Got your attention? Gooodddddd
Crunchyroll finally released a chapter…that’s the first chapter! That would be of Renda Hitori’s Okitenemuru. Naru and Maggie decided to go take a look at the chapter and see what it’s all about. Feel free to give it a read, get their thoughts about it, then share your thoughts about the series in the comments section. Or you can do vice versa. Probably.
After reading Okitenemuru, what’s your initial impression of the first chapter?
Maggie: Wow, a lot going on here, yet at the same time very little is revealed about the direction of the storyline. So far Okitenemuru is a mixture of crime thriller, supernatural, and some more graphic and mysterious elements hinted at by the characterization of giraffe man and the woman in the all-leather bodysuit. This chapter spend a lot of time introducing multiple aspects of the story without really going into depth about any of them so it’s hard to get interested into the story. I think that when you write a story that involves a lot of absurdist elements, it’s important to explain them right away and demonstrate their relevance otherwise they seem like silly gimmicks and it’s hard to take them seriously. So far this chapter is running around in circles without truly accomplishing anything.
Naru: Huhu, my initial impression? My overall impression was “WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?!”. People turning into carnivorous giraffes, shady animal killers, and a story with a school setting to boot? I’m so confused…and also a bit sad if you consider the last few pages of the first chapter.
What is the one moment, if any, that stood out to you?
Maggie: The giraffe man at the beginning for sure. It reminded me of an almost ancient and unfinished manga series called Fire Candy by Natsuo Imamura about a delinquent group of half-breed kids (in this particular world, humans interbred with animals). Fire Candy is a violent, graphic, and difficult work, and something about the criminal nature of the giraffe man (and the nature of whatever disease causes the animalistic transformations) brought back the memories of that work. The similarities end there, though. I read Fire Candy a long time ago as a teenager, but what I can remember from its approach to the rather sensitive and grotesque material it chose to address was an underlying social commentary, and that’s what Okitenemuru lacks so far. The transformations into half-animals seems random, almost silly, despite the deadly consequences.
Naru: Surely the moment where this school kid turns into a giraffe and eats his school mates. That honestly wasn’t a pretty moment to see. Also, killing your classmates for teasing you isn’t the way to go, man.
What didn’t stand out to you in a positive manner?
Maggie: Kanata’s trigger for his psychic abilities is just plain weird. Sticking your finger in your ear? It’s like sticking your finger up your nose or something. It lacks any finesse and seems a little creepy and dangerous.
Naru: Nothing in particular. I’m just shocked and confused about what I’ve read and what direction the story wants to take us.
What do you hope can develop from what you’ve read so far?
Maggie: I think the pacing should slow down and hopefully the story will focus on one or two aspects instead of trying to get everything in the open from the beginning. The series has a lot of explaining to do, and if it knows what’s best then it will provide some plausible explanation for the whole animal head thing right away. Other than that, Okitenemuru definitely has the potential to be a gruesome story, so I can only hope that it lives up to that potential.
Naru: I hope the story will explain why exactly do students (let it be Mr. Giraffe or the students we see in the later page) have strange abilities.