In the 21st century, the existence of animal-humans came to light after being hidden in the darkness
of history. Michiru lived life as a normal human, until one day she suddenly turns into a
tanuki-human. She runs away and takes refuge in a special city area called "Anima City" that was set
up 10 years ago for animal-humans to be able to live as themselves. There Michiru meets Shirou, a
wolf-human who hates humans. Through Shirou, Michiru starts to learn about the worries, lifestyle, and
joys of the animal-humans. As Michiru and Shirou try to learn why Michiru suddenly turned into an
animal-human, they unexpectedly get wrapped up in a large incident.
(Source: Anime News Network)
The TV broadcast ended on June 25, 2020.
BNA was a show that I had minimal expectations of going into. This was my first Trigger show, and although I had heard mixed reviews about many of its shows, I had never actually seen one. The first thing that stood out to me was the art and tone of the show. Although set in a modern day-near future setting, I felt like I was watching some 80's vapor-wave aesthetic take up my screen. The bright colors and contrasts were a delight to watch and the setting was something I fell in love with. I will say that the art style definitely detracted from some of the more somber tones in the show and de-escalated some of the more tense scenes, however, a small detail I enjoyed was how at the end of episode 11 the ending animation was converted to grayscale, matching the tone of how the episode ended. BNA is a 12 episode straight shot show and I think one if it's biggest flaws was creating such a unique world that needed a lot of time and exposition to flesh out. Beastmen add an entire history to the world that we are unaware of and only learn small snippets of throughout the show. There are obviously very heated political overtones and problems that we only know the surface of. We know that Animacity was created 10 years before our story takes place and that it was groundbreaking in terms of beastmen rights but other than that we have very little info on what came before. With a world this deep it is important that we are able to learn a lot to better immerse ourselves in what the characters might be experiencing but the sheer length of the show prevents that. That being said, there is a silver lining... Michiru Kagemori is our protagonist, a human who suddenly transformed into a beastman and escaped to Animacity so she could live without fear of persecution. One of the reasons I like our protagonist so much is because she, like the viewer, is very new to the world of beastman. She has no idea about the culture or what her role is but she keeps throwing herself in like the human she is. Her curiosity and recklessness are the few things that stayed the same after her transformation and is what affects many of the characters throughout the story. Now I’m not going to lie and say she is perfect. Her personality does drag on in some parts and becomes annoying and her ability to control her "powers" without much effort is a little much although I don't really think the power or strength of these characters really matters in the long run. Michiru, like the viewer, is just trying to figure out what’s going on and what she can do in this strange world. It's the reason I like her as the focus instead of our silver knight, Shirou Oogami. Shirou is probably one of the more intriguing parts of this show as his development is the most stubborn. I loved the chemistry between Michiru and Shirou; it felt like a father and daughter who kept constantly bickering and that seemed to really get to Shirou in the end. Their chemistry is what drove the plot forward and kept the story engaging as you never knew what was going to happen with those two. Despite this, there are still some things that can't be overlooked. As previously stated, this is a 12 episode show and that being said the pacing for this world was not and is not perfect. The first 6 episodes serve as an introduction to the show’s world and sets up many of the major plot points and mysteries. The back half of the series is a rundown of the major stuff in a fast pace 4 episode marathon that keeps you glued to the screen. Is it perfect? No. I found myself lost trying to remember certain people at times and some details were lost but damn did I enjoy it. In defense of this, however, I will say that the series was released in two segments, the first 6 episodes and then the last. This is where it stands out to me. Vinland Saga did something similar, releasing the first three episodes at once as they serve as an introduction for the world and sets up the story. I really like this decision as I found myself itching to learn what would happen in that month I couldn't watch it. The excitement when I got the notification that the last half of the series was out was electric. This show knows how to keep you engaged, in more ways than one. The animation was consistent and well polished and many of the dynamic action shots were polished. Looking at the animation cast, it's only to be expected of these hard hitters. I loved the uniqueness of the shots and how they were able to use the animation to showcase the strength that was being displayed in every fight. More than the animation, though, I loved the music. The soundtrack for this show is already amazing, but the opening number by the voice actress of Michiru and the Ending song by Shin Sakiura and AAAMYYY were songs that resonated throughout the series and matched the vibe of the show. As some final thoughts, I don't think this show is a masterpiece or is perfect. I do think that it really fits itself. Our main character is a kid and so there is a lot of mischief thrown around and having the finale revolve around a live show did seem a little odd considering the stakes. However, it's these unique factors that make the show enjoyable and fun to watch. Sure it isn't the most practical but this show has never been that. It's over the top and doesn't need to lie about it. "Hey! Are You. Ready to Go?”
As expected of the team at [Studio Trigger](https://anilist.co/studio/803/Trigger) the character designs are distinctive, and the animation dynamic. I couldn't think of a single issue with the visuals. The background work is gorgeous, and the various color pallets the show uses are always pleasant to look at. >Overall art consistency is pretty high. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/77bd0c525b5680a2fd80ba185da25900.mp4) The soundtrack is a strong 9, only dragged down by the fact that songs get reused incredibly often. In the case of the ED ''Night Running'' (which may just be my fav ED from this year) it appears as an insert track so often that it's become a sort of running gag. >I understand ''Night Running's'' use as a callback to nostalgic times Michiru and Nazuna shared as humans, but they really pushed how much mileage they could get out of it. Aside from that admittedly petty nitpick, each song is incredibly evocative and fits the scene it's used in. Possible contender for 2020 Anime OST. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/0dfed554ede3b7e6fe6c4dc953b34dd2.mp4) Despite the fact that we spend a large amount of time with Michiru, it doesn't feel like she got any character development past episode 3 (excluding the Nazuna flashback scenes) I honesty couldn't tell you what I've learned about her. She misses home. She's stubborn. She wants to be human again. BNA's cast is likeable, but lacks depth. >Michiru's characterization is incredibly thin, to the point of approaching cliche Much like [Promare](https://anilist.co/anime/99425/Promare/), BNA suffers from having a cliche plot with thinly veiled allegories for racism. In fact, I don't think it would be reductive to say the two series are plagued by the very same sets of issues. While it isn't incompetent by any stretch, the narrative of BNA is by far it's weakest component. If you've ever watched a [social commentary](https://anilist.co/anime/107660/BEASTARS/) on [racial issues] you won't be impressed by the plot here. As long as you pay attention you should be able to sniff out plot twists with ease. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/815cecba4ccf6cea66c7f4c9b17cc5e9.mp4) Perhaps the most disappointing criticism I could throw at BNA is that for all the time it spent on beast-men conflict, the show doesn't have anything interesting to say about it's themes. ''Racism is bad, let's just try to understand each other.'' > To put it bluntly, the narrative comes across as uninspired BNA is at it's best when focusing on being pure spectacle / fun as opposed to it's own plot. Episode 5 (in which Michiru plays softball) was easily the strongest episodes in the entire show. After realizing mid episode it was story-boarded by the legendary [Hiroyuki Imaishi](https://anilist.co/staff/97349/Hiroyuki-Imaishi), I suppose that's not a surprise. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/a6d36a23873287c461d54f0a912abe9e.mp4) >The staff at Trigger have mastered the art of using limited animation for visual comedy BNA managed to win over a lot of good will from me early through it's run, however like several other Trigger series fails to deliver a cathartic ending. For all the criticism I have against this show, I don't actually dislike it in the slightest, I just wish that the writing was tightened up a bit. Compared to it's older sisters Kill La Kill and LWA, BNA it doesn't manage to live up to the hype. However, in spite of it's flaws BNA is a fun show worth watching, especially if you're a fan of the studio behind it.
