Kyoukai no Kanata

I watched the first episode and... I liked it! There was nice balance of action to exposition, the characters seem interesting enough, and the humor was funny but not intrusive.

Kyoto Animation is always hit or miss. If they manage to keep this level of quality I'll count that as a hit.

I was pretty underwhelmed. The animation is beautiful, but that's about it. Generic setting, generic tsukkomi humour, generic leads, generic powers. Narration quality is actually a bit below par

I'll be giving the second episode a chance, but I'm not expecting that I'll end up following it

Kyoukai No Kanata Page could use some more updating I think.

It's okay.

I found it average, occasionally bordering on trite (particularly how Akihito and Kuriyama get on) and cliché (it bears a resemblance to other settings like Kekkaishi and hasn't done anything new), but maybe it just hasn't had the chance to shine.

My impression of the animation is that it's very nice looking, with lovely flying pans over the scenery (sadly over nothing more than a town) and the fight scenes were quite interestingly directed with one character's impressively aerodynamic motion being tracked through the air.

The music has no stand out tracks so far - it's barely doing it's job.

How to describe the characters? What if a cross between Yuuta and Aoki was half-demon met a demon hunter with the competence of Rikka who tried to kill him.

To be quite honest most of the shifts between serious and joking are handled poorly. The comedy is quite dry in any case with almost no backing from the tone. And yet they're still trying to pull off Manzai. It can feel forced.

The highlight is probably the last part where it looks like things are coming together. If they maintain that momentum into the second episode it could be a vast improvement over the first.

edited 2nd Oct '13 5:40:12 PM by UltimatelySubjective

I thought the first ep was okay. You could definitely tell it's based on a light novel. The attempts at humor fell flat for me most of the time, and I'm really hoping they tone down Mirai's dojikko-ness a little. The animation was excellent as one could expect from Kyo Ani, but apart from when Mirai was chasing Akihito I thought the direction was lacking. Nothing really felt impactful or left much of an impression. But I think that things will pick up once the story gets rolling and more of the cast is introduced.

edited 2nd Oct '13 5:57:50 PM by Ruthek

Honestly I thought the "dry" nature of the storytelling was this show's main selling point. It's not trying to pretend that a secret world of demons and demon hunters hidden behind our everyday life is somehow inherently exciting or even interesting to a modern audience. Instead, it takes that as an incredibly banal premise filled with characters who are bored of it. Obviously it'll try to squeeze some drama out of these characters in the long (or the short run), but it seems like it won't be because of their powers or the demons or anything. This is already explicitly a setting where demons and powers simply aren't threatening, after all. As for what the story is about, well, I can't say for sure yet but probably demon hunter politics.

The forced Manzai humor was pretty off-putting though.

Even if you're right it's not easy to pull off dryness without just ending up being plain dry.

The writing seems to be missing cues that would distinguish it.

I felt like we were already at the boring drama end of things, so I can only imagine what to expect if we're have the drama to go.

Episode 1. In which there's dry humour.

Mirai's reaction to being told he likes glasses is to stab him.

Aki's is reaction to being stabbed is to politely ask her to remove the blade.

I find it slightly unusual in that I find neither of them to look like protagonists. He looks like That One Guy, and she looks like the third female, at best. I prefer the two black-haired ones. That's just design-wise, though.

They act like it, though. Very reminiscent of Yuuta and Rikka. The humour between them is rather average. A dojiko who's also a good fighter is... Eh, okay, I guess.

And Mitsu reminds me of Shinka. I like her teasing him about confessing to her. I hope that paints her as not a love interest. That'd be a little too plain and obvious of a plot. And I like the dry humour. It's sort of the kind of humour that doesn't care it's funny. She's my favourite chracter thus far, at any rate.

I also like Nino. She seems reasonable. Well, not like we saw much.

So far, the only actual supernatural drama seems to be about the blood bending.

edited 3rd Oct '13 12:24:36 AM by AnotherDuck

Was the opening a Harry Potter parody? Between the music and the flying it felt like it. I was sort of expecting it to end up at PS Hogwarts 79 or something.

I suppose the dryness was explained right at the beginning.

Mitsu has potential. Easily the best character so far.

Yeah, this looks like it needs a few episodes to get going at least.

Episode 1:

• The answer to a nice compliment is a stab!
• Mirai's the last Deadman. Also she's the second girl this year to have red-rimmed glasses.
• Mitsuki's awesome.
• Youmu are Hollows and Ayakashi.
• Being used as practice to overcome someone's fear's not cool. Isn't that right, Akihito.

edited 4th Oct '13 11:29:27 PM by Diamite

I can't wait until there are higher level enemies known as Saigyoujis

Ha!

I'm surprised it took so long for someone to make that joke Though it should really be yuyuko if we're going by given name

"Stand still, I have to stab you!"

