Kyoukai no Kanata, or Beyond the Boundary, begins with our lead hero trying to talk a girl out of a suicide attempt by saying he finds her sexy, to which she responds by stabbing him through the chest with a blade forged from her own blood.
In other words, I was rooting for this show from the word "Go".
Beyond the Boundary is definitely an odd show, as familiar at it feels at times. Set in a Japanese high school (of course), the story centers around a group of Spirit World warriors, superpowered teens who clean up evil spirits as a part-time job. Our aforementioned hero is Akihito Kanbara, an immortal half-youmu SW warrior with a deadpan snark, a classic light/dark struggle with his monstrous side, and a glasses fetish. That last detail is what brings him into contact with the bespeckled beauty standing on the school roof: Mirai Kuriyama, the sole remainder of a tribe of SW warriors who use their blood to fight. From there on, the plot unspools into conspiracies, hidden agendas, and big surprises that, honestly, you can pretty much see coming from a mile away.
Obviously from that description, Beyond the Boundary's plot isn't its strongest suit. Once all the conspiracy stuff starts shaking out as the story progresses, the whole thing kind of falls apart. The logic is weak, the surprises aren't surprising, and the whole thing ends up feeling like too much ado about nothing. Characters come and go, never staying around for long enough stretches to really build investment outside of our central foursome. It feels lazily hacked together, rather than carefully constructed, and it really starts dragging the series down the longer it goes on.
And yet.
And yet, my mind keeps going back to that wacky, almost farcical first scene. Akihito's complete lack of shame in expressing his true feelings right off the bat. The almost casual way in which Mirai responds by skewering him. His equally casual response as he reacts to the glistening red blade sticking through his body (because he's immortal, natch). It's such a unique, offbeat attitude that you don't really see a lot, reminiscent of the fantastic absurdist comedy in Angel Beats.
And it's here that Beyond the Boundary really shines: its character interactions. The teenagers of the Spirit World warriors all talk and act like real teenagers. They bicker, they bounce off each other, they get on each other's nerves and enjoy doing so. They aren't paralyzed with embarrassment every other second, instead funneling the energy of their embarrassment into one-upping the person who embarrassed them. It's so freaking refreshing to have a lead who can just outright talk about finding someone attractive to their face, and to have his target of affections able to needle him for it without descending into flustered stuttering. Heck, one of our main characters has a freaking sister complex, and even THAT ends up being funny more often than not, just by the nature of how forthright he is about it and how casually said sister is able to rip him about it whenever it comes up. That, in and of itself, is reason enough to praise Beyond the Boundary to heaven and back.
Of course, this is also a Kyoto Animation show, which means I absolutely MUST gush about the stellar animation for a bit. This show has one of my favorite color palettes of all time, a sort of muted-rainbow pastel that makes even the most boring locations pop with color and warmth. KyoAni's talent for animating the subtleties of human movement is also on full display, with Mirai in particular having a plethora of absolutely adorable tics. In addition, for a studio that almost never touches action with a ten-foot pole, Beyond the Boundary makes a good case for them to try it more often. Turns out, the kinetic energy of KyoAni's camera movements that are usually focused on big emotional beats in other series translates quite nicely to the world of high-octane spirit battles. The choreography is fluid and easy to follow, and the use of colors during battle makes each clash feel like an exploding paint set, in the best way possible.
In the end, Beyond the Boundary is a really good case study in how much attitude can save a series. On a structural level, it's a complete mess, and the pieces never really fit together in a satisfying way. But it keeps its head high and soldiers on, brimming with enough confidence, cheer, and good vibes to wash away any possible bad taste. It's flawed, unfocused, and way too ambitious for its own good, but it's an entertaining romp all the same. As Mirai might say, it's far from unpleasant.