Alright alright. When I first took a glance at BNA, I felt that it was going to be something pretty cool and awesome. Well, was I wrong, or was I right? I’d say neither. BNA is a show that shows the darker side of the world if beastmen really existed. Firstly, I was pretty shocked to find out that BNA was 12 episodes instead of 24. The setting and everything made it feel like it would have lasted a lot longer than what it actually is. The world-building and everything made you have an easy understanding of what is going on with their world and I honestly appreciate that they used several episodes for that. The story is extremely simple and straightforward, with some things still left unexplained, such as how does Michiru has all these incredibly supernatural powers, even in a supernatural world. I personally enjoyed this show a lot, how you could have never dreamed of such a city being existent in our world. And that the balance between the comedy and the seriousness was of good standards. That dark feeling along with Slice of Life being the jam on top of it created that urban fantasy type of feeling. Even though the story was shown in a straight-forward and simple way as it chooses not to be sophisticated, however, those final few episodes in my honest opinion wasn’t able to push out a darker feeling than I expected it to release. Like I said, Slice of Life is the jam, don’t forget what you’re eating is still the bread. I feel that a darker final few episodes, even if the resolution is still the same, would have impacted many more audiences, myself included. Another thing that got me started on BNA was the pretty unique art style. Nowadays most modern anime (especially isekais) tend to adapt with that pretty generic art style which I don’t mean to be an elitist or anything, I don’t appreciate much. So having this unique curvy, joyful, and dynamic art style is definitely a plus in the art department. As for animation, I don’t have much to say, it’s Trigger. They've always been gorgeous when it comes to their style of animation. If they fail in animation, it’s the same as saying KyoAni produces the shitty art—which in contrast, produces the most eye-candy art you'll ever imagine. As for sound goes, I was pretty satisfied. Actually, I was more than satisfied, I was pretty impressed. The OSTs, OP & ED, all had that urban modern society taste imbued into them, along with a bit of a futuristic kind of feeling as well. This led me to really enjoy them and rock to the beat, although that is more of a subjective thing. One OST that impacted me was that song Michiru and Nazuna sang together, it reminded me of how special friends were, and yeah. That’s literally all. The character development for the characters I would say wasn’t the most substantial, but it’s decent for a 12 episode series. Especially Oogami, his character development, backstory, and everything was really well-done and Trigger deserves a thumbs up for that. Michiru like what Nazuna always tells her hasn’t changed much. Well, I suppose that is pretty realistic, humans don’t change much over such a short period of time do they, especially for somebody as stubborn as Michiru. But the characters overall were really enjoyable and I had a really fun time watching them. (Especially my little precious bear Jackie) Overall, I had loads of fun watching BNA, although story-wise it was not even close to what I had wanted, but I got something else that I didn’t ask for: Fun character interaction. Honestly, I’m satisfied with just that. So, you interested in BNA? Sure, go ahead, but don’t expect some crazy complicated storyline that even the great Hououin Kyouma can’t figure out. ;)
~~~__Bonjour à tous__~~~ On se retrouve aujourd'hui pour faire le point sur cette anime : __Brand New Animal__ alias __BNA__. ~~~img(https://i.redd.it/bd7vqr3p0ma31.png)~~~ Pour commencer, __BNA__ est un bon anime qui nous parle d'un univers ou existe des humains et des homme-bêtes qui sont discriminés car en minorité. Nous suivons le long du récit le quotidien de Michiru, une humaine qui c'est transformé en homme-bête par hasard. Elle se rend donc dans la ville des homme-bêtes pour cherche un moyen de redevenir humaine. Tout d'abord, je vais commencer par parler sur les graphismes que je trouve géniaux. Ils donnent un rythme et un ton bien propre à l'anime, selon moi. Ensuite, sur l'histoire en elle même, je n'ai pas grand chose à dire, à part que c'est toujours bien rythmé soit par des combats, des découvertes ou par des complots donc franchement je ne me suis absolument pas ennuyé devant cet anime. Egalement, je trouve que le côté comique de l'oeuvre permet de bien adoucir le monde brute et dure dans lequel nos personnages évoluent tout du long. Le seul point que je n'aime pas beaucoup, c'est le personnage de Nazuna, je la trouve trop opportuniste mais bon, on ne peut pas aimer tous les personnages de l'anime. Je trouve quand même que l'on refile vite le rôle des méchants aux humains et seulement à eux, j'aurais peut-être aimé voir une plus grosse nuance car, la on est vraiment sur du humain = méchant et homme-bête = gentil. ~~~img(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KT-I0KmFObk/XqHMMtSRAsI/AAAAAAAAXpo/vQW6YNEBgD0oSd_42VvN-MTWr59gTzCmQCLcBGAsYHQ/w914-h514-p-k-no-nu/bna-brand-new-animal-michiru-shirou-anime-uhdpaper.com-4K-7.1881-wp.thumbnail.jpg)~~~ ___Conclusion :___ __BNA__ est un bon anime qui nous parle d'intégration dans une communauté comme de combat de rue. Je trouve que les personnages principaux sont bien développer et ils m'ont pas mal marqué, soit par leurs actions, soit par leurs paroles. Cependant, je m'attendait à une fin un peu plus travaillé car là je la trouve un peu bâcle mais bon, je pinaille quand même. ~~~img(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcS1r8H6-cLliKu_yOMp6j88_BE57zEte00j9fVzMHKpoqLzTD6h&usqp=CAU)~~~ PS : Désolé pour les fautes de français. Ceci n'est que mon avis personnel. Je ne vous empêche pas d'avoir un point de vue différent du mien. Je pense que tous les points de vue sont à prendre en compte tant qu'ils sont argumentés.
You ever watch a series that feels like it tries to juggle too many plot points at once? When attempting to have a full story in the short time span of 12 episodes, you generally want to focus on only a few elements at a time, but this series tried to have its cake and eat it too, with concepts such as discrimination, segregation, poverty, super powers, corruption, a friends middling relationship, and it all ends with a subpar Trigger final battle that resolves all the issues in the city that it really shouldn't. The protagonist is Michiru, a young teenage girl who mysteriously turned into a beastman, a half human animal hybrid, and decides to run away to this city called Anima city where beastmen live separated from humans to avoid getting harassed by humans. As for why humans despise and discriminate against beastmen, that is never really given a proper explanation. Furthermore, beastmen have the capability to transform into normal humans and the question becomes why does anybody care about these beastmen to begin with. In any case, we follow Michiru and try to figure out why she was turned into a beastman and how she can transform back to normal so she can go back to her normal life with her parents. The first half of the series focuses on Michiru learning about Anima City and the conflicts surrounding the beastmen on a daily basis. Together with loner wolf man Shirou, they occasionally fight crime together. The first 5 episodes had a more episodic feel to them, such as Michiru joining a poor baseball team and inspiring them to not give up just to earn money, or this one episode where Michiru was trying to teach a group of children how to read and write for this mafia lady to get her wallet back. These episodes aren’t necessarily bad, but given how the show ends up, they do feel pointless in the grand scheme of things(Aside from ep 1). The baseball episode felt particularly egregious since aside from one adorable bear from the team, we really don’t see the team much ever again, and what could have been an interesting commentary on how a capitalistic system can force poor folk to stay poor, it just kind of ends on not giving up, which is nice, but it doesn’t really do much to explore this city. The other thing is that the show never focuses on how Anima City really operates. The city is generally unable to access the internet and the only way to do so would be through illegal means. How does this society function without the internet? What means do they have to get through their day to day lives? What do they do to get things done around the city? We do get parody brand names like Dog Way, and there seems to be a mafia gang running things behind the scenes, but generally speaking, we really don’t get much of anything out of this city. It has an Us vs Them mentality regarding humans and beastmen, but it's not like that's explored much beyond violence. There is a conflict involving the cult and what happens in the last two episodes is so stupid that I don't understand how this society even got off the ground. It's that bad. img(http://pm1.narvii.com/6152/0b2b2b954b16be9883ec49523642e69ee9234f11_hq.jpg) One interesting thing regarding Michiru at first would be her desire to return to being a human and go back to her town. There's this interesting scene where her parents wish her happy birthday over on Instagram and she hesitates to respond. Sadly, this conflict is never brought up again, and she decides to stay as a beastman anyways so her whole story felt useless. She even gains the ability to transform into a human out of nowhere in one of the earlier episodes and its never used again. She constantly gains all these abilities such as Cheetah legs to run fast, bird wings, stretchy arms, and so on, but it's never explained how she's able to do all these things. Then her friend Nezuna and her cult is introduced in ep 6 and this is where the show really starts to take a nosedive. To her credit, Nezuna does call out Michiru for continuously jumping to conclusions and acting before thinking, but this argument that they end up having doesn't really help her change for the better. If anything she continues to act the same while being a little sad as well. In the end, Michiru feels so detached from the main conflict of the series, and her end goal of becoming a human again is thrown to the wayside. Her character arc is the usual "I've come to accept myself as a beast" trite that I've only seen Shrek pull off. It would honestly make more sense if Shirou was the protagonist, though its not like he's a good character either. At least she's got a cute character design. I wish I would've liked the cute tanuki girl more. img(https://bateszi.me/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BNA-Brand-New-Animal-anime-episode-1-image-0325.jpg) Shirou is like that loner anime man that came out of the early 2000's. He's rude, hates humans, clearly has a dark past or some nonsense, and works alone. As a wolfman, he has the ability to sniff out certain people and objects such as bombs and so forth. He's a part time detective who works for the police. I don't get how something as arbitrary as smell is accepted as evidence to the police. Phoenix Wright would be all over their asses, but it's generally used for plot conveniences. What I don't like about Shirou is how he doesn't have any sort of character chemistry with Michiru and his character can be very easily summed up as "Humans bad, Beastmen good". The bastard also allows a fucking bomb to explode to catch the criminals in the act when finding and stopping the bomb would be more than enough. When his "backstory" is revealed and they bring up WW2 I was laughing. Everything about him is such a hot mess. I don't have much to say about the rest of the cast. Nezuna is mostly just a prop and a means to an end for the main villain as well as a source of conflict for Michiru, the main villain will not be named due to spoilers, but it's pretty obvious, and everybody else is fodder. Now on to the general look of the series. The director of the anime is Yoh Yoshinari, and you may recognize that name from LWA since he was the director of that series. It really shows since this series looks rather similar to his previous work, though not quite as visually appealing in my eyes. Like that series, this show has a lot of character put into it with expressive facial expressions, pull and stretch animation, and a lot of energy when it counts. The final battle, as contrived as that was, did have a lot of visual flare to it, which I always appreciate. Having said all this, I was hoping that this show was going for a cyberpunk esque world given the previous poster that this series had when it was announced, and as you can probably tell by going to my profile(Va-11 Hall-a ftw), I quite like that aesthetic. I do wish Yoshinari and Trigger experimented a little more regarding this show, but it still looks appealing overall. img(https://www.monstersandcritics.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/BNA-Season-2-release-date-Netflix-US-Brand-New-Animal-Season-2-Studio-Trigger-Anime.jpg) Finally, there's the soundtrack. I do really like opening and ending songs, but the ending song is used way too much throughout the show. I get that anime likes to use their opening and ending songs sometimes as a nod, but in this case it feels super forced and annoying. By themselves however, they're nice to listen to. With the ending song has this sort of chilled vibe with a super stylish art style that I love. The rest of the soundtrack is fairly solid, with Mabuna who also did the OST for Megalo Box and he did a good job here. Easily my favorite part of the show. Sadly, I can't really recommend this series unless you lower your expectations to rock bottom. It lacks any kind of focus and generally feels directionless until the disaster that is the second half. It's not really worth your time. Just watch Beastars if you haven't already.
