KYOUKAI NO KANATA
STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
12
RELEASE
December 18, 2013
LENGTH
24 min
DESCRIPTION
They should never have met. They shouldn't even exist. But when they come together, the entire world will change. The last surviving member of her clan, Mirai Kuriyama is cursed with the terrifying ability to control and manipulate blood, a power so heretical that she is shunned even by those with the ability to understand her "gift". Akihito Kanbara is only half human, but while the monstrous other half of his lineage seems to have doomed him to a life alone, it has also given him near invulnerability in the form of rapid healing. Alone, their futures seem bleak, but when a chance encounter brings them together, it becomes clear that they share more than just an unexpected bond. Together they share a destiny and a mission that only the two of them together may be strong enough to survive.
(Source: Sentai Filmworks)
CAST
Mirai Kuriyama
Risa Taneda
Akihito Kanbara
KENN
Mitsuki Nase
Minori Chihara
Hiroomi Nase
Tatsuhisa Suzuki
Ai Shindou
Yuri Yamaoka
Izumi Nase
Ayako Kawasumi
Sakura Inami
Moe Toyota
Ayaka Shindou
Naomi Shindou
Yayoi Kanbara
Hiromi Konno
Shizuku Ninomiya
Akeno Watanabe
Yui Inami
Sayuri Yahagi
Miroku Fujima
Masaya Matsukaze
Yakiimo
EPISODES
Dubbed
Not available on Crunchyroll
RELATED TO KYOUKAI NO KANATA
NOVEL FantasyKyoukai no Kanata
SPECIAL Slice of LifeKyoukai no Kanata: Mini Gekijou
REVIEWS
OwlsAreAirCats
Wasted potential, but great animationContinue on AniListThe setting of Beyound the Boundary is really simple: There are monsters and guys that kill monsters. The comedy is created from the character traits of the cast: The protagonist really, really likes girls with glasses, the girl who tries to kill him is a shy girl with glasses. The best friend of the protagonist is really, really obsessed with his little sister, so they fantasize together about the little sister and what she would look like with glasses. This style of comedy is very simple, but at least not terrible. Beyond the boundary manages to at least write comedy that makes sense from what we know about the characters, for example when the poor girl with glasses sells pictures of her to a anonymous buyer with the initials of the protagonist.
But the comedy is not the main focus of the story. After episode 6, an episode that only consists of the friends fighting a monster that can be distracted by scantily dressed, singing girls, the story begins to speed up, but also gets worse to the end. That is the biggest problem of the show, it's not a bad show, but it is wasting its potential. The ending has a long emotional buildup, only to destroy the point of the whole fight and story in the last thirty seconds.
The characters are characters written for comedy. They have one or two defining character traits and have only little character development. We learn about their backstories and their motivations, but they never become really complex characters. That being said, the love for glasses of the protagonist is a funny idea, it's different to the normal love for little sisters or other questionalble likings, not that they don't exist in this show. The good thing about the characters is that they all are connected, no character is there for no real reason.
One of the biggest selling points is certainly the amazing animation, the fighting scenes are fluid and nice to watch. It´s always nice if a bloodsword doesn´t look like a bloodsword, but like a sword made of strange dirt.
Sure, good animation alone can't save an otherwise bad show, but Beyond the Boundary is not a bad show, it's better than most shows I watched. It's just sad that there is so much wasted potential.
Random17
Essentially, the "Darling in the Franxx" of KyoAni.Continue on AniListKyoAni has always been a studio that produces absolutely amazing slice of life anime. When I watch a KyoAni anime, I know to expect great art and cute, endearing characters, but I keep my expectations for plot progression low. It's not that the studio can't produce anime with good plot, they have, but most of the time, the plot only exists to maximally capitalize on the cuteness and the character interactions in the story.
When I started Kyoukai no Kanata, it initially hooked me into its plot. It seemed like a show that had a lot of potential for heavy world-building and rich story development. I was hoping this would be an exception to my aforementioned pattern. As I continued watching, it became readily apparent that it was more of a tug-of-rope between a deep and meaningful story and lame cliches that cater to the most common denominator.
This had to be the most un-KyoAni KyoAni anime I have watched, in multiple ways. I really disliked how it had just really strange characterization, with overly unneccesary focus on how much Akihito liked girls with glasses and how Hiro'omi had a thing for his younger sister. Both of these things would often be brought up at inconvenient times, ruining the mood, and then be nailed in further as if the writers wanted those to be the characters' defining and only personality traits. There were also numerous whole episodes seemingly written just for some piece of fan service, such as the episode with the dance choreography, or the one that had Mirai take fanservicey pictures.
On the other hand, it had a--generally--pretty great plot. I could sense some moments of brilliance, real complexity and depth, intense build-up, that contrasts with the typical slow-going laid back nature of most KyoAni works, something similar to the likes of Haruhi Suzumiya. Unfortunately, it kind of fell apart at the end, where it felt like the writers just gave up trying to make a fitting ending and decided to just go with the most impact they could. It was way too rushed, and it could have used an entire second season just for those last episodes along with fleshing out the world more. Nevertheless, it was an emotional story all the way to the end and something that I still enjoyed watching greatly.
