Supersonic monkeys, vampires, talking fishmen, and all sorts of different supernatural monsters living alongside humans—this has been part of daily life in Hellsalem's Lot, formerly known as New York City, for some time now. When a gateway between Earth and the Beyond opened three years ago, New Yorkers and creatures from the other dimension alike were trapped in an impenetrable bubble and were forced to live together. Libra is a secret organization composed of eccentrics and superhumans, tasked with keeping order in the city and making sure that chaos doesn't spread to the rest of the world. Pursuing photography as a hobby, Leonardo Watch is living a normal life with his parents and sister. But when he obtains the "All-seeing Eyes of the Gods" at the expense of his sister's eyesight, he goes to Hellsalem's Lot in order to help her by finding answers about the mysterious powers he received. He soon runs into Libra, and when Leo unexpectedly joins their ranks, he gets more than what he bargained for. Kekkai Sensen follows Leo's misadventures in the strangest place on Earth with his equally strange comrades—as the ordinary boy unwittingly sees his life take a turn for the extraordinary. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
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For those who have long awaited for a reboot for Trigun... you are going to have to wait a little longer. Until then you can watch Yasuhiro Nightow's other manga get adapted in what I am sure is going to be the best anime of the season that feels like the spiritual successor of Trigun. Kekkai sensen aka Blood Blockade Battlefront. story and character 8/10: the story itself is not very complex. it can be simply put as an organization of super-powered people fighting against disorder in New York which has now turned into supernatural zone between the underworld and the real world that has beenrenamed Jerusalums Lot. What makes the story so good however is the execution. the way it goes about episode by episode is definitely not textbook "Monster of the week" type predictable battles where they have to simply find some weakness that was only apparent to the main character. There really is a lot of variety to this show as there are many important antagonists that shaped the way that Jeruselums lot functions. Its story telling style is a lot like Baccano or Durarara where there isn't really a main character and more of a main cast of characters to tell the story it presents. The characters in the story at the moment have not fully developed at the moment of writing so ill hold off on that till the end of the show. the character designs are unique and well done as are the plethora of background "beyondians". The show uses naming conventions that are similar to Trigun that seem so stupid for characters that they somehow end up being cool and memorable like Zap Renfro or steven starphase. Overall the entire cast is solid. Art and sound : 10/10: The artwork and animation in this show is too impressive to put to words. studio Bones went all out to really capture the setting of new york overrun by supernatural beings with such great detail while also giving all of their effort the extremely well animated and over the top action scenes. this is partly due to the director of Kyousou Giga, Rie Matsumoto using extremely interesting and stylistic camera angle choices and overlays to better convey a scene or simply keeping things interesting even when its simply characters doing some exposition. On the topic of sound I am currently waiting for the whole soundtrack to be released as I haven't heard a ost this good that incorporates jazz music since Kids on the slope. The musical composer Taisei Iwasaki is just starting out with making music for kekkai sensen so he is one to keep an eye out for in the future, the Implementation of the music in the anime is also well done as there are never times when the music feels out of place. there are no complaints on the voice acting however there is a small issue at hand with this series when it comes to audio. This show almost demands an english dub simply because of the setting they are in and that during certain moments of exposition it is almost impossible to keep track of everything all at once in an episode in one go requiring multiple re-watches to get all of it and naturally hearing it in a dubbed version would alleviate this problem. Overall: 9/10: This show has the artistic flair and character writing to shine and each element of the show embodies the theme of what made New York City an ideal melting pot of cultures and ideas from a diverse cast of characters to many different genres of music (with jazz being the most used) to the diverse population of monsters and super-humans and diverse stories they tell. this show is a definite must-watch this season