~~~img420(https://aodisseia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/bna-capa-800x400.jpg)~~~ This anime had all the perfect ingredients to make into an Amazing show! you got __Studio Trigger__ working on it, taking place in a city were Beastmen lives in harmony, amazing visual style, killer soundtrack, Direction from __Yoh Yoshinari__ who worked on the great Little Witch Academia series, Action scenes directed by the Mad Man himself: __Hiroyuki Imaishi__, all of that seems like an amazing show at first glances right? well… it kinda is on it’s first Half. Ladies and Gentlemen, Despite being mostly an enjoyable ride, __BNA__ or __Brand New Animal__, was honestly a bit of a disappointment coming from a Studio i adore.. that’s not to say the Show is bad! in fact, let’s go with some Positives first before i dive onto the issues the series has to offer much to my dismay. img420(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDgwNjZhZjQtMjgyZi00Zjc4LTkyY2EtYmIyMTE1MTc3NThhXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTEzOTk4Mzkw._V1_SX1777_CR0,0,1777,999_AL_.jpg) Obviously the first thing you notice on this show were it’s the series’s biggest strength it’s on the Presentation. this show looks fantastic as the world of Anima-City feels as alive as the animals that live in there! unlike something such as Zootopia, there’s a big variety on animals/Beastmen which i wanted for such a long time and that wasn’t Sing. we got it all like: Flamingos, Bulls, Canines, Horses, Wolves, Birds, Reptiles, Tanuki, Foxes, Visons and the list goes on. every character design is a joy to look at because of it’s diversity on the City. not only that but the animation itself is really good obviously. from the adrenaline action that is always exciting to watch even if it’s minimal, to bits of comedy that might give you a chuckle or 2 and it’s satisfying as all hell! But it’s not just it’s animation that pops with style, we also get a Great soundtrack that gives a 80’s or Vapor wave vibe which i’m a fan. some of my favorite tracks in the Soundtrack Includes: “Crisis” which gives a sense of anxiety on the more extreme moments happening in the show, “Hope” that gives a very special feeling that makes you feel relaxed and comfortable,”Fight for Pride” which honestly gave me My Hero Academia Vibes and Break out which is just a smashing banger to me. __Mabanua__ is quite a music composer if i say so myself img420(https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Anime-BNA-Season-1-Coming-to-Netflix-in-June-2020.jpg) of course a Story is nothing without it’s characters on the story, and it’s yet another aspect i really like from the show. the Support cast isn’t exactly the most memorable or best since previous Trigger shows did a better job at it, although some of them are still fun to watch or makes you see more of them for being either funny or somewhat intriguing like Alan and Nazuma, but it’s main Characters are what made the show for me as well. we got __Michiru__, the main character who turned into a Beastmen in the form of a Tanuki and she seems to believe it’s because of a "Decease". she’s a very likable character despite being ruthless with her decisions at certain points. and at times a bit protective on what she thinks it’s worth saving. it makes me feel bad for her that her expectations for Anima-City didn’t met what she hoped when she first hops in. but as she grows, she gets more used to it, and gets used to her unique powers. i felt like she could have had a better character arc to say the least, especially compared to Akko which is a much better written one personally, but Michiru is still a enjoyable and relatable character. ~~~img420(https://animeshelter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/bna-episode-1-45-840x473.png)~~~ but my favorite character of the entire show was none other than the Brutal, Protective and Badass himself: __Shirou Ogami__! honestly i was expecting his character to not be anything… special despite the cool design (and tons of Fanarts I’ve been seeing before the Netflix worldwide premiere in the Furry fandom Haha) but i ended up loving him more than i was hoping to be. he may seem like the kind of character that would beat the Crap out of you because of his strength and anger towards humans, but as you progress, you get to see more of his story and.. you will feel his pain towards the race he despises after a certain episode that makes him so much better than i can give credit for. in my opinion he was the Star of the show despite the strong moments with Michiru. Sadly… this is where i’m going to have to talk about BNA’s biggest flaw that makes it far away from being an Incredible show to me like KLK or LWA was.. __it’s WAY too short__. and it’s second half bring the quality of it’s story down the hole drastically depending on your perspective of the show. and in this case it may leave you unhappy ~~~img420(https://www.animenew.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/bna-segundo-trailer-696x381.jpg)~~~ while the Writing is decent and there’s nothing much wrong with it in my eyes, the story on the other hand feels rushed and filled with spots that could’ve been filled with giving more substance to it. the world of Anima-City is amazing and while we see a good amount of things surrounding it, it feels like there’s a lot left to be told or explored and it bothers because this isn’t a Movie, it’s a TV show were exploring these themes or Discrimination towards the Beastmen and the City, it’s supporting cast, could have been so much better. and the Twists that the show have didn’t exactly gripped me aside from Shirou’s story (which i don’t wanna talk about it because Spoilers). sure there’s still good moments onto this second half that keeps it from being Bad, but it feels underwhelming to me.. my suggestion is to make the show longer for like 24 episodes. have Michiru and Shirou grow close to each other as partners, have better understanding of Nazuma, make Alan deeper as a character than you think and so on. it’s upsetting seeing such good ideas not being fully well used onto this show.. as for it’s Climax final episode: not gonna say any sort of spoilers to it but i’ll admit i had a good time with it and things go well for our heroes so it was probably the best aspect of the 2nd Half. it was exciting and gorgeous to look at! img420(https://www.alternativanerd.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/brand-new-animal-novo-trailer-696x381-1.jpg) unfortunately, i can’t say BNA is the Trigger show that i was hoping to be an amazing achievement from them nor from Yoshinari’s vision... but, does that make the show un-enjoyable to me? No. while obviously it has very noticeable Issues, BNA is still a really enjoyable and fun experience like other Trigger’s works! it still has the fun action and comedy with style, the main characters are enjoyable, the soundtrack and atmosphere are on point, and even at it’s weakest points, one or two of these aspects will make you keep watching until the end. but one thing i hope is that Trigger does not simply drop this idea and move on. i wanna see them trying this again with either another season or going “FMA Brotherhood” like to make it better than it’s first attempt. and hey, LWA had 2 short movies before getting another shot with its animated series and it was great! maybe it’s not the Near perfect furry bait anime series i was hoping it to be, but as far as these kinds of shows goes, it’s still one of the good ones. but if this is not your thing? that's totally fine. there's always Beastars or other shows like this that will satisfy you a lot more. but hey it's totally up to you on how you feel about this Anime! :D
I've always liked Triggers work, their artstyle and animation is very appealing to me, so I was going into this series expecting to like it, the commodity of having it complete on netflix and dubbed to give my complete attention to the visuals instead of the subs helped too, I was excited for this series but not enough to be unable to wait 'till a few days ago. Visually the series is great, nothing out of the ordinary for Trigger and their very recognizable style, and thats (sadly) the most outstanding of the aspects of this series. The characters are really nothing special, pretty one-dimensional if you ask me. The main character grows as a person and beastman but only in the necesary and obvious ways, same goes for Shirou. She's cute though, probably very marketable, hell all the characters look geat, the secodary cast's design feel like they suit their (cough bland cough) personality. I have pretty much nothing but praise for everything visually in general. The characters interact with the protaginist episode by episode, very typical stuff. ~!The only interaction I remember really liking is that one time Nazuna was scolding Michiru about how the moments she decides something, she doesn't bother to think about it and just does whatever she thinks is right at the moment, wich can be a very heroic trait a mayority of the time, but it can be a liability when she could easily make less mistakes if she just thought about her desitions more. That type of "Shoot first, ask questions later", immediate hero mentality very rarely gets questions by non-antagonists, and I thought that was nice!~ The narrative of the story sort of gives this "Don't judge a book by its cover" message. ~!and then just stops and confirms the judging by the protagonist was correct, kind of nullifying the message.!~ It also has the "humans are the real monsters" trope that felt like it was really going somewhere to make a social statement. ~!But then the main human antagonist turns out to be a mega-beastmen that matches Shirou and tries to take over the world by making every beastman human, and when all that mess is over, only he and his influence were the only thing threatening the city's progress so I guess the humans weren't bad just easily manipulable?!~ I see a lot of people interpreting the social problems of this series as commentary on racial issues, personally I don't think it applies at all, ~!and seeing how bad the message of the series was delivered, if there's even one appart from "don't be an asshole", I really don't think they'd go that far.!~ Not every story about an anthro society is Zootopia! For some reason I was really expecting to see some social commentary, given that the main problems of the series are very social and even political sometimes, but in the end it was just a story about humans, super beastmen, superhero-like mutations and race issues, ~!concluding in a pretty anti-climatic way. Nothing really gets resolved appart form a very specific inmediate threat that was building up in a way that seemed like a full on Humans vs Beastmen scenario and just became a JRPG boss. And I guess Michirou and Shirou appreciate the other race more by the end?!~ I'll give it a 79 just because even if it was really not what I expected, it was a really fun and entertaining series pretty much all the way, and I guess if it weren't for my preconceptions, maybe I would have enjoyed it more, the narrative is very messy though, not getting around that, and the plotwist it's unexpected in a pretty bad way because it doesn't connect with anything else, and even tough it makes sense it still feels like it comes form nowhere. I liked it but it really could have been a lot better. The ending is a total banger though.
