Common Name: Kemono Friends
Score: 6/10, 4/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Magic, Drama
Summary: Having no memory of who or what exactly she is, the girl later named Kaban (Jap. word for "bag") finds herself on an island full of anthropomorphic animals called "Friends." With the assistance of the first Friend she meets, an energetic and cheerful Serval, Kaban is on a journey to discover what kind of Friend she is. All that can be said for sure, though, is that she doesn't have wings, claws, and isn't nearly as athletic as the other animal-based Friends, which makes her a natural target to Japari Park's greatest threat, the enigmatic Ceruleans. But at least she can make due with her natural creativity and familiarity with complex tools, as well as Serval's constant willingness to help her new Friend.
Review: Y'know, for a show that I initially perceived as utter garbage, Kemono Friends isn't half bad. Don't get me wrong, it isn't "good." Not by a long shot. In fact, I'll acknowledge here and now that my score is likely heavily biased and is weighed heavily in its favor thanks to the shows last couple episodes. It is not, however, garbage. Rather, it's like a three-course meal prepared by an eight-year-old who really wants to prove they're going to be a chef someday. It looks awful and tastes bland but dang if that kid doesn't know how to make a fantastic dessert using nothing but chocolate pudding, sliced strawberries, and a huge dollop of whipped cream.
In other words, first I was like ↑ but then I was like ↓.
The thing about Kemono Friends is that it requires a series of considerations and a lot of personal effort to truly appreciate what it accomplishes. First and foremost among these considerations is the fact that this is a show meant for children, ideally ones between Grades K-3. This is a cutesy, dumb, and silly show that is gauged for the underdeveloped minds of youth who are more willing to accept anything at face value so long as it has something that interests them. In this case, it's pretty obvious what universal interest this show is appealing to-- HINT: it's appealing to people's natural love of weird and cool animals. With that in mind, this show puts forward something of an effort to teach kids about the more notable quirks of some of the animals they're likely to see in zoos, as noted by the show's intermission scenes that feature zookeepers from all over the world talking about the real-life equivalent to the show's "Friend of the day."
It's almost like you only exist so those zookeepers can talk about something other than Serval.
Well, that, and remind fans of your role in the rest of the franchise.
To be clear though, Kemono Friends isn't really meant to be an educational show. It merely has enough educational undertones for kids to have a semi-reasonable argument why they should be allowed to watch TV on a school night. So, while the educational aspect of the show serves its purpose, the rest of it is taken up by a pretty basic and unimpressive adventure series. Week after week, the formula of the show follows thus: Kaban and Serval go to a new area (biome) in the park, they meet a one or more new Friends, said friends have a problem, Kaban uses her natural human (oops spoilers) abilities to solve the problem. While this episodic structure carries on though, the underlying mystery of Japari Park that's meant to draw in a more adult audience slowly develops into an arguably morbid and distressing conclusion--HINT: the end of the world might have happened.
Exhibit A: a demi-human alpaca is running a cafe but knows nothing of
how her establishment is powered. Clearly, it's the end of the world...
or she's just a really dumb demi-human alpaca.
Apocalypse subplot or no, Kemono friends is a pretty solid show for kids. It teaches something about animals each episode. It teaches basic problem solving through Kaban's natural ingenuity (*cough* because she's human *cough*). More than that though it is a pretty basic show about friendship that eventually grows into a pretty compelling narrative toward the end. Heck, I'll even admit I got a little emotionally invested when things started to get serious. So, while it might not be the most gorgeous thing in the world, I have to say the show eventually grew on me. All I needed to do to accept this show was kill any and all senses of artistic decency, stare at the garish CG long enough for it to become tolerable, acknowledge that the show just had terrible writing because kids have no clue what good writing is, and listen to that opening theme until it eventually became the only thing I had to look forward to each episode. In all seriousness though, I acknowledge that this show WAS NOT MEANT FOR ME. Even though My Little Pony taught me adults can enjoy kids show too (I swear I'm not a Brony), it's just a solid fact that shows for kids aren't nearly as interesting as shows with dark, adult-oriented subplots that usually hint at the end times. But I guess that's part of the reason why I actually watched this abomination from beginning to end. The main reason, though, amounts to little more than morbid curiosity.
So, would I recommend this show? No. Not really, no. Like I said, this show is meant for small children--not adults with fully developed brains and notions of quality and taste. As a kid's show though, I'll admit it wasn't half bad. It's not good, but I definitely see where the hype is coming from.