The Eccentric Family

Yasaburō Shimogamo (下鴨 矢三郎, Shimogamo Yasaburō)

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai[1]

The main character and the third Shimogamo son. He is the most carefree among his siblings with a talent for getting himself in trouble.

Yaichirō Shimogamo (下鴨 矢一郎, Shimogamo Yaichirō)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe[1]

The first Shimogamo son. He aims to be Nise-emon (偽右衛門, the Trick Magister), the leader of the tanuki society, like his father once was.

Yajirō Shimogamo (下鴨 矢二郎, Shimogamo Yajirō)

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino[1]

The second Shimogamo son. He transformed himself into a frog for so long that he forgot how to turn back. He now lives in a pond inside a well where he provides advice to others.

Yashirō Shimogamo (下鴨 矢四郎, Shimogamo Yashirō)

Voiced by: Mai Nakahara[1]

The fourth Shimogamo son. He is shy and his tail or ears often pop out when he is frightened. He works at the Electric Wine Factory with Kinkaku and Ginkaku.

Tōsen Shimogamo (下鴨 桃仙, Shimogamo Tōsen)

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue[1]

The matriarch of the Shimogamo family. She is very protective of her children and does her best to make up for the loss of their father, to the point of usually dressing as a male when not working. Whenever there is a lightning storm, she loses her ability to transform, due to severe astrapophobia.

Sōichirō Shimogamo (下鴨 総一郎, Shimogamo Sōichirō)

Voiced by: Bon Ishihara[2]

The late father of the Shimogamo brothers and the former leader of all of tanuki in Kyoto called Nise-emon. He was eaten by the Friday Fellows years before the story's beginning after falling into a trap set by Benten.

Sōun Ebisugawa (夷川 早雲, Ebisugawa Sōun)

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita[3]

Sōichirō's younger brother and uncle of the Shimogamo brothers. He severed relations with the Shimogamo family following Sōichirō's death and aims to replace him as the Nise-emon. Later it is revealed that Sōun was always envious of his brother, as he fell in love with Yasaburō's mother before she married Sōichirō and lost the election for Nise-emon to him. These events led to him betraying Sōichirō by helping Benten capture Sōichirō, leading to Sōichirō's death. His former name was Sōjirō Shimogamo (下鴨 総二郎).

Kinkaku (金閣) and Ginkaku (銀閣)

Voiced by: Shūya Nishiji (Kinkaku), Kosuke Hatakeyama (Ginkaku)[3]

Sōun's twin sons and cousins of the Shimogamo brothers. They like to bully Yashirō and look down on the Shimogamo family. Their real names are Kurejirō (呉二郎) and Kuresaburō (呉三郎).

Kaisei Ebisugawa (夷川 海星, Ebisugawa Kaisei)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura[2]

Sōun's daughter and Yasaburō's cousin. Kaisei and Yasaburo's fathers had originally planned for them to marry, but the marriage agreement was called off by Sōun after Sōichirō's death. Later it is revealed that Yajirō also had feelings for her. Kaisei hates Benten for being involved in Soun's plan to dispose of her uncle. She also refrains from appearing to Yasaburō in her true form, because it somehow undoes his transformation, a fact she hides from him until her father's death.

Kureichirō Ebisugawa (夷川 呉一郎, Ebisugawa Kureichirō)

Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura[4][5]

Sōun's eldest son and the older brother of Kinkaku and Ginkaku. After his father's death, he approaches the Shimogamos and make peace with them.

Benten (弁天)

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto[6]

A young, beautiful, and capricious human woman apparently allied with a dangerous group of humans, the Friday Fellows. She was kidnapped as a child and kept as a ward by Professor Akadama and occupies a unique role in the story as a link between the three worlds of human, tanuki and tengu. Akadama raised her as tengu and taught her tengu magic, giving her powerful magical artifacts that she uses for her own motives. After reaching adulthood, she seemingly spurns Akadama and returns to the human world. Her behavior is driven solely by her own mysterious motivations, and she is used as a pawn as much as she manipulates others. She maintains a relationship with the rebellious younger Yasaburō, who both respects and fears her. Despite seeming to be heartless, she has a lonely and sad side that only a few are privy to, such as Yasaburō and his brother Yajirō. Her real name is Satomi Suzuki (鈴木 聡美, Suzuki Satomi).

Professor Akadama (赤玉先生, Akadama-sensei)

Voiced by: Hideyuki Umezu[2]

An old tengu and the teacher of the Shimogamo brothers. The brothers check up on him from time to time and take care of him, cleaning up his messy apartment and bringing him supplies and liquor. He injured his back in an accident, rendering walking difficult and flying impossible. He spends his days in seclusion and rarely leaves his apartment. He kidnapped Benten when she was younger and raised her, teaching her tengu magic and giving her his most valued treasures. After she grew to womanhood, she chose to leave Akadama's side to follow her own goals. Despite that, Akadama still cares for her and always feels himself lonely when she is not around. His real name is Yakushibō Nyoigatake (如意ヶ嶽 薬師坊, Nyoigatake Yakushibou)

Nidaime (二代目, lit. Junior)

Voiced by: Junji Majima[4][5]

Professor Akadama's estranged son who returns to Kyoto in the second season. He dresses and behaves as an English gentleman and has a sort of feud with Benten.

Tenmaya (天満屋)

Voiced by: Bin Shimada[4][5]

A mysterious man with the power of casting illusions who somehow escaped from hell.

Gyokuran Nanzenji (南褝寺 玉瀾, Nanzenji Gyokuran)

Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa[4][5]

Yaichirō's childhood friend and longtime crush. During the course of the second season, they officially become a couple.

Shōjirō Nanzenji (南褝寺 正二郎, Nanzenji Shōjirō)

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima[4][5]

Gyokuran's older brother, who approves her relationship with Yaichirō.

The Eccentric Family is written by Tomihiko Morimi, and the first novel was published by Gentosha on September 25, 2007.[7] A sequel titled The Eccentric Family: The Junior Returns (有頂天家族 二代目の帰朝, Uchōten Kazoku: Nidaime no Kichō, "The Ecstatic Family: The Junior Returns") was released on February 26, 2015.[8] A third novel is planned.

A manga adaptation, illustrated by Yu Okada, was serialized in Gentosha's Comic Birz magazine from the June 2013 to May 2015 issues.[9] Gentosha published four tankōbon volumes from September 24, 2013 to June 24, 2015.[10]

The first 13-episode season aired in Japan from July 7 to September 23, 2013 on Tokyo MX, KBS, SUN, BS11, Kids Station, and KNB.[11][12] The director is Masayuki Yoshihara, the scriptwriter is Shōtarō Suga, the music is scored by Yoshiaki Fujisawa, and the animation is done by P.A.Works.[13] The opening theme is titled "Ecstatic Life" (有頂天人生, Uchōten Jinsei) by Milktub. The ending theme is titled "Que Sera, Sera" (ケセラセラ, Keserasera) by Fhána.[2] The anime was released in Japan across seven volumes from August 25, 2013 to March 26, 2017.[14] Crunchyroll streamed the series and NIS America released the series in North America as a premium set including two Blu-ray disc sets on January 5, 2015.[15][3]

A second season, was greenlit on September 28, 2016.[16] The second season was aired in Japan from April 9 to June 25, 2017 on Tokyo MX, KBS, and KNB and was streamed on Docomo Anime Store in Japan,[17] and Crunchyroll. The main staff and cast members returned for the second season. The opening theme is "Natsugamama, Sawagumama" (成るがまま騒ぐまま) by Milktub and the ending theme is "Moon River" (ムーンリバー) by Fhána.[4][5]