JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – BNA: Brand New Animal – Studio Trigger Impressions

BNA: Brand New Animal

Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Comedy

Studio: Trigger

Hey! Are you ready to go? – Yes, I am.

Cuz you know the way to go – Sure I do.

Hello my friends.

I understand that I should have done this entry a year ago, after all, I still own some reviews from Studio Trigger, including Space Patrol Luluco, Primore and SSSS Gridman. or perhaps some black memories from Dragon’s Dogma encouraged me to rest anime from Netflix and go back to Crunchyroll. But no, I refused to forget about what I needed to see from Studio Trigger, not even Jujutsu Kaisen made me turn around about one of my favourite anime studios.

Anyway. Here is…

BRAND NEW ANIMAL

And before I continue, I want to ask you the most important question:

Are you guys ok? Feeling healthy?

If the answer is yes, then I am happy, and I hope that you keep the recommendations from doctors, because we will overcome this pandemic together. And… listen to scientists and doctors.

PREMISE

BNA: Brand New Animal is the eight anime created by Studio Trigger, and directed by the legendary Yoh Yoshinari, the man behind Trigger’s Kill la Kill and Little Witch Academia; the story takes place in a world divided between humans and the anthropomorphic beastmen, who are always discriminated by the former; and high schooler, Michiru Kagemori, discovers that she was transformed into a beastman, so she goes to Anima City, the only place where beastmen can live in harmony. As soon as she arrives, she meets loner Shirou Ogami, together they lived crazy adventures while Michiru looks for a cure for her «disease».

The series consisted of twelve episodes, and is completely available at Netflix. The opening song – Ready to – is performed by Sumire Morohoshi, who also voices Michiru, and the ending song – NIGHT RUNNING – performed by Shin Sakura (ft. AAAMY), was recently nominated to the Best Ending at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2021; speaking of which, for those who read my «I already cast my votes at Crunchyroll», you remember that I chose BNA: Brand New Animal as the Best Character Design (although Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun won).

Recently I decided to watch again some of the episodes in order to restore some of the memories that I got from the first time I saw the anime months ago. Also…

Who can you forget that sweet catchy intro?

STORY

Ok. First things first.

Yep! The first element I noticed is the animation, another trademark from Studio Trigger; it is the same energetic, unique style that we see from Kill la Kill and Little Witch Academia, with all the faces from the characters being a great parts, so flexible and so expressive, very different from what we see in other anime; so fluid and simple that immediately shows the personality of the character; full of vivid colours and some of the best background I can meet. One of the many things that makes Yoh Yoshinari such an amazing director.

I have to be honest. I consider Yoshinari one of the best, most talented animators of Japan now. From Gurren Lagann until now, Yoshinari definitely is a master of how use a more frenetic animation, playing with the norms of face expressions and body proportions, to construct better characters, and a very endearing story that you always repeat. I never thought that I will ever hear of any other director with such a risque style…

…Until I hear of Masaaki Yuasa.

Having said that… How is the story? Well…

Let me start like this… Another great element from Kill la Kill and Little Witch Academia is that both have 24 and 25 episodes respectively, because it gave both series the necessary time for a proper world building. BNA: Brand New Animal has 12 episodes.

The main story is Michiru trying to find a cure for her condition, so in the first episodes, we see a good glimpse of Anima City, of Shirou, and how the Beastman were created. This is one of best points of Studio Trigger, it takes time to introduces us to the world that is being created. But then, some of the episodes of BNA: Brand New Animal have more episodic plots, like Michiru joining a baseball team, Michiru taking a beastman to meet a part of the world, and other detached from the main conflicts. From my perspective, this develops more the lifestyle of Anima City, and how Michiru accepts her Beastman side.

But on the other hand, I almost complained of now Kiznaiver felt a bit slow during the first half of the series, only to conclude that the pacing of the story. Well… in BNA: Brand New Animal passes exactly the opposite. It starts really fast, and then it goes a bit slowly in the story, from episode four. For the previous reason, I love this focus in the story.

I admit that I wish the series was a bit longer, because 12 episodes are not always enough for doing something memorable, especially from Studio Trigger, like we have seen with previous Trigger works (Honorable mention to Darling in the FRANXX).

Overall, it is better that you judge the story of BNA: Brand New Animal by yourself.

CHARACTERS

On My Top Waifus of 2020 – Part I, I already named Michiru Kagemori as one of my favourite of this year. I found her really endearing and likeable, just like most of the female characters from Studio Trigger. And her design manages to have a balance between cute and badass (Now you see why I voted BNA for Best Character Design). However, another character who is really awesome is Shirou Ogami, our cool loner who acts like a vigilante/mercenary that protects the rights of the beastman.

Small trivia – Ogami resembles the Okami, as in Wolf. And Shirou means white in Japanese. As in…

Now I see that white wolves is the symbol of heroism in Japan.

