History YMMV / Kiznaiver

* AmbiguousDisorder:
** It's left in the air whether Yuta has or not some sort of eating disorder and self-esteem issues, both due to being FormerlyFat.
** Episodes 2 and 5 hint that Maki might have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

---> '''Chidori:''' Niyama-san, what's wrong?
---> '''Nico:''' Nico is looking for Zantoman.
---> '''Chidori:''' Zantoman?
---> '''Nico:''' Yeah! It's the fairy of sleep. When it throws sand at you, the sand gets into your eyes, and it's like "ow, ow, ow!" and you fall asleep, and dream, and lots of marbles fall from the sky!
** Katsuhira, when he is seen acting aloof in situations where one would normally be in pain.
*** A prominent example of this is when he literally ''jumps off an overpass and onto moving traffic'' while on a mission to [[spoiler: prove to the seventh Kiznaiver, Hisomu Yoshiharu, that their bodies are truly connected]]. Upon jumping, he hits the top of a truck and ''bounces off of it'', landing (conveniently) on the backseat of an open-roof car. He proceeds to ''sit up'' and ''apologize'' to the passengers of said car as if ''nothing'' happened, going so far as to ''ask about the car's welfare'' as Chidori and Tenga rush over to him.
---> '''Chidori:''' Kacchon!
---> '''Katsuhira:''' Oh, Chidori...
---> '''Chidori and Tenga:''' ''[gasps at the amount of blood on Katsuhira's face]''
---> '''Katsuhira:''' ''[makes a thumbs-up signal]'' I'm fine... I think it's just... a slight concussion... ''[faints]''
---> '''Tenga:''' You're not fine at all!
---> '''Chidori:''' ''[faints]''
---> '''Tenga:''' ''[catches Chidori]'' You, too?!

* MagnificentBastard: The seemingly carefree and {{apathetic teacher}}, [[BigBad Kazunao Yamada]], is actually a high ranking member of the [[TheConspiracy Kizna Committee]]. Desiring a permanent end to global conflicts, [[WellIntentionedExtremist Yamada]] helped found the Kizuna System, experimenting on children to bond them through one another's pain and suffering, hoping that they would cooperate. When the first attempt failed, Kizuna restarted his experiments years later, this time on seven teenagers where Yamada put them through dangerous and tumultuous situations to make them feel physical and emotional pain. Deciding to separate the teens from Kizuna system after they gave him results, Yamada asked them for help once more when Noriko Sonozaki hijacks the system, before ending the series having [[KarmaHoudini gotten away]] with his crimes and satisfied with what he has accomplished.

** After the airing of the first episodes, fans who liked [[Main/WidgetSeries the nature]] of Trigger's [[Anime/KillLaKill previous show]] were put off by the DarkerAndEdgier tone of this one.

* HypocriteHasAPoint: In episode 9, Tenga falls into this. ''As he actively criticizes'' Katsuhira for being too inconsiderate of the girl who has feelings for him, Tenga himself doesn't pay even the smallest sprinkle of attention to [[spoiler: Nico]] when [[spoiler: her]] romantic attraction to him is suddenly revealed to everyone, including him, and [[spoiler: the girl]] ''runs off crying.'' Tenga is no longer feasibly under the protection of ObliviousToLove and is fully aware of what has just happened. Yuta [[WhatTheHellHero calls him on it]].

* AccidentalInnuendo: "Katsuhira is inside me." And then Katsuhira says that Notiko is inside him.

* TokenYuriGirls: [[spoiler: Honoka and Ruru]]'s relationship can be seen as this.

** According to [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/10/27/character-art-counts-down-to-release-of-kiznaiver-novel Crunchyroll]], one of Kiznaiver's producers, the other Kiznaivers' backstories were supposedly SavedForTheSequel (in this case, the sequel being the tie-in novel), however thus far no fan translation has gone beyond the introductory prologue and no ''official'' translation whatsoever of said novel exists as proof ''or'' reference for Western audiences. This still may be something to consider in the future, however; what with the belated announcement of a North American English dub release for the series, anything may be possible for the fate of our favorite emotionally bonded children.

* LateExportForYou: Kiznaiver finally gets an English dub and a box set release in the West, nearly a year after Japan finished releasing their boxed sets and a year and a half after the anime itself ended.

* CounterpartComparison: Tenga was instantly compared to [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Kamina]].
** Chidori was soon to follow in being compared to [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Yoko Littner]], for [[ShipTease obvious]] [[FieryRedhead reasons]]. Still, Chidori is lacking in a couple of Yoko's... [[BuxomIsBetter endowments]].
** Nico was almost immediately seen by some of the fandom as something of a combination of fellow Creator/StudioTrigger characters [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Mako]] [[PluckyComicRelief Mankanshoku]] (personality) and [[TheFashionista Nui]] [[MegaTwintails Harime]] (appearance only).

