Kiznaiver is an anime revolving around bonds through pain and sentiment. The story circulates around that of our main protagonist, Katsuhira Agata, a modest, slow teenage boy that grasps no emotions within his hands, accordingly making himself a bullying target. However, the bullying that consistently approaches him from every direction is beyond his concerns and most notably, his pain. Him, alongside with 5 other teenagers’ wounds are connected through the Kizna system and are obligated to bond for the sake of creating “World peace”. And so, their journey begins.
Now, I must say, Kiznaiver is an anime I saw one of the brightest potential in, however, was abstracted by various divisions. Whenever it was character development or drama, the manner Kiznaiver executed this is what made itself abstracted from a rather good conception. Many like to say this is a character-based show so they are going to get more profound of the characters than any other department in the show, but even then, Kiznaiver fails abominably at this.
If I had to describe the characters using three adjectives, they would be “mild, archetypal, and caricatured” The characters were first given archetypical roles, initially seen as symbolism, which I had no concerns for, however, the characters just started to use that as their foremost individualities, never actually getting in-depth of the traits and explaining why they maintain such. Alternatively, this started to define the characters themselves and the purpose they bring to the plot. Niko and Tenga, for most of the series existed, only to slap in some eccentric yet cartoonish comedy in there, but only came irksome and unnecessary, leaving room for its incompatible tonal dissonance. Kiznaiver genuinely knew what they were doing, thus far were oblivious about the fact that it’s never going to work. Kiznaiver knew that it wanted to be witty at times, whilst simultaneously being serious, yet merely making the story paradoxical. The way serious scenes would modify itself into comedic ones was awkward and off. Kiznaiver couldn’t handle both, therefore making the tonal shifts cringeworthy.
The only characterized really are Honoka, Katsuhira (fairly) and Sononaki, yet they still don’t possess strong characterization. Katsuhira and Sonozaki were the only crucial characters of the show and would have still been proficient of creating a story with just the two of them. The rest of the cast didn’t live up to their significance, let alone nearly, and that’s what I found dissatisfying about Kiznaiver. If every single character were presented exactly like how Honoka was, this series would have left me with a different impression, potentially increasing its score from me. Hisomu was a random guy in the background educating a few life lessons to these youngsters but served no purpose whatsoever. The finale of Kiznaiver entirely explained the significance of our cast; A bunch of kids that just added their two cents to Katsuhira and Sonozaki’s association without it actually making that much of an impact, and additionally their personal issues being irrelevant, which brings me to explain the execution of drama in this series.
Kiznaiver must be an anime that secondly enthrals and is reliant on drama for its series, considering the fact that it’s a character-based show, however, even its drama was horribly done. Albeit, I can comprehend the fact that they’re just average teenagers so they are bound to create conflicts; it’s only natural for them to do so, however, not one speck of maturity was balanced with the juvenility of the quarrels. Example would be Chidori’s issues. Instead of it being a bunch of sixteen years olds arguing about their love interests, it was something that a bunch of twelve years old would be arguing about. Moreover, the love interests were either absurd, lacking or arbitral. Nico liking Tenga had to be the most illogical, a relationship that was barely transparent and developed. Kacchon and Chidori was a relationship that was hard to care for because they’ve barely exposed their relationship before the Kizna system. Instead, we’re just left to imagine and presume how strong their relationship must be.
Characterization and the character interaction within the show were born out of compulsion as a way to move the plot forward, merely making the characters plot devices. A great example of this is episode two, where the characters were forced to reveal a secret of theirs, which I found quite rough. Kiznaiver wanted to impatiently force development out of our characters and rapidly reach the good part of the story, thus giving a reason to these “required missions” or “served punishments if something is not achieved” As much as this made the story engaging, it just came redundant. The same results would have still been created if the characters were simply left to unravel their way out of the system or getting profound of each other. The secrets and authentic identities were proficient of unfolding itself but Kiznaiver were too impatient.
Kiznaiver already has an implausible conception, yet is very questionable. They’re already aware of the failure the experiment has brought prior to other children that initially were a part of the research, so why do they revive it again on other kids? Initially, the experiment became extremely hazardous and was nowhere near creating “world peace” from the looks of it, so why would it be smart to do it again? Moreover, Kiznaiver never gets in-depth of how connecting pain equates to world peace, but rather they just state it will. Kiznaiver doesn’t try to bring coherence to an already puzzling idea. I am very aware of the fact that the whole point of the show was to show the faults of the idea, but they never really try to fully clarify the agenda from the very beginning.
The effort put into Kiznaiver is very transparent and I support it for doing that. The distinctive turn they wanted to add to their story with the connecting pain and all boasted Kiznaiver up, however, ever so slightly failed itself from the inconsistencies. Kiznaiver prioritised the artistic merits in contrast to all the existing departments, just like what any average modern anime would do really. Not that it’s a problem with bring bigger significant to the visuals of the show, but to not show as much importance to the characters and story is what Kiznaiver performed.
The art was very satisfying yet aspiring. It had a very crispy and sharp design to it. The backdrops basically go by what I’m saying, very distinguishing and never felt boring. The character designs were fine, and I mean, really fine. Very distinguishable and was very defining. Each character has an exhilarating look to them and was pleasing to the human eyes. They looked exactly by their characteristics and their personalities were easy to presume. The colour palette was very strong and bright and the animation ran smoothly.
Well done BOOM BOOM SATELLITES and Sangatsu no Phantasia by genuinely going by your intended purpose. They rightfully went by what it means to create an opening and an ending, thus making it very appropriate. An opening is to grip you into the series and places a significant role by entertaining your audience into watching more; the Kiznaiver opening ideally went by that. An ending is meant to relax the viewer and conclude them that the episode was nicely completed; the Kiznaiver ending also ideally went by that. However, the only trouble I have with the opening is how unmemorable it is. As Zeph stated, the only unforgettable line in the opening is “LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME” Other than that, it’s fine.
Kaji Yuki, you shady monkey. His performance was not particularly extraordinary, but most definitely stood out than the rest. I absolutely love how Kaji Yuki can just adjust his voice in order to fit the character, completely making him distinguishable from his most popular roles. Kaji Yuki is like a person that can just hide behind characters without knowing it’s him. His voice was perfect for Agata and convinced me into liking it, a lot.
What to expect and personal enjoyment
But the real question is, did I enjoy this?
Not necessarily. It has to do with the fact that Kiznaiver vaguely touched upon its default genres, hence why I couldn’t get profound of it. It was hard for me to articulate the message that Kiznaiver was trying to depict because so many things distracted it. There were nothing for me to get in-depth with really, but rather I just started watching the show with enjoyment in my mind. Kiznaiver is fairly a dumb watch. If you want an anime for its exhilaration and fun, Kiznaiver is for you. If you’re looking for any perception of our characters and story, you’re not going to find that here
Kiznaiver should have been a 24 episode long series and more considerate with where it story and point goes. This show only wears the name of it being character-based and dramatic but it poorly conveys that. This show technically done what death parade done; a poor story in which its opening saves itself from hate and is seen as good in the majorities’ eyes. Kiznaiver is yet another anime that had potential, however just didn’t go by it.
Negatives
• incompatible yet irritating tone dissonance
• Implausible and vague conception.
• Obligated character interaction and characterization
• Purposeless or one-dimensional cast
• Melodramatic, no maturity balanced with childishness
Positives
• Effort
• Satisfying art and animation
• Appropriate music
• Kaji Yuki
Kiznaiver = Overall 4/10
