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Butareba: The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig (TV).




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Tony K.
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
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Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2023 12:58 pm Reply with quote


Butareba: The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig (TV)

Source: Light Novel (ongoing @ 7 volumes, written by Takuma Sakai, illustrated by Asagi Tōsaka)

Demographic: Seinen

Animation Studio: Project No. 9

Genres: adventure, comedy, drama, fantasy, romance

Themes: aristocracy, conspiracy, isekai, reincarnation, transformations

Plot Summary: If you lose consciousness while eating raw pig liver, you will be reincarnated as a pig in a fantasy world and embark on an adventure with a kind girl named Jess, who can read people's minds. That is exactly what happens to one ordinary otaku with no abilities or talents, save that of being reborn as a pig.

Air Date & Platform:
October 7, 2023 (Saturday)
Available on: Crunchyroll

Episode Count / Runtime: 12 episodes
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Sounds like a mix of Vending Machine and Masterful Cat, except the otaku is reincarnated as an animal, but the owner can also understand him via telepathy. Could be enough of a quirky outlier to make this fairly entertaining.


Last edited by Tony K. on Thu Apr 11, 2024 6:05 pm; edited 3 times in total
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 1955
PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2023 1:11 pm Reply with quote
I mean, vending machine isekai worked out, so this could as well, but I am not sold yet.
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 1955
PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2023 1:46 pm Reply with quote
Nope, it did not work out at all, easy drop for me with zero interesting elements in the first episode.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15480
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sat Oct 07, 2023 11:48 pm Reply with quote
I am happy too that I can have this be an easy drop.

The guy is pretty gross in terms of his mind, but apparently we are meant to see the human girl finding it charming? The fact she was so quick to practically become subservient to an apparent pig with a human, just makes her hard to find believable. And thus the whole character also gross in how she is set up as such a wish fulfilment character, regardless of what explanations they might make up.

Sure there are some problem with perfect protagonist nice guys, but I certainly hate more the pervert kinds that want to just harass women by looking up their skirts.
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asoka



Joined: 16 Jul 2023
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Sun Oct 08, 2023 6:00 am Reply with quote
I freely admit I wasn't planning on watching this right away, however after reading the hilarious ANN staff reviews it became an instant must see!

I've watched a lot of bad anime A LOT..

But never have I seen anything that rated either a no star or 1/2 star review. The basic premise going in was in my opinion Kami-sama wasn't too impressed with Butareba's personality or life in general. So god reincarnates him as a pig...fair enough. I'm not sure what god was trying to accomplish here, his redemption or maybe that there really is someone for everyone...?

Butareba is a perfect pig in both form and desires...no surprises there. Jess was conceptually well thought out. Interesting design, from the metal collar to being overly sensitive to compliments. Jess seems to be overly interested in Butareba...hmm...and ignores his crude commentary.

Richard I am glad to see that you at least understand the premise, how it all turns out we will have wait and see.

While not a great show I laughed and am intrigued enough in the concept to follow along for at least the next few episodes. They are off to see the great wizard in hopes of turning Butareba back into a human.
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camseyeview140



Joined: 26 Jan 2021
Posts: 211
PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2023 1:52 pm Reply with quote
Yeah this is awful. I was kind of curious about the premise until we learned more about the lead's inner dialogue and mannerisms and I just can't with how the female lead is supposed to find any of this appealing.

I like the idea of the narrative hook being him having no filter and how their interactions result in his bluntness, but it's so creepy and I'm so sick of anime like this getting made alongside the Girl and her Bodyguard.
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asoka



Joined: 16 Jul 2023
Posts: 15
PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2023 5:51 pm Reply with quote
So after watching the 1st four episodes the show has surprised me somewhat in that it seems to be taking a little bit darker path than I had expected, there is a fair bit of comedy and the dance scenes are kinda odd... after the 1st episode the commentary that seemed to have gotten everyone riled up has been less frequent.

I think the content is much milder than a lot of fan service or ecchi shows, but maybe because a pig is involved…

When it comes to overall morality I think Jess’s is much more questionable than Butareba’s is. Sir Pig is just your general oaktu with his fan girl obsessions. Jess so far – lied to her employers, assaulted someone, used all of their magical gems without that persons consent which will result in his death once his gang boss finds out. Sir Pig other than occasionally mentally drooling over Jess doesn't lie cheat or steal…

We still know almost nothing about Jess’s back ground, where she came from her family/friends or anything else...also I don’t get why she has to use gems if her silver collar holds tremendous magical power?

