Thursday, October 3, 2013
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| A character with a megane-fetish?! I thought the day'd never come. This will be interesting. |
Kyoukai no Kanata started off with "suicide" and a hauntingly beautiful melody.
Suicide...According to the dictionary, it is defined as, "The act of taking one's own life." I suspect I'll go through life without ever attempting to commit suicide. Not because of any moral standard, but as the result of a far more fundamental reason.
Kanbara Akihito witnesses a new student attempting to commit suicide and rushes up to the roof, choosing to go down the path in which "the protagonist actively participate in the story and aids in its progression".
At any rate, someone who looks as good in glasses as you do...simply should not die! In short, I love glasses!"How unpleasant."
The girl flies gracefully over the fence and rolls over to a stop at Akihito - holding a red blade. And then she stabs him right through the heart?! My mind just went asdfghjklwhatomgwhathappened.
The girl states almost apologetically that she was too much for him, and to her surprise, Kanbara looks up, face contorted in pain. And freaking asks her to do something about the blade as the pool of red spreads over his shirt.
And that was how I met Kuriyama Mirai.
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That's what I should be asking you...
（；¬＿¬) and that's what I should be asking the two of you.
And all the while that this was going on, music that you would perhaps expect in an English movie about a boy with magical powers in the beginning played in the background, somehow emphasising the fact that this anime is a slice-of-life. It sounded strangely familiar and somehow added to the atmosphere of the scene. I am thrilled that KENN is voicing Akihito (Dino of KHR and Hibito of Uchuu Kyoudai).
After this the opening, "Kyoukai no Kanata" by Minori Chihara played and it was all right. I tend to feel more hyped when I'm trying an older anime if the opening appeals to me. What kept me watching the opening was the amazing animation that you would expect from KyoAni. And well, the opening never fails to reveal all the characters who will be playing a part in the anime.
My main OTP (already) - they'll be an interesting combination, I predict
I thought they'd be my secondary OTP but then I realised that they were siblings *cries in corner*
well, incest is always a possibility
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The secondary characters
This place probably has something to do with Mirai-chan and her childhood, basically, very important
I'm very curious as to what these two flowers represent.
Moving onto the episode itself. Strangely enough, I thought of Hyouka a few seconds after I started this. Perhaps it's because of the fact that it is set in a highschool club setting but sadly, I dropped Hyouka after the third episode.
The title of this episode is Carmine. Interestingly enough, carmine is a vivid crimson colour, the colour of dried blood.
Akihito is in the Literary Club, and here, we find him interacting with Nase Mitsuki, screening through literary works for their anthology. Mitsuki is somewhat cynical, and seems to take pleasure in teasing Akihito. They hear a noise from outside and the latter goes out to see if it's Kuriyama Mirai. After her fail attempts to conceal herself, he tells her to stop already. As if he's talking about the weather, he tells her to stop trying to kill him because apparently, as he's told her before, he's immortal. I cannot even. Mirai-chan has stabbed him enough times a week since their first meeting to count using both her hands.
We find out from their conversation Akihito is half-youmu, a rare entity born between a human and a youmu. I assume a youmu is a creature. We also find out that Mirai-chan is an open book and adorable, plus a first year and a Spirit World Warrior while Akihito is a third year. After a humiliating trip, Mirai-chan leaves and Akihito goes back to the club room. Mitsuki is not in the dark - in fact, she is aware of Akihito's immortality and the fact that Mirai-chan's been after him the whole week. She's also probably a Spirit World Warrior (though I have no idea what that is). She has her fun teasing the guy and calling him a masochist, at which point she also calls him an unscrupulous pervert.
The title of this episode is Carmine. Interestingly enough, carmine is a vivid crimson colour, the colour of dried blood.
Akihito is in the Literary Club, and here, we find him interacting with Nase Mitsuki, screening through literary works for their anthology. Mitsuki is somewhat cynical, and seems to take pleasure in teasing Akihito. They hear a noise from outside and the latter goes out to see if it's Kuriyama Mirai. After her fail attempts to conceal herself, he tells her to stop already. As if he's talking about the weather, he tells her to stop trying to kill him because apparently, as he's told her before, he's immortal. I cannot even. Mirai-chan has stabbed him enough times a week since their first meeting to count using both her hands.
