Hataage! Kemono Michi

Professional wrestler Genzou Shibata sports the body of a mountain, but beneath his hulking appearance is a man with an extreme affection for animals. Facing off his opponents in the ring as the legendary "Animal Mask," Genzou wins the hearts of crowds everywhere with his iconic tiger persona.

During the bout for the title of World Champion against his greatest rival, the Macadamian Ogre, Genzou is suddenly summoned to a fantasy world by a princess. With her kingdom being threatened by a monster infestation, she pleads the wrestler for assistance—to which he answers by knocking her out with a German suplex! Escaping the castle and finding himself stranded in a mysterious land, Genzou decides to begin his career as a beast hunter to capture and befriend creatures far and wide. Joined by the wolf-girl Shigure, the dragon-girl Hanako, and the vampire Carmilla Vanstein, the professional wrestler pursues all kinds of dangerous requests for the sake of fulfilling his dream as a pet shop owner.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shigure Main

Sekine, Akira Japanese

Shibata, Genzou Main

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Jeeg Supporting

Hiroyuki Supporting

Suegara, Rie Japanese

Hanako Supporting

Yagi, Yuki Japanese

Edgardo Latis, Altena Supporting

Suegara, Rie Japanese

Vanstein, Carmilla Supporting

Sakuraba, Arisa Japanese

Misha Supporting

Tamegai, Hana Japanese

Joannascore Adorian Uljika, Joanna Supporting

Amamiya, Sora Japanese

Celes Supporting

Koga, Aoi Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Tokumura, Kenichi Producer

Arimizu, Soujirou Producer

Taniguchi, Hiroyasu Producer

Reviews

Dec 18, 2019

Snapshot426

Recommended

It feels like the anime gods just spin a wheel to decide what becomes an Isekai. We’ve had Isekai where the protagonist is an evil Overlord, a Hitler Loli, an Otaku, another Otaku, yet another Otaku, an Otaku who is overpowered, another Otaku who is overpowered, a Daemon Lord, a book worm, a slime, a certain blue hedgehog, you get the god-damn point. So this time, wheel has decided to land on, “Wrestler, in another world.” No doubt about it, this sounds stupid but considering that the show we are talking about today was originally created by the same author who worked on Konosuba, ... I was intrigued. So lets talk about it shall we?

Sit back, relax as I present to you THE REIGNING! DEFENDING! UNDISPUTED, ISEKAI CHAMPION! HATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGE, KEMONO MICHI!!!!!!


Story: 6.5/10

The story begins with our protagonist and professional wrestler, Genzo Shibata and he is about to complete his final match as a wrestler. Before he finishes the final blow in the match, he is suddenly transported to a fantasy world and is requested by Princess Altena to be the hero they need and slay all of the daemon beasts threatening the kingdom. However, Genzo is a lover of all animals, he could never harm them. So what does he do? He decides to go Brock Lesnar on her ass and takes her to suplex city...b**ch. Fleeing the castle and having nowhere to go, he meets a wolf-girl by the name of Shigure and together, they work on Genzo’s lifelong dream, opening a pet shop.

It’s a unique premise in terms of Isekai plots go and the way it goes about it is well done. It establishes early on that we are in for different kind of Isekai with Genzo basically going “You want me to kill animals? F**k that.” And then goes off to do his own thing. In terms of setting the scene, this show does it very well and we see how the pet shop unfolds over time with the animals Genzo captures and how to get the funding. But throughout the show, we never get to see payoff to all of the tasks Genzo, Shigure as well as two other characters that join him later on, Carmilla and Hanako. It’s all building up to it yet there no ounce of payoff to convince the people that these beasts that threaten the kingdom could be adopted as pets. It’s kind of disappointing.

