Why should you watch BEM (2019)?
Have you ever had a moment where you stumble upon something and you have a moment of total satisfaction?
That’s what happened to me when I happened to find BEM on Hulu a few days ago. Right away I thought it reminded me of Juni Taisen: Zodiac War.
The artistic decisions, the dark scenery, and the misdirection are all there. Plus, the soundtrack is amazing! It’s smooth jazz during most times. Then when the action picks up, the jazz is energetic and fast-paced. It’s so attractive.
Of course, I decided to google BEM to find out more about it. By doing so I realized there have been a few iterations of BEM and this 2019 version is just the latest with the original work being titled ‘Humanoid Monster Bem”.
Please forgive me for not knowing in advance.
“You thought you could trust her?” – Bela
Beginning of the story:
You are introduced to a female police officer (Sonia Summers) that arrives in a new town just in time to witness a purse snatching. She begins to chase the thief down and in the process almost gets run over by a car. Luckily a mysterious man in the night, we find out his name is Bem, saves her life.
They both catch up with the thief, but he is dead by way of drowning. With no water to be found in the area, the police begin an actual investigation.
What’s scarier than being haunted by something that you can’t see coming?
Within moments of meeting her new co-workers, it’s clear that Sonia has a code and her partners are a bit more lackadaisical.
The water monster used to be a human, but after drowning he decided to become a “serial drowner of humans”.
In her efforts to find out how the purse snatcher was drowned, she runs into Bem again as he fights the monster in water form.
When back-up arrives, the water monster massacres most of them causing Bem to take action and transform into a monster as well.
After defeating the water monster, Bem runs from Sonia who is chasing him down. He ends up phasing into the wall to escape.
She sits stunned in terror and disbelief.
Why should you watch Bem?
Sonia gives me Akane Tsunemori (Psycho-Pass) vibes. She’s a rookie cop with a clear code, respect for the law, and she’s getting caught up in a situation where the lines are being blurred.
Bem and his two comrades Belo and Bela just want to be humans and think that by doing good deeds and believing in their humanity, they can become humans.
I’ve never watched any of the older renditions, so I enjoyed going through this anime with brand new eyes. I’m expecting this story to be a struggle for Bem, Belo, and Bela to completely turn away from their nature. Plus, Sonia will probably form an alliance with them at some point.
But it looks good in this modern format, so I’m very interested.