Kekkai Sensen

I'll start off by saying that if you're a fan of the series Baccano, Kyousogiga, or both, then you're going to love this show.

This series, in my own humble opinion, is basically perfection.
It took only one episode for me to completely fall in love.
Allow me to explain to you exactly what it is I feel about this series.

Kekkai Sensen is directed by Rie Matsumoto, who I personally see as a genius. Her directing style is extremely distinct and very unique. She has a wide range of creative camera angles along with her brilliant tactics into making something engaging or exciting. If you ... want an example of her work, watch Kyousogiga. That show is fantastic as well and I highly suggest watching it.
And although her directing style is super energetic, she somehow manages to make it so the show is easy to follow, despite all of what's going on at once.

When it comes to it's story, Kekkai Sensen makes great use of the world it has created. Countless things could happen in this twisted version of New York City. I won't tell you about anything that happens in the series, because honestly I went into it blind, and I wish for you to do the same.

The art is most likely the weakest point in the series, if we aren't counting camera angles as an artistic value. The only reason why is because the animation isn't exactly up-to-par with all of the other shows airing this season, yet it still manages to at times create it's own special atmosphere which continues to engage me in it's marvelous universe.

The Sound and Characters are both fantastic aspects to this series, and I emphasize the character importance because they're easily the best part of the show. I can't even tell you how fun it is to watch these people interact and work together. All of their personalities are non-generic and the director takes advantage of it's wide variety. Not to mention, there are actually about 5 or so voice actors who play main characters in Gintama! How much more fun can a series get when it comes to it's characters? (Shinpachi, Hijikata, Sarutobi, Katsura and Kagura, from what I remember.)

My enjoyment is an easy 10. This show is a marvel. Never in so long have I seen a new series be so eccentric and unique.
It's truly a gem, and I hope that other people can realize this as well.
I apologize if my review was lacking, since I'm more of a creative writer, not a critic. So my vocabulary and descriptions tend to be less varied when it comes to writing reviews...
Either way, please, give the show a chance! You won't regret it!

(OH, I MUSTN'T FORGET. THIS SERIES LITERALLY HAS ONE OF THE BEST ENDING SONGS/VIDEOS OF ALL TIME. GO LOOK UP IT'S ED, I PROMISE YOU WILL LOVE IT. THE OPENING IS FANTASTIC TOO.)

For those who have long awaited for a reboot for Trigun... you are going to have to wait a little longer. Until then you can watch Yasuhiro Nightow's other manga get adapted in what I am sure is going to be the best anime of the season that feels like the spiritual successor of Trigun. Kekkai sensen aka Blood Blockade Battlefront.

story and character 8/10: the story itself is not very complex. it can be simply put as an organization of super-powered people fighting against disorder in New York which has now turned into supernatural zone between the underworld and the real world that has been ... renamed Jerusalums Lot. What makes the story so good however is the execution. the way it goes about episode by episode is definitely not textbook "Monster of the week" type predictable battles where they have to simply find some weakness that was only apparent to the main character. There really is a lot of variety to this show as there are many important antagonists that shaped the way that Jeruselums lot functions. Its story telling style is a lot like Baccano or Durarara where there isn't really a main character and more of a main cast of characters to tell the story it presents. The characters in the story at the moment have not fully developed at the moment of writing so ill hold off on that till the end of the show. the character designs are unique and well done as are the plethora of background "beyondians". The show uses naming conventions that are similar to Trigun that seem so stupid for characters that they somehow end up being cool and memorable like Zap Renfro or steven starphase. Overall the entire cast is solid.

Art and sound : 10/10: The artwork and animation in this show is too impressive to put to words. studio Bones went all out to really capture the setting of new york overrun by supernatural beings with such great detail while also giving all of their effort the extremely well animated and over the top action scenes. this is partly due to the director of Kyousou Giga, Rie Matsumoto using extremely interesting and stylistic camera angle choices and overlays to better convey a scene or simply keeping things interesting even when its simply characters doing some exposition. On the topic of sound I am currently waiting for the whole soundtrack to be released as I haven't heard a ost this good that incorporates jazz music since Kids on the slope. The musical composer Taisei Iwasaki is just starting out with making music for kekkai sensen so he is one to keep an eye out for in the future, the Implementation of the music in the anime is also well done as there are never times when the music feels out of place. there are no complaints on the voice acting however there is a small issue at hand with this series when it comes to audio. This show almost demands an english dub simply because of the setting they are in and that during certain moments of exposition it is almost impossible to keep track of everything all at once in an episode in one go requiring multiple re-watches to get all of it and naturally hearing it in a dubbed version would alleviate this problem.

Overall: 9/10: This show has the artistic flair and character writing to shine and each element of the show embodies the theme of what made New York City an ideal melting pot of cultures and ideas from a diverse cast of characters to many different genres of music (with jazz being the most used) to the diverse population of monsters and super-humans and diverse stories they tell. this show is a definite must-watch this season

Sometimes, I don't get anime fans. If you've paid attention to the sales charts, you'll see that Blood Blockade Battlefront's current sales numbers are going toe-to-toe with Shirobako aka the most acclaimed and important anime series in recent times, and that just baffles me. I mean Kyoani’s own beautiful anime with believable character motivations, depth to its story, and (most importantly of all) actual challenges the characters have to overcome came out in the same season around the same time, and yet it just sold decently - which is below the studio’s usual standards. Okay fine, maybe this anime has a swanky soundtrack. Maybe it's ... being directed by one of the most dynamic TV directors in the current market. Maybe it has a character named Zapp Renfro. Maybe it had one of the most unique and eye-catching premises to come from the market in years. But BBB on the whole is just not the least bit good, and I don't understand why anyone is trying to convince me otherwise.

The series is based on a manga written by Yasuhiro Nightow, who you may know as the writer of Trigun - a series that's kinda sexist when you think about it. Okay, it’s not on the level of Bakuman or even Rurouni Kenshin, but Vash is still a really f*cking stupid main character. But you know, as much as he grinds my gears whilst shouting his “Love & Peace” bullshit, at least Vash had a personal story and some important flaws, mishandled as they were, in regards to some interesting discussions about how to deal with criminals. So I was kinda expecting some similar moral quandaries in this new thing under the guise of a stylish futuristic noir setting.

Unfortunately, Nightow decided for his new work that BBB would be a generic slice-of-life story combined with Baccano’s tone, and you know what that means? Let’s do absolutely fuck all whilst trying to cover up that fact with lots of energy! Honestly, I’m still racking my brains regarding who contributed more to BBB’s problems. But make no mistake: neither the production team nor the original writer helped in making this show good. The phrase “nothing interesting happens” is overused in general, let alone by me, but I can’t think of a better summary of the show’s problems aside from it being the equivalent of eating nothing but a giant bag of M&Ms for lunch. Sounds appealing at first until you become sick not even ten minutes, and you’ve still got five-sixths of the bag to go through.

The main character is pretty bland as well. Leonardo Watch - and you can tell that someone involved with Gungrave worked on these names because they’re just as silly here as they were there - is a young boy with magical eye powers who comes to the Star Wars version of Chicago and ends up getting involved in a series of ka-razy events that leads to him getting recruited into an organization called Libra, a group of individuals much older than him that keep peace in the city through poorly stylized fight scenes against villains that are never developed beyond the concept and we’ll never see again afterwards. Whilst dealing with these episodic events involving their exploits, Leo routinely converses with an anime-original girl and boy at the beginning and end of each episode, cock-teasing a larger story involving them with his connection being incredibly arbitrary.

