to see Tsurara as originally depicted in Mythology, though. XD If there is such a thing.

The Nurarihyon is kind of an obscure part of mythology, in my opinion, so I'm not surprised if you've never heard of it before. It kind of looks like those old drawings of aliens too, lol.

Probably for a greater appeal and to keep it at a certain rating? You could possibly compare it to modern depictions of, say, vampires in the West -- the original vampire myth described them as being a lot uglier, with a bloated appearance and purple-ish skin from all the blood they drank. And now they sparkle.

I'm fond of Nura's cast the way it is, but I also think it would be cool if some of the yokai were truer to their origins. Tsurara is adorable, but I think she's more like a kitten than a demon, lol.  

[Wolfishly Sheepish]

Not bad so far.
Hoping they keep it short and sweet by wrapping it up next season.
Nothing exceptional as far as plot or story but art and animation are good.
Though the story's nothing special but it's not boring either,
plus not an overabundance of filler.
I'd give it like a 7.5/10  

[Fire_Sorceress_Phoanexa]

nena_sakura

What do you think of anime of the month?

Would you like anime quizzes on anime of the month?


Who is your favorite character ?

Discussion on Mira rise of the yokai clan

Iove this anime/manga. I've read the whole series,my favorite character has to be shoei son of hihi one of the generals.  

[Zero the Crimson]

What do you think of anime of the month?
I rather like Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan...sure, for the anime, I've only seen around 12 episodes, but I have read the majority of the manga.

Would you like anime quizzes on anime of the month?
Eh, just depends.

Who is your favorite character ?
I honestly couldn't tell you.  

[neko cat warrior]

I actually saw this last year, but because you mentioned this to me, it made me want to watch the series again. For the first season the show, I felt like it was lade-back and more comical then anything (not that its bad or anything). Then when the second season came, the show became more serious and you hardly every saw day Rukio or his school friends. Because of this night Rukio had more humorous events happening around him to add more humor into his character. I also liked how the show actually had yokai mythology and history, and not just some made up stuff about yokai. Also for some reason I can't stop thinking of the song 'let it go' from the movie Frozen whenever I see Yuki-Onna. sweatdrop
Anyways, I really enjoyed the show but was sad that it was never continued.