Welcome to Anime of The Week #41. Do you like fight scenes? Do you like Chinese mythology? Do you like comedy? Then this anime is for you! The anime is Etotama.
April 9, 2015 – June 25, 2015 (Spring 2015)
When Takeru Amato moved into his new apartment in Akihabara, he was warned that there was one problem with it. He wasn’t warned, however, that the problem was a hole in the floor that leads to the realm of the zodiac gods. He also wasn’t told about Nyaa-tan, the eccentric, immature, prospective zodiac-sign cat.
Nyaa-tan would like nothing more than to join the rest of the girls, otherwise known as Eto-shin, in the Chineze zodiac, but she’s going to have to fight to work her way in. Fortunately, establishing a relationship with Takeru can help her with that. In Etotama the members of the zodiac don’t just represent people’s births; they draw their power from positive human emotions in the form of energy called Sol/Lull. With this power, the Eto-musume, or potential Eto-shin, can change from their mostly humanoid appearances into smaller “pretty modes” that can battle with each other in the Eto world.
Nyaa-tan needs to get Takeru to warm up to her fast, and not just because they’re living together. The ETM12 selection festival to determine the next member of the zodiac is coming soon. With Takeru’s good graces, Nyaa-tan just might be able to fight off the other Eto-musume and the 12 Eto-shin themselves, and finally take her place in the zodiac.
For those who don’t know, I’m a sucker for mythology. I’m always interested in different interpretations of the same story, or having a unique twist. With Etotama, I figured that the main protagonist, Nyaa-tan, was a fitting choice as she’s supposed to be the underdog, fighting the other 12 Zodiacs to prove her worth as a Zodiac herself.
The animation isn’t anything to write home about, but it gets the job done. Though one thing I wouldn’t say “bad” per se, but rather odd, was when the fight scenes occur, they usually do it in an arena that takes place in 3D. Like I said, not bad, just something I find odd. Thankfully I got used to it.
Aside from the fight scenes, the anime obviously has that slice-of-life feel to it while throwing in some comedy. This is shown with two girls, one who represents the Boar/Pig and one who represents the Dog, are like a comedy duo. Not sure if the girl who represents the Monkey is also a part of it, as it’s been a while.
The soundtrack is alright, just like the animation. Again, nothing to write home about. It does its job when it comes to slice-of-life, heartwarming moments, fight scenes, etc.
Finally, the characters. The real highlight of the show are the Zodiacs, as each one is different from each other. They all live with this boy who lives by himself because they don’t have anywhere else to go. Though if I recall, they don’t really go too deep into it. I was a bit worried they would go for an Ecchi route, but thankfully it didn’t happen with him, as he seems to be the only sane man amongst the group. As for the Zodiacs, they range from the Snake being nonchalant most of the time, the Tiger being more aggressive Zodiac, and the Ox/Cow is really energetic and has a thing for the Cat. I’d say out of all of them, my favorite would have to be the Ox and the Snake, because I think that they have some pretty funny jokes.
Overall, Etotama is an anime that’s worth watching if you’re looking for something that can give you a few laughs, sprinkled in with some fight scenes here and there.
1 Season ~ 12 Episodes
Trailer:
Thanks for reading, see you on the next anime of the week! 🙂
