S1E06: Plains

Episode 6 - Plains
Episode Data
Japanese Title: へいげん (Heigen) Broadcast Date: February 14, 2017 Animal Introductions: Moose, Lion Previous Episode: Episode 5 - Lake Shore Next Episode: Episode 7 - Japari Library

Plains (Japanese: へいげん) is the sixth episode of the Kemono Friends anime series. It introduces Lion and Moose as well as their respective armies.

Summary

Kaban and Serval's travels are aggressively stopped by two new Friends: Arabian Oryx and Aurochs. They are asked whether they come from West or East; Kaban is too afraid to speak and Lucky malfunctions, but Serval manages to reply that they come from the Savanna. Arabian Oryx and Aurochs are confused by that answer, and decide to drag them to their "general".

Lion's first appearance during her meeting with Kaban and Serval

The warriors carry Kaban and Serval to a dojo where they are told their mysterious general resides. They enter a room where they see two yellow eyes in the shadow belonging to Lion, who is waiting in the middle of the room. Lion interrogates them, with a deep voice, on why they came to the Plains, where they came from and what their birthplaces are. Kaban, still suffering from amnesia, hesitates on the last question, causing Lion's bodyguards to get suspicious. Lion orders Arabian Oryx and Aurochs to leave the room, and as they do so Kaban and Serval start fearing the worst. Lion, however, relaxes and invites her guests to do the same, this time with a laid-back tone of voice. She explains that she has to act like a leader when her minions are present, mostly because of their war against Moose's army. Lion herself doesn't, however, care much about it, and would rather be lounging around. Unfortunately for her, Moose's side refuses to surrender, even though their 51 previous attempts at attacking Lion failed. Even when she tried to lose intentionally, Moose's "tactic" to keep attacking in a straight line gets beaten by Lion's minions every time before they even make their way to the dojo. Kaban proposes a different kind of war with a safer way of deciding the outcome. Each Friend would be given a safe weapon and a baloon, and to achieve victory they need to burst enemies' balloons. When one's balloon bursts they're out, and if the balloon of a general bursts, the opposite army automatically wins. Lion excitedly accepts these new rules.

Shoebill heavily stares at Kaban and Serval for the first time

After the meeting is done, Kaban and Serval join Moose's team. They encounter the charismatic Moose, Giant Armadillo, Crested Porcupine, White Rhinoceros, Shoebill and Panther Chameleon. They all welcome the new recruits Kaban and Serval, who are themselves still wondering how they got in such a situation. In a flashback, it's revealed that Lion herself asked them to help Moose win the next battle, trusting Kaban's intelligence to do the trick. While Moose is motivating her army, Kaban notices Shoebill strongly staring at her and Serval, and fears that she may have figured out that they come from Lion. To avoid raising further suspicion, Serval raises her hand and asks Moose how they will fight against Lion. She proudly declares that they will use the strategy that they used countless times, and proposes that the group trains using the next battle's rules.

The first mock fight is between Moose and Giant Armadillo. Moose uses her might to quickly launch her opponent into a wall winning this fight, much at Kaban's dismay, as she hoped for the new rules to discourage use of such overwhelming strength. Serval and White Rhinoceros prepare themselves for the following combat, but Crested Porcupine, the judge, initiates the fight while Serval is still a confused on how to use her weapon. White Rhinoceros swings first, but Serval dodges it by jumping in the air, the other Friends impressed by the jump's height. White Rhinoceros blocks Serval's next attack and continues her assault. Scared, Serval runs away from her until she is exhausted because of the weight of her armor, then takes advantage of it and bursts White Rhinoceros's balloon granting her victory. Kaban and the very polite Panther Chameleon are the next combatants. In their battle, Kaban manages to scare her opponent, who tries to make herself invisible, unfortunately not having the time to completely disappear before Kaban bursts her balloon. At the end of the fights, Kaban questions Moose on how White Rhinoceros and Panther Chameleon usually approach the fights in the war, who reveals that they always attack in a straight line without any semblance of a strategy. Kaban then suggests a better plan.

Lucky is revealed to still be malfunctioning, alone, near the Japari Bus.

After Kaban and Serval are complimented by the group, they ask them how the war started. At the beginning, they are told, their fights were just games and Moose's desire simply was to have a duel with Lion. They never, though, managed to defeat Aurochs and Arabian Oryx because of their combat abilities and teamwork. They also learn the existence of a third Lion's bodyguard that they haven't seen yet. The discussion is roughly interrupted by Shoebill's intense stare, which unsettles Kaban and Serval.

As the time of the fight arrives, the armies take position. When the horn signalling the beginning resounds the two sides charge in a straight line to each other as usual, yet Aurochs and Arabian Oryx get surprised when they notice that only Giant Armadillo and White Rhinoceros are there. The two Moose's companions use their defensive skills to fight against Lion's fighters. As Arabian Oryx and Aurochs try to find an another solution, they notice something resembling Moose's horns hidden behind a hedge.

Somewhere else, Kaban and Moose make their way to Lion's dojo. They reunite with Panther Chameleon who used her invisibility skill to infiltrate the place. Walking in the dojo, Moose is still amazed by the ability of Panther Chameleon and ask her why she didn't do it in previous battles, the reply being that she did, in fact, ask to do so but without success. When they encounter Lion's third fighter, Japanese Black Bear, guarding a door, they decide to avoid her yet Moose proudly shows herself and challenges her to battle, shocking everyone. Moose is unwillingly dragged away as they get inevitably chased. Panther Chameleon decides to face Japanese Black Bear herself to let the others run away to find Lion. She use her invisibility to trick her opponent and use her "Caltrops technique" to burst her balloon. Unfortunately, one of the caltrops got stuck on the roof and falls down on her head bursting her own balloon, ending the fight in a draw.

Cutting back to the fight outside, Serval, Shoebill and Crested Porcupine try to hold the fake head they made to look like Moose's horns to trick Lion's bodyguards. Arabian Oryx throws her weapon against them and hits the fake head which falls to the side, scaring Lion's warriors. When Serval puts the head back into place, they are terrified.

Back in the dojo, Moose finally gets the privilege to face Lion. While at first, it looks like Lion is ready to give up, she releases her wild side after Moose does the same, surprising Kaban. After an intense duel, the outcome is a draw. When the generals join their armies outside, they share the results and how fun the fight was. Lion proposes to abandon the fort because of the draw, but Moose tells her she couldn't care less about it, as long as they can fight again. When Kaban is asked for new rules for another "fight", she proposes something akin to football. As everyone is excited for the new rules, Shoebill yet again stares at Serval and Kaban, finally asking them whether Kaban is a human.

At the end, Raccoon and Fennec Fox find the mysterious secret area in the Desert, encountering Sand Cat and Tsuchinoko along the way. Raccoon reveals that she knows how to make Boss talk.

Major Events

Discovery of the plains

Kaban and Serval meet Moose and Lion

Shoebill recognize the specie of Kaban

Common Raccoon and Fennec encounter Tsuchinoko and Sand Cat in the Desert

Debuts

Major Characters

• Lion
• Moose
• Shoebill

Minor Characters

• Arabian Oryx
• Aurochs
• Japanese Black Bear
• Giant Armadillo
• White Rhinoceros
• Panther Chameleon
• Crested Porcupine

Trivia

Guard piece seen on paper roll in episode 6

In episode 6 from the time mark of 19:01 to 19:07, the paper roll at Moose's hip can be seen with a guard piece instead of the string seen on the rolls throughout the rest of the episode.