Kemono Friends

I found the series to be a difficult-to-explain level of enjoyable/fun, Kemono friends makes a strong view for my most favored anime series ever.

The characters and setting were very endearing, but the thing I think is really important to comment on is the CGI, it's one of the most common criticisms out there that Kemono Friends has bad CGI. However, when I watched it, it was really jarring and bad-feeling for about the first episode, hell, the first couple scenes, after that it subsided and I was pretty much just able to enjoy myself.

The art, (Not the CGI) is very good, combined with the also-tops ... world building makes me curious about a couple of questions that the first season never answered, in a silly way I'd really like to go live there.

The music is incredible, Namely the OP, my complaint is that the OST you can buy contains 30 songs, and the show felt like it reused a handful of them in a bunch of places, as well, some of the tracks are scattered onto "Singles" which are extremely difficult to find in the real world, and also difficult to find for downlaod online. Shame on them for not putting the OP on the official sound-track. But as this review is for the QUALITY of the sound, "ten outa ten, a mastapeice."

This series Isn't very well known in the west, but I hope that more people are able to find it.

I'm deeply saddened by the fact that the future for Kemono friends is dubious with the release of the main producer and staff (Who as I've been informed, also left the studio out of solidarity), I can only hope that the situation improves. I want to see more friends :(

I'll be honest, when i first heard about this Anime, I thought it was a joke, especially with the low budget CGI. But since this show was gaining popularity so quickly, I'd thought i would give it a try too. After watching the first episode I thought...it was okay, better than I expected. After watching episodes 2 and 3 I thought it was getting better. By episode 7....I finally understood.

This Anime is more than just a show aimed towards a younger audience, This is a show that takes you on a whimsical adventure with well designed settings and amazingly well thought out characters. Don't ... let the clunky slightly awkward 3D animation fool you, this is an Anime in it's own league.

What I love about this anime is it's Story, Setting and Characters. Sure the animation is a bit strange, but it's definitely something you can get used to the more you watch, but for what they have to present, the characters and settings are very well designed. You've got wide open savannahs, vine filled jungles, gorgeous country-styled lakes and rivers, brimming deserts and even a snowy tundra area complete with a hot-tub spot

The Characters are what definitely sells me on this, I love cute animals, and with the cast they were able to fit in this 12 episode season were phenomenol choices and creations. Most of these "Friends" have unique personalities and traits that are based on their animal of origin, leading to a ton of fun possibilities with interractions between them and our main characters and setting up fun situations for our heroines to go through. For example, the wise owl duo enjoy being humanoids but wish to experience more with what they couldn't do as normal owls like enjoying a fully cooked meal, so they have Kaban cook for them in exchange for info about who she is.

My favorite characters are Serval, American Beaver, Prarie Dog, Alpaca, Northern White-faced Owl, Eurasian Eagle-Owl, Silver Fox, Sakhalin Fox and Margay.

And finally one of the best parts of this show is that it teaches you about Animals and Wildlife, mostly about things you probably wouldn't have known unless you were a Zoologist. I personally had no idea what a Serval was before watching this show, now i'm practically obsessed with these things.

If you do plan to watch this show, keep in mind that it will start out a bit slow, give it about until episodes 3-5 to hook you in, and enjoy

I really wanted to like Kemono Friends. I really did. After all; a show that manages to create a cult following strong enough to rekindle interest in Zoos must be doing something right. Though I have failed to figure out what that is, unfortunately...

At first glance, Kemono Friends looks like a cheaply made Slice of Life show with cute animal girls and little else to its merit; and although the people who coaxed me into watching this show would argue, it's basically exactly that. Kemono Friends has little to set it apart from the run of the mill "cute girls doing cute things" shows we ... get at least 2 of every season other then its setting, but this time i would argue that the characters aren't even particularly cute...


Aesthetics:

Put simply... The show looks bad... It's done entirely in CGI by a small team with few resources and it definitely shows... be it jankie movement or lip flaps that don't match the characters speech, the whole show is just awful to look at (somewhat of a big deal for a visual medium...) When it comes to this part of the show one of two things will happen. Either you won't be able to get past just how ugly the it looks and that feeling never goes away, or you will get use to it to the point where it doesn't bother you anymore and you only notice it when it screws up... Which it does... A lot... This is a shame as many scene could have been vastly improved had the animation been hand drawn rather then CGI.

Character Design is rather subjective so i won't dwell on it to long. Personally, I don't find them to be particularly appealing or cute. The show does its job of personifying the characters respective animals, but some (not all) seem to be a tab bit overdesigned. With weirdly long gloves and out of place bow-ties, some of the characters just seem a bit off. That isn't to say that a couple of the characters don't hit the nail on the head with their designs, just that a lot of them are a bit off the mark.


Sound:

The voice acting in this show seems rushed at best and phoned in at worst. A lot of the deliveries lack emotional depth and the voice actors don't seem particularly invested. Perhaps it's because the material given to them doesn't give them much to work with or the general air of cheapness surrounding the show makes otherwise good aspects seem much worse then they actually are, but in the end it just sound rather bland. There is no English Version as of this writing, so it's impossible to say wherever that is any better.