* WrongGenreSavvy: A real-life example, partially justified if you take even a passing look at StudioTrigger's preceding repertoire. A number of Trigger's "seasoned" fans engaged in WildMassGuessing during the show's original run, many making confident but often outright [[WrongAssumption Wrong Assumptions]] about the plot's course before the following weeks' episodes would air — including expressing expectations for a more ''Series/KillLaKill''-esque fast-paced action plot with a large obstacle to overcome or an over-the-top BigBad, or an in-depth [[ComingOfAgeStory Coming-of-Age]] Character Study along the vein of a slightly more mellow SpiritualSuccessor to ''Series/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' — only to find themselves [[EntertaininglyWrong completely blindsided]] and [[HypeBacklash extremely disappointed]] when ''{{Kiznaiver}}'' actually ended up simply being a moderately-paced love story utilizing psychological and [[YouAreNotAlone adolescent]] themes.

* WrongGenreSavvy: A real-life example, partially justified if you take even a passing look at StudioTrigger's preceding repertoire. A number of Trigger's "seasoned" fans engaged in WildMassGuessing during the show's original run, many making confident but often outright [[WrongAssumption Wrong Assumptions]] about the plot's course before the following weeks' episodes would air — including expressing expectations for a more ''Series/KillLaKill''-esque fast-paced action plot with a large obstacle to overcome or an over-the-top BigBad, or an in-depth [[ComingOfAgeStory Coming-of-Age]] Character Study along the vein of a slightly more mellow SpiritualSuccessor to ''Series/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' — only to find themselves [[EntertaininglyWrong completely blindsided]] and [[HypeBacklash extremely disappointed]] when ''{{Kiznaiver}}'' actually ended up simply being a moderately-paced LoveStory utilizing psychological and [[YouAreNotAlone adolescent]] themes.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: While everyone nearly universally agrees that the concept and visuals are great, many fans feel like the anime wasted too much time focusing on the romance, when the story could have been much stronger by developing the characters as individuals. This isn't helped by offhanded remarks about Tenga's parents, Yuta's eating habits, and Nico's insecurities, which all tend to feel like unfired [[ChekovsGun Chekov's Guns]], especially since Maki had an entire arc focusing on her.

* WrongGenreSavvy: A real-life example, partially justified if you take even a passing look at StudioTrigger's preceding repertoire. A number of Trigger's "seasoned" fans engaged in WildMassGuessing during the show's original run, many making confident but often outright [[WrongAssumption Wrong Assumptions]] about the plot's course before the following weeks' episodes would air — including expressing expectations for a more ''Series/KillLaKill''-esque fast-paced action plot with a large obstacle to overcome or an over-the-top BigBad, or an in-depth [[ComingOfAgeStory Coming-of-Age]] Character Study along the vein of a slightly more mellow SpiritualSuccessor to ''Series/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' — only to find themselves [[EntertaininglyWrong completely blindsided]] and [[HypeBacklash extremely disappointed]] when ''{{Kiznaiver}}'' actually ended up simply being a moderately-paced LoveStory utilizing psychological and [[YouAreNotAlone adolescent]] themes.
* TheWoobie:
** Nico, specially after episode 9: [[spoiler: she is in the bottom of the [[AllLoveIsUnrequited Unrequited Love Chain]], and Tenga blatantly ignores her feelings, even when she is clearly hurt right before him.]]
** Chidori as well in episodes 8 and 9. After episodes of her getting several hints that [[spoiler: Katsuhira is infatuated with Sonozaki and barely acknowledges Chidori's current feelings for him, in Episode 9 he unceremoniously leaves her ''while she's confessing her feelings to him'' to (literally) run after Sonozaki.]] Then in Episode 9 [[spoiler: the Kiznaiver experiment puts her along with the other five protagonists in a video room to watch Katsuhira and Sonozaki's subsequent interaction in the gym, and Chidori has to listen to the boy she likes telling another girl that he constantly thinks about her, and to Sonozaki claiming that she and Katsuhira have met in the past, and so Chidori isn't even his only childhood friend anymore]]. It's nearly impossible to not feel for the girl when she reacts by kneeling and covering her ears due to emotional pain.
** The children [[spoiler: in the first Kizna experiment. The side effects of the project led to several of them losing all of their senses and unable to live among society. The others, like Katsuhira, weren't much better off, being almost completely devoid of emotion and unable to feel pain. Meanwhile, Sonozaki had to cope with all the pain of ''eighteen other children'' being passed onto her, and has had to suffer from that pain every day for ''twelve years.'' It's no wonder she tries to jump.]]

