For a show that has as many superficially formulaic elements as Youkai Apato, it certainly tends to do things in a very unorthodox manner. It’s a good lesson that familiar doesn’t always mean predictable, because this series is definitely full of the former but very rarely the latter. The case of Yamamoto Konatsu has very much fit underneath that umbrella – she’s a character type we’ve certainly seen plenty of, but the way her character arc has progressed has been anything but predictable.
Generally speaking with anime such as Youkai Apato, when supporting characters like Yamamoto are introduced they tend to fill a leading role for a couple episodes, drive the plot in a certain direction, then slip into the background (or disappear altogether) once their thread has been unraveled. But Yamamoto has never really had her “own” arc to begin with – she’s flared up into prominence for short stretches her and there, but she’s never been the A-plot in any given ep. That also means that her story continues to be unresolved – hanging over things like an uncomfortable silence.
For now, that looks like it’s going to continue into next week – while this episode teased the idea that we were finally going to confront the Yamamoto story head-on, that was hijacked in the B-part. Yuushi, naturally, isn’t the type to let sleeping dogs lie – he wants to help. Yashiro with her endless variety of sources has dug up some background info on Yamamoto, namely that she dropped out of an elite girls school after being shunned (gee, I wonder why) by the students, and that she was a sickly child with an older sister who was a model student and highly successful. I like the fact that this reminds Yuushi of his own frustrations with being a step-child – I’d love to see the family side of his story explored more deeply. That Yamamoto ends up being driven by exactly the sort of issues Yuushi and Yashiro surmise I’m less thrilled about – that is predictable. I think it’d have been more interesting if Yuushi had jumped to incorrect assumptions about Yamamoto, just as Aoki-sensei had about him.
Speaking of Aoki-sensei, she can’t help but try to intercede when Yuushi goes to Chiaki for advice – fortunately Chiaki is far cleverer than she and manages to extricate the two of them from her confining presence. Something is clearly going on with Chiaki – the paleness, the prescription – I’d wondered if maybe he was a youkai himself, but it’s starting to look otherwise. Whatever his deal is, Chiaki is a pretty resourceful sensei – he’s done stuff like befriending the banchou in order to head off problems – and he doesn’t bullshit Yuushi when he comes to him for advice about Yamamoto. I hate to say it but he’s pretty much right – if Yamamoto is going to get better, she has to drive that truck herself. All people like Yuushi can do is hop on and offer directions.
In the end, though, we (again) go off in another direction and leave the Yamamoto plot behind. Hase-kun’s constant mentions of his overseas trips prompt Yuushi to note how sheltered he is – he’s never left Japan. That leads to offers from Hase and Furuhonya-san to take Yuushi on a trip, and that seems to be where we’re headed – though whether it’s going to be a bit of literal traveling or something more magically-aided remains to be seen.