The music in the show is one of it's few strong suits. With a whole 2 tracks being average. Thous being the battle theme, and ending theme. With the rest being largely mediocre and forgettable. The main theme of the show is a generic "You're in Africa" track and chances are, if you've ever seen a cartoon with a scene that takes place in Africa, you've heard something rather similar. The Opening theme is passable, but i didn't end up watching it more then once as it didn't contain anything extraordinary, and the song was average at best. The ending theme, on the other hand, was rather pleasant and helped sooth the headache that the show caused me over the past 20 minutes. Although nothing special, it did its job of calming the mood and closing out the show with a relaxing tune. Lastly, the battle theme is on of the few things in this Anime i thoroughly enjoyed. Every time it started, smirked in excitement as it made every fight seem more dynamic even if what was actually happening on screen wasn't all that impressive.


Writing and Characters:

Many would argue that this is one of the show's strong suits, and although it isn't straight up bad like the rest of the show, it still barely manages to achieve average. The story revolves around Bag (a lost human) and Serval (a cute cat-girl). Roaming an island inhabited by humanized animals. Wile trying to find out what animal Bag is, they meet several characters or "friends" (hence the name) and pick up a few mysteries along the way (because in all reality no one would watch this show unless there was some sort of hook to keep interest). The show is very episodic, with each episode largely focusing on two or three characters at a time and their respective problems; with a string of clues to a mystery that lousily keeps the show together and moving along. This leads to the episodes being rather formulaic, and each plot being telegraphed far in advance. Seeing as every individual character only appears for a short time none of them get properly developed or have any sort of progression other then Bag herself. This leads to characters that are mostly 2 dimensional (beaver likes to build things but is bad at it. She later gets good at it. That's it. That's the extent of her character), or in the worst cases characters that are completely 1 dimensional, though that only happens about 2 or 3 times throughout the show. Many of them make odd decisions and unrealistic actions for the sake of plot convenience. To use specific examples without spoiling anything; one character fails to figure out that the person she is chasing and hates is the same person who she's being hearing great things about and has become a fan of... Or the PPP, a pop-idol group that was never mentioned before hand (outside of episode previews) who are supposed to be famous all around the island. As for the aforementioned mystery, there isn't much to it, and anyone paying any attention beyond "none" will probably figure out rather quickly where the show is going. Though to be perfectly fair; this is from the prospective of someone who watched it mostly in one sitting rather then on a week-to-week basis as it was intended.
The show also has these odd clips of experts talking about the given animals in each episode. Although novel, these clips feel largely forced and down-right crigy at times. They don't add much and the Anime would have probably been fine without them, but at the very least they are concise and don't overstay their welcome.

All in all the show cute, and easy to digest. Nothing overly complicated happens and if all you are looking for is a wholesome time with cute animal girls with not to much substance that you can just turn your brain off and enjoy, this show fits the bill fine (I personally found myself in a rare situation of needing to pause the episode to stop laughing at a rather well executed gag). That being said there isn't much substance here, and it doesn't hold up to critical thinking particularly well, and unlike other shows with the same issue it doesn't anything else extraordinarily well to make up for it. If you just want to watch cute anime girls doing various things there are better options out there that do it far better then this.

This is one of my favorite anime's of all time. The cg took a little to get around, but once you accept it, it is actually a beautiful animation to the show. I love this anime because of how cute it is, I personally watch Moe so that I can catch some second hand happy, and Kimono Friends is cg anti-depressants. This show makes me happy, just watching all the friends go about their lives and interact is so entertaining. Also the story creeps up, you don't realize how deep the story is until the last few episodes, but then it all starts to make ... sense. Kemono Friends is an easy 11 in my book. If you are thinking about watching it, please do, you will not regret it. Its too warm of a show to pass up.

this is my first review so I'll keep it short and give my honest impression of the show.
Well, the first episode if really slow and kinda painful to watch. I would've drop this how right away if it not because of the others review, and I really grateful I did not.
The story is simple yet really enjoyable (with some darker twist), the characters are cute and endearable, the voice-acting really support the character (my favorite line is of course: su~goi!, ta~noshi!), and the OP and ED is also suprisingly good. Well, we all hate the 3D CGI, but once you get used to it, you ... will find this show really enjoyable (10/10 for enjoyment for me!)
cheers! and spread the word about Kemono Friends!

Pretty much feels like a point and click adventure game, serval chan and kabban chan (the human girl) travel across many biomes of nature, while meeting new friends along the way with their own problems that can be solved with friendship. This anime has low quality visuals and the horrible CG everyone hates so much, however if you look past this (just like any nintendo game) you will find a fresh welcoming anime that rewards the viewer the more they watch. the music is nice and catchy, and the character designs themselves are very much cosplay material. i had a lot of unexpected fun watching ... this anime

A review sold me on watching the show, so I figured I would write one to maybe help somebody else decide on whether to watch.

