Reviews for Kemono Friends (6.33) 406i2x

This show takes place in Japari Park, which is a sort of safari zoo showcasing a broad variety of different animals... all of them 'changed' through some mechanism to look pretty much like people wearing animal costumes. The show opens in an African Savanna setting with a young girl who has amnesia. She is soon discovered-- and terrified of-- 'Serval'-- a serval. Lo and behold, however, Serval's just playful, and like all of the animals at Japari Park, she is quite friendly. Because she has amnesia, the girl doesn't know who she is or where she came from. And no one seems to know exactly what kind of animal she is... But there's a good chance that someone at the Library in the park might know. For convenience's sake, Serval decides to name this girl 'Kaban' because she was discovered with a 'bag' (backpack) on her back. Thus Kaban-chan and Serval head out for the Library.

At first, this show looks, feels, and smells like a cutesy children's show, complete with brief voiced-over clips describing some aspects of whatever animal-types each particular episode's 'Friends' are. And indeed, that is what this show is... An adventure, with Kaban-chan and Serval, with new Friends in every episode and new unique challenges that take a human's ingenuity to solve. But what makes this show 'something more' than just a children's show is Japari Park itself, the mysterious mythos surrounding it, and the run-down nature of the park. It seems pretty clear that there are no 'humans' maintaining the park for some reason. Perhaps it has something to do with the 'Ceruleans'-- something like aliens or beings from an alternae dimension in appearance-- that pop up now and then and harass the Friends at the park.

As this show was airing, I really didn't give it much thought. I continued to watch the first three episodes thinking I'd at least see it through and offer a review at the end. But as every new episode ed, I found myself looking forward to the next week's episode just a little bit, and then a little bit more... By the time the show ended, I was pretty much a convert. Unraveling the mysteries of Japari Park and meeting new, well-conceived Friends every episode really became a fun and relaxing venture. All while maintaining the container of a perfectly children-appropriate show.

Although nothing spectacular, don't let the low rating here on AniDB put you off. This show is actually surprisingly good. From what I understand, it wound up being a pretty big hit in Japan and a second season is already in the initial stages because of the show's success. I'm looking forward to it because there's still a lot of adventuring to go even though the first season definitely concludes a major arc.

Level of Taboo/Ecchi/Fanservice: None. At least not really. Fetishists with a 'thing' for humanoid animals may get a little extra kick out of this show, but everything is frankly quite appropriate for elementary (or early middle-school) children. Good, clean family fun.
Intended Audience: I'm told the producers planned to make a show acceptable to all ages and I agree with that notion. Like I just said, this show's pretty clean. PG at most, for all you Americans. Easily acceptable to both a male and female audience as well. ...The last few episodes do get a little emotionally intense, perhaps a little bit scary for the youngest of folk, but... Well, it's safe.

Art & Animation - 6 - This was the hardest part of the show for me to get used to. The animation is clearly CG... 3D rendered as flat. And the characters' motion, though smooth, feels a little plastic or even robotic at times. But once I got used to that, I could appreciate the background art and the excellent character design without too many 'ugh' moments. Only a 6 instead of a 7 because CG could be made to look much smoother than it was. In a sense, I think haste was prioritized over rock-solid quality.
Sound - 7 - Although nothing really stood out to me, I'm giving this a 7 because there were a lot of different things to add sound to. And the OP/ED songs are both pretty catchy tunes. The sound meshed well to create a good overall package. I can at least say that much.
Story - 8 - I almost gave it a 9, but experience got the better of me. The scripting and plot are simplistic enough to be tracked easily by wee ones, so the story isn't particularly involved. The reason why I gave it an 8 is because the writers did an excellent job of slowly peeling back the lid with this show, revealing little tidbits of information about Japari Park as each episode ed. This definitely wasn't an "explain everything at once at some point" sort of show. Very well done.
Character(s) - 9 - Solidly so. Not only was the acting fun and the voice cast surprisingly large, but it is clear everyone had fun doing this show. Every Friend (of which there are many) had a unique personality and specific character traits. Some were more template than others, but most of them were quite well conceived. Not every actress was stellar. Let's be fair. And the emotional intensity was kept pretty low-key to fit the genre of the story, but I am quite satisfied with the overall quality.
Value - 8 - A unique style of show produced by a relatively new studio that, surprisingly, produced the most popular show of the season (in Japan), and did so without relying on the 'tried and true' formulas most studios stick to these days. Yes, this show had its weaknesses, particularly in the animation department, but it was a breath of fresh air, well-conceived, and deserving of its success.
Enjoyment - 8 - Again, although it took me a while to warm up to this show, once I did, I was pretty well hooked. By episode 11, I was grinning like an idiot.

Conclusion - 8 - It's a 7.6, and I'm having a hard time deciding whether I want to round up or down. I'm going to go with rounding up. I think credit is deserved where it is due. This show is very underrated on AniDB at the time I'm writing this interview, but I suspect its rating will creep up. Basically, people watched one or two episodes before the real underlying plot kicked in and their response, like mine, was "WTF is this?" Having seen every episode, I can safely say that even if it isn't 'Must See', this show is definitely 'Highly Recommended'.