First Look: Demi-chan wa Kataritai
Succubi. Vampires. Dullahans. These words are often associated with monsters in scary stories told in children’s books. But what would happen if we instead started viewing these creatures as people with civil rights, such as welfare and education, and integrated them into society? Here’s an anime that let’s us find out.
Demi-chan wa Kataritai, also known as Interviews with Monster Girls, features a world where these ‘’demi-humans’’ have endured persecution for a long time in the past. Fortunately, the discrimination has toned down in recent years, and they now have the same rights as any normal person would. The show takes us to the school where Tetsuo Takahashi works. Takahashi, being a biology teacher, has a fascination for demi-humans — wanting to interview them for his college thesis. The problem, though, is that demi-humans are rare, and Takashi-sensei has yet to meet one. For that reason, he’s shocked when he finds out that the new teacher hired by the school turns out to be a succubus. As fate would have it, he also meets three students who all happen to be different types of demi-humans.
*Minor spoilers ahead.
With a splendid cast introduced in the first episode, the show is already showing promise. A happy-go-lucky vampire named Hikari Takanashi is the first demi-human, or ‘’demi’’ as she prefers to be called, introduced in the show. Her blunt and honest personality, mischievous behaviour, and ridiculous facial expressions make her a great character — I believe that she’s responsible for a majority of the show’s comedic value. Her sister, Hinari Takanashi, who’s briefly introduced, is a human even though she shares the same parents as Hikari.
Another demi-human in the show is Kyōko Machi, a shy dullahan who carries her head around in her arms. This causes people to be careful with their words around her, which causes Machi to have trouble making friends, and she later develops a crush on Takahashi-sensei. We also get to see a bit of Yuki Kusakabe, a snow woman that passes out during P.E class. She has trouble with handling heat and, since vampires have similar problems with sunlight, Hikari can often times be found clinging to Yuki’s cold body. The person who’s in the middle of the mix, Takahashi-sensei, quickly proves to have other motives other than just curiosity for demi-humans — he wishes to lend a helping hand with the everyday problems they’re faced with.
We’re only at the start of this anime season, and several anime have had strong first episodes, Demi-chan wa Kataritai might just be the cream of the crop. What makes this show is so good? An interesting aspect of this anime is how it tackles a current subject in our world today: the ever-lasting issue of prejudice. Even though demi-humans are now regarded as people, society has yet to fully acclimate to seeing them walk on the same streets as us. The show brings up the issues they’re faced with on a daily basis, both in terms of perception and everyday life. Take Machi, the dullahan, for example. Her classmates are not sure how to address her dullahan traits, resulting in her only having shallow conversations with them. Machi also has limited ways of multitasking since it requires one arm just to carry around her head. This is evident by her always having her hands full while walking to school, because school regulations have students carry briefcases with them, making it hard on dullahans. Later on, Takashi-sensei is the first person to be bothered to solve this problem by asking the principal for special permission for her to carry a backpack instead.
To conclude, Demi-chan wa kataritai is looking like a top-tier anime with interesting characters, lots of comedy, and a good plot revolving around prejudice. This anime is quickly turning into a must-watch for any anime enthusiast, and especially and for fans of the slice-of-life genre.
Hype level: Hikari’s evil smug (4/5)