First and foremost the CGI and animation is a bit of a problem. The quality is lacking and clearly they studio did their best with the budget they had. Cost cutting measures can be found in scenes were characters have their backs to the camera but dialogue continues. In these kinds of scenes there is minimal animation, hence the cost cutting. Be that as it may, the backgrounds were actually freaking amazing at times. I mean they were well produced, so ... the visuals are not all bad. You will get used to it, especially if you have an open mind and manage your expectations going into the show. Honestly, the sub par animation adds a bit of charm to the show, because you end up not only rooting for the characters but the show as well, sort of like in a “Little Engine That Could” kind of way. You can do it!!

Ok, so now that we have some of the expectations out of the way, what about the show itself? I won’t be long winded here. The show is soft, sweet, and a bit funny at times. In addition, a good bit of mystery is involved as the main characters are on a journey through a “zoo/safari” type of theme park. The MCs meet other “friends” along the way, and the meetings make for quite the adventure. The directing is quite good, and the way the studio balanced the “task of the week” and the overall story was superb. The larger mystery of who the friends are and where they came from will keep you intrigued.

You will smile at the beginning and end of every episode. Why? Because of the characters…well more specifically because of the the voice acting. I haven’t heard voice acting like this across so many characters in one show in a long long time. Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it at least. Each character is so unique strictly due to the amazing range of these voice actors. You will not be disappointed I promise you that.

Oh yeah, last thing. The show is super informative about cool animals. So there is that. Yeah, I learned something about Camels and their humps. When you find out, you’ll be like me: “Well, no s&*t!! I had no idea!” Anyway, take a chance, get through the first 2 episodes and you won’t regret it!

PS I really liked the OP and ED too. =)

Kemono Friends, or "The Importance of Giving A Shit."

How did Kemono Friends, a show that looks like "Nekopara" by way of "Buddy G, My Two Moms And Me" top the sales charts? How did a literal who studio beat out the likes of Trigger and KyoAni?

Because they cared.

Kemono Friends is a testament to the power of earnest effort. This is a children's educational show made on a shoestring budget, probably something in the vicinity of two dimes and some pocket lint, but where lesser teams would be content to throw in the towel and churn out a shitty product ("Who cares, it's for kids!"), this ... studio gave it their all. The world building on display here, the hints at lore sprinkled through every single episode, and the mystery of this seemingly post-apocalyptic setting, is so impressively pulled off that it seems almost effortless.

Damon Lindelof, eat your heart out.

However, there's more to it. The characters are simple kids' fare staples, sure, but they've got a charm that grows on you. Hell, when a bow-tied ditzy cat girl almost got devoured by a giant rock monster at the end of episode 11, I found myself emotionally invested. I wanted to know: would these Friends be okay? It's the most effective cliffhanger I've seen in a while, believe it or not. Similarly, the episode-by-episode plots are straightforward, but they all build until the surprisingly epic finale. Despite the stiff animation and... odd art style, I cared about the story and the characters, and at the end of the day, isn't that what we really want from a show? To care?

You can have the flashiest of animated spectacles, you can have all the fan service in the world, but sometimes, all a successful show really needs is just a little bit of heart. Well, this show has heart in spades.

Kemono Friends: Coming at you with music and fun and, if you're not careful, you may learn something before it's done.

Is 3D better than 2D?

Ah Kemono Friends what the fuck internet..... or that's what i original thought when i first heard of this anime but then i watched it and then i began to understand.

The story really has no real plot as it's really just an excuse to have our two protags go episode to episode meeting new anime friends, each episode is either a new bunch of animal friends each with their own little personality that from what the show tells you is because of what animal they are, all of them are a joy to watch.

This anime is a harmless 3D anime that ... exists to give you a fun little time its not a legendary anime that will go down in history as a masterpiece its just a good old time if you can get past the 3D animation

Another gracious piece of work to show high budget graphics and bouncing boobs aren't what makes a great show.

I can't say that edged 3D graphic is enjoyable at first sight and is probably the reason why majority of people ignored this show as I did in the beginning. However, soon after its release, Kemono Friends became such a huge phenomenon internationally that I had to hop on as well and soon the graphics wasn't discomforting anymore.

Just as 'Steins Gate' did, watching about 3 or 4 episodes makes you absorbed into seemingly childish lighthearted plot. However, the constantly reminding ominous background setting in the back ... of your head gives this anime a contradicting sensation and forces the viewer to question what really happened in Japari Park.

Even though it's a low budget show, Kemono Friends did a surprising amount of research on each animal behavior (and probably tons of animal gifs) and forged them into each anthropomorph with distinct character. Which ultimately emphasizes on 'what makes humans different from animals'.

Trails of smallest details and clues that congregate as the story moves on absorbs your attention. Whether you found out yourself or read on internet how something mentioned in past leads up to future event, it provides a whole new experience when watching the episodes again.

My only regret of watching this show is that I started it before the show was over. Now I'm stuck in limbo of constantly waiting for next episode while trying to solve as much puzzle as possible to grasp whats about to happen next. So far I've seen 11 episodes, anxiously waiting for the last one coming out next week.

I strongly recommend giving this show about 4 episodes and its gonna give you a hell of a ride to Japari Park.

