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Kemono Friends is an idea with a lot of potential and not a lot of payoff. At first I went in expecting an edutainment show about animals, and while KF has that, there's not nearly as much of it as I had hoped for. So next, I turned to the plot about Ceruleans. Maybe it would reveal detailed lore about the world and characters and the origin of the friends and Ceruleans? Well there's some - but not nearly enough. Kemono Friends ends up, unfortunately, being about 10% cool animal facts, 10% story and character driven narrative, and 80% 'moe girls doing directionless moe things'.

Out ... of all the decisions in this show, the one I disagree with most is making all the animals into moe girls. Maybe they could've gone 50/50 and had characters that behave in equal parts human and feral, or, even better, just taken normal animals and made them talk, but instead they took the most pandering route possible. If someone who had never seen this show got a glimpse of these characters, who do you honestly think would believe it you when you said: "These characters used to be real animals before they got transformed"? Not only does every character look like a 100% human wearing costume parts, but their behavior linking back to the original animals are vague at best. It's like a bunch of girls roleplaying as animals they read a wikipedia article about once. That being said, I loved the animal facts when they happened, especially the inbetween voice-overs from real zoo workers.

What I also liked was the later episodes. This is when we finally got the plot and tension promised by the Ceruleans and Kaban's mysterious origins early on. Episode 10 has my favorite moment in the entire show, when (minor spoiler), Serval starts crying over the projection and she isn't sure why. It hints that an important character was lost from the park, and gives both lore and characterization to Serval and the other animals that's missing from most of the show. If I were to rate individual episodes, the first 9 would be 3-4/10s at best, but for the last few episodes I'm willing to bump it up to a 5 overall for a solid ending.

If this show had been more like a documentary full of animal facts, or a character and lore-driven unique world, I could see why people love it. As it stands, this show was too much moe-meandering for me and not enough meaningful messages and moments. It had its good parts, and I don't hate it, but overall the characters are bland and don't do much other than 'act cute/silly', with good themes on friendship and using your strengths overwhelmed by moe antics. None of this is helped by the jarring CGI and decent but forgettable music. The English dub (which I didn't watch, I watched sub), has some pretty funny bloopers/outtakes though, and I could also imagine this show going the route of Ghost Stories and becoming a stupid but hilarious comedy too.

For better kid-friendly recommendations, I would personally suggest You Are Umasou or Chirin's Bell, or, looking past anime and at way more dark/depressing movies, the Plague Dogs. And for straight up animal facts, there's always real nature documentaries. God-bless Sir David Attenborough for everything he's done!

When it comes to unique fantasy concepts, there isn't much more you could ask for than a setting like Land of the Lustrous. Instead of humans, we're presented with these gem creatures that possess eternal life, fixable bodies, and no need to breathe or eat. Despite their long lives, there's the constant threat of another race on the gem's doorstep: the Lunarians, who come to break apart and abduct the gems for their own mysterious purposes.

First off I'll say that the concept of the gems and their bodies makes for some fantastic imagery and ideas. People can be fixed, but if the parts don't match ... the original, there's a chance of losing your memories. In episode 2, one particular moment with the slug king makes for a downright unnerving experience when we get to see a gem melt away, and the constant occurrences of gems cracking reminds you that these creatures are far from human.

So why, I'll ask, do the gems look and act so human? This is hinted at in the story (by the slug king when it talks about the history of the world), but I can only wonder what this show would have been if the characters were designed to be something truly alien. Human-like characters are easy to identify with, sure - even more so when they look like anime girls for an anime audience, but personally I think this is taking the easy route. Kemono Friends turned every animal into a talking anime girl that barely acted like the animal they represented. Lustrous doesn't go quite so far, because gems are a new species entirely, but to any outsider looking in, these characters usually look and behave like nothing more than your average anime chick, just with more sparkly hair. Gems, as the story explains, are genderless. So why make their appearances and voices overwhelmingly female? (Except master Kongou - obviously the best waifu here.)

