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Beyond the Boundary (Kyoukai no Kanata) (TV).


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Knoepfchen



Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 698
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 2:27 pm Reply with quote
That was a beautifully looking finale, although I can't say I'm 100% happy with how they handled some aspects.

spoiler[Mirai's disappearance] reminded me a bit of the finale of Whedon's show Dollhouse, where spoiler[the love interest of the female lead dies, but, due to the inner logic of the show's universe, can live on inside of her as a seperate personality, meaning they're united forever, sort of.] Akkey's inner monologue about how life still has the nasty habit of going on even if you thought you couldn't bare it was quite touching and honest.

Then spoiler[Mirai came back], which I'm not quite sure how to feel about. Maybe I'm just too much of a sucker for spoiler[sad endings].

Logically, I didn't think there was anything wrong with this, though. As this episode explicitely mentioned again how the youmu are the manifestation of our fears and emotions, and Akihito having what's most likely the most powerful youmu in this universe inside him, there was a certain logic and satisfaction in him being able to spoiler[re-create her] (if that's what happened) or the possibility for spoiler[her to return to her form because she wished to be reunited with him].

It seems they did rewrite the rules, with spoiler[Izumi gone and Hiromi taking over] (hammy little speech about idealism and determination included, which could be seen as foreshadowing for what happend with Mirai, I suppose), so, why not.

I also liked how Akihito strongly spoiler[claimed his emotions and past experiences back, good and bad ones, feelings of guilt and shame included].

I'm not sure yet how to rate this show. I think it will be a good. Some aspects of it I absolutely adored, and I'm absolutely looking forward to the studio's next endeavour into a similar genre/setting. There were too many inconsistencies for me to rate it very good, though.

I imagine this show could be even more enjoyable in a second watch, in order to put all the pieces together a bit sooner and maybe appreaciating character's actions more as a result of that.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 2:43 pm Reply with quote
Well, i actually enjoyed this episode up to the point when spoiler[Mirai fake-died for the second time, then i just sat there rolling my eyes (and imagining Hiromi being naked) for the rest of the show...]

Not a bad series overall, i liked the chracters, the humor and it was certainly easy on the eyes, spoiler[but the drama in the last couple of episodes was too predictable and overblown for my taste.] Gonna give it a (weak) "good" rating, i suppose.
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Yttrbio
Subscriber



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3649
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 2:58 pm Reply with quote
In a lot of ways, this show met expectations for me. I expect a KyoAni show to be cute, funny, and look great, which this show totally delivered. I don't have any expectations for good plotting, and this show's plotting felt like a mess. By the end, it was as if the animators and voice actors were making it up as they went along. I think the studio could make a great show like this, but they need a better story to work with.
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ookamigirl



Joined: 15 Jul 2012
Posts: 2274
Location: Croatia
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 3:07 pm Reply with quote
It was just awesome watching spoiler[Kuriyama & Akihito] fight as a team.
They make a nice team and a cute couple ^^
Still, it's a shame the couple part didn't have more time.
The epic final fight was just awesome!
spoiler[Akihito] was very impressive.
Looks like there were more than just one.
spoiler[Izmui] finally dealt with her past as well.
Very nice final episode.
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Wooga



Joined: 22 Jun 2007
Posts: 916
Location: Tucson
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 4:12 pm Reply with quote
I thought the characters would develop at least a little. it reminded me of Beet the vandel Buster in modern times. But the last few episodes, they really suspended disbelief to the snapping point, and that cop-out ending- no. Weak.
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everydaygamer



Joined: 10 Jul 2009
Posts: 928
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 4:39 pm Reply with quote
it was a decent ending. I'd feel better about it if i thought it was getting a second season since there was alot of stuff left unresolved.
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Spastic Minnow
Bargain Hunter
Exempt from Grammar Rules


Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 4595
Location: Gainesville, FL
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 9:04 pm Reply with quote
The enigmatic line delivered by Aki's mom that may hint why spoiler[Mirai-chan came back....

"Akihito and Mirai-chan aren't you typical Youmu and Spirit World Warrior."]


