Beheneko: The Elf-Girl's Cat is Secretly an S-Ranked Monster!

Episodes 1-3

When I watched episode one of Beheneko, I thought I would be watching junk food. This show presents itself with the triumphant presence of a bag of LAYS potato chips, because I guarantee you have probably seen almost everything this show has in other, better fantasy series. We've seen shows where a character has gotten reincarnated as an animal, fantasy stories with a game interface for acquiring skills, and blonde elf girls with breasts larger than their heads. I was so bored watching the first episode because the show didn't do anything interesting with its overall premise and the pacing was so slow. Still, it covers a lot of ground in about twenty-three minutes. The problem is that everything that IS happening is done with the enthusiasm of wringing out a towel; we are squeezing the most out of scenes to hit the episode cap.

I was worried that this was going to be the type of show that would be a pain to review. The worst types of shows I get to talk about are the ones that have nothing interesting to say. I would rather watch a train wreck or something that is at least attempting to do something interesting than a show that tries to coast by on tired ideas. I wish I could go back to who I was before watching episode two of this show.

This show does have something that sets it apart from the rest. I can't say I've ever watched a fantasy story where a main character so blatantly wanted to just fuck a cat. There's no vague subtext or implications when we get to episode two. For those of you who felt weird after the first episode, I'm here to tell you that your feelings are valid. It's probably worse than you ever thought. I thought people were exaggerating or blowing the occasional strange scenes from episode one and even the first half of episode two out of proportion. Yes, our elf protagonist Aria has one or two moments where she will stare longingly at our main character's balls and seems turned on by the fact that he licked her ear.

The minute they introduced the idea of crossbreeding, they wasted no time justifying every conceivable fear you can imagine. With the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the face, Aria explicitly says that she wants her cat to grow big and strong so he can take her first time. I was on a call with my friend when I watched this episode and he can verify that I legitimately got out of my seat and walked away from my desk to have a solid ten seconds to myself where I contemplated how I ended up getting here. Even Aria's friend is caught off guard by her comment, but it's OK because less than five minutes later she becomes just as infatuated by Tama through the most arbitrary reasons.

Even though our protagonist Tama retains all his memories from his previous life, he has no way of communicating anything with anybody. Most people think he's an elemental cat that can do magic. Nobody else knows that this cat-looking creature is way more intelligent than everybody else in the show right? Maybe the show could've gotten away with something a bit more quirky if Tama could talk with anybody, but he doesn't do anything outside of what you would expect from a normal cat. You could've made Tama a normal cat and there's a good chance that Aria would still want to have sex with him. I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt that this is all meant to be played up as an overarching joke, but it is not funny or creative outside of the initial shock value. Every time it comes up, it makes me feel progressively more uncomfortable.

Maybe it's supposed to contrast Tama's personality, a kind and virtuous knight. I don't mind him as a protagonist, even if he is a little bit bland, and I at least respect the fact that he has a solid sense of honor that he's trying to abide by. The author seems to have a basic understanding of storytelling with the monster introduced in episode one being brought back in a relevant way for the cliffhanger at the end of episode three. The side characters also seem fun, like the guild owner and their boyfriend. The sad thing is, even when there are some good moments in this show, I now have to remind myself that those moments share screen time with a main character who will not shy away from making it explicitly clear on numerous occasions that she wants to have sex with her cat.

I am praying that the show is more than just that. I am praying that there is something else more prominent in this show that I can lean on, because I don't think you guys want to hear the different ways that I am angry or upset at this show every week. Or maybe you do and that's why you voted for it. If so, then I hate you all and I'll make sure to blame all of you for my therapy sessions. God, I wish I could go back to thinking that this would just be boring.

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