Demi-chan wa Kataritai (Interviews With Monster Girls)

High school biology teacher Tetsuo Takahashi may look like your average everyday instructor, but beneath his gentle appearance lies something less ordinary: his fascination for the "Ajin," more commonly known as "Demi." Although these half-human, half-monster beings have integrated into human society, Takahashi believes that much about them will remain unknown unless he interacts with them firsthand.

Demi-chan wa Kataritai follows Takahashi's daily life in Shibasaki High School together with his three Demi students—Hikari Takanashi, an energetic vampire; Kyouko Machi, a gentle dullahan; and Yuki Kusakabe, the shy snow woman. Along the way, Takahashi also meets fellow teacher Sakie Satou, a succubus with an aversion towards men. To fulfill his goal of learning more about the Demi, Takahashi decides to conduct casual interviews with the girls to learn more about their abilities, psyche, and interaction with human society. As Takahashi strengthens his bond with his students, he soon discovers that the Demi are not as unusual as he initially believed.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Adaptation:	Demi-chan wa Kataritai
Sequel:	Demi-chan wa Kataritai: Demi-chan no Natsuyasumi

Ishigami, Shizuka
Japanese

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Cook, Justin

Producer

Odagiri, Narumi

Producer

Herek, Samantha

Assistant Producer

Andou, Ryou

Director

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Opening Theme

"Original. (オリジナル。)" by TrySail

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Ending Theme

"Fairy Tale (フェアリーテイル)" by Sangatsu no Phantasia

Reviews

Mar 25, 2017

Skittles

Recommended

Monster girls to ecchi are like strong characters to shounen. Just like how a shounen anime would feel strange without a cast of muscular fighters and hotheaded heroes, an anime about monster girls would feel insufficient when lacking the presence of slender harpies and buxom centaurs.

But is it possible for monster girls in anime to be presented as something else other than fetish fuel? What if they possess charm, cuteness, and character worth sympathizing for?

Enter Winter 2017, and Demi-chan wa Kataritai arrives to answer my call.

At first glance, Demi-chan wa Kataritai seems to be a harmless slice of life with a dash of supernatural ... elements. Cute girls? Check. Pleasing visuals? Check. No solid plot whatsoever? Check. All these common tropes are present, so some might simply pass it off as another moe-fest destined for the backlog. But don’t be fooled! Beneath an otherwise generic sounding premise lies an anime consisting of likable characters, great social commentary, and the right dosage of comedy.

Since it lacks a distinct plot, Demi-chan wa Kataritai primarily markets itself using an all-lovable cast. In this feat, it really succeeds. You’ll be expecting a trio of BFF schoolgirls, a teacher with hilarious romantic issues, and a biology instructor who looks like Okabe Rintarou twenty years after Steins;Gate ended. The catch? Except for our eccentric teacher protagonist, all the main characters are monster girls—or demi-humans, as the show calls it—of various species.

What makes these characters entertaining, however, aren’t their abnormalities, but rather their struggles in coping with them to adapt to human society. Hikari is an upbeat vampire girl who quarrels with her sister often because of issues such as placing her blood packs in random places. Machi is a dullahan who feels that her headless presence would forever create tension between her and everyone else. Yuki the snow woman is worried that becoming too close to others would cause them to meet a cold demise. Sakie is a succubus teacher who dresses conservatively from fear of seducing males in her vicinity. Rather than merely being demi-humans for the sake of vanity, the characters of Demi-chan wa Kataritai learn to deal with problems that stem from their irregularities. It’s an interesting formula that always provides each new episode with a fresh perspective.

Of course, how can we forget the protagonist himself? Tetsuo might be the only male and human of the group, but such normalcy only makes him even more intriguing. As both a mentor and father figure to the girls, Tetsuo tasks himself with the mission to discover more about demi-humans by conducting casual interviews with them during recess hours. Some interviews will make you laugh, others will educate you more about the girl’s species, and in few instances, these interviews can bring you warm feelings. Whatever the case, Tetsuo's dynamic conversations with the girls represent the soul of Demi-chan wa Kataritai.

Admittedly, the show can sometimes veer dangerously into harem territory whenever the girls show borderline lust for Tetsuo due to the intimacy of the interviews. But since Tetsuo is their sole source of help to cope with human society, how can we blame the poor guy for inviting unwanted attention? Thankfully, this point isn’t major enough to turn the show into a full-blown harem like Monster Musume.

