Kekkai Sensen

Kekkai Sensen!

I like to compare this show to a stereotypical American. It literally does whatever the fuck it wants.

This show is pretty outrageous with its everything. Its story is just completely out of this world, and in my honest opinion, it's pretty hard to follow. I don't mean that in a "it's incredibly thought provoking" way, I mean't that in a "basically nothing makes sense" kind of way. Read the Disqus comment section of each Kekkai Sensen episode on Kissanime, and you'll see countless comments asking "what the fuck happened?"

While the overall story line itself is fairly lackluster and a chore to follow, Kekkai Sensen ... excels splendidly in the portrayal of its world. I am a New Yorker (well, I live like half an hour away from the city), so I know what the city looks like. This show captured the atmosphere and design of New York City incredibly well, and it was a blast seeing the familiar sights, like Central Park and the Empire State Building. Despite the completely outrageous version of New York City, filled with these alien things and supernatural phenomenon, the show went the extra mile to make the city still feel... real... to some extent.

Kekkai Sensen captures what New York City is really all about, and that is cultural diffusion! New York City has a bit of everything from everywhere, and this show was a great over exaggeration on the diversity of New York City. This is shown to a greater extent through some of the amusing situations that the characters get themselves into, such as trying to find a suitable restaurant (NYC is filled to the brim with restaurants), as well as interacting with so many different characters, both human and non-human.

Remember when I said Kekkai Sensen does whatever the fuck it wants to? Well that's because this show has balls. Really big ones. It makes its whole world feel real through borderline copyright infringement material. It introduces stuff like Hainz Ketchup (with basically identical bottle design), Yo! Tube (which is probably the most accurately depicted version of YouTube in anime), and other little easter eggs that always bring a smirk to my face. Kekkai Sensen is incredibly fun to watch due to its attention to the details of its world.

And... that's about it. Everything else about Kekkai Sensen was ok. Besides the hard to follow story, the art and animation were definitely good, but nothing particularly special. The characters have a lot of spunk to them, and go through some development, but they don't hold the long lasting impact that I like characters to have. Leo has cool eyes, and has an amusing personality, but in the end, he's almost like a not-so-pussy version of Shinji. However, he is a unique protagonist to the Shounen genre, as he has a unique power but it doesn't feel overpowered at all compared to the rest of the cast.

So overall, Kekkai Sensen was fun due to its world building, humor, and attention to detail, but it is also boring when it comes to the main story line. There were many points where I was constantly checking to see how much time was left in an episode. But, there were also times when time flew by due to some of the hilarious scenarios that the characters end up getting caught in.

TL;DR: The ED dance is literally the best part of this series.

So here's an anime that I thoroughly enjoy. First review so... let the hate come. Also, this is a review for the 6 episodes I have seen, so I'll only go over what I know from those episodes only.


Story

The story of Kekkai Sensen (Blood Blockade Battlefront) is a confusing one, especially considering that at the start of episode 1, we see Leo's sister with her eyes open. When later on, it's said that she is now blind. I guess it'll be revealed as the story goes on, but there really is no story.

All there really is, is just a bunch of random things that ... Leo has done with his group, Libra. It feels as if the anime is going nowhere. There's nothing to hint plot advances or just anything important to plot at all.


Art/ Animation

I like this animation. Mute colors in New York City and very colorful everywhere else. Character designs are very cool and intriguing. There's not much I can give here really, since I am not very good at analysing things like this


Sound

The sound/songs are great! The ED especially, it has a jazzy-dance feel, kinda like how Death Parade did. All the background songs fit perfectly and are well-placed. Take for example a perfectly timed Ode to Joy when Klaus beats Don at Prosfair. Other than that though, there's not much else I can say. It's the same as Art/Animation.


Characters

The characters are a very nice mesh of everything that is likeable. Klaus Von Reinherz for example, is a true gentleman, but has considerable strength, and the most brutal blood technique known to man. While Zapp Renfro is a sleaze who is a master of the Big Dipper blood technique.

How the characters interact with each other is hilarious as well, being told from Leo's point of view shows us how the residents of Kekkai Sensen's New York are accustomed to their unusual life, while Leo is wide-eyed as to how anybody can get used to anything here.

Slowly though, over time, it has gotten a little bit more serious and Leo is slowly adjusting to life here in New York.


Overall

This is a great anime to watch, though it may still not suit you, which is fine. The music is perfectly timed and blends in well with how the anime is set up. The characters are vibrant and how they interact with each other is hilarious. I'm still enjoying this anime very well and can easily say I eagerly wait for the next episode. Though the story is confusing, it does make up for it with the characters and music.

Tenth Review - Kekkai Sensen! (or Blood Blockade Battlefront)

This was a anime that looked pretty good to begin with - a city that exists with human and monsters together. The story revolving around this one lad with these cool looking eyes.

At first it looked more like a comedy rather than a serious anime yet the more you watched it and let the story unfold you see that this is actually a well structured anime that has serious elements but also bonds together with humour in some areas.

The story in my opinion at first was a bit rough round the edges and didn't take ... a major step in any direction, it was about this one kid and his awesome looking eyes but it was jumping from what the story really meant, was it his sister? the monsters? the magic? what? The story didn't really let you know what it's main focus was but slowly unravelled during the series. In all though the story was good in the end and how they portrayed the series to get to the story point was good.

The art was my favourite in this anime, the art was magnificently done and was shown to be one of the key elements of Kekkai Sensen. When the opening picks up you can see the amount of design it took with the art and as the series goes on the art style is always tied together nicely, not one piece of scene was wasted on poor quality. If it's an anime where you love to watch them for art then this is one of them ones to watch.

The characters during the series become very likeable, my favourite being the 'Invisible Wolf' Chain. The backgrounds of a few of the characters ain't picked up in the anime as much as the manga however you can still see their traits and characteristics. I love how it did show us the two main character stories of the main focusing characters though so that you wasn't confused, this was nicely done.

All in all I actually liked Kekkai Sensen, it was a mix of ordinary meets the weird in a city where two have to coexist and live alongside each other in everyday life. It made me actually laugh in some eps when just some random rubbish will happen yet it provides you with more character development and story development in some ways.

