[Story]: (6/10)
The dark fantasy follows a high school sophomore named Akihito Kanbara. Although the boy appears human, he is a half youmu and invulnerable to wounds because he can heal quickly. One day, Akihito meets freshman Mirai Kuriyama when it seems she is about to jump from the school rooftop. Mirai is isolated because of her ability to manipulate blood, which is unique even among the members of the spirit world. Disturbing events begin to unfold after Akihito saves Mirai.
Ok...so KyotoAnimation created this anime. Seriously, why couldn't they just made this into a slice of life anime? Or something similar to the fillers like Episode 6 because it seems to me that that's what they do best. When it comes to dark story, it just comes off as laughably stupid. The first arc is pretty much an introduction to the word that they're in, the characters, the exterminators, the youmus and all that crap you need to know. Then there's the second arc which is the most stupidest and the most inconclusive arc I have ever seen. They tried to explain all this crap about who Beyond the Boundary is and why he's so dangerous than the last youmu who is the second strongest..Honestly, I don't even care anymore. Why is it inconclusive? Watch the last 2 episodes then you'll find out. There are a lot of unanswered questions in the show, especially the ending. The ending also felt rushed. Since this is a spoiler-free review, I won't mention the plot holes that the show left open.
The battle with the main antagonist also didn't last that long. How long is it? It only lasted for about 90 seconds. All they did is stamp in the OP song and make the fighting scene fit that OP theme song. How anti-climactic..
The story turned out to be a piece of dog sh*t but the filler and slice of life moments turned out to be one of the best parts of the show. You have the characters fooling around, the perverted little sister moments, the glasses moments, the club activities and of course, Episode 6. Where they did an Idol dance to defeat an eye monster. Honestly, Ep. 6 is the funniest episode in Kara no Kyokai. Because of the funny moments that I mentioned in this little paragraph, KyoAni should really stick to creating Slice-of-Life moments because that's where they do best. On the other hand, if they take out the fillers and actually develop the plot then we could have gotten ourselves a show with a great story.
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[Art/Animation]: (9/10)
This anime is, like I said, created by KyotoAnimation and if you know the company then you should know that their animation is one of the best in the anime industry. The animation looks great, the environment looks great and the character design also looks great. Especially Mirai. The actions scenes are, surprisingly, smooth. This is the first time I've seen a KyoAni anime with an action scene so it did surprise me. The Idol Dance scene also looks great. Their dances are smooth and it didn't really felt too choppy.
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[Sound]: (10/10)
Most of my soundtrack rating comes from the OP and ED theme song. It's very rare this days to see an anime with both OP and ED theme song that are great. Welp, KnK has it. An OP theme song that has made it into my Favorites list and an ED theme song that has also made it into my Favorites list.
The OP theme song is "Beyond the Boundary" by Minori Chihara and "Daisy" by STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION. All I can say about the OP theme song is..It's f*cking awesome! I just love the singer's voice and song's buildup. I also love the ED theme song. Now, that's what I call an Ending Song. The male singer has a soothing voice and the song is so...calm.
The show has an excellent Voice Actors. I can't explain why they're excellent because we all have our own interpretations of "excellent" but you have to watch the show by yourself. The VA that I love the most is Mirai's voice. She sounds so innocent and cute and her catchphrase is awesome.
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[Characters]: (8/10)
I want to introduce the characters first before giving my own opinions about them. Akihito Kanbara is the main protagonist of the show. He is a second-year high school student. He is half human and half youmu and he has a fetish for girls with glasses. Mirai Kuriyama is a first-year high school student and she is an Exterminator. She has the ability to manipulate blood and can also create a sword using her own blood. Hiroome Nase is a third-year high school student. He is the eldest son of the Nase family and Mitsuki's older brother. He has a huge sister complex. Mitsuki Nase is a second-year high school student and she's the president of the Literary club.
What do I think about the characters? I love them. Akihito and Mirai's paring is great and makes the show funnier. I also love Mirai's catchphrase. "Fuyokai des" or "How unpleasant" in English. Whenever Akihito and Nase is paired, it also makes the show even funnier because of their perverted instincts. Mitsuki's personality seems like she is a person who doesn't really care about anyone and it also adds to the comedy of the shows. Comedy aside, you can see the relationship develop for both Akihito and Mirai and you can actually see Mitsuki care for someone. You can also see the characters working together when it's needed.
The side/supporting characters do have some major issues. They get introduced at one point to the show and then you don't get to see them again. Some make an appearance for an episode, disappear, and later appear again at the 2nd last episode or the last episode. Some of them are not in-depth and some of them are just downright useless. For example, Sakura got some focus on the earlier episodes but was later thrown aside when her conflict was solved. Her conflict was also solved way too fast. I guess, that's understandable considering that this is a 13 episode series.
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[Enjoyment]: (8/10)
The story may suck ass but that doesn't mean I enjoyed the show. In fact, I did enjoy the show because of its Slice-of-Life approach and the fillers. Pretty weird that I enjoyed the fillers a lot more than the actual plot itself. It should be the opposite.
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[OVERALL]: (8.2/10)
Just like Mirai said. "How unpleasant". How unpleasant, indeed. How unpleasant the f*cking story is. However, if you can look past the crappy story then you might enjoy this show because of the Slice-of-life moments and the filler moments are great and hilarious to watch. Especially the Idol Dance Episode.
Pros:
+Great Animation
+Outstanding OP and ED theme songs
+Outstanding Soundtrack
+Great Main Characters
+Slice of Life and Filler moments
Cons:
-Mediocre story
-Useless side characters
-A lot of plot holes
-Filler are a lot better than the actual plot. It should be the opposite
-Mediocre and Unexplained Ending