At the end of the day this is personal preference, but I've always appreciated when a story goes all out on its fantasy elements. Take the Jokka: a species that can change between 3 sexes, cry from their fangs (female tears are poisonous), have white-colored blood, and act under some very questionable moralities and beliefs. All that, and they're still understandable and sympathetic characters by the end of the books. It leaves me to wonder what the gems could've been if they were more science fiction and less... 'anime'. (Still better than kemono friends though)

Speaking of kemono friends - CG animation. Lustrous looks damn good. It's rare to find something fully CG that looks this good, but you tend to forget the show was even animated in such a way. The sparkly hair and internal makeup of the gems compliment the CG, and the action looks fluid and clean. I can't say I prefer this over good old 2D drawings, or that everything blends well, but Lustrous does a great job with its CG and that's something to be appreciated for sure.

In terms of story, my favorite aspect of this show is its mysteries. Lustrous makes you questions things like why the Lunarians are taking the gems, and just what the Lunarians are. The design and theme of the Lunarians seem to be straight out of Buddhism, and they make for an interesting enemy reminiscent of the angels from Eva - or for a better comparison: the invaders from Shangri-La in Noein. Overall Lustrous does a great job of making you want to learn more about the world and its history, even if that history isn't fully explored yet. There's lore, and there's history, and it brings the world to life the more of it we get to see.

The characters are a bit of a mixed bag. Phos undergoes a powerful transformation and grows. Between episodes 8 and 9, this change is so drastic it's both unrealistic and effectively sad to witness what they goes through. Phos can be annoying with their spunkiness, but I liked them and rooted for them to become stronger and pull through. Cinnibar seems promising, but in this first season they're little more than a tsundere and got far less screen time than I was expecting. Dia is excellent for one episode, then fades away until a couple scenes in episodes 10 and 11. Kongou is cool and mysterious, and works well as a father figure to the gems. Overall while I liked the characters, I think there were too many of them with not enough time spent on any one except Phos. The gems work well together, but I feel like the majority of them got left behind in the end. I have high hopes for the second season continuing their development, though.

The pacing in this series is excellent most of the time. It knows when to get serious and when to have lighter moments, and those lighter moments got some laughs out of me (like Kongou passing out and slamming his head into the wall so hard it cracks the rock). Sometimes I think it was too silly when it should have been serious, but this was rare.

Overall this was a solid (pun not intended) show based on uniqueness and memorability alone. It has a lot of elements (I swear I'm not doing this on purpose) to like, and gives an overall feeling of growth and transformation by the end, which is only possible in this setting because of what the characters and world are. Phos embodies this change, and they're no longer one part but an amalgamation of something bigger - a person moving toward better things. I'll be looking forward to what another season has to offer, but for now the series we've got could be considered a minor... gem... of a show.

Goodbye.

Oof. I really wanted to like this one, but it ended up being a huge disappointment. First I'll start by saying this is one of the most bland anime I've ever seen. It's like a rice cake, except you're not even allowed to add any toppings of your own because that would at least be a little bit exciting. When making this show it seems they wanted to avoid taking any risks, and that killed any chance Fairy Gone had for being memorable or special as a show.

1. The characters. Characterization is generally a thing you want to have in your show, but Fairy Gone ... says nah to that. Marlya wants to find Ver - that's the most motivation you'll get. But Ver only shows up early in the show and again in the middle, then disappears. What really is Ver's motivation? What is Marlya's motivation? We get brief shots of Ver and Marlya together as kids, but you barely get a sense of connection between the two. Hell you barely get a sense of connection between anyone. What is Free's motivation? What does Free enjoy - where is he from - what are some of his quirks or special talents? Apply this to all the other characters, and you begin to realize you know absolutely nothing about these people. They're cardboard cutouts with overly tragic backstories that spend 95% of the plot talking about the plot instead of acting like real human beings. Marlya's backstory: "I'm a cursed child. Everyone around me is dead. As soon as I was born, both my parents died." The joke writes itself.

