Kemono Jihen

Alternate Title
怪物事変

Synopsis

Kohachi Inugami is a detective from Tokyo specializing in the occult who is sent to investigate a remote mountain village after a series of strange rotting animal corpses begin appearing around the area. While there, he meets and befriends a boy named Kabane Kusaka who works in the fields instead of going to school and is shunned by his peers, who have nicknamed him “Dorotabo” after a yokai that lives in mud. Kabane agrees to help Kohachi with his investigation, and together they hunt for the truth behind the killings. But Kohachi soon begins to realize there is more to Kabane than meets the eye and that maybe “Dorotabo” is more than just a nickname...

Background

Kemono Jihen is a supernatural manga series written and illustrated by Sho Aimoto that has been serialized in Shueisha’s Jump Square magazine since December 2016. As of November 2020, 12 tankobon volumes have been released.

An anime adaptation was announced at the Jump Festa '20 event held in December 2019. It is being produced by studio Ajiado and features Masaya Fujimori (Chibi Maruko-chan, Izetta: The Last Witch, Tribe Cool Crew) as director with Noboru Kimura (Accel World, Knight's & Magic, Motto To Love Ru) writing the script, Nozomi Tachibana (Btooom!, Double Decker! Doug & Kirill, Ensemble Stars!) handling character designs, Yuki Miyamoto (Attack on Titan, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island, Servant × Service) handling monster designs, and Yuya Mori (Black Clover, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Super Dragon Ball Heroes) composing the music. Other members of staff include Yuki Nishioka (Inazuma Eleven, Izetta: The Last Witch, Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion the Animation), Emiko Endo (Ascendance of a Bookworm, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, Kakushigoto), and Nozomi Tachibana who are all credited as chief animation director, Ryo Hirata (Battle Spirits Burning Soul, Bungo Stray Dogs, My Hero Academia) who is handling prop designs, and Sachiko Nishiguchi (Girly Air Force, Made in Abyss, SSSS.Gridman) who is credited as art director. The anime’s opening theme song is "Kemonomichi" by Daisuke Ono, and the ending theme song is "Shirube" by Sayaka Sasaki. The anime premiered on Jan. 10, 2021 on Tokyo MX. It is available to stream overseas through Funimation (North America, UK, and the British Isles), AnimeLab (Australia and New Zealand), and Wakanim (France, Germany, and Scandinavia).

Characters

Kabane Kusaka (Voiced by: Natsumi Fujiwara)
Kabane is a 13-year-old half-yokai born between a human and a bloodless demon called a “corpse demon.” He grew up under the care of his aunt and was called “Dorotabo” by others after a yokai that lives in mud.

Kohachi Inugami (Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe)
Kohachi is a 36 year old who runs a detective agency specializing in demons and the occult. His true identity is that of a bake-danuki.

Akira (Voiced by: Ayumu Murase)
Akira is a 15-year-old yokai boy called “Yukionoko” (Snow Boy). He lives with Kohachi and searches for his twin brother, who was separated from him at birth.

Shiki Tademaru (Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae)
Shiki is a 14-year-old half-yokai whose mother is a spider called “Arakune.” He is currently living with Kohachi.

Mihai (Voiced by: Daisuke Ono)
Mihai is a vampire and an old friend of Kohachi’s. He is obsessed with online games.

Inari (Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa)
Inari is a fox girl who works as the superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Department. She has a cooperative relationship with Kohachi.

Kon (Voiced by: Yumiri Hanamori)
Kon is a fox girl who blindly follows her master, Inari.

Nobimaru (Voiced by: Hiro Shimono)
Nobimaru is a fox boy who works for Inari.

Music

• Opening Theme Song: "Kemonomichi" by Daisuke Ono
• Ending Theme Song: "Shirube" by Sayaka Sasaki

International Streaming

• Funimation (North America, UK, and the British Isles)
• AnimeLab (Australia and New Zealand)
• Wakanim (France, Germany, and Scandinavia)

• Anime Site (Japanese)
• Twitter (Japanese)

• Original Creator: Sho Aimoto
• Director: Masaya Fujimori
• Series Composition: Noboru Kimura
• Character Design: Nozomi Tachibana
• Chief Animation Director: Yuki Nishioka, Emiko Endo, Nozomi Tachibana
• Monster Design/Action Animation Director: Yuki Miyamoto
• Prop Design: Ryo Hirata
• Background Art: Inspired
• Art Director: Sachiko Nishiguchi
• Art Adviser: Osamu Masuyama
• Art Setting: Moriyoshi Ohara
• Color Design: Naomi Nakano
• Cinematography: Asahi Production Shiroishi Studio
• Director of Photography: Teppei Sato
• Offline Editing: Seyama Editing Room
• Editing: Rie Matsubara
• Sound Director: Yukio Nagasaki
• Sound Production: JTB Next Creation
• Music: Yuya Mori
• Music Production: Lantis
• Animation Production: Ajiado