Reviews Manga / Kekkaishi

Brilliant deconstruction of the Shonen storytelling archetype

Kekkaishi is a manga about Yoshimori Sumimura and his neighbor, Tokine Yukimura. During the day they go to school, take chores and train so that at night they can protect the school from demons who try to abuse of the constant spiritual energy emanating from it to grow strong and mighty.

...If the manga sounds boring and same-y from the above description, please hang around a little longer. I still have about three hundred and twenty words to convince you otherwise.

After the (painfully) slow start, it starts to become clear just how many tropes and clichés from traditional Shonen stories are Subverted or even Played For Laughs throughout the story. The title character, Yoshimori, stands far away from the Idiot Hero mentality by being instead greatly charismatic, thoughtful and determined, even if lacking a lot of subtlety. Tokine, the Weak But Skilled foil to Yoshimori's Unskilled But Strong falls far from the Damsel In Distress, and more often than not actually saving Yoshi via critical thinking and careful planning. Even the minor characters have their own quirks and charisma that makes you root for them just as much.

The Kekkaishi all have one skill at their disposition: the ability to create a barrier and lock things inside, as well as destroying what is within. That is their only weapon (granted eventually it expands, but it's a minor point), but the brilliance lies on how the Kekkaishi are able to use the same skill creatively to deal with their opponents; from Yoshimori creating several consecutive barriers to increase the overall power and defense of them to Tokine creating thin but long piercing barriers that require little power but can keep the Youkai struggling to escape. The overall result is fights are no longer about abstract measurements of "I'm faster and stronger than you!" but instead become "what is the best way to trap him in my Kekkai?", making you not only understand but marvel at the character's ingenuity to defeat foes with something as simple as invisible shattering barriers.

I could go on about how the antagonists keep you thinking if they are really bad people, the complex Myth Arc that will keep you wondering about the true intentions of a number of characters and the careful explanations given to japanese folklore and culture, but you're better off reading the damn thing already.

Tallen M.F.~