The newest anime produced by Studio TRIGGER, BNA – Brand New Animal is probably one of the most popular 2020 animes as of now. With a unique character design for its protagonist, a different aesthetic compared to recent shows and the potential of being “TRIGGER’s triumphant return”, it’s obvious that BNA would become quickly popular. Unfortunately, popular isn’t a synonym for quality, as BNA shows itself as mediocre in many points until it gives up before showing a little bit more of its value. __STORY AND CHARACTERS:__ BNA’s concept is cliché by itself (we’ve already seen “the ideal city” in Zootopia, “hate and bigotry” in X-Men, “violent beings” in Beastars…), but there’s no problem in that if the show is written well around its generic concept and creates something unique, just like Little Witch Academia, another TRIGGER anime, managed to do. BNA, however, doesn’t do this. The first few episodes of BNA are basically about the protagonist Michiru doing nothing and being irrelevant to the story, while her friend Oogami fights criminals and stops the bad guys being the brute, edgy and generic character that he is. In the middle of those episodes, we have tiring scenes with un-interesting dialogues that try to make the plot go on with some kind of development (even though these scenes end up being irrelevant too). The show’s second half is even worse: these boring scenes are still present, and even those that try to present a plot-twist just end up being convenient and tedious. The anime tries to close it all off with a huge climax to recompensate for all this time wasted in foreshadows… but it isn’t worth it in the end. As implied before, BNA is basically the synonym of “generic”, as there’s not even a single drop of creativity in its storyline. All the kinds of tropes are present in it and not a single one of them is written well, as they just rely on predictable ideas and results: an ideal city to explore, good guy that’s obviously the bad guy behind everything, obviously manipulated people, edgy character that’s closed and has a dark unknown past, friends that become evil because of time-skips, invulnerable protagonist that has a super-convenient plot armor and multiple Deus Ex-Machinas (which give birth to one of the most ridiculous plot points of the last few episodes)… and not even its character are safe. Michiru is literally the generic base for a protagonist that knows a new world and likes it more than she can admit as there’s no kind of depth to her (aside from a backstory about friendship), Oogami is the pure archetype of “brawling, violent mysterious character”, Animacity’s mayor… she just exists, the bad guy has the most non-sensical reasoning and backstory of all… and it goes on. It comes to a point that the best character in BNA is Jackie, a kid raccoon that’s a side character and has the most humoristic scenes in the anime. It’s not only the lack of originality and boredom that destroys BNA, because its writing, as implied, is an absolute mess. Not counting the multiple plot devices, armors and Deus Ex-Machinas already talked about, the show presents characters with inconsistent attitudes with their own personality, shows rushed, out of place and badly-explored ideas, and doesn’t even explore properly its world. The last few episodes simply throw all of the story’s worldbuilding at that point (which was actually kind of decent, but underwhelming) through the window, as it starts mixing so many things together that it ends up becoming a giant mess. It’s as if you were watching, for example, “Toy Story”, and then the final act starts dealing, without any kind of foreshadow or build-up, a crossover with “Transformers” or something even more bizarre and unrelated. BNA’s finale is unfortunately at this level, perhaps even lower. Out of all twelve episodes of BNA, however, there are two hugely interesting (and fun!) episodes mixed with all that mess, and these are episode four and five. The fourth chapter is about Michiru knowing more about herself and her human and beast side along her friend (actually, character of the week). Although it’s still kind of cliché, it’s a strong chapter due to its emotional and dramatical side, as it marks its viewer unexpectedly. Meanwhile, the fifth chapter is about a loser baseball team in Animacity (where the sport has strongly altered rules), and Michiru tries to help them achieve victory. It’s an episode that maintains TRIGGER’s essence in its frenetic humor, parody and animation, and it particularly made me laugh a lot, in a way I don’t even remember having this much fun. It’s a shame, because these episodes prove that BNA could have been way more special if it tried to maintain itself as a simplistic, comedic and emotional anime in its animal world. It would find a unique identity to itself… which is something the final version never found as it chased a big, complex story when it was out of reach for it. __ART AND SOUND:__ BNA’s strongest point, to the surprise of no one, is its soundtrack. TRIGGER has already proved that their animes’ soundtrack will always be great, as seen in their most well-received series and even in their most controversial ones. The opening music “BRAND NEW WORLD!” is extremely addicting and gets to your head easily with its chorus… “Hey! Are you… ready to go?!”. Its ending song, however, is even more marvelous. “Night Running” is simply spectacular. As stated before, the series has many scenes with dragged-out dialogues that end up being boring. However, thanks to BNA’s soundtrack, these scenes end up having a great depth and make them more torelable, even if they’re still forgettable and boring. Still, the anime’s soundtrack must be praised for doing this feat. The anime’s visuals, however, are a little bit more controversial. The aesthetic construction of Animacity (its architecture, colors at day and night, atmosphere) greatly describe the location as futuristic, even though this is never brought up in its story. The usage of various tones of blue to the buildings in the distance, the colors to indicate the darkness somewhere and on the character’s faces, the light tones of red expressing Oogami’s anger in some scenes… to put it shortly, BNA’s colors describe its ambient really well and are a huge part in bringing the viewer to Animacity. Unfortunately, the animation doesn’t reflect the aesthetic intentions of the show. Most of time, we have characters in static poses or doing only a small movement, too much cuts in the “camera” and locations that are only detailed due its colors and no more details (the Animacity mayor’s room is literally a building floor with a table and a view of the city… and that’s it). We have more movement in the fight scenes, and even so, most of them are just that old, known shots of a character attacking as the background has lots of “scratches” to indicate movement. Out of all fight scenes, a huge quantity of them are just of Oogami attacking various bad guys non-stop without any effort (what a non-OP character, right?), that can be satisfying for some viewers, but boring and repetitive to others. The most bizarre part, however, is how the animation’s direction in BNA is... weirdly flawed. This is not due to some minor stuff or “continuity errors”, but because it breaks fundamental things estabilished following guidelines of the audiovisual language. We have scenes where Michiru runs and the sound effect of her foot are for some reason not synchronized with her animation, out-of-the-sudden change of camera angles that break a common guideline in filmmaking (the 180-degree rule, search for it if you’d like to know more), and even more scattered around the series. It's... pretty weird. It’s sad to recognize that the only part that BNA has a truly excellent animation quality is in its ending sequence. There are no words to describe how beautiful and well animated are the anime’s credits. The colors, style and flowing animation combined with “Night Running” provide a spectacular and truly-relaxing credits sequence. It comes to a point that you’re most excited to see in BNA is the end of the episode, just so you can relax by watching and listening to it. __TO PUT IT SHORTLY...__ It’s sad to see that what was hailed as “TRIGGER’s comeback” ended up disappointing so much in general. This show proves that the studio still has potential and energy to come back stronger than ever, but unfortunately, this doesn’t happen today. “BNA – Brand New Animal” ends up relying too much in a plot that has nothing to offer besides clichés on top of clichés, and things only get worse when it gets closer to its finale. In the end, it has to depend on its aesthetical construction, soundtrack and humor to be watchable. FINAL SCORE: 4.6/10 [This review is not meant to insult anyone and their hard work on the production of this series, as it's only meant to be a critical and fair analysis of it.]