In fact, Leonardo’s entire existence is arbitrary. Most of his screentime is just him being strung along by other people and most of the time, he doesn’t take a proactive role or solve anything on his own other than spotting the occasional enemy weakness - which makes him about as useful as Slippy Toad, so I have to wonder why he’s even the main character. Which come to think of it, didn’t he come to Hellsalem in order to help his sister? Actually, even I don’t even remember what was up with that mcguffin anymore. Something about her being sick because of some magic bullshit? Maybe if more than five minutes (in the first episode no less) were dedicated to that plot point, I’d care enough to look it up.

BBB Writer #1: Hey, wasn’t there some plot thread regarding Leo’s personal life that we should at least address, BBB Writer #2?

BBB Writer #2: Can’t seem to recall that, BBB Writer #1. Now let’s have the characters fight a Ninja Samurai Vampire, because that’s cool right?

Every single scenario is ridiculously unimaginative and plays like some Hideo Kojima wannabe’s fanfiction come to life rather than pieces of a larger whole. And with each episode I watched, I just kept asking myself what the point of all this nonsense was. There’s one episode where Leo befriends a friendly mushroom-like fellow that’s experiencing racism because that’s just how it works in the city. And when Leo tries to help him, he ends up getting kidnapped (again) and forgetting said friend once the mushroom defends himself with some sort of pollen after getting beaten severely with a baseball bat on-screen. As much as I understand that racism is a subject that’s still relevant after all this time, this incident is never brought up again and doesn’t add to Leo’s character so I’m not really sure why you made me sit through that.

And really, that’s one of the more focused episodes of the series. A large percentage of them are incredibly gimmicky fluff that accomplishes nothing more than saying something exists before pretending it doesn’t the very next week. Where are the episodic stories where the characters’ way of life is questioned or where some cliche yet relevant personal philosophy is imparted upon us or where something game-changing happens in the future besides introducing another throwaway character? Now I know the anime makes it clear at the start that Hellsalem is a place where anything can happen and that you could argue that’s the message of the anime, but I respond to that answer with “no fucking duh”. That sort of philosophy is functional as setup, but for the basis of an entire series, it’s simplistically dull because anything can happen in real life too (as Donald Trump’s campaign should show you, let alone the real New York). What exactly is this “anything can happen in Crazy Town” philosophy in aid of, Blood Blockade Battlefront?

Because it sure isn’t about anything resembling a coherent whole, I’ll tell you that. Literally the only connecting thread are these twins that only meet with Leo at the beginning and end of each episode and pretty much disappear altogether until their story appears in that long-delayed finale where said delay either killed your interest or made you want to rewatch the show prior to its arrival because it’s been a season since you last watched the anime and your memory is that atrocious. But why you’d need to do that is a question that you’re going to have to answer to me in a really understandable way, because the hints to this finale were both barely there and don’t even involve Leo or the rest of the cast all that much, if at all. And the same is true for the finale itself, which without spoiling anything, is so anticlimactic and non-consequential to anything in the show, let alone the characters, that it makes you question the entire arc's importance for all the good it did.

Speaking of the characters, I might have tolerated the lackluster story and Leo's non-existent importance if they had been the least bit interesting. But if you’re one of those people who think it’s not utterly dumb for every character to be a badass, then you can just disregard this review right now, because I honestly don’t see the appeal in a cast that doesn’t have any sort of pathos whatsoever. I don’t have a problem starting your story with fully developed characters since origin stories are overrated anyways, but there’s a difference between someone who got the way they are through hard struggles in their life and someone who’s the product of Mary Sue fanfiction. Especially when their attempts to be funny consist of jokes that have as much punch as a one-year old who hasn’t eaten in days and is chained to the ground.

And worst of all, they don’t do anymore than Leo. There’s this woman in a suit named Chain Sumeragi who is supposed to be a werewolf, but she never transforms or even fights or does really much of anything aside from jumping around and making snide remarks to Zapp - who I only remember for his name and little else. Which is something I guess, since I didn’t bother to retain anyone else’s names in this series apart from Klaus. Maybe if you actually made them do anything important or memorable or anything not boring, I’d have a reason to do so.

But no, they do jack throughout the entire show. Even in the finale, they do jack, mostly existing to serve as Leo's cheerleaders and little else. And just like most fictional cheerleaders, it's incredibly hard to distinguish between them if you ignore the obvious fact that they have different designs, sexes, and voices. Literally anything said by one character could easily be said by another character without coming across as unnatural, and that's not a good thing in my book unless you just don't care about character variety. And if you don't, sorry to say this, but you have real low standards man.

Blood Blockade Battlefront does not live up to any of the hype surrounding its pre or post-release, but I’ll be fair and admit that not even Cowboy Bebop would have been able to live up to the amount of jizz that covered it before its airing alone. All of the show’s good traits from Matsumoto’s dynamic direction to the ending credits are outnumbered by shit ones, namely the fact that there’s so much about these characters and this setting that’s ripe for good storytelling, and yet it’s wasted on predictable humor, shallow characterization, and pointless world-building. Also, dear god does the action suck a big fat one. It's completely one-sided and keeps favoring stylization over interesting choreography, the finale in particular avoiding to scratch that "action-loving" itch of mine when it had the team take down a bunch of faceless mooks that stood perfectly still and took it from the top in-between all the horrendously boring and overly long philosophical dialogue.

And it didn't even last half a minute. That's like dating a cute girl for five years without having sex and when you finally decide to do it on your honeymoon night...well let's just say that unlike this show, you have more to look forward to in the future, including getting better. But it's best not to tell your kids about the time you cried during what you claim to be the greatest period of your life.

While most of the reviews here have praised Kekkai Sensen, I have to say that this kind of anime requires some sort of acquired taste.

If you watched Durarara and Baccano, and (perhaps rather oddly) like me, dislike both of them for making little sense, explaining a bit of everything everywhere, and having essentially no plot, you may NOT enjoy this series.

Like the 2 aforementioned animes, Kekkai Sensen features plenty of nameless characters that are absurd, scenes that you may not understand (e.g. in fights, who's doing what, and sometimes even who's who), and non-linear storylines. I won't provide an example to avoid spoiling, but ... let's just say some guy who has insane fighting skills also has insane superpowers is incidentally the human race's best chess player (better than pro players) just when it's needed.

Ok enough about the characters and the plot, if there's one thing I DO enjoy about Kekkai Sensen it would be the sound. I like the opening and ending tracks, as well as the ambient music, and how it changes the atmosphere of the scenes as it goes along. This is probably the only thing that kept me watching.

To close, I have to say that there are plenty of people who enjoy animes like this, but if you, like me, do not enjoy multiple non-linear storylines coupled with barrages of nonsense and nameless random characters, probably you might want to look somewhere else.

Sound: 9, Art: 7, Story,Character,Enjoyment: 6. Overall: 6

Finally after months of waiting saw the Last Eps of Kekkai Sensen
And it was honestly a clusterfuck of nonsense, I loved it.
Nothing made real sense, chaotic story telling and events happening here and there with no real explanation.
Animation, art and OST were all beautiful
Fight scenes were fluid and characters were as crazy as ever
Storytelling is lost somewhere along the months of waiting for the last eps.
I cannot say exactly why I really enjoyed the last eps, just that I simply did
Overall I would never recommend this anime to anyone that focuses on story/plot or anything that makes sense or follows logic.
BUT
I do that those ... that simply want to enjoy, perky characters, High Tier animation and OST , Interesting character with a story that really goes nowhere fast but has enough stuff happening all at once that you'd be to focus on that to really care about the story.
Sooo many negatives but the things that are positive of this series simply really appeal to me.
Tbh I think there is probably more to the series than just the action and the colors but was too busy just watching the
small detail happening in the screen

There were hints at the end for a sequel
I would LOVE an S2 just to see everyone back, I'd like some explanations but at this point I dont care that much anymore I just want to see randomness happen in a cool setting.

