Kyoukai no Kanata (TV)

[Kraco]

Damn, Izumi is a super bitch. First she steals the most likely highly valuable stone from Mirai, and now she takes away her license despite the fact Mirai is nearly literally starving from lack of money. And as if that wasn't enough, she even tells Mirai to be more careful [if she doesn't want things like this to happen again]. If she hadn't stolen the fricking stone, Mirai could probably afford a month or six no problem.

I don't care if Izumi is Mitsuki's (and Mr. Siscon's) older sister. Something bad needs to happen to her for the sake of justice. She's plain evil. Although more than that I'm annoyed by the meek attitude Mirai and Akihito have. If you have a power others fear, then let those others treat you normally like they would treat anybody else or have a taste of that power.

[Ryllharu]

True, she is a super bitch, but I must know why she is a super bitch. They have some plan, but we don't know what it is. That's even more disturbing.

I get the feeling that Izumi really wants to kill Akihito, but doesn't because of the backlash that will happen with her siblings. I'm glad Mitsuki was able to have her own little personal rebellion here, and finally join in their little community. I was afraid earlier that she was taking after her bitch sister, but that doesn't appear to be the case. They finally humanized Mitsuki.

But I really can't forgive Izumi for stealing Mirai's stone. She (and Akihito) accomplished something that no other Spirit Warrior has even dared to do for apparently decades. She deserved that reward.

I'm also interested in what is done with the stones that are given to the to two youmu sisters. They appraise them, exchange them for money, but what happens after that? We saw the little chainsaw sister Sakura absorbing the stone directly into her weapon, presumably giving her the power to continue to use it against youmu (since it was said she has no power of her own). It may give us hints as to what Izumi and her grandfather(?) want to use the Hollow Shadow stone for.

edit:
I eagerly await seeing Shindou Ayaka's true youmu form.

[shinta|hikari]

Mitsuki = Mio, at least in this episode. Doesn't help that the first syllable sounds the same.

[Ryllharu]

Kyoukai no Kanata - 06 [HorribleSubs]

HS has no lyrics on the insert song, so maybe you want to wait for a different group.



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This was a delightfully stupid episode. The main cast went into full-blown idiot mode in the compulsive way that only good anime comedy can provide. They went far beyond what they actually needed to do to succeed, and as a result...failed spectacularly.

All they really needed to do was retry the first plan using Mirai as the attacker and Mitsuki as the bait. Instead we got some good comedy mostly at Mitsuki's expense and some high quality and very fluid animation sequences.

It is interesting to see the stark difference between the two Nase family daughters. Izumi is deadly serious, probably evil, calculating, cold, distant, and unfriendly yet professional. Mitsuki, now that she's more engaged with Kuriyama, is playful, good-natured, thoughtful but occasionally overthinks things, cool yet still friendly, easily engaged in their activities, and playful while still generally getting the job done (though they didn't do it this time).

[shinta|hikari]

That is how you do parody.

[Archangel]

I feel silly for hoping KyoAni had actually adapted something with any texture to it

[shinta|hikari]

Texture?

[Buffalobiian]

Mistranslation for substance?

[Archangel]

Mistranslation for substance?

In Portuguese they're synonyms, but yeah ok substance.

[Ryllharu]

Give it time Arch. We come back from a few darkerish and serious episodes, so they give us some comedy relief.

Given that the vengeance-consumed little sister is next, it fits fine. This is how a narrative is supposed to be written. It's not like Kill la Kill didn't do the same when it gave us a really farcical episode right after it got awesome.

[Archangel]

Give it time Arch. We come back from a few darkerish and serious episodes, so they give us some comedy relief.

Given that the vengeance-consumed little sister is next, it fits fine. This is how a narrative is supposed to be written. It's not like Kill la Kill didn't do the same when it gave us a really farcical episode right after it got awesome.

The problem is this seems to be shaping up to be one of those shows with serious arcs at the beginning and end in between a lot of filler and fluff.

[shinta|hikari]

I don't really mind the fluff and comedy since it is done well, as expected of KyoAni.

I think the serious parts we've had so far can already be considered substance. It isn't the most original plot, but at least it has one.

[Ryllharu]

Kyoukai no Kanata - 08 [horriblesubs]
[FFF]

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A particularly dense episode, to the point that the pace actually felt a bit rushed.

Things I liked:
- Aya is left alone not because she assesses and pays for youmu rocks, but because, as a kyuubi, she would be able to kill most spirit warriors who try to "subdue" her, even when substantially weakened during The Calm. I suppose it helps that she and Ai the Nekomata are generally friendly.

- Mitsuki being treated as "the baby of the Nase family," and actually showing a little affection toward her brother, especially when he protected her and when he appeared to have been blown up.

- Izumi being even more of an evil bitch than we had expected, but the other dude still somehow worse.

