History Anime / Kiznaiver

* CrossoverPunchline: See TheCameo.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Chidori (red) and Honoka (brown).

* EmptyShell: [[spoiler: You buy into the possibility of world peace that the Kizna System is promising to achieve, and happily support it as a benefactor, going so far as to allow your child to take part in it as a test subject. When they return to you, they're a little more than emotionless shells of their former selves who have been subjected to so much physical and emotional agony that they can ''no longer feel any pain whatsoever''—that is, if they're in a stable-enough condition to be returned to you at all.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: Definitely the case in comparison to ''Anime/KillLaKill'' and other TRIGGER series, opting for a psychoanalytical route instead of another WidgetSeries.

The brainchild of prolific anime writer Mari Okada (''Manga/BlackButler'', ''Manga/RozenMaiden''), '''''Kiznaiver''''' was made by Creator/StudioTrigger and produced by Creator/{{Aniplex}}, featuring character designs by mangaka Shirow Miwa (''Manga/DogsBulletsAndCarnage'') and Mai Yoneyama. Hiroshi Kobayashi, known for his work as assistant director in the anime ''Anime/RageOfBahamutGenesis'' and as episode director in ''Anime/KillLaKill'', makes his debut as a director with this show.

* LongTitle: The titles of each episode are sentences.
** IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: The numbering of each episode is hidden in the Japanese readings of the titles.

** Chidori - "[[TheResenter Annoyingly Self-Righteous]]" ({{envy}} of others meets wrathful behaviour)

* MegaTwintails: Nico. Must I say more?

* ArmorPiercingSlap: Nico to Tenga, then Chidori to Tenga, then Chidori to Katsuhira. Several times over. Felt by ''all'' the Kiznaivers, of course.

* ArmorPiercingSlap: Nico to Tenga, then Chidori to Tenga, then Chidori to Katsuhira. [[UpToEleven Several times over.]] Felt by ''all'' the Kiznaivers, of course.

** Taken UpToEleven in episode 5, as it reveals they are also able to feel the emotional pain of each other.

* AdultFear: [[spoiler: You buy into the possibility of world peace that the Kizna System is promising to achieve, and happily support it as a benefactor, going so far as to allow your child to take part in it as a test subject. When they return to you, they're a little more than emotionless shells of their former selves who have been subjected to so much physical and emotional agony that they can ''no longer feel any pain whatsoever''—that is, if they're in a stable-enough condition to be returned to you at all.]]
** It gets worse. [[spoiler: One of the children who was a test subject in the first experiment—Sonozaki—ended up taking on the pain of ''all nineteen test subjects'' including herself, and has continued to do so for ''over a decade''. This has completely destroyed her psyche over time, and she has become convinced that taking on the pain of others is ultimately the only way that she can achieve true happiness.]]

* DelinquentHair: Tenga.
* EarnYourHappyEnding

** Tenga also [[TaremeEyes shares]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} traits]] [[{{Meganekko}} with]] a male RoseHairedSweetie.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Sonozaki has blue hair. Outside of that, Tenga has pink hair, Hisomu has purple, Yuta has teal, and Katsuhira has white [[spoiler:though it's not his original hair color]].

* NotSoDifferent: Hisomu lampshades that all the Kiznaiver have one thing in common: none of them have friends, and none of them even know how to make friends.

* AlwaysInClassOne: All the Kiznaivers including Sonozaki are in class [[SecondYearProtagonist 2-A]].

-->-- [[spoiler:'''Noriko Sonozaki''']]

* {{Adorkable}}: Nico.
---> '''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?!
** Yuta also has his moments, particularly when he is seen running or interacting with Honoka.

* HairDecorations: Nico.

*** 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, [[spoiler: 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.

* GrayEyes: Katsuhira and Sonozaki.

* CurtainsMatchtheWindow: Chidori (red) and Honoka (brown).

*** In the [[EnglishDubs English Dub]], Tenga hilariously doesn't help matters any, as he can distinctly be heard defending himself by yelling ''"She was asking for it!"'' before receiving ''[[OpenMouthInsertFoot more lecturing]].''

* GenderFlip: Maki and Yuta would be your standard BroodingBoyGentleGirl couple if the genders were flipped, with Maki playing the aloof and eventually [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]] BespectacledBastardBoyfriend and Yuta playing the popular but ultimately innocent SchoolIdol.

* GenderFlip: Maki and Yuta would be your standard BroodingBoyGentleGirl couple if the genders were flipped, with Maki playing the aloof and eventually [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]] BespectacledBastardBoyfriend and the Yuta playing the popular but ultimately innocent SchoolIdol.

* LoveDodecahedron: Episodes 8 and 9 reveal there is one between the Kiznaivers and Noriko Sonozaki. The breakdown is [[spoiler: both Chidori and Sonozaki like Katsuhira but he's not sure if he likes either of them due to his being emotionless since childhood. Tenga likes Chidori while Nico likes Tenga. Yuta likes Honoka but she's still hung up over her friend Ruru.]] In comparison Hisomu is free from this mess.

* GenderFlip: Maki and Yuto would be your standard BroodingBoyGentleGirl couple if the genders were flipped, with Maki playing the aloof and eventually [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]] BespectacledBastardBoyfriend and the Yuto playing the popular but ultimately innocent SchoolIdol.

* EmphaticEnvironment: The climax of Maki's character arc has it suddenly rain after Nico tries to reach out to her at her house. At first the rain signals her conflicting feelings towards Ruru, but it becomes something of a [[RedemptionInTheRain healing rain]] after she finally finds closure.

* EnohaticEnvoronment: The climax of Maki's character arc has it suddenly rain after Nico tries to reach out to her at her house. At first the rain signals her conflicting feelings towards Ruru, but it becomes something of a [[RedemptionInTheRain healing rain]] after she finally finds closure.

In 2018, just under two years of the series' release in Japan, Creator/AniplexUSA released ''Kiznaiver'' on home video in North America with an English dub co-produced by Creator/{{Crunchyroll}} and Creator/TheOceanGroup, making the series their first English dub done in Canada rather than their usual dubbing studio with Creator/BangZoomEntertainment.