Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

If you're looking for an anime to kill some time, I guess this is something to watch. However, if you're looking for an anime that you would want to really enjoy watching, then perhaps you would want to think it over. Additionally, if you have a long list of anime to watch, this would probably be a low priority. Basically, this anime deals with fairies and their assistance to a poverty driven village.

While watching the first two episodes, I noticed that the story is very slow paced and quite boring. The story wasn't too compelling. The humor is probably targeting the younger audience. I ... feel like its trying too hard to be uniquely funny. The plus side of this anime is the art is attractive - the primary reason why I started watching this; and I found the characters to be quite unique and somewhat with a twist.

Maybe if I give it a chance and continue watching, my rating would possibly increase. I think I could be watching something better with my time than watching this, hence I would have to drop this.

Note: my thoughts were all based from watching the first two episodes, so I apologize for my rash yet straightforward opinion towards this anime.

[6.0/10]

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Humanity has Declined left me puzzled. Not necessarily out of confusion of whether I enjoyed the show or not. Spoiler, I did, but because I can't help but feel that if this series was more geared for "me", as someone with taste and emotion and certain biases, I would've down-right loved it. I think the best way I could describe Humanity has Declined is that of an audacious delight. Audacious because of the downright fascinating narrative choices, both in story and structure, and a delight because when everything wraps up at the end you are often times left going, "that was clever!" A series thats ... biggest flaw in my eyes is simply its creative deviations from what I prefer, which is the softest criticism I could ever air towards something, as my taste isn't necessarily the only thing good in the world.

It was as though it had multiple clashing personalities that fought for and against my love. On one hand, as I've said, it was incredibly audacious as a product, and pretty much, unlike anything I've seen. It had an exceedingly strange narrative structure, where its chronology was backward. On the other hand, it had surprisingly little character to it. Apart from the nameless Watashi, our candy-haired protagonist, who was established fairly well as the series went on, albeit not incredibly, she was virtually the only character who felt at all placed well within this series. In a thirteen episode show, where we burn through multiple characters in short two-episode arcs, I would expect more characterization from these established secondaries. Unfortunately, characters like Watashi's grandfather and employer whom she works for, who doesn't even have a character page on MAL, is almost non-existent in characterization. He appears quite often too!This issue extends throughout the majority of characters and I ultimately felt wholly uninterested in their scenes together.

The art had some gorgeous backgrounds yet somewhat lackluster animation, especially for such a short series. Once again, this duality clashes with my taste, and ultimately, just the way the story and characters played out wasn't to my taste. If these negatives seem to be a bit too strong then you have to understand my surprise at actually enjoying quite a bit of this series. Yes, because of its risky structure, sure, but also some genuinely inspired moments of both creativity and design. There were certain arcs that through me through multiple hoops only to have me land on my ass with a giant smile.

Let's look at that.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Character, Narrative, and this Crazy World]

Humanity has Declined has us follow this nameless protagonist, Watashi, translated as "I" in Japanese, as she describes situations at her job. She just so happens to have this job in a post-apocalyptic earth that had humanity, literally, decline and get destroyed, only to have this odd, distractingly cute fairy-race spring up. These odd creatures, standing just a few inches tall, are capable of sustaining themselves on everything fun, and when they are having fun, they reproduce, funny enough. They also just so happen to posess some pretty powerful kinds of world-altering magic that plays a role in every single arc in the series.

With this crazy, almost ludicrous setting to back-end this show, we visit Watashi and her less-characterized companions in their surreal and occasionally well-crafted adventures. From being stuck in a banana-infused time-loop to becoming trapped in a manga panel, there are a surprising amount of twists here. This series is as much a mystery as it is semi-dark comedy and fantasy adventure. Sure certain arcs really miss their mark, like the tedious space-explorer-robots-turned-humanoids arc that dragged and wasn't all too engaging, but overall this was impressive to me.