*First posted on MyAnimeList at May 8, 2020; edited for AniList*
***
First off, I want to mention that BNA is my first Trigger show, and I intend to share my thoughts on
the show based on its own merits without this infamous studio’s work in mind. That being said, I’m
definitely looking forward to exploring Trigger’s catalog further. One more thing, this first bit is
going be spoiler-free, but I’ll include some specific details in my "STRAY RAMBLINGS" section, so read
at your own risk.
# ~~~ Brand New Animal (BNA) brought up plenty of discussion among the community when the project
first got announced. ~~~
An anime-original story, backed with a Netflix release? That’s just unheard of!^ Jokes aside, news
about the show and its premise did pique my interest. "Anime Original" and "Trigger" are two terms
that are bound to get people talking. Was I pumped for the show? Yes. Did I have a good time? Sure
did. Was the hype warranted in the end? …Not quite, IMO.
~~~ img100%(https://lostinanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BNA-01-24.jpg) ~~~
# ~~~ Let’s get this out of the way: BNA absolutely nails its presentation. ~~~
The art mixes overall vibrance with moments highlighting individual colors, keeping the backgrounds
looking anything but mundane. Animation here is free-flowing and complemented with careful shot
composition. As a result action and pivotal confrontations convey a kinetic and sometimes playful
energy that goes hand-in-hand with the tone of the show. The sound design is great, and the score is
really well implemented. The OP slaps, and I can never bring myself to skip the ED. Overall, these
elements are executed incredibly well, making for a fun show that I can easily recommend.
~~~ img100%(https://lostinanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BNA-02-13.jpg) ~~~
# ~~~ With all that being said, I have a few problems with BNA regarding its writing and series
structure. ~~~
BNA’s premise is a big draw for the series, but unfortunately I never got the feeling that the show
fully delivered on its potential. Our protagonist Michiru meets the indestructible badass Shirou and
spend the initial episodes exploring the crime syndicate known as The Family. Through these
experiences, Michiru comes to gain a grasp of the nature of Beastmen, while discovering strange new
abilities and uncovering the truth behind her past. Sounds perfectly fine on the surface, but the
show’s overarching plot feels too thin and stretched-out. Let's talk about The Family, for instance.
It's a great backdrop for some mild social commentary, and that thread alone could have serviced an
entire cour of the show. BNA could then hone that buddy-cop chemistry between Michiru and Shirou,
deliver some goofy gags, and take its time with giving our female lead moments of character
introspection. That was the show I was expecting, but then the show just leaves that mafia thread
hanging.
~~~ img100%(https://lostinanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/BNA-09-10-15_thumb.jpg) ~~~
# ~~~ Instead, the show chooses to shoehorn in new characters, giving the show a looser feel and
lessening the impact of potentially strong material. ~~~
BNA leaves little room for tension and only a couple of compelling story beats in the series are
noteworthy. While that in itself is not an issue, I feel that BNA is a bit of a tease for only briefly
hinting at these ideas without committing to them. This certainly isn’t helped by the show’s unusual
release schedule. BNA is essentially split in two and premiered the first 6 episodes back in March. I
watched the show in-line with the Netflix broadcast, and it had this disjointing effect, with mostly
inconsequential “filler” episodes frontloaded and more exposition-heavy material in the latter half.
Note I say “filler” loosely (there’s only one egregious case)^^, in the sense that the show raised
some interesting ideas that didn’t really mean anything or arrive at a meaningful conclusion in the
end. This lack of narrative focus may be less of problem if you’re binging the show and is mostly
dealt with two-thirds into its run, so make of this mini-rant what you will.
~~~ img100%(https://lostinanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BNA-05-06-46.jpg) ~~~
Now, to quickly address a few specific problems, mostly having to do with the points mentioned above.
The worldbuilding within Anima City varies quite a bit. Good ideas can get tossed in one episode while
the next may see Beastmen doing human things the exact same way humans would. As such, BNA's
juxtaposition of these often-feral creatures with the "primal" side of humans isn't as effective as it
could have been. Conflict within the characters in the show seem inconsequential unless fangs are
bared, with one exception coming at the end of episode 6. The characters themselves are fine and
serviceable, not exactly bland but not interesting either.
~~~
img100%(https://i0.wp.com/www.animefeminist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BNA4.png?resize=1024%2C577&ssl=1)
~~~
# ~~~ **Tl;Dr**: ~~~
What do I think of BNA? Although I’ve attempted to give this show a good bashing, that’s only because
of what I thought it could have been. And I believe I’m not alone in thinking that BNA could have been
so much more. Story threads that weren’t given enough room to grow, themes that weren’t
comprehensively explored, and a world not fully realized hold BNA back from making much of an impact.
That being said, solid production from a renowned studio and genuinely fun moments keep things
engaging. BNA might not be a beast in contention for AOTY or anything, but it’s certainly fine for
what it is. Trigger could have done a lot worse here, and there is always a place in the anime
landscape for this level of creativity. BNA, for what it’s worth, is a fun ride, and I think in these
times we could all use a little light in our lives. 5/10~
# ~~~ STRAY RAMBLINGS (**SPOILERS**): ~~~
- ^that is, unheard of for roughly two seasons. The comparisons between this show and [Carole and
Tuesday](https://anilist.co/anime/101281/Carole--Tuesday/) run deeper than Netflix and the release
schedule; C&T also has the pattern of episodic romps in the first half and a more plot-oriented
second. However, with C&T the tone shift was more nonsensical, and it tried to go from Folk Tik Tok
songs to… a discussion on immigration? Still trying to wrap my head around that one.
- ^^my GOD I hate the baseball episode, why does it exist
- I want to punt Jackie across a room, why does it exist
~~~img75%(https://i.imgur.com/p3vr96d.png)~~~
- Said it once and I’ll say it again, [NIGHT RUNNING](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T3ofoKfEoY)
deserves to be put on loop. So glad it came out on Spotify!
- The Nirvasyl flashback sequence in Episode 8 was really good. Great idea to switch up the art style,
there was a frame or two in there reminiscent of Genndy Tartakovsky’s best work.
~~~img75%(https://lostinanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/BNA-07-08-34_thumb.jpg)~~~
- **BEST GIRL**: If I had to choose, probably Nazuna. Her interpreting being the face of a cult to her
aspirations of becoming an idol is probably the most interesting idea in the show.
~~~img75%(https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1264238620480864256/uL1iTjJ5_400x400.jpg)~~~
- **In A Nutshell**: Zootopia meets the Powerpuff Girls (with a dash of [Major
2nd](https://anilist.co/anime/100306/Major-2nd/)^^)
- Greetings Internet! Just a small-time anime fan here, I’m trying out some stuff in this community
and sharing my ill-informed opinions. This is my first review and at the moment I’m satisfied with it,
although I have a feeling I’ll regret this whole idea a week from now. Looking forward to doing [more
of these reviews](https://anilist.co/user/An1meDweeb/reviews) here and there, I don’t watch a ton of
shows seasonally though. In any case I hope you enjoyed this piece and that it gave you something to
chew on. I do want to get better at this, so if you have any feedback feel free to let me know, peace!