Spoiler-free review:

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Kemono Friends. The first couple of episodes didn't grip me, but it grew on me the more I watched.

The story is kept fairly simple. Kaban and Serval set off on an adventure to the library to find out what kind of Friend Kaban is. Along the way we learn about Japari Park, its history and secrets, but not much. A lot is left out which will hopefully be covered in the upcoming season. Along the way we are also introduced to a superbly designed cast of characters. Every character somewhat resembles their respective animal while ... also looking unbearably cute. Their personality is also influenced by how their respective animal acts. However, here lies a problem. Almost none of them go past their initial couple of traits. With so many characters, there just isn't enough time to flesh them out. The Friends inhabit diverse biomes ranging from scorching deserts to freezing tundras. However, the world feels rather empty because it's void of detail, which leads me to the elephant in the room - the animation. Anyone struggling with 3D or CG animation is gonna have a hard time going through this show. Every character's movements feel incredibly stiff and corners are cut almost everywhere, but I'd have to argue this works in the show's favor. It looks really cheap, making it feel more like a passion project than a product.

In conclusion, Kemono Friends is greater than the sum of its parts. While not being something spectacular, it's definitely a unique experience that I'll cherish.

Great work, not for the faint-hearted.

Colorful Artwork. pleasurable style of coloring yet feeble at some point.

Different plot on each episodes, you'll learn many animal trivia. delightful for those who love animals.

Cute characters.

Some may enjoy the CG and some may not.

... Heartwarming yet at the same time inadequate kick to the story line.

Enjoying it so far.

Entertaining to watch.

"unique" breakthrough kind of anime.

Definitely made for Adult viewers.

Perfect to grab on spare time, break, or even holidays (Chilling)

May be strange for some people, but you'll get used to it pretty fast.

Overall 8/10 recommended for spring anime.

Despite the subpar animation, this is definitely one of the most interesting anime I've seen. I would be spoiling if I talked about what the story actually is since it isn't apparent from the beginning, but the whole way it plays out is very well written. It's hard to tell what direction it's going in based on the first episode. The story is clearly the most important part of the series. It's one of those kinds of anime where "as long as you can put up with the animation you'll be able to enjoy a great story". It's a genre that you see a lot ... of in American film and television and not much in anime, which is part of what makes it so great. It also adds a great bit of spice to the genre that I haven't seen before. It also tries to be cute, which may turn some people off but also lulls you into a false sense of security, which really works for its whole concept. Once you realize what where it's going it's interesting to see the story unravel and you'll be glad it didn't look dark at the beginning.

The art really gives that "poor quality computer graphics animation" feel. It's like it was animated in the early 2000s. For a typical anime this might seem like a deal breaker or might make you think about dropping your score a few points as studios who can't even afford decent animation generally don't have a good writing team either, but I don't think this is the case here. In fact, although at first the animation may strike you as being awfully produced, after some time you might not mind it or may even begin to like it. When all of the animation looks bad it also has the benefit of minor animation errors not looking out of place, which I consider to be a good thing. If you're watching for enjoyment it can be better for animation to be uniformly awful than to be mostly good with random spikes of bad animation. Nonetheless, although the animation itself looks eccentric, the characters are all well designed and are fairly representative of the animals they're meant to be, with a few exceptions. The machinery, the park, and the antagonists are also well designed. Even if it isn't a world you would want to live in if you could it's still an interesting place and enough attractions to keep you engaged for its 12 episodes. Some adventure anime have repetetive set designs, so it's a good thing they did their best to keep the world fresh so there was always more to look forward to.

In addition to all looking cute and different, the characters' personalities were all different and well written. Even if with the handful of characters introduced every episode you don't find yourself a new favourite character I doubt any of them will disappoint you. Each of them is based on a different animal species and they have characteristics of that species along with their own characteristics. There are many different species of cat and penguin which all look and act distinct. They act exactly how you expect an animal human hybrid to act in real life, which is rare for anime. In most anime kemonomimi just do some gestures and add a word related to their animal at the end of their sentences, but in Kemono Friends all of the characters actually feel like they're meant to be the animal they're meant to be, but this doesn't mean they don't have any personality outside of their "spirit animal". Most of what we're shown to know what animal they are is their clothing, which isn't the best way as the giraffe character is actually below average height, but it works to introduce them and tell them apart easily and isn't hard to get used to. All of the characters, even the robot who might not want to have a personality, are easy to get attached to even though most of them have minimal screen time.
Along with the theme, the characters’ voices are also meant to reflect the anime they are, which I think is well done. The alpaca character sounds very soft and cute, just like real alpaca are. The opening theme song sounds beautiful yet simplistic, which perfectly represents what the show is. It gives the sense that the show is just a childish cartoon, which is a perfect light to show it in. The ending theme is fairly boring, but no anime can be perfect. The background music is surprisingly well done. There’s dubstep during some of the fights against the cerubelum, which makes them feel a bit more epic and is just a good song in general. You don’t hear much dubstep in anime, so I appreciate hearing it here. Even if it was just what the sound guy happened to be able to mix up I think it adds a nice touch to the series. Some of the other background tunes are also stick out rather than just being there to fill in the silence.

