Happy Mothers Day, everyone. I’m not normally one to make holiday themed posts because most of the time by the time I remember there’s a holiday it’s the day of and there’s not much time to put anything together. For some reason, though, I’ve had this on my mind for a while and wanted to put it into writing, even if it’s a little late. I thought it might be fun to look over my last year or so of anime viewing and pick out one of my favorite mother (or mothering-type) characters.
I know a lot of blogs and news outlets like to do top-ten lists in these cases, but the fact is that anime mothers who actually have significant story-important roles in anime aren’t that common so most of those lists tend to be very similar. My arbitrary criteria for my post was to pick out a mother who was active, important, and/or memorable in some way within a series I watched that was broadcast somewhere within the past year (loosely – since this is the first one I’m reaching back a little bit further). I’m sure there are other candidates out there from series that I’m not so familiar with, so if you have someone in mind feel free to let me know in the comments.
Anime, like many other storytelling media, tends to have a “mother” problem. Meaning that so much anime focuses on the activities and adventures of children and teenagers that a parent’s presence could be seen as stifling to their ability to get into “interesting” trouble. What decent, responsible parent would willingly allow their child go places and do things that have the potential to put them in mortal danger? Sure, there are examples in anime of parents who laugh in the face of such concerns and are more than willing to allow their children out into the world (basically every incarnation of Pokémon ever), or accept that their children are in a situation where they’ll be growing up quickly and taking on adult responsibilities (Bodacious Space Pirates, absolutely), but those are less common. Coming from a more realistic perspective and looking more at anime series that are at least somewhat based around realistic social norms, if you want to have some fun it’s just easier to leave parents out of the equation (or create some plot-related circumstance where they’re conveniently unavailable). Since mothers are generally thought to be the more “present” parent in Japanese households, what with social norms and gender expectations being what they are even today, when the story requires a lack of parental oversight it’s usually mom who suffers some ill fate (and maybe dad who becomes a buffoon or is otherwise ineffectual). Anime is full of dead-moms-as-motivation (though in some cases, like Erased, Satoru’s murdered mother is still present in some form due to timeline realities); it’s rarer for mom to be active and involved in Important Story Activities™.
That’s just one reason why The Eccentric Family is so distinctive. Its title immediately betrays the fact that, despite its fantastical, magical setting, the story is focused on family – specifically one particular family of tanuki in Kyoto. While the original season of the show had its debut almost five years ago (which pained me to find out – time flies in anime fandom!), its sequel season appeared last Spring, providing us with a second window into the life of the Shimogamo tanuki clan. While most of the series follows the adventures of the four Shimogamo brothers and primarily the third brother, Yasaburo, their mother, Tousen, is an active participant and the glue the holds the family together, especially after the death of the brothers’ father prior to the show’s start.
What I love about Tousen is that she’s a multi-faceted, funny, and supportive character with a lot of inner strength. Our early introduction to her in season one paints her as quite the flamboyant person; the tanuki pride themselves on their ability to transform from their furry raccoon-like bodies into almost anything else, including the human forms they often take. Tousen sometimes chooses to become a princely-looking pool-shark out of The Rose of Versailles or Takarazuka play when not in her more standard housewife getup. It’s a great expression of her inherent nature as a trickster, something incredibly important to most respectable tanuki individuals. It also provides a funny contrast to her major weakness; Tousen is scared of lightning and can’t maintain her transformations when she’s startled (a quirk of many tanuki).
I recognize and admire the way in which Tousen displays inner strength, although it takes familiarity with the backstory of the series and some of the relationships to be able to fully appreciate that aspect of her character. Having lost her husband to death-by-hot-pot (which, true to the tone of the show, is both ridiculous and tragic), Tousen does the heavy emotional labor of ensuring the stability of her immediate family, and helping her sons, directly or indirectly, manage the aftermath of the event. She’s obviously still heavily involved in the upbringing of her youngest son, Yashiro, but as the mother of four she still has a hand in all of her sons’ lives even though three of the four have physically left the nest (or the den, I suppose).
With all of the supernatural and magical occurrences throughout the series, it can be easy to miss the very down-to-earth family concerns that form the backbone of the character interactions, but each Shimogamo son has his own issues that Tousen has her hand in mediating. Yashiro, the youngest, is sensitive and deals with being bullied by his cousins. Yaichiro, the oldest and most serious, is gunning for the seat of Trick Magister (elected leader of the tanuki clans). Yajiro, the second son, deals with guilt, depression, and PTSD stemming from the night of his father’s death, and thus is stuck in the form of a frog. And Yasaburo is the put-upon third son, stuck in the middle trying to keep various powerful factions balanced and himself from becoming a hot-pot dinner, all while goofing-off to the max. On the surface, all of these are obstacles for the affected characters to overcome on their own, but as with many women in her same position, Tousen has taken it upon herself (voluntarily or not) to help her family address these challenges by offering advice, guidance, and unconditional love. Their challenges are, in turn, her challenges. The cherry on top is that she somehow also manages to maintain some sort of relationship with the Ebisugawa clan (Soun Ebisugawa was responsible for her husband’s death, after all, so it would be less surprising if she wanted nothing to do with them) through Kaisei, Yasaburo’s on-again-off-again possible marriage partner.
I have some ambivalent feelings over the fact that so much of Tousen’s character comes out through reading-between-the-lines, her interactions with other people, and her background presence in the stories of her offspring, though in a way that particular issue feels almost appropriate (possibly more appropriate than was intentional by the creators). Tousen is in the position of that I think so many parents, especially mothers, are forced to occupy. Despite having her own sense of self and inner life, her persona is inextricably connected with the children she’s raised and is sometimes overshadowed in favor of celebrating their more obvious adventures and accomplishments. Motherhood is so often exalted, but less examined in a realistic way or allowed to hold the primary focus in a narrative.
Aside from one example I happened to find while poking around the internet, most discussion of the anime is focused around characters like Benten, the Friday Fellows, Nidaime, Yasaburo, and other characters who viewers would typically consider more “interesting” – people getting into trouble (or causing it), and those who wield literal and figurative power. There’s less glory for or even discussion about characters who only fit into support roles or feel like someone one might actually meet in reality, though the “Tousens” of the world are the unsung diplomatic heroes who ensure that conflicts get resolved, that people know that they’re cared-for, and who show support to their loved ones – all essential acts of kindness that probably ought to be glorified more than they are.
I’d like to close this off by describing one of my favorite scenes from the anime. In the third episode of season two, Tousen and Yasaburo visit Tousen’s mother, a grand matriarch of their tanuki family, in order to seek help for Yajiro, who is still unable to transform out of his amphibious form. Grandma has knowledge of a medicine that might help him learn to control his abilities again. Though they easily obtain the object they’re there to get, what follows is delightful banter between an old mother and a younger one. Grandma is so aged that it takes her some effort to remember who is who, including her own daughter, but the love between the two is so clear even if the details are hazy. I love the juxtaposition of the many tanuki sitting around the forest clearing, chanting sutras as if worshiping the elderly woman on her pedestal, with the two family members joking with each-other playfully. With Tousen enveloped in the sunlight with her mother, there’s a sense that she’s carrying on a very grand tradition of mothers in the tanuki culture.
Thank you for reading, and I hope I’ve whet your appetite for The Eccentric Family! Go check it out on Crunchyroll if you have the time (and don’t miss the second season if you enjoyed the first!).
Who were your favorite anime moms from recent (or maybe not-so-recent) anime history? Please let me know in the comments. Or just show some love for Tousen Shimogamo if you have some to share!