Katsute Kami Datta Kemono-tachi e

Medieval fantasy anime are rare these days as compared to genres like rom-com and sci-fi. The good ones, even more so. As a fan of the genre, I’m always interested when I see a show set in the medieval age, hence To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts instantly caught my attention after I saw the PV. From the studio that had produced Zankyou no Terror, Zombieland Saga and Yuri!!! On Ice in recent years, there was cause for excitement, even though the PV had made it clear that this was a low-budget anime as compared to the other hits the studio has had.

From the beginning, To ... the Abandoned Sacred beasts throws us into a war between the North and the South, with the South dominating the war for the most part until the North delved their hands into something they should never have: transforming humans into all-powerful beasts of destruction and war. The humans who’d been the victims of this were made to believe that they were special, revered by their army but on the inside, the entire populace was terrified of them. However, such beasts were only going to be useful until the end of the war. As soon as that ended, the army always wanted to get rid of these creatures who, in their view, threatened their existence. That’s pretty much the premise of the story. Not bad. Unoriginal, but the execution was fairly well handled at the start.

Now, that’s where the problems begin. There comes a time when you get bored of the same script every episode over and over again. Find an Incarnate, hear about how they’ve been ravaging stuff around the area, talk to them, and then at the end of the episode, eliminate them. That’s the formula that was followed throughout the season. The repetitive nature of the plot had me rolling my eyes from boredom at times.

We’ve got two main protagonists: Hank Henriette and Schaal Bancroft.
Hank Henriette, the charismatic leader of these Sacred beasts or incarnates, as they’ve been called, is a pretty straight-forward character to understand. Being betrayed by your best friend, who also kills your lover is an easy way to make yourself hate someone, isn’t it? He’s about the only incarnate who’s neither lost his humanity completely nor wants to eradicate humanity for what they’ve put all of the Incarnates through. The threat posed by these mindless beasts who were once his comrades in arms is understood by Hank, hence he takes the mantle of eliminating them before they cause any further damage to society upon himself. And we follow his encounters with his fellow incarnates. Hank rarely showed emotions, keeping himself focused on his goal for the most part.

The second protagonist is the daughter of one of the Incarnates. Loved by her adopted siblings, her father as well as the village, Schaal is an exuberant spirit full of positivity until he sees what’s happened to her father, who’s body had changed into a dragon permanently. Even so, she never hesitates to treat him as the same father she once knew. When one day Hank arrives and kills his father, she goes into rage and vows to track down his killer. As she meets and gets to know Hank though, she decides to accompany him and see for herself the reason for which her father had to be killed. As time passes, she begins to sympathize with Hank. Watching their interactions and relationship develop is one of the better points in the show.

Talking about the animation, I was extremely disappointed. I was expecting a lot better from MAPPA, who’d done such amazing work in the past. Far too many of the battle scenes, which are supposed to be the best animated panels, are crappily done for the most part. The character designs are better but nothing to write home about. The soundtrack is meh, the voice acting okay. I guess they really had a low budget because there was one soundtrack they kept repeating over and over again in tense situations.

The animation or the sound aren’t the factors that brought down the show for me though. The culmination of what Hank and Schaal did throughout the season didn’t have much of a payoff. The first few episodes were interesting, then the loop begins, ending on the same note. This may work for comedy, but doesn’t for action fantasy. The story had potential to develop into an intriguing story that shows the grey side of human nature. But alas, it never took off after the first episode.

To the abandoned sacred beasts is a very niche show that has come out this season. Many believe this is just a boring action show with no good characters or story. However, even if the story is lacking in areas, I still find this anime to be entertaining.

The story focuses on the mental state of the Incarnates, beastly super soldiers, after a war. Our MC, Hank, has to kill the Incarnates because they've gone insane. However, the one fatal flaw of the series is its pacing. There wasn't enough time for the watcher to relate to these characters because they started being killed ... in the 2nd episode. That makes the show feel like a typical monster of the week show. Mappa has done a fine job with the animation but the directing is nothing to be excited about. The characters are kind of interesting but overall they are bland. Although, in later episodes the story starts to pick up dramatically and has become quite fun.