(*NOTE: Had to leave this in for sentimental reasons, laugh at me all you want*~)
I absolutely loved BNA. Started the show out of boredom and was completely into it after the first episode. The story itself was pretty serious and about some topics we have to deal with in our everyday lives. Things like racism, corruption, religion, politics, life with social media, parenting, friendship and more. With the deep, absolutely exciting story and some laughs inbetween this anime catched me to the last episode. The op and ed were absolutely awesome and I'm still listening to them sometimes. The music overall was exciting and supported the show very well. Our main protagonist Michiru Kagemori is such a lively person and turns into a cute Tanooki girl...wait, she´s not a raccoon?? Well not exactly! If you wonder what a tanooki looks like, here's a picture: img220(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/12/3f/a7/123fa711899bb8988cbcbdaca5c6dcdc.jpg) It's a janpanese subspecies of the raccoon dog. Learned something today, didn't we xD Later she makes some friends and meets some evil people, but with her powerlevel being over 9000 she manages all the situations pretty well. I really liked her friends and loved ones too, as they were some pretty interesting characters with their personalitys and nice super powers. Last but not least the art- and animation style. Well, typical for a Netflix Original the art style is clearly not over the top, but surprisingly it suits the anime really well and one is getting used to it after the first few episodes. The animation however is very nice and fluid. I really enjoyed watching fight scenes in this show. So what more can I say about the show, I just can highly recommend it to anyone who wants a short powerfull anime with barely everything from a nice story and some fighting to some laughers inbetween. The cool and sweet characters, some nice animations and a fitting artstyle together with the cool music make this anime somehow outstanding and special. You should definitely at least give it a try and watch the first two episodes. For me it is a 8.5 out of 10 Why not a 10 if you enjoyed the anime so much? Well yes, BNA IS a powerfull and nice show, but I felt like this anime could've been much more if they just would've put more effort into it! Like I mentioned before, the art style is not over the top and could've still been better. I also would've enjoyed more backstory from all the characters I learned to love, but I can understand that this was simply not possible to manage in such a short amount of time with it's 12 episodes. So maybe with more episodes and more input the show would be a little better. But thats just my personal opinion and you should definitely make your own on it :)
#~~~_Disappointment in Anima City_~~~ --- _This review contains spoilers for BNA and Little Witch Academia. The LWA spoiler section is hidden by default if you'd like to skip it. There's also a reference to the ending of Promare._ When BNA was announced back in late 2019, I was ecstatic. Another property from Studio Trigger, not to mention it was being helmed by the creator of my at-the-time-favorite anime Little Witch. I guess I should've been wary, as Studio Trigger has a tendency of creating either huge hits or terrible misses. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/9iLPyb0.png)~~~ But with two sweet character designs already being shown with a colorful city and promising staff, I could already begin dreaming all the ways this series could go right. Needless to say, it was one of the most disappointing anime releases of the year. There is a lot to like about BNA, but the issues with it come down to three main points: - First, the supporting cast is very weak. - Second, the ending is confusing, nonsensical, and honestly, very Trigger-like. - Lastly, and most disappointingly, there is absolutely nothing unique about this series. Let's start with the cast. Michiru and Shirou are fiiiiiiine - not bad, but nothing to write home about either. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/tBfc98i.png)~~~ They have a good dynamic together, as both are headstrong and arrogant people, though they express it in very different ways. However, individually they just aren't particularly endearing. The following section contains spoilers; feel free to skip if you aren't interested in a rundown of why Michiru is a somewhat bland character. ~! Michiru has been compared to Akko in a lot of ways, and it's clear to see why. Both are fairly oblivious to otherwise obvious things, both are stubborn and a bit stupid, and both are in a world that they knew about prior but are completely foreign to. However, whereas Michiru is in this world by coincidence, Akko had entered that world through her own decisions. And that mantra comes to define the difference between LWA and BNA. LWA makes it very clear that Akko isn't the chosen one because she has to be - she's the chosen one because that's who she is. Almost everything concerning the plot of BNA is because Michiru was in X location by coincidence. She is not the driving force of this series by any means, and ultimately what that means is that almost any other character in Michiru's position, bar her special powers, would yield the same results in terms of the narrative. This is not the case in LWA, and the show makes this clear by SHOWING US another character in Akko's position, and proving that it doesn't have the same outcome. Diana Cavendish, Akko's "rival," had a very similar backstory to Akko in that her magic was taken away at a young age. However, Diana's character dictates that she'd become a hard-working disciplined witch, and prove herself to be not only stronger than her disability but stronger than her peers. But Diana isn't the driving force of the series, because Diana's discipline FORCES her to be less stubborn, less determined, and more conforming to the norms of the world. That's why Akko is such an excellent MC and Michiru is not, despite their similarities. !~ There's a few other standout characters - I'm a fan of the Mayor and Pinga, I think they're both pretty good, and Jackie, Marie, and the Mob Boss are all fine as well. The issues really start when we get to a certain rose-tinted fox: #~~~**Nazuna**.~~~ ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/Nh6n9h6.png)~~~ Nazuna was quite literally the worst part about this series. For the first five episodes, the series is constantly alluding to this second human-turned-beastman, whilst also making it clear that Michiru clearly cared a lot for them. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but when Nazuna is introduced she completely changed my perception of the show, as well as the direction the series was headed. The first five episodes are honestly akin to an anthology series - Michiru has adventures in Anima City, there's an overarching mystery, and it's pretty fun to watch and discover this world alongside our MC. When Nazuna is introduced, it's fair to expect the series to become more serious, to focus more on its story, especially since it spent nearly half of its 12 episodes run not really having a true connecting narrative between episodes. One of the established mysteries has now been discovered - Nazuna is alive, and she's grown to be this savior of beastman-kind, a member of this strange cult, and a powerful beastman in her own right. And none of this is bad. What's bad about Nazuna, is that she's a _jerk._ And more specifically, she's a _jerk to **Michiru.**_ ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/ut7ehXp.png)~~~ #####~~~_"When something happens right before your eyes, you jump into it without a second thought. That part of you hasn't changed at all. Jumping in based on assumptions...deciding to pity someone all by yourself...and thinking about saving someone just like that...isn't that to just stroke your ego?"_~~~ So here's the thing about Nazuna. Every single decision they make with the character has paths that could construct a good, well-rounded, and interesting character. Let me lay it out: First off, making Nazuna a jerk is already sort of subverting expectations in a way that isn't necessarily beneficial to the series. However, if we must go that route, we can take it a few ways. The best way is that, while Nazuna can be a prick, she can still be nice to Michiru. At this point, we the audience have grown to like Michiru, so the last thing we want to see is that all her hard work to be reunited with Nazuna results in being insulted. For any aspiring writers, don't have a character we're supposed to like be mean to the character we _actually_ like. That's not writing a bad-boy type, that's writing a bully. Still, we can spin this into Nazuna being an antagonist for Michiru, which is the route Trigger decides to take. Now, what makes a good antagonist? The best antagonists challenge the beliefs, morals, and strengths of our protagonist. Sometimes this requires a villain that puts the hero in dire situations where the protagonist needs to do something they've never done before to overcome them. Or, in the case of a character like Nazuna, outline the problems with our protagonist's morals clearly so that they must reconsider and reevaluate themselves. Trigger _tries_ to do this but fails spectacularly. When having a villain tells the hero why they're wrong, there are really only two ways to make that work. Either the villain is ACTUALLY right, and the hero DOES have fundamental issues, *or* the villain is creating a world in which they're right, and thus at the very least the audience can see where the villain is coming from. Trigger manages to do **neither** of these. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/nzp3Md7.png)~~~ Nazuna claims that Michiru is constantly inserting herself into other people's lives, trying to deal with their problems. This, while cliche, isn't a bad claim. It is classic for people to get fed up with others when they constantly try to solve everyone else's problems. But Nazuna decides to take it one step further; she isn't judging Michiru's actions here, she's judging her character - __and she's incorrect__. While earlier I mentioned Michiru and Akko being similar, where they differ the most is that Michiru isn't nearly as selfish as Akko is. Nazuna saying that Michiru is doing all these things in order to stroke her own ego is just factually wrong because we've spent five episodes with Michiru now where she's put her life in danger to help others for no other reason than that they deserved help. Despite ALL this, this could still result in an interesting character thematically at the very least. Perhaps all these things Nazuna is saying about Michiru is to cover up her own selfishness - the idea that she joined this cult, became this sort of "beastman Jesus," in order to stroke _her own_ ego. And this is probably true, but Trigger never explores it. They're constantly on the tip of the iceberg but miss it by a hair and continually downplay Nazuna's insults and abuse towards Michiru. Now, now, we have a terrible, absolute despicable character here. But, she can still serve a narrative purpose in actually challenging Michiru's belief that Nazuna is her friend. Too bad that Michiru only stays mad at Nazuna for maybe half an episode total. Michiru doesn't even really forgive Nazuna - she just never feels like she was wronged in the first place. Every step along the way in Nazuna serving any actual purpose is just completely dodged and it's honestly disgusting. Okay, that's enough about Nazuna. She is easily the worst part about the show and I just wanted to make it abundantly clear how messed up of a character she is. So let's just move on to the actual villain of the series: ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/EqDBPXg.png)~~~ Alan is also a pretty bland character, but he's a Trigger villain so if you were expecting more you came to the wrong place. He's very clearly set up to be the main villain from his first appearance, but ultimately that's not really the issue I have with him. I don't even have that much of a problem with BNA essentially stealing its ending, scene for scene, from the much superior prior Trigger production Promare. My issue with Alan and this entire arc in the back half of BNA is that it wasn't needed in the first place. There are two major plot elements in BNA that serve to drive the conflicts of the series. First off, the one we're presented in the first episode: Michiru became a beastman, she doesn't know how, and she wants to go back to being human. The second, presented later, is that there's a serum being produced that "cures" people of their beastman abilities, turning them back into humans. These two factors create an interesting scenario that the writers can then use to explore what it means to be a beastman, the pride that being a beastman comes with, and the ethics of all of it. There's a lot of interesting stories to tell here, and all of them could challenge both Michiru and the audience's perception of beastman society (and to the same extent, global human society). But, instead, they attach _both_ things to the villain, effectively making both things evil, and allowing us to just easily lay back and accept that all of these ethical, political, and societal decisions our main characters might have to make are 100% justified because the option is literally evil. Not because of any actual inherently evil traits, but because the creator is one of the most basic mustache-twirling villains I've seen in the past few years. Alan doesn't do anything particularly egregious as a character, but he's so unnecessary and his addition completely destroys a lot of the interesting aspects of the show. ~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/vWBA1PA.png)~~~ And that's the thing, right? BNA could've been so much more. We catch scarce glimpses of better stories, more compelling characters, more unique and original settings, but are instead left with a basic, surface-level buddy cop plot with a plethora of unmemorable characters and uninspired cliches. While it's obvious the beastman concept is important to the show, it's never really fully explored in the same way that a series like Beastars seems to approach the idea. It's almost entirely fluff and filler, with so many interesting ideas that the writers do NOTHING with. ~~I know I've gone really in-depth into why I hate this show, but I still gave it a decent rating - why? Well, because these three elements are honestly the only bad things I have to say about the show. Everything is either good or fine. It's just that these three issues are so egregious, so confused, so terrible, that I just can't help but complain about them to no end. They take away so much from what could've been a really great show.~~ I've since decided I dislike this show to no end, despite what few good qualities it may have. Even among Trigger shows, BNA just does not hold up, as at least with the _bad_ Trigger shows, it's fun to laugh at and criticize them because they're often so over the top and outrageous. BNA is just sad, it's just disappointing. It's not even bad, I still think it's worth a watch if you like Trigger shows or want a decent adventure - it is certainly very similar to LWA in tone for those who liked that - but it has 0 rewatch value. Beyond its stellar character designs and music, I feel it won't be as classically iconic of a show as nearly all of Trigger's previous work. I really wanted it to be good, and in some universes perhaps it was even great, but alas, BNA ends up being just fine with some really good ideas executed about as bad as they could be.
