DEMI-CHAN WA KATARITAI

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ComedyDemi-chan wa Kataritai
ONA ComedyDemi-chan wa Kataritai: Demi-chan no Natsuyasumi

REVIEWS

• 

  kyuusaku

  80/100
  A solid series with emotional depth and a feel-good atmosphere.

  

  This was a sleeper hit for me, as Demi-chan wa Kataritai was a word-of-mouth recommendation from a friend who had already seen the first episode.  Somehow, in my preparation for the winter anime season, I missed this one, instead casting my attention more toward the more prominent series such as Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2, Masamune-kun no Revenge, and (the previously-reviewed) Kobayashi-san Chi no Meidoragon.  I can't lie and say that I didn't begin watching this series without some set of expectations.  I will fully admit to having watched a fair portion of Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou, and concurrent to this series, Meidoragon.  My experience with Monster Musume was limited to the notion of monster girls being used as the basis for a super-ecchi comedy and that was the extent of my informed prejudgment of how Demi-chan might progress.

  I was horribly mistaken.

  Demi-chan turned out to be a warm-hearted and easy-going story, spending a lot more time on the development of the insecurities of the demihumans trying their best to make a life for themselves in a rather insular society such as Japan's.  All throughout their lives, they faced varying degrees of prejudicial treatment, and when they arrive at Shibasaki High, Tetsuo-sensei's reaction is quite different. It's pretty obvious that Tetsuo is standing in for the "everyman" premise, being kind-hearted, thoughtful, considerate, and respectfully curious about who they are.  In expanding his own personal understanding of the nature of being a demihuman, he begins to try to help them feel more comfortable at school in order to provide them with the best avenue of success; an ideal we'd wish for any teacher entrusted with that level of responsibility.

  The knuckleball pitch in the dirt is when one of the other teachers, Satou-sensei, is introduced as a demihuman herself.  She's a succubus who goes out of her way to reduce contact with anyone who might find her attractive.  Satou-sensei borrows Yankumi's tracksuit from Gokusen in order to dress down her appearance and remain as low-key as possible.  Tetsuo notices this and does his best to appear unaffected by her nature, but as it so happens in anime, incidental contact carries meaning.  A brief touch of the hands, or even bumping into her in the hallways made for some very subtle and understated comedy between the two.  Satou believes that she may have found the only man who's completely unaffected by her pheromones, except as soon as she's out of sight, he shows that he is utterly affected.  The manner in which this was played out in the episodes really elevated the level of storytelling being employed here.

  My favorite characters out of the group were Kyoko (Dullahan) and Satou-sensei.  Both exhibited a deeper dynamic to their characters, where as the others were more caricature than character.  Kyoko's depth came in her maturity over the others, and to a certain extent that appeared to be Satou's strengths as well.  I found that my favorite episodes of the series resulted in a better understanding of those characters specifically, although I didn't hate the other two and enjoyed knowing more, it's just that I clearly favored Kyoko and Satou's stories more.  Especially when we find out about Satou's past and her involvement with the police detectives assigned to her case to ensure her integration into society.  Tetsuo's curiosity about Satou leads her to believe that his interest is not purely academic, and given his (apparent) propensity involving her nature, she sees him as a viable candidate as a future romantic partner.  As stated earlier, there's comedy to be had there, but I felt that Tetsuo's obliviousness contributed to the proceedings.  This factors in greatly in enjoyment of the overall series, especially the recent summer episode broadcast at the end of June.

  Technically, I have no complaints about the animation style.  After reading some of the manga published by Kodansha, the anime did its level best to approximate the art style depicted there.  The story itself allowed a non-reader to access the plot and the characters easily, and as they developed in each episode, those identifying with Tetsuo-sensei will begin to feel an emotional attachment to the demihumans and the obstacles they face.

  Every time I turn around, there's a new TrySail track that I must acquire.  High School Fleet turned me into a fan of TrySail's, so I was enthused to hear them singing the opening theme, "Original."  Unfortunately, I wasn't as big of a fan of the ending theme, "Fairytale" by Sangatsu no Phantasia, mostly because I felt that the composition was pretty pedestrian as far as themes go, but ultimately you're not watching an anime for the theme songs, right?  On the other hand, Masaru Yokoyama brought his A-game with the background music, however, and if you haven't had a chance to listen to the soundtrack, you can pick it up at Amazon or CD Japan pretty easily.  

  In the end, Demi-chan turned out to be a solid series with emotional depth and a feel-good atmosphere.  If you're not a fan of the "monster girls" sub-genre, then I'd recommend you skip it because the premise requires a buy-in that may not be available for full enjoyment.  I'll be checking out a second season, if the rumors are true (as of this writing).  Hopefully we'll have some good news for Demi-chan fans in October!

  Continue on AniList
• 

  beanwolf

  70/100
  A cutesy, feel-good show with a heartfelt message. Surprisingly not fetish-laden. A bit predictable, but enjoyable.

  Ever since MonMusu, the anime community's obsession with monster girls has been near rampant. The sheer insanity of the now-trope generated quite a significant amount of popularity and cash, and additions to the "genre" were sure to follow. That's where we get Demi-chan from, an adaptation of a manga produced on the wave of post-MonMusu (manga) popularity. Thankfully, Demi-chan is a far more reserved and character-focused show than its contemporary, and it helps round out the selection of CGCS offerings for this season. I'll juts get it out of the way now and say that the audio/visual qualities of the show are very typical for the genre: over-abundant focus on character design, very little character motion outside of reaction faces, cutesy art for figure sales, and generic relaxed/happy music. An aesthetic masterpiece Demi-chan is not, but that's not why you'd ever watch this show.

