Michiru was a normal schoolgirl who had a happy life. She loved her friends and she loved basketball. Then one day she woke up and found herself to be a half-tanuki. Welcome to the world of BNA.

OK, let’s gets some things straight first. BNA stands for Brand New Animals. I thought it might stand for Beast DNA; well, I guess it could. Animalized humans are a race separate from pure humans or animals. Despised by most humans, these Beastmen are segregated and live mostly in their own community of Anima City.

And a tanuki is a Japanese raccoon dog. Got it?

So Michiru flees to Anima City, where some Beastmen are nice and some are not. She does eventually make friends with those who are, including a wolf named Shirou. Shirou, answering to the mayor, and sometimes advising the police, is sworn to protect all Beastmen from enemies, human or other Beastmen. Shirou is super-strong, and can transform to human. Michiru can’t do much of anything – at first. Eventually she discovers her power, and joins Shirou in the fight for truth, justice, and the Beastmen way. Behind the scenes, there is corruption and conspiracy, which keeps the story moving.

Yet above all else, BNA is the story of Michiru finding herself and defining her self-image. Despite this little moral lesson, BNA is a good anime for the 12-14 age range. No sex or nudity. No profanity, at least in the English dub. There are a few episodes with quite a bit of blood, but this is Japanese anime (although I did note a few Vietnamese names in the credits).

The main director of the series is Yo Yoshinari, who worked as an animator and artist on several well known anime series and movies, including FLCL, Kill la Kill, and Mahoromatic. I thought the artwork looked familiar. Good artwork, and some good animation of the action scenes, though it does not set any new standards.

Despite being aimed at a pre- to early-teen audience, BNA will also entertain older audiences, including adults. There is only one season so far, but a second is likely forthcoming. Give it a look.