# Not sure what to say... I'll start from the top, while this may be an erratic kind of review, I would still like to say something about this show. __Face Value__ The face value of BNA (character designs, voice actors, OST, etc.) is very well done. The colors in the show even give off the futuristic vibe in which Beastmen and Humans are allowed to live together, and really emphasize that this is set in the future. I really enjoy the art and work put into the animation, it's well done and even has some cool fighting scenes with Shirou Ogami and other villains. The art style is what (in my opinion) carries the entire show forward. The art is attractive and yet cool as well. __One problem__ that I do agree with this however is that there are definitely recurring themes of overused music, such as the ending and the song "Farewell" from the official OST. These two songs were stuck in my head, but not in a good way. When I had heard them play throughout the show, there were moments when I had cringed and just made a face towards it. The music became a not-so-subtle way to show sadness or regrets and instead became a nuisance. __The Story__ I would generally say that as the show went on, Michiru was losing depth in her own character. We understood that after a certain point, she had ~!gained the ability to adapt to her surroundings!~ but despite all that, she stayed the same throughout without even minor adjustments. She should have the most consistent storyline but even then, it seems so empty. The content of the show is mostly a "free roam" kind of storyline, where there is an arc overarching the entire show, but it isn't revealed until later on. ~!From the moment when Nazuna is introduced into the show, it seems clear that there isn't much of the story besides someone going into the Anima city. While before the shit that happens towards the end is really mostly explaining a majority of the characters that will LEAD up to the ending, it wasn't very creative, and there were sparks where they could've taken the story. Alongside this, the explanation of how Michiru's power works aren't very clear and make us as the viewer thinks for ourselves. While I was definitely confused at first, I think it would've been better for her to have almost a "training arc" (maybe that would've ruined the whole show though LOL). One in which she discovers her innate ability to adapt, but I can see why that would also make everything bland and vague. !~ __Thoughts__ I really want to give it a higher score, but the ending and towards closer to the ending doesn't allow me to. This is a pretty vague review and everything I may have said might have not just made sense, but just watch the show. I think it's very good even with some emptiness and gaps in the story, but as is most 12 episode long shows, they usually do have that effect. Compared to other shows, it's very unique in its own way and definitely is able to enrapture you with its colorful art style, funny and witty scenes, and overall lovability of the characters. It's worth a watch.
# ~~~BNA is a good idea but...~~~ Let's start with something, the single idea of this show sounds pretty good, the concept of beastmen living in a society in which those individuals are not very appreciated could be something that could be used for a good world building and exploration, but everything goes down at the moment the story begins to progress through all those few 12 episodes. Before starting with the main aspects of the anime, it's is obvious that this review will contain some spoilers in some parts, you can continue if you want. ~~~img400(https://i.blogs.es/b04a1b/brand-new-animal-en-netflix/1366_2000.jpg) ~~~ ------------------ # ~~~---Story---~~~ I could say that in the beginning the story was pretty interesting, the idea of Michiru a tanuki girl who used to be a human and is going to Anima City to investigate more about how she ended transformed into a beastmen, and the introduction of characters such as Oogami who is an enigmatic Wolf that has a small secret behind and all the plan made by Alan to eleminate the impure beastmen was ok, but there are problem in here. There where a lot of missed opportunities in this anime, for example in the Episode 2 in which the bunny lady suggested to Michiru that soon she would know how the girl beastmen where treated in Anima City, and well that idea it was just thrown off in all the anime and never recovered. The storytelling through all this was pretty awkward since they where lots of ideas that were suggested in the story but at the end, most of them where just never picked up again. Also I had a feeling that the last few episodes really tried to make a conclusion to almost all the ideas they had, making the ending feel so abrupt, and lack of something. All thanks to the length of the series being composed of only 12 episodes, so yeah this didn't help in the way how the story was made. ~~~img450(https://universo-nintendo.com.mx/my_uploads/2020/05/Universo-Nintendo-BNA-Brand-New-Animal-Beisbol.jpg)~~~ -------- # ~~~---Art & Animation---~~~ This is one of the strongest point in all the show, since well is Studio Trigger we're talking about, in the moment of creating a good animation sequence or just the simple color combination makes all of the world and characters feel alive. So yeah we can say this is the best. ~~~img450(https://media.tenor.com/ejKaaIleDdUAAAAd/bna-michiru.gif)~~~ --- # ~~~---Characters---~~~ I could say that almost all the characters felt pretty enjoyable especially Michiru and Oogami, the only character which I personally had a problem in understanding was Nazuna, since she started up with a very particular way of acting especially with Michiru since she didn't even listen to her, but then she began to take her in consideration, so yeah it was a bit off. ~~~img450(https://areajugones.sport.es/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/BNA-Brand-New-Animal.jpg) ~~~ --- # ~~~---Conclusion---~~~ So in the end the anime was pretty enjoyable and has some good points, but the amount of missed opportunities throughout all the anime was something that finished affecting a lot of the things that where happening, since they left a lot of ideas and even in the end they tried to connect all of those and finish it with a very abrupt feeling. I could recommend this anime but I also got some mixed feelings through it, so if you want to see an anime with very good visuals and characters you could try it. --- #~~~ ---Small note---~~~ This is one of my first reviews in the whole platform, so it might have some problems in the writing or structure, especially since the English is not my first language. So yeah at least I tried.~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle.” BNA: Brand New Animal is ambitious. It attempts to craft a fully-realized setting to explore nuanced political themes such as racism, fascism, eugenics, and activism. Simultaneously, it tells the story of estranged friends, super-powered crime fighters, a government conspiracy, and cults. In twelve episodes. Needless to say, Trigger bit off more they could chew. BNA begins with a hooded girl in tattered clothing running through the subway. She passes by a sign reading, “Let’s Hold Hands. Animal Rights,” above the text is a human hand holding an animal paw. This immediately establishes a theme: Humans and anthropomorphized animals live together, but not in harmony. A group of shady men walk down the hallway—the girl hides in fear because she is part animal. The men spray paint “Beastmen should die,” now we know there’s discrimination. Immediately after, the girl runs past a TV, the news is on—a reporter announces a special zone for Beastmen has existed for ten years. Soon after, we find out the beastmen zone is an entire city, known as Animacity, exclusive to beastmen. It is an ethnostate funded by a private pharmaceutical corporation. We have been given a lot of information very quickly. In this world, humans despise beastmen to the point they were forced to build an ethnostate. The widespread racism is an allusion to our world, albeit in a much shallower way. In the real world, racism leads to over-policing, biases in the court system, lower wages, and more. There’s so little indication about how racism affects beastmen, other than violence. So why do humans hate beastmen? Well, because they want to preserve Japanese values? Later on, a slew of information is poured onto us; Beastmen can transform into humans at will. The media does not indicate they pose any threat to humans. It seems like the only perceivable problem is their appearance, they look different from humans sometimes. Perhaps it will be explained later, let’s continue… While trying to reach the city, the girl is attacked by a group of racist fanatics who intend to kill her. The fanatics express their disgust for how the girl looks. Okay. Humans love animals and they’re fine with other humans, so why do they hate people who look like animals? Confusion aside, the girl is conveniently saved by a wandering beastman, a mischievous Mink who calls herself Mari. The greedy Mink demands money for saving the girl’s life, we now know her name is Michiru. I need to get Mari out of the way right now. She is a recurring figure, I hesitate to call her a character because… she isn’t one. Mari shows up at random times when it is convenient for the plot. At first, I was willing to overlook the contrivances because I expected the show to develop her, but she remained one-note. If the pacing slows down, she causes conflict or gives the plot a device to get moving. This would be kind of ok if she was a good character, but she’s one-note. She is a crook who tricks people out of their money, and she always has to remind us she is a mink. “I’m a mink, not a weasel!” Yes, that is what you are. I wish you weren’t just a Mink, but a character too. The supporting cast is full of hollow cartoonish archetypes like Mari. In comparison, Michiru is a much better character. Witnessing Animacity through Michiru’s eyes is what makes her immediately relatable. She was originally an average human with dreams and aspirations. Through mysterious circumstances, she has turned into a beastman. As an outsider, she knows nothing about beastmen culture. We learn about the world at the pace she does. Although she’s easily tricked and manipulated, her compassion for others makes her likable. Michiru is a mystery. How did she turn