Hataage! Kemono Michi

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

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.

A very funny isekai. It's one to watch for comedy, not plot progression or long shonen fights. The action is fun to watch though since the main character uses pro-wrestling style moves. The action mainly used for comedy. I thought the show would get repetitive but it has kept me engaged so far. It's certainly not generic. The other cast members besides the protagonist are all female but it's not a harem. He isn't interested in them in that way. I also enjoy how the protagonist clashes with most people he meets for outrageous reasons. It reminds me a bit of Konosuba.

I'm going to be upfront and mention I don't like writing previews. That's why I typically avoid doing them. This is one of those anime that's so weird it demands I make an exception.

Kemono Michi or "Animal Mask" is a show with an admittedly brilliant concept. The world's greatest pro wrestler gets isekai summoned by a bitchy princess, who demands that he slays all the monsters and solves all the problems. The issue is that the pro wrestler Genzo is a vegan/furry and he absolutely refuses to harm an animal! If you watched Shield Hero last season, you would think this is the start of ... a long grudge in which Genzo must slowly calculate his revenge. Nope! Genzo just walks up to the princess, does a German suplex on her, and that's the end of that entire sub-plot! Seriously, that's the hardest I laughed in an anime this entire season.

The show then moves on to Genzo gathering a furry harem and teaching the people of the isekai world to love monsters and co-exist with them instead of trying to slay them all. That's the entire plot.

For the first 3-4 episodes, Kemono Michi is genuinely hilarious. This is a low budget anime that doesn't look pretty and doesn't have the best character art. However, the comedic timing was such an improvement from the author's previous work Konosuba, that I was ready to crown this the king of all isekai!

Then they stopped writing new jokes. They just made all the gags from episodes 1-3 into running jokes that quickly wear out. By episode 8, the entire show is just little running jokes that are pasted together to somehow fill out a 20 minute run time. It's like watching an old Nostalgia Critic review...before he discovered sketch comedy and became even worse! I don't even need to watch the show anymore. I already know every single thing that's going to happen!

I'm going to be VERY generous and give this a 6 for the funny concept and those first few episodes. After episode 4 just stop watching. I was willing to go to bat for this anime and it completely let me down. Sometimes less is more. Golden Boy is still beloved after 25 years because it knew when to quit and not overstay its welcome. The manga just continued on with the same gags and eventually became a full blown porn. We don't talk about the manga. We love that short little 6 episode OVA. If you only have the material to write 4 episodes, then just write 4 episodes and release it as an OVA or ONA. Don't try stretch 4 episodes of material into 13-26 episodes!

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.”

Everyone: "Please, for the love of God, are we done with Isekai shows?"
Japan: "What's that you say? You need MORE Isekai shows? Here you go..." *pulls another one*
Everyone: OH LOOK! Another Isekai! By the author of one of the best Isekai comedies of recent years (KonoSuba)? Oh boy, this sure looks interesting!
Me after 12 episodes: OK...meh it's fine....

Honestly, the wraith of Isekai shows is becoming even a cliche at this point, just look at this season's offerings as a whole and tell me if the ever popular Isekai trope is gonna be away at any point in time.

For this show, while the concept was somewhat ... unique with forging pretty much a "WWE Wrestlemania" environment, hammering such mindset is the world's greatest pro wrestler by the name of Genzo Shibata, it sure looks like a recipe for success. Alas, while in a modern world match, the "another world's" summoners' requiem for a hero (being Genzo) was done as means to justify that both axes of the world can be covered a.k.a Demon Lord vs. Hero stance. Just imagine that once he is summoned, instead of being that conventional hero, he just walks right to the princess which summoned him, and delivers a German Suplex onto her for giving him THAT much trouble, hence, the nickname Princess Buttocks (if you've watched the show).

