Niehime to Kemono no Ou/Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts still is in my top second-best anime of the year which I recommend to any kemono fans and the ending just confirmed my choice. It is quite good and if I make a top ten best kemono anime ever it might even make it there! But what are my thoughts on the ending and therefore on the anime overall now that we have seen everything?
Well...you know when something like a series or anime can sometimes drag on and on and it just became a shadow of its former self and starts to suck a lot? It usually happens more with series like Supernatural. Such stuff should have ended long ago when it was still good and it was obvious they were making up stuff as they go.
But in the case of Niehime to Kemono no Ou I feel it's the opposite. This anime really could and should have been two full seasons...or maybe even three.
Now, I know that sadly they didn't properly adapt the manga 100%. There are stuff they just cut, and stuff they just rushed. So while the anime is very good it's not 100% a faithful adaption of the manga. Maybe some of that stuff that we missed would have helped mitigate this issue. But it still would make some parts of the anime, including the ending just...rushed or that it is missing something.
A few examples of what I mean:
1 - Let's start with the villains of the anime! Fenrir and Gleipnir. They were awesome and honestly, most of the stuff with them does work very well. But then it's like they dropped the ball by the end. It's like...they could have done even more with them? I always felt for example that we would get a full episode showing their past so we would see how life was for Fenrir and Gleipnir as cubs, how things were for Fenrir before and after he lost one of his ears, how exactly he got to the position he got when he showed up in the anime (if he supposedly lost all his authority and power how he got all those rebel armies lol), how his relationship with his entire family like with his brothers was before and after the punishment, etc.
The same with Gleipnir. Would be nice to see more of his time with Fenrir by that time and this also includes what I assume happens later when he somehow gets that magic that allows him to control those swords as he wishes. That is just...so weird how it was never elaborated on. When you think about it, if that was something that a beastman that was just bought as a slave (and therefore has no royal blood so magic isn't that strong) could do, that means anyone could do it, right? So why it is not a common thing? Is it forbidden magic or what and how he got it?
It would be great if we had one or maybe two "extra" episodes showing such details which would improve those characters' backstory and the lore of the anime even more. Besides, this might be just me personally not liking the ending for them (I feel it works for Set but still not 100% we will get there) since it just feels like the easy way out and didn't make much sense given what Fenrir (the guy that claims strongest can rule and he lost to Leonhart so...instead of following him he prefer to die? Why exactly? Too proud to follow his own way of thinking? But this also makes him a hypocrite which kinda ruins his character...) Leonhart's beliefs are supposed to be. (by killing him there...well about to give the final blow anyway which is the same thing, isn't he just doing what Fenrir wanted? To prove to him the strongest should rule the weak? Taking Fenrir prisoner or even befriending him would make more sense especially since would go back to what he said to him when they were cubs.)
Worse than that is Gleipnir's ending since...WTF WAS THAT?! Neither the anime nor the manga are clear on that but seems to imply that after escaping with Fenrir's body he just...kills himself? That's quite fucked up and honestly, he didn't deserve that. I get that in that context it can make sense but my point is Fenrir didn't even need to die as he did and certainly neither did Gleipnir. Especially in such an "offscreen" way.
Given the work they put into showing their backstories and such I can understand why many think Gleipnir will return in the sequel so let's see. But just feels like a waste of two good characters at best and a plothole (since Fenrir dying like that kinda goes against his own beliefs and he dragged Gleipnir with him when if anything the dog should been the voice of reason or tried to) at worst to make them die like that.
2 - Set. Similar to Fenrir we should have spent more time with him and they did him quite dirty compared with Fenrir as we had Set since the beginning and yet...he barely shows up. So it feels like he just went "time to villain up" all of a sudden by the end.
He's the main reason why anime should have got at least two full seasons properly so we could have spent more time and developed him properly. Just think about it. We don't even have any idea how was his relationship with Leonhart, Sirius, or Jormungand. Nothing. Did he even talk to them at all back then or he just spend 24 hours of day with his mom? If so, what happened to him exactly after she passed away? And how was his relationship with those characters by that point?
We just have no fucking clue and that's a problem, we barely know our villain and he is supposed to be our main villain of the anime! So if they dropped the ball with Fenrir and Gleipnir mostly by the end they dropped the ball with Set since his introduction.