So her current plan is to travel to the capital with Sir Pig try to get him turned back into a man, then she is planning on having herself dismembered into various bits & pieces then selling off her body parts for a great sum. Odd to say the least I’m not sure who gets the money…

So after reading a numbers of viewers opinions at other sites there is a vocal minority with similar thoughts as those that have been expressed in this tread. But the majority see it as a solid but nothing exceptional show. Ranking between 3 & 4 stars. I would give 3.5 on what I have seen so far…

I continue to hope than this will be focused on two flawed characters trying to find some one who can either be their 1st friend or if Butareba becomes a man again then life partners.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2520
PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2023 11:55 pm Reply with quote
Hi Y'all
Ep8- After Theron's blog post I checked this out and he was right on! A solid story and one I am now hooked on. The Ep1 "unsavory otaku" material about evaporated after Ep2 and now there is a touching, well thought out story and world where most characters behave in quasi-realistic fashion. It is all unfolding organically for the viewer as for the mostly initially clueless heroine Jess and Pig and there is a solid compelling mystery. So, for those interested, here is what you should know going in, read at your own risk, but I think these should help frame what happens early in the story. BTW, Jess knows practically immediately that Pig is actually possessed of a human soul and her telepathic ability seems to extend to spoiler[emotion and the "inner voice"], so she knows innately when someone is really being a perv or just an awkward dork (Pig) so claims of bestiality leaning I think are unfair
Ep1 Spoiler
spoiler[The heroine Jess is a Yethma, a class of uniquely telepathic human said to be exclusively female and exclusively sold to wealthy families because of thier additional unique magic capacity for healing]
Ep2-ish Spoiler
spoiler[There was a mage war centuries ago and the royal family are supposed to be the only survivors and therefore only ones potentially capable of using magic other than the Yethmas.]
Ep7-ish Spoiler
spoiler[No one living has seen the royals and the Yethmas are bought from the Royal Capital without memory of thier life there.]
Ep8 Spoiler
spoiler[Also, there is said to be no physical means for entering the Royal Capital but to "appeal to the King"]
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2520
PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2023 11:57 am Reply with quote
Ep9- I can see why they delayed, because of the copious fighting action this episode. Too bad they still had to cut so many corners to make the action intelligible that it was still very sub-par. What they missed in visuals is made up in the story progression, Jess may have been revealed to have a hidden power as she apparently felled a large tree. "Damaged Goods" Blaise used that to advantage as foreshadowed at the end of Ep8 and the way it was handled legitimately made me sad, which tells me that the writing is fairly good. Too bad that the anime isn't doing more for it than it is.

In case anybody cares about mysteries, there is definitely something up with the Heckripon, though that much should have been obvious by now. Not sure what, but it's possible they are being used by the Yethma hunters in some manner or just that they are drawn to Yethma or maybe those two are related. My supposition since Ep2 is that they are transformed mages and the Yethma themselves are descendants of some of them. I wouldn't be surprised if Jess had mage powers and the collars the Yethma are made to wear have so much magic power because they are magic absorbers to keep the Yethma powerless.

Now the question of the hour is who wants those collars so badly that they pay lots to have young women hunted and killed to get them and what do they do with those? My guess is the King or whoever is in the Capital and so he can be the only one with magic power at thier disposal. Also wouldn't be surprised that all this is allowed to go on with the justification that it keeps another mage World-War from happening.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2520
PostPosted: Sat Dec 23, 2023 11:19 pm Reply with quote
Ep11- I assume there is an Ep12 and, in case anyone cares and missed it, there is a second LN coming late Feb 2024. The writing in this was good enough that it got me to buy "First Bite" from Bookwalker, which I never do, (also available from J-Novel Club BTW) and it is fun to say that my suppositions were mostly correct. Unlike many "mystery" stories these days, the writer actually crafted a true mystery and left clues that one could put together to arrive at the hidden truth beforehand. And NO, there is no bestiality coming! You should ask yourself "are there really no male Yethma?" and "is it reasonable that Naut's Yehtma-bone handle blades could of themselves produce magical fire?".

Fun tidbit, the wishing star is actually Antares, check the image here https://dq0hsqwjhea1.cloudfront.net/Fujii_Scorpius_rising_341-341x372.jpg I calculate that the viewing distance based on the apparent size in the sky is approximately 2 light-years.


Last edited by Hiroki not Takuya on Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Piglet the Grate



Joined: 25 May 2021
Posts: 568
Location: North America
PostPosted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 8:27 pm Reply with quote
Well, this turned out a lot better than most of the initial reviews would have let us to believe. I watched the first episode to see if it could really be that bad, and finished it up today when EP 12 was finally released.
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