Japanese Title: Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

 

Similar: Yurikuma Arashi

Penguindrum

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei

Arakawa Under the Bridge

 

Watched in: Japanese

Genre: Post-apocalyptic Fantasy Comedy

Length: 12 episodes

 

Positives:

• Bright and colourful.
• The manga episodes.
• Surprisingly good protagonist.

Negatives:

• Lacks focus.

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You know that you’re in for a weird one when a robot loaf of bread ends a tour of the bread factory by telling guests to eat him, and when they refuse, he tears himself apart in agony and blood sprays everywhere. Except, it’s not blood. It’s carrot juice for the kids.

That wasn’t even the first weird moment of Humanity has Declined. In episode 1, the nameless protagonist has to show a village how to do butcher meat because no one can do it anymore in this post-apocalyptic society. For their convenience, an already plucked and headless chicken appears. But first, they have to catch it. Her investigation of where the chicken came from leads to the bread factory, where she meets the lovely loaf mentioned earlier.

Humanity has Declined’s speculation of our future is certainly one of the more unusual versions. Don’t expect much sense – there is no logical leap from our world to the one presented here. It’s a mix of Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In this future, miniature fairies run everything with their advanced technology, which humanity relies on due to incompetence and lack of self-sufficiency. The protagonist works as an arbiter for the UN and must be the link between humans and fairies. She knows their secret. Candy is one hell of a drug. It’s stronger than crack to these ever-smiling keychain charm-looking things.

The story’s themes are commentaries on society and culture – the factory arc satires consumerism, for example. The best episodes succeed the factory arc with the resurgence of yaoi manga after a woman called Y discovers an ancient disk of BL material. She “invents” the yaoi serial magazine, taking the world by storm. The first yaoi convention has a queue to the horizon. Unfortunately for her, others get in on the craze and make magazines of their own – satire on the spread of culture. Her love of yaoi gets her and the protagonist trapped inside a manga. What follows is a great meta episode where reality follows the rules of manga, including space confined to the size of panels. The only way out is to become a bestseller by hooking readers for many volumes.

This episode – 4 – is the best, no contest. I love how they use clickbait and the usual nonsense that long running manga resort to for sales numbers. As odd as the manga concept may sound, it’s saner than earlier events. It goes back to crazy afterwards and then to more normal again for the final two episodes at a girls’ boarding school filled with secrets. Humanity has Declined has consistency problems. Half the time it’s random weird thing after the next, leaping from one gag to another. The other half picks a theme to the jokes and sticks to it for a couple of episodes at a time, which allows development of the jokes and the sub-plots. I enjoyed the latter version and could have passed on the former.

Another aspect that doesn’t work for me is the fairies. I enjoy them best in the background, brought out when needed. Episodes that focus on them aren’t interesting because the fairies have the one joke about candy obsession (and their voices drive you insane after a while – explains that scene in the opening sequence).

Humanity has Declined isn’t a long series and the episodes I enjoyed made it worth my time, thanks in no small part to the protagonist. She could have easily been a moe girl enamoured by the fairies and all the weirdness. Instead, it presents this cynical and witty girl that provides a degree of sanity to the audience. You’re going to need it.

Art – High

The colourful pastel art gives a storybook feel – a weird storybook, sure, but a colourful one.

Sound – Medium

The OP is nuts. Expect lots of cutesy VO.

Story – Medium

A girl investigates the candy-obsessed fairies and their technology that makes this post-apocalyptic world go round. Half good and half unfocused, Humanity has Declined is one odd anime.

Overall Quality – Medium

Recommendation: For fans of the weird and wonderful. You don’t even need to watch an episode to know if Humanity has Declined is for you – the opening sequence will suffice. I recommend episodes 3 & 4 to lovers of meta humour.

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Awards: (hover over each award to see descriptions; click award for more recipients)

Positive: None

Negative: None