This is one of my favourites and I recommend it to anyone with a likeable side to the random, funny and magical elements to an anime.

~ Canaan

If you're a big fan of Durarara!! you'll definitely enjoy Kekkai Sensen, both having seemingly random episodes focusing on random characters each turn.

I'll just say this: Kekkai Sensen was definitely one of my favorite anime of 2015, being more unique than others, and other reviewers seem to agree. Either you'll love it or hate it, since the tangled plot can annoy viewers. Without further ado, let's get to it!!

Story:5

I personally despised Durarara!!, the plot was boring and the story was bland to me, and Kekkai Sensen fits the same mold yet makes the story in a much more unique way as ... to make me not want to make a deal with an evil demon to go blind and never be forced to see it again. The story is interesting, at least. It follows the whole 'everyone else on the team is way cooler while the main character is a pissbaby sitting back' but is executed in an interesting form. The only thing really pushing the plot is the action, along with silence from the characters before the viewer is assaulted with a blast of action and whatnot. I know you've all seen people praising the story for it's directing style, but honestly it felt very elementary in it's storytelling, with nothing relating to each other and even after significant events occurring the anime just forgets about it next episode. Even with such heavy criticism I just spewed, I loved this anime for giving such heartwarming tales sometimes, I admittedly cried a few times, so even with the disarray you could shed a tear.

Art:5

The art was nothing to brag about, the budget seemed to be lower than others with looped animation and stills every episode. The anime could get pretty impressive once they actually bothers, yet the choppy poorly drawn faces could get distracting. The big scenes that would move the plot (albeit poorly) were the only moments where the viewer could actually understand how cool this anime could've been if they got more cash. The action sequences would either work or fail, it mostly depended. The action sequences can be confusing, since it seems to sometimes have too many things going on at once, yet the creators found every detail necessary. Sometimes it'd make less sense than watching giant robots duking it out in a Michael Bay film, just leaving the viewer completely lost in the battle until the animators hand got tired and the duelers stop to crack a joke or stare at each other.

Sound:9

The music was without a doubt the best part of the anime. Jazz played constantly in the OST's and if I had an album of the soundtrack it'd play on repeat for most of my day. The opening and endings are great, the opening is decent though the ending is where the real magic is. Like literally the ending brings a sense of life to the anime and made me stick around as i binge watched the entire series because of the animation and the tone it conveyed. The music is phenomenal, it has a soundtrack that could easily be compared with that of Cowboy Bebop and deserves a listen, especially if you're into jazz.

Character:4

Sadly, character development is what really kills the anime. If you had to base an anime purely from characters Kekkai Sensen would fail in an instant. Don't let others argue over it, the characters are flat, and never get more than an episode in the spotlight before thrown away forever. The anime has a very big cast however, but each character that looks even mildly interesting gets thrown away the same episode they're introduced. The villains are of no exception, the one introduced in the pilot seems to be such a big threat yet when you actually see him again you realize he isn't important in the slightest. The biggest villain doesn't even get introduced in a decent way, just a hair slick. But don't get me wrong, the characters have great designs.
Leo is the main character but his entire 'thing' is that he just doesn't care? He just gets thrown around with his dumb little power and everyone else does things for him, and you'd expect him to eventually learn combat or something to actually contribute but he just acts as a genderbent damsel in distress.
Zapp likes eating and is a playa. That's it, that's all he is; him and Leo are buds but Zapp gets a form of a backstory but it's mentioned so briefly that it makes the viewer think "who cares?"
There's others, but Leo and Zapp are pretty much the only two to get more than an episode of development so...y'know.

Enjoyment:8

Even with such crappy scores, I really enjoyed Kekkai Sensen. I watched the entire series in one sitting, late at night, so maybe my exhaustion is making me look at the series through tired eyes, thinking anything that moved would be cool, but it was still pretty fun. I'll admit though, I had read a description of it and thought it sounded ridiculous, yet I saw the most fluid bit of animation I saw that month from an anime and decided to try it out. I usually despise tangled stories, since I think it's just a waste of time, but Kekkai Sensen made me excited to see how they'd try to link the stories (which they failed horribly at).

Overall:6

Kekkai Sensen is messy. The story is underdeveloped and all over the place. Characters are disposable in an instant. Yet it's pretty fun if you shut off your "anime superiority" switch and want to just chill out with something wacky and fun. Kekkai Sensen is pretty funny and can get emotional if you get deep into it, it'll be either a hit or miss. Give it a try if you want to try something new, but if you didn't I wouldn't blame you.

Set in a fictional version of New York, where humans and bizarre monsters live together in not-quite harmony, Kekkai Sensen is one of the most successful shonen series of late. The show follows the adventures of Leonardo Watch, a kid with the gift of super-powered eyes, as he joins Libra, a quirky team of vigilantes who... protect the city… or stop crime… or something… let’s just say exposition is not this show's best suite.

If there is a thing that can be said about Kekkai Sensen is that it definitely starts with a bang. The first couple of episodes are nonsensical action-packed trips that have most ... of their runtime taken by stylized special attacks sequences. The pace is kept high, the tone is always over the top, and the scenes alternate almost in a nonsequitor fashion.

While this can be overbearing, it sort of works in its own totally insane way. The true problem comes when, after the first handful of episodes, the pace slows down and the storytelling becomes more straightforwardly delivered. The over the top action sequences, the humour and the rest of the nice stuff is still there, but it is just not that unique or impactful when the series starts taking itself more seriously. This is especially clear in the final couple of episodes, that serve to close a "macro plot" that is simply not that interesting or engaging (and to be honest, even a bit hard to fully grasp).

As it may already have transpired, the best thing about Kekkai Sensen are the overall aesthetics. The visual style is vaguely influenced by western comic books (especially in the design of a couple of characters), the animation is obviously hi-budget and the soundtrack is just great, mixing jazz and orchestral music in a way that truly helps giving the show a unique and interesting tone. And while all this stuff is quite nice, If I had to be completely honest I’d add that there’s not really much else that stands out in the show, as what we are watching is still at its core your standard combat shonen fare, except for the fact that it is delivered in a very slick and unique package. This is not all bad though, as the short run of the show (a single 12 episodes season) doesn’t really give time to this package to get old, and helps keeping the focus on the series’ strong aspects.