This is just part of a light novel, series, right? It makes sense that there's more to be learned.
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Melanchthon



Joined: 02 Oct 2010
Posts: 550
Location: Northwest from Here
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 9:32 pm Reply with quote
Kyoukai no Kanata: A brief reaction

First, what it does right: very pretty animation, very moe. I also loved the OP song.
However, the plot is a complete mess. Starting with the conflicts:
Conflict 1: The courtship of Mirai. While resolved in the end, the utter lack of chemistry and actual romantic elements leaves this is a very shallow and hollow development. Basically, it's a girl will no self-esteem falling for a creeper just because he's the only in her life that pays her any attention.
Conflict 2: Mirai vs Sakura. Resolved, although weakly, lacking any really emotional catharsis. Also how does some go from 'I'm going to kill you' to 'I'm going to live with you' in a matter of minutes?
Conflict 3: Nase family vs secret society. Resolved I guess. This apparently was supposed to be a major plot point, but they spent almost no time on developing it or even introducing the main players. Plus in the end it was irrelevant to the main conflict.
Conflict 4: Akkey and Mirai vs Beyond the Boundary. The titular conflict, although it really wasn't that important and served more as a MacGuffin than anything else. Rather anticlimactic.

Okay, those four conflicts comprised the majority of the show, yet none of them were well developed or executed. One gets the feeling that this was a case of someone aping their betters, reproducing the parts of successful shows, but not aware on how to assemble those parts into a coherent whole.

Now, characterization. Pop quiz, describe Akkey's personality. ... Good luck, because he doesn't have one. Akkey's sole character point is that he has a fetish for glasses. That's all there is to him. Mirai isn't much better, although she has a couple of weird mannerisms. However, mannerisms don't make a personality. So, the attempts to foster a romance between the two are a disaster, because there is absolutely no chemistry there. And how could there be, when there is no personality to build off of. The other guy friend is much the same, composed entirely from a fetish, while his sister at least has sarcasm to define her.

Overall, I give a C+ (6.0/10). Not a show I will put any money on.
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everydaygamer



Joined: 10 Jul 2009
Posts: 928
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 10:51 pm Reply with quote
I shall remember this show as that decent show people hated for some reason. I never understood the hate (which is weird considering how people went into great detail on why they hate it) but at least the discussions were always worth a laugh (not saying people's opinions aren't valid just saying as someone who didn't care enough to weigh in one way or the other it was just amusing to read).
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 1:11 am Reply with quote
Episode 12 (final)

So the climax of the series was very strong, so much so I might say that it at times had the intensity of a movie. The action was top notch.

And for chemistry between them, come on they had it by now. The more I think about it the more I realize that Akihito always talking about glasses may have been his way of giving a reason for people hating him, a reason that was not just because of what he was. As he mentioned in the episode, he is actually rather insecure, jealous etc, he hid those feelings and tried to act goofy. Mirai, she also harboured many such feelings, very lonely, but Akihito accepted her for who she was, and was never turned away when she did or acted unpleasantly. I have to mention a small part that made me happy, which was when there was the little touch of making Mirai's spoiler[ears blush when he said that life without her would be pointless]. So cute.

I wanted Mirai to spoiler[come back, the two are pretty much a couple and it would be too sad to end the way it did], although it was a little abrupt and unexplained. Although Akihito's mother did say they spoiler[are special somehow], Mirai did become a spoiler[part of Beyond the Boundary], which became spoiler[a part of Akihito, and he was holding her ring which might have in a sense been like a core to her]. I would even hazard a guess that an explanation would take another season to explain, it is not like it was as bad as a certain anime about a ghost.

Also Akihito's mother, again not in much but she is great for what she is in. Actually pushed Sakura to kick her, although I was not expecting spoiler[Izumi to go as far as trying to kill her.] I think she is great to watch, and her childish actions seem to be a purposeful rebellion against the negative actions of "adults".

I did not think about the irony of Akihito's interest in glasses until I just remembered this episode that Kyon said the opposite, a big part of the Nagato/Kyon interaction. And I kind of see some resemblance between Mirai and a certain anime movie character. Sadly KyoAni will not be doing the spinoff with someone else on it.

