We all know the phrase “opposites attract,” but that seems to be the mantra of television writers. That’s how you get shows like Dharma & Greg and The King of Queens. But what if the central couple of a show was a geeky, shy college kid and a 500-year-old female warrior?
Opening Shot: As we see scenes swirling around, we hear a voice saying, “I’m Hachi. This is about a love story between my girlfriend and I. She is a bit different, but super cool. She wields a sword. She’s unbelievably strong.”
The Gist: In a darkened library, a student named Shikazono Koki (Kurihara Louis) is chased by a armored warrior. He manages to get a video he made uploaded before the warrior corners him and runs him through.
In a gaming group, Tadashi (Sano Hayato), nicknamed “Hachi,” is texting with a new girlfriend as his group is trying to level up on their game. His best friend, Tanuki R Yonagi (Anthony), is annoyed but understands that Hachi doesn’t find this often, but others in the group, like the bullying Benitaro (Mochizuki Ayumu), aren’t so understanding. Hachi’s palms sweat so bad when he’s nervous that Benitaro calls him “Wetty.”
Yonagi encourages Hachi to ask his online girlfriend out on a real date. When he does, though, she says she’s busy. When he tries a video call, he finds out in a very unpleasant way that he’s being catfished.
In the meantime, Koki has gone missing. Senior police detective Inukai Tadayoshi (Sorimachi Takashi) investigates, helped by an enthusiastic new detective, Suzuki Tanko (Ishii Anna).
After the catfishing, Yonagi finds the video that Koki posted before he disappeared, it shows the picture of a yokai, a female warrior, and a spell that can bring love to the person who casts it. A desperate Hachi decides to give it a try.
The next day on campus, a woman clad in black ninja-like gear descends from the sky. “I found you,” says Princess Izuna-Imiki (Yoshikawa Ai), the yokai Hachi summoned. She demands they have intercourse right in the campus courtyard. Scared but intrigued, Hachi bolts. But she shows up as Hachi has lunch with Yonagi, demanding intercourse. She must have intercourse with the person who summoned him quickly, or she’ll disappear, and she has a score to settle. But Hachi wants to take things slow and, you know, go out on a date with her first.
As Yonagi finds out just what happens when a yokai like Izzy — Hachi’s nickname for her — has intercourse with a man, Izzy decides to go to a party Benitaro invites her (but not Izzy) to, because the name of the rich douche who is hosting it is from a family she has known over the centuries. Hachi, not a partygoer, decides he needs to find her. When he does, they have sex, meaning they’re bound forever. And now, Izzy can exact the revenge she’s been looking for.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? How many shows feature undead girlfriends? iZombie is the only one we can think of, but it’s a whole different vibe.
Our Take: Written by Yalun Tu and Zach Hines and directed by Takahiro Miki, My Undead Yokai Girlfriend does a good job of balancing the mythical and the comedic. What we liked about the first episode is that Sano does a plausible job as a nervous college kid who has never even gone on a date, much less had sex. Pairing him up with the aggressive Izzy is a good way to show how much of a challenge having Izzy around is going to be for him.
But now that Hachi and Izzy are bonded forever, perhaps the relationship will settle into something funny and sweet, albeit with occasional bloodshed. Hachi is going to teach Izzy how to fit into today’s society better, and Izzy is going to need Hachi’s help to exact revenge on the family that has been a thorn in her side for half a millennium.
The show is also building a world around Hachi and Izzy, with Yonagi being the loyal friend, Benitaro being the enemy, and a surprising connection between Hachi and Detective Inukai that will likely complicate things later in the season.
Sex and Skin: The “intercourse” scene is pretty tame, all things considered.
Parting Shot: When Hachi and Yongai find Izzy at the party, she turns around and asks where she can hide what she’s carrying. That happens to be the head of the party’s host.
Sleeper Star: Ishii Anna’s character Suzuki Tanko is funny when she does dance moves behind Inukai as he’s watching a video on Koki’s laptop. When he says, “dance at home,” she doesn’t necessarily stop completely.
Most Pilot-y Line: One of the parts Hachi needed for the spell was the blood of a virginal maiden. He looks at his little sister, and she closes the door and says, “Pervert!” Why would she call her big brother a pervert?
Our Call: STREAM IT. My Undead Yokai Girlfriend is funny without trying hard, and presents an interesting central relationship, with a shy, nerdy college kid paired up with a strong female warrior. It shouldn’t work, but it does.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.