And of course, seemingly rightfully so that being the furry lover that he is, he begins to instil his presence onto the Isekai world with his furry prized possession of a dog Hiroyuki, by fledgling his "Demon Beast Killer" status along with pettying the usual neighbours that he runs into, and building his very own pet shop in another world for both humans and demihumans to co-exist together, but not without his supporters on the side: the seemingly sweet but cunning money-loving wolf-girl Shigure and master-servant "sidekicks" Hanako and Carmilla. Oh, and not to forget, that while the Hero side is assembled, it's nothing until the Demon Lord's side is fulfilled in the same fashion with Genzo's opponent MAO taking him on just to see the postponed "World Champion" wrestling match plot being fulfilled to its potential to close with a bang.

Quite honestly, while the hints of KonoSuba stray within this show, I do admit that it has its moments of being funny (for the 1st quarter alone). However, it quickly becomes apparent that like said show, Kemono Michi a.k.a Animal Mask relies heavily on the comedy to compensate for any lack of depth on all fronts, and yes, I do mean in terms of the lesser story and bigger character development, of which I wouldn't say there were none, but it just barely stands out literally like its predecessor by a wide margin. While Genzo's humour relies on him being both the target and the targeted for other people, there is a heck lot of banter within the wide cast of characters that are being encountered to do their bidding. Pretty much everything is a copy-paste action that once done, is repeated endlessly towards the same old jokes and all, making it predictable and less enjoyable. Boring...

Art and animation wise, it's Kadokawa taking the reins for this show, the surprise being that I did not expect that they'd have their own in-house outsourced studio to handle this project. A subsidary of the Kadokawa Coporation, ENGI (not that DAL Engi) was tasked from this joint venture as the studio's very first project, and I'd have to say that it stands out in quite a fair bit. Other than the unique character designs which all have quite the look, the art itself isn't too drab, but it supposedly has that "shining" effect placed all around, as if there were torchlights to make the overall aesthetics look brighter to hide the low budget effects of the show. The same is applied to the animation aspects, while it certainly looks fine to the average watcher, the incorporation of the comedy scenes were mundane to say the least, and while there's a decent amount of action for the most part, it overall still feels like nothing.

If the art and animation itself were a bogey, the music itself was on par, not great, but not bad either. Most particularly, the sound designs were mostly and clearly inspired from KonoSuba, and while we got that here, it wasn't as appealing the way that it was supposed to be. Same goes to the OST for both the OP and ED, it was also fine. At first, I'd thought the OP was very appealing from the get-go signifying the countdowns of wrestling matches with its full-on rockability, and it still is acceptable (don't get me wrong, it's a good song), but that is where the only good parts lie at.

All in all, if you were expecting another outing from KonoSuba author Natsume Akatsuki, this show just isn't as glamourous and being all that stupid for the predecessor that made us be that "laughter is the best medicine" and "comedy is subjective" anthropologies. As if the overall score isn't very generous enough, the manga itself is paced differently, and even a bore to read after just a few chapters. But regardless, manga or anime, this show is another good stress reliever, but other than that, pass it up.

Unpopular opinion coming in here, this show is not good.

This is not an attempt to bash the series, the people who like it or anything, this is purely my perspective and how I feel about this anime.

Kemono Michi is one of legit 15 series I'm watching this season and it's probably among my 3 worst. Why? Well, like Konasuba, Kemono Michi is a series that prides itself on humour, it's not a plot heavy manga or story and is mainly comedy. The thing about comedy is that it is quite subjective, what you find funny, someone else may not. That's unfortunately the case here. I ... don't find any of the jokes, actions or scenes to be funny. For a while, I thought maybe I was just missing something, but nope, just not funny to me.

When the humour doesn't connect, the next thing goes to the plot. As I said before, Michi lacks any real plot and trust me when I say the story stays the same throughout the manga. As a result, I had to give this series a 7/10. Reasoning for that score despite it having poor plot and not being funny? 1, the concept of a wrestler being isekai'd is absolutely hilarious, 2 the girl with the grey hair is adorable and 3, I really do appreciate the fact that the same author who wrote Konasuba tried to do something unique here in terms of story, it just did not connect with me personally.

