To me, KyoAni’s Golden Era started with the underrated anime ‘Hyouka’ (which I’ll be reviewing in the future). Sorry to disappoint, but I didn’t like ‘Haruhi Suzumiya’ or ‘Clannand’, as for ‘Lucky Star’ and ‘K-ON!!’ both of them were just about cute girls messing around, and not in the wholesome way.
Due to this, I thought that ‘Hyouka’ was a fluke, thus when I dared to check Kyoukai no Kanata, I was blown away.
Kyoukai no Kanata, also known as ‘Beyond the Boundary’ was among the favorites anime of its premiere season and left a lasting impression on me. Not because it had a particular catching premise or anything, but due to its enjoyableness and the portrayed relations between the characters.
That’s probably why I ended watching anime produced by KyoAni every now and then, to be honest: they focus on the characters’ relationships, something that many anime lack nowadays. Hence why they’re enjoyable, even if the plot itself isn’t outstanding.
So, Kyoukai no Kanata. What is it about?
My very-much-shortened version of the summary:
“Kanbara Akihito finds a cute classmate about to dive down the school roof, dude rushes the hell up to dissuade her from committing suicide, because he’s decent person. Kuriyama Mirai then proceeds to stab him with her crazy blood-bending powers, like the unestable mess she is, but Akihito doesn’t die due to plot armor: he’s a hybrid between human and creatures knows ‘Yomu’, which gives him the ability to quickly regenerate any wound, making him virtually immortal.
From then on, two people very screwed over by life intertwine their paths.”
Yeah, plot goes from 0 to 100 pretty damn fast. You wouldn’t expect any of what I just said from seeing the anime visuals.
Let’s take off clearing up the ‘Yomu’ part, so they’re basically demons. And yes, there’s an organization (o rather, clans) dedicated to slay them; Mirai herself is the last survivor of her clan, which has an ability hated by the other clans, to the point they pretty much murdered everyone because humanity is that shitty.
(I’m having Uchiha Clan’s flashbacks).
Akihito himself was persecuted by the yomu slaying clans, until he was found by Hiromi Nase and lately fell under the Nase Family’s protection; long-story short: Hiromi originally planned on killing him, but lately ended befriending him after Akihito single-handedly saved his life. There’s a movie explaining that bit, so I’ll keep going.
Kyoukai no Kanata isn’t a great anime plot-wise, but you get emotionally invested due to on-point storytelling moments. It focuses more on Mirai and Akihito’s day-to-day as they sort their own trauma™, along with their friends Hiromi and Mitsuki Nase. There’s a bit of yomu slaying action here and there, but it compensates the comedy and light moments (mostly delivered through Hiromi’s existence and the Iconic Chapter Sixth) with unexpected strong scenes, some borderline gory because when I wasn’t joking when said that Akihito is virtually immortal, and the animation isn’t afraid to show it.
| My thoughts |
Akihito and Mirai are two halves of a whole idiot, and they deserve each other. They’re cute and dumb together, although Mirai is the dumbest of the duo. Glass fetish aside, Akihito is the supportive boyfriend everyone fucking deserves.
Hiromi is freaking hilarious and loyal to a fault, but I must acknowledge he’s a bit cringy, so I’m not expecting you to shower the dumbass in love. Interesting fact: he fights using a, I kid you not, scarf.
Mitsuki is the cynical one out of the main characters, mostly because she was heavily influenced by her older sister, who’s basically acknowledged throughout the series as “That Scary Bitch.”
| Conclusion |
KyoAni wasn’t afraid and threw a big budget for this anime, and it paid off! Kyoukai no Kanata is worth watching, either due to Minori Chihara’s strong yet very emotional opening, the colorful and abstract ending or the dumb-yet-loveable four main characters.
I warn you, though: it has a bittersweet ending. But there’s good news if you haven’t watched it yet! They’ve fixed it, so if you’re hell-bent on getting a happy ending, go see the movie.