Anime: Kemonozume

Although rare, Masaaki Yuasa has some misses among his works, and Kemonozume is one of them. It was the only important show of his left for me to watch and I was surprised with how bad it was, considering he made it between Mind Game and Kaiba.

The premise isn’t very captivating, it’s Romeo and Juliet with human swordsmen and monsters, that’s it, and I couldn’t even buy the way it’s presented, I don’t believe in love at first sight, attraction? Sure, but love? Nah, which is why I never bought it in fiction either. It’s even harder to accept it in here because the two main characters just find the other in the beach and the next day they are already fucking, and that’s what the relationship between them is mostly about, having sex. Other than that, other forms of interaction between them are quite short or cut off by an action scene, no letting the viewer to really buy or be invested by this relationship. It’s even worse when you consider that the main character was a diligent man dedicated to his duty his whole life and left it all because of a woman he just met. It’s even worse when you consider that the main couple left their families and even betrayed their species as a whole for someone they didn’t even really know about for just a few days at most.

At least the show bothers to show some internal problems between the main couple later on, but even those are resolved in shitty ways. The dude cheats on her and when is found out we have the two women insulting each other with a harem or straight up hentai doujinshi level of dialogue.

And it’s not just them really. Almost every male character in this show is driven by sex, they become traitors because they want to have sex, and are even fooled and killed off because of their lust. Meanwhile every woman in this series is limited to a source of problems and just…a bitch, they are all bitches.

The only exception I found are the father and step mother of the protagonist, because although their relationship is a bit silly as well, there is a buildup and consequences because of it, and was thus easier to buy and more interesting to watch.

Leaving that aside, the setting doesn’t really make sense when you think about it, how can the world be almost the same as ours when monsters have been around it forever? And how can they stay mostly hidden and underground? Some of them do try to remain unnoticed but some just kill off humans constantly to feast on them whenever they want, they should be commonly known by everyone and society as a whole should be completely different as it’s presented.

And let’s not even waste much time in talking about the villain, he was so goofy and overpowered and even pretentious near the end of the show, and the way he was taken down was so stupid, he threw whatever little bit of sense and logic was left in the script out the window.

Also, as much as Kemonozume wants to present itself as a tragedy because of all the deaths in it, the tone is mostly silly, feeling more like a comedy than anything else, that monkey that would later on become a regular in Yuasa’s works and even own studio was the absolute worst aspect in the series.

The resolution was completely open and unsatisfactory, it can only counts as a conclusion for the action and main couple but it still does not mean anything for the rest of the world and not even assures what the main couple is going to be like going forward, who says they won’t have the exact same issues they had throughout the show just because they took down the big baddie?

The only saving grace I found in the script is everything revolving the character Kazuma, although also wanting to bone a girl throughout the whole show, he was the most proactive and conflicted character in the whole series. Also diligent, always in the shadow of his brother, wanting to prove himself the whole time, with an identity crisis and mental and physical deterioration as he finds out more about himself and how different he is from what he thought his whole life. He also tries to modernize the swordsmen with technology and way of functioning and funding, so Kemonozume at least follows all the issues he and the Kifuuken as a whole goes through with that, too bad he is incapable of anything at the end because the script had to have him being completely fooled by an overpowered antagonist and the main character being the one to solve everything. Except he doesn’t because as I said, he only cares about a monster pussy and once he assures that, he just sends everything else to fuck off.

Visually the series looks like what you would expect something from Yuasa to look like, except very very sloppy and low budget. Yes, it’s done deliberately to look that way, but that still doesn’t mean it’s a good job. The characters constantly look like deformed doodles, the backgrounds look mostly unfinished, the motions are usually weak, the whole artwork seems cheap, the coloring is rather unpolished and goes psychedelic at times for no reason, and sometimes traced live action footage is used for some reason. Which is a shame because thanks to the rare but powerful very few very well animated bits in the series, and the usual great directing you can expect from Yuasa, you can tell that they could have presented a visually quirky but still neat show. Other than that, there’s nothing here that wasn’t done way better both before and after in the other main series and movies from the director.

As for the sound, it’s only ok as well. The voice acting is ok, the sound effects and music are also just ok, nothing much to say here, the ending was the best part of it. I’m not very fond of the opening, you can find way better jazzy openings out there, this one is musically uninspired, the vocals suck, and half the lyrics are the title of the song being repeated over and over. It ends up being catchy if you don’t skip it while you are watching the show, but it’s still a pretty bad song all things considered.