Demi-chan wa Kataritai also surprises its viewers with a good deal of social commentary. Think back to the girls struggling to adapt to school life because of their differences; doesn’t that sound a lot like contemporary issues regarding prejudice? Though Demi-chan wa Kataritai appears to be fluffy on the surface, it’s certainly not afraid to tackle serious matters during certain points. In one episode, a visiting detective named Ugaki discusses with Tetsuo about the state of demi-humans in Japan. Despite being regarded as perpetrators of crimes in the past, says Ugaki, demi-humans have now come so far as to become respected members of the national police force. Another episode involves Tetsuo realizing the struggles of Hikari’s family to make their vampire daughter feel welcome at home—a responsibility that doesn’t burden them even one bit due to their overwhelming love for their daughter. These problems might only be a fleeting extra for most people, but attentive viewers would be quick to draw parallels between these subtle messages and real-life contemporary issues. Small tidbits like this make Demi-chan wa Kataritai an engaging show to just about anyone.

Now that the darker stuff is out of the way, what about the humor? In a time where most slice of life rely too much on their moe factor to produce chuckles from the audience, Demi-chan wa Kataritai thankfully carries a brand of comedy that feels surprisingly genuine. Loudmouthed Hikari is obviously the main perpetrator of laughs, but I also had fun watching Sakie struggle with romantic concepts and Machi being oblivious to non-academic pursuits. During the second half, however, the show feels somewhat less funny, but that may be due to the story trying to wrap things up for the finale.

Character designs in Demi-chan wa Kataritai are nothing groundbreaking, but the show’s bright color palette creates a good match with the uplifting nature of the story. The hair color for the girls and the scenery of the backdrops give me the impression of a city version of Non Non Biyori, another slice of slice series which ironically bears many resemblances to Demi-chan wa Kataritai. The OP and ED themes are catchy enough, but what’s most interesting about them are their visuals. For a small treat, pay careful attention to them as you progress through the show.

Proving that anime with monster girls can be something different, Demi-chan wa Kataritai marks itself as an endearing slice of life that plays with the not-so-similar elements of cuteness and social issues. Despite being buried underneath this season’s big hitters like KonoSuba S2 and Masamune’s Revenge, Demi-chan wa Kataritai won’t fail to surprise viewers with its interesting take on an otherwise unremarkable premise.

My only wish now is that I can find a real-life figure like Tetsuo to be my life coach.

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Mar 25, 2017

sterl1

Mixed Feelings

Within the last couple of years slice of life anime have completely taken over the market and form the largest percentage of shows that are delivered to anime fans per season. It is fair to say; they are the bread and butter of modern anime and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. What is rather disappointing is the amount of uninspired and generic slice of life anime that are churned out by studios who want to stay in a shell and only make back their money by the skin of their teeth. Given the limitations of the slice of life genre trying ... to mix things up to make an anime more unique isn’t an easy task. And that is where Demi-chan wa Kataritai enters the mix to deliver arguably one of the most peculiar concepts in a slice of life anime. Its concept would be far more plausible in a fantasy anime. Yet it somehow implements this in a very relaxed fashion and in a way that feels rather natural while at the same time delivers all the traits of a modern slice of life title such as cute girls, a calm atmosphere and a comedic tone for the most part. Slice of life featuring cute monster girls isn’t completely original, since a few of them have been finding popularity with some recent ones being Monster Musume. But Demi-chan is potentially the first to use the idea in a way that can serve as more than just otaku pandering bait.

As bizarre as the idea behind the anime is, the premise is quite simple. It seamlessly involves a world where ajin also known as demi-humans have been accepted into human society and a biology high school teacher takes an interest into three demi-humans whom he teaches. Demi-chan attempts to explore how this supernatural phenomenon interrelates with the daily life of the ajins. The themes range from bullying, discrimination, being different and accepting ones image in society. All of these themes are depicted through the most mundane tasks in a high school setting. Its portrayal of the treatment of different people isn’t anything noteworthy but it does a fine job at showing a plausible enough representation of the subject. What was however quite disappointing was the lack of depth in exploring these themes. Demi-chan sets up basic dramatic conflicts between its characters to show the audience its themes. But the execution is too basic to have any long lasting impact and it has no interest in broadening its scope to demonstrate how ajin’s are treated on a grander scale which is quite disappointing. While that is not inherently a flaw it takes away from the show’s potential and instead traps it into the confines of the slice of life genre, ultimately condemning it to just CGDCT show for the most part.