This received some very mixed reviews when it was airing, but when watching it after it aired and hearing it was a masterpiece I did enjoy it a lot. I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed it any less if I had watched it more slowly, but as one whole story it is a very enjoyable anime. I know some people get a lot of their enjoyment from how an anime is animated and although this does have cute girls and fights they aren’t animated as well as most anime are, but this doesn’t actually matter that much to me. After all, most cuteness comes from personality and most of the impact from a fight comes from how the characters react to it so I feel the need to put much weight on the animation itself. Being one of the best stories I’ve seen in any anime I can’t help but enjoy it. Unlike other short anime with large casts like The iDOLM@STER that gives each main cast member an episode to themselves and them leaves in the background for the rest of it and Girlfriend (Kari) that has an even larger cast and doesn’t bother expending the energy to develop any of them, Kemono Friends works like a cast building anime such as Love Live or Nanatsu no Taizai, but characters don’t stick around any longer than they need to. In a way you could call this style an “introductory anime”, although some of the characters they meet along the way do show up later or are at least talked about. There are also some multiple episode arcs, which are interesting. The whole way the anime is set up makes the show very enjoyable for me. At no point did I find myself bored, which is something not too many anime are able to pull off.

Overall the entire experience was very postive for me. Although on the surface it might not seem like it would be anything special or might even appear to be below average, but the longer you watch for the more you get attached to the characters and the world the live in. It’s a very unique anime and should not be looked down on just because of the CGI. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes cute anime, adventure anime, or anime about animal girls. It has an odd combination of elements and like Gakkougurashi it does a really good job at combining them and makes it feel very natural.

If ever there was an anime that could be described with ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ Kemono Friends is it without a doubt.

...but even with that in mind, we do really need to address the adorable elephant-girl in the room; the visuals.

There’s a lot of adulation going around for Kemono friends, and on the whole I really enjoyed it, but this is not a 10/10 show by any means. If you’ve read any of my other reviews you’ll know that visuals aren’t something that I tend to focus a lot on, as I’m always going to be drawn in by interesting plots and ... characters over pretty animation, but Kemono Friends is one where I really took note of the visual aspect.

You know, because it’s utterly horrible.

Let me be clear, I’m actually a big advocate for CG in Anime. I’m a big fan of both Ajin and Knights of Sidonia, and I think both of those shows (particularly the latter) do some interesting things with the medium. The problem with the animation in Kemono friends isn’t that it’s CGI, it’s that it’s really, really bad CGI. It looks incredibly cheap, like something knocked together by an undergraduate student animator for the kids slot of a local TV station. The CGI characters awkwardly glide across the mostly static backgrounds; I’m pretty sure there’s more skating in Kemono Friends than there was in Yuri on Ice.

The show is further set back by an evidently extremely limited number of available poses and expressions, something which is particularly noticeable in scenes involving any kind of dynamic action. The impact of the triumphant ‘final battle’ in particular is really dampened by the painful awkwardness of the many characters moving around the screen.

So why did I enjoy KF so damned much?

First of all, the show definitely has a visual saving grace in the character designs, which are bizarrely great considering the bargain-basement quality of the way they’re animated. Aside from being simple, distinct and cute in exactly the right proportions, the titular ‘Friends’ really effectively evoke the animals they’re based on. Aside from the standard ears and tails, the use of costumes and clothing to reference the subtler traits and patterns of each animal are really clever, and obviously had a great deal of thought put into them.

The plot is really interesting in the way that it very carefully cultivates a surprising amount of depth in a deceptively simple story. It’s not that there’s a yawning abyss of dark, existential horror lurking behind the cutesy facade; although some people do seem to be going along those lines, I think (to the credit of the show) that it’s a bit more subtle than that. It’s more a sense that the straightforward events of the series take place in the context of something potentially much larger, adding a little weight to a narrative that would otherwise be fluffy and saccharine. The show is also packed full of tiny little visual easter eggs relating to the wider events of the setting, which is made all the more impressive by how difficult that must have been to achieve within the limitations of the CGI.

The characters also manage to be completely charming in spite of their slightly robotic physical presence. The Friends animal-based personalities are brilliantly appropriate, and the voice acting does a great job of getting it across; Crested Ibis in particular was an absolutely hilarious highlight.

The the development of Serval and Kaban’s friendship is definitely the core of the show, and as with pretty much everything else in KF, it’s way more convincing than it seems like it should be. The second-to-last episode does a great job of paying off that character development, and the whole thing is really surprisingly touching in the end. …and honestly that idea really sums up what I thought of the show as a whole.

Welcome to Japari Park!

Well, looking back at Kemono Friends, from this CGI anime being the small blimp on LA's radar during Winter 2017 to the underdog juggernaut that utterly exploded in Japan it became today, LA by all means "got" how Kemono Friends got this popular, but is it actually any good?

