Oct 13, 2022
Nurarihyon...... oh, Nurarihyon, you could've been so good. It's been a full year since I watched Nurarihyon no Mago and I still have strong enough feelings about it to come back and write a review.
This premise had everything. There was so much potential here! Youkai, yakuza themes, trying to maintain a normal school life throughout all of that- and yet it's terribly executed.
Nurarihyon no Mago disappointed me to the core. I got invested enough in the characters to kind of enjoy it, but the second season lost me to pace. This review won't have big plot spoilers, but will talk about fight scenes and their
...
general outcomes.
STORY
There's nothing wrong with the story. Well, not much. Well, it's not too bad. The plot itself is cool and all, but the pacing ruins it. This series feels like it's very stretched out, like they kept making more episodes just for the sake of it. The main characters seem to care more about looking cool than putting in any effort- the RAGE I felt when Rikuo just sat there multiple times watching the enemy escape like 'oh no! anyway,'. Rikuo has main character syndrome like you've never seen it, no one helps him in his fights because he easily defeats everyone he fights on his own, and he doesn't tell anyone to do anything even though he's supposed to be the commander. There is no strategy involved in this 'war'.
The show makes up reasons for enemies to get away that are ridiculous and occasionally blatantly sexist, and sometimes they don't bother making up a reason at all, the enemy just attacks and then leaves the main characters to recover. For what purpose?
Some of the plot points are so very wasted. Yura was done dirty with the most standard subplot I've ever seen, and it could've been so good if they cared enough to put any effort into it.
The transformation power seems cool until you realize that it's just there to fuel the secret identity and has barely any impact on the actual plot after the first two episodes. There are so many missed opportunities and it kills me. It's never even properly explained much less cleverly used like I expected it to be.
ANIMATION
I'm not usually picky on animation. I can enjoy vague art or shaky animation just fine. Nurarihyon, however, seems to go out of its way to make me annoyed. The animation switches jarringly between 2d and 3d. The fight scenes are dry and confusing at the same time. You can get used to the animation, but it's definitely not what I'd call good.
CHARACTERS
Rikuo is not likeable. This is a huge issue, because he needs to be on screen every minute of every episode, according to the producers. Rikuo is not only aggressive and careless with his clan, he also shows no determination or interest in anything ever. He's not caring, or hopeful, or even brash and loud. I think this changes a bit at the start of season 2, but a whole season with zero personality from the main character drags on.
The rest of the characters have more personality than him, but they don't get much screentime individually. The show can't seem to decide if it wants to be a slapstick comedy or not, which makes the deadly aggression the clan sometimes throws around seem overdone and unbelievable. Yura is the only character that I felt had any depth. She's also very obviously a side character to Rikuo's big protagonist energy.
The biggest problem with Rikuo's character is, I think, that they tried to make his night form 'mysterious' and completely different from Rikuo. Because it has to be 'mysterious' we don't get any internal monologue when he uses his night form. We never get a demonstration of his skills, or even get to hear what skills he has, or any gauge of power level. We don't know if he's training to use a sword or he's just instinctively a swords master. Not knowing what he can do makes the fight scenes feel like they have no stakes at all. No known limitations, no weaknesses, and Rikuo never even looks like he's struggling in a fight. They tried to make him look cool and failed in the basic setup of a compelling story. He gets one (1) scratch in twenty episodes and it doesn't even make him flinch.
TL;DR:
The villain, middle of the fight, "this is a sideshow, do something entertaining"
Me, looking up from my phone: Yeah! Do something entertaining!
CONCLUSION
This all being said, I enjoyed the start of the second season, and I'm still passionate enough about this show to come back to it even now. I wouldn't be this mad about it if it was all bad. It was good enough for me to get invested, and bad enough to disappoint.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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