(L+CR) Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary)

[Birdway]

^
Just your average shonen hero character.

[ZODDGUTS]

Show continues to be average other than the animation.

[Kanon]

Mirai's backstory was as typical as it gets. Only survivor of her clan who got taken in by another family and was treated like shit except by one person... yup, seen it before. Same for the "I killed my possessed best friend, I'm a terrible person". Did they already tell us how Mirai's clan was annihilated? If not, I'm going to guess they were killed by the family who took her in (+ other spirit warriors).

Originally Posted by MartianMage

Sooo... after Akihito and Mirai finished their word war Mirai trudged along and ninja'd a ride on a truck to meet the big bad youmu in some deep remote area where she got ambushed by some random character out for Mirai's blood then big bad youmu used it's funky powers to change the landscape into some yellow abondoned ruins all this time Akihito went home(?) to cook his dinner and was swearing at his microwave oven... then we have Mirai getting her ass handed to her by this angry chainsaw chick then suddenly Akihito tackled her and saved Mirai calling her an idiot!

What?

Seriously, what was up with that? That was plain bad. I understand they were trying to heighten the sense of danger by making the viewers believe Akihito would not be able to save her, but they made it impossible for him to get there on time unless it's revealed next week that he can travel as fast as the Flash.

Originally Posted by Shinhwa

Mitsuki vs Mirai

who wins more in moeness? o3o

Neither are moe. The show is trying to make Mirai as moe as it can, but it's failing pretty hard. Mitsuki is supposed to be sexy, and it's a success there.

[darkchibi07]

While it may seem early, do you guys have a good sense of how Taichi Ishidate is as a director? With the way you guys are still being iffy about it, I'm getting a feeling he's not doing a satisfactory job. Granted it is his first time though even the first-time directors for K-ON and Free found success. Still think he can still improve as a director or should have let someone else do it?

[Kanon]

I have no idea if he can improve, but I definitely think a more experienced director could have made this better. I think the main problem lies with the source material though, but it's not like I can compare.

[Kirarakim]

Well first of all I'll give credit where its due and say they did bring up the problem I had last week which had Mirai be the one who approached Akihito and then later on wanted to avoid him

I thought the 2nd half was definitely better than the first when they were done making lame jokes. However the main reason I am still watching this is there is really nothing else to follow on Wednesday.

[DragoonKain3]

I've got only two words for this entire episode... Sakura who?

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

I've got only two words for this entire episode... Sakura who?

This. Are we supposed to know who Sakura is other than some random person introduced to guilt trip Mirai even further for killing her friend?

[Kirarakim]

^ I assume we will find out who Sakura is in the next episode. I just didn't like how someone Mirai knew just suddenly & conveniently showed up after discussing her past (well I also assume Sakura is related to that flashback we saw)

[Dark Faith]

So after all those constant awful gags and attempts to make us think the girls are moe...we're now being told that we should feel bad for Mirai due to her tragic past?

I'm sorry, but that flashback was so awful that I couldn't help but to laugh when Yui was possessed by the ghost of plot progression out of nowhere.
But as if her sad story wasn't enough, we now meet Sakura who's on a quest to guilt trip Mirai for killing their friend who was possessed and arguably no longer human. Because no one's seen that plot before (including the part where the MC's likely to be possessed later on and saved, because the girl needs her atonement dammit).

Akihito apparently has the gift of teleporting, too. How convenient.

*Sigh* Mirai also can't bring herself to kill (or fight on an efficient level...) your run of the mill youmu...but she goes after the baddest one in town.

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Dark Faith

Because no one's seen that plot before (including the part where the MC's likely to be possessed later on and saved, because the girl needs her atonement dammit).

Actually, I think he's more likely to be possessed and stabbed through the heart, which will only mildly inconvenience him, but which will succeed in killing the shadow. Or something along those lines.

[Requiem-x]

So, three episodes in, I can say this.

-Mirai is annoying, though could be worse
-Akihito sure could use a flashback of his own, and play down the fetish (Whatever Araragi does to make his' awesome/hilarious, Akkey isn't doing it)
-The comedy is hit and miss
-The action is great
-The music is ok, but nothing spectacular (enjoyed both Hyoka OPs and EDs a hell of a lot more)
-Mutsuki is the sexiest thing kyoani has put out in a loooooong time (my apologies to all Rikka fans)

And while I definetly enjoy having an avenger wielding a weapon that might as well be called Mirai Killer, that introduction... no, actually there was no introduction, what the hell, Kyoani? This also applies to Akkey's teleportation powers.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by FredFriendly

Akihito must have embedded a GPS on Mirai, and must also have some type of phenomenal tele-portation device.

