English Dub Review: Kemono Michi: Rise Up “Animal X Event”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The fighting tournament is under way!…although it’s more of a wrestling event than anything else. Genzo decides to bring in demon beasts in order draw more crowds, which includes bringing in some familiar furry faces such as the husband of the Cobold lady he keeps flirting with, the orcs from the second episode, AND the two thieves he faced in the first episode, Misha and Wolfgang. Along with Celes, Carmilla, Hanako, Fire Haze, and Genzo himself, the roster is very quickly filled. The event is a major success financially, even with Shigure making a merchandising booth to make some extra cash! But it turns out that the bill for all the repairs and Hanako’s food bill in the after party celebration are friggin huge so they’re basically back to square one. And even farther back at that.

Also Joanna and MAO are out there. Somewhere.

OUR TAKE

Gotta say, this is not what I expected when I heard there’d be a tournament coming up, though this actually makes more sense now that I think about it. Wrestling matches are a significantly different breed than the typical martial arts face offs that shonen shows typically dabble in. That said, my knowledge about pro-wrestling is pretty limited in comparison (for some reason I’ve just never quite gotten it), so I have no idea how true to life this is or how well they do at making this a proper match, but I don’t think that’s exactly the point anyway. The point is to dive into the side of Genzo’s character that has gone mostly ignored since the show start: the Animal Mask side.

For awhile now, he’s pretty much been defined by his love of animals. Sure, he’s used his wrestling techniques to chase them down, but it’s all been in the pursuit of capturing that sweet sweet demon fur. It’s here that we finally get to see him slide back into his professionalism as one of the better known wrestlers of his time, having many details he wants to include in the match and training everyone to properly fit personas. It’s practically a fantasy version of Wrestlemania and probably as expensive (when accounting for inflation! Professional Wrestling, as I understand it, is just as much about the pageantry as it is the fight itself, which this show’s inherently absurd and comedic tone thrives in!

But I have to say that I am disappointed with this execution on some levels. For one, it’s basically all over in an episode when I was hoping it could cover at least two. Perhaps the first episode would be about setting things up and training everyone while the second could be about the match itself and the show they put together for it, but…I guess not. Not to mention the ending basically negates a lot of development it could have had, with the only real impact being that it draws the princess that summoned Genzo and MAO to their location (which is good because MAO barely shows up this episode). It certainly didn’t need to be a regular fighting tournament, especially keeping in mind Genzo’s previous occupation, but this seemed like a chance to be more substantial and surprising! It’s fine though. We’re moving into the final third where things look to finally be coming together in all expected ways. The show continues to do pretty well with its unique niche, I just wish there were chances to branch out.