BNA

Is Studio Trigger presenting an X-Men anime series? Or maybe it is called Beastmen? Well, actually they ended up calling it Brand New Animal! Welcome to Zootopia, a city full of animals... Not again! Well, welcome to Anima City, a city full of animals that are not exactly animals... It depends a lot on how much you like the Trigger animation studio because this show is full of their famous trademark style. Michiru is another classic Trigger main female protagonist in the vein of the protagonists in Kill la Kill, Space Patrol Luluco and Little Witch Academia. The animation is very creative, uniquely colorful, and dynamic. It features a well-thought-out and entertaining narrative with a very intense, almost over-the-top conclusion that was right up my street. Is there, however, something that I think makes this a significantly above-average show that pushes what I would perhaps expect from this studio to new levels? Nah. I do like the productions by Studio Trigger, how they produce everything in a dynamic and visually interesting way. When I compare it to a lot of other anime series, BNA: Brand New Animal is based on some really good ideas, it is designed well, and has a great ending. The fact that I like Trigger's trademark animation style and also the excellent soundtrack makes it fun to watch. However, perhaps Studio Trigger’s productions are starting to all look a bit samey? This is the first time I am in a situation where that question has really bothered me and that is not a good thing... Well, all right, I did enjoy it, even though it took a little longer than usual for me to get into and relate to the main protagonist and other characters, and I am going to add some extra points for the last two episodes, which were great and had one really great twist (even if it was an absolute dog of a clichéd plot twist, or rather a three-headed wolf beastman of a...). 7/10. (08.05.2020)

When talking about music, people use the term “one-hit-wonder”, which makes me recall a whole host of artists, however, when this connection is used with anime, Trigger is the first studio that comes to mind. They peaked with Gurren Lagann, which was a creative marriage between the people behind Trigger under the banner of yet another studio, and since then, I have been witnessing their decline as they have attempted better that work by simply constantly churning out the same old animation and narrative techniques because they are still under the shadow of Gurren Lagann. The productions creeping out from the studio that is to blame are either purely average (Little Witch Academia), or clearly below average works (Kill la Kill, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Kiznaiver). Attempting to create and maintain your own style may be nice in itself, but at the same time, it also needs to be capable of being updated, breaking new ground, moving forward, and experimenting, and not just with its animations and narrative techniques. As Trigger presents itself on Kickstarter or Patreon as an innovative studio, and a prime mover in the field of anime with creative freedom, their next work, BNA: Brand New Animal, is the first obliquely artificial, atrociously tedious - although otherwise garishly Trigger, with the typical Trigger wildness and dynamic Trigger scenes. Everything else, however, is the same old average stuff seen many times, which is absolutely nothing new, and just makes me indifferent to all the characters and events on screen like a cat to a newly bought cat bed. If you like the kitsch of Trigger’s style, then you too might want to create a story that shows the fight against racism, coming out and living within the LGBTQ community, or who-knows-what-else (to me, it does not seem like an accident that it was produced by Netflix). It will end up like this, an incredibly superficial and predictable affair, which is just another of the many reactionary animes of 2020. Attempting to watch twelve episodes, I was done after five. I give this a definite 1 star. (07.04.2021)

I’m actually watching something from Trigger? An exceptional event, remember it well! And from the first few seconds, everything points to Trigger’s work as if it was made to order: round outlines with faded colors and a main character identical to all the previous ones from this studio. Michiru is exactly the same (only thankfully with less yelling) as Akko from LWA, i.e. a jigsaw puzzle put together from radioactively naive good-heartedness, incorrigible repetition of mistakes, and when you've got friends coming out of your ears it really takes more than one Tom to fail. BNA is a passable whodunit, wrapped in a very animalistic outfit with anti-racist undertones, tactfully pointing out that the physical exterior (as is characteristic of animal stories) is just a shell. The plot and script don't mess around: it's clear very early on who's on what side (slight doubts with the mayor; the "Croix-esque" minor villain is as subtle as a lighthouse), and this is where the strong two-dimensional treatment of almost all the characters hurts, throwing any attempt at a more complex story into the trash. I was bothered by the mithril-powered fence armor several of them had and the crutch of overcoming any obstacles is already more of a tank than a wheelchair in terms of imagery. This is by no means an exception with Trigger, though, because after all they specialize in straightforward anime with explosively over-the-top finales. By the time we get down to it, Michiru has to annoyingly hit his nose about 6 times and go through an unnecessary baseball digression that somehow didn't amuse me much. The final resolution in the last episodes is worth it though, and action buffs will enjoy the elaborate Trigger eradication craft, except that the punchline remained sort of lifeless. Why would anyone go back halfway when they currently have all the options? Artistically it's beautiful, the quality of the animation is almost always guaranteed with this studio, and I wouldn't have minded the more modern street-tuned soundtrack if the ED hadn't kept repeating in the middle of the episode. 3 stars (24.07.2020)