Kemono Friends has been dubbed by some as this past season’s “sleeper hit” and articles and photos have been circulating around the net raving about the show’s quality, though not as apparent when compared to the likes of Miss Kobayashi and Gabriel Dropout. “How can this series fly under your radar,” you ask? Well no need to check if you’ve been magically transported under a rock because its popularity can only be really felt if you’re in the Land of the Rising Sun. Which begs the question: is the show legitimately good or have the Japs been played for a sucker by an obscure novelty?
Well, yes and no. Part of its appeal may be because of the genetically “moe-fied” animals, but the show’s pièce de résistance is, believe it or not, the story. Behind Kaban and Serval’s whimsical adventure throughout Japari Park lies the history of the park itself. And the genius of it is how they reveal it.
Each episode drops hint about the underlying story, starting at the very first. From there the amount is only miniscule but enough to give nudges and winks to your brain that something’s up. As the story progresses, the pace of how they reveal it is never really rushed. It’s not like in the middle there are episodes dedicated to explaining all of it; that only happens near the end. Every episode gives an equal amount of attention to the progression─ and by “equal,” I mean a steady ascent. It won’t surprise you, but it will slowly draw you in.
And when met with this bizarre development, the mood never really bends into something more serious. They keep the benign atmosphere but how the story unfolds is affected.
Serval: Wow Boss, all this time you can actually talk!
*proceeds to be fine with it minutes later*
On the flipside, the content that’s presented between those reveals, the conversations and jokes between the “Friends” they encounter on their journey, is basic but has a purpose. If you’re gonna watch this without the premonition that it’s going for a childlike and innocent vibe then you’re really not gonna enjoy this. And once the idea that “this is a show for kids” starts settling in, you’re more forgiving about the show’s many inconsistencies and even the subpar animation. Japari Park’s story as backdrop makes up for the show’s shortcomings while giving it a multi-layered edge─ which is more than I can say for some of its characters.
Save for Kaban, the characters are based from actual behaviors of the real-life animals. They even put a small description about them whenever it cuts for a commercial (which I love, by the way.) I like to think of them as heroines in a visual novel, and the center of that harem would be Kaban (yeah, eat your heart out Kobayashi!)
Joking aside, there’s not much outside of that─ which again you forgive and actually fits into the whole “kid stuff” mindset. But then on episode 8, you get the “PPP”; which is an idol group comprised of “moe-fied” species of penguins, which I instantly detested. Nothing’s worse than a throw-away episode on a semi-episodic series. I put the designs for most of the “Friends” into the category of “ridiculous”, PPP’s falls more on the “seductive category”; there’s too much skin. And this might be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think idols this racy fits anywhere on a children’s show─ magical girls, probably, but not idols. I don’t know. This might be a nitpick since from the start there have been upskirt shots (e.g. Prairie Dog’s), but it never really bothered me because they always cover it up.
All in all, Kemono Friends is a show for the young and the young at heart. Don’t expect a very deep and intricate story to be the show's forefront when you hear somewhere about it being a mystery. I would like to talk about more of its soundtracks and this one that I liked but I can’t find it anywhere. If you’re fine with a 3D slice of life anime that has a slow but interesting story, then stick some feathers on your safari hat and catch the Japari Bus!
