Kemono Jihen

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Monster Incidents

Japanese: 怪物事変

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Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 12

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jan 10, 2021 to Mar 28, 2021

Premiered: Winter 2021

Broadcast: Sundays at 22:00 (JST)

Producers: Frontier Works, Lantis, Shueisha, Yomiuri TV Enterprise, Bandai Namco Arts, JTB Next Creation

Licensors: Funimation

Studios: Ajia-do

Source: Manga

Genres: Action, Mystery, Supernatural

Theme: Mythology

Demographic: Shounen

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Statistics

Score: 7.40¹ (scored by 153,322 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #2124²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #624

Members: 342,720

Favorites: 2,155

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7.40

Ranked #2124Popularity #624Members 342,720

Winter 2021TVAjia-do

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Episodes: /12

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Synopsis

Kohachi Inugami, a detective who specializes in the occult, arrives at a remote village in the Japanese countryside, tasked by a hostess at a local inn to investigate a string of incidents involving rotting and mutilated livestock corpses that have been appearing for seemingly no reason. While surveying, Inugami notices a peculiar young boy working in the fields. Evaded by his peers and called "Dorotabou" for his stench, the young farmhand is surprised that anybody would take an interest in him.

Inugami, piqued with curiosity, enlists Dorotabou in helping him with the investigation, despite scorned looks from the villagers. Unbeknownst to Dorotabou, this investigation will reveal a strange new world to him—one of the beast-like entities known as Kemono existing in tandem with humans—along with breathing new purpose into his previously empty life.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Episode Videos

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Adaptation:

Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana
Japanese

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Staff

Fujimori, Masaya

Director

Nagasaki, Yukio

Sound Director

Kawasaki, Yoshiki

Episode Director, Storyboard

Murata, Naoki

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

"Kemono Michi (ケモノミチ)" by Daisuke Ono (eps 2)

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Ending Theme

	"Shirushi (-標（しるし）-)" by Sayaka Sasaki
	2: "Kemono Michi (ケモノミチ)" by Daisuke Ono (eps 12)

More reviews

Reviews

Mar 28, 2021

Ethan_07

Recommended

Kemono Jihen is, without a doubt, the dark horse of Winter 2021. Dark, not only in its fame and premises that are being overshadowed, but also in its plot and story that twists the audience around its bloody, red hand-gloves.

Among tons of promising sequels and exciting, intriguing anime that are pumped into this season, I step into watching this show with no clue whatsoever it is about, and it left me impressed with the gory yet thrilling adventure of the protagonists against the relentless demons, warm my heart with a genuine portrayal of friendship that exceeds 'protect to protect' values, and really blew my expectation ... away.

In a society where demons of different races and classes exist unbeknownst to the human, it's up to a detective office cooperating with the higher-up in police officials to keep the boundary between two kinds clear, and visible. The main character, a child with high regenerative skill and enormous brute strength is recruited into the detective team from outskirt.

But, there's a catch: he doesn't know love, and is emotionless.

As the plot progresses, ensemble characters with different talents, and most importantly, captivatingly dark background stories intertwine together. It's almost like a celebration of a cluster of broken demons, yet with human emotions, that are brought together for a chance to live—regardless of the numbing pain that are yet to be unfolded, or lingering truth that are to be discovered.

Strangely, it is because of their childish like interaction and casual exchange of worries and concerns that forge the trio's (sometimes, quartet) relationship. It's not 'tomo-tachi' (friends) given the perilous and critical nature of their work, but it's 'nakama' (comrades) between them that added much depth to their bond. When one of them is in pinch, they do not shout or fill themselves with flashbacks to fuel their power and become temporarily invincible.

They cry.

Like a little child; because, in many senses, they are. They cannot shoulder the whole responsibility and burden that the world dropped on them by themselves. And this is where the depiction of comrades, where they would rely on each other, comes in through the perspective of the emotionless main character, Kabane. It is precisely because he sees thing subjectively—evil as evil, good as good—that he can evoke the best in his comrades, that they know how frustrating it is to be powerless and how powerful feelings, emotions are. And, as he learns more about the meaning of empathy, with love in its many shapes and forms with his comrades, I believe the story will reach much greater heights than what were depicted.

As for the animation, the fighting sequences are fluid and colorful; for the soundtracks, the music matches the ambience the show was going for perfectly. It seeps in creepy, thrilling piano notes in the moments of suspense and danger, while giving off a blood-pumping, hopeful, evil-hero-like vibe when the protagonists are face-to-faced with the merciless demons. The opening is great, with its editing matching the tempo of the songs while the J-rock ending ended each episode in a positive note.