The narrative here, more so than anything else, shines. There are moments where you are completely and utterly lost. And that's clearly intentional. The creators chose to order this series in a strange chronology so we get introduced to this world in the opposite way these characters do, which creates for some odd whiplash at the end of the series. Even if there are certain moments of inspiration that come out of this structure, and certainly it had it's clever stings here and there, it ultimately didn't leave enough of an impression to feel integral to the way Humanity has Declined is presented.

With these off-the-wall narratives you might get frustrated at trying to figure out what exactly is happening. Which ended up happening to me, as I would pause the episodes and try to wrap my brain around why these events were placed the way they were. I'm happy to report that at the end of every arc we would get a natural resolution. Specifically, the timeloop arc being probably the funniest and most clever out of all of them, as we not only get a hilariously cheesy pun as the climax but also some authentically amusing mystery writing with engaging imagery to boot.

The arc that really ended up making me wary of this series is the "trapped-in-a-manga" detour. Which ended up being my favorite arc, as it was undoubtedly the most entertaining, but also, unfortunately, was easily the reason why this series never quite connected with me overall. This is where the actual issues with this series, more so than the character writing, really became clear to me as a viewer with heavy biases toward what I watch, as anyone would have.

I like my series to be thematically, and tonally coherent. When I say that I refer to the fact that while this series was, at its root, a fantasy-mystery-comedy hybrid, it really struggled with tying this world together. Being a surrealistic comedy, to me, isn't an excuse to shoehorn elements into a series that basically never get elaborated or even entertained as an actual element in the show. I don't think this issue I have is necesserally a flaw for certain people though, and it's hard to argue for or against because it relies so much on personal taste.

To make it even more clear. This issue I have with the series is something that I fully expect some people to not have at all, in fact, some may even encourage it. As surrealistic comedy is rare to come across now adays. I just think the surrealistic aspects of this show weren't bountiful enough to become a defining element of the series, and when utilized, they really didn't fit. Like, at all. Even the headless, feather-less chickens being a corporate entity, because yes, that's a story in this series, is surreal and wacky, and fairy magic is loosely defined on its utilities, but I feel like if we are to find verisimilitude within this world we need an element to rope these surrealistic moments together.

So we have characters being stuck in a manga panel. I love it. It provides some entertaining, meta-commentary on mangas and we get to see the cliche of these light novel and manga authors consistently jerk themselves off over how 'different' they are. I'll take it because meta-shit is tons of fun. But, lets take it a step further. This is obviously fairy magic to create what the fairies survive on. That in and of itself is pretty surreal and strange, even within this series. But that step further needs to also elaborate, to a certain extent, why these events don't permeate throughout the world!

The rest of the world seems to be normal, as in, the remaining humans living with one another and fairies hiding in plain sight. But you'd think that with this mind-bending and world-altering magic, we'd see more of it! No? I just found the entire thing to be a bit too much to fully grasp, especially with how loosely defined it was.

Even with that said though, the stories here were genuinely good, and apart from one, were all captivating in some way or another. It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny, but each arc definitely had a moment that made me chuckle fairly hard. Which is more than I can say about the majority of anime comedy I have the displeasure of watching. I think if you don't particularly care about this element I just criticized, then this show could truly be a hidden gem for you.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Art and Sound]

It's good. As I said, the art here is a it of a mixed bag. The backgrounds and general aesthetics here are solid as hell. In fact, they are downright excellent. Unfortunately, there is some lackluster animation and not many sequences of overly-impressive animation either, which is unfortunate for how short this series is. Overall, it's fine in the animation department. The biggest complaint in its presentation is its uninspired character designs. Even our protagonist took a bit to get used to for me. From her voice acting to her actual design, she was overall not too appealing to me. Thankfully, as the series progressed, she grew on me.

The character design overall struggles, though. From the secondaries to them majority of the fairies and characters, there is just too much banality in a world that is so focused on the surreal. If they really wanted to juxtapose the surreal elements with grounded designs then that would make sense, but our protagonist has fluffy, bright-pink hair, so I doubt that's the intent either.

