Kyouran Kazoku Nikki ep.01

April 19, 2008 | 7 Comments

OP Theme: 「超妻賢母宣言」 - Chousai Kenbo Sengen by MOSAIC.WAV - AVI version (38MB) | PSP version (16.8MB)

I guess this is very late but I haven't had the chance to do it until now. The episode itself is okay. The animation is not exactly spectacular but it's not bad either. The character design is pretty nice although it's not as good as the original light novel illustration. It's a good thing that each one of them is unique though because I think that's the selling point of this series. The OP and ED are amusing but they don't have the repeat value that Suzumiya Haruhi OP/ED clearly have. While I get the impression that the animators try to emulate Haruhi's OP with this show's OP, for some reason it just doesn't have the exact same effect. I think it's because the OP is too over-the-top and busy. The ED is an entirely different issue. While the default ED is too obnoxious, the alternative ED (there are 6 alts at the moment), are ranging from pretty good to mediocre. I do think there's a potential for the series but until I see the second episode, it's hard to guess one way or another. Anyway, I'm sorry for the rather unconventional summary this time around but I was a bit bored while writing it and for some reason it ended up being sarcastic even though I don't find the episode to be that bad.

A loli is being chased around by a bunch of police but she manages to evade them by jumping up into the air. She then tries to steal an apple but a four-eyes decides to give her a public service announcement about how "stealing is bad, mmmmkay?". In response, loli tells him that his dirty hand does not fit to touch her furries. The loli, who keeps referring to herself as Kyouka-sama, claims that she's 20 years old. This is clearly trap for anyone who easily believes that a loli like her could be 20 years old. Remember: no one else but her said she's 20 so it's most likely not true. In response, four eyes introduces himself as the head squad of Japan's Paranormal Counter-Measure's 1st division His name is Midarezaki Ouka. Upon hearing his name, loli suddenly grins but they are interrupted by the group of police who were still hunting her. To stop the police, the loli releases a cellular-phone-like signal which causes all of the policemen to fall unconscious. She then demands Ouka to take her to the Paranormal Counter-Measure HQ right away.

Upon getting there, Ouka is surprised because not only his superior actually treats furry loli like the 2nd coming of kitty litter, they also has a plan to save the world. However, just like any other saving the world plan, there needs to be a sacrifice. In this case, the sacrifice is Ouka, who is forced to marry loli in a shotgun wedding. If this sounds illegal it's probably because it is. They then send Ouka and his new furry bride to a new home. Kitty tries to seduce Ouka into some furry sex but Ouka tells her "No thanks, I'm not into furries". Because of this, she punishes him by making dinner for him. Unlike a poor newlyweed's kitchen, this kitchen is fully equipped. I mean, does your kitchen has a handy chainsaw to cut that piece of lettuce? Well, this one does. Kyouka-hime tells his lowly husband that her cooking will make his cheek fall off. By that she probably means that her food is enough to melt someone's face like acid. She then shows her prowess in cooking by employing tools such as a sickle and an icepick. Who else gets flashes of Basic Instinct?

While Kyouka-furry is preparing poison for her husband, Ouka remembers how after the wedding, he was told by his superior that not only he got a new wife, he'll also get not 1, not 2, but 5 children to complete his nuclear family. Back in reality, Ouka's new wife has finished her cooking. It turns out to be a snake and fish head's stir fry. Hmm...mmm. The purple coloring is probably what will melt someone's face off. Did I mention that the dish can talk? Well, it can. Anyway, Ouka asks his new bride if she doesn't mind being forced into marriage like this. Loli, however, tells him that she believes that this is a necessary sacrifice to stop Enka. Apparently, once upon a time a monster called Enka tried to kill everyone in this world. However, it was eventually defeated by humans who went stabby at it. Enka didn't just croak and die though. Back then it swore that one of its descendants will come to wreck havoc in the future. Thousand years later, it is confirmed that Enka's descendant lives amongst us. She-Devil, I mean, Kyouka-sama is one of them.

