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Kemono Jihen!! Occult×Suspense×Fantasy!

2020-12-20
Saori Saori
Hello everybody! Speaking of the occult……! I would imagine various urban legends from it…… I’m Manga Republic’s Boss. (I don’t know if the wolf man is classified as the urban legend though.)
Hello everybody! I don’t know if they are classified as the occult but I would say Cthulhu Mythos or SCP! I think they seem a little creepy though…… It’s Saori from Manga Republic!
So today! We’ll be featuring one of the Winter 2021 Anime! The theme of this series is a little creepy Japanese ‘Kemono (monster)’!

【Winter 2021 Anime】
Occult × Suspense × Fantasy!
Featuring a Story about the “Monster” Living in the Modern World!
Kemono Jihen!!

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What Is Kemono Jihen?

It’s a Japanese manga series by Aimoto Shou-Sensei, serialized in JUMP SQ. since 2016. As for the original manga, 12 volumes have been released.
Aimoto Shou-Sensei has also serialized a series called “Hokenshitsu no Shinigami” in Shonen Jump. This series is very popular with a strong horror and school comedy element.
Hokenshitsu no Shinigami
保健室の死神
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Yeah! I’ve seen Hokenshitsu no Shinigami! I didn’t know it was written by this Sensei!
It looks like this series ‘Kemono Jihen’ is the one, full of occult, horror and creepiness, which is one of the attractions of Aimoto Shou-Sensei! Well, let’s take a look at what kind of story it is!

Outline of Kemono Jihen!

It happens in a countryside village in Japan.
One day, a rumor, where a man from Tokyo comes, spreads out in the small village. All the boys in the village are so curious and plan to go see him, while they tell one of the boys not to come because he stinks.
The boy is called “Dorota-bou” from other kids.
“Dorota-bou” is the name of a yokai that lives in the mud of rice field in the ancient Japan……?
At that time in the village, a mysterious phenomenon, where “a series of animal bodies rot away after a single night” is occurring. The man who’s from Tokyo is a detective, coming to this village to investigate such a mysterious phenomenon. It looks like all the grownups in the village want to solve it without letting the children know.
While the detective heads for the inn in the village, he runs across the boy, “Dorota-bou.” The detective says hello to him and he bows a little and gets back to his work.
The detective wonders why the boy works in the field every day instead of going to school. When he asks one of the villagers about it, the villager just says “I’ll explain it later when we get to the inn.”
That night, the detective enjoys the hot springs in the inn, when a son of the inn, Yatarou helps him wash his back. Yatarou has wanted to leave this small village and live in Tokyo in the future. That’s why he gets close to the detective to learn something about Tokyo.
While talking, they start talking about the Dorota-bou.
Yatarou says, laughing.
“Dorota-bou is so stinky since born. He can never do a job, where he has to appear in public, like the inn here.” Being interested in that story, the detective decides to ask the Dorota-bou to take care of him, instead of Yatarou.
Being asked, Dorota-bou doesn’t know what to do. The landlady of the inn says to him coldly, “You decide and deal with it.” Worrying that he might stink, Dorota-bou washes his body neatly, and then brings breakfast to the detective. But the detective welcomes him warmly, saying that he never stinks.
Then they work together, trying to uncover the truth behind the killings.
Dorota-bou reports to the detective that;
all the animals which have been targeted are the livestock, six livestock have been attacked so far and all of them got rotten away a single night, all the livestock have “trace, where they got preyed by a huge beast,” and all the cases were done at night of new moon.
No children in the village are supposed to know this info, however, since Dorota-bou is in charge of taking care of the dead bodies of the livestock, he is able to explain it in details.
The detective thanks him.
The detective’s assumption “A quiet boy observes his surroundings more carefully” is right after all and he is able to know what’s been happening. Dorota-bou, getting a compliment, does a mysterious look but looks serious in the next moment.
The next new moon comes in five days.
While waiting for that day to come, the detective decides to help Dorota-bou work. While working, Dorota-bou shows him a necklace that he has had since born. He was an abandoned child since born and picked up by the family who owns the inn and has been raised there.
The detective says, looking at the necklace.
“The stone of the necklace is made from such a rare material and not a cheap stuff to be given to an abandoned kid like you. Your parents must have had such an important reason why they had to abandon you. It’s too expensive to let an abandon kid like you to keep.”
And the night of new moon comes.
That night…… Yatarou comes to Dorota-bou, who is cleaning.
Yatarou says such a mean thing to him, “You’re just an abandoned kid,” not liking the fact that Dorota-bou is liked by the detective from Tokyo.
The boy refutes to Yatarou for the first time that night.
“I’m sure that my parents didn’t abandon me.” Getting angry, Yatarou tears up his necklace. That makes Dorata-bou so mad.
The arm that Dorota-bou uses to hit him gets deformed mysteriously and his face even gets crooked like kemono.
Yatarou screams and runs. Dorota-bou finally gets the necklace back but……
Dorota-bou thinks…… “Maybe……”
And he says to the detective…… “I did it. I’m the one who ate up all the livestock.”
The detective asks him what the heck he’s saying. Then the boy shows the rotten peach to him. He says that it was a fresh peach that he had a bite from a little earlier, but now it’s all rotten, just like the phenomenon of the dead livestock.
The detective looks at it, thinks a little and…… says.
“I’ll show you my butt.”
The boy being shocked, the detective shows him his butt.
Surprisingly, he has a raccoon’s tail there. Actually, the detective isn’t a human but “kemono”, who lives in the human society. And he is the detective who specializes in solving mysterious cases, caused by such “kemono.”
The detective also reveals the boy’s true color.
He is “a child born between a demon and a human,” and the necklace is an “amulet, which suppresses hunger so he won’t attack any creatures impulsively.” In short, the boy would never attack anything unless he has the necklace on him. The detective tells him that there is a real “kemono.”
The boy is relieved to know that…… he is not the one. But……
Yatarou is out now. And it’s the night of new moon, when the case happens……!
Yatarou who gets away from the house, bangs the door of his neighborhood, crying so hard.
And what Yatarou, the boy and the detective see there is……!!
Wowww~~~! It’s scary but so interesting that I want to know more about the story!
It’s not too dark but it’s still a fantasy! The story is set in the modern world. Various “kemono” now move into Tokyo!
It’s a classic type story, seen in Shonen Jump with creepiness and attractive characters! I bet this series will be the one, where everybody gets familiar with! As for the original comics, 10 volumes have been released. So check out all the volumes, including the latest volume, which contains the ending of Episode 1!
Manga Set
Kemono Jihen
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 Kemono Jihen
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All right! This is all for today! We’ll see you all at the next article!
Bye-bye~!
Hokenshitsu no Shinigami, Kemono Jihen

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