If you are someone who likes monster of the week shows, then you will definitely like this. There is something interesting about it that makes me watch it every week. Especially the last two episodes have been really fun.

So in the spring season this year, Fairy Gone was a thing and it kind of sucked. So much so that I decided to drop it halfway through. Its story was not gripping enough and its characters were so bland and stuck in mud in terms of their growth. It was not really a good show. So I bring Fairy Gone up because this show this season is rather similar in terms of its setting and certain plot elements (kind of) on paper. But MAAPA has been on a good roll in terms of quality anime they are animating lately so how does this entry ... in their catalogue hold up?

Sit back, relax and make sure that the inner beast inside you screams out as I present to you the anime review for To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts. Lets begin.


Story: 6.5/10

“WAR...is hell” - Ace Ventura, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

I will just leave that quote there. So the story begins with a civil war between the North and the South (they never say the country’s name so lets leave it at that). But the war swiftly favours the Northerners as they unleash a special unit of super soldiers called incarnates to fight on the battlefield. But there problems being developed as the incarnates start to lose their minds and become the savage beasts they are transforming in to. With the war over. Hank, the leader of the incarnates, must now hunt the other members of the incarnate squad and put them down before they cause any more harm. But when the daughter of one of the incarnates, Schaal Nancy Bancroft tags along with Hank, it may not be as clear cut as it seems.

I will say that the first episode of the show feels rather rushed. I think if the first episode was expanded to two episodes, or the episode was twice the length, then the narratives developed here would make me more emotionally invested into the story and our characters. But the way they did it, it made me struggle to get really invested into this show. Thankfully, the show’s story structure and pacing does get better as the show goes on as it follows a monster of the week type setup that helps establish that not everything is clearly black and white and there is some grey area in the middle of it all as some incarnates still have some humanity left in them. But the problem is that the majority of the members of the incarnates don’t get much development (except for a couple scattered here and there). We get one or two flashbacks as to what they were like but that is about it. Which is a shame because the ones that do get more development, especially the incarnate in episode eight, are well done and made me invested. So it is inconsistent in that regard.

Another thing this show likes to portray is that...well…war is hell. Not only for the citizens, but also for the incarnates themselves as they were tools for war and now have no purpose since the war is now over. It is shown here and there and expanded upon by the main antagonist of the series, Cain and gives context as to why he is doing the things he is doing. It is a subject that we have seen plenty of times and here, it is no different. It does though strike a balance between showing us and telling us which I think it did well so that it doesn’t bore the viewer. It is where the story is at its best as it explains to us why these incarnates should be put down to make sure that remnants from the war are removed and we can start moving forward. Because if these incarnates are still running around and are killing people, innocent or not, then is the war truly over?


Characters: 6/10

The main protagonist role is split between Hank and Schaal. We will start with Hank first. Being the former squad leader of the incarnates, it would make sense that he is not happy of putting down his former squad members. We see this in his expressions and tone of voice that he is not comfortable doing this and helps remind the viewer that, while he is an incarnate, he still has plenty of humanity left in him. His motivations though are not well developed. He fights because he swore an oath and as squad leader, he feels that this is his responsibility. That’s fine, but is other reason is that he wants to get revenge on Cain for betraying him and shooting someone Hank cared about. The main problem is here is that we don’t really see much of their relationship bloom enough to act as a good motivator. A told, not shown kind of situation that is rather lacklustre when you think about it.

Schaal acts as the reminder that killing the incarnates is not all black and white. Being the daughter of one of the incarnates. We see her full of rage and spite towards Hank for killing her father but eventually starts to understand why they need to be put down. Her growth and understanding of Hank’s circumstances is one of the best things about this show. She acts as the voice of reason at times but is not always stupid enough to get in the way; only doing it when needed. She is plenty capable with her rifle but also knows her limits as to what she can do. She is easily my favourite character in this show and adds complexity to the situation since it can easily be just him Hank going around the country, killing the incarnates and moving on to the next.

