Oni: Thunder God’s Tale
Series Directed by Daisuke ‘Dice’ Tsutsumi
Series Writing Credits Bradley Furnish & Mari Okada & Daisuke ‘Dice’ Tsutsumi
Series Cast
Craig Robinson
Anna Akana
George Takei
Tantoo Cardinal
Momona Tamada
Brittany Ishibashi
Charlet Takahashi Chung
Archie Yates
Seth Carr
Miyuki Sawashiro
Yuki Matsuzaki
Series Produced by Sara K. Sampson
Production Company Tonko House
Oni is a short animated series based in Japanese folklore. A young girl, Onari (Momona Tamada) lives in a village of Yokai, magical creatures. The village is preparing for a once-in-a-century phenomenon, the “Demon Moon” during which the evil Oni attack the village, killing most of the residents and destroying the village. The children of the village are developing their special, unique powers that might help to fight off the threat. Only Onari has shown no sign of any special elements. Will she blossom before the attack? Without help, the village seems doomed.
If that sounds pretty formulaic, well, first impressions can be misleading. I fired up the first episode, expecting it to be a five-minute miracle. In other words, a show I watch for five minutes before concluding it’s irredeemable rubbish and tuning out. The Y-7 ratings suggested that there might be little of interest for adults here.
But by five minutes in, I was aware of the incredible artwork that went into the settings for the show. Photo-realistic and yet utterly fantastical, it was worthy of Hayao Miyazaki – Princess Mononoke, for instance. Similarly, the characters were equally arresting. Three-dimensional and many seemingly made from fuzzy cloth, I took it to be stop-motion at first. The ‘kids’ were a pretty weird assortment. The two headed ogre was mundane enough, as was the bird-girl who looked like a 16th century Geisha. But the green turtle kid, Kappa, with the pool of water with a duck in it on for his head, as PART of his head, was arresting. (Think of the fellow with the goldfish bowl with goldfish in Umbrella Academy. Yeah, sort of like that.) Kappa has an unfortunate habit of bowing to people, the water would spill out, and he would lose consciousness until someone poured more water in. Seems a rather hazardous lifestyle.) Some of the kids were vegetables, tubers in particular. Their powers weren’t particularly clear; planting their feet, maybe? One kid was an umbrella with eyes. Her name was Ann Brella. Onari was the most normal-looking one, a humanoid child, 10 or 11, perhaps, with two small horns and a head of frizzy black hair that in all likelihood involved two hours brushing a day, combined with shrieks and wails.
Their teacher, Sensei Tengu, is visually arresting: a sort of Rasputin with wings. George Takei goes over the top with voicing this character, obviously delighted with the role and the authentically Japanese sense of the storyline.
All the kids have developing powers—except Onari. The powers are hereditary, but her father, Naridon, doesn’t seem to have any powers. While a loving and devoted father, he is non verbal, and at ten feet tall and with a plushy red pelt and five-foot wide Afro, he seems a simple-minded soul interested only in gamboling in the local meadows and forests and playing with the morinoko (forest spirit lights) and caring for his daughter. His talents seem limited to emitting large amounts of gas at both ends.
This four-part Japanese animated series takes a refreshing and unique take on the genre of kids’ animation. Anime eyes are entirely absent. Three of the central characters have beads for eyes. Some have no other facial features. Body language is paramount, and brilliantly executed.
But by far the strongest characteristics of the program are the depth and feeling that went into the characters, and the surprisingly sophisticated plotline that has some totally unexpected twists and turns. The story retains a very real Japanese flavor and remains true to some of Japan’s most beloved mythology. Combined with the luscious art and the amazing CGI, it is easily the best children’s series this year. And it’s well worth the time of any adult to watch, as well.
Now on Netflix.