Netflix’s latest anime series is Cagaster of an Insect Cage, a title that rolls exquisitely off the tongue like a bead of honey and isn’t at all bizarre and the likely result of awkward translation. Based on the series by Kacho Hashimoto, it is from the animation studio Gonzo. Cagaster tweaks the formula with a story about a society plagued by giant insects that mutated from infected humans. The episode opened with a shaky, amateur-cam footage of giant insects assaulting a city. Of course, after that opening shot, there’s more concept to be disclosed that two-thirds of all humans are kaputskies. The insects are known as Cagasters. If you don’t decapitate the heads right off the Cagaster bodies within the first 20 minutes of mutation, they become dragonfly beasts the size of jet fighters with skullfaces, armored exoskeletons that shed bullets. Cagasters aren’t totally unkillable, though. Some humans are “exterminators,” trained to take out Cagasters. Our protagonist Kidou is one of these highly skilled bug hunters, and he’s out on a scavenging run with his friend Jin when another truck roars by, pursued by a Cagaster. The series boasts slick animation and character design, and, even in the pilot episode, the emphasis is on the action and character over exposition. It also has Cagasters, which is very much not like apocalyptic anime shows. Of course, post-apocalyptic narratives in popular culture are very rare to portray.

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