Dec 22, 2013
Brought together by ostensible circumstance, the lives of two high school students are intertwined when they learn that they have more in common than they have different. Both lead a lonely existence as a consequence of wielding inherent abilities that are considered taboo, even among a largely supernatural society, and are united by the pains of shared misfortune as if their meeting was fated to be. . . The premise of the plot was indeed promising; had it lived up to its full potential, Kyoukai no Kanata probably would have been generally well-received among the majority of audiences. It has a good start, but dashes
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hopes by forcing an ending that nobody was ready for. Fact of the matter is, as enjoyable as it was; it lacked the delivery necessary to truly enchant viewers the way it could have, and that perhaps is what’s most disappointing.
Starting things off on a high note, the first half of the show reels you in with attractive character design and visual aesthetics. The temperament of the characters was such that each of them possessed their own idiosyncratic quirk and those eccentricities’ worked together to make for humorously entertaining character interaction. Their light-hearted fun gives off an amusing, almost relaxing ambience that’s generally desirable in the slice of life genre. The picturesque visual graphics don’t hurt either, especially when it comes to the strikingly eye-catching action scenes. The fact that unique character design was prominent and neglected the use of avant-garde hairstyles was my guilty pleasure. I was also keen on the repeating color motif, which changed in each episode and the soundtrack was in good taste too; I was particularly fond of the performance of “Yakusoku no Kizuna” in episode six and the ending theme “Daisy,” but I digress.
The area where this anime falls short – its Achilles’ heel – is undoubtedly the execution of the plot. The idea behind the plot itself is nothing short of profound; however it lacks the proper execution necessary for viewers to fully enjoy the anime for all it had to offer. As the finale draws near, the progression of events is fickle and almost uncomfortably rushed, which I found was largely in part due to the restraint on episodes. It felt as if better development of the story would have meant poorer character development and vice versa, greater character development would hamper the progression of the story. Perhaps if there were twice as many episodes, the plot and characters could have been developed in a more ideal fashion. Regardless, the transition towards the end feels forced, spurring inconsistencies that one generally wouldn't expect when first starting to watch. Events become unnecessarily confounding, making it undesirably harder to grasp the scenario and empathize with characters’ emotions, as dramatic as the ending is supposed to be. The anime wasn't bad, it just wasn't very well executed, and that in turn is likely to muddle viewer reception. It was a good ride but it could have easily been a lot better, so while Kyoukai no Kanata is still an anime worth watching, viewers may be disappointed in its inability to live up to its own potential.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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