Cain though, the main antagonist in this series, could have been a lot better in my opinion. I understand his reasoning as he something more than human and doesn’t want to be cast aside now that the war is over. But the way he sees it is rather comical. He sees himself as a god and wants to rule the country because of his power. I think him rebelling because he doesn’t want to be a tool for war along with the rest of the incarnates. He does see that, don’t get me wrong, but the way he goes about doing it is rather stereotypically evil. I feel like he could have been a moral check and that would make him a more interesting antagonist. But he is just simply evil and that’s just it really.

The rest of the cast are pretty much just there to act as supporting characters and not much else. Whether it is just to fight alongside Hank and Schaal or provide them with information. Claude Withers, the brother to Cain, felt like he had his own arc but he is rather uninteresting and his arc as well is rather uninteresting. So when the second half of the show comes and more spotlight is on him, he just comes of as a rather boring character.


Animation: 5.5/10

The animation is fine but could have been better in my opinion. The fights are serviceable and the art style and character designs are alright, but I feel like they could have been better. Which is a shame. MAPPA have been on a great roll lately with producing quality animation. Starting from Banana Fish from the summer season of 2018, they have produced Zombieland Saga, Dororo, Kakegurui xx and Sarazanmai. So following on after those shows, Sacred Beasts’ animation quality is rather lacklustre. It’s not bad and the fact the show doesn’t resort to CGI is impressive. But I feel like it could have been better at displaying these monster on monster fight scenes and if more effort was put into it, it would have been rather cool.


Sound: 8/10

The soundtrack does its job of help setting an atmosphere or matching the tone of the scene. Whether it would be a more somber scene or a fight scene, there always seems to be a ost that matches it. My favourite is played when Hank transforms into his incarnate form for the first time. The use of the orchestral and the increased paced of the music did feel like s**t was going to go down. It was definitely my favourite from this show.

The opening “Sacrifice” by Mafumafu is paced good due to how it portrays both Hank and Schaal’s emotions through rather aggressive vocals and instruments, especially for Hank and his hatred towards Cain. It is also very well choreographed as well and the visuals manage to keep up with the pace of the song well. So I would say that this is a good opening when all things considered.

The ending sequence “HHOOWWLL” by Gere x ARAKI shows off the incarnates displayed tapestry kind of way to let us see these powerful soldiers. They are also displayed in order of appearance in the show so we get to see what incarnates Hank is going have to hunt down. It’s a nice sequence to get you to relaxed after you finished an episode.


Conclusion

Well its certainly better than Fairy Gone which isn’t saying much. But there are problems in this show that does prevent this anime down from being a really great show. What’s annoying about that is that they are simple problems that I think, if addressed, could have turned this show into a great show. If it added more context, expanded on the first episode and improved its animation quality that MAAPA has shown from their previous shows, then this would be a great show. There are still some parts of this show that I like and kept me watching like the main leads and how it portrays that “WAR...is hell.” But it is also a show that could have easily been better and that’s what stings me the most about it.


My Personal enjoyment: 6/10


Overall score: 6.4/10 Recommendation: Consider it

Earlier this year there was an anime that came out called “Fairy Gone” which was largely panned by the anime community for one reason or another. Overall, it left a bad first impression on whoever watched it and word of mouth of its dreadful story spread through the community like wildfire. By this point you are probably wondering what does Fairy Gone have to do with To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts? Anime has existed long enough to the point where some begin to feel like copy cats or they have similar features. Almost like a sense of deja vu. MyAnimeList has a recommendations feature for ... this very purpose. More often then not you will see these trends through the seasons. Because of this people will often love whatever came first and then write off whatever came after it as a cheap imitation. Or if the first one sucked then the person could just ignore the second one all together. By that way of thought, To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts is Fairy Gone’s copycat ripoff... or is it? (Warning: this review contains bad puns)