Of course, being a pet shop Isekai isn’t the only thing that makes this show unique, as it also part wrestling and this is where most of the comedy is with all of the German suplexes you desire. The show is definitely more physical humour than witty humour with Genzo and other characters laying the smack down on anyone that provokes them, friend or foe, male or female (yes, we have another true advocate of gender equality here). So it’s definitely got a certain taste but what makes it work is the timing of it considering that the characters were asking for it. It has plenty of running gags in this show as well that, even though you can see them coming, are well executed every time. It’s well done and definitely is humorous. That’s not to say that the dialogue doesn’t have some funny moments because it truly does so it isn’t all physical humour as the writing does add to the humour.


Characters: 8/10

As a protagonist, Genzo isn’t exactly relatable. He’s loud, brash, doesn’t think outside the box and his only interests are for himself with no consideration for other people. As a wrestling protagonist though, he fits that mould well. Now, I have watched wrestling for several years before finally getting bored with it earlier this year (Thank you Vince McMahon), so I have a good idea of how a good wrestler should act and he definitely does that. He exaggerates everything in every situation for the sake of entertaining the viewer even though he doesn’t realise it. For example, when someone calls him the Daemon Beast Killer, he doesn’t try to reiterate that he doesn’t want to be called that. Instead, he either makes the person go through a table or chucks that person into the ceiling. He dramatise more than he should and makes it work. This makes him a funny protagonist because again, these characters are asking for it and he is just replying how he sees fit, even if it is a bit ridiculous.

Now the characters that join Genzo in his quest to open a pet shop are rather basic in terms of how unique these characters are. Shigure is obviously the level headed one in order to see what genzo does is quite ridiculous. While she is a “good” person, she sees this pet shop as way to get rich fast. Hanako, who is a young dragon-girl, is just obsessed with food and that’s pretty much it (although she is smarter than she comes across). Carmilla is a vampire who is obsessed with serving Hanako. The all have simple desires and character depth but they all share a similar mindset which is there obsession over something. Genzo being animals, Shigure being money, Hanako being food and Carmilla being Hanako herself. They aren’t complex because they don’t need to be. They all fill their roles well and their single obsessions is all you need to for them to stick together and to have chemistry with one another. As well as Carmilla getting her ass kicked by Genzo for being a sarcastic b**ch is always funny. There is even a dog that accompanies Genzo by the name of Hiroyuki and he is just adorable.

The supporting cast as well has its niches that they definitely fulfil. They all add something to either the plot, to the comedy, or both. Where it can be simply be Celes wanting to be Genzo’s apprentice, a group of thieves where the wolf-man gets traumatised because Genzo loves animals a bit too much. Even a simple anthropomorphic ant that is somehow part of the pet shop idea and we have no reason why. It’s something stupid like that makes the cast as a whole, enjoyable and there isn’t a character I hate in bad way. It’s rare that I find a cast of characters where I don’t like at least one character but I don’t, they all fulfil there role well and I can’t complain too much besides a couple of gripes.


Animation: 6/10

The animation for Hataage isn’t exactly impressive but it is also not bad either. But it is weird saying that because at one point, it can look uninspired. But other times, like when Genzo fights an Orc Chieftain, it looks really good. It lead me to the assumption that it was used for more comedic effect that when it gets down to it, it is impressive; something I think this show has an edge over the manga. That being said, art style isn’t exactly impressive and leans to the more generic side with no signature features to make it stand out. The character designs though is good because they each stand out in there own way can be easily identifiable from one another. So it has that going for it.


Sound: 5.5/10

The soundtrack is a mixed bag. Half of the soundtrack is more or less generic fantasy music like flute instrumentals or a more light hearted ost for the show’s comedic moments. It sounds like a standard ost that you would hear in other shows. It doesn’t sound bad but it doesn’t stand out. Then there is the other half, where it sounds energetic, intense and adds to the atmosphere. This is normally played during the wrestling scenes or when Genzo is laying the smackdown on people. It definitely is more noticeable than the other half of the ost and adds to the scene of this fight that you would be watching. I also like in significant moments when Genzo german suplexes someone, you can hear someone counting “One...Two...Threeee!” It’s a nice touch for a show that is part wrestling.