Sometimes, I don't get anime fans. If you've paid attention to the sales charts, you'll see that Blood Blockade Battlefront's current sales numbers are going toe-to-toe with Shirobako aka the most acclaimed and important anime series in recent times, and that just baffles me. I mean Kyoani’s own beautiful anime with believable character motivations, depth to its story, and (most importantly of all) actual challenges the characters have to overcome came out in the same season around the same time, and yet it just sold decently - which is below the studio’s usual standards. Okay fine, maybe this anime has a swanky soundtrack. Maybe it'sbeing directed by one of the most dynamic TV directors in the current market. Maybe it has a character named Zapp Renfro. Maybe it had one of the most unique and eye-catching premises to come from the market in years. But BBB on the whole is just not the least bit good, and I don't understand why anyone is trying to convince me otherwise. The series is based on a manga written by Yasuhiro Nightow, who you may know as the writer of Trigun - a series that's kinda sexist when you think about it. Okay, it’s not on the level of Bakuman or even Rurouni Kenshin, but Vash is still a really f*cking stupid main character. But you know, as much as he grinds my gears whilst shouting his “Love & Peace” bullshit, at least Vash had a personal story and some important flaws, mishandled as they were, in regards to some interesting discussions about how to deal with criminals. So I was kinda expecting some similar moral quandaries in this new thing under the guise of a stylish futuristic noir setting. Unfortunately, Nightow decided for his new work that BBB would be a generic slice-of-life story combined with Baccano’s tone, and you know what that means? Let’s do absolutely fuck all whilst trying to cover up that fact with lots of energy! Honestly, I’m still racking my brains regarding who contributed more to BBB’s problems. But make no mistake: neither the production team nor the original writer helped in making this show good. The phrase “nothing interesting happens” is overused in general, let alone by me, but I can’t think of a better summary of the show’s problems aside from it being the equivalent of eating nothing but a giant bag of M&Ms for lunch. Sounds appealing at first until you become sick not even ten minutes, and you’ve still got five-sixths of the bag to go through. The main character is pretty bland as well. Leonardo Watch - and you can tell that someone involved with Gungrave worked on these names because they’re just as silly here as they were there - is a young boy with magical eye powers who comes to the Star Wars version of Chicago and ends up getting involved in a series of ka-razy events that leads to him getting recruited into an organization called Libra, a group of individuals much older than him that keep peace in the city through poorly stylized fight scenes against villains that are never developed beyond the concept and we’ll never see again afterwards. Whilst dealing with these episodic events involving their exploits, Leo routinely converses with an anime-original girl and boy at the beginning and end of each episode, cock-teasing a larger story involving them with his connection being incredibly arbitrary. In fact, Leonardo’s entire existence is arbitrary. Most of his screentime is just him being strung along by other people and most of the time, he doesn’t take a proactive role or solve anything on his own other than spotting the occasional enemy weakness - which makes him about as useful as Slippy Toad, so I have to wonder why he’s even the main character. Which come to think of it, didn’t he come to Hellsalem in order to help his sister? Actually, even I don’t even remember what was up with that mcguffin anymore. Something about her being sick because of some magic bullshit? Maybe if more than five minutes (in the first episode no less) were dedicated to that plot point, I’d care enough to look it up. BBB Writer #1: Hey, wasn’t there some plot thread regarding Leo’s personal life that we should at least address, BBB Writer #2? BBB Writer #2: Can’t seem to recall that, BBB Writer #1. Now let’s have the characters fight a Ninja Samurai Vampire, because that’s cool right? Every single scenario is ridiculously unimaginative and plays like some Hideo Kojima wannabe’s fanfiction come to life rather than pieces of a larger whole. And with each episode I watched, I just kept asking myself what the point of all this nonsense was. There’s one episode where Leo befriends a friendly mushroom-like fellow that’s experiencing racism because that’s just how it works in the city. And when Leo tries to help him, he ends up getting kidnapped (again) and forgetting said friend once the mushroom defends himself with some sort of pollen after getting beaten severely with a baseball bat on-screen. As much as I understand that racism is a subject that’s still relevant after all this time, this incident is never brought up again and doesn’t add to Leo’s character so I’m not really sure why you made me sit through that. And really, that’s one of the more focused episodes of the series. A large percentage of them are incredibly gimmicky fluff that accomplishes nothing more than saying something exists before pretending it doesn’t the very next week. Where are the episodic stories where the