Of course, even as the work that is least characteristic of KyoAni, it is still easy to tell that it is one of their anime: beautiful animation during both slice-of-life moments and intense action, a delicate and masterful treatment of the nuanced emotions of the characters, and great music. KyoAni could make an anime with a completely trash story and these qualities would still be present.
All in all, this was a show that still nailed the parts that the studio is known for, had a good plot with an unfortunately rushed ending, had unnecessary fan service, but was still very much enjoyable. Basically, the Darling in the Franxx of KyoAni.
Viosuna
Haven't clicked my review yet? How unpleasant!Continue on AniListName: Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary)
Aired: 2013.10.02 ~ 2013.12.18
Watched: 2020.08.16 ~ 2020.08.22
Origin: Novel
Studio: KyoaniCute girl in glasses and the catch phrase Fuyukai Desu! (How unpleasant!) What more do you need?
Animation: 8/10
Animation of Kyoukai no Kanata definately felt "alive" and did not bore the viewer. Definately had some wow-factors here and there but it did not transcend it's time and was a decently good animation for it's time. However, loved the consistency in the art-style, and the quality of the animation was upheld throughout the series.Music: 7/10
The music/OST I have to say was a weak-link for the series. It wasn't memorable or anything with eargasm factor. UNTIL, the last episodes of Mirai and Akihito. Kyoani definitely saved their best songs for later. The placement and appropriateness of the OST for the last episodes were a solid 9/10; however, rest of the series brings the overall score down to a 7/10.Plot: 8.5/10
For a 12 episode series, the plot seemed reasonable. There were many solid ideas that this series could have taken and expanded on; however, being limited to a 12 episode series, I have to say the studio did a good enough job at world building and delivering necessary information to viewers. The main plot penetrating the entire series was explained just enough, for viewers to keep up with what's going on, but could have done a slightly better job with it since near the end of the series with all the "different" time period and "zones" and what not going on with explain as you go type of business, I am almost certain that some of the viewers would be completely lost to what's going on. The ending wasn't explained clearly and was put to a "forced happy ending, without proper explanation and it's for the viewers to interpret how that happy ending came to be.
One thing that I must mention and heavily compliment is episode 6 "Shocking Pink", is probably one of the best "filler"-ish episode that I have seen (Filler-ish because it doesn't have any direct impact on the main plot and it's just a side story, character building at most). The amount of effort that the studio put into this filler-ish episode definitely deserved a standing ovation. A good comparison would be the "Chika Dance" from Love is War ep3, ending credit song, but a whole episode dedicated in to creating that final piece of the dance.Reviewer's interpretation of the ending: In the scene where Izumi and Akihito are talking about "Beyond the Boundary" and "Mirai" near the end of the series at a park. Izumi mentions how beyond the boundary comes every "certain period" of time and it's a manifestation of human emotions and Blood-clan (Mirai) is the only one that can defeat beyond the boundary. Izumi also goes on to explain how the world tries to balance itself. Given these two facts, although, Mirai is believed to be "dead", no one really saw her vanishing, she was assumed to have perished along with beyond the boundary given suttle hints left at the scene. However, we later learn that she was transported to another dimension and was fighting the boundary for a lengthy period of time. Much later, Akihito consumes the boundary once again and Mirai disappears because she was only able to take physical form in this "other dimension" and with boundary consumed by Akihito, the dimension disappeared, hence Mirai disappears too. NOW, going back to what Izumi said, beyond the boundary can only be defeated by blood clan, and the world tries to balance itself. Beyond the boundary is still much alive inside Akihito's body and to balance that, the world needs a blood clan (since Mirai was the last survivor of the Blood clan) and Akihito having somewhat of control over the boundary (this is debatable), his unconscious will to bring Mirai back + the world trying to balance itself gave form to Mirai again. This is my take on the ending, however, the ending given by the studio seems very open ended so this is not a 100% solid answer to the ending, just an interpretation.
Character: 9/10
Kyoukai no Kanata has characters with very interesting personalities in a positive way, and also memorable. After completing this anime, the first female character that comes to my mind when I think about "glasses" is definitely Mirai Kuriyama. The emphasis on "glasses" this anime has is "beyond the boundary" Loved the chemistry between characters such as Hiroomi and Mitsuki, and their siscom/tsundere moments, the pervert alliance of Hiroomi and Akihito was also a scene that I looked forward to. However, the chemistry between Mirai and Akihito was the driving force of this anime and where the whole plot revolves around. Overall, very interesting and memorable characters.Personal Enjoyment: 9/10
Took less than a week to finish (I know it's not impressive to finish a 12 episode series in a span of a week); however, I am currently VERY busy with IRL stuff while I was watching this and that was as much as I could fit in during my time available. The characters, were for sure memorable and charming. Mirai's catch phrase Fuyukai Desu! certainly was as impactful as Eru's "Ki ni Narimasu! (I am curious!) from Hyouka. There is not much I can write about personal enjoyment since it's my own perception of the anime and my own interest I suppose.Overall: 83/100
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SCORE
- (3.7/5)
TRAILER
MORE INFO
Ended inDecember 18, 2013
Main Studio Kyoto Animation
Trending Level 1
Favorited by 5,197 Users
Hashtag #KYO_KAI