What is happiness?
For something that isn't tangible, happiness is something that is hard to describe. We can't touch, buy, or see happiness, so how do you know if what you have is genuine? How do you know if you're truly and wholeheartedly happy?
Beyond the Boundary - I'll be here touches deeply with this theme of happiness and how it affects its characters.
KyoAni is a studio that has gained a fairly large reputation over the years and has graced us with many notable series that are considered the cream of the crop in terms of art and storytelling. This is why I was a bit disappointed when I watched the original Kyoukai no Kanata series. The art and animation was amazing as always, but the plot ended up building plotholes which made it hard to fully understand and piece everything together.
This movie was planned to be the sequel of the series, and aimed towards answering all of those questions that were raised when watching the original series. Was it successful in answering the questions that I had while watching the original series?
Yes and no... but it was beautiful to watch. KyoAni has always been known for their great art style and animation, and it really showed in this movie. Its animation high points simply take your breath away. Its fighting animation was incredibly smooth and clear, which made the fight scenes beautiful to watch in terms of art quality.
The plot of this story on the other hand, had large expectations to match, since we were left with quite a few plotholes that were never answered in the original story. They also introduced this new theme of happiness, and how characters in this story try to perceive whether or not this happiness that they desire is genuine for themselves and for those around them. This theme was nicely explained and resolved. It made the plot seem a bit more relatable for us as the audience even if the story revolves around youmu's and spirits. There was something for us to relate to which made the dramatic scenes impactful.
BUT.. I believe for this movie to be a success it had to answer the plotholes that were created previously and thoroughly explain everything so that we as the audience aren't left with huge unanswered questions about the plot and what's happening.
When I say yes and no, I believe they were successful in answering the questions that arose when watching the original series, but I felt the movie also created alot more questions as well. It felt as if they did not heavily dive that deep into the plot of the story, as most of the explanations only appear in the last half hour of the film. Now, the questions I had in the original series was answered, but now there are many scenes in the movie that are left unexplained and in the end, it felt really unlikely to leave the movie without being somewhat confused about what exactly happened to some characters and why it did.
The sound was an aspect that I didn't really notice about the movie, which is kind of a shame since in the original series, I fell in love with the beautiful ending song. It did seem like they used to person who sang the opening of the original series for the end song in the movie. It was nice to listen to but in my opinion nothing too special, but that's just my personal taste. The OST's on the other hand really complimented the scenes for which they were used in. They weren't something that I'd particularly find online just to listen to it, but nonetheless, it was a great accompaniment.
So did this movie meet every single one of my expectations? No.. but it was one hell of a fun ride filled with such beautiful animation and art that in itself would satisfy many individuals. What it lacks in terms of plot, it almost makes up for with its stunning animation and art. It's an interesting movie that i'd recommend for people to give a try if they liked the original series.