characters’ way of life is questioned or where some cliche yet relevant personal philosophy is imparted upon us or where something game-changing happens in the future besides introducing another throwaway character? Now I know the anime makes it clear at the start that Hellsalem is a place where anything can happen and that you could argue that’s the message of the anime, but I respond to that answer with “no fucking duh”. That sort of philosophy is functional as setup, but for the basis of an entire series, it’s simplistically dull because anything can happen in real life too (as Donald Trump’s campaign should show you, let alone the real New York). What exactly is this “anything can happen in Crazy Town” philosophy in aid of, Blood Blockade Battlefront? Because it sure isn’t about anything resembling a coherent whole, I’ll tell you that. Literally the only connecting thread are these twins that only meet with Leo at the beginning and end of each episode and pretty much disappear altogether until their story appears in that long-delayed finale where said delay either killed your interest or made you want to rewatch the show prior to its arrival because it’s been a season since you last watched the anime and your memory is that atrocious. But why you’d need to do that is a question that you’re going to have to answer to me in a really understandable way, because the hints to this finale were both barely there and don’t even involve Leo or the rest of the cast all that much, if at all. And the same is true for the finale itself, which without spoiling anything, is so anticlimactic and non-consequential to anything in the show, let alone the characters, that it makes you question the entire arc's importance for all the good it did. Speaking of the characters, I might have tolerated the lackluster story and Leo's non-existent importance if they had been the least bit interesting. But if you’re one of those people who think it’s not utterly dumb for every character to be a badass, then you can just disregard this review right now, because I honestly don’t see the appeal in a cast that doesn’t have any sort of pathos whatsoever. I don’t have a problem starting your story with fully developed characters since origin stories are overrated anyways, but there’s a difference between someone who got the way they are through hard struggles in their life and someone who’s the product of Mary Sue fanfiction. Especially when their attempts to be funny consist of jokes that have as much punch as a one-year old who hasn’t eaten in days and is chained to the ground. And worst of all, they don’t do anymore than Leo. There’s this woman in a suit named Chain Sumeragi who is supposed to be a werewolf, but she never transforms or even fights or does really much of anything aside from jumping around and making snide remarks to Zapp - who I only remember for his name and little else. Which is something I guess, since I didn’t bother to retain anyone else’s names in this series apart from Klaus. Maybe if you actually made them do anything important or memorable or anything not boring, I’d have a reason to do so. But no, they do jack throughout the entire show. Even in the finale, they do jack, mostly existing to serve as Leo's cheerleaders and little else. And just like most fictional cheerleaders, it's incredibly hard to distinguish between them if you ignore the obvious fact that they have different designs, sexes, and voices. Literally anything said by one character could easily be said by another character without coming across as unnatural, and that's not a good thing in my book unless you just don't care about character variety. And if you don't, sorry to say this, but you have real low standards man. Blood Blockade Battlefront does not live up to any of the hype surrounding its pre or post-release, but I’ll be fair and admit that not even Cowboy Bebop would have been able to live up to the amount of jizz that covered it before its airing alone. All of the show’s good traits from Matsumoto’s dynamic direction to the ending credits are outnumbered by shit ones, namely the fact that there’s so much about these characters and this setting that’s ripe for good storytelling, and yet it’s wasted on predictable humor, shallow characterization, and pointless world-building. Also, dear god does the action suck a big fat one. It's completely one-sided and keeps favoring stylization over interesting choreography, the finale in particular avoiding to scratch that "action-loving" itch of mine when it had the team take down a bunch of faceless mooks that stood perfectly still and took it from the top in-between all the horrendously boring and overly long philosophical dialogue. And it didn't even last half a minute. That's like dating a cute girl for five years without having sex and when you finally decide to do it on your honeymoon night...well let's just say that unlike this show, you have more to look forward to in the future, including getting better. But it's best not to tell your kids about the time you cried during what you claim to be the greatest period of your life.
