Ranked #750

Kemonozume

10's all across the board eh? Now I'm going to really have to defend that decision aren't I? This will be interesting because for something like Kemonozume there just aren't adequate words to describe how and what it is.

Story: I almost want to say it's Romeo and Juliet. But....it isn't. It sort of starts out that way, two groups of people who hate and kill each other....but it definitely evolves from there. It's a beautiful love story, the two protagonists go through quite alot...and not just with each other. The blend of characters that contribute to this story were quite amazing, each character shaping pieces of it as it went along. There were a couple things I saw coming from a mile away, but I wasn't at all disappointed by that, it was beautifully done. It's 13 episodes long, which is a perfect length for something like this. It did kind of slow down near the ends of a couple of the episodes but it was almost always very engaging.

Art: What is there to say about the art? Kemonozume is art. I remember seeing Kemonozume featured on a different site and every single person commented on the art. It does take an open mind to view this. The art is completely sporadic, sometimes it's absolutely barbaric and crude and choppy, while other scenes are beautiful and smooth. But the fact that the art is all over the place makes this a truly memorable anime. I've never seen this art used in any other anime, except for Mind Game. It's incredibly refreshing.

Sound: The entire soundtrack is jazz. I don't know why they chose jazz, considering that it's set in Japan in a relatively recent time peroid....but they decided to go with jazz. And it definitely works. It's all up-tempo stuff and it really does a great job of furthering the mood in this piece. They re-use some of the songs a bunch, and it's cool to see how the same song can be used in a completely different scene and give a completely different feel to it.

Character: They did an amazing job with characters in this anime. Some are kind of cheesy, and contain traits that are a little...stereotypical. The way they made each character interact with each other is great. I could imagine each character as a person, the emotions they exhibited were incredibly real. I found myself genuinely caring about these characters, something that doesn't happen to me as often as I would like it to.

I watched Mind Game, then I decided that since Kemonozume had the same style of art that I would watch it. I'm glad I did that. It's not the kind of animation from Naruto or Gankutsuou or any other kind of anime. Unique, is a more than perfect way to describe this entire anime. There aren't any annoying anime cliches in this. However you have to have an open mind about your anime to watch this. It's not something that can be enjoyed if you're only in to one kind of anime..like Mecha or Shoujo. And if you are interested in watching this, please download Mind Game first, just so you know what you're getting into. read more

How many times have you accused someone of not having an open mind when they judge your obsession with japanese cartoons, or anime action figures, or 2-D little girls, or whatever? I sure have a few times, yet even my supposedly "open" mind was put to the test right from the very first minutes of Kemonozume.

Its not just about the fugly art, mind you. Weird little monkeys, tower-sized detectives, man-eating monsters that look like right out of some simple children's picture book with their overly round and stubby shapes. I began watching the show all like "dude, finally an artsy and refined piece for such a mature and elite anime viewer like myself" and ended up almost dropping the show after the first episode. Why? Because it caught me completely off guard and didn't match my usual tastes at all.

Good thing I gathered my wits to go on watching, however, as Kemonozume showed me that "unique" isn't always an euphemism for just plain "shit".

To start with the art of which everyone seems to have an opinion when it comes to this show: yes, it's "unique". Yes, in that euphemistic way. But as someone with a way better way with words than me once said, you get used to everything except an icicle up in the ass ('cause it melts before it gets comfy), and such is the way with Kemonozume's art as well. Or perhaps it isn't as much about getting used to the crappy art is it is about realizing it's grotesque genius in this very anime? For just like Kemonozume's story and characters vary in their nature, the art varies from raw, murky, surreal, and sketchy to light, joyful, and truly beautiful.

Character-wise, Kemonozume is a treat for anyone tired of angsty teens all across their usual anime. Not a single character under 20 years of age in this show. The average year count ain't the only mature aspect about the characters either, for the chemistry, dialogue, and interaction they have with each other all clearly depict we're not talking about a middle-school drama here. Instead of the stuttered "I like you" and a hesitant, clumsy peck on the cheek, the two lovers in Kemonozume meet each other on a dark beach, exchange not a word, meet again, and fuck. While perhaps a highly romanticised setting (a beach, a girl literally falling from the sky, and BANG [get it?], love at first sight), it is a rather realistic portrayal of young love's carnal nature.

The story of Kemonozume manages to be both simple and multi-layered at the same time. "Simple" meaning that the viewer can easily grasp what's going on instead of having to endure pointless overphilosophicalpsychologicalwhatevermindfuckshit, whereas the plot's different aspects can be seen how, on one hand, it's a conflicted love story about two people so obviously representing two opposite sides, a story about the characters who all have their own goals and ambitions and trying to find their place in their environment, a story about the distinction between man and monster, and so on. Yet even with all these different sides, Kemonozume's story feels like a whole in which the varying aspects support and fulfill each other instead of annoyingly pulling it into a myriad of ways. Which, in turn, makes the story that much more enjoyable and intriguing, and unlike with many other animes, it doesn't end with a more or less horrendously disappointing conclusion.

Unlike with some of my previous reviews, I think I'm going to skip the part about how unnotable I found the soundtrack and go right to the ending rants. Overall Kemonozume was very much an enjoyable show once the eye got adjusted to the unique artwork and I learned to swallow the mindfuck-ish aspects which I usually hate with vehemence. A fair word of warning here, btw, if you're generally of the same mind and would prefer your anime withOUT any overt surrealism: prepare your...selves. Kemonozume does twist and turn all sorts of laws of physics and logic but worry not, it's not about bombarding you with lame philosophy as much as it's just another aspect of the artwork where, just like in Kemonozume in general, all sort of groundbreaking is abound. read more