Kagewani

Kagewani
Official DVD cover of the series in Japan.
影鰐
Genre	Suspense
Anime television series
Directed by	Tomoya Takashima
Produced by	Kentarō Iwakiri
Written by	Hiromu Kumamoto
Studio	Tomovies
Network	Tokyo MX, BS11
Original run	2 October 2015 – 25 December 2015
Episodes	13
Anime television series
Kagewani: Shō
Studio	Tomovies
Original run	April 1, 2016 – present

Kagewani (影鰐, lit. Shadow Crocodile) is a Japanese anime television series. The series of shorts premiered on 2 October 2015 on Tokyo MX and BS11 as part of the Ultra Super Anime Time programming block. The series was simulcast by Crunchyroll. A second season titled Kagewani: Shō started airing on April 1, 2016.

Premise

The story begins when cryptids suddenly appear in the present day and attack humans. The scientist Sōsuke Banba pursues the truth with the keyword "Kagewani".

Voice cast

• Tomokazu Sugita as Sōsuke Banba
• Ryōtarō Okiayu as Masaki Kimura
• Mai Aizawa
• Yukinori Okuhata
• Yûsuke Handa
• Fumiya Kosugi
• Yukiko Morishita

Episode list

No.	Title	Original air date
1	"Hack" "Doba" (駑馬)	2 October 2015
A documentary crew investigates the presence of a cryptid in an sealed off island. Professor Sosuke Banba heads off to investigate the whereabouts of the UMA, but not before encountering a ruined video camera from the chain link fence perimeter.
2	"Ice Fang" "Hyōga" (氷牙)	9 October 2015
Banba gets called in by the police after a SAR team was able to rescue Mika Kuroda, a known mountaineer and the only survivor of a mountaineering team traveling near the mountain summit to investigate what happened to her father, who went missing while doing a mountain climb.
3	"Return" "Kikan" (帰還)	16 October 2015
A seaside village is mourning for one of the missing teenage divers when a mysterious squid-like cryptid shows up. Banba investigates with a fellow cryptid expert to learn about more it and how is it tied to the village.
4	"Double Bow" "Sōyumi" (双弓)	23 October 2015
Banba heads to the countryside to investigate the possibility of a cryptid presence in the town's sewage system. He rescues two young boys after they accidentally discovered it and were subsequently saved by a HAZMAT team armed with flamethrowers led by scientist Masaki Kimura.
5	"Strange Color" "Isai" (異彩)	30 October 2015
A gorilla-sized, toad-like cryptid attacks a convenience store. An attendant and a customer avoid being attacked and are rescued by Masaki Kimura and his HAZMAT team. The team uses their flamethrowers to kill the creature and Kimura urges the escapees to forget what they've seen. The episode ends with Banba in front of the convenience store after the previous events. He gazes at a photo from Kimura showing the charred creature and a plea to come to his company, Sarugaku Pharmaceuticals, if he's interested in the recent appearances of the creatures. Banba is left wondering what plot Kimura has regarding the cryptids.
6	"Deep Abyss" "Shin'en" (深淵)	6 November 2015
As a guest on a wedding cruise through the South Pole, Banba recalls a previous conversation with Kimura where the executive requested Banba's help researching the creatures at his company and ends with Banba's refusal stating he is not interested in the creatures for monetary gain. During the cruise the video feed watching the couple, whose proposal took place in a submersible under the water, cuts out. When it returns, the pilot has fainted and the groom is left to pilot the submersible away from an enormous Gill-man-like cryptid with the help of Banba and the crew at the surface. The group in the sub manage to escape due to Banba's quick thinking and the captain relates to Banba that he's seen similar creatures to the one they had witnessed today.
7	"Slashing Strike" "Setsuki" (切斬)	13 November 2015
Banba relates an eyewitness account of another strange cryptid seen by a citizen. A teacher cleans up the P.E. field at the end of the day and finds two of her students still outside feeding the school's penned chickens. When she leaves to prepare to lock everything up, the two boys play some more, using poles to draw a picture in the ground. Before they finish, an earthquake occurs caused by a Graboid-like cryptid with a serrated pincer for a mouth that burrows under the earth and rises to attack anything that makes a sound on the ground. The teacher and students are able to distract and elude the creature and escape to the school's roof. From the roof, the children clearly see what they drew on the ground with one boy explaining that what he drew he actually saw in a book given to him by his great-grandfather. The drawing depicts a enormous creature similar to an anglerfish with its tail eerily similar to the worm that had been attacking them.
8	"Camouflage" "Gitai" (擬態)	20 November 2015
9	"Flytrap" "Kowaku" (蠱惑)	27 November 2015
10	"Shadow Crocodile" "Kagewani" (影鰐)	4 December 2015
11	"Encounter" "Sōgū" (遭遇)	11 December 2015
12	"Pitch Black" "Shikkoku" (漆黒)	18 December 2015
13	"His Highness Returns" "Kangyo" (還御)	25 December 2015
Kimura is rescued from the tortoise monster attack by soldiers of Sarugaku after he shuts himself in a safe room to escape the attack. Kimura is astonished upon learning that Banba survived the attack. After looking at the security records, he realizes that the shadow crocodile clone killed the tortoise monster and entered into Banba's body through his scar. Banba then meets Kimura one last time before killing him using his shadow crocodile. After the Sarugaku incident, the mysterious huntress confronts Banba about his sanity and her failure to save him in the past. Before she tries to attack him though, Banba helps a child that was passing nearby. Realizing that Banba still retains his humanity, she vanishes, but not before warning him that when the shadow crocodile takes over his body, she will kill him.

Production

The series is directed by Tomoya Takashima and written by Hiromu Kumamoto, with animation by animation studio Tomovies. Character designs for the series are provided by Ami Fujikawa and Ryōma Hori, and the monster designs are provided Shunsaku Matsurida. Tsutomu Nagae and Kentarō Iwakiri are producing the series. The series' theme song is "Arrival of Fear" by M.S.S Project.

External links

• Kagewani official website
• Kagewani (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia