Director: Junji Nishimura
Starring: Jun Fukuyama, Grant George, Aya Hirano, Mela Lee, Ai Maeda, Michelle Ruff, Yui Horie, Cassandra Lee Morris,
Running Time: 325 minutes
Certificate: 15
Nura is a young boy who is three quarters human and 1 quarter demon. Given certain, usually stressful, circumstances his demon side is unleashed. Fortunately he lives in a house full of demons who are all part of the Yokai Clan. Nura is expected to one day succeed his grandfather as head of the Yokai clan, but Nura isn’t exactly sure that’s what he wants.
NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN has a wonderful main character for us to follow, as he is completely devoid of any ambition in terms of becoming a hero, at first. He isn’t exactly a Luke Skywalker or Harry Potter, who embrace their powerful sides and go into strict training regimes. Nura wants to be a normal human being, which makes him all the more endearing. This is in contrast to his complicated home life which involves him having to live with dozens upon dozens of demons.
The demons themselves are beautifully and imaginatively designed in a number of different styles. In many ways it reminded me of the bath house in SPIRITED AWAY. The characters range from looking relatively human, to looking like mutated animals. This variety gives us a number of colourful settings which our eyes can’t help but explore. Even the human characters are given rich colour palettes in order to contend with their bolder spiritual co-stars.
As the story progresses, Nura comes into conflict with fellow demons and humans, who are out to usurp his planned future position, or destroy his kind altogether. The best moments come from the interactions between Nura and three, very different, high school girls. There’s the human girl who is always in the wrong place at the wrong time and has feelings for Nura, a demon girl who is meant to protect Nura at all times, and an Onmyoji whose job it is to hunt down and kill Yokai. The show balances these interactions well and often uses similar scenarios to different effect. One episode may have Nura trying to hide fellow Yokai as an intense moment of suspense, whereas another episode may play it out as farcical comedy. The same can be said for the Yokai themselves, as some are terrifying and villainous, whereas others are cute and cuddly.
This mix can leave the show feeling a bit uneven at times, and the character arc of Nura is a very predictable one. Battle scenes are handled with confidence and ingenuity, with a number of different powers on display, but once again the show also offers quieter, contemplative moments. Seeing Nura’s grandfather on a swing in an abandoned play area at dusk is a very haunting and memorable image. NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN may raise the bar in terms of high school based, supernatural warrior shows in the future, or it may settle on being more of a generic show come later episodes. Only time will tell.
NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN is released on DVD on 8th April courtesy of Manga Entertainment.