"HELP ME YUYUKO-SAMA!"

Apparently, my friend who enjoyed The Familiar of Zero, share the same opinion as most of you that Kyoukai no Kanata was disappointing. On the other hand, I enjoyed it although it might just be my thing for Yui-clones.

Episode 1: Could be better. The animation was gorgeous as usual; however, the characters, plot progression and interactions, while not bad per se, aren't gripping either. In fact, they dip slightly below average sometimes. Overall, though, it's okay.

Still, awkward first episodes are nothing new, and this show has the potential to be a lot better. I'm also liking the action scenes, which I hope there's more of. The OP and ED are quite nice too.

@ Another Duck I had the same thoughts too. The two protagonists don't have protagonist designs. Kinda neat.

edited 8th Oct '13 9:02:19 AM by fillerdude

Episode 2: I liked this ep a lot more than the first. The animation during the youmu fight was amazing, the characters are slowly starting to get fleshed out, there was a lot less derpy moe, and the overall execution felt a lot more polished. The humor is still pretty bad, though.

I still feel like there's something missing that's preventing the show from being truly compelling, but this ep was a definite step in the right direction.

Well, that was certainly an improvement. Still don't much care for Mirai, though. And plot isn't much to talk about

I dunno, I kind of chuckled at how at the end she was paid only a measly 1000 yen for all that trouble.

Did anyone else read this at first as Kyoukai no Katana?

Mirai is unexpectedly decent with that thing.

Well, now we can see why the MC is fixated on Mirai. She seems to be the only person he knows who doesn't troll him all the time.

"I like when people know when to give up."

WARNING! WARNING! A HUGE YOUMU [HOLLOW SHADOW] IS APPROACHING!

Really felt like there should have been something more in the whole warning scene. I mean, if she doesn't have anything useful to say...why bother? This made the world seem about 500% more odd than it was before, esp considering that the first episode was relatively serious.

Episode 2. In which Aki is an idol.

The action isn't that bad. And kinda funny how he convinces her to continue because money.

So she does suffer from anemia if she uses her abilities too much.

"Join my club, because you're a pretty glasses girl." Good argument. Not so much one you expect to be listened to...

I like Ai. She's cheerful.

The moment Mirai called Aki a pig, I knew Mitsu was going to go along with it. And it was kinda funny when he actually accepted her mocking as a good idea.

I like the kind of physical humour like that with the tray. No words needed, just awkward intent.

Hiromi is a little bit obnoxious. I'm not sure that's good or bad yet.

Ayaka is pleasant.

With a mother like that, he's surprisingly normal. Or maybe because of her?

I agree with the girls. He should've noticed it was all for their entertainment.

Now, what with she said at the end, I hope she's actually truthful about it, rather than something she actually had little or no control over. A lot of creators have trouble making their characters objectively responsible for bad stuff.

By now, I want Aki to come out on top a little more, against someone who isn't Mirai. Preferably Mitsu. It gets a little old if he's the Butt-Monkey all the time, since he's The Protagonist.

edited 9th Oct '13 8:12:43 PM by AnotherDuck

So Mirai stabs her future friend on their first meeting and is then generally unaware that there are good, kindhearted Youmas. Anyone else have a Fridge Horror moment wondering if she's stabbed or assaulted any other innocent Youmas on the idea that they're all evil?

Uh... such a thought would imply that you're not paying any attention to the story since that's implied to be exactly her backstory. She killed someone in some Youmu-hunting accident and trauma blah blah blah cliches. This is not subtle.

edited 9th Oct '13 8:55:15 PM by Clarste

Pretty sure that's the scene we saw right in the beginning. Either that, or Akkey has the same backstory, which will become a point of connection between them.

Episode 2:

• Mirai sure knows her way around that sword. And she's anemic. Isn't this detrimental to her power usage?
• New characters. All are youmu. Ai's cheery. I like her. Ayaka's a stylish youmu appraiser. She's quite funny and cool. Hiromu's a bit uncooperative. He seems to have a intense dislike for Spirit Warriors...
• Oh, wait. I forgot one other person. Akihito's mother. She's quite bubbly. And shameless. Poor Akihito? Maybe. There's no denying that everyone finds it ultra-easy to make fun of him.
• Mega youmu, Hollow Shadow, is heading their way. This could be trouble. It's named Hollow Shadow after all.
• Good job in taking down that youmu, Mirai. Your reward is 1000 yen. Sorry kid. That's the world of appraisal for ya.
• Oh, just join the Lit Club, Mirai. You'd make Akihito a very happy- Oh...you killed someone. Well that's...
• I wonder if Akihito killed someone, or just stumbled upon the grisly scene?

edited 9th Oct '13 11:31:20 PM by Diamite

Pretty sure using her powers makes her anemic, for obvious reasons.