The Kingdom of Biscotti

It’s no secret by now that I love shows that deal, with well, love.  Welcome to Otome Yokai Zakuro.

Initially I had this show pegged as a shoujo.  After doing my research on the manga, I was very surprises to find that it is published in a seinen magazine.  A seinen that deals with romance is A-OKAY by me.

For those of you unfamiliar with Otome Yokai Zakuro, it follows an alternate timeline set in the Meiji era, where half-spirits team up with human soldiers to keep the relations of humans and spirits/demons at peace.  Kind of like an old school Ghostbusters-type thing.  It also has loads of character fore-shadowing, and I’m sensing character development everywhere.  This is not your mindless harem show.  Due to my love of Rurouni Kenshin, this show had me sold at the mention of Meiji era, which was a time of rebuilding after the Bakumatsu.

Yes.

What I distinctly like about the show is that the main character, Agemaki is a complete wuss.  He is deathly afraid of any type of spirit, to the point of immobilization due to this phobia.  This is refreshing, because as I’ve said before, it is usually the male MC that gets to be the badass, and/or cool.  Here, Zakuro, always ends up looking after him.  It’s a nice twist not often seen in the romance genre.  Granted, Agemaki can put his fears aside and do something, but it appears that it has to be a life or death situation before survival mode can kick in.  His phobia is also used for comedic relief, and it fits quite well.  As for the stong silent cool type, that role goes to one of the side characters, but even then, when it comes to exterminations and exorcisms, the four main females take the reigns, another nice thing about this show.

Yes.

Another plus is the soundtrack.  Normally I do not pay attention to soundtracks, this one gets an exception.  The soundtrack is a nice modern orchestral-type deal, and very well recorded.  However, it is the the chants here that are godly, and fit well with the historical time period.  They have that “oldies” hint to them, if you will, and are very melodic.  I especially like the exorcism chant.  I will be looking forward to this soundtrack hitting the market, because I’ll import it.  Until then, I’ll deal with the shitty Youtube rips.

Under a blue sky in full spring glory
Maidens will bloom
Armed with impervious chastity
Prepare to be bewitched
Am I a flower?
A Butterfly?  An Ogre?
Misery in the world
Is violence the answer?
A dash of Rouge
Turns to blade in hand.
Do praise my efforts
Hey! Bravo Bravo Bravo

I love this chant.  Listen to it here

DAT DRILL HAIR

This is one show that is merely two episodes in, but all ready looks good to me.  I’ll definitely be following this show!

Until then, Prepare to be Bewitched.