There's not much else to say about Kekkai Sensen to be honest, it is at its core a product with not many pretenses, if not the one to mindlessly entertain, and it almost succeeds at its goal. The action scenes are fun, the humour not completely awful and the animation flashy and detailed. Sadly the overarching plot is way too weak, making the home stretch a bit of a slug.

Still, not an awful show by any chance… but let’s just say that I’m not really looking forward to a second season.

Spoiler free!
The concept of the world is really cool. I think the powers these characters have are really cool. The songs of both season one and two were good and so was the artstyle. But I just didn't enjoy it that much. I think mostly that is because of how we get a ton of charcters in the show, but none of them seem to have been worked out. Whenever something new is going to happen in the story, they add new characters that never come back in the show.

Overall I'd just say that the character development was very poor for this show. ... It had a lot of potential but it never made me eager for the next episode. I was kind of happy when I finally finished this show so that I could move on to a next anime.

In my opinion the better things were:
-Artstyle of the show
-Music
-Character designs
-Cool superpowers

In my opinion not so great things were:
-Story gets the same after a while
-VERY poor character development
-Too many charcacters to really choose one to like the most
-gets boring

That's the end of my review.

For all the deserved and undeserved criticism it gets, Kekkai Sensen is, undeniably, one of the more unique shows to come out the past few years. And that is a good thing; a great breather from all the repeat-process shows coming out nowadays.

Kekkai Sensen is about a group called Libra, an underground society charged with protecting Alien-Infested New York + Some magic. Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty cool.

But does it live up to its uniqueness? Its aforementioned criticism?

Story (4/10)
Kekkai Sensen is an episodic anime; meaning, 'villain of the week' or similar stories along those lines. Some people hate it, ... some people love it and being a slice of life junkie, I quite enjoy these kind of stories. But being episodic, it's something I can't really review unless I take down every single episode and analyze it in detail. Instead, let's look at the main plot and it... doesn't look so good. Though the show does very well to set up the villains, clues and the threat it has on our main characters, the way it was delivered was very poor, often clouding the good about this main story with minuscule details that don't make sense, a clusterfuck of events that don't mesh together and, simply, BEING UNABLE TO EXPLAIN ANYTHING. Unless analyzed by Albert Einstein, none of what happens in this story will make any sense, which is a problem if the anime is supposed to be an action show casuals alike will enjoy without using their heads. Instead, the show is forcing the viewer to think and since, on the surface, it doesn't make much sense unless watched twice or more. Is it a good marketing strategy? Probably. Is it a way to get good ratings? Most definitely not.
Other than the atrocity known as the main plot, the filler episodes are seemingly enjoyable. There's not much to think about and all the nonsense that happens in these said episodes suits the atmosphere of the setting, where anything can happen and that is where Kekkai Sensen really shines.
And it should have really stuck to that.

Characters (10/10)
I rate this a perfect 10 not because the characters are smart, complex or even relatable. I rate them this way because they're, really, the most fun I've had with a big cast in my years of watching anime. Their different personalities and interaction as Libra really gives the show its flare; how they speak casually, their bond as a team and the way they communicate in combat. I don't remember any of the characters for being boring, unless you count Sonic the monkey, and even he is pretty fun sometimes. There really is no main character to speak of (If I don't mention the horrid main storyline) as each of them can be the center of the show, be it Zapp, Blitz, Klaus or even KK. These characters are products of the show's setting and not fuck-a-lot archetypes placed in other strange settings, waiting for more boobs to grope (I'm looking at you, harem industry).
And the same can be very well said for the villains. They're ecstatic, weird and overall, insane. Exactly what you'd expect from the setting. They never feel out of place and are always a joy to watch when they do something 'evil'. Other characters include Black and White from the main plot and, as I mentioned before, did very well in their set up for their clusterfuck of a conclusion.

Art and Sound (10/10)
This alone is a reason to watch it.
I don't know what came over the director but Rie Matsumoto just took the entirety of New York and put it on paper. Despite the alien-infestation and whatnot, the way it's presented still feels very much like New York, with overblown skyscrapers, ungodly amounts of smoke and decaying buildings. The design is no exception either, as the characters look and feel like they're part of the backgrounds and setting. They would look weird anywhere else but they fit just right where they are. The animation? Amazing. Exactly the kind you'd expect from Bones, known for shows like FMA:B and Soul Eater.

The sound is something I cannot overlook. As an underground music junkie, the vocal tracks just blow me away. It's very classic jazz and soothing to the ear, most notably 'On My Own' and 'World Goes Round'. The BGM itself is fantastic, making for engaging chase/fight scenes and, sometimes, more calmer moments.
The OP and ED? Addicting and that's really all I can say.

Enjoyment (9/10)
I want to think of everything bad about this show and just toss it out the window. Kekkai Sensen is, in a word, badass. This all comes from personal taste as many of the things that happen in this series is awfully well presented filler and really, it needs nothing more than that.

Overall (7/10)
With a fun cast, amazing visuals, captivating sound and just some really badass moments, Kekkai Sensen is pretty damn good, with the main plot keeping it from being great. It's a series that, while off-putting at points, is well worth the fun and excitement.

If you despise filler-induced shows with a passion or are looking for a more complex and smart action story, you high horse intellectual, you, then I cannot recommend this show.

To everyone else? Go nuts! Just make sure to turn off your brain before watching.

"Kekkai Sensen" is a unique and enjoyable experience that succeeds through its non-conventional use of visuals.

For me, after I re-watch it, the show was still great.It’s smart, gives off a sense of uncontrollable energy and fun, action-packed and also builds in a surprising amount of heart and emotion.

As for the plot, it was amusing, the comedy is on point, the characters were entertaining, the show's structure was original.Despite the delay of the last episode, well... I have to say they did a great job wrapping things up, sticking with the same themes of the previous eleven episodes: life and love; friendship and belonging; teamwork and ... cooperation, which prevail even on the darkest night since the First Collapse.

Also, the OP and ED is pretty sweet. Simply put, very listenable. As for the rest of the soundtrack, your usual mediocre background tracks sprinkled with some great standout tracks in-between for good measure.