I seem to constantly root for those who treat abnormalities simply as the ground they walk on. Got a superpower added to your life? Stay in school. Turn out to be Akina's best driver? Keep delivering tofu. Lose your sister's sight and receive the All-seeing Eye Of The Gods? Keep delivering pizza.

Kekkai Sensen is packed with such enjoyable concepts, environments and characters. Kekkai Sensen is that friend who goes out of their way to give you shits and giggles because they're such a nice person. This beautifully conceptualised post-alien invasion world gives its best kicks from Leo being so mundane that he normalises absolute chaos ... and death around his being every single time he's in the portrait. It's beautifully done and you'll be watching this entire anime with a smile.

The captions introducing the characters feels so natural. The voice acting - both the protagonists and the villains, give so much personality insight and perspective to the voiced character. This one will be so enjoyable if dubbed properly. The camera angles are varied constantly, and are so well done it sets the standard for future anime - there may now exist an anime you can rewatch and enjoy purely for cinematography.

Every scene is drawn from a new camera perspective and doesn't skimp on visual accuracy. The way scenes are laid out to the audience makes them learn so much about characters and plots without the characters needing to doggedly explain concepts. This creative ability means that the pacing is just on-point.

This is the first time I've seen an anime so good, and so confident in how good it is, that before the ending, it will wrap up all loose ends, give you a happy ending, and will still be confident you're hungry for the next episode.

Story - 2
The biggest problem with this series is its inability to tell a proper story as every episode is more or less just a 'character introduction of the week', a notable cousin of the 'monster of the week' trope.

Every episode seems to begin with Leonardo going about his daily life and then something quite random happens and he gets thrown into the middle of the ensuing chaos. Something happens in the middle of the episode which resolves the aforementioned issue (most often with very little input from Leonardo) then somehow it's tied altogether at the very last few minutes of the episode and calls ... itself a story.

And the biggest problem with this is that from episode to episode, there seems to be very little relevance linking it to the previous episode other than basically a character introduction, who, most of the time, don't seem to get any more air time or even noted at all.

The most important part of each episode, the last few minutes, tends to reveal that 'something' large is happening, yet since every episode is just a one-off incident, you're left wondering if this 'something' actually exists at all.

Then there's the blood style fighting of the series which has very little explanation to it other than that it seems to be more like the 'magic system' of the universe. There's also the obnoxious calling out of the attack names that seems to be just added in because the author thought it would sound really cool and attract any six year old that so happens to be watching. And this series seems to be aiming towards them with its overall idea of its 'episodic character and conflict introduction to resolution'.



Art - 8
There nothing really wrong with the art. It's pretty standard but suits the style of the series.



Sound - 8
The variety of voices really help with the identification of characters and help prevents character overlap. The BGM fits well with the mafia styled theme and tends to be quite notable. I didn't really like the OP or ED, though the ED's style really fit with the overall theme.



Character - 3
And this is another series that relies on its overly non-existent and weak protagonist in order to have an excuse for everything to happen.

Leonardo - So basically he's more or less, like a lamppost. His input is negligible most of the time as the show relies more or less relies on other characters to mess with him which then prompts other characters to come and save him. And since he never actually does much, I'm not even sure what kind of person he is besides the generic male beta.

The Libra members - It seems that on episode one they're introduced as an underground organisation for maintaining balance and order and is counter to some 'evil' organisation that's also introduced on episode one. But that story quickly devolves into episodic resolutions which now entirely rely on Leonardo's mishaps. There's Zapp who just seems to be a comic relief more than anything, Klaus who's portrayed as the big boss and tries to be conveyed as someone strong and reliable but ends up being more of a 'get out of jail free' card. Then there's chain who serves very little purpose other than seemingly to just exist to shut feminists up about a lack of diversity.

Others - White and Black and recurring characters that seem to be placed there for any convenient story advancements. White is a girl that Leonardo so happens to meet and so happens to also be the sister of Black who is somehow related to the 'evil' organisation. White doesn't seem to do much besides being a possible love interest of Leonardo and giving expositions on White and Black's past which, at the moment, is largely unhelpful to the already murky story of the series. There are also the introduced 'character's of the week' but since they only play their role for that week their standing feels only one level higher than that of background characters.



Enjoyment - 5
The biggest let down of this series was its inability to tell a proper story. Some of the episodes had no relevance to the overall story and felt more like a filler than anything (I'm looking at you Chess episode and Mushroom episode) and having 2 filler episodes out of 7 (that I watched) is just insane. Watching this series didn't keep me on the edge, in fact it made me want them to fast forward and to just get to the point instead of watching every episode's repetitive beginning, predictable conflict resolution and very lazy ending of trying to tie all the event's into some 'greater' story.



Overall - 4
The show suffers from two drastic flaws. The first is its poor story telling and the second is its continuous influx of characters and information in an already ambiguous story. It was like we started off on a good foot then tripped and fell into a dark valley and have kept falling since. The 'evil' organisation's introduction seemed to imply that we'd see a continuous conflict between Libra and them, yet after the first episode they seemed to have decided to take a vacation or something.

So far nothing much has happened in this series besides character introductions. Whatever 'greater' story that the author has in mind will probably end up as a deus ex machina.

Kekkai Sensen is an ongoing manga from Nightow Yasuhiro, you may know him as the creator of Trigun. The manga started in 2009, but it didn't receive an anime adaptation until this year. The anime was handled by Bones, a Studio that has a pretty strong track record as far as their works I've reviewed go. Will this be up to their usual standards? Let's delve into it.

Story:

Our story opens in Hellsalem's Lot, formerly New York formerly New Amsterdam. The old New York city was destroyed by a portal opening to another world and this one didn't even have the good grace to ... have a giant squid monster. In this city, humans co-exist with all manner of strange otherworldly beings. In this city, there's a shadowy organisation called Libra dedicated to keeping the piece. Our protagonist, Leonardo Watch, encounters Libra through an odd coincidence and is given a position due to his mysterious “All-seeing eyes”Which are so strong that he doesn't even have to open his eyelids to see, apparently. The series follows several of Libra's escapades as they encounter various threats.

The biggest flaw of the series is the end. It's a disjointed mess with inadequate build up behind it, poorly attempting to tie up all of the ongoing plot points. The series also suffers a bit from tone problems. Most of the time it goes for a more over the top and fun type of aesthetic, but it also tries to have some real emotional moments. The emotional moments don't work well and come across as out of place because they're so heavily divorced from the tone of most of the series. They're simply too few in number with too vast of stretches betwixt them. There's also the narrative device of Leo writing a letter to his sister. Ultimately, it contributes nothing and exactly what parts of the series are included is unclear. It can't be the whole thing since there are a lot of scenes that he isn't in and where he just has no way of knowing what happened. The episodes also vary pretty widely. Some of them are fairly entertaining while others are just kind of dumb.

On the positive side, there are some intriguing ideas behind the series. If they had been better fleshed out, this could have been really good. The world building is pretty decent and I do like that the series tries to show some of the alien perspectives at times. Also, let me reiterate, there are some pretty good episodes thrown in.

