3ET: Kyoukai no Kanata

"I did not consent to be penetrated like this."

Studio: Kyoto Animation

Director: Ishidate Taichi

Writer: Hanada Jukki (Steins;Gate, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!)

Main Cast:

KENN as Kanbara Akihito

Taneda Risa as Kuriyama Mirai

Chihaya Minori as Nase Mitsuki

Suzuki Tatsuhisa as Nase Hiromi

Character Design: Kadowaki Miku

Music: Itou Masumi (Red Data Girl)

If I'm being honest, I could forgive people for skipping over Kyoukai no Kanata. It's yet another dark fantasy set in a high school with the practically trademarked adorable KyoAni character designs. The main characters are in a school club with barely any members. The main girl is clumsy. I get it, we've all seen this stuff before So, the real question is can the staff distinguish this show from the glut of anime with similar tropes and concepts. And that's why I watch, to find out if they can.

One way that Kyoukai no Kanata distinguishes itself is the high quality of the art. First, the designs of the monsters, or youmu as they're called in the show, are varied and pretty. There are cat-like youmu, a youmu that possesses a bunch of carpeting tape to fight the main characters, a youmu that is giant cloud of blackness and death, and everything in between. And they move beautifully. The fight scenes are also great and work well to convince the audience of fluid movement in the battles between between the human characters and youmu. A lot of money had to be spent on these scenes, and it shows.

Really KyoAni? Another fucking Literature Club?

As for the actual plot and characters, it's more of a mixed bag, but I think it works more often than not. The two leading characters do, at the very least. Akihito is a half-human, half-youmu high school student who meets Mirai, the last member of a clan who fashion their blood into weapons to hunt youmu (and yes, this looks pretty damn cool in the show). In their first meeting, Mirai stabs Akihito, which he shrugs off since he's immortal due to his youmu heritage. Their relationship becomes more friendly as the first three episodes go on, with Akihito convincing Mirai to stop stabbing him. We also get more of Mirai's backstory, which explains why she is so awkward and melancholy, as well as her fervent hatred for youmu. It's definitely a work in progress, but that's fine after three episodes.

I think what pleasantly surprised me was how things that usually piss me off either didn't or only slightly annoyed me. The example I'll use is Akihito's childhood friend, Mitsuki, who takes every opportunity to berate Akihito, and her brother Hiromi, for being perverts. Usually, this feels as stale as two month old bread as soon as I see it, but the gimmick was much less obnoxious this time. This is probably because Akihito has an admitted glasses fetish (I'll note that Mirai wears glasses, and that Akihito is not creepy about this) and Hiromi is a bit of a siscon. So there is something there to harass the boys, as opposed to the usual anime trope of the guy getting called a pervert for doing absolutely nothing. Also, instead of the usual hyperbolic screeching voice, Mitsuki's delivery is more deadpan and natural. It's teasing and fun, not accusatory and psychotic. In short, it's a competent way of doing something that is usually done poorly.

Carpet tape. It's more dangerous than you think.

In fact, I think competent is a great way to describe Kyoukai no Kanata as a whole. It's not a great show by any means, but I like the characters, the world is well-put together, and it looks nice. The third episode ends on a cliffhanger and I genuinely want to know what happens next, and I want to get to know some of the side characters more. So, yeah, I'm going to pass this show.