To summarize:
-Story: 9/10
-Art: 9/10
-Sound: 10/10 (Energetic and stylish! Fedoras and Jazz! What's not to like?)
-Character: 9/10
-Enjoyment: 9/10 (re-watch and still enjoyable)
-Overall: 9/10 (Kekkai Sensen is a tremendous series!!!)

I just finished this anime after 7-8 days, i don't want to write a novel here, also i won't spoiler anything so feel free to read:

The creativeness of the art of this anime is so well-done, i really got amazed in some episodes.
The Characters are greate, one of them is looking familiar to me (Steven A. Starphase) just in an older version (sorry, might sound cringe, but true).
Outro music is actually a good one, meawhile the openning and background music are part of the "meh" chategory, but the sound effects are again a thing they made well in this anime.

Now let's talk about why ... i gave only 6/10 score to this anime:
After watching the 4th episode i was like i'm going to give it an 8 or 9, but i can't do that. The 5th episode got me bored, so it took me more than an hour to watch it, because i've paused it in every 5 mins to watch videos on YouTube to keep my eyes open.
Some episodes later i realized that this anime looking awsome, the characters and their powers are great, but hey where's the story? After watching the full season i'm here and asking the same question, what was the main story of it? - i don't know.
*Edit: Some sceen of it has texts like a PPT template.

And it's not because i've paused the episodes from the 5th one, but it's because the anime built up by short stories and it has a main story-line, but it's so simple that made me disappointed as hekk...

I really wanted to love this anime, but can't give it more than a 6/10.
In my opinion it could have been on level of Jujustsu Kaisen or close to it, because the creators really made a good job here, but the writer of the story is an amateur for sure.

So after all:
It was boring, but atleast i didn't fall asleep on it. Worth to give it a try, because the first some episodes are absolutely okay, maybe you can watch the whole season without pausing it, but i say it as a fact: it has those filler moments.

This is my first time writing a review for an anime.

*No Spoilers*

Kekkai Sensen was one of my favourite anime that I've watch so far.

Plot:
The plot was all the place but I was still able to tell what was going on. At times I did get confused and I still have some questions about this anime.

Art:
... The animation was outstanding and the art style was nice and refreshing.

Sound:
The soundtrack for this anime is amazing, it is hard too pick my favourite between the opening and ending songs.

Character:
I liked all of the characters but one thing that I didn't like was the fact that some characters didn't get enough attention as they should off.

Enjoyment/Overall:
Well in the end, waiting for the last episode to be released wasn't such a bad thing, in my opinion it was worth the wait. After each episode I watch I found myself wanting more and more. Unfortunately, some of my questions floating around my head reguarding the anime did not get answered but judging on the last clip of episode 12 we might be expecting a season 2(keyword is might). I would recommend this anime highly to all.

Please don't leave any hate, don't forget this is just an opinion.

Probably one of my favorite shows from this year.If you ever watched Baccano and Durarara and liked them,then look no further cause this is your show.
Kekkai Sensen is the epitome of good,crazy and amazing stuff all mixed together with really cool characters.Let's start as always with the good things from this show.
-The art
Beautiful art,beautifully designed characters in a beautiful city that is called New York.But it's not the usual NYC,it's even cooler.Creatures from the other world are here too ,since the gate is breached here and it's called the Hellsalem's Lot now.Various stuff is going on in the city that never sleeps and it's a ... blast.
-The story
We follow the MC Leonardo Watch,who gets recruited by the organization Libra that is securing the city from the otherworld criminals.Enter Zapp Renfro,the joker of the Libra organization and my favorite guy from the show.The bromance he starts with Leonardo is hilarious and brought me to tears(from laughing) a lot of times.
The anime takes a different approach than the manga since we get two characters White and Black,who are part of the main story in the anime and is in my opinion much better than in the manga.
-The music
10/10 ONE OF THE BEST OST'S I'VE EVER HEARD IN ANIME.Just pure awesomeness ,since I'm a die hard jazz fan ,this was heaven for me.I have the ost already on my phone and I recommend you to listen to it.And the opening/ending are easily the best of the year.Sugar song to bitter step is a must listen every damn time and it always gives me good vibes and the urge to dance to it!
-The characters
Great cast of characters,with really good design but sadly with just 12 episodes it wasn't enough to introduce them really well.Good voice acting and character development was pretty good for lot of the characters.
Now the bad things about the anime,to be honest there weren't many.The only bad thing was the long wait for the final episode of Kekkai Sensen that was almost four months IIRC but it was damn worth the wait.45 minutes of awesomeness of Kekkai Sensen was worth every minute of waiting.I wanted to see more development from Chain,who had very little onscreen time,as well as the butler who looked pretty cool.
I enjoyed every second of the anime and is a damn must watch if you like jazz music and anime that is taking place in America(NYC)
Overall rating 9/10

I wasn't sure at first whether I should watch Kekkai Sensen, but I just gave it a try - and I did not regret it!

This series is wonderful, in my opinion. It really entertained me and motivated me to watch on.

The art is stunning, especially the environment and athmosphere.

The music used shows much variety: Cool and energetic background soundtracks, relaxing vocal pieces, even classical music! It is fantasic to see such a great range of different styles in one series.
The usage of the songs is also interesting, as they occasionally combined them with scenes that would typically not be thought to fit together with ... such music. But for this series, I found this idea great, as it adds to the weirdness and abnormality that is assiciated with the anime's setting.

The story might be a bit confusing at first, as it is not your typical linear storyline.
Basically, this series provides a mix of slice-of-live/comedy and action. It may seem incoherent and confusing to some, but the episodic structure actually gives a great feeling, enabling the viewer to observe the not-so-normal daily lives of the different characters in the chaotic and fantastic town, and to feel as if they were a part of it.
Still, important story elements are spread over many episodes, and remembering and combining them at the end was something I personally really enjoyed.


To conclude, I would recommend Kekkai Sensen to anyone who does not necessarily need an obvious and linear storyline to enjoy a series. Thanks to the setting, art, music, and many other aspects, it surely never becomes boring!