Story wise To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts has Fairy Gone best in that it is short, sweet, and to the point. It’s a simple story of revenge. The main character was wronged by the antagonist and then has to hunt him down along with his former comrades who are suffering from a terrible case of PTSD where they lose their minds and feel the need to go on murderous killing sprees. Rather than see his friends become monsters he decides to put an end to them while they are still human. To do this he basically has an exploding spear gun though most of the time he just hulks out into his beastly form. For as many times as he uses that form you would think it would take its toll and he would end up in the same state as his comrades but, he has this special power called being the main character.

As for the other characters there’s Cain Madhouse (yes that’s his real name) who I’m pretty sure is evil just for the sake of being evil who is being hunted down by the hero Hank White Fox (not his real name but he’s a white wolf so I think it should be and it would keep the studio trend going). Together they form the revenge crux of the story. A young woman tags along by the name of Ms Trigger (get it because she carries around a gun... I’m sorry I’ll stop now) who happens to look exactly like Hank’s former lover. And of course every anime needs a completely useless character for the audience to ogle at which ain’t a bad thing mind you. Oh and there’s this loli vampire because why not.

While it looks like I’m being harsh on this anime, I’m really not. It’s a straightforward actiony monster of the week type of show. It does nothing to offend nor does it do anything to wow. Art and animation is decent. I will give it some bonus points though for not making the beasts CGI. Both the OP and ED were a good listen and do not recommend skipping either if you do decide to check this out.

So, what’s the verdict then? Is this a Fairy Gone rip-off? Honestly, no. While Fairy Gone and To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts share a lot of similarities, fundamentally they differ in one key area. One knows what it is, and the other doesn’t. I know what it is. It’s an ok watch.

The main problem with this anime is the annoying Nancy Schaal Bancroft she is one of the 2 most annoying anime characters ive ever seen in my life hate is a very strong word but i may have to use it on her.

She makes this anime so hard to watch she always unsure she following the protagonist or if hank is even the main protagonist around for unsure reasons.

The storyline is pretty good if you only thinking about hank side of the story and not listening to say unsure crap Nancy always talking about.

The action is really good actually very good if anything maybe ... just watch clips somewhere of all the fight scenes its probably a better option.

Well... I can at least state that this was better then Fairy Gone. That's not really a good bar to surpass but it is a bar. To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts is one of those shows that has a lot of things going for it. A good animation studio, a solid premise and from the PVs, a way better version of what Fairy Gone was going for, but this looks a little less boring. Emphasis on 'little'.

The biggest problem for this show is apparent in the first episode in the series. It starts off mid-war where we see these 'sacred beasts' tackle an army fortress ... and win it with ease. Our main character Hank Henriette (don't worry, the names got even stupider) is the commander of this squad and as we find out these humans can transform into the beasts and we get to know some of them in the first episode. In that same episode, we find out that the beasts can take over the humans minds and make them go rampant. After this, a whole bunch of stuff happens and the episode ends off with the war ending and Hank planning to kill his comrades after he is betrayed by a certain one.

This whole beginning episode is fine setup, but it runs into the same problems Fairy Gone has with it's initial premise. You have this cool idea with a cool world and you have this war with these awesome beasts creatures and you decide... to focus on what happens after it? This show is worse with it, because when we see Hank (or as I like to call him Hank-Hank the killing man) go on killing spree, they have to force flashbacks in because they didn't develop any of these soldiers until their premiere episode. It's a real detriment to the show and it's an important thing to get right.

The sad part is that the animation is actually solid for the majority of it. Yeah, it fairly standard, but MAPPA aren't being lazy with some of the shots either. The music is also fantastic since it's so easy to get hyped with it. It's not the best composition, but it does it's job of getting the viewer hyped (and the ED is really solid too).

