Humanoid Monster Bem

So you also like Universal Monsters AND you like anime with that retro feel? Then here is something for you! I finally managed to watch Youkai Ningen Bem many years after hearing about it for the first time - the opening song is just amazing and is what first made me interested in watching it - really catchy! I have now finally seen all 26 episodes. However, I could only find the show in Jap., no subtitles. The story focuses on three youkai that can transform into even more youkai. No matter which of the forms, they are the good guys and all they want is tohelp humans in need. They want to become humans, as the opening lyrics tell us. The show is from 1968 and the animation style is just what you could expect for 1968, with irregular animation and lack of fluidity etc. So no, the animation if not the top notch, but at least it's very, very charming! The visuals makes this the perfect show to put on in the background in October or during your Halloween party, with some quite disturbing/ scary visuals, already at the very end of the first episode! I don't get what kind of world our youkai protagonist are supposed to live in, sometimes they are in present (1968) day Japan with Tokyo Tower and all, but most of the time it's some kind of medieval looking post-apocalypse European desert scenery, but okay - I accept it and I like it. I kept waiting for the first longer story arc to begin... but it never happened. In each episode, they end up in a new random adventures and meet new, cool looking side characters. Ep 6 felt extra dark with Satan worshipping and chopped-off chicken heads - and the show's cheerful ending theme made me laugh out loud, such a contrast! The following episode, no 7, is one of the more memoable ones, an episode that after a slow beginning becomes pirate themed! Another favorite episode of mine was ep 14 where the kid youkai gets tricked by a slightly older girl to go into a haunted forrest. I could also recommend ep 12 (the one with the mermaid) and ep 13 (the one where a skeleton army takes human as slaves). Hum... actually, the only episode I disliked was the a-bit-too-Scooby-Doo-esque ep 17, even though even that episode started out quite promising! The last few ep tended to be a bit less interesting for some reason. But... I had actually hoped the story itself to be even more "weird", like another "Chargeman Ken" I could laugh at. But Youkai Ningen is way... WAY too good for that!