My Master Has No Tail: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

My Master Has No Tail: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

My Master Has No Tail is a charming and cute-as-a-button anime series. The series was created by TNSK. The series features animation production by LIDEN FILMS (Blade of the Immortal, The Heroic Legend of Arslan). The series theme music is performed by GARNiDELiA (OP) and Hinano (ED). The series features voice performances by M.A.O and Hibiku Yamamura. Audiences seeking laidback and charming anime with a kawaii sensibility will find something to enjoy with My Master Has No Tail.

Mameda (M.A.O) is a young and ambitious tanuki – the tanuki are special creatures with a similar appearance to a raccoon while having dog-like qualities as well. The tanuki are sometimes full of mischief and they find themselves getting in to more trouble than they planned to. Mameda has decided to disguise herself as a human being and try and fit in with the humans. Yet the attempt sometimes causes more harm than good.

Even despite roadblocks, Mameda discovers the fascinating world of the Rakugo, a form of classic Japanese entertainment in which storytellers use a sequence of fans, art, words, and gestures to perform for an audience. The storytelling art form often ends with a series of twists and a surprise ending. Mameda also becomes interested in fellow entertainer and rakugoka Bunko (Hibiku Yamamura), a girl who manages to impress with her own special knowledge of the art form – a girl with great skills in capturing the attention of the audience around her.

The characters on My Master Has No Tail are charming and this is one of the essential ingredients of My Master Has No Tail. What would the series be like without the charming characters at the forefront of the series? The characters are certainly at the heart of the production. The characters and the world of the tanuki provide a sweet-natured aspect to the animation and the character moments. These aspects enhance the series for audiences of all ages.

My Master Has No Tail also features excellent character designs by Ryō Yamauchi and the designs fit the characters well, too. There is a sense of fun with the designs and the tanuki element is enhanced well by the designer. The series aims for designs that are lighthearted, cute, and charming.

These design elements make for a nice contrast compared to some other (darker-in-tone) anime series. If one is looking for something charming and soothing over something more intense or action-oriented, then the designs in My Master Has No Tail are exactly what one might be looking for. This helps the entire tone of the production.

The animation is cute and charming. My Master Has No Tail is a nice-looking program with solid art for the series production. The art direction by Yukihiro Saitō (Magical Sempai, Happy-Go-Lucky Days) and chief animation direction by Norifumi Okuno (Blade of the Immortal, Phantom in the Twilight), Ryō Yamauchi (Vinland Saga, Call of the Night), and Touma Kanbara (Hortensia Saga, Cells at Work! Code Black) impresses in spades.

There is a lot to appreciate about the art style and it walks a fine line with some simple elements and more complex design aspects (some of the background animation appears more detailed while the central aesthetic elements appear simplistic but are full of charm). The colors and tones of the art style are a perfect match for the type of the series My Master Has No Tail is and there is something to appreciate about these quiet charms.

The cinematography by Tomoyoshi Ishizuka (The File of Young Kindaichi Returns, One Piece Episode of Sabo) is a nice component of the production, too. The cinematography on My Master Has No Tail certainly shines with a nice sense of serenity and the style works well with the genre of the series. The cinematographer understands the series stylistic aims and finds the right visual balance for the material. A good effort by Ishizuka.

The score composed by Atsushi Harada, Tsukasa Yatoki, and Yuki Honda is a light and airy score and the music adds a sense of calm to the production. The music fits the mood of the program and adds some excitement, too. The score provides good background music and the tone of the production is well enhanced by the score. A nice effort from the composers involved.

Written by Touko Machida (Chaika - The Coffin Princess, Is This a Zombie?), My Master Has No Tail might not have a top-tier script, but the sense of charm in the storytelling is notable. The writing is fun and laidback and there is plenty of charm. Sometimes that is all audiences can ask for in a series. The scriptwriting works well for the slice-of-life elements of the anime.

Directed by Hideyo Yamamoto (Cells at Work! Code Black, The Prince of Tennis), My Master Has No Tail is a fun anime for fans of kawaii anime series. The cute-and-charming element of the series is fun and adds something special to the production. My Master Has No Tail has the right ingredients for success and audiences looing for something to simply enjoy in will find something delightful about the series.

My Master Has No Tail: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, My Master Has No Tail is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The high-definition presentation on the release is impressive and offers a pleasing encode of the series. The high-definition animation is smooth, crisp, and pleasing on the release. The transfer is organic looking and it doesn't suffer from egregious compression woes.

The transfer capably showcases the colorful animation style. The Blu-ray release offers solid encoding with a superior bit-rate presentation compared to other viewing options on streaming video services (which offer a more compressed video datastream). The encoding is superior on the Blu-ray format. (Better video quality has always been one of the biggest selling points of the format and even in the age of streaming media, streaming services just cannot compete with the Blu-ray format).

My Master Has No Tail: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The lossless audio encoding sounds crisp and clear on the release. Dialogue is well reproduced and the sound presentation is well-detailed. The score is well reproduced and sounds nice and clean. The sound direction by Ryousuke Naya is capably reproduced on the Blu-ray release. Audiophiles seeking the best audio presentation out of their content will be pleased that the set offers superior audio quality to video streaming services (which offer lossy audio on content). A good encode by Sentai Filmworks.

My Master Has No Tail: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release has an underwhelming supplemental package. The bonus features on the release could have been improved. This is one aspect of the release that leaves something to be desired. The release has standard anime bonus feature inclusions only and does not provide anything more expansive such as behind-the-scenes featurettes, making-of documentaries, audio commentaries, photo galleries, and similar material. The set does not come with an o-card slipcover (and this is something I would have liked to see provided with the release).

On disc extras are as follows:

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 1:32)

Clean Closing Animation (HD, 1:32)

Japanese Promos (HD, 3:12)

My Master Has No Tail: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My Master Has No Tail is a sweet-natured and charming anime series. The series has a robust and colorful aesthetic. The animation is one of the finest points of the series. The creative designs are fantastic and the animators brought the series to life. Fans of slice-of-life anime with a laidback charm will find something to enjoy with My Master Has No Tail. Director Hideyo Yamamoto (Cells at Work!) brought forth good work from the team of animators.

The Blu-ray release offers an impressive video and audio presentation. The release also includes a small supplemental package. Fans of the series may wish to pick up the Blu-ray release for the superior video and audio presentation (as well as to own a copy for their shelf). Recommended.