The opening is alright in my opinion. "Fight! Kemoner Mask" by NoB is definitely energetic, paced well and matches the tone of the show pretty well. It’s one of openings that can get you hyped for the show but didn’t exactly wow me and I wanted to go back and listen to it again. Good openings do that. But this opening lacks that itch that makes you want to do that. It is most likely down tot the visuals being okay. But the opening is solid overall. The ending sequence is very meh. "Anegdot" by Momosu Momosu is one I skipped through about 3 episodes in. I saw Hiroyuki, I saw his dance, it was adorable and I moved on. It’s pretty much the same animation on a loop so it got boring fast.


Conclusion:

Hataage is definitely one of those that is there for the sake of being entertaining for the viewer. It’s a rather simple minded show because really, it doesn’t need to be anything else. It just needs to find a way to entertain the viewer and it does that in my opinion. Now sure, it ain’t the best thing in the world since it never does anything amazing but it does do things right to make one of the more entertaining Isekais out there. I will commend it for doing something different instead of just doing, “Transported to another fantasy world but this time have the protagonist be a wrestler to save the world.” Despite having a lack of payoff for all of this, it is one of those shows that you can sit down, turn your brain off after a long day and watch a wrestler german suplex a princess.


My personal enjoyment: 7.5/10


Overall score: 6.7/10 Recommendation: Watch it

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Dec 18, 2019

Stark700

Mixed Feelings

The golden age of isekai anime continues and there doesn’t seem to be any signs of it slowing down. Anime fans in 2019 should just accept that we’re going to get even more of these in the future from now on. And joining the expansive lineup, Kemono Michi marks its terrority with an animal lover and professional wrestler named Genzo Shibata.

Before actually watching this show, one should take notice the author of the series. Natsume Akatsuki, known for their work with the Konosuba franchise, created this anime and to no one’s surprise, his stylish humor also gets a similar treatment. Does that mean the anime ... itself is entirely made of parody? The answer is yes and no. Kemono Michi plays on its isekai tropes by introducing some of its standard running gags but also leans more into selling its humor with everything else when it has the chance to.

Taking place in a fantasy world, Genzo enters the anime as a professional wrestler. As a fan of professional wrestling myself, I was rather ecstatic to see some classic wrestling moves being used such as the German Suplex and Sharpshooter. While the anime itself doesn’t sell itself as a WWE drama story, it does put Genzo into a peculiar position. After he gets transported into this fantasy world, he gets tasked with defeating demonic beasts by a princess named Altena Elgard Ratis. The catch is that Genzo loves animals. In fact, the first few episodes easily gives away his love for animals that some may even describe him of having an animal fetish. Furthermore, Genzo has an ambition to open his own pet shop one day and being in a fantasy world opens up such a possibility. Looking at the show this way, the audience should probably not expect a serious tone of storytelling.

Watching Kemono Michi does feel like a parody at times. Genzo’s role as after meeting the wolf-girl Shigure transforms him into a dedicated beastmaster. The anime makes it clear that he wants to make friends with the monsters rather than killing them, no matter how difficult the challenge may be. His determined attitude and chivalrous personality earns him many friends throughout the story including the dragon girl Hanako, vampire maid Carmilla Vanstein, and among others. But sometimes, he has to resort to force in order to make his point. When fighting, Genzo uses a mix of his wrestling skills and brawler tactics while taking aggressive risks. The anime often oversell his fights by making them as over exaggerated as possible. The early episodes makes some evident examples such as when he puts down Altena with a German suplex.