Overall, I think it's a series you should give a watch, it's just something that if you don't connect with, you may struggle to enjoy. I will continue watching as I have never dropped an anime in my life.

I imagine that comedy it itself becomes subjective to every person who decides to let go of the bad feeling of the day and finally have fun, but this is one of the cases that subjectivity does not support an entire boat.

Kemono michi, by the same author as konosuba ... Was this really done by the same author? Because it doesn't, seem like it, the jokes here can be lazy and often predictable, and the show insists on repeating the same shit every episode. Konosuba was fun to watch precisely for the crazy expressions and see 4 idiots in a dungeon, he got it right, ... but here no effort from the author.

This show does not innovate at all, it is the same cast that you have probably seen in some bad season fantasy, with the difference that everyone here barely has a personality of their own. I love Kaguya sama for giving value to the characters and that balanced the mood, but here they only care about one AV actor driving everything, this anime are a offensive to bad, not even innovating in jokes or making more interesting characters.

Here, is the same feeling as you marathon 5 videos of people tripping on the street, without a break, the difference is that this anime is more for furry porn and show a muscle (rip off) arararagi wanting to fuck them all the time, 5 episodes were enough to see what it would give, and I sincerely doubt that it shows any sign of improvement, I will summarize each episode of kemono michi: MC sees a cuddly animal and prepares his extinct sex to caress him. One more blow to the princess. The bootleg rapthalia 3.0 wanting the sweet attention. MC helps a random animal.

end

The production itself is ok but honestly this anime has one of the ugliest arts I've ever seen, I think only a few cuts from Hashimoto save it, all the coloring is dead enough to make me sick of seeing the same fucking landscape every episode, even the other fantasy anime of the season can be more visually beautiful than that (And much more expressive too)

This anime makes me sick because it seems like I'm in a loop of several repeated moments, people might like the protagonist suplexing any character, but sorry I'm not 10 to laugh at the same thing 100 times, for me a comedy has a duty to be creative, even if it covers the main theme, they need to make sure their audience won't get tired of it fast, by 0 innovation and so many tiring moments that seem like forever, here's my score.

Out of the door Kemono Michi was one hell of a romp to go through on a weekly basis. While it seemed like it had little going for it due to its use of a tiresome isekai gimmick, sub-par production value, and barely anything plot and characters. What it did have however is a great use of comedy that made the show an enjoyable ride due to how easily funny it was.

The comedy that Kemono Michi uses isn’t really anything exceptional, in fact I would consider it downright predictable. A sort of predictable-ness where you sort of already know what’s going to be the ... punchline halfway through the set-up. Nevertheless the pay-off for the punchline are handled really well by going full throttle with the delivery and timing.

After a while however the jokes begin to run a bit dry due to how repetitive they become. The show is aware of this, and does try to make fun of how they do the same jokes and bits over and over. An example would be the wolf girl, Shigure, “finding” special expensive weapons that an adventurer dropped due to being knocked out by the main protagonist. As the show continues on with each episode, Shigure ends up getting tired of the bit as well. It gets to a point where they just end up cutting it out with only a few signifiers implying that she’s still stealing the weapons. But it’s self awareness is only a small band aid as even those get tiring as well due to it’s still incessant repeativness.

I still think it’s still an ok show, but it had a small good idea that couldn’t be stretched out into a standard 12 episode format.

