I think with trying to catch up on a couple more of last year's show before AotY voting ends and a number of solid shows already appearing this so far this season, I'm just going to wait until Kakegurui XX shows up on Netflix to watch it.
The Promised Neverland 1
Similarly to Dororo, I wasn't entirely sure how well this would turn out given some of the chatter behind the scenes and CloverWorks (formerly part of A-1 Pictures) previous track record being... inconsistent to say the least. But the source material being one of the most highly regarded things to come from Shounen Jump in the last decade was enough to make me interested, especially because it wasn't one that focused on the kind of action battle material that is Jump's bread-and-butter. Well, I'm glad that all my concerns seemed to have been unwarranted, because I think this is tied with Mob Psycho 100 II as my favorite debut this season.
A lot of credit here goes to the source material itself, which manages to frame the events of this episode which might come off as relatively played out in terms of cliche material in a way that remains particularly captivating because it does such a good job of presenting its leads both as children but also ones smart enough to immediately grasp the situations they find themselves in react in believable and realistic ways. You don't just buy the fact that the three leads are the smartest because the show tells you that, you believe it because of how they choose to act and how fast they come to the truth of things when presented with enough evidence to make that conclusion. And when they deviate from that particular fact, the extenuating circumstances of the situation make that understandable in a way that so many shows either don't bother to justify or don't try to excuse just to allow the plot to advance the way they want. If this is the standard of the writing we're going to see in the series proper now that the general idea of what's going on has come to light, I can see why this manga has been so highly regarded.
It also helps that CloverWorks have clearly been working on this show quite a bit. The character animation, especially necessary in a show which has its characters running the gambit of the emotional spectrum, is really exceptional. The end of the episode particularly wouldn't have worked without the incredible and painstaking attention to detail in conveying Emma and Norman's emotional state in that moment. There's also a lot of really great direction throughout the episode as well, from some really creative framing during key moments to drive home the oppressive atmosphere that hangs over the entire orphanage.
If I had anything negative to say, it would be that much like some comments had mentioned pre-release, the background art isn't quite up to the standard set by the excellent character art and animation. It does its job well enough, but having seen some shots of similar pages in the manga, it doesn't convey the same kind of sense of place. Thankfully, the show does enough else right that I'm not too broken up about it, but it is a shame.
Overall, this was a great premier, and I'd say it'll be difficult for any other new show this season to take hold of my attention quite the way this did.
Kemurikusa 1
This is a tough one. After the whole controversy surrounding TATSUKI and his studio's treatment at the hands of Kadokawa after the overwhelming success of Kemono Friends, it's nice to see them get another shot, this time with an original property they have complete control over. And even from it earliest moments, it's clear to see that many of the things that made Kemono Friends so endearing and captivating continue to be present in Kemurikusa. From a similar though much more eerie post-apocalyptic setting to battles with seemingly alien entities that don't speak to people who appear to be some kind of lifeform that seems at first glance significantly different from normal humans despite being humanoid, there's a lot on the surface that appears to be similar.
The devil's in the details, though, and that's where Kemurikusa starts to diverge a bit. Without spoiling too much, there is an audience surrogate in Kemurikusa just as there was in Kemono Friends. In perhaps the one aspect of the series I'm still not sold on, however, this character seems a lot less compelling upfront than Kaban-chan was. Much of their dialogue felt ripped from a textbook on anime character cliches, with little of the nuance that I came to expect from some of the more central characters in Kemono Friends. I'm not willing to give the series up based on that alone, but I feel what they choose to do with this character and how they are characterized will be a big sticking point for a lot of people.
One big positive I will say is that TATSUKI and company have gotten a lot better at animating and directing action sequences. There are a pair of fights in this first episode, and both are much more visually impressive than anything we got in Kemono Friends. Considering Kemurikusa seems to put more of an emphasis on action, this is definitely a good thing. I don't remember much of the music in the first episode, though, which is a letdown considering how much of the atmosphere of Kemono Friends was complemented by its exceptional soundtrack.
Overall, there's a lot of things I like in Kemurikusa, but there's a lot of flags regarding things that might become bigger problems for me down the line. It's a less resounding recommendation than I was hoping to make, but I think there's a decent foundation this series can build on. Whether or not it capitalizes on its best aspects remains to be seen, but I'm intrigued to see more, reservations not withstanding.
