The series follows a human baby abandoned by his mother who ends up in a world inhabited solely by animals and is raised by a tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog).

A day while she is fishing, Monoko finds an abandoned human baby, whose name is Taroza (タロウザ, Tarouza), and decides to raise him as her child.

As the story progress Taroza meets with other humans: Capri (カプリ, Kapuri), a girl raised by lions; Jyu (ジュウ, Jū), a sadistic boy who lives along with a dog; Giller (ギラー, Girā), a man who wants to destroy all animals using genetically-altered beings called "Chimera"; and Riemu (リエム), a girl raised by gorillas.

In his quest to make all animals live in peace, Taroza discovers the existence of the "Eternity Fruit" that can be eaten by carnivore and herbivore.

For this purpose, he created a machine to make all animals understand others cries, and brought Taroza, Capri, Jyu, Giller, and Riemu from their times to the present.

"[5] Mark Thomas of The Fandom Post said it feels "a bit juvenile, both in story and in humor, but there are themes present that seem to be for an older crowd" and "scenes that [...] a lot of kids would struggle to understand".

[11][12] Animal Land, written and illustrated by Makoto Raiku, was first published in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine on September 9, 2009 as a one-shot titled "Episode 0".

[61] Its "absurdist comedy" was highlighted by Chris Kirby of The Fandom Post;[1] on the contrary, Ash Brown of Experiments in Manga felt its "focus on scatological humor" out-of-place.

[62] Mark Thomas of The Fandom Post praised its "somewhat interesting premise" but said it is hindered by a confusion on "what it wants to be", changing abruptly from drama to comedy—both of them were described as "flat" by him.

"[62] Silverman qualified it as "a mixed bag"; she commended the "lush" background artwork, while affirmed the tanuki look like humans dressed as animals, which is "difficult to accept.

"[8] Silverman criticized some "discrepancies", including the human features in the tanuki, Monoko's uncertain size and age, as well as the fact that Kurokagi wears clothes.