We find out from their conversation Akihito is half-youmu, a rare entity born between a human and a youmu. I assume a youmu is a creature. We also find out that Mirai-chan is an open book and adorable, plus a first year and a Spirit World Warrior while Akihito is a third year. After a humiliating trip, Mirai-chan leaves and Akihito goes back to the club room. Mitsuki is not in the dark - in fact, she is aware of Akihito's immortality and the fact that Mirai-chan's been after him the whole week. She's also probably a Spirit World Warrior (though I have no idea what that is). She has her fun teasing the guy and calling him a masochist, at which point she also calls him an unscrupulous pervert.
Akihito then wonders about why Mirai-chan is so hooked on killing him, and he comes to a fabulous conclusion with the cutest dork face.
really now. well it's not like my OTP will suffer because of this.
(I'm wondering how many episodes this will be. )
Akihito is staying back late at school when Mirai-chan appears to kill him.
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| asdf the animation |
And Akihito runs - claiming it's a tactical retreat.
riiight.
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| and then she trips over it... |
And while they're arguing it out in a classroom, a youmu makes its epic entrance.
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| i love the animation too much asdf |
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| The youmu. It't not a horror anime - i am glad. |
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| random woman??!! |
Mirai-chan hesitates to attack the youmu and Akihito realises that her hands are trembling. A few seconds later, a random woman rushed in attacks the youmu, kicking it out of the window before following it out. Akihito then tells Mirai-chan that the woman is Ninomiya Shizuku aka Nase-san, a pretty well-known Spirit World Warrior in the area.
I'm assuming Spirit World Warriors are ones who can see youmu and defeat them.
Later on, we see Akihito and Mirai-chan talking about how she has defeated barely any youmu to hide her powers due to the fact her clan was hated for having the ability to control their own blood. As expected, there's more to her and there must be some other reason for her being like this. Lel. She was using him for practice - basically, because she wanted to practice killing youmu and used him for practice.
There's also a few seconds where they flash Nase-san killing off the youmu and there is a strange stone left behind. It's probably an important part of the plot.
The next day, Mitsuki tells Akihito that her family is keeping a close watch on Mirai-chan and that he should stay away from her. She knows, too, that even if she tells him to, he'll continue to get involved with her. Akihito blushes a little (omg that KyoAni trademark blush at the corner of the eye) and he says that it's not like he'll die, he's immortal after all. After which Mitsuki says something very disturbing.
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| it freaked me out - is Mitsuki really on good terms with Akihito and what is their relationship? |
Akihito leaves school in the afternoon with Mirai-chan saying he wants to talk to her and he's curious as to why she's eating her bento where they are instead of at home. He eventually figures out that there's a reason as to why she doesn't want to go back to her apartment yet and comes to a conclusion that there's a youmu - to which Mirai-chan reacts extremely and it's pretty much settled. He says that he will help her to defeat the youmu Mirai-chan stops, saying she's scared. Here, we're treated to a few seconds of flashback - something traumatising perhaps?
Akihito asks her why she doesn't quit being a Spirit World Warrior and she says "If I could quit..." She has tried live a normal life but failed.
Akihito replies softly that he's the same way.
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| ohmahgerd Akihito looks so sad TT__TT this is the sound of my heart breaking |
The two then head to Mirai-chan's apartment and the youmu attacks. We get sneak peeks of the other characters. The episode then ends.
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Finally, Mitsuki's brother will appear and Mitsuki herself really resembles Akiyama Mio.
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| i like the ending song more than the opening >.< |
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The ring Mirai-chan has is bound to be something precious/important plot point and it seems we will be introduced to Mitsuki's brother in the next episode, Ultramarine.
Final Thoughts
Kyoukai no Kanata has effectively hooked me and I'm looking forward to seeing my confusion clear up and I really really hope that this will be a great anime without many loose plotholes and wonderfully fleshed characters. Considering that it's a KyoAni production and that it's based on a light novel, I'm expecting great things from this anime. The premise itself is pretty interesting and the characters have a wide range of personalities.
And that pretty much sums up my thoughts about this episode. Excitedly looking forward to the next episode.