Also, we got Mink, our… tradeswoman, who is always there to get information for both Michiru and Ogami… for a price. I think that is pretty obvious. Alan Sylvasta, one mysterious figure who has a great interesting on Michiru. Well, one person that is interested in him is me, because…

• 

• 

He could be a relative of Diana Cavendish, from Little Witch Academia.

And let’s not forget Nazuna, the best friend of Michiru. I can’t wait to see her part in the story.

CONCLUSION

I really enjoyed BNA: Brand New Animal. It is definitely not the best work from Trigger, but one that you can binge. I cannot promise that every fan of Studio Trigger will have a good time, but it is definitely worth check it out.

At least for me, BNA: Brand New Animal has had a pretty solid contribution for me, and that is…

RELEASE MY INNER FURRY!!!

Now let’s go… Let’s get some sweet furry pictures.

What happens if I write Furry and Rule 34?

Eh… never mind… You know… I will simply go back to cats.

DAMN IT!!!!

JAINITUOS ANIME REVIEWS – Little Witch Academia – Studio Trigger analysis

Little Witch Academia

Studio: Trigger

Genre: Fantasy, Coming-of-age

Hey guys.

Welcome to another Studio Trigger review.

Like I promised on my previous review of Ninja Slayer; I am going to do this wonderful series, which I think it is one of the best works of this talented studio. Especially because, from my perspective, this series has managed to become as popular as Kill la Kill.

With that said, let me introduce you…

But before I continue with this review, I must ask you the typical questions:

Are you guys ok? Feeling happy and healthy?

If the answer is yes, then I am very happy, especially because I want to leave the same message:

Please, do not underestimate the COVID-19

Remember, dangerous virus, unpredictable consequences.

And now, I bring you Little Witch Academia.

PREMISE

Little Witch Academia is, like I said, one of the most notorious franchises created by Trigger, along with Kill la Kill, and SSSS Gridman, and from now on, I will use the acronym LWA when required. Anyway. LWA tells the story of Atsuko Kagari, a.k.a. Akko, a young Japanese girl who just enrolled in the Luna Nova Academy, a school of witches with students from all over the world, in a time where magic is almost forgotten. From her early years, Akko has been a fan of magic, because she saw a beautiful, wonderful show from the most famous witch of all time…

CHARIOT DU NORD (Shiny Chariot)

And that is why Akko wants to become a witch. Once there, she befriends two students, Lotte Jansson, a kind, soft-spoken witch from Finland who specialises in forest magic and summoning fairies, and Sucy Manbavaran, a witch from Philippines, who has a bizarre interest in mushrooms, and great talent in creating poisons.

There is one problem for Akko though. Two in fact, the first one is that Akko, unlike Lotte and Sucy, has no natural talent for witchcraft, and she is a natural troublemaker, which leads her to be involved in many insane, yet wonderful situations that will open her path to be the powerful, kind witch she is meant to be.

The second problem is that she has a rival. Diana Cavendish, one of the most talented Luna Nova students, is there for making things harder for Akko. Of course, we have other wonderful characters, but I will talk about those later.

There is a funny story though. The first time I heard about Little Witch Academia, around mid-2017, I thought it was an spin-off of My Hero Academia. Honestly, I don’t know why. Perhaps because both series included the word Academia, but obviously, the animation, the themes, and the universe have a lot of differences one from another. Luckily for me, when I start watching LWA, I not only understand that it was not unrelated to MHA, I also saw how wonderful this series is.

Speaking of Trigger, LWA is directed by Yoh Yoshinari, famous for being involved in Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill, and is also the main director of BNA: Brand New Animal; and it was first released as an animated short film in 2013, and another Kickstarter-funded sequel, called The Enchanted Parade, until it was released as an 25 episode series in 2017, leading to a videogame, called Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time. 

And of course… how could I forget the superb, incredible soundtrack from Michiru Oshima? Just take a look to the theme of Shiny Chariot. It perfectly catches your ear, as well as how colourful this series is.

Indeed, Little Witch Academia became big. And hopefully I can explain the reason throughout the rest of the review.

STORY

For the record, I will only focus on the TV series for the review, with some sporadic mentions of The Enchanted Parade, because the former is the one that has the best elements.

At plain sight, Little Witch Academia looks like a typical story of a girl going to school, causing mess instead of trying to get good grades, and fighting a lot of evil monsters brought to life with magic, until the others graduate while our main character becomes better and better. You know, what you will expect from a school anime. However, after seeing the episodes, you understand that, perhaps, Little Witch Academia is more.

But before I got into this, I must clarify that the first half of the series focuses in developing the characters and the world of LWA through the adorable messes (Man! I bet you never thought in combining those two words) of Akko and friends, and the second half has a more visible story, with a defined antagonist and stakes. Personally, I like both parts equally. Of course!! Fans would prefer the second part of Little Witch Academia, for it has a story easier to follow, and better developed characters, and I understand that, especially because all of that brings one of the most epic, spectacular climaxes ever done by Studio Trigger, along with Kill la Kill and SSSS Gridman. 

