English Dub Review: Kemono Michi-Rise Up “Loser × Master”

 

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Joanna revels in her recruitment of MAO to defeat Genzo, but also decides to look back on her past in the shadow of her other target: Fafnir Gildomela Grind Lindabulea, also known now as Hanako. Specifically, she recalls a duel she orchestrated between her Elder Vampire servant Rose and Hanako’s Lesser Vampire servant Carmilla. The condition was that, if she lost, Carmilla would be removed from Hanako’s servant. Carmilla was easily defeated, but Hanako refused to remove her, instead deciding to put Joanna and Rose in their places. Now in the present, she intends to defeat Genzo with MAO’s help before Hanako can.

OUR TAKE
We’ve officially reached the halfway point, but instead of continuing things with our main group of four, it seems that last week and this week are both about explaining the motivations of the antagonist team. Last week gave us a look at MAO’s drive to beat Animal Mask, showing us how he will be Genzo’s foil in that he’s also a pro wrestler who came from our world. Now THIS week shows us more about Joanna and Rose’s reasons for opposing Hanako and Carmilla. Just like MAO, Joanna’s also found herself desperate to catch up with Hanako, both being powerful daughters of noble monster families but simply not managing to equal her in power. Incidentally, Rose is actually far more powerful than Carmilla, but she’s still hitched to Joanna’s whims so she’s basically in the same boat. We now have the two nemesis characters fleshed out enough, so we can get to the next actual plot development.

Though an interesting thing that I feel I should point out, both rivalries between Genzo and Mao and Hanako and Joanna seem to parallel in a certain way. That way being that the ones trying to surpass the other are motivated by power, influence, and fame, where as their targets are rather easy going people who just happen to have one considerable character flaw. With Genzo, it’s his nearly disturbing love of all creatures big and small, whereas with Hanako, it’s her insatiable appetite. The antagonists both look to be focusing their entire beings on the fights ahead, where the protagonists simply want to indulge themselves in their respective passions (even sometimes to an excessive degree). What I think this is trying to say is that having passions that aren’t about causing conflict for others can lead to greater success in the end, which actually speaks to the bigger recurring themes that Genzo initiates by focusing on collecting pets instead of going on adventures and killing monsters.

Maybe I’m thinking ahead a bit too much or overthinking things a wee bit, but I feel like the overall message of this series lies in its deceptively simple and easy going tone. Often times I notice shows like these that seem to have very little to think about on the surface, but then uncover hidden depths that are a joy to both analyze and internalize in our daily lives. Hopefully we can get more of that in the second half.