Kemurikusa (TV)

From the studio and creator that brought us Kemono Friends comes their latest show: Kemurikusa. This original show is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi that hooks the viewers with its slow revealing mysteries and excellent world-building, dynamic character interactions, wide set pieces, and great soundtracks. The 3DCG may take some adjustment and getting used to, but it’s not necessarily awful. In short, anybody that’s familiar with Tatsuki’s work should watch this anime. And also, did you know that Kemurikusa translates to “smoke grass”, “smoke plant”, or “smoke weed”. Yep, this is literally Winter 2019’s dankest anime. Thank you, Tatsuki. STORY: Synopsis: A trio of red-haired sisters, living in a post-apocalyptic world overwhelmed by a red fog, must fight against red robotic ‘bugs’, while searching for water and other resources. One day, the sisters find a large source of water and encountered a “human” named Wakaba; an encounter that would forever change their lives. For a show that has a short and simple synopsis, the story is more complex than that. There are many unanswered questions regarding our main characters and the world they live in. Some questions include: where do all the red bugs come from, what is a “Kemurikusa” leaf and what does it do, who is Wakaba, what happened to the world and how did the destruction occur, who is the first human, where did the blue walls come from, what are blacked out words in the memory leaf, etc. These question will not be answered in the first episode nor the second, but rather over many episodes. And the show does an amazing job at revealing these answers and truths. Each episode reveals a tiny bit about the world and its characters through dialogue, visual, and audio context. Some examples include: robotic ‘bugs’ come in various shapes and sizes and can be good or bad, Kemurikusa have many powers with multiple usage, the world is divided into several large islands, etc. There are also many different locations, such as abandoned office buildings, amusement parks, the “Sky Bridge”, villages, railway tracks and stations, etc, and they are stunning to look at; the world-building is well done and throughly explored. With the help of Wakaba’s curious nature, these areas, the nature of the Kemurikusa leaves, and several main characters are also explored. All of this combined makes Kemurikusa a very intriguing and engaging anime. ANIMATION/ART: Upon viewing the first episode it should be no surprise that this show uses 3D character models, which I believe is good, with CGI animations. Now, usage of 3DCG in anime has mostly gotten a bad reputation, mainly the art style could appear strange or the animations could be stiff and janky. This show, in my opinion, doesn’t have a bad or strange art style, in fact, its usage of lighting and color are amazing, for example, 1) a stale gray and black world is lightened up with bright colors of red and green with the occasional blue and yellow, and 2) when a character or bug ‘dies’ their body deteriorates into glowing leaves and drifts away. Both examples highlight how beautiful colors and lighting effects can have on a show. Now, the composition is fantastic; the use of abandoned villages and tall office buildings, ruin houses, decaying trees and vegetation, etc, are all framed and shot to provide a sense of desolation and passing of time. It’s haunting and intriguing. The show’s animations are sometimes smooth and fluid, and other times they are stiff and janky. The fight animations and choreography are okay and not very exciting, thankfully, they are brief and few in numbers. Also, there is the occasional still images that provide context for what is happening on screen. Overall, the animations and art are good. SOUND: The voice acting is hit-and-miss with Rin’s and Ritsu’s voices being the most standout and noteworthy, while Wakaba’s and Rina’s voices are too high pitched and somewhat annoying. Wakaba’s voice is most annoying when he’s saying his favorite catchphrases, such as “So Interesting!”, “Wow!”, or “I see!”, and when he’s being ‘too curious’ about everything that surrounds him. Rina’s voice, on the other hand, is just too high pitched and tries too hard to be the typical loli character. However these complaints are very minor and negligible after a few episodes. The sound design is pretty good. Its opening song titled "KEMURIKUSA" by nano features heavy drums, multiple guitars, a piano, and the singer rocking it out to our characters walking in various settings and fighting the red bugs. The ending song titled “INDETERMINATE UNIVERSE" by Yuuyu is your standard J-Pop that features background images showing our characters connected to a red-string and when some characters die, they deteriorate into glowing leaves and drift away. The endings’ background images heavily implies whether our main characters are die or alive, this is a disturbing and interesting way to reveal answers. Both songs are great and well worth listening too. The background music is also pretty good as it sets the perfect mood and tension. CHARACTER: The show heavily revolves around its central characters, i.e., Rin (tsundere), Rina (Loli), Ritsu (cat girl), and Wakaba (“human”), to drive the narrative and progress the story. Moreover, there are many moments of character interactions, which enhances the development of our characters. Along with our central characters, we have some secondary “characters”: Midori-chan (Kemurikusa tree), Ai-chan (Kemurikusa fish), Shiro (beeping Roomba bots), and the mysterious “dead” sisters (Ryo, Ryoku, and Riku). These secondary characters play a vital role in progressing the story and strengthening the development of our main characters. Our main male character, Wakaba, is unique in that he can sense and detect “warm spots” through the thick red fog. These warm spots can be anything related to the red bugs, or red trunk and tree branches. He talks a lot in a high pitched voice and is very curious about everything that surrounds him. This is both good and bad. It’s good because we, the viewers, learn more about the world, the Kemurikusa powers, the red bugs, and who the characters are. In general just about everything. On other hand, it gets annoying and somewhat tiresome after awhile. Still, he’s nice, kind and willing to help the sisters whenever they need it. Our trio of red-haired heroines, namely Rin, Rina, and Ritsu, are sisters who are not normal humans, i.e., they drink copious amounts of water, they use Kemurikusa leaves for numerous activities throughout their lives, they jump and leap further than normal humans, and they emit a bright glow when fighting the red bugs. Rin is a self-determined, serious, and tough girl, who has a reverse ponytail and white scarf. Rina is a short, energetic, and exuberant girl, who has the ability to make multiple clones of herself, eats many types of metal, and wears maid clothing. Ritsu is a soft-spoken and caring girl, who always appears tired and has cat ears; she also controls a Kemurikusa tree named Midori-chan, and uses it to scout for enemies or for transportation. ENJOYMENT: From its simplistic and short synopsis to its robotic and apocalyptic setting to its trio of red-haired heroines with masked background details. Everything seems to be shrouded in obscurity. But, like most series, not everything will be explained in the first or even second episode. It takes time. And this series is no different, it slowly and methodically reveal answers and truths over the course of the series. This coupled with its excellent world building hooks the viewers in wanting to learn more about the story and setting. Accompanying the setting and story is the good sound design, mainly its rocking opening and ending song. Additionally, while its art and animations, at times, appear janky, its composition and lighting are outstanding. The character interactions are frequent and provide many moments of character development, still some characters like Wakaba can be somewhat annoying. Overall, though, this series provides entertainment in the form of a slow-revealing mystery, great soundtracks, stunning compositions and lighting, and proper character development. A good series in my opinion.