Kemono Friends is but a simple story of Kaban-chan voiced by Aya Uchida finding out what she is with the help of Serval voiced by Yuka Ozaki a humanoid Serval as they travel Japari Park and find new "Friends" (other humanoid animals like Serval's ilk) along the way. This DOES seem like an extremely ... simplistic story and it is, it's just what's inside that has all the good details tucked under itself.

From it's simplistic nature of this anime, you'd think this anime would talk down to us but it doesn't as subtle is the key to this anime. Kemono Friends doesn't outright exposite anything about it's central plot or about Kaban or the situation, it just comes in a and pardon the pun but in a natural way, subtly giving us hints to it's central mystery of Kaban while at the same time give it's sub-stories focusing on certain Friends their time in the limelight too. For what Kemono Friends was based off of, a mobile game that defunct before the airing of the anime, it's this kind of storytelling that LA actually admire from Kemono Friends and many animes actually needs to get around using exposition properly...we don't always need our hands held for these kinds of things, we can think on our own and even it's subtle hints can make us invest into the story more when we didn't even realize it (in the case of Kaban) and that thinking only helps make Kemono Friends something quite different in anime.

There is actually two more things to mention about the story, one is that before and after it's "commercial breaks" it actually gives us real people speaking to us about facts about animals so it becomes educational in a sense and that is perfectly ok with what Kemono Friend's setting is. The second and this LA missed before accidentally stumbling on it, is that in the last few minutes of nearly each episode we follow Fennec voiced by Kana Motomiya and Araiguma/Raccoon voiced by Saki Ono is "trying to find a hat thief" and this actually becomes important in the plot funnily enough!

Character-wise, we do have a HUGE roster in the anime as Kaban and Serval does go to quite alot of different areas with different animals *ahem* Friends. Kaban and Serval are essentially our audience surrogates of the anime with Kaban having an amnesiac stereotype and that's ok for the plot as LA explained above. The majority of the Friends including Kaban do have their own quirks and running gags but since we have a huge roster, LA will at least mention LA's favorites in Kemono Friends. Black-tailed Prairie Dog voiced by Naomi Oozora for her genkiness and well voice actor really got LA to like her, Gray Wolf voiced by Kanae Ito for her constant teasing of certain characters for her manga of all things and voice actor and Serval because we actually get to know the most out of her, not to mention her genkiness like Black-tailed Prairie Dog was certainly infectious making the journey of this anime rather pleasing and a fun ride all round.

Ohhh boy, the animation. The animation done by Yaoyorozu who also did Tesagure! Bukatsumono brings in an uncanny experience at first with it's CGI work, but with decent backgrounding and it's own CGI fidelity working with it's own CGI character designs gave it's own sense of animation unlike it's own, sure it's ugly and uncanny at first but coupled with it's character designs blending in well with it's CGI work as a whole and sparingly decent background work, the animation done by Yaoyorozu has it's problems but oddly enough works it's own favour. Is the animation terrible?...to a certain degree yes, does it REALLY matter?...up to you but for LA, LA was ok with it though it took time getting used to it which was fairly quickly.

The voice acting was actually not that bad as LA mentioned above of liking Kanae Ito and Naomi Oozora's acting talents, but with a huge roster of what are essentially newbie voice actors with one or two anime roles under their belt, for newbies they did a rather decent job in voicing their respective characters. LA would give special props to Aya Uchida as Kaban and the Lucky Beasts as well as Yuka Ozaki for essentially making Kemono Friends what it is and breathing more life into this anime.

So to re-iterate what LA said at the start of this review..."Is Kemono Friends good?", LA definitely says yes to this, sure it's animation is uncanny to say the least and the plot is too simplistic but what it makes up for is how subtle the plot actually is and NEVER tries to force feed us information and actually tries to be subtle about itself even if it's a simplistic anime.

Kemono Friends by the definition is an underdog anime that broke through it's stigma of having poor CGI animation to become the "juggernaut anime" it has become, speaking VOLUMES that not ALL animes needs to have high quality animation with complex characters and stories to get itself popular. If there was anything Kemono Friends got right was knowing what it was and not overstepping it's own boundaries and utilizing it to it's advantage and not dumbing everything down to the lowest common denominator masses in order to do well.

LA did quite enjoy the journey of Kemono Friends and Japari Park and is definitely gonna watch it's sequel when it's released.

This is being written fresh off of watching the last episode, and wow what a ride this was. I've never written a review for an anime before, but I felt compelled to, as did many, as I saw the MAL rating soar from the low 4/5 up to 7/8 over the few days I watched this over.

Alright, lets lay some background down. Kemono Friends is an anime that very little to work with, as it initially started as a smartphone game, which lasted from March 2015 - December 2016, before the anime even aired. So what could this animation team, working on a shoestring budget, ... devise up? A surprisingly great anime, despite all its obvious (cough animation cough) flaws.

What I will say, before I say anything about the contents of the anime, is that yes the animation is bad. It is done entirely with 3d modelling and its painfully obvious, very quickly, that the animation is not anywhere near up to scratch as to what is expected usually. This is what heavily split people, you would either watch the first episode, find the animation really off-putting and stop, or, continue on and realise that the story is in fact really really good for what there was to work with.

