The set of characters are in a perfect symbiosis, almost mathematically designed to create gorgeous juxtapositions over their emotions and reflection. From the trauma of being ignored by your family while being superficially accepted from society to the trauma of being denied by your superficial characteristics but being in a warm family circle. From the struggle of being the first and not knowing the light after the tunnel to the struggle of being the natural progression of your family circle and not living up to your own goals. From the struggle of being selfless to the struggle of the unawareness. There is a guarantee that the exploration gets us to those feelings that we can all sort of relate, and that creates perfectly synced relationships in the difference. And to explore what do we love, what do we care about.
The anime takes no doubts to presents itself in a honest manner, through leaving leaves of mystery and aura of humanity during its runtime, the whole concept goes around understanding the characters and their conflicts, their behavior, by knowing their struggles but to also think about how we would act if we knew them. The mystery of humanity and the dark of how each other are is nothing but perfectly presented here, and it leaves a good message, a beautiful message of understanding. If we are to judge them, we would nothing but be subject to our ignorance, and that is how the real world operates, human.
The deep affection to the theatrical arts is presented through a respect to the craft. The coherency between the discourse of each character and their way to express themselves leaves us with a gorgeous intent to reflect what goes through the process of doing something unique, something human. To repulse the repetition and to elevate being yourself. While straightforward, the message is nothing but wonderful in terms of practicality and relevant towards how the characters were designed. There is nothing as not being yourself unless you want to be someone else.
The struggle of succeeding in such arts and whatever craft is also present in a lovely envelope, the pressure from all the potential directions is always shown with delicacy. From not being up to the performance that you should, to never being able to replicate what others do even with your hardest intent, the extremely human expression of what it feels to be the best is there to elevating ourselves to a concept, not everyone can be the star. World is dynamic, a place where everyone is welcomed, and since that is world, the theatrical arts are nothing but a representation of diversity.
Through all those factors presented each of the developments of the characters creates deeply impactful and dynamic moments. We go from tears to happiness, from laughter to deep sensation of despair in matters of minutes, the events have a magical atmosphere that comes from the fact that they were all nothing but human, honest, authentic, and from love. There is no apparent distortion that produces the everlasting plasticity of fakeness.
While the art and the animation are nothing spectacular, the delicacy of the motion of the characters is wonderful to see and it does its job right. The dances, the impactful moments, and those moments where the characters must express themselves are done with care, which doubled down with the musical aspect leaves us with a fitting atmosphere to where the characters can truly flourish.
Sadly, Kageki Shoujo is not a perfect anime, the story gets a little too convoluted and directionless in some sense after the end of the first conflict resolution, and it lacks a bit of elegancy in terms of giving us a concrete reason to explore the backgrounds in some occasions, which doesn’t degrade completely the whole experience anyways. Also, the time structure feels fuzzy, with no clear distinction of how the time passes in many points of the story, which is also an aspect that could have been treated better.
In conclusion, the anime is a correctly done emotional ride with respect to its topics and the sense of humanity, a well-developed drama about human behavior which will leave you with a sense of interest or curiosity about it, since it presents itself as an entire universe of thought complexity, absorbing characters involved in an artistically pleasing setting