Combine this with too many characters, and I end up not caring about anyone or anything that's happening to them. I know next to nothing interesting about these people and their lives, connections, motivations, etc. My favorite character, incidentally, is the little blue creature Marlya finds because it's adorable and I want to pet it. Talking about the magic blue creature transitions well into the second point now:

2. The fairies. This is a big one for me. One of the things that surprised me most about Ancient Magus Bride was how the magic actually felt, well, magical. It brought the world to life and was intertwined in almost every aspect of the show. So what do fairies add to this show?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I got interested by the story initially because I thought it might tackle the idea of fairies being used wrongfully by humans for war, but no, this is never brought up for even a second. In fact, fairies have zero connection or meaning to the humans they're bonded with. This is easily one of the biggest missed opportunities in my mind. You could've had a story where fairies fights alongside their humans pokemon-style, but they also act like spirit animals and have personal connections and backstories to the people they're bonded with. Imagine characters with meaningful ties to their fairies, and with a bunch of fairy technology and lore integrated into the fantasy world too. You could've done sooo much with magic fairies, but in Fairy Gone they're used as nothing more than occasional fighting gimmicks, and the world feels about as magical as the real life of your average otaku shut-in.

'Fairy Gone' is an accurate title, come to think of it, because the fairies don't do shit in this show.

3. The story. You like exposition dumps? Yeah I'll bet you do. On paper, this show's story isn't actually that bad. It's mostly about war and betrayal and royalty in power and stuff, which is fine, but the way it's told could've been done a lot better. When it isn't dumping boring technical info about the war, it seems like Fairy Gone keeps jumping between locations and plot points without much care for what's happening. Suddenly there are "fairy weapons" we need to get. Suddenly there's a new thief we need to chase. Suddenly there's an evil evil colonel who loves to fight because he's evil. The story doesn't feel focused at all, and yet it's the only thing the characters talk about. What's the next place to go? What's the next item to find? How about the black fairy tome? Well that sound interesting, maybe we'll get to learn more about how fairies work and why they're important to the world! ...nope.

4. The animation and sound. I've never been one to hate a show too much for its animation/sound, so I don't have a lot to say on this. The action scenes are okay and maybe the most enjoyable parts of the show. The characters seem off-model a lot though. Combine this with awkward fairy CG and I'll pass on the art department. The Japanese voice acting is solid. I hate the opening theme, and a lot of the background music too. Pass on the sound.

Last observations. There's a character named Bitter Sweet. There's a character. Named. BITTER. SWEET. Incredible. (She also disappears midway through and never appears again)
Back to that cute little blue creature - someone said it could detect fairies and magic and stuff. So why is it never used once in the story? Why are there not more of these creatures or any other magic creatures shown? Again, the magic setting means absolutely nothing to this show.
Evil guy whistling as he slowly walks toward soldiers shooting at him. Really.
The politics are dull and forgettable. I don't remember any of the involved character's names, years of the war, etc.
So much stuff from the beginning of the show was forgotten about by the end. How did Marlya absorb the fairy? What is Wolfran doing? Who are all these mafia groups? Why am I still watching this?
That ending. Despite everything I've said so far, I wan't groaning in annoyance at most of the show, I was just bored. The ending changed that too.

Overall I thought this show was really bad. My love for fantasy stories is the only thing that kept my attention to the end, and I admit I'd still take another season of this over most harem anime or lucky-star style comedies any day. I can't see a second season bringing this one back, but they could do it if the characters got complete overhauls to have more personality, more inner thoughts and motivations, and better connections with the people around them. And for the love of god, do something, anything, with the fairies and the magical world you've created. Is that too much to ask?

Sometimes you come across a show that's so bad it's funny. A great example would be the dub of Ghost Stories, which has become (in)famous for its ridiculous voice acting antics. Or you could point to something like Garzey's Wing, which accidentally became a cult classic thanks to its nonsensical story and people that never know how to use their inside voices.

