Apr 29, 2017
“Kemono Friends” is a TV show that had a tiny production budget and no marketing budget that should have been destined to fail. Instead it quickly rose to become the second highest viewed and most commented anime with more than 4m views on Niconico (Japan’s top video site, larger than YouTube in Japan) and created a big fan following. The show was so popular it even had a direct impact on number of people visiting the zoo in Japan (show is about zoo animals)!
Kemono Friends was an anime that should have been doomed to fail:
Show was targeted at young kids but aired at
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1:30am local time because it was the most affordable TV slot (usually only viewers at that time are young adult audiences who are hardcore Otakus, which this show wasn’t targeted towards).
Production quality on the show was so bad that the first 5 minutes of the first episode was almost unwatchable. One of the most lenient anime critics claimed that “I had to close this show after watching 4 minutes because it was that bad”. Even proponents of CGI in anime called the show a reason people shouldn’t do CGI in anime.
After the first episode aired the show was released the review score on the English anime database site “myanimelist” (similar to IMDB/Rotten Tomatoes) was only 4.44 where the mean rating of all shows ever made is 6.90, making it in the bottom 20% of review scores at the time.
No name studio.
Only 10 staff member (most A tier anime have 100s of staff members listed in the ending credits).
Voiced by B list voice actors (mostly retired or lesser known voice actors)
Production delayed to last a total of 500 days (Average production time for an anime of similar length is ~90 days)
Production delayed so long that the mobile game the anime was designed to cross promote shut down permanently 1 month before the first episode aired.
Production budget so low the team couldn’t even animate the wheels on the bus in the opening song.
These wheels on the bus don’t turn because the team didn’t have the budget to animate them!
Yet, somehow, it became a blow away success. Sure, there were many production issues that made the show look bad, but the reason the show became popular wasn’t because the animation looked hilariously amateurish, but because behind the poor animation quality, there was a gem of a show that was truly relaxing and calming to watch, uplifting, and would bring a smile to your face after a long day at work. As the Japanese called it “Tanoshii!” (Fun!)
In summary, looking at what “Kemono Friends” is and not what it isn’t:
Genuine at conveying emotions (no melodrama, fan service, or forced tear jerking moments).
Great episodic story telling with each episode being its own contained plot with background, buildup, climax, and conclusion.
Goal of the story outlined in first episode, so viewers are very clear how far the characters have progressed in the meta story.
Great character design that is not cookie cutter or forced tropes. Each character had interesting personalities and backstories that viewers could relate to.
Intriguing post-apocalyptic plot setting that gives the viewer a sense of mystery that is gradually revealed throughout the story, but leaving enough to be desired to that each episode ends on a semi-cliffhanger
Excellent example of artistic use of negative space (show, don’t tell)
Cute animal facts and interviews with zoo keepers which gave it an Animal Planet kind of documentary feel
This lead to:
Genuine sense of pleasure while watching the show
Desire to meet the new characters that will undoubtedly show up in the next episode
Desire to unravel and learn more about the mysterious world and its meta story
Fans eager to draw their own fan art interpretations of the poorly animated characters that had unique personalities and back stories
Fan theories and discussion around the post-apocalyptic setting
Huge spread by word of mouth
This show would not have been possible without the perseverance and the love for their work that inspired each of the 10 staff members to be tell the most authentic story they could despite all the hardships they faced, including long delays, budget constraints, and an anime they thought would almost certainly be launched to a muted response. Many in their shoes chose to abandon their project or rushed it to completion halfheartedly, yet the Kemono Friends team created a good anime instead.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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