However, the audience may wonder if there’s any sort of character development for Genzo at all. The truth is, the show doesn’t dedicate on developing him as a person but rather how he builds relationships with others. The most prominent example is with Shigure. In the early parts of the show, she mostly helps him in his goal to further her own ambitions; that is trying to become wealthy. She handles his finance problems while Genzo does the dirty work. Later on in the show, she seems to genuinely care about his well-being. Other characters he meets also begins to understand him more such as Hanako and Carmilla. The one character that seems to despise Genzo is Altena, especially after being embarrassed and not helping with her goals. However, this becomes more of a running gag than a moody revenge sub-plot. She even becomes a source of butt monkey jokes. In fact, several characters in the show carries a degree of comedy gags thanks to the brainchild of Konosuba, Natsume Akatsuki. If you’re familiar with the Konosuba franchise, you may be able to draw similarities with Genzo to Kazuma, Hanako to Megumi, Carmilla to Darkness, and in some ways, Shigure to Aqua. Someday, it would be entertaining to see the two anime get a crossover.

Combined with the sarcastic humor and running gags, it’s easy to label Kemono Michi at times as an isekai parody. Some characters such as Genzo are portrayed as powerful humans while ironically, supernatural beings such as Carmilla becomes a jobber in hilarious ways. Character personalities is amplified with some of their habits such as Hanako’s big appetite. And of course, some fans will call this an “isekai furry” anime. After all, some of the more prominent characters display animalistic instincts such as Shigure. And while not being an actual animal, Hanako’s dragon transformation shows her true instincts when she’s angered in one particular episode. In many ways, the anime loves to play itself and that can either be something fans will enjoy or mock for it absurd humor.

With such a peculiar premise, Kemono Michi’s artwork isn’t actually strange and actually less visually noticeable compared to Konosuba. Studio ENGi was established in 2018 and this is their first take on an anime project. However, the anime itself delivers an adequate portrayal of the manga. The character designs are also made with fantasy elements and in some cases, animalistic traits. Being a professional wrestler, Genzo is portrayed as a muscular man with masculine features. Even his voice delivers a commanding tone at times when dealing with monsters he encounters. The show itself contains fan service although most of it is portrayed as cheeky humor similar to the Konosuba series. And while I can’t say the battles may suit everyone’s tastes, it definitely look catchy to the eye.

You’re probably going to look back and remember some of the hilarious moments in Kemono Michi. With the author of Konosuba helming the show, it won’t be hard to notice the similar style of its humor. I can watch Kemono Michi and say the anime is an enjoyable at best when you embrace its humor. If you looking deeper into the show, there’s not much more you’ll find within.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Dec 18, 2019

ExemplarCayman

Not Recommended

Informative

Terrible fanfiction based on a great source material.

This is the kind of adaptation that I never expected to experience again - because it’s not the early 00s anymore and Studio Gonzo (of that era) is, thankfully, dead. If you’ve had the misfortune of watching Hellsing TV, Rosario + Vampire or FMA 2003 I can just go ahead and say this show is one of those. If not - well, this is a manga “adaptation” that starts by following the manga plot, switches to the completely original material halfway, and the twist is that the anime-original parts are garbage. Here’s a bunch of ways in which ... this anime fails:


1) Trying to fit square pegs in round holes.
So, the manga is written by Akatsuki Natsume of Konosuba fame, and it basically is a Konosuba re-skin. Meaning, a gut-busting situational comedy in an isekai setting about a bunch of dysfunctional losers who somehow found a family in each other and are now busy grinding through monsters-of-the-week of their particular isekai (Demon King’s generals in case of Konosuba, demonic beasts in case of Kemono Michi). Seriously, go read it, it’s 10/10. And what do you think the anime does with these building blocks? First, it tries to do a plot-focused “serious” arc, which of course fails because the very premise of the world absolutely excludes any possibility of having serious stakes or grand narratives. And second, it does entire episodes without a single joke, supposedly dedicated to developing the characters - except “the characters” were envisioned as the plot-devices for sitcom humor and there is nothing to develop. It’s like the production team completely failed to understand the whole appeal of the source material and had no clue what they were doing. Which brings me to the next point.