The music is quite good, though. I rarely like anime music as it often just sounds the same to me. However, Humanity has Declined has some memorable moments. From the very Monogatari-esq mystery stings that occur every so often to the actually quite catchy opening and closing, these are elements i'm happy to praise!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Conclusion]

Overall, I hope you understand why this series can be confusing for me. Not from an enjoyment aspect, but from a recommendation aspect. If this series had more elements tailored towards my personal taste, I would have most likely thought it be one of my favorites. But, simply due to the audacious and surprising structure and stories told with remarkably well-crafted mystery stories, we have a show that totally nails certain elements.

I think this kind of thing can't be said about a lot of shows. Humanity has Declined feels like it is in a perpetual tug-of-war in my mind. One side is pulling for me to love the truly inspired elements, the other side is fighting vigorously for me to critique some of the design elements and even the overly-loose and limp interpretation of the more interesting aspects of the world. If you can look past that, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way, you will find a hidden gem with this series. It is genuinely, even when battling against some of my tastes, a lot of fun to watch.

I've been doing my best to not spoil some of the engaging moments seen here because I think they are best experienced through watching, not reading. It's a semi-dark comedy with a mystery slant that does not disappoint. Even if it doesn't look like "your kind of thing", hell, even if it doesn't feel like "your kind of thing" from your initial venture in, I recommend sticking with this short runtime for you may surprise yourself in what you end up taking out of it.

I've seen 6 of the episodes. I don't want to add any spoiler.So, let just make this a short one.

It started out pretty good and funny. The art is awesome! I kept anticipating for the next episode every week and somehow the story starting to get weird and just random. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Somehow, the title and the story doesn't seem to fit anymore. It's hard to understand the story... And what the characters have been doing.. Confusing, seriously!

The funny element is still there, but not so much. The only thing that can keep me going for the next 6 episodes is the fairies. ... They are so cute!

With all that have been said, I'm off.

Before I start off anything, I'd like to talk about the story and characters. Damn, they're both actually pretty damn good, I'd give them 9's for both categories. The story is nonsensical, but fits the genre well. I never get bored of the settings or plot, and they are quite interesting. World building is nonexistent, but that is sometimes the charm of these types of comedy genres. Definitely gives vibes of Bobobo, which is a good thing. Main character is whimsical, but interesting, provides good monologue at an acceptable level for an anime. Other characters (including fairies) are pretty random as well, but again, fits ... the genre well, and doesn't do anything bad. Both are great and complement each other well. Other things such as art, sound, etc are on par.

So why did I give this a 5? Well, simple. I did not crack a single smile the entire time I was watching this show. It doesn't provoke laughter at all. With a story and cast of characters that should have some sort of comedy, it doesn't deliver. Unfortunately, no matter how good the story is and characters are, if character dialogue and interaction aren't funny, which they really weren't, then it doesn't matter.
And alright, it's not like this show is 100% comedy. Sure, I can get on board with that idea. But the fact is, I don't really care about the show at all. It tries to be funny and fails, so of course, there can't be any sort of drama/seriousness since it has the plot and characters of a comedy. Characters are pretty good, but not really as a character that I really want to know the backstory of or something. They are good in a comedic setting.
And I get it. It's a satire type of comedy, perhaps I am just too stupid or something to get it? Well, alright. The same comments talking about this show being a social commentary also fail to mention the fact that the show has an entire episode arc dedicated to fujoshi. I mean, sure, there are definitely some messages and I get that, but honestly, the anime isn't exactly a George Orwell. It's good that the series tries to be deeper, but as someone once said : "If you force your imagination enough, you may be able to find something deep in the recesses of this art, but the same could be done if you stared long enough at the textures on a rusty frying pan." It's a comedy, and as such, should entertain me, shouldn't it? Zetsubou-Sensei is pretty interesting, and also serves as a dark comedy and satire, but that one actually provoked laughter, even though it lacked the story and character design this show had. It just goes to show that even with a great story and characters, you need to have good comedy to go with it to be considered good.
Anyways, it wasn't my cup of tea. I really enjoyed the story and characters so I stayed for 5 episodes straight, but when I don't find the show funny or enjoyable 42% into the show, I can say that it wasn't going to be good for the rest of the series as well. It's certainly a hit or miss, and I'll have to say, mine was a miss.
It really depends on whether you think the show is funny, not interesting, as it actually was interesting. But good luck laughing when watching this show. Dialogue and character interaction is actually just so bland. I think it's really the first show that's failed so miserably at making me laugh while also having good plot and characters.