Characters:

The characters really vary. There are some that are kind of interesting and have some depth to them, Klaus, Black, and White being the most obvious. However, most of the characters are pretty trite. Chain, Gilbert, K.K, Steven, Zed, Deldro, Dog, and a variety of other characters are just kind of there and only have a couple of very basic traits. Leo himself is kind of a boring generically nice but out of his league type of character.

Art:

The art is pretty good. The character designs are nicely varied and distinctive. The action sequences are pretty strong, although they suffer a bit from overblown attacks that have to be awkwardly labelled on-screen, and there are some really nice details both in terms of the various creatures and in terms of the backgrounds.

Sound:

The acting is all right. It can be really over the top but, for the most part, it's perfectly serviceable. The best performance definitely comes from Koyama Rikiya. Probably because his character is more subdued and doesn't really go into the exaggerated craziness mode that, say, Nakai Kazuya's character exhibits so frequently. The music is fine.

Ho-yay:

There's really not any in this series.

Final Thoughts:

There was some real potential for this series. It has some good ideas and a world with a lot of potential, unfortunately, it falls pretty short with writing and characters that are quite mediocre. My final rating is going to be a 5/10. If you're looking for an exaggerated action-oriented series, Kekkai Sensen will likely be satisfactory. But if you're looking for something with more depth to it, it's probably not going to do much for you. Next week I'll take a look at Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Vivid.

Ahh, Kekkai Sensen. Where to start with this one. It's such a brilliantly done show that's currently being overlooked by so many...

Story- 9
Starting with the story, I really want to give it a 10, but I can't. It's based around a version of New York where a portal to an alternate world opens, letting in weird sentient creatures. The show is very unspecific about the rules of who and what can leave and enter the fog covered area, as well as what exactly these creatures are. So far it's very enjoyable and seems to be building up to something great, but as I haven't read ... the manga, I don't know what this build up is for. I'm expecting it to be good, but as I can't be sure, I have to give it a 9. As one popular reviewer said something to the extent of, "I don't know where I'm going, but so far I'm enjoying the ride." I think that accurately sums up my feelings about it.

Art- 10
As expected of Bones, the art and animation are beautiful at every turn. Battles are a pleasure to watch, and characters have just the right expressions in the shows many comedic scenes. I don't know how they could have done better.

Sound- 10
Not much to say here. The sound track is very good, and I've listened to both the opening and the ending countless times. Both the opening and the ending fit the show very well, with the opening highlighting the serious side of the show, and the ending showing the fun side along with some hints as to future characters and some small ominous undertones.

Character- 10
Kekkai Sensen has many very likable characters. The two that have the most development so far are Leonardo and Zapp, so I'll focus on them. I quite like the main character, Leonardo Watch. He's a member of an organization called Libra, who specializes in fighting monsters and criminals. Most of the members of Libra use their blood as a weapon in a Deadman Wonderland style, but Leonardo has special eyes that were given to him shortly before the events of the series. These "All Seeing Eyes of God" allow him to see through illusions, project images to others, take control of other people's site, and more. Unlike most shonen main characters, he's neither overly weak or overly powerful. He uses his mind to think of new ways to apply his ability and fights in this way, instead of using overwhelming force like Zapp or Klaus. As for his personality, unlike most shonen main characters that are either to nice or try to be to cool, Leonardo has a more normal personality. He's nice and worries about saving others, but he can also be cool and funny, having realistic reactions to many things. One of the things that he reacts very realistically to is Zapp, another member of Libra. Zapp is one of my personal favorites, being used as comic relief half the time and an absolute badass the other half. He has a love-hate relationship with Leonardo, who he'll be murdering for pizza one second and saving the next. He's an interesting character, but the only thing that confuses me about him is why he tries to kill Klaus, the leader of Libra. We learn in episode 2 that most of the time when Zapp sees Klaus he'll try to kill him, or even that he'll attempt to put him in life-threatening situations. I only see this as use for comic relief, so it'd be nice if they expanded upon and explained this point.

Enjoyment- 10
As you can tell from the rest of my review, I love this show and it grew from an 8 up to a 10 over the 7 episodes that have been released. With likable characters, an interesting world, and something new happening every second to keep things interesting, it's a very fun show.

Overall- 10
This show is a 10, with everything being so incredibly well done that I find it hard to give it any other score. The show reminds me of a lot of my favorites. It reminds me of Deadman Wonderland for the previously mentioned blood weapons, Kill la Kill for its mix of action and over the top comedy (minus the fan service), and even Blue Exorcist and Hunter x Hunter for some reason I can't quite place. I'd recommend this show to anyone, and I hope it gets a bigger fan base and a second season.

Kekkai Sensen is one of those anime that by all means deserves to be called AOTY. However, there are a few things keeping it from being such. I'll start with the ratings of the anime that aren't 10/10's so as to let viewers know why I've rated this anime as such. Slight spoilers ensue, but nothing that really tells what happens or anything like that.

Art: It's great, it's just that the animation itself is slightly lacking compared to other anime this season, as well as not meeting the demands for such a powerful story. But I digress, it's great and shows what's happening without fail, ... just wish it was a little better.

Plot: Too much crammed into too little. 12 (13 if you count the recap episode) episodes is not enough for the story they're trying to tell. Nonetheless, it has still managed to be a riveting ride, and the story has managed to invoke great amounts of sympathy and whatnot. It's simply amazing how the story is told in such a whimsical manner, yet still manages to connect what seem to be meaningless moments into a bigger picture that is self-explanatory as soon as you see it.

Characters: Again, too much, too little time. There's a bunch of cast members that're introduced once, are shown to be extremely colorful and interesting with backstories that could probably get their own 12-episode spinoff (the only time where 12 episodes would be fine, as opposed to here), and almost never seen again. The main cast also suffers from this, as the spotlight seems to fall mostly on Leo and Zapp, with Klaus simply being the answer to any and all problems. The rest of the Libra department seems to stay true to their mission, which is working in the shadows, as we rarely see them do anything in the anime aside from showing up when necessary. The antagonists don't fare any better, with Black getting the most screen-time out of all of them (granted, he's the main antagonist as the story gradually shifts to make him out as such) and others such as Femt and Aligura getting most of theirs when they cause their own mischief. Characters are introduced at the show's convenience and while that isn't bad in any way, it doesn't help to know that the show will never speak of them again once the episode is over. Ultimately, this is a problem shared by many anime, one such big example being Angel Beats where a good amount of the main cast didn't get their backstories told.

One thing that is immediately brought to attention is how... whimsical the story is. Nothing is deeper than the surface when it comes to the why's and how's, everything simply is because it is. It's not for the sake of plot convenience, either -- it feels more like everything falls into place, and that everything will happen just because. You realize this as you see how Leo came to attain his God's Eyes, where a deity of some sort simply manifests before his family and forces them to decide who will be blinded and who will receive the eyes. You see it again as the wanton destruction of the city and the clearly massive amounts of casualties that follow are met with neither despair nor joy, but pure apathy. Sure, the people involved in the chaos are screaming for their lives, but the rest of the city, and the survivors as well, could seem to care less after all is said and done. While this is somewhat brought up in the anime as 'day-to-day occurrences' and are seen as a way to spice up the daily lives of the people, it still goes to show that destruction and death are 2 major daily occurrences in the former Big Apple, and are no longer worth paying attention to.