New York City is overrun by monsters!
The statement itself seems quite quirky. However when put into context, it truly is just another day within the world of Kekkai Sensen. A world so vast, so mysterious, so telling, and downright awesome, that the depth of its possibility seems endless. That's, enough of my praise. Let's get down to business.
Story: 9
Kekkai Sensen introduces a very enticing, extraordinary, and complex story. It gives little detail upon where we are in our current situations. It leaves, gaps, holes, and mysteries to be solved. Not to mention the unbelievably fast pacing that the anime showcases. Despite the claim that all ... of these should be setbacks, Kekkai Sensen successfully mingles every aspect into a fantastically, smooth story. In doing so, Kekkai Sensen separates itself from the other animes within its genre, becoming something truly interesting and fresh.
Art: 7
The art of Kekkai Sensen is most definitely the weakest link. The art is quite mediocre at some points and just doesn't stand to par with the other aspects of the anime.
Sound: 9
Such a good soundtrack. The soundtrack really impressed me and added a lot to the overall feeling of the anime. Each soundtrack fulfilled its purpose wonderfully, even adding its own spice at many points within the anime. Not to mention the ending for this show. The ending for Kekkai Sensen really fits the tone of the anime and is simply cool. Just like the smooth, jazzy, lightheartedness that Kekkai Sensen can take on, the ending really highlights what makes the anime so interesting.
Characters: 10
Almost character in Kekkai Sensen is undoubtedly underdeveloped. Once again, this aspect perfectly fits into the image that Kekkai Sensen wants to take on. Kekkai Sensen is a show that likes to be mysterious. It likes to always have a few tricks left to entertain the audience. Most of all, Kekkai Sensen loves to be different.
Kekkai Sensen also encompasses the all important rule of change. What makes a character great is change. Leonardo Watch's addition to Libra and how he changes is very interesting to watch. His initial personality is changed by the end (though still fundamentally there) and his beliefs are highlighted by his choices.
Enjoyment: 10
If you have read this far, the enjoyment aspect must be no surprise. The story is undeniably interesting, the humor is absolutely amazing, and the characters are very fun to watch. The anime's unique spice of jazz and New York create a unique identity that can be associated with Kekkai Sensen. With all of the eccentricity that Kekkai Sensen brings, you most certainly will not get bored.
Overall : A -
The mean of the scores is 9.0. That is indeed an A minus. Kekkai Sensen's ability to create an identity for itself, provide characters that are interesting, and prove its depth of story, make it one of the better anime of its season. Its flaws lie in the animation and mysterious identity that leaves many character's dry for development.

This anime confused me to the core. It confused from the first episode and just when I was getting the hang of it, it confused me at the end as well. I had all these questions that I didn't know where to get all the answers from. For everyone's interests, I will keep this review SPOILER FREE.

All right... Let's take it from the start:

You can read the anime description to get a feel of it from the anime page, but I will tell you how I understood the plot. The anime takes place in another land, in a city called Hellsalem Lot. Formerly known ... as New York City until a certain event transpired which made our world collide with another and now all sorts of creatures are trapped with humans within the borders of this city which is protected by a barrier of sorts. So for 3 years, they tried to get along and live with each other. Meanwhile, an organisation called 'Libra' is formed to punish evildoers [usually non-humans] and there is another organisation that caused evil. Think Justice and Injustice League kind of. Our main character, Leo, goes to this city to understand more his newly obtained ability "All-seeing Eyes of the Gods".

From the plot alone the show seemed promising to me and I watched the first episode. In very few words it was about Leo going to the city, meeting the Justice League... I mean... Libra, and because they liked his ability they recruited him; along with his monkey kind-of, sort-of sidekick. I think my explanation was fairly straight forward. Here is my problem though: the anime has a problem... Well, a few actually and they are big ones. The tone, narrative and pacing are all over the place. The narrative especially is very unfocused and left me scratching my head and scream 'Explain. For the love of GOD, explain." It stopped, then continued somewhere else and then went somewhere. Meanwhile, the events didn't really connect at all or had no purpose to them.
It would be like me trying to write this review and midway announcing I'm going for ice cream or something, only to come back five minutes later and changing my mind to wanting a waffle and then realising I had no money to begin with so I'll just stay here and write this review [university life in a nustshell]. But man, I wanted a waffle. Kind to think of it they should still be delivering.
...

...

What was I talking about?

Right...

'Kekkai Sensen'

It caused me a headache to understand it. In the next few episodes, the show relaxed a little bit and we start getting to know some of the characters and to be fair there are many cool characters. They have problems as well but I will explore that in the next paragraph. So episode 2 till 7 or so were more straightforward. Following the 'villain-of-the-week' plot while we established some characterisation and context. Not a lot, but some. I thoroughly enjoyed the episode with Leo and the mushroom that ate burgers. [That's a sentence I didn't think I would say today.] While the climax was approaching though we had more and more problems arising.

The characters as I said before, and trust me there are a lot of them for a 12 episode show, were there. But they weren't fully fledged and the show didn't give me time to understand their motivations or if they went through a character arc. Just when you are about to understand how a character thinks, talks etc they throw you another one and some times, they never even come back. Hell, the main character goes through stuff at the end and I can't for the life of me tell you if he has changed at all.

There's so much stuff that wasn't explained either. For example "What is the great collapse?", "What and who was the king of despair?" "What was the point of the organisation apart from seeing them 5 times when they did nothing of significance?". Just uuuugh...

The final episode was extremely confusing.

Good guy?
Check.

Villain?
Check.

A town ready to be destroyed?
Check.

A motivation for our main character and villain?
....

Oh, wait. There is none. Yes, the hero wants to stop the villain and that's motivation enough but... I never understood why the villain did what he did. What he hoped to accomplish? Was it just mayhem for the sake of mayhem? I'm okay with that but I need to know...


Maybe I didn't get it but I saw other reviews and other people were just as confused so I know I'm not the only one.

I'm going to leave this review now as I feel way too confused to continue. Before I stop I want to say there are some good things about the show. The art and soundtrack are extremely nice. When we have the time to get to know the characters they can be fun and I enjoy just chilling and watching them do... well the same. But I feel the anime needed to take a step back and breath and let us do the same as well. A fight between hero and villain can only be awesome if their motivations are clear and I can understand what drives them. Unfortunately, I didn't get that.

