English Dub Review: Kemono Jihen “The Kemonoist”

Overview:

Meet the rest of the crew of Inugami’s detective agency, Shiki and Akira. Two kemono like Kabane, Shiki is half-Arachne but we don’t know about Akira yet. The kemono office is called in to help with a unique bug problem. Three corpse bugs have attacked a family and it’s time for Kabane to show what he can do.

Our Take: 

If there’s one thing I have learned about shows like this it’s that characters and more importantly character interactions are key. We saw the two characters we are introduced to at the end of the first episode. They are both kemono like Kabane but we only know about Shiki’s lineage. He is half-Arachne, so like spider-powers, if the webs on his shirt didn’t give it away.

Playing these newcomers are newcomers themselves. For Shiki, we have A.J. Beckles in his first major role and for Akira, we have Cassie Ewulu in I would say her first major role. She has been in other things before but mostly as supporting characters. They both do a wonderful job in my opinion, especially A.J. as Shiki. He does the snarkiness really well and there was one part, in particular, I really enjoyed. Kabane had never had pizza before and a stupefied Shiki let him have some and was being nice to him before saying to himself “Crap, I vowed to not be nice to this guy”. I really liked the delivery of this scene. Cassie was not bad by any means, her character just had less to do this episode though Akira had a great moment too. Kabane said Akira was a pretty girl only for Akira to say “Well, I’m a boy!!” and storm off. These two made a great first impression.

If Shiki is anything to go off of this will be a fun season. The characters interact well and have fun and interesting powers that I want to see more of. I am intrigued to see what Akira’s powers are and if the OP is anything to go by it probably has something to do with ice. The only thing this episode didn’t do too well is suffering from “OP Protagonist Syndrome” and yes I made that up just now. Shiki attempts to stop the corpse bug problem but of course, it doesn’t work and Kabane has to step in to save the day. I know he’s the main character but still, I guess we do need some cliches in these things.

This show has really piqued my interest and I can’t wait to see what the ending of this episode means for any upcoming arcs. Hopefully, we get to see more of Shiki and especially Akira. I am sure all that will come in due time. If you want my opinion on whether you should check this out I would give that a resounding yes. Very fun and unique, but just tropey enough to make you feel nostalgic.