Reviews

For me, Kyoukai no Kanaka was a really fun show to watch. Now, I understand that not many people enjoyed the show as much as I did, but, to me, it was entertaining and very well paced. Also, unlike many of the 12 episode anime that I've seen, the ending was satisfying and didn't leave me wondering what the heck I just watched. The show follows Mirai Kuriyama, a young high school girl who is a Spirit World Warrior (someone who hunts and kills youmos - which are beings similar to Norigami's phantoms). The male lead is named Akihito. I've heard many complaints that Akihito's character is unrealistically kind. However, if you get far enough into the show, his personality makes perfect sense because he is just treating others the same way he would want to be treated. Watching the show, I get the feeling that his kind personality is somehow his way of trying to atone for who he is and what he's done.
Now, I understand that this show wasn't the most original thing I've ever seen, at least in the first few episodes. But, as KnK progresses, I think it makes up for that by the pacing and planning in the story. It starts out very simple and starts to add on, kind of like building blocks. Many people stop watching by episode 3 for the "lack of originality," but I think the show really shone out in the last few episodes, making up for the weak beginning. Kyoukai no Kanata was also told in a way that made you feel like it was a lot more than 12 short episodes. Once it got down to business it was really good. However, some of the episodes (particularly episode 6) that really had no plot to the story and were completely irrelevant. Being the person I am, my favorite thing in the world is strong and well-paced character development, and I think these episodes should have been used for that.
One of the main complaints I have for this show is how all of the substantial male characters seem to have some sort of weird obsession. Akihito is obsessed with glasses. As someone who wears glasses, [at first] I was very happy that the show was bringing so much attention to that. But, as the show went on, Akihito's obsession beginnings to border creepy. Same goes for Nase Hiroomi, who is almost (if not) the same age as Akihito, and has a little sister complex. At first I thought it was fun to watch, but, again, as the show went on, it got pretty weird pretty fast. It kind of makes me sad, because Hiroomi had a lot of potential in his character. I feel as if his personality would have been way more intriguing if he wasn't constantly exclaiming how much he loved his little sister. On another note, one of the characters (a man named Fujima Miroku) was introduced as an interesting character. It got me believing that he was a bad guy, and though it was said that he was, everytime he came on screen, he was just a pain in the rear end.
My last point I am going to make is that the animation was just simply beautiful. It really helped the story move along graceful and the characters' movements always looked so natural and fluid. The fight scenes were really entertaining to watch, from Mirai conjuring her blood sword to Naze Izumi twirling around her staff-like weapon. The shots were great and very unique in portraying the characters as the story progressed.