But for me…

The first part of Little Witch Academia is very special, because we get to know how the magic works, how to do simple things as riding your broom, and the vision many characters have for the World; in fact, there is an episode where Akko must save Sucy from a spell, and the only option is to get into Sucy’s mind, bringing some of the best characters moments. Furthermore, in another episode, there is this aristocratic, called Andrew Hanbridge, who has no interest in magic, but after meeting Akko, he gets «enchanted» by what he experienced. However, there is more, because the father of Andrew has some dark intentions regarding Luna Nova, giving us a subtle social commentary about corporate monopolies.

Finally, one of the funniest episodes is where some staff of Luna Nova goes on strike.

This episode has a lot of comedy, but deep down, is a reminder of the hard work put by the people who perform what many call «menial jobs», and to be a bit more grateful.

As you can see, many episodes of Little Witch Academia can look like typical anime adventures, but they also have very important messages about friendship, loyalty, hope, perseverance. In that regard, it has the same strength of other great Trigger series, like Kill la Kill, Kiznaiver and Darling in the FRANXX. Along with a pretty solid character development, we witness a world building equally solid, and with the animation, it brings some sense of identity and uniqueness that many Western cartoons would like to obtain.

Despite this, the episode never lose its light tone. The main purpose is to have a lot of fun, and trying to reflex about these elements in life that we don’t think are important, but from a better perspective, they become special for us. Furthermore, when Little Witch Academia needs to be serious, it is serious, and it takes the necessary time to explore how some of their characters feel.

«When you are sad, accept that you are sad» 

Overall, this is what makes all the episodes of Little Witch Academia. Perhaps the first half is not as structured as the second half, but it definitely has its wonderful moments, moments that are definitely worth the watch.

CHARACTERS

People say that a hero is as only as good as his enemies. And in the case of Little Witch Academia, I would say that the story is as compelling as its characters. Aside from Akko, Lotte, Diana and Sucy, we got…

(Clockwise, Jasminka, Amanda and Constanze)

Amanda, a feisty witch from America, Constanze, a young German girl who likes technology, and communicates through her robots, literally, and Jasminka, a Russian student that loves to eat. And all of them always join, or are simply dragged, into the crazy adventures of Akko; all have incredible personalities, and are as powerful as their comrades.

You end up liking these characters, because of both their identities and the animation. Who do I explain this? Just look at Jasminka.

All the time, she has this smiley face, with a different food with her. It is very simple, but, somehow, it is funny and charming at the same time, you cannot avoid getting hooked by her. It is hard to explain. However, I assume that it is how the character, and the animation manage to bring her a balance that is beautiful and hysterical.

Still not convinced? Check this GIF.

Where does she get this much potato chips?

Furthermore, we got the best friends of Diana, Hannah England and Barbara Parker

Now, I will stop from a minute, and try to talk about Diana, Barbara and Hannah, because much like some elements of the plot of the series, they also got a deeper meaning that what meets the eye.

Diana, unlike Akko, is a better student and a more successful witch, and she is extremely refined, knowledgeable and perfect. Diana is the perfect foil of Akko, always trashing our protagonist in a very subtle manner,Hannah and Barbara are at her side. In other words, when you see Hannah and Barbara together with Diana, you might think of them as the typical henchmen of the bully.

That is correct. But there is something else. Unlike many henchmen, Diana cares about Barbara and Hannah. They are close, best friends. Many bullies in fiction see their gangs as disposable; with Diana, that is not the case; in her way, she also supports Hannah and Barbara when needed, and in the end, both are useful in the last episodes too.

Speaking of Diana, that bad treatment she gives Akko has a point, and I mention this because Akko can be excruciating. Akko gets annoying too easily because of her shenanigans, so Diana has all the right to berate Akko; surprisingly, the audience gives the reason to Diana. Furthermore, Diana is one of the most developed character in Little Witch Academia. She starts as the typical wealthy rival, just like Seto Kaiba, but then we come to know the reasons of her attitude.

Of course, I will not go into spoilers, but I was witness of how her background makes her unique from other rivals or bullies.

Now, before I finish, I must say that as excitable and passionate as Akko is, she can be incredibly annoying and unlikeable sometimes. This is one of the main criticisms to Little Witch Academia, and it is true. But LWA: The Enchanted Parade reflects that. It is one of the many moments in which Akko can be repelling.

Yet, she is still a well defined character, and some are her friends.

CONCLUSION

To sum up, Little Witch Academia reminds me why I like Studio Trigger so much. It is a great series with fantastic animation, wonderful characters and a charming setting in general.

It is one of this greatest series and for good, freaking reasons. It is a story of magic, with everything that inspires us to continue fighting and try to be who we are, and another great example of the amazing talent of Studio Trigger in general.

I know I said a lot of things. But it is that Little Witch Academia is so special for me, I got to let my thoughts go. And I will do it again.

Guys. Thanks again for stepping to my Little Witch Academia review. And I got done with Earth… let’s go to space.