History Anime / OtogiZoshi

* {{BFS}}: Ivan wields one.

* BigEater: Kintaro

* BrattyHalfPint: Kintaro

* ChivalrousPervert: Sadamitsu

* TheFourGods: They even include the fifth one in the form of a yellow kirin.

* LoveTriangle: Not as overt as some, but it's there.

* MysteriousProtector: Mansairaku

* RainOfArrows

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Shuten Doji

* {{Reincarnation}}

* {{Samurai}}

* StoryArc

* TalkingIsAFreeAction

* TimeStandsStill

* UrbanLegends

* WhiteMaskOfDoom: Seimei's Noh mask.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The Tokyo arc was made with a tight budget, on a tight schedule. ''And fourteen different directors.''

* [[IllGirl Ill Boy]]: Raikou in the Heian Arc.

* UntranslatedTitle: Otogizoushi means, according to Wiki/ThatOtherWiki, "Companion tales".

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Deep red hair, actually. Mansairaku has two prominent locks of it in the Heian Arc, then in the Tokyo Arc ''all'' his hair is red. Everyone else has realistic hair colors.
** [[spoiler:This is a rather broad hint about Mansairaku's true identity and a nod to Abe no Seimei's half-human nature. According to actual Japanese folklore about him, his mother was a kitsune (a supernatural fox). Hence, the red hair.]]

* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: In the Tokyo Arc, of course. It's because [[spoiler:the events at the end of the Heian Arc led to different capitals getting destroyed through the course of history, and [[CaptainObvious Tokyo is the modern day capital]].]]

The first half (episodes 1-13), labeled the Heian [[StoryArc Arc]], appropriately takes place in the city of Heian (modern day Kyoto) during the Heian Period. Heian is becoming a corrupt and run-down city. Selfish {{samurai}} and [[{{Onmyodo}} onmyoji]], who care only about gaining political power, are everywhere. To make matters worse the city is suffering from famine and widespread disease. To combat this, the Imperial Court decides to send Minamoto no Raikou, a famous samurai well-known for his archery skills, to recover a [[MineralMacGuffin legendary gem]] ([[PublicDomainArtifact a magatama]]) said to hold mysterious power to save the world. However Raikou falls ill, so his sister, Hikaru, [[SweetPollyOliver disguises herself to make the journey in his place]]. Traveling along with her guard, Tsuna--though [[ActionGirl she's quite combat capable]] herself--she meets many people and learns that the situation is more complex than it first seemed.

%%* {{Onmyodo}}

* AfterlifeExpress
* AnimeThemeSong

* BareHandedBladeBlock

* [[spoiler:BigBadFriend: Mansairaku is actually Abe no Seimei.]]

* {{Bishonen}}: Mansairaku, namely.
** and Sadamitsu, in the second arc

* BloodFromTheMouth

* ElementalRockPaperScissors
* EpisodeTitleCard

* GenreShift: Complete with a new theme.
** The [=DVDs=] even serve as a LampshadeHanging, changing from black labels (part 1) to white labels (part 2).

* HeroStoleMyBike

* LimitedWardrobe

* [[spoiler:MalevolentMaskedMan: Abe no Seimei.]]

* MineralMacGuffin

* {{Mooks}}, and a few {{Giant Mook}}s

* {{Onmyodo}}

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent
* ParentalAbandonment
* PastelChalkedFreezeFrame
* PhenotypeStereotype: Ivan and his son are both blond with blue eyes.
** Though it makes one wonder what actually drove him that far from his native Russia. Especially ''before'' the word "Siberia" was even coined...

* UntranslatedTitle: Otogizoushi means, according to ThatOtherWiki, "Companion tales".

''Otogi Zoshi'' is an {{anime}} produced by ProductionIG, which follows the story of Hikaru and a number of people surrounding her. While at first it may look to nothing more than HistoricalFiction with fantasy elements mixed in, that's only true of the first half. Halfway through, the series goes through a combination {{Timeskip}} / GenreShift to present day where strange UrbanLegends keep coming true. The two plots do overlap.

* {{Hachiko}}: Brought up when discussing an [[UrbanLegends urban legend]] of a spectral white dog.

* {{Narm}}: Many of Shuten Doji's actions in episode 10.

** MeaningfulName: Or the names are significant in other ways: The kanji in Mansairaku's name are the same as for Manzairaku, an ancient Japanese Bugaku court dance. As presented in the Heian Arc, Mansairaku is a Bugaku dancer. The difference in the translation ("sai" vs. "zai") may simply be a preference of the translator. [[spoiler:]]Manzairaku music and dance is associated with extremely long life, literally 10,000 years, which is also appropriate for this character.

** MeaningfulName: Or the names are significant in other ways: The kanji in Mansairaku's name are the same as for Manzairaku, an ancient Japanese Bugaku court dance. As presented in the Heian Arc, Mansairaku is a Bugaku dancer. The difference in the translation ("sai" vs. "zai") may simply be a preference of the translator.
**** [[spoiler:]] Manzairaku music and dance is associated with extremely long life, literally 10,000 years, which is also appropriate for this character.

** MeaningfulName: Or the names are significant in other ways: The kanji in Mansairaku's name are the same as for Manzairaku, an ancient Japanese Bugaku court dance. As presented in the anime, Mansairaku is a Bugaku dancer. The difference in the translation ("sai" vs. "zai") may simply be a preference of the translator.

** Or the names are significant in other ways: The kanji in Mansairaku's name are the same as for Manzairaku, an ancient Japanese Bugaku court dance. As presented in the anime, Mansairaku is a Bugaku dancer. The difference in the translation ("sai" vs. "zai") may simply be a preference of the translator.

** [[This is a rather broad hint about Mansairaku's true identity and a nod to Abe no Seimei's half-human nature. According to actual Japanese folklore about him, his mother was a kitsune (a supernatural fox). Hence, the red hair.]]

** This is a rather broad hint about Mansairaku's true identity and a nod to Abe no Seimei's half-human nature. According to folklore about him, his mother was a kitsune (a supernatural fox). Hence, the red hair.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/OtogiZoshi.jpg
[[caption-width:250:Hikaru disguised as her brother (right) and with her hair down (left).]]

!!This {{anime}} provides examples of:

* WhoWantsToLiveForever?: [[spoiler:Mansairaku laments living so long, and thanks Hikaru when she frees him from it.]]

* TheArcher

* SuperStrength: Kintaro in the Heian Arc. [[spoiler:Shuten Doji has it too - [[{{justified}} though fittingly]] - after transforming to his giant form.]]

* [=~Chekhov's Gun~=]: [[spoiler:The piece Hikaru's flute chips off the magatama of fire ends up as the gem on her necklace in modern day.]]

''Otogi Zoshi'' is an {{anime}} produced by ProductionIG, which follows the story of Hikaru and a number of people surrounding her. While at first it may look to nothing more than HistoricalFiction with fantasy elements mixed in, that's only true of the first half. Halfway through, the series goes through a combination {{Timeskip}} / GenreShift to present day where strange UrbanLegends keep coming true. The two plots do overlap, and as a whole it's BetterThanItSounds.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: In episode 24, [[spoiler:when blood spurts out of Mansairaku's face.]] Then in episode 25, [[spoiler:the blood dripping from the ceiling of the room Urabe gets trapped in.]]

* {{Filler}}: The last two episodes, [[YourMileageMayVary arguably]].