Kemurikusa (TV)

Kemurikusa is a perfect example of two things: how an anime can be more than the sum of its parts and what does an anime with a bento's worth of budget behind it look like.

There's a TLDR at the end, dw.

Art: Let's get this straight immediately: this is by far (I mean it) the worst looking anime I've ever had the displeasure to watch. It looks more like Foodfight than an actual anime, the characters look awful, the animation is frankly appalling, to put it mildly. It looks like a high school student project more so than anything else, I cannot find a single redeeming ... factor artistically, other than a random "oh that looks cute" which isn't exactly a high wall to climb.
It is at its best when everyone is still and talking as little as possible, while the action scenes are pure unadultered junk, they're so bad you'll start to wonder if you're watching a parody rather than a show taking itself seriously.

Sound: It doesn't help that the voice acting direction is dreadful, too, and that almost all voice actors range from ear-bleeding bad to just mediocre. I'm extremely thankful that Mikako Komatsu is Rin's voice as she's the only one that didn't immediately annoy me while talking. In fact, I don't know how her agent blackmailed her into voice acting for this series but I'm glad he did. She's by far the only one that can bring her wax-looking character to life and the only one that is actually able to convey different emotions (imagine that) rather than droning on in the same tone, whatever happens.
I found Wakaba's (the guy) seiyuu to be particularly irritating, the only emotion that you'll get out of him is mild surprise or childish interest for something. Whether he's eating, walking or someone's dying, the tone of his voice is always the bloody same.
Sound design and mixing is frankly poor too, things you'd expect to make LOUD sounds don't have any at all, you'd think it was a glitch of some sort. Rin in the last episode gets an arm and a leg cut off (don't worry, they'll grow back 20 seconds later) and you'll be wondering how did that happen since there was NO sound at all that even remotely suggested it.
Music is ok but nothing exciting at all.

Characters: oh boy. If you want an assortment of archetypes you'll get them here.
Tsundere? Check.
Nyan-girl? Check.
Lolis with blackboard-scratching high pitched voices? Check.
Cute robot sidekick? Check.
Stupid boy with a heart of gold? Check.

It's uncanny. If I'm honest though, I didn't find the characters all that offensive. There's nothing new or surprising about them at all but they don't milk their archetype to death like you'd expect from an anime of this kind.
You'd expect me to write more about them but there really isn't more to it than that. They're not developed much if at all and even when they are, there isn't anything eye-opening, rather just confirmations of behaviours that were already apparent.

Story: This is the only part of the anime that I'd give a pass to. We're in this world where there is basically one enemy, a red fog that takes control of robots (called mushi, although I preferred the ones from mushishi) which then proceed to kill any living thing. Kemurikusa, these different-looking (and different-acting) leaves, are pretty much the hearts of almost all characters, who are obviously trying to survive and then, logically, destroy whatever is causing this red fog to occur. In this journey (well, right at the end of it) there'll be also a clear explanation for pretty much everything that lead to this situation (granted, there's a lot of painstaking stupidity in those explanations but whatever). The concept of kemurikusa is not one that I'd heard of or read about before watching this show so it was nice and interesting. It would have been far more interesting if it had been explored more but that would have meant more episodes and my eyes and ears can only take so much. The very end is extremely convenient, blandly clichée-d and phoned in but again, for this kind of anime I wasn't expecting anything more so I'm fairly happy with it. Be aware that there are A TON of huge plotholes in it so don't stop asking "wait what" or "wait why", just take it in stride and move on.

Enjoyment: I know I pretty much panned this show to hell and back and I do stand behind everything I said. Still, I found myself enjoying it quite a bit, although I can't really point at a single reason why. Kemurikusa won't waste your time, won't drag its feet and it doesn't try to do things that it knows it won't be able to pull off (well, most of the time anyway). It's a nice journey and one that has a very obvious ending but thanks to its relative brevity, it's a journey that can be worth undertaking, if this anime resonates with you.

TLDR: watch the first 2 episodes, if you can stand the art and the characters, it's all uphill from there. If you can't, you're not losing out on anything special at all.

This is my second review that I am writing. This time it's about Kemurikusa.

To start with, Kemurikusa is a 12 episode original full-CGI anime done by Studio Yaoyorozu who previously did the very successful Kemono Friends, and which has been their only well-known show. Since the show is done in CGI this will instantly put off some people.

Story: Since I only saw the first 4 episodes my take on the story is not complete so bear with me, I might be taking thinga wrong or certain things might improve later on in the show. The story so far is about a group of girls living ... in a what seems to be dystopian world that is partly covered with red fog. The girls themselves have certain abilities that they achieve through glowing transparent leaves. The world they live in is also inhabited by red mechanical-looking creatures called Mushi who are (so far) always hostile. In the midst of one of the girl's expeditions they meet a guy who mysteriously appears out of nowhere.
That's the story so far. While watching I was actually counting on the plot and believing it would get stronger and deeper later on. It seemed promising. However, 4 episodes in the story hasn't progressed in any actually interesting direction and has been stagnant in excitement since the start.

Art: I'm gonna be quick and ruthless here. This is not Land of the Lustrous. But it is also not Dimension High School (from this season) or Berserk 16/17. That being said, the CGI is not very good but it is not the worst. CGI in anime is still a problem child and most full-CGI anime struggle in that regard. Apart from the CGI there is no notable aspect for art.

Sound: If there was background sound I forgot it already. I guess the sound is....there. But that should be obvious. So no praise here.
The opening is good and done by the talented Nona, who somehow lately always does openings for "not so good shows". The ed is forgettable, I already forgot it.

Characters: Oh boy, let's go. To start with, I forgot all their names but that won't do any bad. The characters are....boring. They don't give you that feeling when you watch characters who actually have character, apart from sprinkled stereotypes. Since I can't give a lot of spoilers, let's just say that the female main lead quickly falls into a well-known and old pattern, and it's not good. However, the single worst and actually bad character is the guy who appears out of nowhere. His character personality is somehow infuriating. He acts very "knowledge-hungry" but in an annoying way. The way he acts and articulates makes you not like the character at all. I understand that everything is new to him but can he..like just calm down. I'm not exaggerating when I say that he is the sibgle thing that made be not wanting to watch the show, which eventually was the case.
I dropped the show after episode 4.

My verdict is a 5/10. While the guy is a terrible character I have to give the show credit for trying to go the mystery route, but you gotta give the viewers the mystery, instead of holding it back and just leave the room empty. Do I recommend this anime? No, I don't.
Even if the show in the end ends up being a great mystery show, not catching me in the first 4 episodes is a bad sign and I do have things I rather do than watching Kemurikusa. If you have enough time to watch this show, go ahead. You might even get a good finale. But if your time is precious to you or you don't want to miss anything good, I can assure you. You won't miss out on anything great.
And that's it for my review, I hope everything was made clear what I wanted to say and I see you in the next review.