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REVIEW: Kemono Friends

The thing about the animation is, after an episode or two, you don't even notice it anymore. Once you get into the show you can't really tell the CGI sucks unless you're trying to see it suck.

I think South Park started on a shoestring budget like Simpsons and Family Guy, but after it succeeded, they just decided to stay low budget. It probably means the show is very profitable, and the audience has decided to give them a pass.

It's a real shame there's no telling how many units the discs sold.

ChibiKangaroo wrote:

I think South Park started on a shoestring budget like Simpsons and Family Guy, but after it succeeded, they just decided to stay low budget. It probably means the show is very profitable, and the audience has decided to give them a pass.

Exactamundo. They know the audience wasn't tuning in for the vizzies, so why spend more? Plus, as somebody else mentioned earlier, their quick turnaround time - which is only possible because of the low production values - allows them to add in super current material since they don't have a 6 month pipeline to contend with.

Have you checked out Troll Hunters yet, CK? I've only seen the first episode so far, but really liked it. No low production values there!

omegafinal wrote:

Also on the South Park thing from earlier. Don't think it's a fair comparison, given that South Park's look is intentional due to its cardboard roots (and is pretty much its identity), while Kemono Friends' is most likely due to resource constraints (either time, money, or people).

Cool, another person who doesn't understand my ultra-simple point. Guess I'll explain it again in the hopes somebody with some reading comprehension might see it. People don't care what South Park looks like because it's funny. It doesn't matter that its crappy visuals are intentional. Hey, I'll repeat that: it doesn't matter that its visuals are crappy because the show is funny. So people don't care what it looks like. Get it? People. Don't. Care. What. It. Looks. Like. Maybe I'll repeat it again.

People.
Don't.
Care.
What.
It.
Looks.
Like.

Get that? There is a show out there that is popular even with crappy visuals. Gee, it's almost like the content of the show is sometimes more important than the visuals. Gee, I wonder if there might be a parallel to Kemono Friends?

Now, Kemono Friends crappy visuals are not intentional. They are almost certainly due to its 5 cent budget. However, the show was warmly humorous and had a bit of a mystery surrounding it and it became wildly popular because a lot of fans didn't care what the show looks like. It's almost as if a show delivers on its content, sometimes people don't care what it looks like. Like South Park.

Wow, I wonder if this actually got through or is some genius gonna come by and say, "but, erm, actually South Park intentionally looks like crude paper cut-outs..."

Hand Shakers has set itself up to be a huge atrocity of animation, and it is in spite of clearly a lot of detail and models that look like they have had a lot of work put into it. The two pieces of CGI and 2D did not marry together, the animation is distracting, and it feels like enjoyable story writing in general was a sunk cost that they thought they could get away with or was not really well thought through. It is my opinion that the simple animation of Kemono Friends keeps it from being generally distracting, and although bad by standards it actually stays pretty consistent, mitigating some problems.

Go back and look at pilot episodes and first season of The Simpsons and Family Guy. They look nothing like the current shows. In fact, they look so bad by comparison that they are almost offensive to the eyes.