DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ActionKilling Bites
MUSIC SupernaturalKedamono Damono

REVIEWS

• 

  APortInAnyStorm

  70/100
  WWE meets TierZoo in this boisterous B-movie battle royale.

  If there's one thing you need to know about Killing Bites, it's that it's Gratuitous with a capital G. Mindless gore and unbridled fanservice wait their turn to bombard your senses, and sometimes both of them end up skipping the queue and inundating your screen with whatever it takes to get your head and heart popping. This show takes all the excitement from professional wrestling or other forms of superficial entertainment and turns it up a notch, using the cut-throat, winner-takes-all, dog-eat-dog premise as a foundation (read "excuse") upon which to ensure as much blood splatters on the floor as possible.

  Those looking for something even remotely thoughtful or sophisticated need not apply - Killing Bites is stress relief in its purest, most unabashed form. There's a lot to cringe at, for sure, but sometimes in order to find happiness, you have to dig deep into the dirt. If you're looking for a show that knows no shame, this might just be the one for you.

  (Ratings for each aspect of the anime are given in brackets.)

  Premise (3/5): Four massive family-run conglomerates (also known as "zaibatsus") have devised a plan to decide which of their companies should retain control of Japan's economy: develop and train warriors, then pit them against each other in a gladiatorial ring to see who wins. As technology develops, so too do the warriors (now called "Brutes") as they are genetically modified into anthropomorphic avatars of various animals, possessing tremendous strength and peerless ability - especially when they transform into their more animalistic selves.

  The premise of this series, which sounds like a conspiracy theory from the get-go, turns the fight for economic control into something of a gorefest. It's the sort of behavior you'd expect from the shady crony capitalists running the world, and the absolute moral bankruptcy of the zaibatsus and their chairmen lays the groundwork for the bloodshed to come. It's a simple setting, but one that allows for a great deal of narrative freedom... not that this show ever really exercises that liberty.

  The main character, a hapless university student who is abruptly and unfortunately thrust into the underworld's brightest spotlight, is dragged from trouble to trouble by forces that are far beyond his control. Though he occasionally summons the will to fend for himself whenever he is able, he can do nothing against the great physical might of the Brutes or the great political and economic influence of the zaibatsus. It's refreshing to see a main character that's not strong or powerful in any way, and his helplessness only adds to the overall novelty of the story.

  _The beginning of an adventure beyond any nightmare._

  Characters (3/5): The protagonist Nomoto is a 20-something college kid who gets into something way, way over his head. It's tempting to call him an idiot and despise him whenever he gets cold feet and delegates his decision-making to other people, but putting myself into his shoes, I can sort of sympathize. I'd like to think that I'd do a lot better, but that's really just the privilege of the observer speaking - the truth is that if you've never been anyone special, and a great mantle of responsibility is suddenly thrust upon your shoulders, it might just end up crushing you under its weight. It was satisfying to watch him take the initiative somewhat in the end, which elevated him a little above the rest of the cast in developmental terms.

  The Brutes are mostly static archetypes of the animals that they embody, particularly in the heat of battle - for example, the Cobra is a slithering, sinister, salacious horndog, whilst the Tiger is a steely, hot-headed, stubborn former delinquent. Many of their pasts are explored in various flashbacks, which I do appreciate, as it's interesting to see how the relationships between certain characters have blossomed from potentially stormier pasts, particularly if they were still human when they first encountered each other. As expected, the female main character, Hitomi, gets the lengthiest elaboration on her personal backstory, and it was strangely heartwarming to see how she went from essentially an untouchable feral animal to the stuck-up, haughty, but nonetheless human form she now took on.

  As mentioned previously, most of the people working for the zaibatsus are bereft of anything approaching compassion or empathy. Yoko Mitsukado, the granddaughter of the Mitsukado zaibatsu's chairman, is made out to be a particularly arrogant and officious eyesore, which probably explains the satisfying (?) fate that she ultimately meets at the hands of her former Brute charge. As for the chairmen themselves, they engage in their own game of deceit and counter-deceit during the "Destroyal", and in the end those that win out simply continue the endless cycle of power- and money-grabbing, hence extending their caricatures as the greedy, soulless bastards that we want them to be.

  The cast as a whole is standard fare, but the characters play their parts pretty well in the grand drama that unfolds. Any additional tidbits about their pasts are pleasant surprises, though some could've definitely used a little more meat.

  _A likeable list of superhumans._

  Audiovisuals (5/5): Killing Bites is all about the spectacle, and the spectacle is undeniably top-tier. The battle sequences cut no corners whatsoever - save for the occasional clunky-looking CGI here and there - with every slash, every wound, every bite captured in graphic and sensuous detail. The fights are well-choreographed and dynamic, reflecting the disparate strengths and habits of each animal - as well as their various weaknesses, which are frequently exploited to the fullest extent possible. The fanservice is relatively restrained compared to the gore, but that's not to say that it's minimal at all, which will please those who've come to see busty babes doing what they do best, especially as the camera keeps zooming into their... "important" parts. There can be no complaints whatsoever about the animation, seeing as most of the show's budget seems to have gone there.

  The character designs also deserve a mention, as it's difficult to turn everyone into animal avatars without using the same "configuration" with every single character (e.g. animal upper body, human lower body). Some characters only switch parts of their bodies; others have essentially full-on transformations. There's a good variety going around, though it's a little obvious what the animators are going for when the females mostly maintain their human torsos and backsides.

  The soundtrack for the series is blessed by the hand of Yasuharu Takanashi, who's composed the music for many famous anime series, and the mostly rock-oriented repertoire is perfect for the endless stream of battles and skirmishes. The OP is by fripSide, so it's guaranteed to be a hell of a good listen, and the ED is also similarly exhilarating. The no-holds-barred sound effects, from the shotgun punches to the bone-crunching tackles, are appropriately and impactfully applied throughout. The result is a feast for the eyes and the ears par excellence.

  _Gore galore._

  Execution (4/5): With a show about bestial humans (or humanoid beasts) beating the shit out of each other, the last thing you want to do is overcomplicate the plot or throw in unnecessary wrenches to slow the action down. The explanatory flashbacks can feel a little out of place at times, especially if they happen right before someone's jugular is about to get slit open, but most of them are concise enough that you get a good sense of what's going on before the wholesale bloodshed returns.

  Each Brute's ability is introduced with a dramatic pause followed by the name of the skill thundering onto the screen (somewhat reminiscent of Keijo, if you've seen that anime), which immediately tells you that nothing about this show should be taken seriously. Moreover, the animals' unique attributes are expounded in extravagant fashion by the narrator, who sounds more and more like a wrestling commentator with every new interjection. The ridiculousness of what you're watching is only compounded by the wacky episode names and the surreal post-credits extras, but if you don't already know what you're in for by the end of the first episode, then you probably wouldn't enjoy the rest of the series anyway.

  Killing Bites is the sort of fun that borders on the hopelessly inane. It's something of a prerequisite that you switch your brain off completely before you dive in, though a few of the twists and turns that go on behind the scenes are actually quite intriguing in their own right, particularly with the double-crossing and triple-crossing occurring at the zaibatsus' highest echelons. But that middling level of complexity is just about right for a show where you only have to remember one thing: that those with the sharpest fangs win. If you get hurt, hurt them back. If you get killed... walk it off.

  "That's Killing Bites," as Hitomi often likes to say.

  _A sight for sore eyes, which is all it has to be._

  Overall: 4/5

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