Kemonozume: Style + Substance?
I don’t care about style. Whether characters look pointy or retarded doesn’t matter to me as long as I get a good story. What I do find annoying is when unconventional style becomes the focal point of the anime. Style should never take precedence over substance.
- Fooly Cooly: Yawn
- Lucky Star: Stupid
- Kaiba: Bullshit
Do you think you can get away with throwing crap in my face if it’s fluid and sparkly? Is there any show with unconventional style that also has substance? Look no further than Kemonozume.
Despite having the same director as Kaiba, Kemonozume doesn’t suck. In fact, it has nudity. Not just any nudity, but the best kind: uncensored women and censored men. Notably, there’s a sex scene on a Ferris wheel. It’s about damn time. Anime is full of Ferris wheel scenes, but there’s never any sex. Too bad the all characters are under 18. Oh wait, they’re in their 20s.
Don’t be fooled by the seemingly cliché premise (the hunter falling in love with the hunted); there’s nothing predictable about this show, except maybe a few deaths. Kemonozume rapes every expectation you may have about sword fights. No simultaneous slash followed by a five-second pause, Fighter A falling to a knee, and Fighter B smirking before admitting defeat and collapsing.
Still not convinced?
| Well developed minor characters |  |
| Simultaneous subplots | |
| Unforeseeable plot twists | |
| Comical victimization | |
| Regular victimization | |
| Recurring random character(s) | |
| Badass mid-episode transitions |  |
| Soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura | |
| Frequently updated intro/ending visuals | |
| Fade into intro/ending | |
| Themes of Hatred/Suffering/Revenge | |
| Lesbians | |
| Enterprising use of nudity | |
| Hilarious ambiguously gay dude | |
| Stylish visual effects | |
| Dinosaurs | |
| Giant Robots | |
| Non-Giant Robot Suits | |
| Rivalry | |
| Graphic violence | |
| Non-pedophilic character design | |
| Soft-spoken girl voiced by Mamiko Noto | |
| Time Travel | |
| Supernatural Power | |
| Trademark Infrigement | |
Not everything about this show is perfect. Like any show that tries to impress stylistically, it has its hits and misses. Some scenes kick ass (like the monkey scene above), and some scenes fall flat.
The worst part of the show is the final boss. He’s annoying enough to be on Kaiba.
Final Grade: ++
8 people love sucking up to me
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Holy shit, a comment RSS feed!baka-raptor@baka-raptor.com
February 7th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Leave Kaiba alone! You don’t know what it’s been through! All you people care about is making money off of it somehow! All you people want is MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE! *sobs*
*sniffs* Ok, I’m alright now. Will check this Kemonozume anime out.
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February 7th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Another guy discovered how that Masaaki Yuasa had to put water in his wine, however fucked up it already was.
And that guy is Baka fucking Raptor.
Sometimes, things turn out to be great. Sometimes.
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February 7th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
That was a pretty badass scene, but who keeps the pegs in their katana that loose? Don’t you normally need a mallet to get the pegs in?
When I first saw that poster I wondered if the girl was really a monster. After reading this article and looking at the poster again, I wonder if the girl is really a dinosaur. Thanks Baka-Raptor!
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February 8th, 2009 at 12:38 am
You’re pretty slow to the party! Kemonozume is a great series.
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February 8th, 2009 at 1:43 am
All your katana pegs are belong to Monkey King. I want him to have his own series.
Yes, more props to Kemonozume, despite a convoluted drawn-out ending – so much else to love. And one of my favourite all-time ED songs.
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February 8th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Very interesting. If it’s not a long series (13 eps or fewer) I’ll make time for it while I work through my backlog.
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February 10th, 2009 at 1:34 am
@Asperger’s: I’m not making any money here. Kaiba just sucks. Consider it a public service announcement.
@Windspirit: Fucking is my middle name.
@Kabitzin: Sure, she has claws and teeth, but aren’t the ones trying to kill her the real monsters?
@Michael: How would I know about it? Nobody ever talks about it, probably because there aren’t any naked little girls running around.
@ojisan: Yes, the ending was convoluted and drawn-out, but I found that refreshing because it totally faked me out. Especially how they never spoiler…no monologues.
@ghostlightning: It’s 13 episodes. Trust me. I wouldn’t lie to you just to make you watch the show.
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February 10th, 2009 at 7:39 am
The combination of monkeys,pantslessness and weirdness has convinced me to check this one out!
Thanks!
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