Just like with Fenrir, his death was just the easy way out but at least made more sense there just like his main motivation to be the villain. But he really needed more screen time to make him "feel" like not only a good villain but the final boss of the anime.
And...who the fuck is his father since we know it's not the king? This is kind its own can of worms and I feel would be good if we find out it's a random reptile guy or something but no matter what this does paint his mom in a bad light.
3 - Jormungand Leonhart and Sirius are the best-developed kemono characters in the anime and it's a shame they didn't put that effort into our reptilian boy. We barely saw his past and because of that we barely know anything about him. He deserved at least a full episode about his past as the amazing one that Sirius and Leonhart got.
Plus the anime has this whole "Will They or Won't They?" with Amit and...by the ending when you see that Leonhart's son is what...eight years or something? And to this point, it doesn't even seem they are a couple yet! Come on! You can't just do this...either make them a couple or not, but don't fucking do a "Will They or Won't They?" at the very ending!
4 - Lanteveldt If anyone who watched this anime makes a list of his top three best characters I'm willing to bet this guy will always be in that list! This hyena is just..HMM!!
But similar to the villains, it feels we should have spent more time with him. It always felt weird that he was supposed to be that strong and it's how he got the job in the first place but...why? How did he trained? And how did he live his life after his mom died and he was alone? I find it hard to believe that he survived alone in the streets and that's why he got so strong because if that was the case, we would have many hyenas like him in the army for obvious reasons. So it always felt it was something unique to him or some secret that they would reveal later and we never got to see that.
Besides, while he was an awesome character after the stuff with Fenrir he just felt like he was kinda "there". They could have done more with him by the last season buuuuuut maybe this is just me wanting more of Lante since he's just that awesome xP!
5 - Always felt the racism between races was quite inconsistent just look at the hyenas and the reptiles in the last part. So anything not vulpine/feline is bad now? We never saw that until the brief flashback of Jormugand and the fish guys (apparently they are hated for some reason?) but it conflicts with the Hyena stuff. if they hate the hyenas because of what their ancestors did, they have a reason, why the hate for reptilians and others? And there's the whole deal with them and the humans which honestly was very rushed and easily solved by the end.
Now, while there are a few other issues I had with the anime overall (like the romance of the main characters, it started a bit...weirdly.) it's still a very good anime and a must for kemono fans! The ending is also quite good and sadly for the reasons I pointed out, it's not perfect but it is a very solid watch. Any kemono fan will love this anime!
And it helps that the ending is very good overall, despite the stuff I said about Set. If anything like rest of the anime it should been bigger to show and develop more stuff better. It's weird how we didn't get to see for example Anubis having a last chat with Sariphi after he recognizes her as the queen. Just imagine something as they talk and he calls her for her name for the first and last time in the anime and she smiles and tries to hug him and he's like stop that you wench ahhh! xDD
That's most what the epilogue is lacking this proper goodbye between the characters. But that aside it's still a good ending since it feels like it, the main conflict is over, characters moved on (or at least they seem to), etc.
Also, it's not over yet! The manga has a sequel called "The White Rabbit and the Beast Prince" which means we should get another anime one day. Will take a while since this sequel only started last year but hey it's great to know that. Especially since Leonhart's cute son is the main character~
So, what about you guys? Did you love the anime? What about the ending? Would you change anything? Agree or disagree with my points? Let me know here :3!
There are so many anime's I need to watch, and they keep coming out with more (as well as I need to finish watching all of Doctor Who). I'll add this to my list of what to watch. What service is it on?
There are so many anime's I need to watch, and they keep coming out with more (as well as I need to
I used torrent. Since it's new anime any site you know will have them for sure, very easy to find them except for Fabulous Beasts which can only be watched on their channel in YT.
I recommend it for sure as I also recommend the ones in https://inkbunny.net/j/488880-kamikazetiger-
There's certainly a lot more that could have been fleshed out. Especially in regards to the villains. I feel that there was enough content here to fill out at least 36 episodes. But I imagine this is a more niche series so it probably wasn't given the greenlight for that many episodes.
