I don’t care about style. Whether characters look pointy or retarded doesn’t matter to me as long as I get a good story. What I do find annoying is when unconventional style becomes the focal point of the anime. Style should never take precedence over substance.
- Fooly Cooly: Yawn
- Lucky Star: Stupid
- Kaiba: Bullshit
Do you think you can get away with throwing crap in my face if it’s fluid and sparkly? Is there any show with unconventional style that also has substance? Look no further than Kemonozume.
Despite having the same director as Kaiba, Kemonozume doesn’t suck. In fact, it has nudity. Not just any nudity, but the best kind: uncensored women and censored men. Notably, there’s a sex scene on a Ferris wheel. It’s about damn time. Anime is full of Ferris wheel scenes, but there’s never any sex. Too bad the all characters are under 18. Oh wait, they’re in their 20s.
Don’t be fooled by the seemingly cliché premise (the hunter falling in love with the hunted); there’s nothing predictable about this show, except maybe a few deaths. Kemonozume rapes every expectation you may have about sword fights. No simultaneous slash followed by a five-second pause, Fighter A falling to a knee, and Fighter B smirking before admitting defeat and collapsing.
Still not convinced?
| Well developed minor characters |  |
| Simultaneous subplots | |
| Unforeseeable plot twists | |
| Comical victimization | |
| Regular victimization | |
| Recurring random character(s) | |
| Badass mid-episode transitions |  |
| Soundtrack by Yuki Kajiura | |
| Frequently updated intro/ending visuals | |
| Fade into intro/ending | |
| Themes of Hatred/Suffering/Revenge | |
| Lesbians | |
| Enterprising use of nudity | |
| Hilarious ambiguously gay dude | |
| Stylish visual effects | |
| Dinosaurs | |
| Giant Robots | |
| Non-Giant Robot Suits | |
| Rivalry | |
| Graphic violence | |
| Non-pedophilic character design | |
| Soft-spoken girl voiced by Mamiko Noto | |
| Time Travel | |
| Supernatural Power | |
| Trademark Infrigement | |
Not everything about this show is perfect. Like any show that tries to impress stylistically, it has its hits and misses. Some scenes kick ass (like the monkey scene above), and some scenes fall flat.
The worst part of the show is the final boss. He’s annoying enough to be on Kaiba.