Series Review: Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (7/10)


Instant summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, a girl becomes a UN mediator and handles the relationship between humans and these new intelligent lifeforms known as "fairies".

I don't think I need to say it, but Jintai is exceptionally unique. It's the first anime I've ever seen that sells primarily on black humor, using a completely contradicting mix of cheerful atmosphere, bright colors, cute mascots and led by the extremely innocent voice of Nakahara Mai. And, our main character doesn't even have a name. And it doesn't contain a beach/pool episode. I feel kind of cheated for that one.

What do I mean by the black humor? Despite what the images above might suggest, Jintai directly deals with topics like death, starvation, extinction and the like. And it isn't about how our main character deals with the problems of the fictional post-apocalyptic world; her role is pretty much a narrator and observer, helping the plot explore and give insights about the things happening around her.

The most interesting part of the show would have to be the fairies, the mascots you see above. The purpose is two-fold; to be the outlet of creativity for writers, because despite looking like toys, they had insanely superior technology that allows them to clone, morph, construct entire cities overnight and even bend reality. Story-wise, their limitless capability wasn't meant to save humankind; they were just there to generate different scenarios for the plot.

The important thing is how they serve another, and perhaps "true" purpose; to show how their technology bring about the rise and fall of the fairies, which mimics how our technology is responsible for mankind's advancement and eventual decline. If I'm reading the subtext right, Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, aka Humanity has declined, showcases the declining phases of humans, while watching the new species go through the cycle again and again. So yeah, this show turns out to be deeper than you thought.

And that is the value of Jintai I really appreciate. Entertainment-wise, the black humor didn't do all that much for me. It's interesting to see the curious combination of cheerful elements and the dark theme, but nothing else carried it very far.

Not a bad title to check out, but expect many boring moments.

Plot/Concept: Very interesting!
Story Style: Okay
Audio/Visual: Fairly good
Value: 7

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