A long time ago, when my age didn’t start with “3”... hell it barely started with “1” I had a high fever, about 44 degrees celsius to be exact. I don’t remember much from those 3 days, but I do remember having a really trippy, surreal dream, the kind Hughes Mearns or Salvador Dali would be proud of. In it I saw creatures similar to gnomes and elves that talked to me, some wanted to cut me to little pieces, some wanted to cure me and some just watched with amusement at my suffering. For some reason I want’s scared but more curious about them.
Later ... I found out that I had talked alot in my sleep and even made sounds that could be considered a conversation with someone who wasn’t there.

Watching this anime made me remember that time and I imagine the author has a really wild imagination or a similar experience to mine cause this anime is like a wild fever dream all in itself, from it’s background artstyle to the stories itself and even characters.

Our main heroine is Watashi aka “I” aka Ms. Sweets aka one of the most boring and useless protagonists out there. She works as a mediator between humans and fairies, she acts like a kind and caring person but she’s not above abusing her power to cover her own ass, as shown in episode 1. She’s very observant but can be pessimistic and whiny, she usually does things only to benefit her. As a protagonist she’s boring as hell because most of the time she’s only reacting to things that happened to her and even then someone else has to do the actual work most of the time. She has no real goal or wants… maybe except to have a rather peaceful and non-eventful existence. Also… I preferred her with short hair.

She is accompanied sometimes by her assistant. A true example of an Aryan - a blond haired, blue eyed, boy who rarely speaks, is a bit childish but does seem to have his shit together most of the time. For some reason Watashi can understand him even when he’s mute.

And then there are the fairies. Oh boy… They look like gnomes from the old “Snow white” Disney cartoon just more like… if the artist was on shrooms. They don’t seem to be evil, mostly bored. They want to help people but they usually do things in a roundabout way that makes me question their sanity. They also seem to love sweets.

The show is episodic which actually works in its favour. A long 12 episode fever dream would be much more exhausting than a few shorter ones. The problem is the quality of writing is all over the place. There are some that are really good and creative, some that are just plain boring and some that start out good only to crash and burn. I don’t think the show is bad. It had a lot of potential. But for all it’s flaws it ends up middle of road with very little to make it something more than just a curiosity.

I don’t hate it but I honestly can’t recommend this to anyone who doesn't like strange, almost avant garde things.

Good luck

I was hoping the rest of the anime would be like the first two episodes - heck, even like 3 and 4 if possible. They had interesting dialogue, pacing, and overall direction, and their focus on the juxtaposition between the fairy tale-like setting and the realities of the human world was what initially drew me in. But alas, this was destined to not always be the case, as the later episodes devolved into weird timeline shuffling and turned to explaining more Watashi's past instead of the much more interesting intersection between the story and the myriad of curiosities of a society in decline.

Granted, 'tis but ... merely one opinion. But I stand by my belief that the show lost its distinctive flair and style as it went on. Perhaps it's merely that I like satire just a little too much, and so when the show tried to balance it out with the good ol' schoollife intricacies and whatnot I just got a tad bit disapppointed. Perhaps.

Merci d'avoir lu ceci.