Final thoughts: The anime has a very good soundtrack [seriously loving the ending one]. The animation is pretty and fast paced but unfortunately so is the plot. It's a confusing one and unless I am assured that the second season takes a step back, I think I'm going to skip it.

This is one of the most underrated shows I have ever seen. Usually when Bones does a show like this there are at least some fans or people that hype it up (Darker Than Black, Noragami, and Stray Dogs from this season) but I didn't even know this was a show until I saw it on Funimation's Dubbletalk, and even then I ignored it. However I am very glad I decided to give this show a chance.

First the story. A gate to an alternate dimension is opened in NYC devastating it and covering and fog. Large amounts of demons file out and inhabit the ... city, meanwhile certain humans learn gain powers through the power of the gate. The humans and monsters meld together and live in harmony in this new NYC now called Hellsalem's Lot. 3 years after this we are introduced our protagonist, a young man named Leonardo Watch, who has recently moved to the city to become a photo journalist. He gets caught up with a secret organization called Libra who work to keep balance in the city. Along the way he meets a girl named White in the hospital and they hit it off very quickly(she becomes important later in the show, that's why I mentioned her). Eventually they become aware of a plot to destroy the city(again) and bring in new, more dangerous demons to the city. When I was watching the show, this setup was extremely interesting to me. Over the course of the show not much is explained however. We don't know much about New Jerusalem(the alternate name of the city) and the other dimension which disappointed me quite a bit, but what the show gave us was very good. The events that happen involving the Second Great Collapse was very good and made me tear up a bit at the end. 9/10. The setup and plot of the show was good, I just wish more was explained about the city, it was really cool looking.

Speaking of cool looking, let's talk about the art. Studio Bones' shows have always had good art, but an aspect of it really shined in Kekkai, their backgrounds. Something about the city's design in both day and night was breathtaking. Even though the day scenes were quite dreary because of the fog, all the buildings and characters in them were very well done. However at night was where the shows art really shined. The lights of the city, the sky, and the buildings all came together to form a breathtaking vista that fitted perfectly with the ending that they predominately showcased in. Bones did a strange thing with the camera that I also found to be interesting was the camera would zoom out and show something happen that would usually be happening just off screen, for example a girder falling off a ledge into the mist. Small moments like these not only showed the brilliant backgrounds again, but always seemed to make me chuckle for no particular reason. I don't know why I liked this, it was a cool aspect. But the main focus for Bones' shows is usually the combat, and though it was good here it often took a backseat. Because so much was happening or had happened in in the events during and leading up to the show, there was a lot of dialogue and exposition. Now this is not like some shows where only the characters are static and only move their mouths, quite a lot happens while people talk, but it meant there was less time for fights. But when a fight did happen it was done very well. Bones' combat has a certain flow and speed to it that I don't see in many other shows, and in Kekkai the fighting has these qualities in spades. 10/10. Background and Fights are up to or beyond Bones' standards.

Next sound. There is not as much to say about the sound of this show. All of the sound effects are good, as usual with Anime. The music also is very good, I usually don't notice background music in anime so I can't talk much about it but the OP and ED were both very good. The ED especially was top notch and I often find myself listening to it on Youtube. The voice acting for both Japanese and English was very good. I haven't completed the dub so I can't attest to all the characters, but all the members of Libra were done just as well in English as in Japanese. I even think the dub is superior in some ways, like Ian Sinclair as Zapp. 8/10. I have a hard time talking about sound, but everything I heard was quite good.

Now characters. All the characters in Kekkai were enjoyable to watch. Save for Klaus not of the characters were boring to me. Everyone was fun and had something that made them interesting. My favorite was Blitz and his constant bad luck which caused for some enjoyable scenes of him barely surviving something terrible. Leo was an interesting guy who seemed like he would be a simple "nice guy" protag, but he showed much more than that, showing he could show a range of emotions including cowardice, cleverness, adventurous, and annoyed(usually at Zapp). The only character I did not like during the show was Klaus, but that can mainly be attributed to him not really showing any emotions. The only time he showed anything was his nervousness during his prosfair game, but even that was a short scene. If the series is ever continued the I hope he gets some development and/or we learn more about him. 10/10. Most everyone was interesting, and most importantly the protagonist was interesting and had lots of character. I just wish Klaus was portrayed better.

Finally we have my own enjoyment. I loved this show. The action, comedy, art, and romance was all intriguing and fun to watch. Never was the show boring or lacking in content for me. The only time I was less intrigued was during the prosfair game, but as a big fan of chess, learning about this interesting version of the game was fun. I also had lots of fun with the animation to the ending. It was face paced and funny at times. I sometimes found myself dancing with the characters as they performed on a stage. 10/10. I greatly enjoyed this show and hope others do too.

Overall I feel that this show needs a second season. As far as I can tell the English manga is moving very slowly and the Japanese ended where the show did. Many of my problems would be solved it was continued, but all of what we have was great. The story was interesting and made me more absorbed in the shows world. I wanted to know more about Hellsalem's lot and it's inhabitants. The art was outstanding even for Bones'. The characters were almost all very entertaining to watch and really made the show for me. 10/10. Kekkai Sensen is one of my favorite animes ever. It has everything a good show needs, and expands on certain points that really uplift the show.

I can say now with confidence that Studio Bones is the best animation studio in Japan. They have consistently created some of the greatest animated series to ever grace the anime industry. The resume of the studio is a storied one, ranging from Fullmetal Alchemist to Ouran Highschool Host Club to Darker than Black to so many other amazing shows. Yet amidst all of this, one anime was criminally underappreciated. 2015's Blood Blockade Battlefront, or Kekkai Sensen, is an explosive, beautiful, and at times hilarious romp through one of the coolest fictional takes on New York City I've ever seen. From Yasuhiro Nightow, the writer ... of Trigun, and director Rie Matsumoto comes an exciting adventure through the strangest city in the world.