Ok, as one reviewer said that this has "Horrible Fan-fiction" wlep, he's absolutely right,cu'z it does it was indeed studio ENGI's first ever production and I can already tell you the they made a bad start of even thinking about making something that combines the usual isekai themed anime with something from WWE. though casting a wrestler in a isekai themed anime would be unique, unfortunately was just horrible when they adapted such character in a retard kind of way especially when the original creator Natsuki Akatsuki who thinks after his success with Konosuba would end up with another amazing isekai themed anime, well, ... he just fucked it, cu'z this one had the character, Genzo, be this zoophiliic Son of a Gun, so how do I rate this????:

Story- Dreadful 2: Cu'z it simple combines that of the usual isekai themed anime with the flashiness of WWE and not to mentioned a main character who was just too stupid to even think about earn a living. Plus not to mention that this anime's story plot simply revolves around a certain fetish called "Zoophilia."


Art- Good 7: Cu'z therea couple of fanservice around here and not to mention a Shigure being this hot half human, half wolf beastman smart ass bitch.

Sound- Good 7: That's for the ending theme "Anegdot" by Momosu Momosu.

Character: Pathetic 1:

Cu'z what this shit has:

A Pro wrestler,Shibata, Genzou.that has paraphilia with animal or should I say beast, who was just too much of a liability for the cute half human, half wolf beastman like Shigure.

Shigure a half human, half wolf beastman, was definitely a double standard , cu'z at one point she would be this smart ass girl who was basically an opportunist and in another she can be sooo dumb that she should have just pocked some money from the swords she pawn and just leaved that parasitic bum, Genzo.

Haakoa a half human, half dragon who belongs to the nobility, was another dichotomy where she was suppose to be rich aand powerful and yet she's penniless and in a company of a vampire that was just too much of a weakling and a drunk.

Carmilla Vanstein another character that was simply useless, where one would be annoyed by her incompetence.

MAO, basically an obnoxious antagonist where despite of being this tough muscle bound guy would be scared shit of animals.

Enjoyment Pathetic 1: basically this was just anime where one would be annoyed with the main character , Genzo, that one would simply like to kick him out of Shigure life if one can.

Overall Pathetic 1: basically it was a waste of time and one can simpy afford to miss an episode or two, in fact whoever dropped this was some whom I can't blame.

I really wanted to like this anime because it was created by the same person who made Konosuba which is one of my favorite comedies in terms of anime.

The idea in itself is an interesting one, and when I learned who made it, I figured this was going to be hilariously funny. But what did I get? An anime that just seems to repeat the same exact joke over and over and over again. And I am being very literal about that.

And let me just make this clear, the main character is horrible and incredibly unlikable. The jokes with him that are meant to be ... funny just come off as incredibly frustrating and annoying.

The only good thing about this anime is some of the other characters. Shigure for example is probably the most interesting of them all. But this sadly doesn't save it for me because they even use the same exact joke over and over with her. You could probably watch 2 or 3 episodes of this, and you would have seen their full arsenal of jokes in the entire anime.

I am giving it a 5 for the moment since it's not finished. But I may lower it by the end.

I laughed so hard on this😆.Hataage is extremely hilarious. The action scene are awesome & funny just like KONOSUBA!

It has a good plot but not so intriguing.SO,if someone love thriller, this is not for you but if someone looking for comedy&isekai😉 Hataage is a perfect choice!
As,there are not so much comedy isekai anime!
Here,
One get to see an oversmart villain & a stupid hero who is fond of animals.
Don’t worry!There is harem too.

Let me tell you why Hataage is a bit of unique and hilarious isekai anime!

... The anime starts with the hero summoning as usual.
But unlike other isekai heros who get surprised or happy by summoning, this MC got snapped and did a German Suplex to the princess.Well, I would have done the same, if I were summuned suddenly! 😆
That's just the 1st part of the 1st episode!
Rest of them are super hilarious. You'er gonna love the action the oversmart villain takes!

At last, I would recommend you to give it a try to watch at least episode 1&2.I am sure you won't be disappointed😉!

This is one of the best isekai, comedy genre.

Konosuba's author has done it again: PERFECTION X2!

