Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary) ~ final thoughts

Mirai Kuriyama, the cursed spirit world warrior.

Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary) turned out to be a fun watch, that was emotionally engaging at times, and had some very good artwork. I suppose there are several types of questions people might have about this show, depending upon their background.

For those who know close to nothing about the show, I imagine they would be looking for basic information like, “What can I expect from this show?” It’s a Fantasy-Action Anime from a top-tier production company (Kyoto Animation). It looks great, has some plot twists and exciting developments, but it isn’t go-to material for someone looking for tight plots, with no loose ends, or realism, or philosophy.

Those who saw that it is listed as having Significant Objectionable Content on Anime News Network might be wondering, “What’s up with that?” Personally I think that is ridiculous. It has a lot of fantasy violence, including a character that can control her blood (and usually shapes it as a sword, as in the screen cap above), but it is so fantastical that, despite the blood, it is a bit tough to think of it as gory. It also has frequent references to perversions, including a sister complex and a fetish for girls who wear glasses, but this has to be one of the tamest depictions of perversion in anime in years, compared to the amount of ecchi that is standard in just about any mainstream series out there.

Some knowledgable anime fans might be wondering, “Can KyoAni make a Fantasy-Action series, without loading it up with moe?” I think the answer we received was an emphatic NO. The series looks great. I am glad that Kyoto Animation, which has immense talent for animation, worked on a real Fantasy-Action series. But I, let’s face it, this show was loaded with moe tropes. If you can handle that, it is a fun watch, but isn’t going to change a lot of minds about KyoAni.

Finally, there could be a few individuals who watched the series who wonder what I thought about this or that. I personally didn’t feel the show was weighty enough to invest a lot of time in speculating about the many loose threads left dangling. “Would you buy it? Do you think it would be worth buying a set on, say DVD, to have available for a rewatch, or to loan out?” Hmmm…. If I had to choose between buying KnK or buying Hyouka (another series by Kyoto Animation), I would certainly buy Hyouka. “Okay, but would you rather re-watch KnK, or Endless Eight?” Heh, you got me there. I’ll would probably buy Kyoukai no Kanata before I buying the second season of Haruhi no Suzumiya.

Final Thoughts

I did have fun watching Kyoukai no Kanata. It is a bit mindless, but it is a beautiful spectacle.

Fall 2013 – the first fourth

Just one example of the fine illustration of hands in Kyoto Animations newest: Kyoukai no Kanata

Hello everybody. I have been taking a break from blogging, but not from anime! In the past I used to try to write a post for every interesting series upon having seen the first three episodes as a “taste test”. The last of the “first three” have just aired, or are about to do so.

Having seen the first three episodes of many shows this season, I conclude that the one I enjoy seeing the most one quarter of the way into Fall 2013 is Kyoukai no Kanata, a series about a meganeko blood mage, and the boy who loves her.

Kyoto Animation has done their usual spectacular job of animating the series — everything looks great, and this time there are actual fantasy action scenes (sword fights, yeah!) that get the KyoAni treatment, but they also throw in some amazing animations of small things, such as Ayaka’s hands while she was tracing out the occult circle. Remarks from around the blogosphere are mostly positive, including surprise that we already are pulling out a serious battle this early.

Other shows that I have enjoyed so far include:

• Kyousougiga — This show is great fun, and I really like the way the mythology is mixed with almost a Sci-Fi feel.
• Log Horizon — This show is holding up better than I thought it would. The story is starting to develop, and I think they are managing to build up tension without using the same — you die if you lose trope that has been used plenty already.
• Yowamushi Pedal — so far this one looks better than Ace of Diamond, the other sports-themed anime this season, but I often lose interest in these shounen sports shows, which have a tendency to go on far too long.
• Yozakura Quartet Hana no Uta — I went into this without having seen previous entries and find it pretty entertaining so far.
• Golden Time — I wouldn’t say this is one of the better shows I am watching, but the third episode certainly went in an unexpected direction.

I hope the rest of you are enjoying the Autumn as much as I am!