Buta no Liver wa Kanetsu Shiro

An arrogant scientist awakens in the middle of a muddy pigpen, and the last thing he remembers is eating a raw pig liver and collapsing in the subway. He quickly gathers that he has turned into a pig and is now in a strange fantasy land. As he struggles to grasp reality, a young girl named Jess comes to his aid. Jess happens to be a Yesma—a discriminated class of servants distinguished by their telepathic abilities and the silver collars around their necks. Despite his inappropriate thoughts about her, Jess makes sacrifices for his sake, and the pig resolves to repay her the best he can within the limits of his new body.

But Jess' generosity does not absolve her from the prejudice the Yesmas face daily, and the pig begins to suspect that Jess is in greater danger than she thinks. While he wants to visit the royal capital and beg the king to change him back into a human, the pig realizes that he cannot simply turn his back on his kind savior.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Jess Main

Kusunoki, Tomori Japanese

Pig Main

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Eise Supporting

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Ceres Supporting

Tomita, Miyu Japanese

Brace Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Rossi Supporting

Takahashi, Shinya Japanese

Notos Supporting

Itou, Kent Japanese

Wyss Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Kilins Supporting

Souma, Kouichi Japanese

Eavis Supporting

Hashi, Takaya Japanese

Takahashi, Masayuki Director

Tateishi, Yayoi Sound Director

ASCA Theme Song Performance

Myuk Theme Song Performance

Reviews

Feb 5, 2024

RedThunderS

Recommended

I like this anime for the character's charm, the simple story, and the fun and unique idea of a man being turned into a pig. The art style was good and fit with the anime. The storyline didn't have too many cheches, but I will have to say it will get dark at some moments in the anime. The characters in the anime react to situations and events in realistic and clever ways. Being a pig he needs to plan out how to get out safely without or Jesse getting hurt.

The series has some minor flaws, but if you enjoy a silly isekai, I ... would recommend this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 5, 2024

KANLen09

Mixed Feelings

ButaReba - I'm telling you, man, the Isekai Reincarnation shows have gone bonkers.

By this time, I don't really need to tell you what reincarnated Isekai shows are like; it's the same doofus premise that we've seen time to time again. But, in a case of silver lining, there's the "I turned into XXX" plotline, which gives a somewhat refreshing take to the reincarnation angle. From 8-bit's Tensei Slime franchise (which has continued to go strong even as the series hits its 10th anniversary in 2024) to Studio Gokumi X AXsiZ's last Summer's offering of Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umarekawatta Ore wa Meikyuu wo Samayou a.k.a Reborn ... as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon (which I really like), everyone has a reason to like or hate them, but as repetitious as they are, they're here to stay. And that leads us to Fall 2023's final show: novelist Takuma Sakai's only work, Buta no Liver wa Kanetsu Shiro a.k.a Butareba: The Story of a Man Who Turned into a Pig, which, aside from its production issues, is a plot that, I think, only mainly serves to sell the oinks to the most extreme people who dreamt they can be pigs for fetishes.

For context, I just love J-Novel Club's phrasing synopsis:
A run-of-the-mill otaku collapses from stomach pain after tasting raw pig liver and wakes up in a whole new world—as a pig, of all things! He's helplessly trapped in his pen until Jess, a girl who can read minds, comes along and rescues him. Our porcine hero will have to work to keep his boar-ish thoughts to himself, but sweet Jess isn't deterred. In fact, she wants to spoil this little piggy rotten! By Jess's side, it seems like life as a hog might not be so bad after all, yet there's more to this strange fantasy world than meets the eye. Jess is a girl of many secrets, and she's in danger. But what can a mere pig with no special powers do to protect her from her cruel fate? Will his modern knowledge, quick thinking, and sharp nose be enough to ham it up and save her?

Sounds quite the degenerate and serious synopsis, eh?

But in hindsight, that's really as much as the story is rather "unique" in: the reality that the MC-kun (VA-ed by SAO's Kirito of all people) must've ate some poisonous or inedible pig liver, only to be reincarnated into the body of a pig. and taken care of by a girl who's as much as the pigpen's lowly maidservant. The pervertic Otaku, who is at first brandishing himself as the pig who tries his best to act like a human while looking the same, meets the girl, whom he comes to know as Jess from the House Kiltyrin. However, as he's soon about to learn, Jess is no ordinary girl, as the collar that she wears on her neck exmplifies her as what the fantasy world calls Yethma, girls who can telepathically understand other people who have similar collars as her but who are also discriminated against from birth to be slaves to their masters. Yethmas like Jess can (presumably) only purchase one item: Ristae crystals of various colours, one of which is the rarest: the black Ristae, said to grant its user a wish. And Jess's wish is for her to be free of her Yethma life, though the temptation to turn Mr. Pig, apart from all of the dodgy DDR-dance frenetics, back to a human again. Of course, the other way is to visit the King in the Royal Capital, but to go there, the risks outweigh the benefits, as Yethma hunters will relentlessly seek out girls and sell them, thus repeating the entire cycle all over again.

