Kerokko Demetan

Just stumbled upon Kerokko Demetan by sheer luck after looking for a silly and relaxing anime, but it turned out I was quite wrong about what I first thought about it. Despite being an anime whose target audience are essentially kids, Kerokko Demetan tackles issues that are not as childish as they seem.

Kerokko Demetan depicts the story of a young eponymous frog, our hero Demetan, and his family, who after being evicted from their living place by newts (the in media res opening scene giving us a glimpse of the atrocity of the world in which we, the spectators, are almost immediately immersed) and losing ... most of the members of the family are forced to begin a new life in a pond, the Rainbow Pond. Then begins the tale of Demetan trying to change his environment, to make the Rainbow Pond a better place.

Even though the narrative is not really structured, with most of the times loosely connected episodes and the only guiding thread being the will of Demetan to integrate and change the Rainbow Pound or protecting his lover, Ranatan and his family, each episode manages to tie into our hero's ambition and spur his determination. In order to do that, Kerokko Demetan doesn't shy away from adopting a really mature or even tragic tone (often cynical too, with the exemple of the punchline of the mother turtle who dies protecting a ping-pong ball after thinking it was her egg) by having our hero and his lover meet different characters, each of them having a common goal : they long to find their places in a world which threatens and/or rejects their existence.

This contrast between a beautiful world, filled with beautiful yet surreal backgrounds with a vibrant color palette emphasizing the precious thing that is life, and the harsh reality where the characters are threatened by forces that excede them spurrs interesting questions. The characters, despite being animals, are driven by deep human feelings and, in some ways, are trying to break free from their animal conditions to attain true freedom.

Although Kerokko Demetan suffers from some elements inherent to it's target audience such as silly dialogues that undermine the impact of some scenes or characters whose tomfoolery are pushed to their paroxysm, which often leads them to make incoherent choices (typically Kiata, who suddenly decides to help Demetan in the last episodes while bearing hatred for him since the beginning of the anime and the lack of some sign showing he was reflecting on his wrongdoings), it remains faithful to it's narrative, answering to the issues it tackles in a simple yet genuine way, with great emotional power.

It may not be an amazing anime but I had a great time following the tale of Demetan fighting for the sake of his lover, family and his land. Once again, it was a great surprise.

Kerokko Demetan, also known as Adventures on Rainbow Pond, is a family-friendly anime that tackles mature themes in a dark and unexpected way. Despite being rated G, it is one of the darkest anime I have ever seen.

— PLOT —
The story follows Demetan, a young frog who survives a genocide on tree frogs from a group of salamanders. After being separated from his family, he finds himself lost in a foreign land. A female frog named Rantan saves his life and helps him reunite with his father and mother. Demetan quickly falls in love with Rantan, but little does he know, she happens to be ... the daughter of the cruel ruler of the pond in which he will be living.

— EPISODIC —
The anime has a strong start in the first two episodes, but the rest of the series becomes episodic, which is both the show's core strength and weakness. Many of these episodes fail to focus on the main cast, with only one or two new characters appearing for a single episode. Some of these episodes explore mature themes related to the main theme of the story, which is that 'the world can be cruel'. Parenthood, slavery, deception, capitalism, forgiveness, friendship, rebellion, racism, religion, and other themes are explored or at least were showcased.

— INCONSISTENT CHARACTERS —
There are some inconsistencies with the main characters, particularly Rantan, which may be due to the fact that the episodes are written by a variety of writers. For example, Rantan is suddenly hostile to Demetan after a conflict was resolved in the previous episode.

— THE BRAVE FROG —
The anime has an English dub which was aired in a movie format called 'The Brave Frog', in which the English studio combined the first two episodes and two other random episodes from the series. While I was initially interested to see how the series would wrap up, I ultimately found the ending to be underwhelming. Personally, I believe the real charm of the show lies in its episodic structure. In fact, I found myself enjoying these stand-alone episodes more than the overarching storyline. Thus, I do not recommend watching the dubbed version, which was basically a rushed summary of the original series.

— VERDICT —
Kerokko Demetan is a unique and interesting anime that tackles mature themes in a family-friendly way. While the episodic nature of the show may be off-putting to some viewers, the exploration of mature themes is worth watching. However, the inconsistencies in the main characters may be frustrating to some viewers. Overall, I recommend giving this anime a chance, especially if you are interested in mature themes in a family-friendly anime.

Two more anime classics from the 1970s that were targeted to children but were quite dark:
* Chirin no Suzu (1978) * Gamba no Bouken (1975)