Finally after months of waiting saw the Last Eps of Kekkai Sensen And it was honestly a clusterfuck of nonsense, I loved it. Nothing made real sense, chaotic story telling and events happening here and there with no real explanation. Animation, art and OST were all beautiful Fight scenes were fluid and characters were as crazy as ever Storytelling is lost somewhere along the months of waiting for the last eps. I cannot say exactly why I really enjoyed the last eps, just that I simply did Overall I would never recommend this anime to anyone that focuses on story/plot or anything that makes sense or follows logic. BUT I do that thosethat simply want to enjoy, perky characters, High Tier animation and OST , Interesting character with a story that really goes nowhere fast but has enough stuff happening all at once that you'd be to focus on that to really care about the story. Sooo many negatives but the things that are positive of this series simply really appeal to me. Tbh I think there is probably more to the series than just the action and the colors but was too busy just watching the small detail happening in the screen There were hints at the end for a sequel I would LOVE an S2 just to see everyone back, I'd like some explanations but at this point I dont care that much anymore I just want to see randomness happen in a cool setting.
Kekkai Sensen is an ongoing manga from Nightow Yasuhiro, you may know him as the creator of Trigun. The manga started in 2009, but it didn't receive an anime adaptation until this year. The anime was handled by Bones, a Studio that has a pretty strong track record as far as their works I've reviewed go. Will this be up to their usual standards? Let's delve into it. Story: Our story opens in Hellsalem's Lot, formerly New York formerly New Amsterdam. The old New York city was destroyed by a portal opening to another world and this one didn't even have the good grace tohave a giant squid monster. In this city, humans co-exist with all manner of strange otherworldly beings. In this city, there's a shadowy organisation called Libra dedicated to keeping the piece. Our protagonist, Leonardo Watch, encounters Libra through an odd coincidence and is given a position due to his mysterious “All-seeing eyes”Which are so strong that he doesn't even have to open his eyelids to see, apparently. The series follows several of Libra's escapades as they encounter various threats. The biggest flaw of the series is the end. It's a disjointed mess with inadequate build up behind it, poorly attempting to tie up all of the ongoing plot points. The series also suffers a bit from tone problems. Most of the time it goes for a more over the top and fun type of aesthetic, but it also tries to have some real emotional moments. The emotional moments don't work well and come across as out of place because they're so heavily divorced from the tone of most of the series. They're simply too few in number with too vast of stretches betwixt them. There's also the narrative device of Leo writing a letter to his sister. Ultimately, it contributes nothing and exactly what parts of the series are included is unclear. It can't be the whole thing since there are a lot of scenes that he isn't in and where he just has no way of knowing what happened. The episodes also vary pretty widely. Some of them are fairly entertaining while others are just kind of dumb. On the positive side, there are some intriguing ideas behind the series. If they had been better fleshed out, this could have been really good. The world building is pretty decent and I do like that the series tries to show some of the alien perspectives at times. Also, let me reiterate, there are some pretty good episodes thrown in. Characters: The characters really vary. There are some that are kind of interesting and have some depth to them, Klaus, Black, and White being the most obvious. However, most of the characters are pretty trite. Chain, Gilbert, K.K, Steven, Zed, Deldro, Dog, and a variety of other characters are just kind of there and only have a couple of very basic traits. Leo himself is kind of a boring generically nice but out of his league type of character. Art: The art is pretty good. The character designs are nicely varied and distinctive. The action sequences are pretty strong, although they suffer a bit from overblown attacks that have to be awkwardly labelled on-screen, and there are some really nice details both in terms of the various creatures and in terms of the backgrounds. Sound: The acting is all right. It can be really over the top but, for the most part, it's perfectly serviceable. The best performance definitely comes from Koyama Rikiya. Probably because his character is more subdued and doesn't really go into the exaggerated craziness mode that, say, Nakai Kazuya's character exhibits so frequently. The music is fine. Ho-yay: There's really not any in this series. Final Thoughts: There was some real potential for this series. It has some good ideas and a world with a lot of potential, unfortunately, it falls pretty short with writing and characters that are quite mediocre. My final rating is going to be a 5/10. If you're looking for an exaggerated action-oriented series, Kekkai Sensen will likely be satisfactory. But if you're looking for something with more depth to it, it's probably not going to do much for you. Next week I'll take a look at Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Vivid.
Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront Review Story (6/10) Fair The story of Kekkai Sensen was fair, nothing uber complex, mind blowing or even addiction to get into in my personal opinion. But the story definitely wasn't bad. There were quite a few episodes that definitely felt like filler/episodic episodes some where good and some where just straight up irrelevant. But the overall story I though was fine. Art and Animation (10/10) Outstanding Studio Bones could not have done a better job at adapting this anime. The key animation done by Bahi JD the same dude responsible for the amazingly key animations for Space Dandy did his thing forKekkai Sensen it's outstanding and I wish the guy was in charge for everything anime's animation I was watching because it's probably the reason I even gave the show a chance, the trailer before the anime came out and episode 1 sold me and it was mostly because of the art style and animation Bones and Bahi JD brought to the table. Sound (7/10) Good The sound for Kekkai Sensen was good. No BGMs that made my spin tingle or anything but the opening was catchy and the voice acting both JP and Eng Dub I thought were good. Everything sound related was all around good. Characters (6/10) More Specifically (6.75/10) Fine The characters in Kekkai Sensen were fine, interesting since episode on especially how well they were introduced. Majority of the cast are all more interesting than the MC himself and I wish we got more characterization on everyone but him honestly. Overall though I felt we didn't necessarily get that much characterization from any character in the anime through out it's 12 episodes because like I said before majority of these episodes were episodic/filler episodes and if there was any character that probably got a good characterization (but still not enough for me to be satisfied) was Klaus. Zapp got a little bit, didn't care too much for the MC and would have love to see more of Zed, but the season ended so oh well. Enjoyment (6/10) Fair More Specifically (6.5/10) With all the nice things I had to say about Kekkai Sensen up to this point my enjoyment is sitting at a 'fine'. The anime has a heavy focus on it's comedy aspect as one of it's key selling points and it didn't sit too well with me. The only episode that got me cackling was the episode where Zapp was stealing the MC's food but that didn't last too long either. Another thing that is an enjoyment selling point that the anime brings thanks to Bones and Bahi JD is the animation. The art style and animation on the bloodmoves and the little fighting choreography were all stunning I wish we got more that only gave of tiny bits of it and focus more on the comedy which I said didn't sit to well. The story didn't sit too well with me either and the episodic/filler episodes like I said before weren't that entertaining to me. Overall (7/10) More Specifically (7.25/10) Kekkai Sensen was a good anime but that's as much as I can get it. Episode one was hype and promising but after that it was episodic and filler episodes invested and like i said earlier those didn't sit well with me. The story I felt didn't really go anywhere, they had one episode that had to do with Vampires or something and I thought that was interesting but ultimately was ignored the next episode. I started Kekkai Sensen as soon as the subs dropped I was there day 1 ready and as far as I remember i stayed caught up weekly (I think I may have fallen behind once but was caught up majority of the time) and when that last episode took like FOREVER AND A DAY to come out I obviously put the anime 'On Hold' because I'm just not going to let it sit there in my watching section when I not really watching it. And when that final episode finally came out I didn't even feel like watching it right away because all of the disappointing things I remembered that bothered me about this anime started to rise. It was only till today after looking at my "On Hold" section that I decided to finish this shit off and I've heard that this last episode was worth it... it really wasn't.. But that's not taking away from the animation which I think is the saving point of this anime. With a mediocre story it kept it afloat and is probably the reason why it's still around a 7 to me but no more than that..