It's a rather lengthy journey for both Pig and Jess as they circumnavigate around the dangerous areas to get to the hidden Royal Capital, and their relationship is quite mutual. Since Jess saved his life at times, Pig attempts to do the same, albeit in his rather bulbous pig's body at the very best. But they don't have to go through this alone. The other half of Naut and his dog Rossi, along with yet another Yethma of Else, are also another duo who are following both Jess and Pig on the same trajectory; they're also here to fulfil their needs, as much as the danger proves omnipotent for all since, they have accompanying Yethmas with them. At times, Jess and Pig do look good together...if you don't see them from a degenerate standpoint, and their relationship has that kind of charm of sacrificial "love", so much so from reaching their goal to the Royal Capital and releasing the chains off of Jess, even if it means turning Pig back to a human.

But all this while, when the goal seems to be within reach, something gives off the ominous thought that what if this has been a journey through the highs and lows — a measure of recording somebody's life? That's the stark reminder I got while watching this show, more in the curiosity of its world-building, which has been vague from the start, and like a banana, its peels opened to finally get a realization of how the fantasy world operates and why there is a need for the discrimination of the Yethmas. This is where the show excels, and though rookie director Masayuki Takahashi doesn't quite have the skills to reach his potential yet (after doing assistant directorial duties for Spring 2021's HigeHiro, Winter 2022's Shikkaumon and most importantly, last Summer's Jidou Hanbaiki), this show serving as his debut job is a rather good starting point for him.

Speaking of the director, switching gears to focus on the studio now, Project No. 9 really got off into the biggest foil of their biggest move yet. 3 shows within the same season only create a recipe for disaster: Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon a.k.a The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess is the summation of the best effort the studio has given in the season; Ojou to Banken-kun a.k.a A Girl & Her Guard Dog got trashed so hard; and now with ButaReba, it rests in-between both shows in terms of production capability. It's neither the best nor the worst, but mediocre to decent at best. Even ASCA's OP and Myuk's ED just sound decent, but really nothing memorable.

In the end, this show is just wish-fulfillment purposes of a "what if" scenario when someone thinks of being reincarnated as a pig, and I can't say that I enjoyed or hated what I watched the hell out of ButaReba. It's just, overall, fine as it is, and unlike Summer's Jidou Hanbaiki, this is just all sorts of messed up. That's the reason why this show, to me, is one of a handful where Isekai reincarnation has truly gone bonkers, with no thought process other than its obvious tagline.

Decent try, but try harder.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Feb 7, 2024

Dokisensei

Not Recommended

Initially I was interested in the first story being wrapped in mystery, and the magic system that uses crystal stones.However, after following all the episodes until waiting for the last episode which made me wait 1 month.My enjoyment turned into laziness with stiff animations when fighting enemies, drama stories that talked too much that annoyed me.And, the last episode where almost the entire animation is an image slideshow. I'm the type of person who likes to like all anime, but if the story point is just chat and stiff animation which makes me lazy to continue watching, sometimes I want to just finish watching it. ... However, the interesting point that made me stay, this anime does not export its perverted parts, although in the story there are scenes of explicit content regarding taboo and adult matters. Anime is still safe to watch, and the story is interesting. So, if you want to watch it, don't be lulled by the first episodes, because when your expectations are high at the start of watching this anime, you will disappointed with the ending.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Buta no Liver wa Kanetsu Shiro Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) KANLen09 - Feb 5	78 replies	by cHysteriaM »» Oct 15, 8:53 AM
	How did this only adapt 1 volume? mechian - Oct 15	2 replies	by DragyG »» Oct 15, 4:15 AM
	Poll: Buta no Liver wa Kanetsu Shiro Episode 6 Discussion Stark700 - Nov 11, 2023	38 replies	by Yabasawa »» Aug 10, 3:48 AM
	Why so many people are hating over this Great anime? ( 1 2 ) Weird-but-true - Jan 3	59 replies	by Talamare »» Jul 30, 11:45 PM
	Poll: Buta no Liver wa Kanetsu Shiro Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Dec 23, 2023	43 replies	by ST63LTH »» May 31, 8:35 AM