October 09, 2022
Uchi no Shishou wa Shippo ga Nai - My Master Has No Tail.
Set in Osaka during the Taisho era (~100 years ago) we follow a young tanuki named Mameda visiting the big city. Before letting her go visit, the elders warn her not to try tricking humans, since the old tricks don't really work on them any more.
So of course that's exactly what she sets out to do.
And you can imagine how that goes. Hint, if you're trying to pass off leaves as currency, the illusion drops when they try to look for the watermark. And it only goes downhill from there.
Even worse, she runs into someone who knows exactly what the deal is (She says she's just a Rakugoka - folktale storyteller, although the OP implies something else). And the next day, the jig is already up because the whole town seems to know there's a Tanuki about and they're not gonna take any of her tricks. While running away, she gets swept up in a crowd going into the entertainment hall, where the woman from the night before, Bunko-san, is the star performer.
And she quickly realizes that it's because the Rakugoka is casting an illusion on her audience that puts them in the story she's telling. She shakes it off, because it wouldn't do for a Tanuki to be the one getting tricked.
And she quickly realizes that it's because the Rakugoka is casting an illusion on her audience that puts them in the story she's telling. She shakes it off, because it wouldn't do for a Tanuki to be the one getting tricked.
When the townspeople catch her in the auditorium, she escapes, but is chased up the tower in the center of town. When they corner her, she jumps, remembering how legend tells of Tanuki stretching out their scrotums and gliding like flying squirrels. About halfway down she remembers she's a girl.
Bunko-san catches her mid fall and pulls her aboard a flying boat, and sets her straight about the way of the world, how rapidly things are changing and modernizing. She tells Mameda to go home, and takes her to the boat. But she remembers her father also talking about how fast things are moving in the human world, and that they won't play the Tanuki's games any more, and they will be forced to go into the woods and live like ordinary animals. Mameda decides that no, she won't go home. She'll become a Rakugoka too, and learn to trick humans this way.
Visually this is a very pretty show. The art style is very clean, but not lacking in details. So it very clearly shows its historical context. Most people wear traditional clothing, but there is the occasional western suit.
Posted by: Mauser at
05:10 PM
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