Now we have this down, lets get into the anime. The scene is set in the first episode to be within a large zoo, with Serval-chan and "Bag"-chan. They go on an adventure to journey to the library, to find out what type of animal "Bag" is. This is what sparks the adventure. I'll be honest, not too much happens in the first couple episodes, and if you are on the fence, I implore you to watch until at least episode 4, as that is where it gets interesting.

You'll meet many "Friends" along the way, each personifying the animal they represent, and the voice actors do a wonderful job, from the main characters to the more supporting roles and the 3d models, as janky they may be, do enough to bring out the characters, and (well I did) become emotionally attached and very much involved into the story.

What you will notice, is behind the veneer of cute girls/"Friends" doing things is the underlying post-apocalyptic/completely abandoned theme. It starts by showing the odd thing here and there which does not fit in, using what I've seen described as many as "show, don't tell" and it does it very well. This is the main concept used through which the post-apocalyptic story is told, however there are one or two things that are said which while flowing well with the childlike playfulness of the script, are actually very important.

This contrast between child/adult themes do wonders for the anime, and these combined really drive the anime and I, amazingly thinking back to the beginning, became very much involved with the story and made me glad that I started after the majority of the episodes was released, because I always wanted to see what happens next, and this intensifies in the second half of the anime, as everything starts to be unravelled and the mysteries that begin in the first half become slowly but surely solved.

And the last couple of episodes, wow, that was an ending and a half. No spoilers, but it really was a great ending.

It really is an underdog story, of how an anime done on a shoestring budget explodes in popularity, and becomes a late bloomer in the season, and it absolutely deserves it. Despite its flaws, it focuses on its positives and really shines through with an excellent story.

Go watch it now. Give it a good old go.

Kemono Friends caters to the lowest common denominator! The show does provide laughs and giggles, Tender moments every once in a while however, the overall piece is poorly put together mess. It is so horrendous and appalling that it makes me question the future standard of anime quality.

Story

To being, the story and almost non-existent plot is so simplified that it appears to be geared towards children. Quite frankly I believe that is the case. We follow our main character as she encounters new friends or "creatures." The fact that this title was a cell phone game, sort of explains the weak narrative and poor ... storytelling. The writers chose the easiest and in my opinion laziest decisions for making the story more appealing. What approach was that you ask? Cute girls doing cute things for the sake of entertainment and pleasure.

Art

Full on CGI animated anime titles is not ready! There are so many shows that attempt to make it work but come up short. The character designs and settings, animation like walk cycle’s etc. look like a complete mess. The transitioning looks sloppy and the it is made blatantly obvious by the poor choices made during the animation process that Kemono friends was created on a shoe-string budget. It was as if no effort to detail or information based upon the African Safari setting was made.
Sound

Poor! Very poor sound quality! I didn’t even bother using my high end audio gear because of it. In fact, I plugged in my cheap dollar store headphones just to listen to the show. That’s how plain the sound in this show was. The composers did a terrible job creating quality sound that fits the aesthetics of the show. A tune to set the atmosphere of the setting or a scene was non-existent!

In regards to the actors, they should not be proud to list this as one of their accomplishments in voice acting. I’ll admit that the actors did an amazing job with their characters. However, because of the show they were stuck doing I had no choice but to add my previous statement.
Character

One sided personalities that are created to fit one purpose. The characters are not worth getting attached to. Rather, they do not do anything to make me attached to them. Some characters have charming personalities or quirks to them that make them an interesting person.

Because Kemono friends was made on a budget, the director most likely said, “you know what we should do?” “We should give each character an archetype and have them act on it.” “Forget about making them unique and lively.” “As long as they are cute and doing cute things that’s okay with me!” “ Hyuck Hyuck.”

Enjoyment

None. It was a pain to sit through! I was pretty much forced to endure the discomfort of sitting through an episode of kemono friends when I much rather have been doing something more productive with my life. Overall I feel that the series is highly overrated and not even worth picking up!

Kemono Friends is an anime that stands out in the children's genre due to its unique storyline. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where humans no longer exist and humanoid animals are the dominant species. These animals are fascinated by human creations such as robots, guided cars, and artificial systems.

The anime gained significant popularity due to the story of Grape Kun, a penguin who was intrigued by human creations, particularly the Lulu penguin billboard. Despite being a children's anime, Kemono Friends has a distinctive quality that incorporates elements of Steins Gate, making it an excellent choice for adults.

In summary, Kemono Friends is a ... genius trap for viewers. It may appear to be a children's genre, but it is actually designed to cater to adults as well.

Kemono Friends is an anime based on a manga based on a Nexon cell phone game. Yaoyorozu is the studio we have to thank for them. If the name doesn't sound familiar, it's not surprising. They're behind this, a two series anime called Tesagure Bukatsumono and its spin off & a ten episode series called Minarai Diva. Of all five of those, this is their best known work. I'd never even heard of them before doing my early research into this. Honestly, I don't know what to expect from it. I'm only aware of this series because I've seen a tonne of cutesy yuri fan ... art for it. I suppose there are many worse ways to hear about a series.