Kekkai Sensen hooked me right from the very beginning with our main character narrating a letter to his sister, as we are treated to a stunning montage of what is clear to be the climax of this 12 episode series. A wide array of colorful and sleek characters are seen dismembering ghoul after ghoul across a vast and expansive metropolis under the night sky, all the while our hero scales a tall staircase approaching what he hopes to be direction needed to stop the chaos and save the day. The main title flashes on the screen with dazzling effect and we are brought back to the beginning of the story.

The protagonist Leo is a refreshing take on his character type. He lacks any sort of lethal skills in combat and he's overly humble, but he isn't afraid to speak on behalf of those who are oppressed and the narrative never spends too much time forcing him to be a stronger person, rather it lets him become a hero in his own way. Klaus V Reinherz, Leo's boss, is the kind, gentlemanly but undeniably formidable friend who helps Leo to realize his potential. He sees how torn up Leo is over what has happened to him and his family and wants to help him become stronger by "welcoming him into the family" in a way. In that sense, Zapp Renfro, Leo's punkish co-worker, is like a brother figure to Leo, having been asked to protect him so no one uses Leo's abilities for evil. The rest of the cast excels too. From blond, one-eyed gunslingers, to ice power wielding superheroes, to eccentric vampire hunters, every character in Kekkai Sensen is memorable and badass.

The series starts out fairly episodic, with each episode working to develop the world and introduce the members of Libra. The show does a great job of presenting each character's abilities just within the opening montage. They introduce so many characters over the 12 episodes that you worry how well all the characters can gel together, but the story is so well directed that it feels like I'm watching the Avengers. Every character gets to enter the spotlight whether it be to dispense wisdom on our hero or take part in an operation to bring down a high-level threat. For the most part, the series is a collection of standalone adventures, but with an underlying narrative spliced. What makes that even better is that it splices in that through-line narrative without it feeling forced. What I mean is that some shows with only 12 episodes and an episodic structure will devote so much time to the through-line plot that the side stories seem pointless or just underdeveloped. Thankfully, Kekkai Sensen doesn't have that problem. But how does it balance all this chaos?

The answer: Beautifully. Director Rie Matsumoto is a genius. Unbeknownst to me until just recently, the characters Mary and William Macbeth, and the entire throughline plot were all original creations made for the anime alone. The second to last episode is dedicated to Mary and William's backstories, and it works as a fitting primer to the incredible finale that follows. While the first 11 episodes are a typical 24 minutes, the last episode is 48 minutes, and the added run time helped to close the narrative in a perfect way. However, while the story is told very well, there are some things that might go right over your head if you aren't paying close enough attention. There were times during the finale where I couldn't quite understand what certain characters' plans were, or how certain elements of the world worked. What's worse is that when the show was first airing, the final episode was postponed because of its extra length, so rather than airing at the end of the spring 2015 season, it aired at the end of the Summer 2015 season a whole THREE months later. Needless to say, I was confused about what was happening. All in all, Kekkai Sensen put all of its chips on a pretty conclusive anime-only finale that despite a bit of confusion will leave viewers satisfied with the whole journey.

The world of Kekkai Sensen portrays a foggy, dirty, but at the same time lively city that captures the feeling of New York City well while injecting its own sci-fi fantasy charm into it. the gothic style of many of the skyscrapers and the bright colors that pop out through the foggy gray streets help make Hellsalem's Lot one of my favorite fictional cities, right up there with the towns and villages from Ghibli movies. In addition to this, the character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto are on par with his other designs from Cowboy Bebop and Noragami (And yes you read that correctly, this is the same designer). The fight scenes are wonderfully coordinated and the architectural destruction is just as fun to look at here as it is in all of Bones other shows. Visually, the show hits all the right notes. But the sights are just one half. The sounds are just as good.

The soundtrack is composed by Taisei Iwasaki, who seems to have made his anime soundtrack debut with this show. His style of music resembles that of Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop). That is to say, it is diverse. The music combines beautiful orchestral pieces, with some pop, rock, jazz, and even some strange, but undeniably memorable songs intended for moments of comic relief. It is a well-rounded soundtrack that compliments the journey well.

A lot can be said about this show, probably because it went criminally underappreciated. Perhaps I couldn't appreciate it when I first saw it, but every time I watch it, I love it more and more. To put it simply, Kekkai Sensen, AKA Blood Blockade Battlefront, is one of the greatest action anime in years. You owe it to yourself to watch it.

Kekkai Sensen peaked my interest because of the soundtrack. And let me tell you, that was one of the best jazzy and blues-y OSTs I've ever heard. Additionally, I'd added soundtrack to the second season last year, not knowing that it was made for this show (yes, I'm gonna watch next season too).

I LOVED the friendship between Leo, Zapp and Zed. This was the best thing in the whole show tbh. Their dark bloody humour balancing the naive Leo's, arrogant Zapp's and straightforward Zed's natures. Nonetheless, other characters didn't catch my eye, sadly (as well, as the art - it wasn't something wauw).

Coming to the ... plot, I wouldn't say it was something genius, but I still loved it. I could sense (maybe I'm overthinking) how the series represented family issues, wars, human traffic, racism and all other social issues. Some might say that cruelty had no purpose, and the fight, the blood was spilled literally for nothing. Even so, wasn't that the whole philosophy of Hellsalem's Lot? People and creatures behaved as they wanted to simply because they wanted to, nothing less nothing more. Doesn't that remind you how we all live and how the world still functions?

"A world where a child can call himself the King of Despair, is one that is far too sad!" - couldn't agree more. And with that I'll quickly finish my review.

I 100% recommend to watch Bekkai Sensen, but only if you have an open mind and can clearly see the world we live in. If you can see the parallels, while enjoying supernatural fights and over-the-top jokes - you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

This is probably the only anime that I have ever watched and enjoyed to the maximum with a confusing plot. In the end, you might asked yourself, 'why did this particular thing happened? What does it do to affect the plot?' A lot of unanswerable question yet the show is still fascinatingly interesting and wonderful.
With a likable Main Character that had the eye of the all seeing god, he was the center of the attention.
To all the fangirls out there, you might called the caring relationship between the people in the agency and Leonardo Bromance. Well, not technically, unless you started putting people ... on ships and sailing them(haha).
To all the fanboys(is that a word?) out there, you will be capitivated by the awesome action scenes and the deep bond between the main character and the agency.

