Killer introduction to an amazing story. This episode does an amazing job at establishing the themes of discrimination, prejudice, and social dynamics. While they may parallel real life scenarios, the author, Itagaki Paru, did not intend to mimic real life, but rather explore the possibilities of this unique setting.

The elephant in the room, besides being the first furry anime to break into mainstream of course, is the choice of a 3D adaptation over a 2D one. While it does have a lot of charm and allows for more realistic character acting, which is something Itagaki herself has mentioned caring about conveying in the 3rd major arc of the manga, this art direction misses out in bringing her amazing art style into motion. This becomes especially apparent when comparing it to Saru Science's adaptation of Sanda, which is much more faithful to the source material and executes it in a beautiful fashion. Nevertheless, 3D animation still gets the job done, because the story is strong and gripping.