As a whole, it was a big disappointment coming from Masaaki Yuasa, the script is stupid, almost all the characters are beasts in heat regardless of their species or gender, and visually it looks like the makers weren’t even trying most of the time. Kazuma elevates the whole show to be above Crybaby, and it’s definitely way better than JAPAN STINKS, but it’s still, like, the worst Yuasa Yuasa show, you know what I mean? He only directed Crybaby, and was only a co-director in Japan Sinks 2020, over here he had control of many aspects in the show, and practically none of all of them worked well. It feels more like a demo of what his filmography and directing for Crybaby would be like moving forward, only worthy to check out for someone who want to complete everything from the director, and nothing else.

Mild spoilers ahead.

Kemonozume is a curious sight in the deep sea of Japanese animation. It looks and moves very much unlike most creatures of its kind. What you see and hear is odd and messy and somewhat out of place, and you soon realize, there's no chance for love at first sight. From the looks of it, this promises to be an endurance exercise, a less than brilliant oddity of a series you'd rather avoid.

The first episode has barely begun and the series whacks you over the head with a bunch of undefined squiggly lines, wonky character designs and sloppy, drunken shaky-hand animation. There are photography-based backgrounds, there's computer generated imagery and some filmed stock footage for good measure. All possible methods for creating still and moving pictures are on display, sometimes at the same time. And those pictures, they are not pretty.

The story is not far behind, when it comes to weird first impressions. It's Romeo and Juliet alright, but seemingly rewritten by mentally deficient prison inmates on experimental drugs, barely able to cope with the severe side effects. In fact, it's easy to give up after the premiere episode, because really, what is this garbage anyway.

But for those making it past episode two, a grand adventure awaits. A tale of gangsters and monsters, samurai and old people on road movie trips. Bizarre sex scenes here and a bond villain beyond measure there. Kemonozume is a vexing mess, a bold experiment and a hard watch. It's also very much fun and hilarious on occasion and brutal and disgusting in between.

What remains is a wonderful piece of niche entertainment, unsuitable for Western television. A challenge for those who like to work through a dense forest of whacky artistry, pulp and monstrous pretensions to find delight in something unusual, that somehow works, although it really should not.

This series is particularly good. Not just because it has a good story with interesting characters, but because how far it goes while succeeding. I find most anime series play it safe and never amount to much, and then theirs those who take a more risky route and go for something bigger but fail since its a really difficult task. But Kemonozume succeeds while going for that big ending, mainly because it avoids getting too heavy and it doesn't get ridiculous and spouts things like "Bad guy: true power is derived from hatred. / Good guy: No it comes from love and the desire to protect my friends. (Big explosions, loud noises, all the teenage characters find a partner for a relationship)".

I was really fond of the animation. While it looks weird, its actually hard to draw all sorts of abnormal characters. The style of animation also helps the transformation of the monsters, particularly the ending when things get weird. The animation appeals more to adults in terms of proportions and appearances, while keeping a twist to make the fiction easier to believe. Oh, the backgrounds. Like the story, it starts off down to earth, then expands into something big. In the end, I loved the way everything looked.

I didn't find that the music stood out, but it always fit the scene and mood perfectly.

The story was interesting, there were always things developing in the back. This world had these monsters called flesh eaters (since they ate humans) and were disguised as humans. Flesh eaters are sort of human, but then they have these animal instincts which would make them go out of control. Although, some of them were organized and learned how to control themselves. This clan of elite martial artistes was established 1000 years ago to kill these monsters and to protect society. The son of the current clan leader and a female flesh eater fall in love with each other, shit happens, and the story progresses upwards. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll stop here.

The series also had many random scenes of comedy which occurred every now and then, most were among the funniest things I've watched in a while.

The characters were all awesome. They were all adults, those who you think should be mature were mature, and those who you think should be more average were average. No one went around acting like drama queens. There were no character types at all. They were all human, which is something that most anime series (or any tv media) leave me craving.

I gave this series a value of ten, mainly because I'm growing out of anime since I find it so immature and it appeals less and less to me. Then I decided to give this series a shot. This has everything that I want in it. A good mixture of realism and fantasy, all the while being intelligent and captivating. Also as I mentioned before, it succeeded at getting a big ending which is one of the hardest things to do. I've watched over a hundred animes which went for the big ending and failed or were mediocre at best

Kemonozume is very hard to peg down. It's a lot of different things at once, and very few things the entire time. There's not enough action to satisfy the action minded, the story is too wonky to satisfy those motivated by story, the characters are too shallow for those drawn to characters, and the writing is such that those looking for memorable moments and poignant metaphors will be left unfulfilled.