Too bad that the season 2 of Kekkai Sensen isn'g coming out any time soon. There are always those anime that are like 'We are going to make an awesome season 1 and not do a season 2'...Just what is wrong with the anime world?

This anime will definitely be worth your time if you enjoy action, comedy, supernatural anime! There aren't a lot of romance in this anime in case you are wondering but that only make the anime even more fascinating without weak girl popping up everywhere randomly. I mean, we all blame the girl when she got kidnapped and resulted in the awesome Main Character falling in dangers, right?
Plus, romance will only make this already awesome to the max anime become annoying and below average.

Well, peace out and DO try this anime! I promise it will be worth your time!

Okay, Kekkai Sensen. Let me just say that if you like your superpowered urban fantasy or Baccano and/or Durarara, you may like this series.

Story:7
The story revolves our main character, Leonard Watch who moves to Hellsalem's Lot a monster filled New York, in an effort to find out about the mysterious power he has been given. While this, at the start, is his main goal, I don't believe he finds out by the end of the season which makes sense as the anime is only a partial adaptation of a longer manga series. However, there is a larger, plot that goes on in the background of ... each episode that doesn't receive complete focus until closer to the end. Otherwise it's a bit episodic in nature, but believe the short, episodic stories are quite interesting. One episode had me sad about a mushroom. Warning however, at times it can be a bit confusing.

Art:7
The art is pretty good in this show. It's not Your Lie In April beautiful ,but it doesn't need to be. It uses just the right style for both comedic and dramatic moments and the character design is fitting. The visuals for the opening and ending are nice as well.

Sound:10
Jesus Christ the music is great in this anime! They have some really good background music with a lot of variety that really helps with the scenes. As for the Opening and Ending themes..... THEY FIT THE SHOW SO PERFECTLY! The opening feels like it could be the main character singing about himself while the ending perfectly encapsulates the more lighthearted, comedic side of the series. Also, my God is the ending theme catchy.

Characters:7
I personally liked the characters. However, to my dismay there wasn't enough time in its run to give more characterization to all of the members of Libra. I'll admit, fleshing them all out wasn't really important to the most important plot and the characters that did receive focus proved to be rather interesting.

Enjoyment:9
I finished this series in a day. This is rare for me, even for shows that have less than twelve episodes. This was suggested to me by my sister and it proved to be rather good. I'm glad I took the time to watch it and I think others will enjoy it too.

Overall: Tally up the scores and you get a..... 8!

BBB is like a beautiful painting. You can stare at it for hours, admire, be captivated, but at the end of the day like each painting it has frames and around a white wall. One thing I must say it’s a complete picture. As it stands the story is finished, we may be back someday in BBB world, but this part is over, and that’s a very good thing from anime perspective.

Art 10/10

Reference level. Probably one of the best, graphically made anime in year 2015. You want to scream, why my favorite anime doesn’t look that good?! Studio Bones just delivered everything you can ... imagine. It feels brushed by Da Vinci or Michelangelo. You don’t like that genre? You don’t like mix of aliens/supernatural stuff in this perfectly feeling retro city, bit like BioShock? That will be true probably for a lot of, but try just one, two episodes, just because of gorgeous Art.
Another thing to mention are camera angles. You feel the director is playing with you, like an artist, photographer trying to pick up the right way to preset the scene. As they say, one picture is often worth thousand words.

Sound 7/10

Many will be captivated by the Retro/Jazz music that will come from your sound systems, but for me music in BBB it's a bit bland, not distinctive enough, lacking the kick and often feeling quite far away, not overwhelming you. It fits the anime theme very well, together with voice acting, and generic sounds that each anime has, but that's just it . Music is a very personal taste, but if you are like me a fun of dynamic, powerful type of sound (Metal, Rock guy here) it will probably be just OK. OP is good, and the music theme in last episode is partially different from the previous ones - expect classical music, for instance from Swan Lake, and that's a big plus for me.

Story 7/10

Good and that's just it. Its episodic, each episode often deals with different issue in this twisted version of New York, following our young protagonist. Due to some "special" circumstances he joins Libra (they are not normal humans, obviously) on their quest to protect the balance of Big Apple, that yeah... its twisted, supernatural, with tons of freaks, monsters and God knows what else lurking in the depths of the city, that in fact is pretty much isolated from the rest of the world, by a big...wall of fog. Just imagine a parade of strangest creatures, that come from the Netherworld and live, work together with the rest of us humans. Now, there is a thread that connects each episode and we see its culmination in the last two, three episodes, but pretty much each of them is a standalone product. Especially halfway through the anime, it can be a bit confusing, because you just don't know where its heading, and it's as much as beautiful as irritating. There are quite a lot of bricks moved, here and there with some potential to expand them in the next season or seasons and although the story somewhat concludes in the last, double episode, there are a lot of questions left unanswered in my opinion.

Character 6/10

What I find most lacking, are the characters. On one hand they are very distinctive, or try to be very distinctive, but at the same time expect for the MC and 2,3 others, they are just shallow. It feels a bit like a game - pick a trait, a laughter, some funny power and multiple it by twenty. BBB is one of those anime that bombards you with share amount of characters, often just appearing once, and forgoes the development of those that could deepen the story. But that's the direction the studio took with the episodic story. The good part is, it has a solid amount of likeable characters and builds a good foundation for them to be more explored in the next seasons if they ever happen to be. Plus the fact that a big cast makes you feel like the world is really alive.

Enjoyment 8/10

The anime pucks a good punch. It's just well made, definitely a high production value. It has its own sense of humor, and that's another thing that Rie Matsumoto, the director of the show, is playing with very well, often mixing serious scenes with some funny speeches, behaviors, it feels like you should take a lot of stuff seriously but up to a point. Now, don't expect romance, that just not the type of show. Come here if you enjoy a lot of craziness, different directing style and generally superpower/supernatural genre.

Overall 7.5/10 (Why can’t we score halves?!)

In the end the anime gets from me 8/10. It's a solid, standalone product, with a quite satisfying ending, huge cast, and distinctive music and very good graphical performance.