2) The production team completely failed to understand the whole appeal of the source material and had no clue what they were doing.
Couple of times they run into a situation where they have square pegs and square holes. Do you think they manage to fit them in? Nope. Here’s an example:
The beginning of both the manga and the anime has the MC deciding to run a pet shop. In the source he actually runs a pet shop. In the anime this premise is abandoned, which is bad, but not terrible. But then they make an anime original episode where literally the best solution for the conflict would by selling a pet to a person - and that still doesn’t happen. Despite the very same episode confirming that yes, they have the actual pets to sell.
Another baffling example: A manga chapter dedicated to a single gag. 17 pages of the setup, 3 pages of the punchline - the most basic structure of a joke. The anime adapts the 17 pages of the setup… and stops. The scene ends without a punchline and the character literally turns to the camera and says “well, what I just did turned out to be a waste of time.” What. The. Fuck.

3) The devil is in the details.
One of the strongest points of the manga is its amazing attention to detail. The female deuteragonist wears what is essentially a pair of assless chaps - because she’s a kemonomimi girl with a huge tail - it’s an article of clothing that makes sense for her. The chairs in the main cast’s home are also designed in a way that accommodates having a tail. Mind, those things are never highlighted, it just something you notice accidentally, have a lightbulb moment, and then feel good that the artist actually put some thought into his work. Which is why it’s such an eyesore when the anime-original scenes have the tails just phase through clothing or straight-up disappear.
A different detail: one of the characters is a vampire, meaning the sunlight harms her. In the manga every time she goes outside during the daytime she carries a parasol (it’s a farcical sitcom, after all). Apparently, not a single person on the anime production team had a clue about what they were doing because in the original scenes the parasol is missing. I mean, it would’ve been perfectly fine to just retcon the thing away if it was too inconvenient, but that would require having a single clue about what they were doing. So the parasol is present in the scenes copypasted from the manga and absent in the original ones, because what is consistency.

4) The humor.
The jokes from the source material are funny. The anime original jokes are not. All of them. No exceptions. Without ever reading the manga, you can tell which scenes come from where by whether you laughed or not.
They also manage to ruin some of the manga jokes by either repeating them ad nauseum or by pushing things way past their limit. Akatsuki Natsume’s trademark humor involves a lot of comedic bullying, and the screenwriters try to imitate it - but somehow come up with the scenes of the actual abuse that can make you feel either uncomfortable or sad, but definitely not entertained. I’m baffled how anyone, never mind the professional writers, could fail at humor so hard. It’s on the level of not understanding the line between cats being scared by a cucumber and cats getting physically hurt.

5) It. Just. Sucks.
Forget the source material. You can look at this anime completely on its own merits, and it’s just objectively bad on the artistic level.
Garbage dialogues: “Hey, ojousan. Your servant is shit, let’s make her duel my, apriori stronger servant, and if she loses, then I, random nobody with no relation to you, will appoint you a different servant (secretly my spy, *Dr. Evil’s laugh*), and also this whole sentence isn’t retarded on five different levels.”
Garbage writing: A wrestling tournament is under way, there is an ominous hooded figure watching it from the shadows, he steps into the ring a second before the hero is pronounced the champion. Is it the main antagonist (also a wrestler) who was teased for the last 4 episodes? No, it’s a local Team Rocket guy who has no reason to be there (actually has a reason to avoid the place at any cost) and just gets pointlessly humiliated in ten seconds (see the abuse point above), because that’s how you do a culmination of a tournament.
Garbage directing: An episode-long flashback that ends on a cliff-hanger, the antagonist plans to go for the main hero. Guess what the next episode is about? Another episode-long flashback, completely unrelated to anything.
Comparing this shitty fanfiction to the manga (which I only ever picked up after liking the first and only two good episodes of the adaptation) reminded me of another thing I’d rather forget - Psycho Pass Season 2 - in a “so that’s how talent versus no talent looks like” way.

2/10 for “that’s not how ‘go read the manga’ works, you incompetent hacks.”

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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