Another show I’ve been looking forward to this anime season has been the second season of Kemono Friends. A cute and innovative series about anthropomorphic animals living in the ruins of a futuristic amusement park, they have adventures and generally do cute things while slowly learning the nature of their world. Kemono Friends exploded onto the scene in 2017 after a meme that the show “melts your brain and lowers your I.Q. if you watched it” took root on the Internet, which naturally made everyone curious. Despite having an animation budget lower than J-List’s weekly coffee bill, fans found themselves addicted to the wonky show, making it one of the biggest hits of the year.
The best thing about Kemono Friends is the way it slowly peels back the mystery of its world. Why are a bunch of intelligent animals living in a futuristic but failing zoo? Why can we see wrecked bombers and other signs of a major war? What was the nature of the mysterious phenomenon that caused all the animals to become intelligent, and why have all humans gone extinct? Is the volcano in the show Mt. Fuji, making this a story about a post-apocalyptic Japan, rather than something set in Africa? This tradition of slowly unwinding the story continues in the new season, as the human Kaban herself is missing, and Serval can’t remember her very well. Will Kaban come back into the story, and will we finally learn what kind of “friends” she is? Watch and find out!
In a world where so many complain that anime has become too dependent on harem and imouto and isekai stories, it’s nice that we can get such a fresh and fun concept. The feelings of calm at seeing adorable animals doing cute things blends with unease at the unknown nature of this bizarre world, creating a cognitive dissonance that’s quite delicious and fun.
Want to watch Kemono Friends with us? We promise it won’t melt your brain or lower your I.Q.!
Another huge volley of amazing anime figures posted to the site today, including one of the best Super Sonico figures we’ve ever seen, with a bikini that’s about to become very embarrassing. There’s also a super kawaii Idolmaster figure and more. Browse them all here!