Another big problem with the show is it's characters. Hank as a character is fine, but everyone else either lacks in interest. Schaal, who's supposed to be our secondary protagonist feels more like a minor character if anything else. She has 2 of the 12 episodes that's just her and yet she's overshadowed by a dumb twist and a way more interesting best, separately. They just do nothing to make her do anything interesting. You can tell the writing isn't the best when the penultimate episode has to remind you how close the main two characters are. Lisa and the dude that reminded me of the main character form Galactic Heroes barely add anything to the whole that is this show. However, the villains in this are something special man. Cain Fucking Madhouse (Yeah, his real last name is Withers, but he changed so his name is Madhouse to me) is a gem. He's an unorthodox dictator who is so quantifiably dumb that I can't comprehend. His companions include a demon loli and a dominatrix I believe (she does nothing, so who cares).

While the show can be fun when it goes stupid, especially towards the end, but it's overall just kinda boring. None of the episodes aren't very interesting and for the majority, I would just watch with usual sighs and blank staring. I could see people enjoying this, but not for me fully. I could watch a season two, but if it's more of the same then ill probably drop it.Did this show need this long of a review? No, but I decided to do that anyway.

Story: 4/10
Art:6/10
Sound:6/10
Character:3/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Overall:5/10

This is a review of the anime only. I have not read the manga.

I felt this anime had a ton of potential that it never lived up to, but let me preface with two confessions:

1. I watched this in the background while doing other things. It had about 65% of my attention. I did go back and rewatch parts if I was suddenly confused or lost. It didn't help. I don't know if this was a manga first (most are) and there was an assumption that we'd read it ... or what, but it was easy to get lost where it concerned character actions and ... motivations.

2. I didn't read the blurb about it before I started watching it. I don't know if I would have watched it if I had. I felt that it started off fantastic. It was intense and unexpected and awesome. But because I hadn't read the synopsis, I felt it was misleading and was quickly disappointed when it changed direction.

***This review contains mild spoilers, nothing that you wouldn't figure out on your own after the third episode.***

Again, back to my first statement, this had a lot of potential that was never developed. The characters were static, each being more of an archetype than a full-blooded character. Yes, they gave snippets into the pasts of each incarnate, but not enough to make them sympathetic. The episodic nature made it difficult to get attached to anyone. That and [semi-spoiler], it quickly became apparent that the incarnate was going to die anyway so there wasn't any reason to get invested.

The archetypal natural of the incarnates and their motivations, including even the hero and the villain, ended up feeling petty and trite. It seemed this anime was trying to pose a philosophical question (I'll let you decide what that was), but it fell short. Or I'm just over this particular philosophical question because it's been done a lot. There's no answer for it and probably better ways to pose it.

Some character motivations were never explained at all and that was confusing and frustrating as well. In short, this was disappointing. It was episodic with not enough oomph to make me care about the characters and without that, I can't truly enjoy a story. It became just one battle of supernaturals after another. It was repetitive and predictable. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't really enjoyable either.

Katsute Kami Datta Kemono-tachi e (2019)

A show of high potential that failed and doesn't need to come back. A classic 12-episode intro to manga/novel. The show has a pretty good first couple of episodes but then it falls hard. I like the storyline of hunting the monsters and not all is as it seems and so on. I enjoy the usual story of weapons that everyone needed and when they win are discarded. Much like the fate of heroes in some fantasy settings. This is the US Civil War with monsters.

The art honestly looks good if it was made in like 2012 but for 2019 ... it looks dated, grainy and just plain old. If that is what they wanted to do then great. What it does is make it something I don't think will be rewatched and in 5 years will drop off anyone's list if they haven't got around to it.

The music is fairly fitting but overly dramatic at times. Shouting is not the best and the show lacks any emphasis behind any action it does, sounds very flat.

The characters want to be deeper than they are. They try to set them up but then they fall apart too quickly. One minute they have absolute dedication and the next just like meh I am done.

The show had potential and in the end, it was rushed at the end with a plot that didn't provide enough interest. The fights are good, it is mostly enjoyable but at the same time, it does very little for me in progress or development. 4/10.