The Return of the Second Generation

This is the second volume in the Eccentric Family series. In the refined city of Kyoto, humans live in the streets, tanuki crawl upon the ground, and tengu soar through the sky—three clans standing as three pillars, together turning the great wheel of the city. In the distinguished tanuki household of Shimogamo, after the death of their great father, the mother and her four good-for-nothing sons continue their brilliant and mischievous days: the eldest, Yaichiro, runs about seeking to inherit the title of Acting Grand Master; the second son, in the form of a frog, takes on the tanuki shogi tournament; the third son, Yasaburo, searches for the legendary tsuchinoko while unable to resist meddling in tengu and human affairs; and the youngest devotes himself in the laboratory to studying the recipe for the counterfeit electric brandy. Just then, the heir of Professor Akadama, the tengu known as the Second Generation, returns to Kyoto, plunging the city into an ambiguous and chaotic situation. The century battle between tengu father and son, the conspiracy in the tanuki world over the succession of the Acting Grand Master, and the humans who bewitch tanuki and flatter tengu all take the stage in turn. To defend the honor of the Shimogamo house and protect those he loves, the fool's blood in Yasaburo's veins stirs and boils once more. Continuing the first volume's creed that fun is justice, the book writes a bizarre yet tender Kyoto tale in a light, humorous style.