The characters are very plain and the only thing that sets them apart from the typical archetypes seen in slice of life anime was their whacky appearances. It takes a decent amount of time fleshing them out and their relationships so at the very least the audience will care a little for them during the more dramatic moments. Demi-chan never tells you to take its characters all too seriously though, and while this might sound conflicting with what the show attempts to execute it is handled appropriately. Their antics feel a part of the story rather than in the way of it. It never felt it was trying to juggle too many balls at once, usually narrowing each specific plot thread down and focusing solely on it. With the comedy sprinkled in between. Its light hearted comedic segments where it was showing the cast doing nothing but talking and exchanging witty banter was quite enjoyable to see. While the characters were mildly entertaining, they don’t have enough depth to them. It also doesn’t help when the main character has an extremely bland personality and looks disinterested in everything most of time which really puts the whole mood of the show down. Its other main characters don’t have enough complexity to make up for their archetypal personalities and any potential in them was squandered with too much meandering. I don’t have much of a problem with comedy or light- hearted fluff. But demi-chan really did lose its steam by the half way point both with its comedy and concept.

As far as demi-chan’s visual presence is concerned, it is non-existent and leaves no lasting impression on the eyes. Aside from some bright colours both the art and animation are very average. The art style itself is nothing to write home about and can be found wherever you look in a similar show. The OST is quite soothing but is also forgettable.

Demi-chan suffers from more than just one or two small drawbacks. While the comedy can be enjoyable sporadically; the novelty of the anime wears off rather fast and by its second half it diminishes to the by the book CGDCT show. Its limited scope in the subjects it tries to explore also plays a hand in reducing the freshness of the anime’s premise as the episode count goes by. I wasn’t expecting the anime to portray its ideas on a global scale, but even taking just one step beyond the confines of its genre would have been enough to maintain my interest. Only then could I have truly held this on a higher pedestal. It becomes a victim to some occasional cheesy execution while also displaying infrequent moments of otaku pandering which came off as cringe worthy and immersion breaking. All in all, Demi-chan’s biggest weakness is its inability to break free of the confines of the genre it is in. As it was leaning more towards style rather than substance, the show did display some glimpses of using its potential, but didn’t do much with them and it wasn’t handled with much finesse.

I somewhat enjoyed Demi-chan despite my criticisms and the monotonous manner in which it handled its themes. Its character interactions and the cast themselves were mildly endearing. And for what it was going for it did far from a bad job. However not aiming for higher ground confined it to an ordinary show. Nonetheless it still remains one of the better non-sequel titles in the season it aired in. It is forgettable and I would only recommend it to those who are looking for an anime to wind down to after a long day of work. It is not inherently bad per say, it certainly does use some of its potential to show how these deficiencies would affect people on a small scale, but it just didn’t do enough to really separate itself from the oversaturated subgenre of CGDCT.

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Sep 17, 2023

RESOLVING_POWER

Not Recommended

I watched Demi-chan wa Kataritai (not including the ONA), also known as Interviews with Monsters Girls. Here are my thoughts:

This is literally just a typical school SoL show but with a (mostly inconsequential) monstergirl gimmick. That's it. The show doesn't excel at much, and it's not particularly unique or creative. It is watchable though, marginally.

Aside from the novelty of "demi-humans," the characters are pretty bland as a whole. Although, the vampire girl is a good character; she has a playful personality. I enjoyed her presence in the show. However, the rest of the cast is fairly bland. I would say that characterization is one ...

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Poll: Demi-chan wa Kataritai Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Mar 25, 2017	216 replies	by VetrandR »» Apr 11, 4:58 AM
This series would probably be better with at least SOME ecchi... ( 1 2 ) --ALEX-- - Feb 14, 2017	55 replies	by tectacles »» Feb 18, 4:06 PM
Poll: Demi-chan wa Kataritai Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jan 28, 2017	147 replies	by tectacles »» Jan 31, 5:57 AM
Poll: Demi-chan wa Kataritai Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jan 21, 2017	142 replies	by tectacles »» Jan 30, 7:03 AM
Poll: Demi-chan wa Kataritai Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jan 14, 2017	148 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Jan 27, 5:30 AM

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