  Demi-chan chooses to focus on the high-school life of 3 demihuman girls and their biology teacher Takahashi, who is interested in demihumans as a research subject. A naturally caring person, Takahashi helps these girls with their both simultaneously normal, relatable, yet supernatural problems while also interviewing them for the purposes of his own biological study. Another teacher, a demihuman herself, enters the fold as well, providing a much needed and appropriate romantic interest for Takahashi as well as an adult foil for the 3 demihuman girls to rely on. The "demi" portions of the characters are far more muted than something like MonMusu, with the cast consisting of a vampire, dullahan, snow-woman, and succubus instead of the... more monstrous ones you might have been expecting.

  The biggest thing that I can nail on this show is that it's incredibly predictable. It uses its more muted themes of "being different" to convey lessons about growing up, fitting in, self-esteem, etc... It's about exactly what you'd expect from the first couple minutes amidst the typical anime high-school tropes like a teacher-crush and a few other hanging-ons. However, what you might not expect is just how genuine these themes come across, and how the show can hit pretty hard with both the feel-goods and the feels when it wants to. This is due in part to just how geniuine the characters come across on-screen, and you'll really come to empathize with them over time even if you might be able to call out the actual "plot" a few minutes in to the episode. Demi-chan is much more about the characters and their feelings than the ride they may take to get there.

  If you like to sit back and relax with one of these cutesy feel-good shows, Demi-chan should be right up your alley. Despite not being anything really new or aesthetically great, it's employed pretty damn well. Fans of the genre will feel right at home, whereas fans of the "genre" might want to check r/hentai instead.

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• 

  ItzToxic

  90/100
  A light atmosphere that touches on the topic of discrimination, and a teacher knows how to treat them right.

  Relationships are beautiful, especially when it can be with people who are half human, half demi.

  Interviews with Monster Girls take into account Slice of Life and Deep topics at the same time;and if A-1 can do something right, it’s this.

  The story mostly happens at school where the events unfold. Our main character, Takahashi sensei, has a slight curiosity to those named demi’s. It’s known to them later on that Demi’s exist in their school, the first one known I believe was Satou sensei, a succubus who tries to avoid crowds for the sake of her, and for the sake of them.

  Succubus do not live a normal life, even though we usually just see them as some sort of sexual character. I mean, it’s not wrong, but after the way Satou lives, I see Succubus as something else, one of the most difficult things to live as.

  It’s sad to live as a Succubus, since it may be hard to love someone when you have everyone attracted to you sexually. It then begins to take a difficult turn on your life and it affects you in a way that you become isolated from everyone and avoid people.

  But that’s why we have our main character.

  Takahashi has to deal with many demi’s.
  The Fun Vampire Hikari
  The Loving Machi
  The Lonely but not so lonely after a while Yuki
  The beautiful Satou

  With Takahashi, developing a relationship with them could prove challenging, but totally worth it in the end.

  It wasn't hard to befriend Hikari due to her fun and outgoing personality. After that, it connects to Machi and then to Yuki and so on. It becomes a chain.

  Takahashi wanted to help any problems they may have, so he researched quite often on each Demi one at a time. To see what they like, don't like, and so on. Once the demi’s see this in him, trust begins to be build in such a way where there’s almost an unbreakable trust.

  You see, I notice that some may view their relationship as odd, and I see where they’re coming from. It can be viewed as weird or uncommon. But when someone truly shows that they care about someone when they aren't usually wanted (because of their characteristics), then of course a strong bond will be created. In this case, Takahashi and his students. He shows genuine love and cares about their well-being and will do anything in his power to make sure they live a happy life where they can live without any worries. With that in mind, I can overlook the relationship that they have.

  I do seem to enjoy series where humans coexist with those that aren't too fully human. But seeing how the demi’s are enjoying the human life very greatly, we can basically they're living a human life. But of course in Machi’s case, it can be hard XD.

  But Slice of Life isn't all there, the interactions with the characters can be in a way deep and explores further into the problems and they work together to figure it out.

  In a way, it can represent modern day discrimination;where certain groups of people are treated unfairly because of who they are.

  In this case, Yuki.

  Before she became a bright girl, she seemed to be unsocial and someone who avoids people. The reason for this may be because of the power she wields. But of course, Hikari breaks through that barrier like nobody’s business. She loves Yuki and therefore goes after her.

  When Takahashi was able to become friends with the demi’s, the world becomes more colourful with a beautiful and stable relationship.

  Speaking of colours, the schemes used in the anime give it more shine.

  Seeing how broken some of the characters are, it’s really amazing what Takahashi sensei can do as a teacher, and a father figure.

  The journey they had together was splendid and the way they care for each other and supports one another, it’s a relationship that we don't see everyday.

  The OP and ED are amazing with its catchy song and the way the happiness within the demi’s are represented and portrayed to the viewers is awesome.

  It brings me full joy and I always had a smile each episode and a ton of laughs.

  Overall the enjoyment was phenomenal. The feelings, the relationships, and the characters. All are good points and it’s definitely one of my favourite of Winter.

  Although underrated, it’s a solid series in my book.

  Continue on AniList

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