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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Buy | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:4251#1552] |
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Kemono Jihen focuses on a detective agency that specializes in tending to cases involving various supernatural creatures called kemono, ran by the tanuki Kohachi Inugami and three teenage kemono who are also in his employ. The series largely focuses on exploring how current relations between kemono and humans are, while also exploring the back stories and developments of the younger members of Inugami's detective agency in a couple of the anime's story arcs. This exploration of its world and characters gives Kemono Jihen a great foundation for storytelling and offers some rather subtle implications over more darker elements to the world of kemono, particularly with Shiki and Akira's character backstories that I understand had to be toned down from its manga source material. But the implications for said developments are still there if you can pick up on what exactly is happening within their story arcs. The series had some imperfections in that Akira's personality could usually get a little irritating to put up with with how effeminate he is and the series lacks a proper conclusion since its manga source material is still ongoing as of the time I put together this review. But if you are looking for a supernatural series with a solid foundation for world-building and character exploration involving Japanese mythical creatures, I'd still recommend checking out Kemono Jihen.
Last updated Friday, April 09 2021. Created Friday, April 09 2021. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
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[series:4251#628] | ||||||
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(Three episodes watched): A note I took within the first few minutes of episode one was 'definitely something coming together here!'. Basically, we are presented with two mysteries: what has been happening to the animals, and why is Dorotabo/Kabane ostracized, and it turns out that the answers are interconnected. We learn that Kabane can lose it and transform into a deadly creature if deprived of the 'Lifestone' talisman that he carries. He's also semi-immortal because he is a half-ghoul (which is why the locals hated and feared him). Ultimately Inugami recruits him to work with a number of other teens (who are no doubt Kemono as well) to solve occult mysteries. Looks like fun. Both the plot and the characters seem complex and interesting, and this show seemed less horrifying than stuff like Jujutsu, perhaps because the enemy were basically vicious animals rather than evil humans. But it is exciting and entertaining nevertheless. For those who find the occult disturbing, it might even be preferable. Episode two didn't seem quite as good, however. The other two Kemono children that Inugami has hired weren't given personalities that were all that memorable. One has long hair that makes Kabane mistake him for a girl, and that's about it. The other is suspicious and hostile towards Kabane, but soon grudgingly accepts him after he does something cool during an emergency. I didn't catch exactly what the trick was that Kabane used to defeat some bizarre insects--he feels no pain and is immortal, isn't he? And the bugs themselves weren't very convincing--they supposedly feed on 'guilt' but that suggests that most people who have done something they regret nevertheless feel very little of it while this boy felt an awful lot. The episode was a disappointment and left me thinking that maybe I wouldn't watch this series after all. I did watch episode three, but was not thrilled by it either. Maybe the problem is that a major, unusual, intriguing problem that needs to be solved hasn't appeared. We learn that Kemono exist, and some of them solve strange spiritual crimes, but it doesn't seem as if the world would come to an end if Inugami had never formed this 'Strangeness Counseling Office'. Episode one suggested there would be an element of fairly intriguing mystery to the various cases, but that has been lacking from succeeding episodes. And again, the characters aren't very interesting. So, I think I will dispense with this show. Last updated Monday, March 01 2021. Created Sunday, January 17 2021. | ||||||||
