English Dub Review: Kemono Jihen “Foxes”

Overview:

Kabane is tasked with meeting the fox kemono Inari. Akira and Shiki escort Kabane through Tokyo since he is from the country. Kemono feeds on the feelings and emotions of humans, with Kabane’s life stone that is no longer necessary. Inari cuts off Kabane’s head and puts it in a briefcase to keep him from regenerating. She gives the briefcase to her fox assistant Kon to get take somewhere safe. Shiki helps Kabane escape and they beat Kon.

Our Take:

Kristen McGuire voices the fox kemono Yoko Inari and it took me a second to recognize her. She is one of the last voice actresses I ever expected to give off those Ara-Ara vibes but… well she did it. I really love the character as well but I will get into that more in a bit.

This show is really fun and I am excited about the worldbuilding it’s playing with. Spider and fox kemono exist so I can only imagine what others there are out there. Hope we get a chance to see what kind of kemono Akira is. His use of social media is so hilarious and relatable I hope nothing bad happens to him though.

I would say Kabane needs some powerup or a new look to fit the shounen vibe but if getting his head chopped off doesn’t kill him I don’t know how much more powerful he needs to be. I hope he does at least get a bit more characterization because the silent dumb to the world type loses its luster for me pretty quick. I have high hopes for this show so far so I think it will do well.

You all know that it’s coming so here it is… best girl has been located! Kon is Inari’s assistant and she is an intriguing character that I think will join the kemonoist’s based on how this episode ends. I think she will at least take on a supportive role here and there. I looked around online and it seems that Kon’s voice actress is Brittany Lauda so they got some pretty big names to voice the foxes. I have only known Kon for one episode but if anything happens to her I don’t know what I will do to this world.

Kemono Jihen is gearing up to be a fun, dark time. It has just enough of the dark stuff going on to be interesting and keep us on our toes. Not too depressing so far, outside of the family in the first episode! Can’t wait for the next episode!