Why Kyoukai No Kanata is Not Worth Watching

Welcome again to another assessment of another anime title, Kyoukai No Kanata! Time is the currency of life. One must not waste his time on trivial things. Like watching anime. However, once in a while, we will be tempted to watch this satanic form of entertainment. So....

Once again, Rowen Rivahein, your Time Investment Advisor, is here at your service. He will explain why Kyoukai No Kanata is an anime which is not worth your time.

Before we begin, do take note that I have not read the light novels, so the review is purely from the perspective on an Anime-only viewer. So, die-hard fans, don't just jump at me before you read this disclaimer.

Investment

Voice Actor Table

Fuyukai Desu!

— Annoying Megane Girl

Annoying Female Lead

I know there are many people who find Mirai Kuriyama to be a cute character with those spectacles. There are people who simply love it every time when she says, "Fuyukai Desu!". Translated, it means "How unpleasant!". I apologize, but the only thing that is unpleasant is Mirai repeating the phrase throughout the show.

So to anyone who is planning to watch this anime, be warned. You'll be hearing that phrase for 12823233223 times throughout the anime. While it may not be distracting for some, the whole moe stuff will really affect those casual anime viewers.

Terrible Story

This is probably one of the major reasons why Kyoukai No Kanata was horrible, aside from the crappy characters. The setting is typical, with your average high school boy (Akihito Kanbara) (who is not so average as you get further into the story) meeting some girl (Mirai) at a rooftop of a school. Guy is infatuated with girl at first sight and then girl stabs him out of nowhere. The premise is not interesting.

The whole story takes a turn for the worse, especially at the end, where there are many unanswered questions and also, many plot holes in the story. This is probably due to the poor characters, as I will explain later. Conflicts between the various characters are resolved quickly without any proper explanation or confrontation.

Story is obviously an important aspect of any anime. With a poor premise and plot, the story would collapse. A series with terrible story would be unmemorable to its viewers. No amount of good animation can save a series with a terrible story.

Poor Execution of Comedy

Comedy is great. I love it. Many people love comedic moments, even in a serious anime. If presented and delivered correctly, it will be able to make a series lively even with its serious tone. However, Kyoukai No Kanata miserably failed in this aspect.

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Typical Character Designs

Characters are an important part to an anime series. Good characters can really help to develop a story to its full potential. This includes their character designs. Having good character designs can make the character memorable to the viewer. However, the character designs of Kyoukai No Kanata are very typical. Seriously, I can name a lot of characters who look like the Nase family.

The only people who will probably be attracted to the designs are either those hardcore otaku anime fans who probably can name every single bespectacled kawaii anime character since the dawn of anime. No offense, otakus.

Forgettable Characters

Thanks to the character designs, majority of the characters are forgettable. To make things worse, their personalities are typical and bland too. Mitsuki Nase is just another Senjougahara clone. Then you have her brother Hiroomi who apparently is into incest. The main character is your typical high school boy who is cursed (or blessed, depending on the way you see it) with immortality.

Also, the interaction between the characters proved to be the nail in the coffin. The four main characters hardly interact with each other (save for Mirai and Akihito) except when teasing each other or sharing with each other their weird fetishes and fantasies. The depth of interaction between the characters is non existent as a result of that. With poor character dynamics, this makes it harder to justify conflict resolution.

As a result of typical character designs, personality and the lack of interaction, what you get is a bunch of forgettable 2D beings.

The only exception is Mirai Kuriyama, who is memorable for her annoying phrase. And that is not a good thing.

Redeeming Factor

Honestly, if there is one redeeming factor in this whole cesspool, I think the fight scenes are decent. There are quite a lot of fight scenes in the series, and I must say, I am very impressed with the animation of the fights. The fights are very smooth and is very eye pleasing to watch.

However, let's be honest. Unless you are an actionophile who watches anime just for the action scenes, one is better off watching anime with good story, good characters and of course, good action.

Opening and Ending Songs

Conclusion

To be honest, I never had high expectations for this anime to begin with. Yet, I am still disappointed with this anime. As your time management adviser, I would DEFINITELY NOT recommend you this anime.

I wanted to give this anime 0 stars, but unfortunately there is no mechanism in Hubpages which can grant me that.

Ratings Table

Overall Rating

Kyoukai No Kanata PV

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