Story:

We open with our heroine waking in a strange savannah. She's chased by Serval, eventually being pinned and asking her to please not eat her. She will be changing her tune later or maybe not since it's a different type of “eat.” Serval asks her for her name and she doesn't know. So, they decide to name her Kaban, meaning bag, since she's carrying a bag. Good thing she wasn't carrying around something embarrassing like an air-sickness bag or a floppy dildo. Kaban & Serval set out on a journey throughout Japari Park to discover what kind of animal Kaban is, where her habitat is and if there are any good love hotels because the ground isn't ideally comfortable.

The big flaw with the series is just that things get resolved far too easily. Kaban & Serval encounter a lot of different problems involving a lot of different friends and they're able to resolve them all pretty easily. The big climactic threat is the only one that seems to take any real effort. Now, to be fair, it's pretty clear that the reasons they manage things pretty easily are a combination of Kaban's smarts & the inherent goodness of all of the friends in the park. These ladies don't know the definition of “malice.” They're probably even unfailingly nice when their team is losing in an online shooter. But, here's the thing, even if there is a ready in universe explanation for how they can solve things with relative ease, it does detract from any potential tension.

The world building is quite good. We get introduced to all of the different habitats and some of the friends that live in each one while also getting insights into how Japari Park was supposed to operate and what went wrong to make it not work out. It is also pretty enjoyable to watch Serval & Kaban interact with the various friends. The big climax is deftly handled with a strong, epic confrontation.

Characters:

The characters in this aren't particularly complex. Quite the contrary, they're pretty simple. That's true for Kaban & Serval as well as all the friends we see a lot more briefly. But, in all fairness, it is a comedic series and their interactions are entertaining. I can't say they're uproariously funny like the character interactions you get in anime like Galaxy Angel or Muteki Kanban Musume but they work well enough.

Art:

This is the big area where the series just falls short. Last October I reviewed an anime called Ajin that had artwork and animation that I said looked like an early PS2 game from when developers weren't even close to pushing the graphical limits of the machine. This anime is about on par with that. The character movements are stiff. The CGI models look very cheap and they'll do things like go cross-eyed for no reason. You can tell the series didn't have much of an animation budget.

Sound:

They did get some talented actresses for this. We've got Uchida Aya (Hi, Kotori), Kobayashi Yuu (Sasha Blouse), Kaneda Tomoko (Chiyo-chan), Mimori Suzuko (So, that's Umi in addition to Kotori) and a whole slew of actresses, both inexperienced and veteran. None of which do badly. The performances that we hear for any length of time are all quite good and those characters who only have a few lines sound just fine. Tateyama Akiyuki's soundtrack is nicely composed.

Ho-yay:

I can see why there's a lot of cutesy yuri fan art for this series. A lot of the friends Serval & Kaban encounter are paired up and either start out seemingly close or get to a point where they are. Praire Dog greets Beaver by giving her a big old kiss and then they move in together. Serval and Kaban are shown as being really close and there are no men in the series. Although they gender the little robot as male. So, this is one of those that was definitely going to be picked up on for “having potential” by the yuri fans. But, personally, I just don't think most of the dynamics are all that strong for that specific purpose. They're more friendly and good-natured.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I did enjoy Kemono Friends. The world building was nice, the dynamics were enjoyable, the climax was satisfying, the voice acting and music were good. It's a very simple series, but fun. It is, however, somewhat held back by the overall lack of tension and by the pretty bad artwork & animation. Ultimately, I'll give it a 7/10. I was, for the longest time, planning on going with a 6 and saying it was all right but the final couple of episodes elevated it for me. Next week I'm looking at Harmonie.

So I recently started watching Kemono Friends, and I am a bit puzzled as to why it's rated so low. Sure, the CG may turn some people off, the story may falter at some points, and some people might've just simply found it boring. Even so, I still think that this show deserves better, considering that it's actually pretty good. With that out of the way, onto the review!

Kemono Friends is about a girl named Kaban who wakes up in a savannah in Japari Park. She doesn't know how she got there or what she is. Wandering around, she stumbles upon an anthropomorphic Serval ... cat, or "Friend" as they refer to themselves as, named Serval. Serval is interested in Kaban and is eager to learn who she is. They decide to travel towards the Japari Park Library to uncover Kaban's identity.

As stated in my first paragraph, Kemono Friends does contain CG, but in my opinion it isn't unbearable like some other shows, namely the 2016 Berserk adaptation. The art is rather simple, mainly consisting of generic backgrounds for each area. This doesn't take away from the show though, since the backgrounds fit their respective area quite well.

Not much to say about the sound, it's fine for the most part.

The characters are hit or miss; you either love them or hate them. They act in character, as in they behave like the animal they are anthropomorphized as. For instance, the lion "Friend" is rather prideful, and wants her subordinates to think highly of her.

So in the end, is Kemono Friends worth watching? In my opinion, if you don't mind the CG and like the story, then yes, this is worth the watch. The combination between the characters and the setting makes for quite a unique experience you won't find much of elsewhere.

All in all, Kemono Friends is a fun show which tells its story in a way which makes you engaged, wanting to watch more.