BNA (Brand New Animal) [Review]

Posted on August 30, 2020 by KiritoNarukami Leave a comment

Studios: Trigger

Source: Original

Genres: Fantasy

Synopsis: “In the 21st century, the existence of animal-humans came to light after being hidden in the darkness of history. Michiru lived life as a normal human, until one day she suddenly turns into a tanuki-human. She runs away and takes refuge in a special city area called “Anima City” that was set up 10 years ago for animal-humans to be able to live as themselves. There, Michiru meets Shirō, a wolf beastman who hates humans. Through Shirō, Michiru starts to learn about the worries, lifestyle, and joys of the beastmen. As Michiru and Shirō try to learn why Michiru suddenly turned into a beastman, they unexpectedly get wrapped up in a large incident.”

-ANN

Story:

I’m super excited to be able to talk about a new Trigger original anime, Brand New Animal (or BNA for short) is something that Trigger can present with their heads held high! The story follows the young and reckless Kagemori Michiru, a human turned into a beastman! Michiru’s determination to find out what exactly happened to her led to to Anima City where Beastmen live in peace. The narrative of the beastmen starts off dark and unknown, making them out to be dangerous creatures with no humanity but as Michiru explores Anima City and gets to understand and know the residents that call it home the narrative softens into a more amicable description. I found the story to be quite endearing and I love getting to know each of the characters throughout the show.

Artwork & Animation:

A Trigger anime can easily be identified from its artwork and animation. As a big fan of their more wacky artwork style (ex. Kill la Kill, Promare, Gurren Laggan) I absolutely love seeing it comes back for BNA. Though a little more toned down that the works I mentioned, the color pallet, character designs, and are animation are still wonderful eye candy! For newcomers, Trigger has a tendency to create really cartoony and dynamic animation, an over dramatic animation style if you will. A style that carries throughout each of Triggers show and gives it that signature experience. Oh, look at me prattling on about the animation studio and not the show itself! But with that said I think it’s still important to understand where the style came from for a better appreciation of the show overall!

Character(s):

As the main protagonists of the show, it’s apparent that Michiru and Shirou get the bulk of screen time throughout the show. But I think what makes the BNA’s characters so interesting is that the more Michiru and Shirou interact with the residents of Anima City, the more the city develops as a whole. It’s really fascinating to rewatch the first episode again after finishing the show and seeing the dramatic difference. Anima City on Episode 1 and Anima City on Episode 12 are two different city, as strange as that may sound! There’s a satisfaction to see the change in the city and the characters as the story progresses.

Sound (OST & Voice Acting):

When I thought the art and animation were already enough, the soundtrack comes in with BANG. BNA’s high energy throughout each episode is thanks to the well crafted soundtrack. There’s quite a wide range in the track list from JPOP aesthetic opening and ending songs to a variety of action tracks for those in intense battle and chase scenes and even simple aesthetic tracks for scenes like Episode 5 when they carry the injured baseball player off the field (trust me you’ll know which one LOL). It hits all the parts it needs too with some variations in between, in other words, the soundtrack continues to keep things interesting throughout the show!

Enjoyment:

Half scared and half excited when I heard about BNA. To be perfectly honest, I was kinda traumatized by Darling in the Franxx and was worried that BNA would be another trainwreck! I’m glad I was wrong and I enjoyed every second of it! Though the pacing was a bit fast and I wanted to see the aftermath of the BIG incident and what the plans were moving forward for Anima City. Other than that, it was a rather satisfying ending!

Overall: Score

9

BNA picks up from the success of Kill la Kill and Promare and learns from the mistakes of Darling in the Franxx to pick Studio Trigger back on its feet! The signature wacky art style that Trigger is known for makes a valiant return paired with a well developed story and characters makes for an interesting show about acceptance and unity.

Best Girl: Michiru

Michiru didn’t really pique my attention at the beginning of the show but as she began to grow through interacting with the other characters and started to define her own sense of justice, I had this tendency to root for her. Michiru may be make the right moves all the time but she learns from her mistakes and she never gives up on her friends. Those qualities and her characters design hooked me at the end and I’m ok with that.

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