There is something special here, though. The animation and style is incredibly unique, and although it ends in a sub par manner, the story has elements good writing, especially in the beginning and before the end. It's worthwhile series to a point.

Overall, recommended with one contingency:
Watch an episode to get a feel for animation. If you love the animation, it's worth watching and you'll enjoy the show at least a little. If you don't like the animation, or if you're indifferent to it, feel free to steer clear. You wont miss much.

Animation:
I was attracted to this show by the animation. It's unique and it's interesting. It's one of the few series (along with Gankutsuou) that truly embraces it's animation process, and this series really wouldn't have worked if animated traditionally. Photos (or perhaps watercolors?) are often used as background, but with lines drawn own them to give the appearance of being drawn. The style could almost be confused with unfinished or unpolished, but the fact that it's so deliberate and well animated gives it a very different feel.

The show just looks raw. That's the best way to describe it. There are some scenes which would have bored me had it not been for the animation catching my attention. Few series can manage that.

Sound:
The jazz/blues theme of the series is fun, and it adds to the quirkiness of the animation. Nothing to complain about, nothing particularly of note, however. The voice actors are good, from what I can tell.

Story:
This show tries to be too many things.

The writing it is very intelligent in some episodes, while there are some very stupid, nonsensical ideas at the same time. Disbelief can only be extended within the context that you set within the series, and although I can accept that there are flesh eaters in this world, the fact there's a giant and a random kung-fu monkey just don't make sense. Some characters are explained and fleshed out satisfactorily, others like the villain simply exist the way they are without explanation.

The show is predictable in individual episodes, although I had no idea the overall arch of the show would occur as it did. I expected a serial show about how two lovers cope with conflicted circumstances, but the series tries to take on almost a Kino No Tabi or Mushishi method of episodic content that tries to tell a story and a teach a lesson, and it fails. These episodes are very predictable. There's a very sweet episode that involve an old man and woman and their travels. You know what's going to happen to the two of them. And when it finally happens, not only are the main characters baffled (I like my characters to know more about their world than I do), it's executed so horribly that it completely removed me from the story. So although some aspects had me guessing at what was going to happen next, others were poorly done and easy to see through. I was overjoyed to see a flashback episode, and it was a great episode with interesting background, but then there was an utterly predictable and ultimately empty episode about secondary character who falls in love. It did nothing to advance the story or develop characters.

Gore, sex, and violence are not mature subject matters. They can be, of course, but they can also be extremely juvenile. Philosophy is mature, psychology is mature, but nudity and blood are not. The series tries to inject some philosophy quite randomly near the end, but matters are never explored and they just feel tacked on and empty. This show, above all else, is driven love between two characters. This love is poorly developed (very remeo-and-juliet-esque), poorly explained, and poorly realized. They meet in unbelievable circumstances, and then love each other instantly and eternally. It's great that there are some rifts in that love, but overall it's undeveloped to the point of disinterest.

There're too much nudity and gore for it to sit well with a younger audience, but there's too much silly nonsense (ninja monkeys, giants, random groping and such) for mature audiences. It's a show for teenagers who think that just because something's graphic means it's adult, I guess.

Characters:
The female main character has a past that could be interesting, but it's not well developed. The main character is boring, and for some reason pees himself during fights. I don't think he ever really gets over that, and it's not really well explained. You care for the situation the characters are in more than you care about the characters.

The side characters are either one dimensional or unlikable. They maybe hint at the villain's motivations, but he's a poorly realized an uninteresting character. If you mixed daffy duck and perhaps Alucard on the most shallow level, you would have this villain. He's goofy, nonsensical, and full of blood lust.

Value:
The stylistic merit is certainly significant, and there are some really neat parts to this show, but I doubt I'd re-watch it. This show teachers you nothing, and really leaves you with nothing. The final scene could have been poignant and heartfelt, but it ends up just feeling rushed and forced.

Enjoyment:
This show has some great parts, honestly. I'd say 1/3 of the show was great, 1/3 of the show was okay, 1/3 of the show was bad. The bad part was mostly the ending, which was unsatisfying, goofy, and poorly written. It's worth watching a least few episodes for the stylistic merit, but around episode 9 or 10, things take a turn for the worse. I do not regret watching the series, but it squandered it's enormous potential and left me with very little feeling.

It's over, the animation was neat, time to move on to something else.

NOTE: This is my second review. Non-grammar comments are very much appreciated so that I can make my 3rd review even better. Thank you for reading :)

EDIT#1: This is my first edit. I made a more substantial overview, and bolded my segments to make my review more readable. I edited some small things here and there, from content to language to spelling errors/grammar. Cheers, and thank you for the comments.