Things I was kinda ambivalent or even negative about:

- Sakura going for murderous rage in the last few episodes to super best friends with Mirai as if nothing had happened. I know the whole previous episode focused on them making up, but it felt kinda abrupt to me.

- The pace of the episode in general, made it rather hard to follow the rather large revelations in this episode.

- Akihito's mother is just annoying. I have a strong distaste for characters like her. Their eccentricity comes off as disgustingly fake.

[shinta|hikari]

- Akihito's mother is just annoying. I have a strong distaste for characters like her. Their eccentricity comes off as disgustingly fake.

This.

Izumi is an ass, but also a bad one.

[KrayZ33]

Akkey dead soon
its going to be awesome when they just move on from there with akkey being dead, forever
plot wise of course, not because I didn't like him
the ending starts to make more "sense" now too

I really look forward to what is going to happen
ep8, 9 and now the preview for 10 make me yearn for more

Stuff from earlier episodes are starting to get fishy too
Izumi rescued Mirai in the past and kept meeting her several times during the show(festival + roof + café)
now the "it was your plan to kill him from the start" part....

[Kraco]

Akkey dead soon
its going to be awesome when they just move on from there with akkey being dead, forever

It wouldn't even surprise me. The characters are kind of passive in this show. Mirai would have kept believing she's cursed for all eternity if Akihito hadn't convinced her otherwise. Akihito himself was hiding such a beast within but never did anything with all that potential. Mitsuki seemed pretty happy remaining in the dark even in the matters of her own family. Hiroomi at least was a bit more active, though I wonder if it isn't a bit too late for him as well.

But then again, I guess only the following eps will show if the main characters simply keep swallowing unchewed everything the scheming bastards above tell them or if they decide to crack some skulls finally. Both the spirit warriors and the Nase family are no good, though I suppose Mitsuki and Hiroomi are in a more difficult position as they would need to decide whether to become schemers themselves to honour the family tradition or to change a thing or two, opposing Izumi. Especially Mirai should do something. Her power seems unstoppable compared to most, so she should use it and not just let others play her like a cheap tool. In the end if she was mentally capable of skewering her love interest, surely she should be able to cut anybody.

[KrayZ33]

the show was good enough, but that ending was too much of an ass pull

so bad...and forced

[shinta|hikari]

The no megane smile at the very end deserves the following caption:

TROLL FACE

[Kraco]

Although I don't belong to those who believe everything needs to be explained in a story, I still can't help but agree with the Sankaku commenters who thought this story didn't even try to explain many essential things and pulled a lot of crap out of nowhere in general. Of course Mirai mysteriously surviving was the biggest thing, but another thing I personally wonder about is the villainous Spirit Warrior dude. Why exactly did he want to destroy the world (and himself along with it)?

[Ryllharu]

I just assumed Mirai simply regenerated. The girl loses a tremendous amount of blood whenever she fights. A few beef bowls, ramen, and assorted noodles won't cover that, so she's always had that skill going for her. Furthermore, they mentioned that both she and Akihito are special beings. Her clan is the counterpoint to the Kyoukai no Kanata, an existence that resurfaces every few millennia, currently residing in Akihito. They showed that her sword poisoned Kyoukai no Kanata very easily in the mirrored world. It rumbled severely every time she simply touched it with her blood.

Given that she's also the last member of her clan (presumed exterminated), whatever force gives rise to youmu also needed to revive Mirai's cursed bloodline. That part didn't bother me at all.

I'm also a little dubious how much of an "end" this is. I assumed the novels continue, and they are ongoing. KyoAni animated what's out there. The third volume only came out this October.

Think of it this way. In Haruhi's well-received first season, how much was left unexplained? How much is still left unexplained? I don't need everything wrapped up perfectly to enjoy a series. There should always be a little hook left over to keep people craving more, or leaving it up to their imagination/interpretation.

The only unexplained part I was really left wondering about was what kind of youmu had partially absorbed Izumi. The evil dude's was obvious, and it had clearly consumed his soul, leaving him to want little more than destruction and ruining lives wherever he went. Izumi is the opposite case, where she is still cognizant of her actions, and continuing to deliver the will of the clan and even allowing a coexistence with friendly youmu (Ai and Ayaka).

As an aside, Ai is also surprisingly useless as a nekomata. She's utterly harmless. It is fortunate that she has Ayaka taking care of her.



All in all, I really liked this series. It had consistent pacing, solid animation throughout, interesting...enough characters, and left me wanting to know more. But the real takeaway is this:

KyoAni has proved they can still do sustained action sequences, not just the minute-long budget burners before settling back into Moe-Cliché-Moneysaver Mode. This means that they actually still retain the talent to accomplish action series, real action series. It gives me hope that they'll still try to do Full Metal Panic. The demand is out there, and they know it from the response to the troll-promo image that turned out to be Free.