I enjoyed it. It's goofy and hammy, but the cast are experienced enough to make it work. (Except in the psychic communication where everyone squints and pulls faces.)
Mio Meguro (Fuka Koshiba) might be the most adorable girl in Japan, but she's also a bit of a loser. Debt collectors are chasing her because she's been giving money to her leech boyfriend who can't be bothered to be nice when both his girlfriends are visiting. She'd thought they were going to get married, but now she doesn't even have anywhere to live. Where will she end up? Answer: with yokai. These are:
1. OIWA (Marika Matsumoto) = from Yotsuya Kaidan, the most famous Japanese ghost story of all. Is Oiwa really a yokai? Well, she's supernatural, she was disfigured by poison and she murdered her husband. This version has mellowed, becoming basically a cool big sister figure for Mio.
2. SHUTEN-DOUJI (Katsuya Maiguma) = a mythical oni so tough that even after being decapitated by the hero Minamoto no Raikou, he tried to bite him anyway.
3. NURARIHYON (Koji Oukura) = sometimes said to be the "supreme commander of yokai" and the arch-enemy of Gegege no Kitarou. He's my favourite of this show's yokai, because the actor makes him dodgy and funny.
4. ZASHIKI-WARASHI (Nobue Iketani) = mischievous child spirits that bring good luck. This one's played by an actress who's about fifty and looks older. Her cooking contains things most people wouldn't eat, but tastes good anyway.
They're lovable. They support Mio and they're always jolly. What's more, they have friends, so the show becomes a parade of ghosts and yokai. Okiku of the broken plates from Banchou Sarayashiki, for instance. Yup, she appears. If you can identify everyone here without googling, you're doing pretty well. I'd never heard of Amabie, while Yama-uba/Yamanba being a ganguro gyaru is clever Japanese wordplay. (Plus, of course, a wild style choice.) The show knows its mythology, e.g. Nurarihyon neither confirming nor denying his academically disputed "commander of all yokai" title.
SEASON ONE (eight 40-minute episodes) = I enjoyed a lot. The season's first half has a lurid selection of scumbags who deserve everything the yokai will do to them. Those guys can be shocking. These are the show's best episodes. The show then returns to Mio's boyfriend issues, which is okay and leads to a season finale with a message I enjoyed a lot. (The season's been intermittently looking at Mio's boyfriend problems, but it's been directly and consistently about her relationship with yokai. She starts transforming. She grows horns.)
SEASON TWO (eight 23-minute episodes, plus a double-length ninth episode to open the season) = it's weaker than Season 1. Baddies will be yokai who weren't bad originally but got led astray. There's only one truly horrible figure and he's not ultimately an antagonist. Furthermore, the diminished running time means split episodes as two-parters and a less substantial piece of work.
There's still good stuff in Season 2 as well, though. The episode 10-11 storyline is weird, with tooth-colouring like a mouth full of smarties and the Ohaguro Happy Ending. Also, episode 14 gives Mio a doppelganger, which is interesting when Fuka Koshiba uses her ability to be super-cute in the service of a villainous character.
The show sometimes discusses modern things. Plastic surgery, social media "likes", AI, cancel culture, etc. It's fun. I enjoyed it. It has an entertaining cast who aren't just pretty young things. It's a bit cartoonish, but that's okay given the subject matter and I love yokai stories.