Kemonozume's story from a distance seems familiar. The heir of a family of monster hunters falls inlove with the daughter of the monster family. they fall in love and try and live together regardless of their innate natures. it seems cliche, i know... it seems silly i know. but the execution is supremely phenomenal.

What we have come to expect from animation is thrown away. the director choses to be drastic and original and use animation in away we have never seen. this action made many people discard the show, but in truth that is the brilliance of it. because the animation adds an edginess that brutality to the story to causes it to transcend expectations. imagine if casablanca and schindler's list were filmed in color how would that change the movie? imagine if mary poppins and vertigo were filmed in black and white? these are the fundamentals that show how art affects story telling. this is why kemonozume is genius.

the music is solid, very good. its pure acid Jazz. not a note wasted. every note serves every emotion and every action of the characters.

if David Lynch and David Cronenberg came together to make an anime, Kemonozume is what we get. this is bar none one of the most original and overwhelmingly insane things i have ever seen. and i loved every minute of it. Then again if you like your anime bland and formulaic... this isnt for you. if you have a soft stomach, this isnt for you either. if you've been dying to seen the boundaries of art pushed, this is for you.

All in all, i loved this show. it made me want to love anime again. it renewed my fading love for anime. it reminded me why i love anime in the first place. i love anime because of how directors use art to tell their story, and in a time where everyone was to tell the same story the same way, and the masses dont care anymore and eat it all up, it was amazing to see a director knock all expectations on their asses. he created a phenomenal show in doing so.

open your mind, embrace kemonozume.

This anime is like the FLCL of the horror-romance genre. The entire anime has a surreal, wacky, and crazy feel, while at the same time there is massive amounts of gore, monsters, sex, and violence. To give you a feel for the crazy and surreal things that happen: at one point a head is running around with legs, a monkey is an expert martial artist, and one of the characters in the show is a private detective who is 2 stories tall. It is very hard to take this anime seriously at times, but then you are jarred back into the seriousness of the anime after a character's arms are bitten off. The entire anime is a surreal experience, and as I said, is very similar to FLCL in the random and wacky things that happen.

The animation style is extremely wierd: it is very similar to the animation style from Kill Bill. I don't particularly like the style: the backgrounds are extremely stiff and 2D, the characters' limbs seem twenty feet long at times in fights, and the monsters are just as funny to look at as they are frightening. In fact, though I can understand that the animation isn't *bad*, it ruined the anime for me. I think the story and characters of this anime were great; but honestly I found it difficult to truly enjoy and recognize that with the distracting nature of the animation.

The soundtrack isn't too good: the music contrasts well with the events during the anime (fast-paced jazz vs. monster eating a person) but on the whole the music feels out of place or isn't very good. The voice actors did a good job though, especially the actors for Ouba, Toshihiko, and Yuka, who played their characters perfectly.

The story is a Romeo and Juliet type story about a monster and a person from a group which hunts the monsters, the Kifuken, falling in love and running away. Toss in sinister motives from someone plotting to take over the Kifuken and you have a pretty interesting story. However, the story seemed a bit rushed in the final few episodes, and several important things happen (which I can't give away) that leave you wondering why they just occurred. Also, the use of a monkey as an important character in this anime is so unrealistic and stupid that it pretty much ruined every scene the monkey particpated in for me.

While in the beggining the story focused on the Romeo and Juliet aspect, towards the end the anime focused on the villian who was taking over the Kifuken, and the anime takes a turn for the ultra surreal. In the final few episodes, the anime is extremely gory and has an Alice in Wonderland type surreal creepy feel throughout.

The characters were a mish-mash of extremely weird personalities and craziness. The two main characters, Toshihiko and Yuka, were well developed, especially their relationship and the problems they faced as they fought to stay together and overcome Yuka's inner monster, all while the Kifuken struggled to find them. However, the ultimate villian was over-the-top insane, and seemed more like an Alice-In-Wonderland villian (wide smile, crazy outfits, changes colors at times, creepy dialogue) than your normal anime villian, even though the villian performed dozens of dispicable acts.

The characters' pasts and the history of the Kifuken is also explored, and turns out to be important to the story, not to mention is pretty interesting (especially the connections between characters).

I might rewatch this anime, I might not. I would reccomend this anime to anyone who wants an anime with more mature themes (extreme violence, graphic sex/nudity (often), and gore) and doesn't mind the weird and off-putting animation style. I enjoyed the story and the characters, but the animation decreased my enjoyment a little bit.