Good idea. Maybe he's getting help from the girls in Galilei Donna.

What right does he have to meddle in her affairs, especially after she has asked him not to. And don't give me that "because she used him as a pincushion" reason. He's a stalker, as well as being a pervert. I liked his character enough in the first episode, but he's turned into a very annoyingly persistent "I'm Right and You're Wrong" character.

He might be a pervert, but he's so mild compared to his over-the-top siscon friend (who also gets off on feeling up Akihito's waist/rib-cage) that I don't really care. And I agree with Random Wanderer that Mirai needs help, so I'm fine with Akihito pushing the issue a bit.

But I agree with you on at least one thing here - The "You're Wrong!" bit became pretty bad. Almost farcical. It's one thing for him to say that she's wrong when it's a debatable point, but some of what she said was just simple fact. He still kept going "You're Wrong!". I'm thinking if this same conversation had happened during a clear, sunny day, and she said "The sky is blue", he'd go "You're Wrong!".

It's no wonder Mirai became exasperated with him.

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

Yeah, those are definitely some good questions. Even if the girl is some family member of that girl Mirai was forced to kill in the flashback, just... showing up like this without any previous appearances or foreshadowing or whatever seems... Well, it makes viewers react the way we have: by asking "who the heck is this?"

I'm starting to think that the issues with the action scenes in KnK has more to do with the source material than with KyoAni. I mean, that action scene between Mirai and Sakura really was pretty impressive visually, but its undermined a bit by how we have no reason to care about this new girl with the chainsaw-sword.

I used to think that Dog Days and Nanoha StrikerS were bad for pulling all sorts of flashy combatants completely out of nowhere, and then presenting each one like the most "big deal" fighter since Rocky Balboa, but I'd take that over KyoAni's more understated but equally "out of nowhere" approach.

I was shocked that Akihito went back to microwave his dinner at all. I was thinking "dude, your resolve is that weak?"

I understand where you're coming from here, but I kinda liked the idea of the male lead going against type and just saying "'Eff it" after he made a decent attempt to help the girl. In other words, I liked the idea of Mirai having to get out of this situation without Akihito's help. It would probably be the first time this anime dared to go against a well-worn anime cliche/trope.

But I agree with you that if you're going to have Akihito recuse Mirai, then cut out the microwave scene. It then serves no purpose. We already know Akihito is severely frustrated with her.

[darkchibi07]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I have no idea if he can improve, but I definitely think a more experienced director could have made this better. I think the main problem lies with the source material though, but it's not like I can compare.

I've heard there has been some original material added as well.

But man, I'm going to feel sorry for Ishidate if his debut series ended up being underwhelming especially in comparison to Yamada's and Utsumi's debut which will be outright embarrassing on his part.

[teja208]

I not really a big fan of action scenes. I guess a lot of people already covered that department. What I care more is the characters and their dynamics, and I felt that KnK doesn't deliver a satisfactory results for me at least.

I'm not sure how to put it, I felt that the problem for me has more to do with how the characters were presented rather then the character themselves. Generally speaking, on paper I find both MCs somewhat interesting but somehow feels off regarding the the manner they were introduced and how their backstory were unfold in this anime that made me don't really feel like I want to care much for any of them in particular.

I also felt too much things were happening in span of 3 episodes. I think this series will come off better if it took more time to building the world, characters, and tensions before serious actions and family dramas starts picking up.

[Shadow5YA]

Images

real subtle, KyoAni

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[Master_Yoma]

The sexiness of glasses in this and Mitsuki look so good in them

[Reincarnated]

Let's just drop the anime and read the light novel, shall we?

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Reincarnated

Let's just drop the anime and read the light novel, shall we?

I couldn't recommend it. I've tried reading some of the translated light novel. The anime seems to be a better experience.

[rulfo]

Ok I enjoyed this ep. It's getting progressively better in my eyes. I've given up on picking on some of the problems that have still reoccurred but again the only iffy moment I have again is the end.

The pacing was a lot better than before but the problem is that it was too rushed in the end. I felt that they should have at least gave Sakura some background. I mean if I didn't read the info in the site I'd be asking "Who the fuck is Sakura?" It felt like just a random name drop.

Also the preview was kinda like well... Dead giveaway... I know you could easily deduce where it's going but at least keep that highlight a secret. But I'm surprised they didn't keep a certain situation in tact. It would have given them leverage for a tense moment.