Anime A slog from start to finish
Yeah, I'm gonna be that guy. This was duuuuuuuuuuuuull. I mean literally physically draining. In almost every episode, for every minute that is spent actually doing something, there are 3-4 minutes beforehand talking about what needs to be done. This would be acceptable in the first two or three episodes, but this glacial pacing persists until episode 11, when things finally start ramping up. To get to that point, though, you have to sit through 10 episodes of animal trivia and boring problem-solving plots, and occasionally a tease of something more interesting to come.
Frankly, I would've preferred this series as a straight-up edutainment show. No Ceruleans, no hinting of and later confirming some post-apocalyptic setting, introducing background plot points that are far more interesting than the main story and never significantly expanding upon them, just a fun journey through a fancy zoo/wildlife reserve meeting and learning about animals.
Buuuuut apparently this show ended up saving the whole damn series, so what do I know? *shrugs*
Anime Nothing like it will ever come again
In many ways, Kemono Friends is a miracle. Before the anime, the project was nothing more than a mediocre slice of life manga and a dead mobage. The anime itself was ridiculously low budget and mostly had amateur VAs.
But against all odds, the anime managed to blend in a fun and engaging adventure story, cute characters, interesting animal facts, deeper mysteries behind the scenes, and touching friendships all together into lightning in a bottle. Not only did it succeed, it became a social phenomenon and inspired record attendance in Japanese zoos.
Then season 2 happened, and just like that, it was all over.
There will never be anything like Kemono Friends ever again.