[This article contains major spoilers for BNA]<\/strong><\/p>\n BNA<\/em> is set in a world where \u201cbeastmen\u201d have been around as long as humans. Beastmen are anthropomorphized animals. They have all the abilities of their animal counterparts. A cheetah beastman has super speed. A rhinoceros beastman has super strength. A wolf beastman has super smell\u2014things of that nature.<\/p>\n However, despite the fact that beastmen can take human form, they are a persecuted group\u2014even in the modern age. Due to this fact, Japan has allowed the creation of Anima City\u2014a place made by beastmen for beastmen.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, this city proves to be less than the ideal it was hoped to be. The crime rate is high and much of the population lives in poverty\u2014made worse by the constant stream of immigrants to the city. Moreover, the city is largely in the debt of a major, human-run pharmaceutical company interested in studying beastmen.<\/p>\n Enter into this situation Michiru. For all rights and purposes, she is a normal high school girl. However, one day, she becomes a beastman\u2014a tanuki to be exact\u2014and is forced to flee her old life for Anima city.<\/p>\n There\u2019s just one trick to all this. Humans don\u2019t \u201cbecome\u201d beastmen. They are two different species. You\u2019re either a beastmen at birth or a human at birth, period. Thus, Michiru\u2019s main goal in the city is figuring out what happened to her and if it\u2019s possible for her to return to being human.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not hard to see that racism is the key theme in BNA<\/em>. After all, the Japan presented is basically an apartheid state. Outside of Anima City, beastmen are hunted freely and the government wants nothing more than beastmen to simply no longer exist. Locking them all up in one place is the next best thing.<\/p>\n Michiru herself lives an odd existence. As a human, she was in the majority\u2014with all the rights and privileges that came along with that. However, by becoming a beastman, she is suddenly a minority and is forced to deal with all the racism directed at her. She can\u2019t do simple things like ride a bus in the outside world. And even when surrounded by humans who don\u2019t hate beastmen, she is fetishized as something \u201cexotic.\u201d<\/p>\n However, her unique point of view also makes Michiru a bridge between the two races. Over the story, she comes to understand both sides and hates neither. This is in direct contrast to Ogami, the male lead in the series.<\/p>\n Ogami is a several thousand-year-old wolf beastman\u2014with powers far beyond what is normal. Not only does he have super strength but he also has a healing factor that makes him immortal. Time and time again, he has seen humans do horrible things to his people\u2014and each time he has risen up in some form to fight them.<\/p>\n This leaves him unable to believe that humans are anything but 100% evil\u2014every single one of them. However, Michiru proves the bias in his line of thinking. Michiru, despite her beastman powers, is still a human\u2014at least in her mind if nowhere else. She is kind, righteous, and wants to help those in pain. While certainly naive at the start, soon enough she is basically the superhero sidekick to Ogami.<\/p>\n As their relationship grows, he comes to terms with the idea that, while there are bad humans (just as there are bad beastmen), there are good humans out there too.<\/p>\n At the start, the actual plot of the story is as excellent as the theme it explores. Michiru hunting for the cause of her transformation, learning to use her tanuki powers, and solving crimes with Ogami is fun enough. And things really ramp up when Michiru finally finds her friend Nazuna, who was also originally human but is now the messiah of a beastman cult\u2014especially when it’s revealed that she is a fox and has transforming powers similar to Michiru.<\/p>\n However, the back half of the series is when things kind of fall apart. This is largely because Nazuna is an inconsistent character. At first, she has no qualms about using her old friend as a tool to get what she wants. She routinely says or does horrible things to Michiru even as Michiru tries to repair their friendship.<\/p>\n When it comes down to it, Nazuna is a cult leader who knows she is a fake but is reveling in her own notoriety. However, Michiru also knows Nazuna is a fake\u2014as she knows the actual god Nazuna is impersonating. It\u2019s a clash of personalities and ideals that appears to be leading to an emotional conflict at the climax.<\/p>\n However, this is not the case. Near the end, the two reconcile suddenly and all the horrible things Nazuna has done are quickly forgotten\u2014even as she continues to act as the beastmen messiah. Nazuna faces no consequences for her actions in the end and there is no final conflict between the two shapeshifting friends.<\/p>\n Instead, it is Ogami who fights his similarly powered doppelganger in the climax. This carries far less weight as the main villain isn\u2019t revealed until the climax is already underway. Moreover, the villain and Ogami have very little in the way of a personal relationship. Yes, Ogami\u2019s people were massacred by the villain\u2019s ancestor but the two men barely have a single conversation in the series as a whole before they fight their big battle.<\/p>\n The unfortunate result of the action climax being centered around Ogami is that Michiru is turned into little more than a bystander during the final boss fight. Despite her transformation powers and insane strength, all she does is watch wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Even when she has a perfect chance to interject\u2014at the moment of truth, where Ogami finally has the villain at his mercy\u2014she says nothing. Instead, the impetus for action is left with Ogami, who in seeing Michiru looking on, decides to back down. (Though honestly, I\u2019m not sure why as even Michiru probably wouldn\u2019t object to killing a person who is in the middle of committing literal genocide.)<\/p>\n All in all, there\u2019s a lot to love about BNA<\/em>. It uses a fantastical setting to explore the real world issue of racism, it has a wonderful world full of crazy characters to explore, and the animation is pure eye candy that\u2019s as beautiful as it is imaginative. And while the end is messy in how it concludes its character arcs and overall plot, it\u2019s certainly a fun watch overall.<\/p>\n BNA<\/em> can be seen on Netflix.<\/p>\n Top image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300eBNA \u30d3\u30fc\u30fb\u30a8\u30cc\u30fb\u30a8\u30fc\u300f<\/a> on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EVqBxUZUUAAhmPQ.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300eBNA \u30d3\u30fc\u30fb\u30a8\u30cc\u30fb\u30a8\u30fc\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EYeRy84UMAAGC2P.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300eBNA \u30d3\u30fc\u30fb\u30a8\u30cc\u30fb\u30a8\u30fc\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/ERIFZhpUEAAL0wU.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300eBNA \u30d3\u30fc\u30fb\u30a8\u30cc\u30fb\u30a8\u30fc\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EZowJdSUcAA7H2k.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300eBNA \u30d3\u30fc\u30fb\u30a8\u30cc\u30fb\u30a8\u30fc\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EZCWMIFUMAARVpm.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300eBNA \u30d3\u30fc\u30fb\u30a8\u30cc\u30fb\u30a8\u30fc\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EaNKKbrUMAAnk3S.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300eBNA \u30d3\u30fc\u30fb\u30a8\u30cc\u30fb\u30a8\u30fc\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Eaw2dZLVcAErFgh.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300eBNA \u30d3\u30fc\u30fb\u30a8\u30cc\u30fb\u30a8\u30fc\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EVsaLwSU4AA1aLK.jpg?w=700&ssl=1\")
Image source: TV\u30a2\u30cb\u30e1\u300eBNA \u30d3\u30fc\u30fb\u30a8\u30cc\u30fb\u30a8\u30fc\u300f<\/a> on Twitter<\/em><\/p>\n
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