Sometimes, you do not honestly know what you are getting into when you dial up any given anime. For many, the capsule description is either intentionally vague or underwhelmingly written, so you could miss something. So, when I ran into “Killing Bites” (“Kiringu Baitsu”), I really got a genre-busting show.

We enter the life of going-nowhere college student Yūya Nomoto (far left). He is asked to join his pals to pick up girls, as he will be the driver. What he did not know is that this meant, kidnapping girls, having a gang-bang and potentially executing them (no witnesses, right?) However, the girl they grab is the mysterious Hitomi Uzaki (sprawled on his left). Having a moral dilemma as to what is going on in the back of the van and what he should do, he finds out that Hitomi has slaughtered all of them except for Nomoto.

He is ordered by her to drive to an abandoned waste facility, where he feels he will be executed there and his body discarded with the rest of the garbage. Instead, he sees her transform into some kind of beast-person and she does battle against a lion monster. These strange people are ‘Brutes’, fighters that have been genetically altered to combine the brains of humans with the fangs and claws of beasts. Behind them, powerful businesses are betting on the outcome of their duels.

Hitomi is a honey badger, which has been called the most fearless of all animals and she is assigned to stay with Yūya, for his protection. The “Killing Bites” battles have also been the decisive turning points in the Japanese economy since ancient times. The series contends itself with this competition to determine who will be the ruling business for all of Japan for the foreseeable future.

Initially, this was no different of a series than “Juni Tasen” or “Future Diary”, in that it is a last man standing approach. Nomoto is to assemble his team of three. The other two folks up there are (continuing to the right), Ui Inaba (a rabbit) and Ichinosuke Okajima (hippo). The other three teams are all flown to a private island (well, these are multi-trillion-yen corporations; a private island is nothing) where the battle will commence.

There are a few problems with this show. The first is that most of the women are extremely busty. I mean, they are firm and pert and jutting. The closing credits emphasize this attribute. Even those who are not fighters are packing some heat. The second problem is the sheer amount of physical damage everyone absorbs. In some instances, these folks should be dead, dead, dead. Whether they bleed out or die from shock, these are injuries that you do not come back from. Well, not these beasts.

The third problem is the excessive amount of carnage on both sides of the equation. Not only on the battlefield, but in the corporate offices as well. The last three episodes are positively soaked in blood, as the carnage reaches near Rambo-like levels of death and destruction.

Shall I talk about the fan service? I have to. As mentioned, the ladies are thrusting their twin talents to be seen by all, but there is a level of perversity that I was not prepared for. In Episode 9, it reaches its apex in a scene that is both confusing and (personally) unnecessary, but, hey, it’s fan service, right?

The actual ending seems a bit off, as a few things are not explained well, but it sets up the potential of a second season, as the world has changed and events need not be hidden from a very curious public anymore. And we can make some major skins off of it as well. As Yogurt from “Spaceballs” reminds us: “Merchandise, merchandise, merchandise!”

The fight sequences got tiresome, as it was a lot of trash talking and telling the opponent what you were going to do and what happens after the signature move either succeeds or falls short. There has to be a way to do this and make it genuinely exciting without it getting too prolix. Less talking, more killing.

I would have you see this series, just to change up the viewing schedule you have. Don’t worry about the ‘science’ portion of it, as it won’t make sense anyway and ignore the idea that those in charge of corporations are amoral, depraved, deprived and perverted. That goes without saying. Just groove on the caliber of ‘relationship’ that Nomoto and Hitomi have.

Oh, you betcha. You HAVE to binge this show. Some might say that the fight sequences get a bit tiring and tiresome, but that is the nature of a battle royale and the unrelenting pressures for the Overlords to make good on their investments. There is a lot to take in and you may not be able to do it, but I say, if you’ve got the time, do the crime.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           9 (Wow! Those ladies……..)
Plot                  8 (Nice rework of a common idea)
Pacing              7 (Fights get a bit bogged down)
Effectiveness   8 (Good use of flashbacks)
Conclusion       7 (It reaches a ‘coupler point’, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service      5 (A similar show would be “Maburaho”)
Bingeability     9 (Quite a lot to take in)

Overall            7 (Some things were pushed too hard)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Those with the sharpest fangs win.