Anime Review: Nurarihyon no Mago Season 2 Episode 3

Anime Review:
Nurarihyon no Mago Season 2 Episode 3

What this is about: Watching all of the anime shows so you don’t have to! For more information about me and my reviews, click here for details on what I am reviewing.

Series Premise: Nurarihyon no Mago, or “Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan” is a weekly anime television series based on a Shonen Jump manga series. The first season aired between July and December 2010, and a second season, subtitled “Sennen Makyou”, began airing in July 2011. Rikuo Nura is one-quarter demon and the heir of the infamous Nura Demon Clan, who is relucant to embrace his demon heritage and succeed his grandfather. But as he turns twelve, he comes to accept his demon heritage and lead his cadre of demons as rival factions vie for control.

Click on the thumbnails below to view the picture in full size in a new window:

Spoiler-free Episode Summary: Rikuo battles against the Kekain brothers, and it appears as if he succumbs to their ultimate attacks, until Rikuo’s underlings come to his rescue. Yura remains flabbergasted throughout the battle, unsure what to make of the revelation about Rikuo’s true identity. As the Kekain brothers leave, they inform Yura of troubles back home, instructing her to return at once. Yura remains torn over her friendship with Rikuo as well as her fealty to her family.

My Impressions: Given how powerful that Rikuo seems sometimes, it was rather surprising to see him fall victim of Ryuuji’s “ultimate” attack involving acid-like floating flowers of water (yeah, it was just as passively stupid as it sounds), and he had to rely on being saved by his coterie of demons. The fight itself was blah, but that wasn’t really the point. This served two main purposes: the “big reveal” of Rikuo’s true identity to Yura, as well as to introduce the next major conflict as Yura is recalled back home.

Given all the near-miss revelations and all the weird stuff happening around Rikuo, in retrospect you have to wonder how thick-headed Yura (or the rest of their little group of friends, for that matter) really were, that it took until now for Yura to finally figure out what’s really going on. Of course, the whole “I’m secretly the head of a powerful demon clan, but no one can know” was part of the whole charm of the first season as he tried his hardest to hide his identity with occasionally hilarious results. But I’m glad the cat is out of the bag, because I think it turns the least interesting character in the series, Yura, into potentially the most interesting character. Seriously, before now she was a real Debbie Downer, sucking all the energy out of the room.

Eh, it’s not a great show, and the tendency for the more annoying Shonen Jump-esque traits to appear are evident, but so far I remain entertained so I’ll continue watching. Bad sign, though: next episode looks like it will be a flashback, something I loathed in the first season, so I might write it off entirely, disregard it, and move on to the next “real” episode.

The verdict:

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For more information:

• Previous reviews:
  • Episode 1 (October 30)
  • Episode 2 (December 16)
• Info resources:
  • My Anime List
  • Anime News Network
  • AniDB
  • Wikipedia.
• If you like this, you might also like: Kekkaishi or Inu Yasha.

Sampling of Online Reviews:

• “This might not be the best anime ever or even the best of this season, but this is the anime this season that has be pulling my hair to know what happens next because of just how enjoyable it is.” – Otakuness
• “Only three episodes in and we’re already getting some pretty solid developments, not only has Rikuo’s cover towards Yura been blown but even now things are progressing towards the end confrontation with Hagoromo-Gitsune, or at least getting to Kyoto.” – Gin no Dangan
• “The opposite of episode two, episode three is great and exciting. Maybe because the Night Rikuo is in the whole episode or what (since I’m such a Night Rikuo fangirl), but episode three was able to keep me entertained.” – Metanorn
• “Wowza, another great episode! I still can’t believe how much I’m enjoying this, or rather, how much better this is than S1. I’m glad that I didn’t give up on it.” – Meeping Anime

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ROUND THREE RESULTS FOR SUMMER 2011 SHOWS:

Thumbs-up for Round Three: Mawaru Penguin Drum, Kamisama Dolls, No. 6, Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, Kamisama no Memo-chou, Nurarihyon no Mago Season 2

Thumbs-down for Round Three: Dantalian no Shoka, Nekogami Yaoyorozu

Coming up next: Natsume Yuujinchou-san, Usagi Drop