Kemono Jihen
It is hard being the new anime on the block in a sea of exciting upstarts and established legends. Anime fans were basking in the afterglow of Jujutsu Kaisen (Oct. 2020) and were eagerly awaiting season four of Attack on Titan (Dec. 2020), Wonder Egg Priority, and weeb waifu favorites Re:Zero Season 2 Part 2 and The Quintessential Quintuplets, amongst others. So when Kemono Jihen began streaming, it was easy to see why it missed the plates of weebs, otakus, and nakamas such as myself. If I’ve learned anything from this anime super buffet we’ve been blessed with, it is, don’t spoil dessert!
Released as a Winter 2021 anime, Kemono Jihen, translated as “Monster Incidents,” is the brainchild of illustrator and mangaka Shō Aimoto. It was created in 2016 and serialized in Jump Square. His other works (manga) include Muddy, and Hokenshitsu no Shinigami, which preceded Kemono Jihen but appear to have influenced his current work. The anime is divided into four arcs; The Introduction, Shiki, Intermission, and Akira Arcs, with the anime adapting the first 19 chapters of the manga. At the time of writing, there are fourteen standalone volumes.
Kemono Jihen’s anime adaptation is handled by studio Ajia-do Animation Works, with direction by Masaya Fujimori. Ajia-do Animation Works is most noted for 2018’s How Not to Summon a Demon Lord. Kemono Jihen is currently licensed by Funimation and is now available for streaming in North America via Funimation.
Kemono Jihen is a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type anime and dutifully earns its R+17 rating. It includes the genres of shounen, supernatural, mystery, demons, and action. Mixed in that stew is also a bit of slice of life/coming of age. But don’t let looks deceive you. On the surface, it looks like the typical shonen. But it carries a decent measure of depth.
Our story centers around three boys with supernatural powers who are brought together to solve mysteries ala Charlies Angels. The story begins with an occult detective investigating the corpses of decaying and rotting livestock in a village located in the Japanese countryside. The detective, Kohachi Inugami, residing at an inn in the village, directs his attention to village waif (not waifu) Kabane Kusaka. Nicknamed “Dorotabo” due to his foul-smelling stench, Kabane is investigated by the detective.
Through a series of events surrounding Kabane, he discovers that, like himself, Kabane is a bakedanuki, resulting from humans and Kemono mixing. This mixture grants Kabane extraordinary abilities that are kept in check by a gem around his neck known as a “Lifestone.” The lifestone Kabane wears around his neck controls his thirst, which prevents him from transforming into a ghoul.
Seeing the boy’s potential, Inugami takes him to Tokyo to work at the Inugami Strangeness Consulting Agency as a Kemonoist. A Kemonist is an investigator that maintains the balance between Kemono and humans. It is here that we meet the series, two other protagonists Akira and Shiki.
Like Kabane, Akira and Shiki are half-human, hanyo, with each possessing supernatural abilities. Shiki, part arachnid, uses silk as his primary weapon while Akira uses ice. Akira’s abilities are best likened to the ice apparition Yukina (Yu Yu Hakusho).
Shiki and Akira are initially untrusting of Kabane, and rightly so. Despite each boy having a traumatic past, Kabane is the least emotionally developed of the three and does not understand simple concepts such as love or friendship. Despite these emotional hangups, the boys do develop a strong bond throughout the series.
Depending on anime, twelve episodes may or may not be enough time to flesh out characters and explain why bonds exist in the first place. Anime is often notorious for smashing characters together under the “we’re now friends, deal with it” trope. Fortunately, we are given enough insight into how the boys bonded through their differences in personalities and internal and external forces. We also realize several underlying loci of control are rejection and perceived abandonment as Akira, Shiki, and Kabane came to be in the care of Inugami, who becomes a surrogate father and mentor and, in his own way, provides the boys’ guidance.
Inugami is joined by Mihai Florescu, also a member of the Inugami Strangeness Consulting Agency. Mihai is a centuries-old vampire from Romania who, upon becoming disillusioned with life (boredom), came into contact with Inugami and was invited to Japan.
Mihai, while not an antagonist, Mihai causes trouble for the boys due to his high intelligence and boredom. As intelligent as he is, he has minimal understanding of humans and how his actions affect others. Through Mihai’s actions, though, the boys begin forming emotional bonds. Mihai’s personality is juxtaposed against the series main villain. As Mihai is unaware of how his actions affect those around him, our main antagonist can’t say the same.
Introduced in episode three of the anime, the curvacious Yoko Inari makes her appearance. Yoko is a kitsune, a being capable of changing appearance. Yoko heads the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. She maintains control via her Bewitching Stone which affords her the ability to manipulate others. She is an “end justifies the means” antagonist who uses others to achieve her goals. She is adept at emotional intelligence, going even as far as to manipulate the memories of her servant Kon, another kitsune, who she views as disposable.
Initially, Yoko had a working relationship with Inugami, but she became hostile toward him when he stopped her from taking the Lifestone belonging to Kabane. It is her ultimate goal to capture all the stones (calculus) and rule Japan. Yoko’s ambition does not dominate the series. Her machinations are handled by her subordinates Kon and Nobimaru. The latter, from the Special Investigation Unit, is tasked with locating “stones” throughout Japan.
Many of the themes present in Kemono Jihen show in the art and animation. Very bright color pallets are used and drawn against darker hues. The attire of the main protagonists and their colors, purple, light blue, black, match their personalities. This is not to say that Kabane has a dark soul. In my opinion, his black outfit represents the ghoul within and the fact that his story is still a mystery. Through the use of color, I found myself immersed in the world of this anime, and the attention to detail was impeccable.
I was so caught up in the anime that I could not say much about the music throughout the anime. However, I will say the soundtrack used as the ending theme “Shirushi” by Sayaka Sasaki used until episode 11 gave me Tokyo Ghoul vibes on each listen. In my opinion, it eclipses the opening theme Kemono Michi by Daisuke ono. This is not a dismissal of the opening theme. The opening theme coupled with the animation of Shiki, Akira, Kabane, them seeing Kabane turn around and look at Kon drew me in. I was blown away by the voice acting, and I’ll just say that there is a lot of audible chocolate in this anime.
As good as this anime is, some parts were off-putting. The first is that Kabane is very overpowered and damn near immortal. This would be fine if there is some reasoning, such as he’s part Sayan or trained until he went bald. The fact that he is so strong does not overshadow the fact that he is the only one of the three whose backstory does not receive closure. It s possible they are saving it for a season two, along with Kon’s backstory. While there is only so much that can be done in twelve episodes, the Shiki Arc did seem a bit long in the tooth. The backstory was well done, but fans may be put off by the subsequent introduction of Shiki’s sister. If the loli/harem vibe bugs, you know it is just a plot device to explain why Kon goes back to Yoko and a setup for the next season.
Fans may find other flaws, but those mentioned above to me were minor and did help to add a bit of distraction to an anime heavily seeded with very dark themes, including reverse rape, a theme often reserved for hentai than anime.
While it may seem like a Tokyo Ghoul knock-off, Kemono Jihen is an excellent anime that can hold its own. It can be binged on a rainy Saturday or relaxed Sunday. It covers a lot of ground in twelve episodes and will have fans clamoring for the next season, which rumor has it will not be released until 2023. Let’s hope not.
