Otome Yokai Zakuro is a late 1800’s-to-turn of the century series that explores the synergy of the then-modern army and the Japanese spirit world in the creation of the Department of Spirit Affairs. A handful of soldiers are assigned to work with a group of half-spirits under the tuttelage of two full spirits. The half-spirits are female, the soldiers, male, and with the social ostrechization that the half-spirits face, you’ve got all the elements of this series on your plate.
Early on the plots are better, and the series peters out towards the end. Still, the character interplay and the romance keeps things watchable, especially since the romance isn’t easy for any of the characters. There are no great themes here, unfortunately, but trash is virtually nonexistent. A few episodes are interesting and show the direction the series could have taken towards greatness, but it somehow, never really caught fire. Too bad. Anyhow, Otome Yokai Zakuro is alright; it might be worth watching, but it’ll never be translated. Here’s the OO short guide.
1 – Good, although kinda stereotypical. Still, it’s pure-hearted, innocent fun with a dash of the bizarre and disturbing.
2 – Just ok. Nothing objectionable, but the plot is just weak and the whole spiritism is overmuch.
* 3 – Very good. There’s a bit of sickness towards the middle-end that’s a bit much, but there’s no gore. Character development.
* 4 – Another good one. Touching. Character development.
5 – Ok
6- Just ok. A slower-paced one. Some things don’t make sense.
7 – Ok. Mostly standalone.
8 – Half and half. It starts out low-key and gets better as it goes; the ending is eerie and interesting.
9 – Ok
* 10 – Good, the ending is a cliffhanger. Gets weird and a little freaky.
11 – Mostly a connecting episode. The actual plot is classic but lame. Things are getting sewn up.
12 – Cheesy! What happened, folks? The plot threads come together, but at maximum cheese factor.
13 – It ends ok; everything is tied up, but it’s just too cheesy in places. The final two minutes are well-done, though.
A few FS groups did this series, but ReinWeiss did the best job (towards the end, I think Underwater did a few episodes). It’s too bad that ReinWeiss doesn’t have a blog, as ordinarily I’d link them. Anyhow, grab the series while you can from the torrent hole of your choice.
Oduza, Okasa 