Pop Team Epic is in neither of these categories. Pop Team purposefully tries to be funny by being bad, and fails miserably at it. It throws out random jokes and overdone faces and scribbled animation that I would have found funny about 10 years ... ago, and find downright painful to watch now. I can't blame anyone for their own sense of humor, but for me the "lolrandom" humor of the internet stopped being funny when I was about 13. This show actually had me with my head in my hands several times because I wanted to just shut it off. I forced myself through it because I hate leaving things unfinished, but it was like Chinese water torture, like the Iron Maiden, like the Skyrim intro over and over and over again.

This show wanted to be so-bad-it's-good, but almost every joke, every reference, every visual had me cringing as if it was written by a board of directors somewhere that were browsing through the internet and said: "Hey, people like this random shit don't they? People will laugh at this right?" To be fair I laughed 3, maybe 4 times throughout (you got boost power!), but a total of 20 seconds enjoyment does nothing to make me hate this show less when I suffered through 98% of it.

An unironically unfunny dumpster fire. Bury it and never dig it out again.

The two most common words I've seen thrown around about this show are 'wholesome' and 'healing'. Those words drew me in and got me hopeful at first, but by this point I think Senko is anything but wholesome and healing.

The idea is solid - some dude living a stressful life meets a magical being that can help make it better by calming and caring for him. It does sound very healing, and looks great on paper to me. Enter Senko. Generally when I think wholesome, I think something the whole family could watch, or something you wouldn't mind your parents walking in on. My god, ... I would not be caught dead watching Senko-san. I was expecting character-driven, heartwarming stories, but the majority of this show has been a loli fox-girl fantasy complete with constant blushing, awkward noises, and 'fluffing'. Please for the love of the Inari god of old, no more 'fluffing'.

I like fantasy slice of life shows for the meaningful character interactions they have. Maybe it's a lonely old yokai and the main character comforts them, or a frustrated spirit trying to move on to the next world. That's healing - that's heartwarming. And it can be wonderful. Senko-san, so far, has had very little of this character interaction and a whole lot more 'cute girl doing overly cutesy things'. It's not entirely absent, sure - it's just buried under the weight of suggestive loli fanservice.

I started to think, after a few episodes, about alternative approaches. What if Senko, instead of being a little girl, looked and acted like an old woman befitting her 800 years? She would try to help Nakano, and they would trade stories of their lives. It would calm and reassure the two of them and form a bond. They would struggle through their own lives in separate human and godly worlds, but in the end come home to talk and relax and deal with their problems (maybe even focus on aging and a wasted, job-centered life). Just an idea, but I can't help but think of the potential in these kind of shows if the main focus wasn't just 'cute girl doing cute things' (with an older guy suggestively playing along). Hell, if someone knows an anime similar to the idea above, I'd love to try it!

I'm gonna keep watching this show. It's already halfway done, but unless it pulls a miracle turnaround, and fast, there's no way I can score it higher than this (it's on the verge of dropping to a 3, even). So no, I don't think Senko-san is very healing, and it's ANYTHING but wholesome. It's not an offensively bad show, but if Senko-san continues like this to the end, it will have left me nothing but disappointment and nightmares of "Nyaaaaaa, uwuuuu, gwaahhh".

(I don't agree with your score doesn't automatically = inaccurate. 3/10 is downright generous for these characters by me, and if all you want is a shallow fox-girl trip, more power to you - but I don't, hence the score. Plain and simple. I think other anime [like Natsume Yuujinchou] have done the healing thing WAY better.)

I finished it. It never got any better. Three.

A good inspiration for stories is to look back at the classics - in this case: Beauty and the Beast. Sacrificial Princess (as I'll be calling it now, cause it's faster than the full title) is a very character-driven story that focuses on a human thrown into the world of beasts. Saliphie is originally a sacrifice to be killed by the king of beasts, but ends up living in their world as one of them.

One of my favorite things about the story from the get-go is the connection between humans and beasts. There's a history of violence and fear between the two groups, and this ... sets up questions of morality and trust when human and beast meet. All this reminds me of the web novel Karasu, and thankfully it handles the theme just as well as that book did. One thing Sacrificial Princess does best is at making even the 'bad guys' likable and sympathetic characters. You might start out hating them, but by the end they grow on you with their motivations and actions like all the rest. And that's the thing - there isn't a single character I hate thus far! This doesn't include background no-namers who do terrible things (usually in flashbacks), but that's no surprise as they aren't real characters to the story.

