Kiznaiver

Katsuhira Agata is a quiet and reserved teenage boy whose sense of pain has all but vanished. His friend, Chidori Takashiro, can only faintly remember the days before Katsuhira had undergone this profound change. Now, his muffled and complacent demeanor make Katsuhira a constant target for bullies, who exploit him for egregious sums of money. But their fists only just manage to make him blink, as even emotions are far from his grasp.

However, one day Katsuhira, Chidori, and four other teenagers are abducted and forced to join the Kizuna System as official "Kiznaivers." Those taking part are connected through pain: if one member is injured, the others will feel an equal amount of agony. These individuals must become the lab rats and scapegoats of an incomplete system designed with world peace in mind. With their fates literally intertwined, the Kiznaivers must expose their true selves to each other, or risk failing much more than just the Kizuna System.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Agata, Katsuhira Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Sonozaki, Noriko Main

Yamamura, Hibiku Japanese

Takashiro, Chidori Main

Terasaki, Yuka Japanese

Niiyama, Niko Main

Kuno, Misaki Japanese

Hisomu, Yoshiharu Main

Nishiyama, Koutarou Japanese

Tenga, Hajime Main

Maeno, Tomoaki Japanese

Maki, Honoka Main

Satou, Rina Japanese

Yuta, Tsuguhito Main

Shimazaki, Nobunaga Japanese

Gomorin Supporting

Yamada, Kazunao Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Tsutsumi, Naoko Producer

Uryuu, Kyouko Producer

Reviews

Feb 26, 2025

cibles

Recommended

This is my first review on this site so it might not be that helpful.
I remember watching this in 2023.
Such a banger I'm still emotionally troubled to this day.
The story, animation, audio and just everything about this anime is perfect.

This is definitely an underrated anime and needs to get more fame.

More about the:
- Story:
I'm not gonna spoil so my review will be a bit plain. The story truly is unique, with characters and the overall cast being really well written.
... - Art style/Animation:
It really fit with everything. The details, you can feel the effort, and love that was put in it's making.
- Audio:
/ Voice acting:
The voice acting was top tier, matching-even surpassing-modern day anime.
/ Music
The soundtrack is really unique compared to most anime from 2016, with fire composers and producers...-it just makes you feel emerged in the story.

As I've said before, this is a must watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jul 6, 2024

OnlyOneZueiro

Mixed Feelings

Kiznaiver is a… upsetting story. It's a kind of drama with a small dose of sci-fi and “philosophical reflections”. Several interesting themes are mentioned throughout the plot, but practically none are discussed in depth. For all intents and purposes, they expect from the audience the conclusions that the anime should present.

Some gloomy things and many other morally questionable happen during the plot. Certain characters really get under the skin, and don't become better afterwards. The story progresses like this, without many relevant advances. Atrocities remain unpunished, sickly logics are basically romanticized and normalized, much suffering happens without any reparation. Character development also leaves much to ... be desired, it is completely unbalanced and selective.

The words are “subversion of expectations”: the direction is not good at conveying realism, nor at convincing you of the fantasy reality of the story. The plot is not shocking at all, nor is the progression satisfactory. The events are chosen for convenience, it becomes increasingly confusing what they are trying to prove or show. It's something very empty and doesn't leave a mark on anyone who watches it.

In short, Kiznaiver seeks to be an innovative and reflective story, just like Psycho Pass or Evangelion, but it certainly fails at that. The message of the work is blurred, as is the objective. It's a very mediocre anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 15, 2025

txqpx

Not Recommended

An insult to intelligence
The only good thing I can say about this anime is that it has a cast of very colorful characters that I regret that they belong to this nonsense. Bad script, bad character development, if you are going to use this anime as something to have in the background while you eat and not pay too much attention to it, it could work, but don't take it seriously.

The whole time I watched it I was reminded a lot of the Scot Pilgrim movie, a whole big narrative set up, with futuristic anime girls and technologically advanced companies to teach its protagonist how ... to say “please, and thank you” when he sees another human being. Because he's too retarded to understand human relationships, I guess, and by a miracle he's not losing drool when he talks.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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