I'm certainly happy with the story we got but there was certainly room to expand upon. I also feel like there could have been more interesting seeds planted in regards to the revelations we get about Leon and Set. It all feels sort of sprung up all at the end. While it all makes sense, this sort of stuff would have been more impactful if hints about it had been layered throughout.
This series also had so many different characters from all over the place that it's a shame we didn't get to see more of them. Even the few human characters featured were interesting enough to see more of them at some point.
I am glad that we got this series at least. It was a lovely ride and I look forward to when the sequel is eventually adapted.
There's certainly a lot more that could have been fleshed out. Especially in regards to the villains
Yeah, 36 episodes probably would be enough to get everything they cut from the manga. Shame they didn't go there.
Exactly, if they at least had shown more of the characters and had "prepared" that revelation about Set more it would have made the whole thing feel even better! This is a kemono show in which even the human characters were good, Geez xD.
I feel that someone like Fenrir could even have gotten his own spin-off!
Same! Will take years or I hope so since if we get it too soon means the manga will be quite short...
Yeah, 36 episodes probably would be enough to get everything they cut from the manga. Shame they did
Funny you say that, I'm not sure if I should elaborate on what they cut or not. The truth of the matter is what was mostly cut was stuff regarding the fish people's plot and side plots, some of lante's side plots were cut and the entire section of Sariphi going alone before getting captured by Fenrir.
From all the points you made the manga doesn't really explore that much deeper into the past of any of the characters you mention. Fenrir and Gleipnir stuff was trimmed a lot that I give you that, Set stuff was also kinda rushed in the manga tho I'm not sure if there is a light novel for the series. I might have to look into that.
Besides that Jor stuff was prety faithful, however they did have more of a witty banter with Anubis in the manga (but just a bit). Lante got trimmed down a lot and some of his fights were not displayed properly, but I think that is due that not every studio knows how to animate fights. This was more of a drama focused animation studio and not one that specializes in animating combat, is what I gather.
The "racism" its more like speciecism/classism, the treatment of different races was derived by their status, magical capabilities and size of their kingdom. I think in the manga was explained better but most of the powerful royals were mammals (wolves and canids being one of the few that could use magic), while reptilians and anphibians were very small subjugated kingdoms that had very little rights or had just become "citizens" in the eyes of many. The hyenas were scorned cause they tried to usurp the royal family in the past and since the beast races live for hundreds of years for them it was like it had happened yesterday. But to be honest it was still very weird to follow the logic at some points and anime watchers didn't even get to see the caprine kigdom or the gorilla kingdom.
But despite all, at least they hit well on the points that they needed to hit. The manga is one of my favorites series tho i wished they could have adapted some of the more stunning scenes to the anime they at least made it through to the end.
Funny you say that, I'm not sure if I should elaborate on what they cut or not. The truth of the mat
Ah, yeah...while it would be great to see all the cut stuff I know that the manga at the end of the day would still not have "solved" all the issues I mentioned. As you said, there are things they just mentioned or didn't elaborate well like what exactly the hyena did in the past but we don't know what it is though maybe it makes sense if the beastman can live for hundreds of years. But do they? I think that's another thing not explained in the anime. Assuming they do, that can make the romance between the main characters...weird depending of Leonhart's age xP.
However, I know that many of the issues I mentioned would need to be shown in anime episodes that aren't in the manga since they aren't explained or shown there either. So when I talk about such things I'm not only talking about what was cut, I'm also talking about that content which even in the manga doesn't exist but they had the opportunity to "fix" it by showing that in the anime which they didn't. But then again, I know that if they didn't bother with adapting the whole manga 100% no way they would bother to "fix" what was missing from it either.
The fact that even with those issues and the cuts from the manga and yet many like me still enjoy and can recommend it shows how good the anime still is though. Imagine if they had addressed those issues properly when adapting the manga to anime!
That part was badass~
Ah, yeah...while it would be great to see all the cut stuff I know that the manga at the end of the
Bella serie. L'ho vista con i sottotitoli ma spero arrivi in Italia presto, al momento nel mio paese sembra non esserci un manga! Opera molto bella e simpatica!
Bella serie. L'ho vista con i sottotitoli ma spero arrivi in Italia presto, al momento nel mio paese