Saliphie and Leo's relationship reminds me of Ancient Magus Bride. It would be creepy if their relationship was forced, but Saliphie and Leo question it themselves. Can a human really stay with a beast? What will other people think? Is it okay? Will it last? These two aren't joined at the hip like an obsessive couple either. They function as separate people, and have their own lives to live (as a healthy relationship should be), they just happen to be living those lives with each other. Overall the relationship doesn't feel forced, and as strange as it may be you know that Saliphie and Leo really do care for each other.

Also, holy feels batman. Sometimes I'm like a teenage girl when it comes to feel-good, wholesome shoujo stuff, and this one hits right on the mark. Sacrificial Princess is just filled to the brim with heartwarming moments of characters caring for and helping each other out. I'm a sucker for this and I know it, but it still makes me smile every time moments like this happen. I won't spoil these moments, just know that there are plenty of them, and it's these that drive the characterization and make me love the characters each time.

Saliphie is in some ways the generic "help everyone" mc girl, but she is a strong character on her own. She can be ditzy and helpless (again, generic) but also assertive and confident when she pushes herself to be. We get a look into her thoughts and inner conflicts, and it's a great focus to have on the character. Other great characters include Leo (of course), Amit, Anubis (yes really, just keep reading), Jormungand, Ilya (Yes. Really.), Duke Galoa, Tetra, Land, and more. Backstories can be cliched in their tragic nature, but as I mentioned before: the characters aren't everything you might expect.

Overall, though I'm sure this story has been done many times before, Sacrifical Princess is something special. It's predictable, and it's cliched, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy almost every chapter of it. It's the execution that counts, and for making a cast of characters that I care about and want to follow, set in world with some interesting (if a little under-explored) history between beasts and humans, I couldn't ask for much more.

Anime adaptation in the future, please?

Why.

This OVA is probably gonna get more watchers soon due to youtube videos exposing it to the public (that's how I found out about Nora), and this is a good thing. This piece of """"animation"""" is hilariously bad, and worth watching for that reason alone.

Nora is an overpowered character with no weaknesses: everyone loves her, she can do no wrong, her magic powers can do anything. It's never explained, it's just Nora because Nora. The only other real character is Max, who can dance, and loves Nora because Nora. The story has no worldbuilding or anything worth caring about - Nora wants to go to ... a planet to catch some evil people doing evil things. She wins by ignoring the other guy's magic with her own magic. Overall, good/even decent characters and story are nonexistent.

The greatest thing about this OVA is the art and animation. It's no exaggeration to say that parts like the first couple minutes and cave dance scene are slideshows. It becomes gut-bustingly funny not just to watch, but to pause at certain frames to laugh at character faces or anatomy. The music in these scenes is ridiculous too, and it makes the cave scene even more of a fever dream than it already was.

This OVA is the definition of so bad it's good. I'll probably be watching it again, with other people this time, so we can all laugh at this train wreck. Highly recommended.

I can't remember when I first saw this short, but the impact of it hasn't changed at all since it first came out in 2003.

At only 23 minutes long, it's really incredible how strong There She Is's main message is. I've been told it's a commentary on Japanese-Korean relationships, and while I'm not knowledgeable at all on that subject, the story works no matter what country you're from. The animation may be simple and rather rough, but the framing, timing, colors and everything else about it is actually fantastic. There's no spoken words throughout, and there doesn't need to be. The two main characters ... Doki and Nabi are an adorable couple anyone can relate to/understand, and as side characters the gang rabbits and older cats are equally important to the story (especially in punching some sense into Nabi later on).

The first "steps" (episodes) are more casual and comedic as they set up for the rest of the story - while these episodes aren't as great, the rest of the story (steps 3 - 5) breaks my heart every time. Here's where I gotta mention the music, because it is PERFECT. Each step has its own song, and the song choices couldn't have been better for fitting the mood of the step (animation is also synced to the music). Step 4 in particular I haven't forgotten even after many years - the song is Wolsik by Tabu, a sad and powerful track that makes step 4 the most impactful of them all.