Overall, it started a little muddied with poor moe jokes, but Mirai really grew through the series until she became as strong as she was in the finale (not just physical strength). All the characters really grew and were mostly enjoyable, and I would really like to see more of Hiromi, Sakura, Mitsuki, Mirai, Akihito, and Ai..... and Akihito's mother. The animation was good, action could be good with little details added in, OP and ED were good, designs of characters and monsters good and was funny with some moderate feels. I grant my rating of Very Good, don't miss it because it gets better. Well unless you are the type to not let things go and somehow think KyoAni against your tastes because they are an evil company that love Free fans.
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Galap
Moderator


Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 2354
PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:30 am Reply with quote
Ok. This show...

It really had Holy Shit level animation. It's one of my favorite anime from a visual perspective. Animation was incredible, both in high energy scenes and low key character acting, and storyboarding and shot composition were incredible. The setting was moderately interesting, too, as was Mirai's blood magic.

But damn, do you have to look Beyond the Bullshit to appreciate that. The show's sense of humor never really got to me: the repeated glasses and fuyukai desu jokes really just fell flat.

In the end, spoiler[The whole dance of "I died, then you died to save me, then I died to save you, then I'm not really dead, but you're dead, but wait I can sacrifice myself to save you, etc." ending in a moment of bullshit where no one ends up dead anyway and everything's back where it started made the whole story the epitome of 'complicated but not interesting', since the events seemed pretty contrived, and they never really went into the why and wherefore of it all.]
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danilo07



Joined: 25 Dec 2011
Posts: 1580
PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 3:45 pm Reply with quote
So I watched the last episode,and these are overall impressions of the series.
Good things in this show:
1)Awesome animation and directing,this goes along with every single technical aspect.
2)When the show was trying to be series,it had some pretty good music.
3)I like that one episode,you know the one with the the festival...
Bad things in this show:
1)Crappy world building,you know you are having a problem when you are creating rules and exceptions to those rules throughout the entire show.
2)Crappy villain with even crappier motivation,he just wants to see THE WORLD BURN!!!How delightful.
3)Horrible dialogue,if I hear "How unpleasant" one more time I am going to kill my dog.Seriously writers,repetitive isn't synonym for hilarious.
4)Generally uninteresting characters,by the end of the show I didn't give one ounce of f**k about any of them.In fact I found them to be irritating and wanted them to suffer some horrible fate.
If there was one experience that I got from this show it's that this "completionist" attitude I have is bad for me and that I should get rid of it.
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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:17 pm Reply with quote
Based solely on the anime experience, this was an average series, and it is not as horrible as certain people would like to make it out to be.

It still feels like something is missing and I don't know if it is an adaptation issue or if it is accurate to what has occurred in the source LN so far and as such it is the weak source material that is to be blamed in this case.

As I said before, the real problem with KnK is that it's content and themes are hardly unique and there are several other series where if you want "fighting cuties with magical powers" or some other form of contemporal fantasy there is no shortage of such series.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23667
PostPosted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 9:54 pm Reply with quote
I liked this show a lot as I've already indicated. Rate it Very Good. I thought the leads had a ton of chemistry and I rooted for them all the way. I admit the finale episode left me a little "meh." I'm one of those people who is generally impatient for the battle portion of any given episode to be over so we can get to the stuff that I actually care about. There wasn't anything about the final battle that particularly gripped me except waiting to see how everything would shake out.
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CrowLia



Joined: 24 Feb 2012
Posts: 5500
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 5:55 am Reply with quote
In a completely unexpected turn of events (no kidding) I agree with Blood-. I too rated the series Very Good, because, even if it left many loose ends and plot points unsolved, the characters were fantastic, I loved the main 4 and found their relationships and dialogues to be fun and endearing. Although the ending did feel like a cop-out, but since the chances for a S2 seem to be slim I prefer it ended like that leaving a warm and happy feeling behind. I enjoyed it overall and it looked seriously gorgeous
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