Niehime to Kemono no Ou: r/anime Awards 2023 Thoughts
This is part of a series of posts, reworking my casual writing from the r/anime Awards about the various shortlists and nominees. I do a lot of writing for the awards which never gets released outside of awards, so I figured I’d try bringing some of it out and putting it here. They’re not meant to be anything too serious or in-depth, just reworking my thoughts as I posted them in the awards server to here. This isn’t representative of the awards themselves or anyone other than myself involved in the awards. I’ll make a larger post with all the shortlisted shows from each category in the Write-Up Collections tab after I’ve posted all of the individual write-ups for that category here.
Of the categories I was juror for in the 2023 r/anime Awards, Niehime to Kemono no Ou was shortlisted in just Anime of the Year, and so that was the category where I discussed it.
Watch Links: Crunchyroll
I found the political drama interesting enough. The scenarios they're presented with are engaging and work well with the themes. I enjoyed seeing characters face challenges and find solutions, and it does a lot to enhance Sariphi as a character. She's a great protagonist to follow, and while not every story is interesting and it does kind of always come back to a somewhat repetitive idea about discrimination, I enjoyed watching her overcome the challenges throughout the story. I did wish the political drama was more complex, since many of the challenges are fairly standalone and don't intertwine much, but it's entertaining enough. Much of it is anchored to its themes of "discrimination bad", and that's the basis of pretty much everything in the show. Almost all conflict stems from racial or class discrimination. It's super on the nose, and doesn't have a very complex view of any of it, often ending up repeating a similar message across multiple arcs instead of using different arcs to introduce nuance or tackle the issue from a different angle. It's not got a problematic view of discrimination, but it's not a huge plus either due to how it executes on its themes.
I like Sariphi a lot! She's pretty straightforward, but she's unique in her world and faces things in ways which I liked. Her dynamic with Leonhardt is endearing, although the foundation of their relationship is a bit fraught. The trust they have in one another is touching, and I think their relationship develops in ways which are heartwarming. I do find some issue with a few times Sariphi becomes a damsel for Leonhardt to rescue, but Sariphi does use her own strengths to overcome her challenges for the most part. As for her dynamics with other characters, it varies. The series does simplistically have everyone default to the core lesson of the show, not to judge a book by its cover etc etc, and so everyone kinda acts discriminatory before either they get proved wrong or Sariphi has to escape. I do like the friendships she develops with some of the side characters, they serve as good friends to her. Her dynamic with Anubis is probably the most interesting in the show, as he is much less trusting of Sariphi despite having to interact with her constantly.
There's nothing worth noting here on the production front I don't think. It's got an unconventional color palette I guess, but the show is kinda ugly, with very bland backgrounds and very little animation. There's a bit of interesting creature design, but most if it is usual anthropomorphic animals.
Definitely not a show I dislike, just not a show which has too much special about it to elevate it above the rest.