This looked like a really interesting anime from the cover, and from the first few episodes, I thought it was too. BUT, it was too jumbled. It had a good thing going, the only problem was how hard it was to follow. Story: I gave it a low score in this section because of how scrambled and hard to follow it was. I had a hard time understanding the powers in this show. From the blood thingys to the main character's eyes, it was all too difficult to follow. Although it didn't really have much of a plot and it might be unfair to grade iton this aspect if the anime can't even properly lay out the world's mechanics-whether it's filler based or not- then you can't really give the story aspect a good grade. Thus, if the story/world isn't good, the anime is most likely not that enjoyable. Art & Sound: I actually liked the ending song, was pretty nice, but I'm no good at these ratings. Character: The characters were quite enjoyable. Although it was hard to follow the story and world mechanics, the relationships between these characters were pretty easy and clear. The characters were nicely made and their attributes really helped with the comedy aspect of this story. The characters were the only thing bumping the overall and enjoyment score from a 3 to a 4. Enjoyment and Overall: Like mentioned before, the characters were really enjoyable. Watching the characters' reactions to the situation and each other was quite fun, but the story wasn't very entertaining. The world and how it worked was hard to understand, which took away a lot from the enjoyment factor. Would I recommend this anime? I really don't know. It has some good points, and the style isn't to my liking but it could be yours. If you like, say, Cowboy Bebop or Gintama, you actually might find this show more enjoyable to me, whereas I wasn't much of a fan of either and dropped both series. To add on, I didn't watch Kekkai Sensen & Beyond, so from all I know that season could be really great, but then again I don't know. So I might have to end up changing this section, but for now, Kekkai Sensen is something I might recommend depending on the person, although in most cases I would probably not recommend. In Short: If you like filler anime this might be something you can consider, if you're willing to ignore the confusing details on how this odd world works. If on the other hand, you enjoy plot filled animes and care a lot about their structures, don't even think about watching this.
PLEASE NOTE: This review was written before any episode past episode 11 a.k.a. episode 12 a.k.a. "Paint It Black". If this has more episodes past this one, I won't be updating this review. Kekkai Sensen, otherwise known as "Blood Blockade Battlefront", is an action comedy with lots of supernatural themes and elements. The show's stylish and fast-paced artwork and comedy lead you through scenes between intense supernatural fights involving anything from a man-eating car to vampires. STORY: 6/10 The story involves our protagonist, young impersonator of Pokemon's Brock, named Leonardo Watch. He was born with special eyes that have superpowers of some sort and is accidentally thrown intothe world of the underground organization known as Libra, who fight to protect the citizens of the city they live in from disaster and ruin. Only one problem: The city's bonkers. There's so many different strange creatures, no two seem alike, and a lot of them are hostile. This leads to the city being hectic, dangerous, and crime-filled. When I said that Libra is a group of people who fight evil, they're more like a secret police squad. If it doesn't involve illegal activity, they don't bat an eye at the actions of the townsfolk. The story claims to have an overarching plot, but for the most part it is one or two-part episodes while the main villains in the background have a giggle at the goings on. That's not to say all the episodes are like this, but for the most part the episode involves the group having to do something totally unrelated in order to gain a tiny bit of information which may or may not take any part in what's going on in the next episode. ART: 7/10 When not in combat or making a joke, the animation and art style can be quite generic. Action scenes have lots of flair, lots of flash, and a lot of personality. Comedic moments reminded me of One Piece, in the way that faces could simplify, become jagged, or distort in order to further the comedy of the show. The alien beings can be very unique and strange, bringing lots of personality to the background characters or the rare side character for a one-off episode or two. SOUND: 6/10 The soundtrack is somewhat generic, with a tad bit of flair, but to be honest it didn't really stick with me. The OP is good and the ED is decent, though I prefer to watch it more for the visuals than the song itself. CHARACTER: 6/10 Here's where the show, to me, feels bloated and highly flawed. The show's current episodes, up to "Paint It Black", are filled to the brim with character introductions. We also don't get much development from our protagonist besides the backstory that is repeated a few times within the show. I wouldn't have a problem with a show with this many characters, but to be honest it felt like I would rather have had development of our current characters instead of constant introductions to new ones just so that they don't appear again, or if they do, appear once. ENJOYMENT: 4/10 I hated "Paint it Black", which is as far as we have so far. To refer to this as a "finale", it is one of the worst I've ever seen. Along with constant character introductions that made me wish for more protagonist or main character building or plot development, and the plot itself being decent to boring, it became a bit of a chore to sit through, even though it had a decent beginning. OVERALL: 6/10 A fairly average show with several things bogging it down, but occasionally nice-looking fight scenes. Once this gets more episodes, I would recommend you check it out because it will most likely continue with what we have now that all the characters are introduced, but until then you should probably avoid it.