Unfortunately there are others as well and while killing them is possible, that's just too violent. So the government came up with a "Let's have a family hug" plan. The idea is to put all of Enka's children in the same house so they can be monitored. It's like Big Brother except with furries, androids, lolis, and okama. It is hoped that the descendant in question will be happy with the world and would not destroy it. *knocks on wood* In order to find these freaks.....I mean, precious sweethearts, Furry-sama invites Ouka to play a game where they basically wear an armband and super special glasses while they go looking for these kids. Loli also makes sure that four-eyes understands that this game's winner has been decided to be her. He's just there to play the loser role. That does sound like a marriage. BTW, the loser gets to be the winner's slave. Since Ouka doesn't want to be one of those loser husband who's always ordered around by his wife, he decides to win this game. He runs to a supermarket and finds another loli who asks him if he's her daddy.

Before Ouka can claim that he found this loli called Yuuka, however, Kitty already touch Yuuka's hand. In her twisted world this means that she's the one who found the girl. Ouka tries to protest but he gets cowed easily by Kyouka before she runs away to find the other children. Not wanting to be defeated, Ouka manages to catch up withIt' his wifey at an aquarium. See, they're starting to look like family, visiting aquarium and all. As it turns out, their other 'child' is in this place because it's an octopus. Before four eyes can say "Give daddy a hug", however, octopi already electrocutes him. After obtaining this kid, Ouka apologizes to Yuuka for the mess and promises that he'll end this fake family as soon as possible. Much to his surprise, however, Yuuka is looking forward to their Brady Bunch moment. Their convo gets interrupted when they see a Cyborg and a talking lion in a face-off. Judging from the armband, Ouka is sure that they are his 'children' as well. Meanwhile, the wise lion tells the cyborg "Drop your sword young Padawan, for I do not wish to harm you".

The cyborg, however, goes Darth Vader and tells the lion that he likes destroying things. Bwahahaha. Oh wait, he didn't say the Bwahahaha. He did say that he was created out of Enka's flesh and used to be called Black-13 but now his name is Hyouka and the kanji is too difficult. Boohooo. As for the lion, his name is Teika as in the King of Fence. Before the two can rumble, however, Ouka decides to be a party-pooper by pointing a gun at Black-13. He tells the cyborg that he is no longer a weapon but he does so while pointing a gun at the robot. After this, however, he realizes that the whole thing about being father is a BS. Despite this, he still wants to go ahead and be a good father. Hyouka, however, hates tree-hugging-hippie speech and proceeds to attack daddy with his light saber. Meanwhile, the Emperor goes "Yessss, strike him with all your might, give in to the darkside!". Wait, wrong series.

Before Hyouka can commit patricide, however, Queen Kyouka arrives and order everyone to stop. She then goes power ranger and stuff her husband's mouth with her shoe. Ain't marriage grand? She then kicks his gun out of the way. She then face metal gear and tells the cyborg that if she has to repeat this again, it'll be dead. She tells him that child must not raise his hand against his father. That's the wife's job. And that ends our domestic violence 101. She then makes it clear that she's on the top of the food chain and everyone else are beneath her. So she orders cyborg-san to lick her shoes. When Lion King tries to protest, she sends daggers at him, suggesting that he too will lick her shoes. Not wanting to be outdone, Ouka tells loli that a wife should not beat up her husband either. Kyouka, however, knows this but she had to do it because four-eyes was pointing a gun at a biological weapon designed to attack anyone pointing a gun at it. That's why she kicked his gun and besides, what kind of parent points a gun at his child. Mother of the year material here!!!

Four-eyes, however, is not happy and tells her that he doesn't want to hear this from someone who asks her children to lick her shoes. Rest assured that he too will lick her shoes in the future, among other things. In the aftermath, everyone goes back home sweet home. Before they can step inside, however, Queen Kitty reminds them that there'll be punishment if they step in without cleaning their filthy paws/legs/joints. Once they get inside, Ouka is surprised to see a young blonde guy in the middle of watching TV. Judging from the sound, it sounds like a workout program but it could also be Shingo Mama. Anyway, Ouka is relieved to see that the boy looks normal as in he's not an alien/a cat/a flea that means he can actually have normal conversation with him. Much to his surprise, however, the guy turns into a rabid fangirl and starts swinging his hips, telling him that he can't believe a stud like Ouka will be his sugar-daddy, I mean, daddy. Yes. He's gay. The episode ends with a creepy fanservice showing Yuuka's naked back, one which looks like it's been slashed by knife.