into a beastman? How does she have these powers? How does the government know of her? Do not worry, dear reader, all of these questions are answered. To avoid spoilers, I will say just this: you will be disappointed with how lazily written the answers are. Michiru’s motives are very simple; Why did she turn into a beastman and how will she go back to normal? Her struggle between hating the beastmen world and not being accepted in the human world is incredibly sympathetic. She was robbed of her human life, her hatred is justifiable. In the show’s subtly beautiful scene, Michiru hesitates to reach out to her human mother on her birthday. Yet she can’t do it until she’s human again. I’m sorry to say this is one of the many intriguing plot threads left unresolved. Michiru’s family and background are ignored for the rest of the show. This completely contradicts her entire motivation, to go back home. It felt like a slap in the face to see a character I liked so much be wasted on soulless writing. Michiru is no ordinary beastman. In desperate situations, she can gain a superpower-like ability. Cheetah legs to run faster, Rabbit ears for listening, long arms to save herself, etcetera. During fight scenes, BNA shines. Michiru’s creative super-powers fluidly animated and the amazing synth soundtrack underscores every action sequence. Everything that’s animated has an impactful sound. High production values aren’t enough to overlook the odd inconsistencies with Michiru’s powers; In one situation, Michiru falls from a 100-meter building, but she is unable to grow wings to fly. Later on, in a similar situation, she can fly. In the first situation, she can’t fly because the writers need an excuse for her to be saved by someone. In the second, the writers decide there are bird beastmen too, so now she has wings. When a story has internal logic as inconsistent as this it’s obvious the episodes were likely written one at a time without forethought. All of Michiru’s problems stem from her inability to swap into her human form, unlike normal beastmen. There’s one instance in an early episode in which she becomes a human out of nowhere. This asspull is never explained, it happens solely as an excuse for a side-plot. It’d be fair to say her powers don’t have any logical consistency. The deuteragonist, Shirou, is a beastman with a deep hatred for humans. He’s a superhero who needs no praise, only justice. Like Michiru, he has special powers. Along with strength and speed, his scent is so good it can be used as evidence by law. When he closes his eyes, the art style changes to silhouettes, discordant music plays, and he solves a mystery. I have no clue how the police can trust someone enough to not lie about something as arbitrary as scent. There is no way to corroborate Shirou’s claims without a criminal confession from whoever he accuses. Shirou’s work as a part-time detective often overlaps with Michiru’s adventure to find answers. Their friendship isn’t a friendship. They coincidentally run into each other, then they start living together in a co-op home. They work together to fight crime, occasionally, but they have no chemistry. Shirou is such a dry character. When he’s not talking about his incredibly deep morals or info-dumping, he provides some great humor like this: “You have a cute assistant.” -Guy referring to Michiru, who is cute. “She’s not cute.” -Shirou Oh, ok buddy, sorry I said anything. Shirou’s so damn serious he deadens the laughter of any scene he’s in. In the eyes of the writers, this is not a problem. There’s nothing wrong with him, therefore he has no room to grow. He’s the perfect superhero, except his motivations make no sense. Imagine terrorists plant a bomb in an unknown location and you can locate it, what would you do? A. Tell the police where the bomb is. B. Try to defuse the bomb. C. Evacuate the area. D. Let the bomb explode. If you guessed D, check your refrigerator temperature, it is higher than your IQ. Don’t worry, you’re not alone, Shirou is as dumb as you. He plans to “Catch the criminals in the act,” as if finding a live bomb isn’t evidence enough. Another time, Michiru is trapped in a cage by criminals, while Shirou watches nearby. Rather than using his powers to help, he stands by and waits for the police, only to step in at the end to act like he saved the day. He constantly contradicts himself, then hides behind his unambiguous mantra, “Human bad, beastmen good.” When Michiru defies his orders, his default response is humans are evil and you're a human so you wouldn't understand. BNA had the potential to be good in the first six episodes. The pacing is fast, but it suited the show at first. Michiru’s adventure just flows in unexpected directions, it was exciting. The first five episodes tell individual stories, then the sixth introduces the actual story. At the start of the episode, there are always a few plot contrivances to get things going. This is a likely side effect of trying to write creative self-contained stories in a short time-frame. In the end, the first five episodes ended up feeling like filler. A variety of intriguing characters were introduced; Michiru made friends, learned life lessons, and expanded her worldview. Then it’d end, and we would never see newly introduced characters ever again. It’s a shame because I think these episodes touch on intriguing themes such as censorship, virtue-signaling, and class inequality. One of these ‘filler’ episodes focuses on an amateur baseball team in the slums of Animacity. Michiru joins the team due to a series of coincidences, per BNA standard, and uses her powers to win games. The kids are an adorable band of misfits bears. They were born poor and they’ll die poor, or so they say. And that’s the cycle of poverty, isn’t it? Their coach is an alcoholic driven to crime because poverty has broken his spirit. He lost what made him love baseball, driven money rather than pride. This episode is cute and all, but something didn’t sit right with me. I expected the series to address the huge divide between the upper class and the lowest in Animacity. In reality, over 20 million people in Japan are impoverished, so tell us why. Make us sympathize with these people because BNA’s audience sure as hell isn’t homeless. For all the time this show spends talking politics, the slums aren’t addressed as a serious issue. In BNA the lower class is caricatured as a bunch of dumb and greedy crooks, not as real people. People often end up in poverty if they struggle with mental illness, addiction, a lack of affordable housing. The poor characters are unintelligent—that’s the entire joke. It’s the anime equivalent of laughing at a homeless person. In every developed country on Earth, poor people lack access to public services, like schools. If they have nothing to drink except filthy water, like the bear kids have to, this will also contribute to their lower IQ. BNA’s interpretation of poverty is just a classist mocking of poor people. Trigger has addressed similar political topics in Kill la Kill, which was also set in a fascist state. But Kill la Kill was about revolting against the system, not accepting it. BNA is about embracing the system. Michiru becomes friends with the friendly dictator. This is a little strange because the dictator isn’t a good person. Animacity is an authoritarian ethnostate. Information from the outside world is censored like it is in North Korea; Note, the dictator is exempt from this rule. Normal beastmen are forbidden from learning about human society via the internet, restricted by law. Beastmen are made to believe humans are genetically inferior to them; Unifying people with us vs them rhetoric keeps them in line. The city is not run by democracy. People are subservient to a ubiquitous figurehead manufactured by the state. Festivals are run by the government to celebrate Animacity’s liberation from humans. All of this reflects an integral part of fascism, the aestheticization of politics—embedding politics into the minds of the population. Whether the writers intended it to appear this way or not, this is the most interesting aspect of BNA. In reality, Japan is practically an ethnostate. The people are 97% Japanese, and the population is rapidly shrinking. The economy is in the shitter because of it. Japan could solve its money problems if they let more immigrants into the country. I had hoped BNA would make a political statement on how being an ethnostate isn’t economically viable, but instead, it just supported ethnostate. We’ve been here before, Trigger. You have to realize your country is fucked sooner or later. If you’re going to write a political story, is this the message you want to send? Immigration almost always has a net positive effect on federal, state, and local budgets. All available evidence implies immigration leads to a better-educated workforce, more innovation, greater occupational specialization, and higher economic productivity. Despite BNA’s shallow themes, I love the minor details in Animacity. Like restaurant signs with slightly different names from real life (Dog-way, lol!). Aside from the thinnest layer of world-building, there’s not a whole lot of visible differences between the human world and the beastman world. This leads me to wonder, why? Why beastmen? Why animals? There’s no social hierarchy of species, no conflict between carnivores and omnivores, and no world-build to flesh out the distinct differences between beastmen and humans aside from appearance. Beastmen are interchangeable with anything inhuman, demons, vampires, fish people, dwarves. This is, however, not about the rise of the dwarven ethnostate, it is about animals because this is a furry anime. The use of anthropomorphized animals in BNA is completely arbitrary. If you want a good show that explores the implications of a society run by animals, watch Beastars, not this cheap bait. Furries might love this anime, this is their anime, more power to them. I’m incredibly disappointed at how phoned in BNA is. Trigger is capable of so much more than this. Instead of crafting an ambitious original anime, they played it safe and made a cash grab. There are few anime with so much budget and talent that waste it all on lazy writing. By the end, it crashes and burns in a clusterfuck of disorganized ideas and unintelligible motives so awful it will leave people howling with frustration for how good Brand New Animal could have been.