Tenth Review - Kekkai Sensen! (or Blood Blockade Battlefront) This was a anime that looked pretty good to begin with - a city that exists with human and monsters together. The story revolving around this one lad with these cool looking eyes. At first it looked more like a comedy rather than a serious anime yet the more you watched it and let the story unfold you see that this is actually a well structured anime that has serious elements but also bonds together with humour in some areas. The story in my opinion at first was a bit rough round the edges and didn't takea major step in any direction, it was about this one kid and his awesome looking eyes but it was jumping from what the story really meant, was it his sister? the monsters? the magic? what? The story didn't really let you know what it's main focus was but slowly unravelled during the series. In all though the story was good in the end and how they portrayed the series to get to the story point was good. The art was my favourite in this anime, the art was magnificently done and was shown to be one of the key elements of Kekkai Sensen. When the opening picks up you can see the amount of design it took with the art and as the series goes on the art style is always tied together nicely, not one piece of scene was wasted on poor quality. If it's an anime where you love to watch them for art then this is one of them ones to watch. The characters during the series become very likeable, my favourite being the 'Invisible Wolf' Chain. The backgrounds of a few of the characters ain't picked up in the anime as much as the manga however you can still see their traits and characteristics. I love how it did show us the two main character stories of the main focusing characters though so that you wasn't confused, this was nicely done. All in all I actually liked Kekkai Sensen, it was a mix of ordinary meets the weird in a city where two have to coexist and live alongside each other in everyday life. It made me actually laugh in some eps when just some random rubbish will happen yet it provides you with more character development and story development in some ways. This is one of my favourites and I recommend it to anyone with a likeable side to the random, funny and magical elements to an anime. ~ Canaan
This is my first review on MAL, let me tell you this series is extremely overrated for a few reasons. 1. It is another show where people yell out their moves when the fight. 2. They went through all the trouble to make such a great world and great side characters. Then they throw a whiny baby in as the main character that has "special eyes" and that is his only strong suit. He has a few comedic moments in the show but other than that he is a terrible character. 3. The "villain" has no motivation other than causing havoc and the finale just leaves somuch open without another season. At this point if there was another season I would not watch it. Now here is what the anime got right. 1. Art style, fantastic different take that didn't have characters with big eyes. They took a different approach and I liked the end result, Heck the main character rarely has his eyes open. 2. Sound design. Fantastic, intro and outro songs are also really good. 3. The side characters. They are fantastic and you will laugh a lot during the show at how the side characters play off of one another and the main character.
3 things will greatly affect your enjoyment of Kekkai Sensen. Number one is how much you crave a new story, and are tired of the same High School/harem light novel adaptations that come up every season. Number two is if you enjoy being given lots of bits of information that allow you to piece together a larger plot. Number three is if you enjoy fast paced and constantly changing camera shots and point of view changes. If you don't mind or even enjoy those types of things, you are gonna have even more of a blast with this show. Story 6- While it pains meto give a show with such good and funny writing a 6 in story, the way much of the exposition is told is all over the place, and occasionally paced very badly. Kekkai Sensen takes a very episodic approach to it's story, with no real 'major' plot happening until the last 3 episodes. In all honesty, much of Kekkai Sensen reminds of the show 'Seinfeld', in that much of it is, 'a show about nothing'. The majority of episodes are just fun world exploration/building, with the central idea being anything from fighting vampires, taking down drug dealers, underground fighting rings, and taking down Monster Trucks the size of a city block. The genius and also downfall of Kekkai Sensen's story telling is how quick and concise it is. Characters often drop quick bits of info that on their don't tell us much, but when all these bits are placed together, they make a consistent and intriguing story of this world. The problem is that there is a STAGGERING amount of information that Kekkai Sensen throws at the viewer, often intermixed with action and humor that make retaining these bits of info near impossible. Episodes 4 and 10 are good examples of both the good and the bad aspects of Kekkai Sensen's storytelling. Overall Kekkai Sensen's story is incredibly deep and shows huge amounts of promise, but the way it's presented needs to be approached a bit