Finally, I'd like to say that the world introduced to us in this anime is filled with so many inferred and unstated rules that I can't help but have question after question pop into my head as I suddenly realize things. Clearly, their world is different from ours, since they make it clear that there's been magic and superpowers since long before the Great Collapse. There might have already been superhumans and human-like creatures such as werewolves before the Great Collapse. So, how does their history before the Great Collapse differ from ours? How has the rest of the world dealt with the loss of New York City, and how has it developed differently? How does Hellsalem's Lot, for lack of a better way to put it, work? How is it divided, how does it connect to the alternate plane of reality where the demons and such came from, etc., and while some questions are answered as the anime goes on (none of these are answered, which is why I've used them as examples), it's still one of those situations where getting an answer leaves you with even more questions.

But after all is said and done, what we have here is an anime adaptation of a very well-written manga, with a world of adventures packed into former New York City, and where it leads to is as good as anybody's guess. My overall score is only such due to the main problem being a lack of episodes, which in all honesty stems mostly from just wanting more and more of this anime, and the rest from what's written above. If you're a fan of zany and whimsical characters, mischievous humor, fantasy, drama, and/or episodic stories, this is an anime for you. And if you're not, it's still probably something worth checking out.

As an aside, I've never once seen a recap episode so beautifully done. While by nature it adds nothing to the story told so far, it still manages to be entertaining and, well, add to the story told so far. It was executed wonderfully, and I, who has refused to watch recap episodes due to thinking of them as a waste of time, was left feeling as if I'd watched a regular episode of the anime.

This series started out strong in the first few episodes, but eventually fell wayside to mediocrity. I don't understand reviewers comparing this to Baccano! Yes, the story is told in an incoherent fashion like Baccano! but not for the same reasons. It's as if the writers weren't sure where they were going with the series. Well enough of my opinion, here is the short and simple.

Pros:

Original characters
Humorous at times
Original world/atmosphere
Art is pretty good

Cons:
...
Too much comedy
The "main" plot is mediocre at best
Poor pacing

Conclusion: This series could have been great, i'm not sure what happened after the first few episodes, or what the writers intentions are for this series.

"Every day is a knockabout of random craziness" - Leo

Well, if that's not lampshading this show, I don't know what is.

Preface:

Kekkai Sensen was an early hit in Spring 2015, but is currently embroiled in some kind of licensing and broadcast dispute which is keeping the final episode from being aired, so as yet remains unfinished. Not like it'll change the course of the show though, because it developed a plot first starting on episode 10.


Artwork and Animation: 6
...
Another Bones production, the art is decent, but nothing particularly outstanding. What is rather interesting is the choice of setting, and the visuals that come with it. Rather than being set in Tokyo with 90% of other anime, or a fantasy land, Kekkai Sensen is set in a during-apocalypse New York City. The character designs are fairly unique, with some unusual aliens and powers/effects, but ultimately pretty forgettable. Backgrounds are probably the most visually stunning aspect though- as the New York skyline looks very nice.


Sound and Voice Acting: 6

Overall pretty meh. Nobody really stands out, but for the voice actor fiends out there, Mamoru Miyano does make an appearance as a one off villain of the week. Everyone likes to rave over the ending theme, "Sugar Song to Bitter Step" by Unison Square Garden, and I do have to admit it's quite catchy, but a catchy ending song an OST does not make, and the rest falls pretty flat.


The Good:

Characters: 8

Kekkai Sensen does have a fun cast. Made up of a ragtag, zany bunch- it does lend itself to the oddball/motley crew comedy that the show tries so to sell. Mr Zapp is the source of many a laugh, butt monkey that he is. The majority of the main characters set themselves apart from each other- Chain is the straight man, Klaus the mischievous, and KK the angry psycho chick. Leonardo brings up the rear as the aloof goober character.
In all honesty, the villains provide a lot more charisma and presence to the show, when they're even involved.


The Ugly:

Story: 3

Let's face the facts. Kekkai Sensen might be fun, but there is negative plot here. It mostly takes the form of a Villain-of-the-Week™ episodic plot, but here and there (meaning only twice) were there arcs of any sort. The one with Zapp was by and large the strongest point of the show, and landed right smack in the middle. I thought at this point the show was going to pick up with something interesting, but immediately launched back into VotW the next episode with something even more inane than before- a total filler episode about getting food. (Is this Code Geass Pizza Episode 3.0??)
The promise of a bigger narrative is wasted potential and the series spins its wheels. It starts off well enough, protag is on a quest to help out their loved one, but this is sidelined almost inside of the first five minutes of the show.

The plot was really one step forward, two miles to the side, then one step back. Like that line dance everyone had to do in kindergarten through 5th grade when you were next to a partner you didn't like.

The wacky and strange situations that the characters find themselves in soon get pretty tiring after you realize that the villain of the week isn't going to last beyond the next 23 minutes, however. Leonardo getting captured every week and the Libra members saving his butt so he can return to his mundane existence eating burgers also gets really old. KS relies a lot on the same gags, Zapp being a butt monkey and getting the crap kicked out of him by KK/Chain/Sensei, Leo getting caught, and Klaus tearing stuff up without meaning it. Ooopsie.

Towards the end, KS did start developing a plot with recurring characters, though. It showed some promise- it's just unfortunate they couldn't get to the point earlier (or the producers and broadcasters getting their crap together to air the last episode).


Enjoyment and Overall: 6

Kekkai Sensen was decently entertaining, but at the end of the day, it was rather unfulfilling. I'm not really a glass half empty kind of person, but KS has a hole in the bottom of the Tea jug, and most of the plot just leaked out on the floor. Call it a bad adaptation, call it creative license- the fact remains that this feels a bit incomplete, especially ironic given that the last episode is out there in limbo somewhere.


Recommend?

If villain of the week oddball comedy is your thing, give it a shot.

I’ve never been to New York before. I heard the place has kinds of people and all sorts of opportunities. Having seen the state a bunch of times on television and in the newspapers, I’ve always been wondering what really goes on over there. Then, there comes this series called Kekkai Sensen (Blood Blockade Battlefront) where we see New York in an alternate form. The catch? It’s now a place for both New Yorkers and supernatural beings. Sources from the series states that a portal known as ‘The Beyond’ caused it and that there’s a dimensional fog barrier preventing monsters from crawling out to other ... places. Having just read the premise should making this series sound thought provoking. And if that wasn’t enough, did I mention there’s also something that threatens this interdimensional plane?

From the creator of Trigun, Yasuhiro Nightow brings this new exciting series with a lot of clever gimmicks. Not only do we have this interdimensional called Hellsalem's Lot (formerly known as New York City) but there’s also a lot going on behind a group of people known as the “Libras”. To me, this series is like a dark urban tale where each episode has its tale to tell. Kekkai Sensen is by no means just a shounen action show crafted to save the world. This is more like an urban fantasy where stories are made and legends are born.

To start off, the show follows more of an episodic nature. While events in the series along with its characters does form connections, each episode in itself has a tale to tell. Essentially, the first episode establishes the foundation of the series where we meet the majority of the main cast and experience what Hellsalem’s Lot is about. I think there should be an emphasis put on the ‘hell’ part as the first episode is hellish all around with lots happening with overwhelming amount of bizarreness. Perhaps one of the normal people we meet at first would be Leonardo Watch. Seeming portrayed as a normal young man, he has a rare power known as the “All Seeing Eyes”. These eyes grants him special abilities although at a cost of his sister’s eyesight. As the main male protagonist of the series though, he also become involved with Libra, a group that deals with the many supernatural occurrences in Hellsalem’s Lot. In a way, they aren’t just a police unit but more of an elite group of powerful people with their own unique abilities. For instance, there’s Klaus V Reinhertz, the leader of the group with his ability to fight with a large shaped cross as his weapon of choice. Zapp Renfro, a hotblooded member of the group is known to utilize his blood fighting style. Then, there’s Chain Sumeragi with her ability of invisibility, Steven A. Starphase with the ability to freeze others through ferocious kicks, K.K and her elite skills to handle firearms, among others. The point is that this group of characters all stand both individually and collectively.