Impression

It's kind of hard to judge the series just from the first episode. While there's nothing extraordinary in the first half of the episode, the second half of the episode was quite entertaining even if they didn't exactly made me laugh out loud. I get the impression that the series tries to mimic Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu's appeal, judging from its OP and ED theme, loudmouth lead female character, and a sarcastic male character. Even the VAs for Kyouka and Ouka sounds a bit similar to the VAs for Haruhi and Kyon. I don't think this is a bad thing considering the success of Haruhi but sometimes the similarities do stand out. Having said that, the characters are entertaining and they have the potential for some interesting storylines and interaction. I assume that the main plot will deal with which Enka's descendant will destroy the world. If I have to guess at this point in the story, it's either Yuuka, the mother (Kyouka), or the father (Ouka).

Speaking of characters, all of them are actually quite interesting. Kyouka is obnoxious but at the very least she actually knows what she's talking about instead of being completely oblivious to everything that happens around her. Ouka doesn't appear to be anything special but I think that would change in future episodes. I also like the fact that he tries his best not to be a pushover even though the odds are against him. Yuuka (the young girl) will probably the main focus in the next episode since this episode ends with a cliffhanger showing multiple cut wounds on her body. I don't actually expect much out of the rest except for occasional laughs and maybe a little bit of background story that explains their past. Comedy-wise, there are some funny moments in this episode but nothing remarkable. I did smile, however, when Kyouka orders the cyborg to lick her shoes but apart from that, it's not particularly funny. I do hope that future episodes will be a lot more fun than this now that the introduction for the family is out of the way.

ED Theme #1: 「狂乱戦記 ～日常ノ神サマ～」 - Kyouran Senki~Nichijou no Kamisama~ by Ayumi Fujimura - AVI version (68MB) | PSP version (17.4MB)

As a side note, there are not 1 or 2 but a total of 7 OP/ED themes (with another one possibly coming later since the character has not been introduced in this episode yet). They are (in order of character appearances):

1.『狂乱戦記 〜日常ノ神サマ〜』- Kyouran Senki - Nichijou no Kami-sama - (tvk/THK version)
Performed by 乱崎凶華（藤村歩）- Midarezaki Kyouka (Fujimura Ayumi)

The default ED theme. It's not exactly a song. More like strings of words joined together by music and barely passable as a song.

2. 『THE PITFALLS』- The Pittfals（TVO version）
Performed by 乱崎凰火（近藤孝行）- Midarezaki Ouka (Kondou Takayuki)

Sounds like one of those sci-fi/space opera songs. It's not bad but it's not that great either.

3. 『あっぱれ変化じゃ。』- Appare Henka Ja. (TVQ version)
Performed by 乱崎月香（佐藤利奈）- Midarezaki Gekka (Satou Rina)

I actually like this better than the default ED theme. It sounds better as an ED theme even if it doesn't have the manic vibe that the default ED provides.

4. 『ヘンな神さま知ってるよ』- Hen na Kami Shitteru yo（CTC version)
Performed by 乱崎優歌（花澤香菜）- Midarezaki Yuuka (Hanazawa Kana)

Not so good, IMO. It sounds like every other anime ED out there and there's nothing that makes it special in comparison to the other ED.

5. 『ボクハ更新サレマシタ』- Boku wa Koushin Saremashita (TVS version)
Performed by 乱崎雹霞（広橋涼）- Midarezaki Hyouka (Hirohashi Ryou)

Nice-looking 3D render but the song itself is a bit boring.

6. 『我輩は守護獣である、か?』 - Wagahai wa Shougojuu de Aru ka? (TSS version)
Performed by 乱崎帝架（安元洋貴）- Midarezaki Teika (Yasumoto Hiroki)

The illustration is not that great but the song is unique because it sounds Enka-like (as in Japanese traditional singing style instead of the monster described in this series). As a result, it stands out from the rest of the EDs which sounds like other anime ED songs.

7. 『コードネイムはLady-X』- Code Name wa Lady-X (AT-X version)
Performed by 乱崎銀夏（藤田圭宣）- Midarezaki Ginka (Fujita Yoshinori)

The funniest of them all. It's the trap version. Even the title suggests nothing but its hidden gender truth. Props to the VA for singing with that kind of flamboyant voice as well.

Preview

On the next episode: More family member!

© memento 2003