Ningen Doubutsuen

I will admit, when I first watched this, I had absolutely no idea of what in the hell was this trying to convey. My brain was too small. But then I read some info and found out what it was about.

When I watched this for a second time, something even greater had just occurred to me.

This entire 2 minute 13 second short was some of the earliest pieces of bdsm material. Certified bruh moment.

Now, with a quick google search, you can tell that bdsm is quite old, the idea is older than this short, but the fact that this piece of media explored such ... a concept at an early time only makes you think, maybe this was not a prediction to the rise in the genre, but a prediction of anime in the future with degeneracies people have as a guilty pleasure. To be fair, Kuri Yoji makes some pretty surreal stuff, whether this was intentional to play out such a theme or coincidence is something I will never know. But one thing is for sure, this brings way too many questions. Almost like a Simpsons prediction only actual a real natural prediction that makes some sense in the first place.

Anyways, the story is basically femdom and bdsm, and I say this because the males in this short do not seem to be retaliating, even though they are humans, as implied by the title. Yeah, I know, too many questions. Human Zoo merely presents this though rather than diving deeper into it, so there isn't a lot to get out of it unless you extrapolate as hard as I did to get some nonsense (though senseful) ideas that I have given.

As for audiovisuals, visuals are good, like a kid's drawing, but there isn't anything wrong with that, mostly just somewhat surreal animation with good colouring. Audio, "woof woof", well, someone predicted Makima simps early. Adds onto my idea too. No soundtrack to speak of other than that.

I enjoyed this, I honestly don't see how one could hate this really, yes, it tells literally dumb stuff, but I don't see how that would warrant it a 1/10 or some low score like that. Universally, I would imagine most won't enjoy this for reasons I am unaware of. But it is pretty damn harmless. Would recommend, well, if you want dumb stuff, otherwise stay away from it, though, you really should give this a try.

Let's call it a 6 (+1 for the bruh moment)/10.

the type of animation is not the best for the time, but suddenly it is its simplism what really attracts it is not the most complete work it is not the best that someone could see but it meets the basics for its time perhaps I am being condescending because of its antiquity , the idea is well developed, it shows a quite nice criticism that in its short time it manages to develop it will not have high votes for many reasons as I said before its animation is not the best nor its inclusive sound reuses several frames but it is not the ... worst I have seen I believe that the purpose of a work is to propose an idea, show the idea, surprise the viewer and give it an end, this is achieved in the most basic and simple criteria

Okay let me rephrase, just wanted to say this is the biggest disappointment that I have witnessed thus far. And I do not believe old anime or influential media should be above any form of criticism. As it is merely a perspective given by an individual on a work of art or entertainment that they have consumed.

With that being said I will proceed to the review.

"Ningen Doubutsuen" or "Human Zoo" also known as "Clap Vocalism" is a two minute short anime by Yōji Kuri. He was an important figure in the history of Japanese independent animation. So reviewing this will be a pain. As I ... do not look at his work from a biased point of view of a fan rather someone who is merely consuming it at face value and judging it on the basis of what it has to offer as a standalone piece.

This is a theme based short animation and with that being said, does not have a narrative, characters and the like. It is merely an exhibition of an idea or message if you will.

So given that I am consuming this not at the time it was concocted for I might be amiss to the message or themes that it is trying to tell me, but from my conjecture based on what I saw in this two minute short anime was a message that can be interpreted in several ways.

1. The societal power struggle between genders of the opposite sex as seen by the director.
2. The subjugation of Men and the frustration of the director. (Cautionary Tale)
3. The liberation of Women and the activist nature of the director. (Right to Equality)
4. The carnal fantasies of the director. (Femdom)

The problems that arise from this is a mixture of themes that does not harmonize well with each other and cannot be properly established in this short anime and thus will not resonate with the vast majority of people consuming this as of today.

So it makes sense for it to be in the category of dementia here on MAL. However. What is dementia? Dementia is madness. And in that it has excelled. In my humble perspective this is the best Dementia piece in the existence of anime thus far in terms of depth that I have witnessed. Even surpassing other well known dementia pieces such as "Nami" and "Utsu Musume Sayuri".

And the crude and discord nature in its execution and the repetitive nature in terms of its animation, art and sound only adds so much more depth to the dementia aspect that this short anime has to offer. So if you're an avid dementia fan you will find this a hidden gem or a treat if you will. As for me I'm not in this category as it is not my cup of tea.

I hope my review gives you a chance to understand how I personally feel about the work, as well as gaining an understanding of what the work is about. And that the review is ultimately delivered as fairly and objectively and detailed as possible, and done so in a way that does not spoil the artistic composition for you. To provide you with tools to decide by yourself if you wanna check this artistic composition out or not.

tldr; Better than Nami or Utsu Musume Sayuri in terms of depth if you're a fan of depth in dementia. Worse than Nami or Utsu Musume Sayuri if you're not a fan of depth in dementia.