And this is where the series shine the most. It’s the characters. Kekkai Sensen is a rare breed of a show where I hardly find any character that I dislike. In fact, almost every character has a personality that can easily be adaptable with the contents of this show. Leonardo’s initial role in the story also has him portray more as the paper boy with his errands. However, he does play valuable part in the story especially with his unnatural eyes. Each episode involves him being involved in some sort of event that seems to degenerate into abnormality. I have to say that the show is very clever with some of these events ranging from chasing a super-fast monkey, being held hostage by some underworld thugs, or even sharing burger with a friendly alien. There’s this sensation that the show constantly brings with his adventures as we learn more about Hellsalem’s Lot. Similarly, other characters participates in unique events such as Klaus’ challenge in the highly dangerous Prosfair, a game that can drive a normal human mad or even an underground boxing match against unholy monsters. While all this is happening though, there are bits of foreshadowing with certain characters that tells of something going behind the scenes. Nonetheless, Kekkai Sensen’s performance with each episode shows how clever it can be with its gimmicks and style that feels similar to Baccano, atmospheric like Cowboy Bebop, and unique on its own.

The comedy factors are also quite genuine as well so anyone looking for an ultra-deep or philosophical show is in the wrong place. Rather, take this series as more of a relaxing adventure. The comedy elements ranges with good amount of slice of life-like moments involving Zapp, Leo’s misadventures when running errands, or in general anything that seems not so ordinary. And speaking of which, there’s so many abnormal things happening in this show that mystery also plays certain roles. It makes the audience wonder about the foundation of Hellsalem’s Lot with the history that it contains or where our characters (specifically Libra) came from in the first place. Leonardo’s mysterious All Seeing Eyes is also a central element of the show that many find fascinating, fearful, and curiously endearing all at once. There’s even some bits of subtle romance in the story as well. Do take note that this adaptation adds an anime original character named White so her role in the series adds something fun to think about. In particular, her relationship with Lenoardo seems to be something like an acquaintance/friendship/bonding type of connection. It’s hard to describe exactly what it is but romance can easily be interpreted into their development as well. What’s more is that she also has a brother who is even more mysterious than he seems. Now that adds a bit of something to think about. The show in fact often makes you think what may happen next and what you guess may or may not be correct. However, the thrill and excitement of each episode is definitely something to remember.

There are some pet peeves that can be found in this show at times though. The series is pretty fast paced and sometimes seems like there’s too much happening at once or where you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. Even with a breather episode here or there, the story can be hard to understand at times. Just note that certain events and characters do have connections that formulates the overlay of the story. Also, this series may or may not fit with everyone’s style. The urban setting and characters sometimes can feel too gimmicky for its own good and certain likable side characters can be easily dismissed. There may also at times where the comedy feels like it’s recycled a bit more than it should be. And finally, Leonardo may be one of the lesser characters that are worth remembering compared to its others despite being the main protagonist. He’s not the dull type but there certainly are characters that really outshines his portrayal.

Do I even have to say it? This is like a classic Bones series. Taking a look at the poster visual should quickly make people imply what studio will adapt a series with such artwork. Indeed, studio Bones takes charge of the show with its fantastic visuals to illustrate and deliver the style of Kekkai Sensen. The urban setting of Hellsalem should feel similar with anyone who experienced with Nightow’s other works. Then, there’s also the portrayal of the monsters, each crafted cleverly at its own degree. There’s imagery too and metaphors that are well adapted. Most prominently, Leonardo’s eyes stands out as an epitome of enigma. The way it’s colored, decorated, and operates really has a feel of unorthodox. And that’s just one more thing to think about regarding the artwork of the show. Character designs are skillfully made with each one that suits with their roles. The action is also pretty fluid with flashy movements and explosive camera features that will make you go awe. It has minimal fan service and really never ventures into that direction throughout the entire story. It doesn’t need to anyways since Kekkai Sensen is clever on its own.

Smooth. Joyful. Nostalgic. These are just a few words that I can describe about Kekkai Sensen’s music. The OST not only has a jazz and blue like-tune but also brings in a feel where you really can picture yourself there. The atmospheric insert songs often delivers its dynamics where it naturally sucks you in. Even the OP and ED theme songs are highly stylistic too. The OP song “Hello World” by Bump of Chicken is a testament to the characteristics of the show. Meanwhile, we also have a very catchy ED theme that dances with the tunes. Finally, there’s the character voice mannerisms. With such a colorful cast, it’s hard to pick which one is the most memorable. A few to name are definitely Zapp’s laidback voice, Klau’s toughness, or White’s curiosity. The concepts of the show often tries to drill whatever it needs to get the point across and character voices are no exception either.

I can safely say that Kekkai Sensen is a ride to remember. Director Rie Matsumoto (known for directing Kyousogiga) skillfully adapts what it needs to deliver this unique and stylistic adaptation. There’s probably more the show can do with its ideas but it has so far nailed all of what it intended to. Whether it’s the dynamic cast of characters, colorful episodic adventures of Leonardo, or the mystery elements of the series itself, there’s always something Kekkai Sensen can give to anyone. This is definitely a show to choose especially if you’re in it for some crazy fun and experience a supernatural New Yorky vision.

This looked like a really interesting anime from the cover, and from the first few episodes, I thought it was too. BUT, it was too jumbled. It had a good thing going, the only problem was how hard it was to follow.

Story:
I gave it a low score in this section because of how scrambled and hard to follow it was. I had a hard time understanding the powers in this show. From the blood thingys to the main character's eyes, it was all too difficult to follow. Although it didn't really have much of a plot and it might be unfair to grade it ... on this aspect if the anime can't even properly lay out the world's mechanics-whether it's filler based or not- then you can't really give the story aspect a good grade. Thus, if the story/world isn't good, the anime is most likely not that enjoyable.

Art & Sound:
I actually liked the ending song, was pretty nice, but I'm no good at these ratings.

Character:
The characters were quite enjoyable. Although it was hard to follow the story and world mechanics, the relationships between these characters were pretty easy and clear. The characters were nicely made and their attributes really helped with the comedy aspect of this story. The characters were the only thing bumping the overall and enjoyment score from a 3 to a 4.

Enjoyment and Overall:
Like mentioned before, the characters were really enjoyable. Watching the characters' reactions to the situation and each other was quite fun, but the story wasn't very entertaining. The world and how it worked was hard to understand, which took away a lot from the enjoyment factor.

Would I recommend this anime? I really don't know. It has some good points, and the style isn't to my liking but it could be yours. If you like, say, Cowboy Bebop or Gintama, you actually might find this show more enjoyable to me, whereas I wasn't much of a fan of either and dropped both series. To add on, I didn't watch Kekkai Sensen & Beyond, so from all I know that season could be really great, but then again I don't know. So I might have to end up changing this section, but for now, Kekkai Sensen is something I might recommend depending on the person, although in most cases I would probably not recommend.

In Short:
If you like filler anime this might be something you can consider, if you're willing to ignore the confusing details on how this odd world works. If on the other hand, you enjoy plot filled animes and care a lot about their structures, don't even think about watching this.

Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront Review

Story (6/10) Fair

The story of Kekkai Sensen was fair, nothing uber complex, mind blowing or even addiction to get into in my personal opinion. But the story definitely wasn't bad. There were quite a few episodes that definitely felt like filler/episodic episodes some where good and some where just straight up irrelevant. But the overall story I though was fine.

Art and Animation (10/10) Outstanding

Studio Bones could not have done a better job at adapting this anime. The key animation done by Bahi JD the same dude responsible for the amazingly key animations for Space Dandy did his thing for ... Kekkai Sensen it's outstanding and I wish the guy was in charge for everything anime's animation I was watching because it's probably the reason I even gave the show a chance, the trailer before the anime came out and episode 1 sold me and it was mostly because of the art style and animation Bones and Bahi JD brought to the table.


Sound (7/10) Good

The sound for Kekkai Sensen was good. No BGMs that made my spin tingle or anything but the opening was catchy and the voice acting both JP and Eng Dub I thought were good. Everything sound related was all around good.

Characters (6/10)
More Specifically (6.75/10) Fine

The characters in Kekkai Sensen were fine, interesting since episode on especially how well they were introduced. Majority of the cast are all more interesting than the MC himself and I wish we got more characterization on everyone but him honestly. Overall though I felt we didn't necessarily get that much characterization from any character in the anime through out it's 12 episodes because like I said before majority of these episodes were episodic/filler episodes and if there was any character that probably got a good characterization (but still not enough for me to be satisfied) was Klaus. Zapp got a little bit, didn't care too much for the MC and would have love to see more of Zed, but the season ended so oh well.


Enjoyment (6/10) Fair
More Specifically (6.5/10)

With all the nice things I had to say about Kekkai Sensen up to this point my enjoyment is sitting at a 'fine'. The anime has a heavy focus on it's comedy aspect as one of it's key selling points and it didn't sit too well with me. The only episode that got me cackling was the episode where Zapp was stealing the MC's food but that didn't last too long either. Another thing that is an enjoyment selling point that the anime brings thanks to Bones and Bahi JD is the animation. The art style and animation on the bloodmoves and the little fighting choreography were all stunning I wish we got more that only gave of tiny bits of it and focus more on the comedy which I said didn't sit to well. The story didn't sit too well with me either and the episodic/filler episodes like I said before weren't that entertaining to me.


Overall (7/10)
More Specifically (7.25/10)

Kekkai Sensen was a good anime but that's as much as I can get it. Episode one was hype and promising but after that it was episodic and filler episodes invested and like i said earlier those didn't sit well with me. The story I felt didn't really go anywhere, they had one episode that had to do with Vampires or something and I thought that was interesting but ultimately was ignored the next episode. I started Kekkai Sensen as soon as the subs dropped I was there day 1 ready and as far as I remember i stayed caught up weekly (I think I may have fallen behind once but was caught up majority of the time) and when that last episode took like FOREVER AND A DAY to come out I obviously put the anime 'On Hold' because I'm just not going to let it sit there in my watching section when I not really watching it. And when that final episode finally came out I didn't even feel like watching it right away because all of the disappointing things I remembered that bothered me about this anime started to rise. It was only till today after looking at my "On Hold" section that I decided to finish this shit off and I've heard that this last episode was worth it... it really wasn't.. But that's not taking away from the animation which I think is the saving point of this anime. With a mediocre story it kept it afloat and is probably the reason why it's still around a 7 to me but no more than that..

It has been one great ride through Kekkai Sensen. This review is spoiler free because frankly saying, you won't get much out of reading synopsis or various spoiler reviews. You have to watch this anime to know it (much like any anime actually).

The context of this Anime is simple. However it is delivered in a more eccentric fashion that is somewhat hard to get into at first. Nevertheless, once you get on the ride, you won't want it to stop.

Story: 7/10. The story is not out of the box from what I have experienced. Superhuman organization, evil plans, something that always pulls the protagonist into ... trouble. It's all familiar. With that being said it kept pulling me in because the anime is giving me only bit by bit with each episodes, keeping me guessing. This is also the problem that is why it can't get a better score. It is not everybody's cup of tea to have to go through a series without knowing the full context of it from the first chapter.

Art: 9/10. The art is superb. Fighting scenes are smooth and satisfying. Background is detailed and the general style fit its story. Character designs are all highly detailed and good looking.

Sound: 10/10. The sound is notably the BEST part of this series, and probably this Season. Everything from ambient sounds, background music to Open and Ending songs are well done, with the exception of some of the masterpiece of this season. Never have I been so eager to purchase the OST of an anime when it has just got released. All the songs are jazzy, catchy and when put into the scenes, it makes perfect compliment with the anime. I have to repeat that this is without a doubt, in my opinion the best sound design of the season, and maybe even this year.

Character: 8/10. Character are designed fairly well. Each character is well established, with their unique (sorta) power and their own involvement in the story. There is very little character development however, besides from the relationship between the protagonist and his co-worker. That being said, some characters are still memorable and worthwhile to watch.

Enjoyment: 10/10. I'm not very picky about enjoyment, unless it is over the top ridiculous. This is an absolutely enjoyable anime to watch, partly for the great sound design and partly for a very well made anime.

Overall: 9/10. I like this anime and I enjoyed it. However it has its flaws and lets be real here, nothing is perfect. This should have been a 8/10 but I give it a plus for its masterpiece sound design (mentioning it again).

Note that this anime is not for everyone. Its story pacing might troubles some people.

This is one of the almost gems in the rough. The story is amusing, sort of episodic, and easy to follow. The art is what it should be, absurd.

But then the flaws start showing. You'll start hearing a stupid tune being whistled throughout the show, and while the song it's based off of is okay, the whistling itself is annoying, repetitive, and irritating.

And then there is one extremely stupid character(not the protagonist). This isn't a spoiler, but basically the character in question is a b****, for a lack of a better word. The dialogues centered around him are dumb, to say the least.

I'll give you ... an idea of what I'm talking about. Say you have a friend who's sort of like you, except he has an amazing talent for music. This talent would be everything you've dreamed of, but you don't have it. Then, say he refuses to use his talent because you're better at something else than he is, and says he won't play music until he's as good as you in whatever you're doing.

In the anime, it's described as "bravery," while in fact it's simply arrogance and unintentional condescension.

So while the anime's enjoyable overall, this one character ruined a lot of it for me.

This is my first review on MAL, let me tell you this series is extremely overrated for a few reasons.

1. It is another show where people yell out their moves when the fight.

2. They went through all the trouble to make such a great world and great side characters. Then they throw a whiny baby in as the main character that has "special eyes" and that is his only strong suit. He has a few comedic moments in the show but other than that he is a terrible character.

3. The "villain" has no motivation other than causing havoc and the finale just leaves so ... much open without another season. At this point if there was another season I would not watch it.

Now here is what the anime got right.

1. Art style, fantastic different take that didn't have characters with big eyes. They took a different approach and I liked the end result, Heck the main character rarely has his eyes open.

2. Sound design. Fantastic, intro and outro songs are also really good.

3. The side characters. They are fantastic and you will laugh a lot during the show at how the side characters play off of one another and the main character.

PLEASE NOTE: This review was written before any episode past episode 11 a.k.a. episode 12 a.k.a. "Paint It Black". If this has more episodes past this one, I won't be updating this review.

Kekkai Sensen, otherwise known as "Blood Blockade Battlefront", is an action comedy with lots of supernatural themes and elements. The show's stylish and fast-paced artwork and comedy lead you through scenes between intense supernatural fights involving anything from a man-eating car to vampires.