This short may be cheesy at times and rough in the animation, but it really is an unforgettable and effective story about how nothing can come between two people in love. I've already watched it about 6 times, and I know that in the future I'll be back to experience it again and again. The message and its delivery, after all, don't seem to lose anything with age.

And now: a completely biased and overly sentimental review of Kemono no Souja Erin.

My god, this show. I very rarely give out 10s, but here we are. I’ll try to avoid spoilers, but it’s difficult with a show that connected with me on so many levels.

Kemono no Souja Erin is primarily a slice of life, played out with a bigger fantasy drama in the background that becomes the main conflict as the story progresses. The mood of Erin is perfect: slow, but not boring – light but not too childish – heavy but nowhere near edgy. Although Erin isn’t very violent, the pacing and ... eventual conflict would likely turn off younger children. Aside from that, it feels as thought it could be enjoyable at any age.

Let me say, this is THE anime for animal lovers. Erin herself is fascinated with every creature she comes across and wants to know how they live, why they behave the ways the do, and how humans have a role in the world of beasts. Her curiosity and dedication with animals is what let me know this was show was gonna be something special in the first place, because as a character, Erin has to be one of my all time favorites. As she grows, she changes and matures, moreso than I usually see in any anime. She’s given 50 episodes to smile, laugh, love, cry, bleed, and so much more. And the other characters? I watched this show a month ago, but I still remember every person and beast’s name – even the minor ones. And I’m terrible with names! Not every character gets equal screen time, but the amount of development several side characters get (namely Jone, Ial, Kiriku, Shunan, and Seimiya) is just another point to how well this story was written. I never felt a character had black and white motives (besides Daimiya, but even he seemed genuinely dedicated to Seimiya), and several of them faced their own trials and tribulations that added to the story progressively as it went.

Then there’s her. The one character that melted, broke, boiled, and juggled my heart, and made my opinion of this show go from ‘great’ to ‘masterpiece’ in about 3 of the best episodes I’ve ever seen. Lilan. For spoilers sake I won’t go into too much detail, but Lilan and the life she lives with Erin has some of the most moving, interesting, and beautiful scenes ranging from tranquil to downright violent that I’ve ever seen. With Lilan, the connection between humans and animals is really brought to the forefront, where you wonder the questions Erin herself is tortured over: “Is this the only way we can live together?” To see these boundaries pressed and challenged, and everything that happens in the story because of it, is why this theme keeps coming back to my mind. Another episode that needs mention involves a snowy story about the beast-lords - this episode was especially powerful, plot-important, and memorable. Under all the animal life is a deeply personal story of Erin’s connection with other people as well: her mother, Jone, Esal, Ial, and more. I found that by the end of the story these connections mattered just as much as anything else in Erin’s life. How could I not love the moments of people caring for Erin, teaching Erin, or just a quiet night of singing around the campfire?

Before I continue, let’s get technical aspects out of the way. The animation is not the best, but with a story and characters like this, I don’t care. Kemono no Souja Erin looks simplistic, and overall character movements are not fluid very or dynamic. The worst part is how later in the show, WAY too much animation is reused to try and save what little budget the studio must’ve had left at the time. I can understand. The studio, director, and everyone else gets my respect just for making this and seeming not to care about how well it would sell. One aspect of animation that does get my praise is the story-book style drawings used for some of the more violent scenes involving this world’s two mythical animal species: beast-lords and touda. These stylized drawing look fantastic and manage to convey a beast’s power and wild nature, and I loved it whenever these moments came around. Last note on animation: some people might not think the random shots of animals add much, but I couldn’t help but smile whenever I saw these. Come to think of it, for most of this show I couldn’t help but smile.

Sound is good. The Japanese voice acting is excellent, and there are a couple memorable tracks (the opening being the best, I almost never skipped it), but the show knows when silence is appropriate too.

