KYOUKAI NO KANATA

DESCRIPTION

CAST

NOVEL FantasyKyoukai no Kanata
SPECIAL Slice of LifeKyoukai no Kanata: Mini Gekijou
OVA DramaKyoukai no Kanata #0 Shinonome
MOVIE ActionKyoukai no Kanata: I'LL BE HERE - Mirai-hen
ONA ComedyKyoukai no Kanata: Idol Saiban! Mayoi Nagara mo Kimi wo Sabaku Tami
SPECIAL ActionKyoto Animation: Megane-hen
MOVIE DramaKyoukai no Kanata: I'LL BE HERE - Kako-hen

REVIEWS

• 

  OwlsAreAirCats

  60/100
  Wasted potential, but great animation

  The setting of Beyound the Boundary is really simple: There are monsters and guys that kill monsters. The comedy is created from the character traits of the cast: The protagonist really, really likes girls with glasses, the girl who tries to kill him is a shy girl with glasses. The best friend of the protagonist is really, really obsessed with his little sister, so they fantasize together about the little sister and what she would look like with glasses. This style of comedy is very simple, but at least not terrible. Beyond the boundary manages to at least write comedy that makes sense from what we know about the characters, for example when the poor girl with glasses sells pictures of her to a anonymous buyer with the initials of the protagonist.

  But the comedy is not the main focus of the story. After episode 6, an episode that only consists of the friends fighting a monster that can be distracted by scantily dressed, singing girls, the story begins to speed up, but also gets worse to the end. That is the biggest problem of the show, it's not a bad show, but it is wasting its potential. The ending has a long emotional buildup, only to destroy the point of the whole fight and story in the last thirty seconds.

  The characters are characters written for comedy. They have one or two defining character traits and have only little character development. We learn about their backstories and their motivations, but they never become really complex characters. That being said, the love for glasses of the protagonist is a funny idea, it's different to the normal love for little sisters or other questionalble likings, not that they don't exist in this show. The good thing about the characters is that they all are connected, no character is there for no real reason.

  One of the biggest selling points is certainly the amazing animation, the fighting scenes are fluid and nice to watch. It´s always nice if a bloodsword doesn´t look like a bloodsword, but like a sword made of strange dirt.

  Sure, good animation alone can't save an otherwise bad show, but Beyond the Boundary is not a bad show, it's better than most shows I watched. It's just sad that there is so much wasted potential.

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• 

  Vollerei

  86/100
  A beautiful and entertaining anime in the beginning that would’ve achieved its full potential with 12 more episodes

  __“Youmu or Spirit Warrior… In the end, none of that really matters. Nor does the question of who you are. All that matters is to be close to the ones you care about.” –Yayoi Kanbara

  It really hurts me the most when I finish an anime and think to myself: “If only they had more time to develop everything, it would’ve definitely turned out amazing.” Well, this anime is one of those that unfortunately fall to underdevelopment due to a lack of episodes. From the very beginning, I was in love with the beautiful and vibrant art/animation of Kyoukai no Kanata. From the hilarious moments of comedy to the more than perfect soundtrack, this anime was showing a lot of promise. I had a thought in the back of my head while watching this the whole time thinking: “Why is this anime rated so low anyways? Everything seems perfectly fine!” Then all of the problems started to surface in the second half. What used to be a reasonably paced storyline with much to offer soon did a complete 180, and you found that the atmosphere of the anime had shifted entirely. I know that if they were given 12 more episodes to work with, they would’ve been able to take their time with the storyline and make it the same great quality as the first 6 episodes. You could easily see the potential it had to be SO much more, but it just wasn’t possible to tell the storyline effectively with just 12 episodes.

  Art and Animation: 9.2/10

  • In the day-to-day events, the anime was spectacular. It was very enjoyable to watch all the vivid colors of the world come to life, especially when it came down to the great variety of youmu designs. The action scenes themselves were very good, but somewhat recycled at some parts after careful inspection. You could see that the same “moves” were being used with even similar camera angles, and some of the action scenes were very choppy. When it came to the various character designs, I loved them all! No one really felt too generic, and they definitely fit their personalities for the most part.