STORY: 6/10
The story involves our protagonist, young impersonator of Pokemon's Brock, named Leonardo Watch. He was born with special eyes that have superpowers of some sort and is accidentally thrown into ... the world of the underground organization known as Libra, who fight to protect the citizens of the city they live in from disaster and ruin.

Only one problem: The city's bonkers. There's so many different strange creatures, no two seem alike, and a lot of them are hostile. This leads to the city being hectic, dangerous, and crime-filled. When I said that Libra is a group of people who fight evil, they're more like a secret police squad. If it doesn't involve illegal activity, they don't bat an eye at the actions of the townsfolk.

The story claims to have an overarching plot, but for the most part it is one or two-part episodes while the main villains in the background have a giggle at the goings on. That's not to say all the episodes are like this, but for the most part the episode involves the group having to do something totally unrelated in order to gain a tiny bit of information which may or may not take any part in what's going on in the next episode.

ART: 7/10
When not in combat or making a joke, the animation and art style can be quite generic. Action scenes have lots of flair, lots of flash, and a lot of personality. Comedic moments reminded me of One Piece, in the way that faces could simplify, become jagged, or distort in order to further the comedy of the show. The alien beings can be very unique and strange, bringing lots of personality to the background characters or the rare side character for a one-off episode or two.

SOUND: 6/10
The soundtrack is somewhat generic, with a tad bit of flair, but to be honest it didn't really stick with me. The OP is good and the ED is decent, though I prefer to watch it more for the visuals than the song itself.

CHARACTER: 6/10
Here's where the show, to me, feels bloated and highly flawed. The show's current episodes, up to "Paint It Black", are filled to the brim with character introductions. We also don't get much development from our protagonist besides the backstory that is repeated a few times within the show. I wouldn't have a problem with a show with this many characters, but to be honest it felt like I would rather have had development of our current characters instead of constant introductions to new ones just so that they don't appear again, or if they do, appear once.

ENJOYMENT: 4/10
I hated "Paint it Black", which is as far as we have so far. To refer to this as a "finale", it is one of the worst I've ever seen. Along with constant character introductions that made me wish for more protagonist or main character building or plot development, and the plot itself being decent to boring, it became a bit of a chore to sit through, even though it had a decent beginning.

OVERALL: 6/10
A fairly average show with several things bogging it down, but occasionally nice-looking fight scenes. Once this gets more episodes, I would recommend you check it out because it will most likely continue with what we have now that all the characters are introduced, but until then you should probably avoid it.

3 things will greatly affect your enjoyment of Kekkai Sensen. Number one is how much you crave a new story, and are tired of the same High School/harem light novel adaptations that come up every season. Number two is if you enjoy being given lots of bits of information that allow you to piece together a larger plot. Number three is if you enjoy fast paced and constantly changing camera shots and point of view changes. If you don't mind or even enjoy those types of things, you are gonna have even more of a blast with this show.

Story 6- While it pains me ... to give a show with such good and funny writing a 6 in story, the way much of the exposition is told is all over the place, and occasionally paced very badly. Kekkai Sensen takes a very episodic approach to it's story, with no real 'major' plot happening until the last 3 episodes. In all honesty, much of Kekkai Sensen reminds of the show 'Seinfeld', in that much of it is, 'a show about nothing'. The majority of episodes are just fun world exploration/building, with the central idea being anything from fighting vampires, taking down drug dealers, underground fighting rings, and taking down Monster Trucks the size of a city block.
The genius and also downfall of Kekkai Sensen's story telling is how quick and concise it is. Characters often drop quick bits of info that on their don't tell us much, but when all these bits are placed together, they make a consistent and intriguing story of this world. The problem is that there is a STAGGERING amount of information that Kekkai Sensen throws at the viewer, often intermixed with action and humor that make retaining these bits of info near impossible. Episodes 4 and 10 are good examples of both the good and the bad aspects of Kekkai Sensen's storytelling. Overall Kekkai Sensen's story is incredibly deep and shows huge amounts of promise, but the way it's presented needs to be approached a bit more carefully and equally proportioned out.

Characters 7: Easily my favorite aspect of Kekkai Sensen, I think a lot of people will be turned off by them because of the way their character stories are told. Kekkai Sensen rarely, if ever, does the typical flashback to show a characters past, and almost never devotes an episode to a single characters arc (Which is a good thing, because it does that in episode 11 and feels reeeaaallllyyy boring and slow). Instead the characters past is given mostly through conversation and interaction with others. In short, the characters come fully developed, and we learn that through their actions rather than through monologues. The obvious downside to this is that the guys who get little to no screen time feel really under-utilized, and that kind of becomes a problem when you have a cast as large as this shows crammed into 12 episodes. Despite this, the cast is all likable and have very defined and unique personalities/design to them, so it's never hard to tell them apart.

Art 9: Rewatchability. Just...Rewatchability. Kekkai Sensen does what very, very few anime have ever done for me, in that I will buy the DVD's just for the animation itself. The key to that? I feel like i'm watching a live action set, with all sorts of things happening in the background. No expense was spared in this regard, as there is almost always something interesting going on in the background. Sitting in a diner? The window will show the traffic passing by. In a room full of partying people? You'll see an entire drunken skit in the background. The only negative I can give this category is that there are a few minor scenes where characters look like they were drawn in a hurry, and because of the frantic activity that takes place in most shots, scenes that have little background and few moving objects will feel strangely lifeless.
Quick word of warning, Kekkai Sensen uses lot's of different camera shots and frame changes. What this means is that you'll constantly be exposed to different points of view over the course of a normal conversation. This can be disorienting at times since the animation is so richly detailed that you'll constantly have your eye wandering and losing track of the conversations. I personally love this as that means I can see something new overtime I go back to watch the show, but some might not enjoy this technique very much.

Sound 10: I feel a little weird giving a category that is completely, 100% dependent on personal taste, but I have no idea what else to do. The opening and ending are just so far above and beyond what I expect from most anime. They actually evoke feelings of nostalgia, happiness, melancholy and whatever else you might interpret from it. As for the OST? just listen to 'Catch Me if You Can' and 'White Gloves (Vocal Version)". If you listen to those two and don't like them, you won't like the soundtrack. Also I am of the opinion that your are a tone-deaf bastard :D
If you prefer dubs over subs, then boy are you in luck. The dub nails the two most important parts of being a dub, getting the right voice for the right character, and not following the japanese script word for word. In short, Leo sounds like Leo, Zapp sounds like Zapp. The first episode sounds a little lackluster, but every episode afterwards is full of dynamic ranges of emotion, and the script was translated nicely into English, with some phrase changes made to better accommodate the humor.

Enjoyment 10: While I attempted to be impartial in my above scores, the fact of the matter is that I am hopelessly a fanboy of this show. I mentioned at the beginning of this review that one of the defendant factors is how sick you are of 'current' anime trends. That was a little vague and kind of unfair. There are a number of shows that fall under those categories that I liked (No Pet no Kanojo, Campione!), but it's undeniable that there are just SO MANY of these shows that are released each season that don't attempt to do anything but tick a list of checkboxes, and are a criminal waste of really intriguing base material in favor of cliches so damn common I'm amazed people still like them. So when a show like Kekkai Sensen comes along and gives so many of those tropes a giant middle finger, and also happens to be really good, I can;y help but feel extra grateful towards that series for taking the plunge and trying to do something different from the rest of the pack.