Overall, Kemono Jihen is a show that wraps its hidden dark elements, and stories inside layers of pure, and genuine bond of reliance that the protagonists share, exhibiting their fragile, yet unyielding determination and emotions. It can get really, really dark sometimes, yet at the same time, you couldn't help but to crave for more of their heartfelt moments.

So, if you're into exploring some supernatural stories of demons through the eyes of young protagonists, I'd definitely recommend Kemono Jihen. Beware though, as it could shock and traumatize your senses, then warm and melt your heart when you least expected it.

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Mar 28, 2021

Dark_Axgel

Recommended

Before the review, I should mention that the MC is a dumb dude. He is like an empty vessel without any emotions, feelings, etc (until he is thought).

Kemono Jihen mainly stresses on the topic which revolves around kids who have some special abilities which is different from normal humans, which makes those kids Kemono (meaning monster).

The MC starts off living in a small village where he thinks that he is the only one like a monster until he meets a dude. Then the dude takes MC to his place in Tokyo and with other kids, the MC starts going on missions related to Kemono ...

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Mar 28, 2021

KANLen09

Recommended

This show can best be summed up and described this way (with the help of a former friend of whom this description fits to a T):
The world not as simple as it seems. Together with humans, there exists another type of being: they are called Kemono: supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons, whom used to co-exist peacefully. However, one day, a war broke out. Some thought that humans were behind it, since they instinctively discriminate against races different than themselves, and others think that Kemono were at fault. Sometime after, the story brings us to a remote village. For some time now, dead animals have been ... found there. Kohachi Inugami, the owner of a detective agency that specializes in the occult, meets a neglected boy named Kusaka "Dorotabou" Kabane in a remote village, who is avoided by all villagers and works instead of going to school. And it turns out that Kabane is a half-ghoul, whose true nature is suppressed by a lifestone. Kabane is always discriminated and labelled as the mud Yokai, will he help the detective uncover the truth behind the animal killings?

Kemono Jihen is one of those works that you rarely see about very often, much less the obscurity of the manga since it was released in Jump Square (instead of the more popular Weekly Shonen Jump), despite having all the common bells and whistles you would think of in the typical Shounen genre. At first glance, it'll definitely remind you of the similarities due to the dark fantasy and supernatural genres that are closely reminiscent of Bungou Stray Dogs, from the setting of the "detective" theme to the main character whose personality is like Dororo, unbeknownst to his main power and only being accompanied by the small numbers whom have encountered for the mystery and supernatural realisms. In fact, from the moment when the story plot starts moving from the get-go, there is this alluring sense that all is not what it seems, and the next thing you know, you've sunk your teeth deep into this rabbit hole that keeps the constant grip on your toes as to where circumstances would go. Think of it like Kyokou Suiri (a.k.a In/Spectre): a great 1-to-1 adaptation, but without the heavy exposition and easy storytelling and progression that will keeps you glued to the episodes for a few hours on end. Although the presentation demographic is different from Bungou Stray Dogs, don't let that fool you into thinking that teenagers don't have it just as hard as adults, nope. In fact, it's quite mature with its dark themes and intrepid to the ghoulish, macabre and grisly nature.