How can an isekai be so funny, engaging and well-developed at the same time??
Of all the possible ideas, the creator of Kemono Michi has had the awesome idea of putting a wrestler in a fantasy world where he can show off his skills and love for animals.

From to time to time, cliché ordinary-isekai-anime characters appear such as a normal party and the MC kicks their asses as soon as they "insult" beasts hahahaha.

If you like isekai and comedy stuff, watching Hataage! Kemono Michi is a must because the story is slow-paced and there is always something ... amazing to look at.

Btw, you will love THE ANT!!! What do I mean? Well, you'll realize when you take a look at this series haha ! :)

Watch (part of) the show, it's really funny! It starts off actually being better than the manga. Some say to stop watching after the fourth episode and that's fine. But you're going to regret it if you don't at least skip episodes 8, 9, 11, and 12.

Once the competition starts, the show spends too much time repeating the gags you've already seen before. If you've seen a decent amount of anime, you should know that tournament episodes are lazy writing and a sign that they've ran out of ideas. And guess what? They don't have just one, but two of these brawls, not to mention ... the episodes spent setting up them up. The action's good, it's just you're going to get so sick of the repeated jokes, that I personally don't think it's worth it.

Genzou is absolutely hilarious and entertaining in the beginning of the show, then he gets annoying and stale around the halfway mark. Hanako always has a bit of food on her face, which is super cute. The aftermath of Genzou's disappearance makes for nice comedy too. And then there's Carmilla. She's in a class of her own. Carmilla is like Aqua, only she isn't annoyingly mean and crybaby loud. She's just stupid and sometimes lazy and that's what makes her great. And don't forget the ant and the kobold's wife, who are amazing characters in their own special ways.

In summary, a show that would have done amazingly if it were 7-8 or even 3-4 episodes instead of 12. And since you're probably watching this from a recommendation due to its mediocre scoring, you'll love what you do watch. I don't believe in rating an anime low just because it's brief, so I'm giving it a 9. Also, I recommend not worrying about plot holes in an absurd action comedy.

I came into this anime expecting it to be the first anime I've ever dropped due to some of the clips I'd seen in some other reviews but even though those scenes were still weird the comedy kept me watching, the questionable scenes stopped after the first couple of episodes though.

The best way I could describe this would be Konosuba with a wrestler for a main character.

I didn't feel like any of the main characters weren't fleshed out enough and the side characters who didn't get expanded on much were mainly there for comedic purposes but they didn't affect the story too much.

The fact ... that it's an isekai isn't being shoved down your throat all the time but just enough to remind you that there are major differences between our world and the one in the show.

Overall by the end the show left me wanting at least another 12 episodes and I would say that if you like isekais or light hearted shows then you'd enjoy this one too.

-Just This Weeb

Burn Brain cells the anime
This was so terrible that I think this entire plot and concept was written by a monkey or by one year old you know what it would be insulting to the monkey and the baby because I’m sure that even they could come up with a better plot and characters then this shit show in fact the scene where the main character sniff the ass of The werewolf man describe The feeling of watching this where I begin with this one so I will say the story is practically nonexistent the art was even basic for this genre ... the sound was terrible the characters Are so pathetic and one dimensional and doesn’t have fucking character development at all and they act like they have a fucking brain damage and most of them all they do is to be horny as hell for the main character that this is even an embarrassment to call them characters and there are two so-called character thet were so completely humiliated throughout the course of this dumpster fire the princess and the werewolf man that I’m not gonna even bother search for their names because they’re both so stupid The this hurt and watching this is like watching a dumpster going on fire overall this is an embarrassment even for this genre and that include also the milf Isekai for the same reasons they are on the same level both of those shows are embarrassment to entertainment as whole

Isekai has been done to death by now. So in 2019, what could a studio possible pass off as a unique product? Well, at this point, it takes the transportation of a pet-loving professional wrestler to another world. And yeah, I would imagine that we still haven't hit the peak of isekai absurdity.

