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On a substantial level, Reiwa no Dara-san is a story about revenge, or rather what comes after getting it, but while other shows like Vinland Saga explore the self destructive nature and empty feeling of void that’s left afterwards, this anime instead focuses on the calm and change of attitude of a supernatural entity that achieved it, how she mellowed down after habitating through many eras of peace compared to the era of war, conflict and supernatural exorcisms which she lived and died in, and changed from an entity filled with rage and rancor to one that protects the villagers nearby her from other supernatural beings.
I wasn’t initially interested in this anime whatsoever but an acquaintance on Discord told me that it’s Billy & Mandy in anime so I checked it out of curiosity and I can kinda understand the comparison, as in present time that entity hangs around with two kids that aren’t the tiniest bit scared of her.
In that sense it’s also about the change of eras in the sense that people aren’t that serious now as in past times, and that supernatural creatures and urban legends aren’t seen in the same manner, they are no longer seen as necessarily scary, but rather cool or interesting or even sexy, as the little boy from the pair of siblings that the main character spends time with is turned on by her despite her being a big ass four armed lamia monster with a Kuchisake Onna-like mouth and shark teeth and snake-like eyes.
It could easily be dismissed as yet another Japanese legend being desecrated by manganime media and the Internet, but in the context of the series is a weird way of showing such a creature being accepted instead of rejected and evaded out of fear.
There’s a whole transition over time and through flashbacks of the protagonist being feared, later on respected, and in present time cherished.
In a way I guess it’s also about seeing people for what’s inside of them instead of their outside. In her era, people united to kill her just for believing a web of lies, and was considered the lesser and inferior twin for being ugly, whereas in present time the other two mains accept her and like her, especially the kinda horny younger brother, so I guess it’s also about beauty standards changing over time as well.
And it’s not like the connection between the three mains is random, as the anime builds up through flashbacks the backstory of how the families of the two human mains and others also spiritually charged that are somewhat close to them came to be and form in the first place.
If you see the anime that way, the apparent disconnection between the two time periods is not as such as they connect in a way that makes sense thematically, but the same cannot be said tonally. The backstory is filled with envy, rancor, jealousy, backstabbing, betrayals, anger, rage, revenge, tragic love stories, death, murder, even attempted rape or well the proposition of one, whole villages accepting their women to breed the descendants of one monk, that’s how the clans came to be, straight feudal demonic horror, while the present is all about a goofy comedy with lots of times otaku interests, and even the snake spirit of the protagonist drains spiritual energy in the contemporary Japan, but in a comical way, it turns into a comedy horror type of show.
The two tones clash a lot with each other making you feel like you are watching two completely different series, but at least at times the disparity is sometimes used as a punchline. All this horrible stuff that happened way back in the past, all these warm moments of connection between the protagonist and the mother of the other two mains back when she was a teenager, to end up with this braindead stuff and characters in the present.
Narratively the two stories are disconnected as well, as that’s the weakest aspect of the anime, it randomly transitions between the present and the past and initially with an omniscient narrator instead of letting the scenes speak for themselves. I appreciate that there’s actually a story in an anime that did not seem like it would have one at all, but the way it’s told is not the most competent nor engaging, the mood whiplash can be too much at times. They do connect at the conclusion though not in the best way, more like a rushed final showdown followed by the end of the backstory and more wholesome present time scenes.
Production wise there isn’t much to talk about here. I appreciate the difference in aesthetics between the dark and gloomy looking and serious and low volume sounding past, and the high-pitched, silly acted and bright looking and heavily illuminated present. The artwork is solid with no quality drops and there’s the surprising aspect of the titular character initially and occasionally having her huge bazookas up front with even uncensored big aureolas and inverted #freed nipples all displayed on screen and even more surprisingly in a natural and not erotic nor comical way, but other than that nothing about the character designs, backgrounds, motions or special effects are particularly worth of mention. Opening and ending are comical or wholesome whatever and the music and sound effects do their job just fine.
So, my dear reader, I ask of you, do you like huge tits with big aureolas and inverted #freed nipples on screen?
Yes
Watch the anime
No
Maybe pass on the anime.
Do you mind that they are part of a huge tall half snake, cut mouth, shark teeth, snake eyes woman?
Yes
Maybe pass on the anime
NoWatch the anime
Do you also want to see that in the anime equivalent to Billy & Mandy?
Yes
Watch the anime
No
Maybe try to tolerate half of the anime so you can watch the other half
Do you mind if it comes with a classic feudal horror and tragic romance drama as a backstory?
Yes
This anime is clearly for you
No
I’m surprised you’re still here. Thanks for reading all of this
Recommended stuff
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy for the comedy and present part
The InuYasha franchise for the drama and backstory part, particularly the third movie, as it is also about a tragic love story result of jealousy, unrequited love and a human fusing with a demon.
5/10
