Kemono Jihen by Shõ Aimoto is a Japanese manga series that has been serialized in Shonen Jump. Later it was announced that the manga would get an anime adaptation to be produced by Ajia-do Animation Works. The anime premiered on January 10, 2021. This article will cover details regarding Kemono Jihen Episode 2.
Kemono Jihen Episode 1 Recap
As Yataro and his friends come back from school, they discuss the man coming from Tokyo. They all feel like the man was about to recruit Yataro as he was smart, fast, and rich. And might feel that Tokyo is a much-suited place for him. As he was about to leave, Yataro shouts to Dorotabo that he can’t come. As he doesn’t want the guy from Tokyo to get a whiff of him. We see a slender boy, covered in mud, simply agreeing and saying that he will be careful.
The Incidents
On the street, a man is looking at his flat tire when the hostess of the Kanoka Villa arrives in a truck. She identifies the man as the detective she had hired from Tokyo. And asks him to come with her as she will get someone to fix the car later. As both of them head to their destination, the hostess starts describing the incident for which the detective was hired. The bodies of livestock were being found all rotten. The animals were alive one day and would rot overnight. People in the village were terribly spooked and hadn’t told the children regarding the incident. As they may get too scared and not go to school. If children get affected, she doesn’t want any funny rumors either. So she asks the detective to keep it a secret, to which he agrees, saying that Discretion was their specialty.
Detective’s Stay
After reaching the place, while gazing at the field, the detective sees Dorotabo and exchanges greetings. The detective asks the hostess about the boy as it didn’t seem like he goes to school. The hostess pushes the question for later. In the evening, while having a bath in the hot spring, the man meets Yataro. Yataro was tasked to be his waiter, to whom he enquires regarding the boy in the field. The boy’s nickname was Dorotabo, as he gets covered in dirt and manure while working in fields every day. And it was the name of yokai that lives in the fields. He even has a bad odor, and that is why he can’t be allowed to do waiting. The man finds this interesting as later he asks for Dorotabo to wait on him.
Inugami and Dorotabo
The hostess gives Dorotabo a set of fresh clothes as he was to waits on the Detective. After taking a bath, he arrives with the detective’s breakfast. Just after placing the food, Dorotabo proceeds to leave when the detective asks him to wait. He introduces himself as Inugami Kohachi from Inugami Strangeness Counseling Office. Being a detective who specializes in Occult cases, he was there for an investigation. He asks Dorotabo to report on any strange thing he had seen while being out on fields. Dorotabo agrees but only after his breakfast as people don’t have food with him due to his odor. To which Inugami tells him that men should not bother about their odors.
Dorotabo proceeds to report as he knew why Inugami was hired – To investigate the rotting livestock carcasses. He knew this as he was the one tasked to dispose of the bodies. There were six of them till now, with many of them being chickens. They all had their organs chewed up and looked similar to how a monster would look like. The thing he noticed was, he had to dispose of the bodies after the new moon. So, there was a possibility of something happening next new moon too. Inugami is ecstatic as the rest will be easy and praises Dorotabo. When he checks, he finds out that the next new moon is in five days.
The Lifestone
While waiting for five days, Inugami starts helping Dorotabo with his chores, which makes Yataro jealous. The two spend a lot of time together when one-day Inugami asks about the stone hanging around Dorotabo’s neck. Apparently, he has had it since he was found abandoned as a baby. As Inugami examines it, he realizes that it is a Lifestone, which has a component that exists only within the stone. Being precious is not a thing one would abandon. Inugami believes that there had been some circumstance for the hostess to take Dorotabo in, but he was not abandoned. As he gives it back, Inugami asks Dorotabo if he would like to meet his parents, and if they were alive, he could track them down. Dorotabo replies that he never thought about it, so he is not really sure but, he may want to meet them.
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Kemono
While waiting for Inugami on the night of the new moon, Dorotabo encounters a pissed Yataro. Yataro reminds Dorotabo how his family has to look after him after he was abandoned. Yataro grabs the Lifestone and pulls it out as Dorotabo punches him. Dorotabo starts transforming into some demon as he started drooling. Scared for his life, Yataro runs away. As soon as Dorotabo holds the stone, he goes back to normal. Sometime later, when Inugami arrives, Dorotabo thinks he’s the culprit for the rotting animals.
Having understood the situation, Inugami proceeds to show his back, which has a tail on it. He explains that from the time of Yore, there have been beings who lurk in the world’s shadows, involved with humans but undetected by them, known as Kemono. They don’t usually involve themselves directly with people. But recently, there have been some who have become deeply involved, even having children with them. Dorotabo is a hanyo, child of a human and a ghoul – a bloodless demon, while Inugami was a Bake-Danuki. The Lifestone is a device preventing monster specific “thirst” from manifesting. In other words, it keeps one from impulsively attacking people, thus remaining a person. Inugami believes that even though Dorotabo was a hanyo, there was something else out there.
Saving Yataro
When Yataro was five, he killed Dorotabo by pushing him into a canal. Dorotabo bumped his head, and some white fluid came oozing out. Yataro ran away but later saw Dorotabo coming back for supper unhinged. Yataro realized that it was not his imagination. Just then, two dog-like creatures attack Yataro, who is saved by Inugami and Dorotabo. Inugami tells Dorotabo that ghouls don’t die when you kill them, so one needs to cut their head off. Hearing this, Dorotabo easily chops off the head of the creature. On examining the body, they find bite marks. Just after which, they encounter a big deer-like monster that Dorotabo easily puts down by tearing its head off.
Revival
Now that Yataro knows Dorotabo’s secret, he is sure that the rotting animals will be pinned on him. Inugami agrees as he reveals that he was hired to kill Dorotabo. The hostess knew about Dorotabo all along from her older sister. But due to the latest events, she decided to have him killed. Now seeing Yataro unconscious, she was bound to believe that Dorotabo did it. So, Inugami asks Dorotabo’s real name, which was Kabane. Inugami asks him if he wants to meet his parents. But Kabane denies and asks to be killed. So Inugami shoots him and brings Yataro to the hostess while also showing her Kabane’s dead body. Giving a pretense of disposing of the body, Inugami puts him in his car.
During the ride, Kabane wakes up and finds out that being a Kemono, he can’t die and is instead already healed. Inugami takes him to his office in Tokyo and gives him clothes and perfume while leaving for some work. After he wears the clothes, two kids around his age enter the room, asking who he was.
When will Episode 2 release?
Kemono Jihen episode 2, titled “The Kemono House,” will release on January 17, 2021, at 10 pm JST. Make sure to convert the above time to your local time zone to watch the latest episode as soon as it is aired. The episodes are available on major platforms such as Funimation and AnimeLab.
Kemono Jihen Episode 2 Spoilers
Kemono Jihen episode 2, titled “The Kemono House,” will be setting up the anime for the latter episodes. As the anime is scheduled for 12 episodes, it is bound to skip material from the manga. As we see that Kabane has met the two other kids from the office, Shiki and Akira. These two stay with Inugami as well, as they have nowhere else to go. Being new to the office/house, we will see how Kabane gets along with his new acquaintances. We will even see if the two kids have some power and do they go out on missions to fight other Kemono.