Feb 26, 2019
Stoicism tells us that everything in life is cyclical, and by God if Kemono Friends 2 isn't the greatest example of history repeating itself, then I don't know what is.
You see, if you've made it this far into the series, then I'm sure you know of its underdog story. Kemono Friends started out as a smartphone game that had its services discontinued before the premiere of the anime, the anime premiered to harsh backlash, and over time it gradually won over its audience. Now we know it as the series director Tatsuki defined it as - nothing else seems to fit the series better than
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Tatsuki's wholesome down-to-earth charm. This is made apparent in any spin-off media to come out of Kemono Friends, where as good as they are, if Tatsuki didn't have a hand in it then it surely wouldn't feel like Kemono Friends.
Fast forward a bit, we have the whole fiasco where Kadokawa unreasonably fires Tatsuki, a great injustice has been made to the Kemono Friends fandom, and now here we are. Kemono Friends 2, sans its series-defining staff member (or its original animation studio, for that matter).
Now, it's important to remember Kadokawa has no part in the actual PRODUCTION of this anime - that's entirely the job of the new studio, Tomason. Likewise, Tomason had no part in the firing of Tatsuki - to take the reigns on this series must have been a huge undertaking to them knowing they had to follow in the steps of Tatsuki, and in fact they drew a lot of inspiration from the work he did on the original Kemono Friends.
Knowing this, as upset I was about Tatsuki not being here, I went into this series as indifferent as I possibly could, and I absolutely wish I could say the same about everyone else. Looking at the stats for Kemono Friends 2 shows a huge spike in 1/10 reviews, presumably from mega-fans of season 1 who were quick to judge the series, who would have given this show a 1/10 review regardless of its content just to smite Kadokawa (who ironically has no part in said content of this show).
I honestly just wish people would judge Kemono Friends 2 as its own thing, because if these mega-fans were to perhaps go into this series with more of an open-mind, then they'd surely find a lot of what made season 1 so great here. No, it's not as entertaining as season 1, but it's a silver lining. This whole situation couldn't possibly be more ironic - Kemono Friends 2 is starting out the course of its run incredibly likewise to that of its predecessor, with viewers quick to judge and dismissing the series without much thought. In fact, a lot of the complaints made about this show are incredibly similar to the ones seen when season 1 began.
"The animation looks bad." - As if season 1 looked good? The animation isn't what you define Kemono Friends as a series by, every Kemono Friends fan should know this. Much like season 1's animation, this is something you get used to through time.
"The main human is uninspired." - Much like Kaban from season 1 was the shoehorned-in human, huh? Kaban starts to show her strengths in later episodes of season 1. Just give this series time to develop itself.
And so on.
I feel like looking at the reception for Kemono Friends 2 has made me slip into some alternate reality, where Kemono Friends never DID win over its audience, and the unfair immediate reception the series got during its premiere just stagnated throughout the course of its run. It really pains me to see the other series Tatsuki went on to make, Kemurikusa, not doing too well either. It's as if Tatsuki has all this creative energy but is using the wrong outlet for it, and because the best elements out of Kemono Friends 2 and Kemurikusa couldn't come together, both parts of the divided Kemono Friends fandom are left unsatisfied.
On its own, without Tatsuki, Kemono Friends 2 is a great anime. Tomason is putting in an honest effort and it shows. Sure, it doesn't quite match the grounded tone of the original (as no part of Kemono Friends media without Tatsuki quite did), but it's clear they're doing their best to replicate it to make fans of the original happy. Quite honestly, this is the closest any form of Kemono Friends media without Tatsuki has come to replicating his style. And while the tone of the original isn't quite there, the spirit of it surely is. All the goofiness and wholesomeness that made me love season 1 so much is definitely still here.
Give it a try and keep an open-mind. If you go in expecting something exactly like the predecessor then you're going to be disappointed. Treat this as its own thing, and much like season 1, you'll find that this grows on you. There's even some surprises in store here, some moments that genuinely surprised me, some scenes that I thought were done masterfully.
Those mindlessly hating on Kemono Friend 2 are gaining nothing out of it, but to everyone else, you are still very much welcome to Japari Park.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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