  Storyline and Character Progression: 7.7/10

  • This is where the anime struggle the most, although it’s not entirely it’s fault. With all the content it was trying to cover in the span of 12 episodes, it was an impossible task with the way their pacing was in the beginning. I really enjoyed all the anime had to offer in the beginning because it was presented at a comfortable pace that was appropriate for the storyline. After that, I could easily feel the shift in gears, and off we went. Aside from the two main characters, no one else really gained much progression at all. From episode 1 to episode 12, the comparison of each character reveals a minimal amount of progression. Even with our two main protagonists, the full potential of their bond wasn’t reached, but rather rushed. The transition between the “filler” episode and the main storyline was very rough, it all just.....HAPPENED. And ironically, episode 6 was my favorite part of this anime. In the end, while this anime wasn’t a complete failure, it didn’t succeed in EFFECTIVELY telling its enormous storyline in just 12 episodes. This is why I’m not surprised that most of the characters received barely any development through it all.

  Soundtrack and Audio: 8.9/10

  • I couldn’t deny the fact that this soundtrack was AMAZING! From the beautiful OP, to the jam-worthy ED that I’ll continue to enjoy listening to for years to come! I enjoyed every part of the soundtrack. The one HUGE problem though: it staled. The modest use of their soundtrack wasn’t even considered, as it was played again and again and AGAIN. I believe that 30-40% of the episodes had the soundtrack replayed at some point, and that’s a very high percentage for a 12 episode anime. If they just saved the soundtrack for just key moments in the plot, it would’ve given the moment a lot more depth and power. When it came to voice actors, I really did enjoy them for the most part. My only slight problem was with the main protagonist, who sounded like he’d lose his voice if he talked any higher than a slight yell.

  Unfortunately, this anime really suffered from a lack of episodes, but you can’t really blame them for it. With all the information they were trying to cover, the deep storyline to tell, and such a huge cast of characters to develop, it was impossible to do from the start. The content itself wasn’t bad, but the pacing and execution wasn’t satisfactory. That’s why I said that this anime had a lot of potential, and this is the reason why I’m giving this anime an 8.6/10. While it wasn’t anything that was unbearable to watch, it’s cons weighed it down to being anything but above average because of its beautiful art/animation and soundtrack. I really did enjoy this anime and I hope it’ll get a re-adaptation that’ll do the storyline justice. Until next time, see y’all in the next one!

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• 

  Random17

  75/100
  Essentially, the "Darling in the Franxx" of KyoAni.

  KyoAni has always been a studio that produces absolutely amazing slice of life anime. When I watch a KyoAni anime, I know to expect great art and cute, endearing characters, but I keep my expectations for plot progression low. It's not that the studio can't produce anime with good plot, they have, but most of the time, the plot only exists to maximally capitalize on the cuteness and the character interactions in the story.

  When I started Kyoukai no Kanata, it initially hooked me into its plot. It seemed like a show that had a lot of potential for heavy world-building and rich story development. I was hoping this would be an exception to my aforementioned pattern. As I continued watching, it became readily apparent that it was more of a tug-of-rope between a deep and meaningful story and lame cliches that cater to the most common denominator.

  

  This had to be the most un-KyoAni KyoAni anime I have watched, in multiple ways. I really disliked how it had just really strange characterization, with overly unneccesary focus on how much Akihito liked girls with glasses and how Hiro'omi had a thing for his younger sister. Both of these things would often be brought up at inconvenient times, ruining the mood, and then be nailed in further as if the writers wanted those to be the characters' defining and only personality traits. There were also numerous whole episodes seemingly written just for some piece of fan service, such as the episode with the dance choreography, or the one that had Mirai take fanservicey pictures.

  

  On the other hand, it had a--generally--pretty great plot. I could sense some moments of brilliance, real complexity and depth, intense build-up, that contrasts with the typical slow-going laid back nature of most KyoAni works, something similar to the likes of Haruhi Suzumiya. Unfortunately, it kind of fell apart at the end, where it felt like the writers just gave up trying to make a fitting ending and decided to just go with the most impact they could. It was way too rushed, and it could have used an entire second season just for those last episodes along with fleshing out the world more. Nevertheless, it was an emotional story all the way to the end and something that I still enjoyed watching greatly.

  Of course, even as the work that is least characteristic of KyoAni, it is still easy to tell that it is one of their anime: beautiful animation during both slice-of-life moments and intense action, a delicate and masterful treatment of the nuanced emotions of the characters, and great music. KyoAni could make an anime with a completely trash story and these qualities would still be present.

  

  All in all, this was a show that still nailed the parts that the studio is known for, had a good plot with an unfortunately rushed ending, had unnecessary fan service, but was still very much enjoyable. Basically, the Darling in the Franxx of KyoAni.

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