English Dub Review: Kemono Jihen “Mission”

Overview:

A case comes in with a man who has fallen in love and is requesting help. Of course, since he came to the kemonoist’s there’s more than likely a kemono involved. In fact, he is in love with a neko kemono which is essentially a cat. She has turned multiple men into cats as well. Will love end happily? There’s also a case of people going missing underneath Shibuya.

Our Take:

When a man in love comes to the kemonoist’s for help, Kabane sees an opportunity to learn about love. He believes if he learns about love he might be able to better know his parents. The man has fallen in love with a kemono, a neko kemono and she turns men she seduces into neko’s as well. Unfortunately for her, this man was not seduced but has actually fallen in love with her. This case gets resolved pretty quickly as we see that they have gotten married and she released the other men under her influence.

I wish they spent a bit more time on this cause it was kind of nice to see something heartwarming mixed in with the usual dark themes the show presents. I am a sucker for a “love overall” type of message and I thought that was pretty cool. Then we get into the second case which is the usual darker themes, still awesome though.

There is some sort of kemono issue going on in the Shibuya River and Kabane gets tasked with dealing with it. Akira has decided to become Kabane’s apprentice and joins him. Akira is super squeamish so volunteering for a sewer job is a little out of place for him. He does bring along hazmat gear but is clearly uncomfortable.

Here is when we learn what type of kemono Akira is. He is a yuki kemono which essentially means he has the ability to control ice. This comes in handy as he saves the day by freezing everything, which is a step in the right direction for character growth. Akira mentions having a twin brother so I think that is a plotline that could potentially be introduced later. This show has done a good job of fleshing out its supporting characters and I hope Kabane gets some of that treatment soon.

It was a fun episode with a lighthearted first half. The second half is what I have come to expect from Kemono Jihen. Yes, it’s dark but it also has just enough comedy to not make you feel stressed the whole time. I will say it was especially impressive to watch Kabane go wild on the kemono in the sewer so look forward to that.