Mostly a character-driven story, where I can give praise to Kemono Jihen, lies with the characters that can sometimes be quite morbid in their ways, but I feel that they should be given more recognition:
- Our MC is Kabane "Dorotabo" Kusaka, a 13-year-old human-ghoul hybrid. An abandoned kid with little to no education of the world, what he is able in is limited of the little common sense that he has. The lifestone (or Life Calculus) in his possession is a gateway to understanding both his control of the thirst for ghoulish thirst, as well as finding out the connections of his parents, and the rest is history. Being someone who looks innocent and straightforward, he has a self-sacrifical spirit of always being ready to put his life on the line for others when danger strikes, since he is an immortal, provided his head stays intact. He's the experiential definition of "Act first, think later".
- The detective in question is Kohachi Inugami. As you've guessed, he's also a Kemono, and a strong tanuki at that, often referred to as "the Kemonoist". Running his own occult consultancy office to take care of specialized Kemono-centric issues is a cinch when the outside world practically does not know that Kemono co-exist, and he's the meditator between both humans and Kemono beastkin alike, other than managing the care and concern of fellow teenage Kemono under him, and seeks to long for a world where both humans and Kemono can co-exist.
- The first of three Kemono under Inugami's belt: Shiki Tademaru, a 14-year-old Arachne-human hybrid who had been passed into Inugami's custody by his uncle Akio. Acting like a tsundere for the most part, Shiki can be often as brash and rude, and at worst, seem off-putting than most, but it is for this reason alone that as time progresses, he grows to be rational and level-headed in making sure to taking good care of them at the same time, an influence from his family of a single mom and 8-year-old daughter Aya (who thinks maturely but acts immaturely) who are also Arachne Kemono.
- The second of three Kemono under Inugami's belt: Akira Iwakiyama-yuki-sa-to-Shirona-no-go-Juuroku-shi (that's a mouthful), or best translated as "The 56th child of Shirona of the Snow Village in Mount Iwaki", because he is a descendant of a Yuki-onna. Despite Akira's lifestyle of embracing feminity by acting like a girl and doing all the stuff that girls like or tend to do, Akira is a he, not a she. So in retrospect, not a tomboy, but a tomgirl. He mostly takes care of affairs within the Inugami occult office, due to his hate for disgusting things and if encountered, cowers and faints at fear's door. Having a twin Yuki-okono brother (Yui) whose fate was to become the chief of a Yuki-onna village for nothing more than a tool of sexual reproduction for pride and ego reasons, that's as dark and gutsy as it can get.
- The last of three Kemono under Inugami's belt: Mihai, an immortal vampire, but a shut-in NEET whose mentorship under Inugami has seen a fair share of him being a "Jack of all trades, Master of all" from utilizing technology for hacking purposes and communication from an online perspective. He's quite the over-bearing character with a narcisstic mindset, yet he doesn't go without the reluctance of help every once in a while.
- And what's a good team of "protagonists" without a good team of antagonists? And Inari Yoko is just that: the beautiful and alluring kitsune Kemono, serving for both humans and Kemono as the superintendent of a police force, while under the farce that this is all but solidifying her position in the human society to one day bethrone the inevitable conflict between humans and Kemono due to her ruthless ways of self-satisfaction and vile manipulation. Under her belt are two kitsune Kemonos: 19-year-old Nobimaru and loyal follower Kon. Despite Nobimaru's shape-shifting abilities to attune to the same age as the Kemono under Inugami, his intelligence is backed by his personality of being a witty crafter of lies, and much like Inari, can manipulative circumstances to his advantage. Kon on the other hand, she follows wherever Inari may go, despite the fact that like Kabane, she's used as a tool to advance the former's tactics, and all that's required of Kon towards Inari is recognition that she is a "good girl". May Kabane rescue Kon from Inari's hands one day, and let the sail ship between them.

I find it quite fascinating for such a decades-old studio like Ajia-Do, I'm presuming that the studio is trying to find what works for them, despite the low, yet consistent output of at least 1 show per year (just to maintain business as usual). Just look at the shows made by the studio in recent years: Isekai Maou was a decent job done, while both Isekai Bookworm and Kakushigoto firmly solidified the studio as being capable to perform in Slice-of-Life works, though this is the first time that the studio has returned to doing an action-heavy show since 2016's Shuumatsu no Izetta (that is averagely tacked-on mediocrity). Personally, I'd like the studio to focus more on their bread-and-butter genre expertise, though I can't fault that the presentation in Kemono Jihen is finger lickin' good and consistent throughout. Truly "Are you (un)afraid of the Dark?" levels of surrealism. Likewise with the music, it pretty much fits the whole dark theme to a T here as well. Once again, the massively popular Seiyuu Daisuke Ono hits the nail with the OP and Sayaka Sasaki with the ED, you couldn't have asked for a better OST than this. But honestly, though the production team isn't what you can call them strong, all I've ever needed from a show like this is just one word: consistency, for the art of balancing skill and expertise, and that's all it matters.

A hidden gem amongst the ever increasing popularity of contemporary Shounen series, yet easily overshadowed by the same circumstances as well. Everyone should check this out, and if you decide to pick this up, watch this on a binge, it'll do you good to keep you hooked from start to finish.

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Kemono Jihen

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Kusaka, Kabane

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Tademaru, Shiki

Inugami, Kohachi

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Florescu, Mihai

Nobimaru

Iwakiyamayukisatoshironanogojuurokushi, Yui

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