Bem

The potential existed for this story to be great, unfortunately it never reached that point. The beginning started off with some world building as well as introducing societal as well as social problems to the mix, which in my opinion is always a plus. The sad thing though, is that these problems were only slightly attempted at and the issues didn't show the slightest bit of progress towards the end. It's unfortunate because these issues were interwoven into the society that couldn't accept Bem,Belo, and Bela. It was a really interesting point to look at from , but the only difference between the end andthe beginning is that a bridge got destroyed as well as the fact the the hidden council has a kid as the new head rather than a youkai human. The supporting cast became a bit stale, as there only role was to be observers but not even good ones. The doctor that made humans into warped version of youkai humans went missing, and the epilogue doesn't show the police or anyone looking for him. The ending is a bit too open with not any of the problems being resolved, however the main three characters were what really pulled the show through. Their aspirations to be accepted and become human were easy to empathize with and easy to support. The emotional betrayals they felt hit home and their weird family/friend bond with each other was sweet, and in my opinion should've been explored more. The music , especially the opening was cool and , and it was one of the great draws that made me watch the show to the end . The main three could've done with more backstory or bonding time, or even more personal arcs, because as a viewer that's what I was invested in, the societal machinations never pulled through after all. What I'm trying to say is that it was good, it has a lot of loose ends, definitely needed more episodes , and the battles were average, but the main characters are great and the music is enjoyable , so it should be an easy watch on a Sunday if there's no other anime in your queue.

Well... it could've been worse. Unlike Arifuerta, where it was a beautiful mess, this was just a boring mess. I mean, it could've had some promise in it's early stages, but whatever we got, we got the worst version of it. It could've been a potential gem, but thanks to the underdeveloped writing, terrible characters and the awful world building. First off, Bem is a terrible main character. After the pilot, he just becomes a nothing character even though the show is NAMED after him, but whatever. Belo is an annoying little shit that just comes off as obnoxious and Bela is the only character thatcomes off as a little less bland then the others but that's only because she comes off as somewhat likable. All the other characters are as thick as glass. Alice, as a character isn't a bad idea. Instead of only focusing on the monsters wanting to become demons, we also focus on a human that is investigating the demons. However, the biggest flaw in the show is that since the audience knows the demons and we mostly focus on them, when something happens with the demons we see it and then when the detectives investigate, they just regurgitate information that we already know. The detectives just become more and more pointless as the show goes and you question the point of them many, many times. Also, the tonal whiplashes. These happen in virtually every episode (minus the pilot, which is the best episode I believe) where the tone could switch to two characters talking about their past lives and how they could be talking about something from a past life and then suddenly one of the characters gets hit by a giant bowling ball. The giant bowling ball is being thrown by a humanoid monster then looks like Elvis Presley. Yeah, it's that trite and stupid. It also doesn't help that the majority of the show, the tone just doesn't fit the villains. The tone feels dark and dreary, but then you'll have a psychopathic germaphobe that killed his abusive stepdad and Electro from Amazing Spider Man 2 except his electricity is yellow. You would think this would make the show interesting, but it somehow makes all of this feels stupid and boring. There's also characters like Gus and some other kid but their both terrible. All the other characters are either to bland or too obnoxious to care about. The animation is basic and like Cop Craft, the show did not have a lot of animators to this project and you can see all the shortcuts they make throughout the series. The character designs look good but nothing spectacular. The music is the only part I would say is pretty decent. The OP is solid for a good bit and some of the other pieces are pretty solid and work within the show. But that's not enough to save this show. Overall, Bem had potential but it was squashed. It wants to be everything: Different ideologies of wanting to be a monster or human, big monster fights, political intrigue, a police drama and so much more and it just never makes it come across as interesting and even when it puts up a decent idea or concept, it's used in the most boring way possible. This was truly a disappointment to finish off the summer season. Story: 3/10 Art: 3/10 Sound; 4/10 Character: 2/10 Enjoyment: 3/10 Overall: 3/10

Plot execution: meh Characters: likeable Soundtrack: fantastic Long story short, storytelling destroyed this anime. I decided to write down a few words, because I had high hopes for this anime, which actually looked promising. Overall, characters are likeable, Sonia might be annoying, but she's harmless overall. The stories of three protagonists are showing their personalities and dreams well, despite not creating much of a character development (maybe a liiittle). But when it comes to the plot, it's full of question marks. Last episode was the absolute trash, being so rushed I had the feeling it's rather an abridged version of something longer, or that I actually missed atleast one full episode which fills out the holes in the plot. On the positive note I must say that the opening and ending are both fantastic, and for me clearly the highlight of the season or two, hands down. The soundtrack is equally great and gives off a bit of a noir-y feeling.

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