Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo is definitely one of those “you either get it or you don’t” sort of anime. It’s not for everybody by any stretch. That would be true even if it weren’t for Kozuki Yuria’s offbeat performance as Kujima, which has been exactly as divisive as I expected. I think it’s kind of brilliant actually, but I can easily see why someone (like Suguru) might find it annoying. I just totally vibe with the overall chill but weird vibe of this show, which is very much an “only in animanga” sort of thing.

“Vibe” is a word I use often with “that niche” series generally, and even more specifically ones like this. You really have to lie back and float where the current takes you. You can’t try and apply logic at every turn. And you can’t expect traditional narrative structure. That’s especially true with an episode like this one, which is kind of a “day in the life of a weird Russian bird in the inaka”. Arata heads off to school and wonders what Kujima does all day. By way of answer, they wake up at five A.M. and go off to scream (warble) at the sky (something territorial, maybe). They cook (badly at times) Japanese food. They do kanji drills and study Japanese proverbs, set to a soundtrack of inane Japanese daytime TV (and inane it is).

Most importantly, perhaps, they annoy Suguru. It seems pretty clear that Kujima is going to be the irritant to Suguru’s oyster but for now, it’s just irritant. There’s also the matter of the neighbors, including Mitsuki-san (the old guy whose bamboo Kujima poached for their soba slide). When they’re spotted sleeping with the ducks, one lady assumes they’re a plushie. But there are rumors of a ghost in the neighborhood, and given Kujima’s appearance and habits, it seems pretty hard to conclude this is anyone but them.

This is a problem. Maxim, Kujima’s Russian stepfather, has warned them that if they’re discovered it could call attention to their flock. But how to explain a 180 cm bird(ish) thing walking around the neighborhood? Arata argues that it’s too sad for Kujima to be cooped up in the house all day. He proposes that Kujima can pass themselves off as someone in a costume (though he doesn’t offer any logical reason for why). If they greet people properly and explain themselves properly, why not?

Also providing much amusement are Kujima’s efforts to come to terms with Japanese proverbs, which Suguru deploys on them like WMD’s. Their miserable attempt at yakisoba elicits several (“a crow imitating a cormorant“, for example). The ghost thing takes a turn when Kujima is surprised by… something in the river while they’re engaged in their morning warble. As a result there’s a run-in with Mitsuki-san which proves rather terrifying for the latter. Kujima makes this worse by panicking and offering their initial explanations in Russian. In the end the Kouda clan has to go to Mitsuki’s house to apologize and explain the truth, trusting in him to keep the secret.

Just what or who was that woman – or kappa, or ghost – that Kujima saw in the river? One of the benefits of your MacGuffin being an impossible creature is that anything is possible with that sort of question. Maybe this neighborhood is full of impossible creatures, or maybe they’re youkai. Or maybe she’s just a weirdo who likes submerging herself in a frigid river. I don’t expect anything too serious to develop, as Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo is surely a slice-of-life before it’s anything else.