Anime Review: Kagewani

Bakground: A series of monsters start appearing in diverse cities of Japan, hunting down humans as their prey. Professor Sousuke Banba studies the apparition of such creatures, to which he is strangely connected by a terrible event of his past.

Plot: A beast was created by two tribes of the old era to end the war between them. All sorts of animals were raised together in a giant container and made to devour one another. The victor would provide both tribes a common enemy and an opportunity to ally and reach peace. After this process was repeated many times a single creature was left: the Kagewani, which successfully ended the war... by devouring both clans.

After years of relentless and gory murder, the Kagewani was defeated by a fisher and a surviving member of the creator clans. The method to get rid of it was simple yet elusive: its shadow had to be projected onto a surface and burned alive.

The ashes of the Kagewani flew into the wind, and its evil influence was dispersed and joined all sorts of life around the world. This is how the monsters were born, and started to hunt down humans just like the Kagewani did.

Banba Sousuke, a genetic engineer and university professor, dedicated his career to chasing monsters after his own life was marked by a close encounter with the Kagewani ashes. Such encounter had gifted him a head scar that resonated with all the monster apparitions.

Masaki Kimura, chief director of a research company, pressures Banba to join him in his study of the monsters. Banba refuses for the most part but gives in after knowing that the monsters have evolved to resemble humans and hide within the population. After joining Banba realizes that Kimura's company has made a clone of the original Kagewani. Distaste promptly ensues after the clone escapes from its containment unit thanks to the aid of an infected Kagewani kid.

In the most dangerous moment, Kimura locks Banba out of a security room to save his life. "As long as you are alive, you can start over as many times as you want," he says as he leaves Banba to face the clone manipulating a monster. A big thud is heard, and Banba is attacked by the monster. Kimura is rescued later on by a group that informs him that Banba is alive but in critical condition. In a big shock -Banba should have died-, Kimura rushes to check the security camera records and realizes that the clone had sipped inside Banba through his head scar.

Meanwhile at the hospital where Banba was taken, the Kagewani's shadow slowly emerges out of Banba's body, killing everyone inside. Kimura phones his security team to search for Banba, but it's too late. Banba appears behind, tells him the Kagewani is still alive and gathering strength somewhere, and finally the Kagewani emerges from Banba's shadow and kills Kimura.

In the last scene, Banba slowly walks under a bridge when he meets with an old woman, the same woman that years ago had killed the original Kagewani and who had also saved his life as a child. A stray girl rushes and bumps into Banba and drops a gift, and to the old woman's surprise, Banba returns the package to the kid politely. As he walks away, the woman warns that the Kagewani would soon take over his mind. "And when it does, I will be there to kill you."

2girls_1up review:

It had been a while since a horror anime had made our mind -and stomachs- walk the fine line of suspense. This anime's plot is summarized into its title: Kagewani (影鰐), which literally translates into Shadow Crocodile. A mythical beast designed for killing, it is the terror that spreads into the world and kills humans for fun. We can assure you won't see shadows in the same way anymore.

Directed by Tomoya Takashima, produced by Kentarō Iwakiri, and written by Hiromu Kumamoto, this anime is what we call a "sweet short punch" of animation, given its extraordinary delivery of a main story while allowing itself to branch out into the lavishes of horror and suspense in a short period of time. It is reminiscent of the Gyo movie (based on Junji Ito's manga), where the horror plot has an actual semi-scientific/logical explanation (we particularly appreciate this, as many horror animes have left us in the shadow as of why and what).

The animation used was intriguing, overlaying animated scenes on top of real-life footage. It is a different animation experience, yet a bit weird for some of our readers and probably a bit boring to those used to hyper-beautiful animations. We should praise though the monster designs, especially the ocean one, as they were goddamn creepy.

Should I watch it?

If you are in need of a short horror/suspense dose to revitalize your cortisol secretion, Kagewani is a great option. It's short, intense, and has one goal: to scare the hell out of you.