Having 'KonoSuba' as Benchmark Is Detrimental to 'Kemono Michi: Rise Up'

Hataage! Kemono Michi a.k.a. Kemono Michi: Rise Up is the anime adaptation of the Kemono Michi manga, which is written by KonoSuba creator Natsume Akatsuki.  Like KonoSuba, Kemono Michi: Rise Up is an isekai comedy.  It follows pro wrestler Genzō Shibata a.k.a. Animal Mask who is suddenly transported to a fantasy world while in the middle of what’s supposed to be his last match.  His summoner, a princess, tasks him to slay the demon beasts that roam the kingdom.  However, unbeknownst to her, he is a die-hard animal lover, and her bidding greatly angers him that he hits her with his finisher – a German Suplex.

Stuck in this new world, Genzō is elated to learn that it contains tons of different kinds of unique beasts and beastmen.  Thus, he’s quick to decide to pursue his life’s dream in this new world, which is, opening and owning a pet shop.  But in order to do so, he must first acquire money for capital and the animals to sell.  Soon, he discovers that he can kill two birds with one stone – earn money and gather animals – by working as a beast hunter for a local guild.  But instead of killing the monsters tasked to him to deal with, he opts to subdue, capture, and befriend them.  Due to excelling in such work, his guildmates give him the nickname “Beast Killer”, much to his fury.  He would immediately thrash anyone who refers to him as much.

KonoSuba is one of the cleverest and most hilarious anime I’ve ever encountered.  Hence, considering that Kemono Michi comes from the same author behind KonoSuba, expecting it to be comedy gold as well is reasonable.  However, although it can be funny, Kemono Michi doesn’t come close to being like KonoSuba in entertainment value.

The storylines – which notably includes one where Genzō introduce wrestling and spectacle events to this world – do enough to amuse, and there are definitely solid gags here and there.  However, the script tends to rely too much on recurring jokes – which, while effectively side-splitting during the first couple of times, grow stale eventually.  The cast of quirky characters is also a source of ample chuckles, but they can only go so far in sustaining a consistently high sense of hilarity.

All in all, Kemono Michi: Rise Up is a zany, fun show.  Unfortunately, it’s disadvantaged by KonoSuba serving as its unavoidable benchmark.  Flaws and shortcomings are magnified.  And by failing to come within striking distance of measuring up, it just can’t be helped that disappointment is the prevailing sentiment after watching its 12-episode season.