Outside the animal parts that got me so invested, the political conflict impressed me too. Characters that might not seem important at first come together in the end for a somewhat rushed, but still very satisfying conclusion. When I think back, almost every single episode of this show gripped me. I rarely watch anime over 23-26 episodes long, but this one was worth every minute. The worst episode is a sole piece of filler, but even for filler the comic relief characters’ antics were enjoyable. At first, I was afraid these 2 (Nukku and Mokku) would be annoying and distract from the show’s main mood, but, surprisingly, I came to love even them. In the lighter moments, they were there to make me smile again.

This is where I admit that at least 15 of 50 episodes made me cry. And no, this is not normal! Any good show might squeeze one episode of tears outta me, but no anime has ever hit me as hard as Erin’s moments of kindness and understanding of animals, and the joys of life in general. Kemono no Souja Erin reminded me constantly that a story doesn’t need an incredibly tragic death or extreme violence to affect you and resonate – just a loving, understanding, ever-growing person working with the people and creatures around them for a better world. It sounds sappy, yeah, but in case you haven’t picked up on it yet – I kinda loved this show!

Kemono no Souja Erin wasn’t perfect (1 filler episode, reused and bland animation, not enough info about the Mist People, Erin gets away with some stuff she probably shouldn't be able to), but no show ever will be. To me, Erin felt like the kind of show that was written personally for you, like the creator reached into your head and plucked out what you enjoy (obviously exaggerating, but you get the point). It was the kind of ‘I'm busy doing something else, but still thinking about Erin and I just want to watch the next episode’ kind of show. I marathoned the last 8 episodes in one sitting instead of doing work – this was more important.

If you love animals, and if you love calm fantasy stories with a bit of conflict mixed in, this may be the best anime you’ve ever seen. As of a month ago, it has been for me. I also went ahead and bought the novel “The Beast Player” that the show was based off of. Can't wait to read that.

So Erin, Lilan, Kemono no Souja Erin overall – you are something special. You are my current favorite show, and even if that changes in the future, I hope to never forget what you meant now.


Alright, I finished the novel. And I gotta say, I think the anime is steps above the book overall!

-More SPOILERS than before below-

Things the novel did better:
1. No comedic relief - even if the anime's comedy was light and uncommon.
2. Slightly more time spent on the mist people.

Things the anime did better:
1. Show don't tell. The book didn't do a great job at this and tends to dump info and feelings on you.
2. Dragging out the beginning. The book jumps right into Soyon's death, meaning we hardly learn about her character or the Toda, or even much about Erin for that matter.
3. Introducing Ial early. This is a big one. The anime built this connection between Erin and Ial over a long time starting maybe 1/3 the way through. The book doesn't even have them meet until 3/4 the way through.
4. Telling the story of the beast lords early. The book waited until 90% of the way through for this big reveal. It worked better as a story in the anime.
5. Kiriku. The book doesn't even have this character, and I loved his struggle to go from bad guy to good guy.
6. Shunan and Nugan flashback and 'rivalry'. Novel didn't have these at all, and as such the brothers (though they were side characters) weren't as interesting or important.
7. The climax and ending. The anime's ending was a bit rushed, but the book's was a lot worse. First, no climactic battle with Ial and Kiriku at all. Second, Daimiya doesn't put a knife to Seimiya and get killed by Ial as a last resort, he kinda just gets restrained by Ial and that's it. Third, no hints of aftermath at all. Like I said, the anime rushed this, but at least it had that satisfying aspect.
8. Showing events onscreen. Again, part of show don't tell. The worst offender in the book was telling us when Harimuya suddenly died of brain trauma and what other people thought of this, instead of showing it. Second worse was the reveal that Jone was dead. Also no funeral for Jone at all - really?
9. Overall reading events wasn't nearly as impactful as seeing them happen. The ending of the book still got me a bit, but it was nowhere near the number of times the anime broke my heart (happy/sad both).

So the book, while pretty good, was nothing compared to this anime. If I had read it first, I might not have seen what a masterpiece the show was. However there's also more novels to the series - I'll see if I can find those in the future.