This show gets no points from me in any category other than its concept. The idea of a wrestler being sent to another world as a hero is pretty hilarious, and attention grabbing no doubt. If it wasn't for the ridiculousness of the concept, I would have never stuck around. So, into ... the nitty gritty.

The writing was unimpressive. On episode 4, when I was considering dropping the show, the writers decided to change the pace. This was a good move and kept the show interesting, so props to them for that. Other than that one instance, though, the writing is just average.

The art was below average. The wobbly cutesy artstyle does not lend itself well to an anime that is half about chiseled beefcakes beating each other up. Most of the characters looked ugly, stupid, or both. Facial animations were extremely lazy, and often times the expressions of characters didn't match their voices.

The sound was forgettable. I think the King Orc might have been Jotaro, but other than that everything else is unremarkable.

The characters were flat and boring. I'm amazed that I didn't notice this until later in the show, because it should have been made obvious even before the halfway point. Every character- including and especially the main ones- can be entirely defined by one trait. For example:

likes animals
likes money
likes food
likes the mistress
doesn't like the mistress
doesn't like genzo
doesn't like animals
isekai protagonist spoof character (gotta have one of those in every self-aware isekai now)
etc. etc...

There are few, if any exceptions to this rule. Don't go into this anime looking for character depth, because you won't find it.

Overall, I wouldn't really recommend watching Kemono Michi: Rise Up, because you can gather everything you need to know from its MAL page. There is not more than what meets the eye. 4/10

Every character has exactly 1 personality behaviour and that goes through for the entirety of the anime. The comedy is the same as in episode 1, even when more characters are added to the recurring pool of characters.

Story is about a wrestler trying to open a pet shop while wearing a dog collar in his neck. The author knows about its absurdity, it is even mocked inside the anime itself. This anime is kinda a comedic parody but with very bad personality for characters and without any comedic depth.

The comedic nature also hurts its progression... nothing ever changes and there are many plot ... inconsistencies overall. A trivial one: who is paying for tickets in an open ring contest in the middle of the town hall.

Hilarious premise for an isekai that sort of flubs the landing


I'll keep this short. This is a weird anime. It's not really about wrestling until the end. More so, it's about how the main LOVES animals. Like really loves them. Even when the love is unwanted.. For example, early on he sees a wolf man who is an evil criminal type. He basically rapes him (implied, not shown) and then a recurring joke is the wolf guy has PTSD attacks about it. I found that HILARIOUS. you might not. The story sort of makes no sense either and thats kind of it's charm in a ... way. I was going to give it a 7 but the last episode is such a let down and very anti-climatic. There is also too many characters that seem pointless or have no real use and you wonder why they are around. Actually that's almost every character.. Still worth a shot if you are an isekai or weird anime fan!

Hey, it is wrestling.

I try to keep this as much spoiler free as I can.

So the story starts when our mc Genzo is in the middle of wwe game but gets summoned in the middle of it. He meets the summoner. He needs to take down the Demon King as usual and kill demon beasts, but since Genzo loves animals he gets angry and it is suplex time. His dream is to show the people that demon beasts can be tamed with love. He wants to make a pet shop.

Characters: Genzo is a pro wrestler who loves animals and gets angry at anyone who hurts ... them. He also hates his nickname "Demon Beast Killer". Shigure is a wolf girl. She likes money. She works with Genzo but she honestly does most of the work to support Genzos Dream. Hanako is a half dragon I think. She loves eating and thats her whole character. Carmilla is a lower vampire who works for Hanako. She usually is just drunk or fights Genzo. Hiroyuki is Genzos dog. Altena is the princess of the country and also Genzos summoner. Then MAOU. He is the Demon King and Genzos rival.

The opening is catchy and the background music pretty good.

Art is simple yet good, in fight scenes it just gets better and the animation is nice as well.

Do I recommend this? Yes, It is simple and entertaining also if you like WWE you'll probably enjoy this as well.