Kyokai no Kanata - First Impressions

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You know an anime is going to be interesting when the main character gets stabbed through the chest in the opening scene of the first episode.

Kyokai no Kanata promises to be a decent mix of slice-of-life and dark fantasy.  There’s a decent amount of action in this first episode alone, which sets a good balance for the rest of the season.  While the action is mostly focused on the main character and second-year high school student Akihito running (somewhat comically) from first-year Mirai Kuriyama throughout the episode, the end of the episode promises much more action to come.  And the main characters of this anime are anything but normal, despite how ordinary they look.

Here’s a rundown of the main characters so far.  Akihito Kanbara is half human, half youmu, the combination of which apparently makes him immortal.  We have yet to find out specifics about his past or his family.  Mirai Kuriyama is a Spirit World Warrior, the last of her clan that can manipulate blood.  Mitsuki Nase is a member of the family that has jurisdiction of the Spirit World Warriors in their home district (although we don’t really know much about what exactly this means yet).

It seems that Mirai poses a threat to other Spirit World Warriors because the ability to manipulate blood is a powerful one.  While it’s not completely clear yet why this is so threatening to other SWWs, this seems to be a foundational plot point, so we can definitely expect to receive further explanations as the anime progresses.  On top of that, I’m sure we’ll get further backstory for both Akihito and Mirai, the two main characters.  It will especially be interesting to find out more about Akihito’s background.

Kyoto Animation is quickly becoming one of my favorite anime studios.  Up until the past couple seasons, my opinion of KyoAni has been tainted by the complete absurdity of Lucky Star (which I wasn’t a big fan of) and the depression induced by Kanon and Clannad.  I admit I haven’t really watched much from KyoAni in the past few years until Free! aired last season.  Between Free! last season and Kyokai no Kanata this season, my opinion of KyoAni is definitely changing for the better.

Kyokai no Kanata OP

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Kyokai no Kanata ED

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Kyokai no Katana Episode 2 Preview

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