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Year: 2019
Genre: Action, Supernatural
Episodes: 12
Rating: 3 out of 5
What does it mean to be human? What makes one human in the world? Is it the emotions one can produce? That shouldn’t be it because animals can display feelings. Maybe it’s deciding what is right and wrong or something in terms of good and evil? That can’t be it either because many people in this world have been truly evil and did some messed-up things. So, what does it mean to be human? A question that will probably live on through the ages. BEM is an anime where three humanoid supernatural creatures set their sights on becoming human.
Overview
In the Port City of Libra, the city is split up into three sections. The Upper Town, where the city’s wealthy and significant political influence lie. The Outside, where crime, corruption, and the downright dirty reside. Finally, the Bridge connects both the Upper and Outside.
When new, young detective Sonia Summers transfer to the Outside, her superiors think she is causing trouble. Sonia begins her new career as murders around the city happen. With each case she works on, there seems to be involvement from mysterious creatures. Sonia soon crosses paths with three humanoid youkai who go by Bem, Bela, and Belo. The three seek to protect humans and dream of becoming human. As the three try to find acceptance, they soon learn that a mysterious lady is searching for them. Soon they will learn of a plot to control them and the city.
Review:
I have never watched the first two versions of this anime. You know an anime must be good if there are multiple versions of an anime. This anime was decent and interesting to watch. First, the concept of three humanoid monsters whose goal is to become human is interesting but has been played out before. I feel like I have seen many other anime series, but I don’t want to put this as a negative. The series started in 1969, and many other anime series have been made since then.
As far as the actual story and flow of it. Each main character seems to be a focal point of each episode. The title of the episode represents who they will be fighting against. I like that it gives each character a chance to take steps toward battling evil and ask the question, “what does it mean to be human?” Each character has their doubts about being human or even saving humans as they seem eviler than them. The last three episodes really show whether human society can accept the monsters against a foe that built everything around them. Once again, there is always a main villain who is a monster that created the city and working things from the background.
I will say that the animation for this series is pretty dark, or should I say drawn with the characters in the darkness. The tone of this anime is the characters live and operate in the shadows. At certain times they come out in the light. I am not saying the way this anime is drawn is terrible. Since this is the third series or incarnation of this anime, the animation is really crisp and up to date. The flow of how the characters move or fight is done really well. The transformation scenes are not clunky or weird to look at. They are fluent and seem to evolve with each second. Take Bela, for example. She has some dark red hair, and her skin is fair. When she transforms, she looks like a monster as her skin becomes this dark green. The animation and colors are not a detriment to this anime.
For the characters of this anime, there are only really four you need to know about. First, there is Sonia Summers. She is a bright new young female detective who transferred from the Upper to Outside. She investigates many mysterious cases and is the Bridge between the three other characters in the series. The other three main characters are the ones who are monsters who want to be human. First, there is BEM, the oldest and leader of the group. He is usually seen with a walking cane and has a strong sense of justice, wishing to defeat evil and become human one day. Next, there is Bela, who is the only female in the group and the most bad-tempered. She goes to school and is one of the most attractive ones. She eagers to become human and decides school is the best way to do it. Finally, there is Belo. He is the youngest looking of the group. He spends his time with the street kids and plays video games.
One of my biggest weaknesses when it comes to music is a jazz-type opening. Sometimes when an anime has a jazzy, it will be a pretty good anime. “Uchuu no Kioku” by Maaya Sakamoto is an upbeat jazzy song that you hear in a jazz club. The song will catch your attention. It is almost the same type of vibe and sound as the Cop Craft theme song.
Overall, BEM is a pretty good anime series. I enjoyed the episodes and the thought of what it means to be human. The anime doesn’t go into great detail on this theory but watching the three main characters trying to figure out how to become human is an interesting story. Yet, around them, the ones that are humans seem more like monsters than anything else. This is a quick anime that can be done in a day. Give it a try and watch the third incarnation of BEM.
