REIVEW: ‘Kemono Jihen,’ Episode 10 – “Twins”

Kemono Jihen Episode 10 revisits a plot line that had begun back in Episode 4, at long last reuniting Akira with his twin brother. The anime is from Ajia-do (Ascendance of a Bookworm, Kakushigoto) takes place in a modern day world where humans unknowingly live alongside supernatural beings called kemono. Kabane is a half-ghoul hanyo, and has teamed up with Kemonoist Inugami to learn about himself and hopefully track down his parents. Kemono Jihen is adapted from the manga of the same name, published in Japan, but Shō Aimoto.

The lovable Akira is the focus of Kemono Jihen Episode 10. Back in Episode 4, it was revealed he and his brother had fled the village they were born into. Akira and his older twin brother, Yui, are yuki-onoko: male snow kemonos. It is an all-female village, where a boy is born once every hundred years. Akira and Yui are a rarity, being twins, and are incredibly isolated from the rest of the world by the residents of the village. Yui orchestrates their escape from their abusive upbringing, and makes Akira promise to wait for him at Inugami’s if they get separated.

Kemono Jihen Episode 10 doesn’t dwell too long on the brothers’ separation. Instead of drawing their search for each other out, they are reunited pretty quickly with one another. Akira leaves the agency because he feels useless there. His concerns are far from assuaged by the blunt Kabane and quick-to-anger Shiki. Of course as soon as he is gone his absence can be felt by the boys. It could have been handled a bit better. Nothing is wrong with Akira’s contribution to the group being a mediator and the heart, but it once again plays into the shows’ portrayal of masculinity vs. femininity, with traditionally feminine traits getting the short end of the stick in this show.

Poor Akira is so overjoyed to see his brother that he ignores any possible red flags. While the outcome of this week is pretty obvious to the viewer, it is hard to blame Akira for falling into things so easily. Flashbacks do indeed show a sharp contrast between the Yui he grew up with and the Yui viewers are seeing now. Unfortunately, he still feels rather standard, with some tropes definitely seen in shonen before. There is a comically enjoyable nod to Frozen, which is likely to elicit a few smiles. Overall, Kemono Jihen Episode 10 is just average. It is nice to see Akira’s story expanded on, but the execution is just okay. There are no glaring issues. In contrast, there are also no standout achievements either. A large majority of the story this week is predictable.

Kemono Jihen Episode 10 offers a standard predictable plot to expand upon Akira’s backstory. Viewers finally meet Yui, but he is pretty flat as a character so far. The show maintains its trend of not handling traditional views of femininity in a positive way. For an episode that wants to start a big character arc, it is rather forgettable in comparison to its predecessors.

Kemono Jihen is streaming now on Funimation.