Winter 2019 First Impressions – Kemurikusa

A story about three sisters struggling to survive in a desolate world surrounded by decaying buildings and red fog. The story revolves around Rin, a girl with an updo. There’s also Ritsu, the big sister who has cat ears and is always calm, and Rina, the innocent, cheerful one dressed in a maid’s costume. Just what is it that these sisters are after in this mysterious world? – Amazon

Streaming: Amazon Prime Video

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Rin and her sister Rinako are out on a dangerous search for fresh water. They happen to find a hidden pool of it in an abandoned ship that’s been grounded on their island. They have little time to celebrate, because they’re constantly being hunted by the gigantic red bugs that fill the air with toxic fog. Rin dispatches one, but Rinako isn’t so lucky; though she takes one out on her own, her injuries are too severe and she fades away. Rin must take this bad news back to big sister Ritsu and the remaining four Rinas waiting back at home.

Ritsu uses her power to siphon the water into their holding tank, bringing all manner of debris with it. Soon they hear a splash and discover a very strange-looking bug swimming in the tank. This bug can talk, calls himself “Wakaba,” and almost looks human, but the sisters are cautious. Rin attempts to dispatch him by using one of their special leaves, but the glowing green power only seems to heal this strange creature. When another bug attacks, Wakaba tries to prove he isn’t a threat by leading Rin to its hiding spot. Even so, Rin doesn’t know what to do about him and finds herself confused.

Impressions: I never really watched much of Kemono Friends, but I am familiar with its reputation. Made on the cheap with cut-rate CG animation, its inner charm nonetheless captured the hearts of many anime fans. The fact that its character animation was clunky and its compositing kind of poor managed to give it an appeal similar to heta-uma style manga: bad-but-good, and definitely with a sincerity that can be difficult to produce artificially.

Kemono Friends is in different hands for its second go-round, and the director of season 1, TATSUKI, is back with something very different of his own, and not beholden to a preexisting property. Kemurikusa is a mysterious post-apocalyptic story of three(?) sisters whose world (which resembles that of a destroyed Japanese city) is filled with unfathomable dangers. The first episode poses many questions but doesn’t provide a lot of answers. What it does seem to provide, though, is a small window into an odd-but-intriguing creative mind.

3DCG isn’t my preferred kind of animation to watch, especially when it’s attempting to mimic traditional 2D animation. Anime character designs tend to be very detailed, and capturing all those details in a way that appears “correct” on a 3D model seems like a near-impossible task. Much like Kemono Friends before it, there doesn’t seem to have been a lot of effort to hide or correct the sort of weird puppet-like movement that the characters tend to have when animated in this way, and paradoxically that may be this series’ saving grace. As a viewer, once you come to terms with the fact that the characters just aren’t going to look very good I think it becomes easier to consider the episode’s other visual traits and story elements.

The setting, while sparse and somewhat obscured by the looming fog, goes a long way toward conveying the proper atmosphere. The backgrounds are covered in concrete rubble, rusted steel beams, and crumbling, vacant multi-story dwellings. Aside from the large, twisting tree that the sisters maintain, there’s really no plant life to speak of, nor are there any recognizable animals lurking about the wreckage. In between Rin’s battles with giant bugs there’s very little ambient sound; it really feels as if life has been almost completely smothered out of existence in this terrifying place. It’s haunting and spooky, which is certainly not what I would have expected based on first appearances.

While the part of the episode that interested me the most was the mysterious exploratory element, there are also a couple of action scenes that are somewhat less successful. The “bugs” that the sisters battle are faceless and robotic; while they present a clear physical threat, they’re a little bit of a let-down as representative of the horror that comes alongside the creeping, looming red fog. The action scenes are also where the limits of the animation itself are much more apparent, as they require various character and creature models to interact with one-another. The end result is a strange, float-y disconnect between characters, other characters, and background elements. It’s something that I can generally overlook as a viewer, but will probably be more grating to others.

One of the episode’s many unanswered questions is Wakaba’s origin, and while in some respects he may serve as a good stand-in for the viewer (his constant curiosity, especially), his obviously different color scheme, innocent attitude, and general naivete slice through the thick fog and disrupt both the sisters’ world and the episode’s atmosphere. I haven’t quite decided if this is bad or not; while it is kind of interesting to learn about the setting through eyes untainted, I’d be very frustrated if the answer to the sisters’ predicament is the intervention of a milquetoast rando with some inherent, world-breaking quality.

This series already has some dismal scores on various aggregate sites, and I get it; it’s got janky visuals and it’s keeping most of its narrative secrets close for the time being. I think it presents a very frustrating face to the world during a season when there are clearly a few bigger and more easily-consumed anime worth watching. However, let me present myself as a counterpoint to that, because I think that this episode at least has some elements of charm and intrigue that are difficult to articulate, but which are likely to speak to those viewers who are open to it. It feels almost like one person’s creative vision, a story that someone was longing to share. Whether it manages to distinguish itself or fade out into nothing, I think it’s definitely worth a look.

Pros: The episode is very atmospheric and mysterious. This feels like the end result of someone’s creative vision.

Cons: The character animation is unappealing. Wakaba’s presence seems to spoil some of the vibe the episode had going until his introduction.

Grade: B-