** According to [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/10/27/character-art-counts-down-to-release-of-kiznaiver-novel Crunchyroll]], one of Kiznaiver's producers, the other Kiznaivers' backstories were supposedly SavedForTheSequel (in this case, the sequel being the tie-in novel), however thus far no fan translation has gone beyond the introductory prologue and no ''official'' translation whatsoever of said novel exists as proof ''or'' reference for Western audiences. This still may be something to consider in the future, however; what with the belated announcement of a North American English dub release for the series, anything may be possible for the fate of our favorite emotionally bonded children.

* HypeBacklash: Being a Trigger anime it got an immense amount of hype before airing. Four episodes in and the plot hasn't really gone anywhere as well as the fact that it lacks the over the top nature of Trigger's previous large project ''Anime/KillLaKill''. Mari Okada being involved in this anime didn't really help matters either with some being afraid that she'll bring her usual brand of melodrama along.

* LastMinuteHookup: [[spoiler: Yuta and Honoka, Tenga and Chidori,]] and, debatably, [[spoiler: Nico and Hisomu]] appear to have this happen to them in the finale.

* [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan Single]] [[spoiler: [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan Woman]]]] [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan Seeks Good]] [[spoiler: [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan Man]]]]: This is implied in the final episode to be [[spoiler: Chidori]]'s final verdict concerning [[spoiler: [[SecondLove Tenga]]]].

* JerkassBall: Tenga seemed to be tossed this for the entirety of Episode 9 in contrast to his typical NiceGuy personality. His usual characterization is [[CharacterDerailment derailed]] into {{Hypocrite}}, DoggedNiceGuy and/or NiceGuysFinishLast, and full-blown ''KnightTemplar'' territory at vital points within the episode, despite very little (if any) suggestion toward any of these traits being part of his "true" personality in any of the other episodes. This trope, like the episode itself, is PlayedForDrama.

** As if to add insult to injury, ''Maki's'' CharacterDevelopment arc could easily be interpreted as existing solely to further the show's pre-existing endgame, which subjectively had little to do with Maki's character itself and more to do with [[spoiler: creating a tighter dynamic between the Kiznaivers in order to [[{{Melodrama}} immediately push that dynamic to its limits]]]], which ''possibly'' only needed to occur InUniverse in order to [[spoiler: cause Katsuhira to regain his memories as per Sonozaki's goal]], in effect reducing Maki's story to little more than an easy avenue toward achieving that end. Overall, the fact that ''only Maki'' got a dedicated character arc out of the six newcomers to the experiment comes across as a little strange at best and incredibly jarring and suspicious at worst.

* JerkassBall: Tenga seemed to be tossed this for the entirety of Episode 9 in contrast to his typical NiceGuy personality.

** As if to add insult to injury, ''Maki's'' CharacterDevelopment arc could easily be interpreted as existing solely to further the show's pre-existing endgame, which subjectively had little to do with Maki's character itself and more to do with [[spoiler: creating a stronger overall bond between the Kiznaivers in order to [[{{Melodrama}} immediately push that bond (and the Kiznaivers) to their limits]]]], which ''possibly'' only needed to occur InUniverse in order to [[spoiler: cause Katsuhira to regain his memories as per Sonozaki's goal]], in effect reducing Maki's story to little more than an easy avenue toward achieving that end. Overall, the fact that ''only Maki'' got a dedicated character arc out of the six newcomers to the experiment comes across as a little strange at best and incredibly jarring and suspicious at worst.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: While everyone nearly universally agrees that the concept and visuals are great, many fans feel like the anime wasted too much time focusing on the romance, when the story could have been much stronger by developing the characters as individuals. This isn't helped by offhanded remarks about Tenga's parents, Yuta's eating habits, and Nico's insecurities, which all tend to feel like unfired [[ChekovsGun Chekov's Guns]], especially since Maki had an entire arc focusing on her.

** The children [[spoiler: in the first Kizna experiment. The side effects of the project led to several of them losing all of their senses and unable to live among society. The others, like Katsuhira, weren't much better off, being almost completely devoid of emotion and unable to feel pain. Meanwhile, Sonozaki had to cope with all the pain of ''eighteen other children'' being passed onto her, and has had to suffer from that pain every day for ''twelve years.'' It's no wonder she tries to jump.]]