more carefully and equally proportioned out. Characters 7: Easily my favorite aspect of Kekkai Sensen, I think a lot of people will be turned off by them because of the way their character stories are told. Kekkai Sensen rarely, if ever, does the typical flashback to show a characters past, and almost never devotes an episode to a single characters arc (Which is a good thing, because it does that in episode 11 and feels reeeaaallllyyy boring and slow). Instead the characters past is given mostly through conversation and interaction with others. In short, the characters come fully developed, and we learn that through their actions rather than through monologues. The obvious downside to this is that the guys who get little to no screen time feel really under-utilized, and that kind of becomes a problem when you have a cast as large as this shows crammed into 12 episodes. Despite this, the cast is all likable and have very defined and unique personalities/design to them, so it's never hard to tell them apart. Art 9: Rewatchability. Just...Rewatchability. Kekkai Sensen does what very, very few anime have ever done for me, in that I will buy the DVD's just for the animation itself. The key to that? I feel like i'm watching a live action set, with all sorts of things happening in the background. No expense was spared in this regard, as there is almost always something interesting going on in the background. Sitting in a diner? The window will show the traffic passing by. In a room full of partying people? You'll see an entire drunken skit in the background. The only negative I can give this category is that there are a few minor scenes where characters look like they were drawn in a hurry, and because of the frantic activity that takes place in most shots, scenes that have little background and few moving objects will feel strangely lifeless. Quick word of warning, Kekkai Sensen uses lot's of different camera shots and frame changes. What this means is that you'll constantly be exposed to different points of view over the course of a normal conversation. This can be disorienting at times since the animation is so richly detailed that you'll constantly have your eye wandering and losing track of the conversations. I personally love this as that means I can see something new overtime I go back to watch the show, but some might not enjoy this technique very much. Sound 10: I feel a little weird giving a category that is completely, 100% dependent on personal taste, but I have no idea what else to do. The opening and ending are just so far above and beyond what I expect from most anime. They actually evoke feelings of nostalgia, happiness, melancholy and whatever else you might interpret from it. As for the OST? just listen to 'Catch Me if You Can' and 'White Gloves (Vocal Version)". If you listen to those two and don't like them, you won't like the soundtrack. Also I am of the opinion that your are a tone-deaf bastard :D If you prefer dubs over subs, then boy are you in luck. The dub nails the two most important parts of being a dub, getting the right voice for the right character, and not following the japanese script word for word. In short, Leo sounds like Leo, Zapp sounds like Zapp. The first episode sounds a little lackluster, but every episode afterwards is full of dynamic ranges of emotion, and the script was translated nicely into English, with some phrase changes made to better accommodate the humor. Enjoyment 10: While I attempted to be impartial in my above scores, the fact of the matter is that I am hopelessly a fanboy of this show. I mentioned at the beginning of this review that one of the defendant factors is how sick you are of 'current' anime trends. That was a little vague and kind of unfair. There are a number of shows that fall under those categories that I liked (No Pet no Kanojo, Campione!), but it's undeniable that there are just SO MANY of these shows that are released each season that don't attempt to do anything but tick a list of checkboxes, and are a criminal waste of really intriguing base material in favor of cliches so damn common I'm amazed people still like them. So when a show like Kekkai Sensen comes along and gives so many of those tropes a giant middle finger, and also happens to be really good, I can;y help but feel extra grateful towards that series for taking the plunge and trying to do something different from the rest of the pack.
This is my first time writing a review for an anime. *No Spoilers* Kekkai Sensen was one of my favourite anime that I've watch so far. Plot: The plot was all the place but I was still able to tell what was going on. At times I did get confused and I still have some questions about this anime. Art:The animation was outstanding and the art style was nice and refreshing. Sound: The soundtrack for this anime is amazing, it is hard too pick my favourite between the opening and ending songs. Character: I liked all of the characters but one thing that I didn't like was the fact that some characters didn't get enough attention as they should off. Enjoyment/Overall: Well in the end, waiting for the last episode to be released wasn't such a bad thing, in my opinion it was worth the wait. After each episode I watch I found myself wanting more and more. Unfortunately, some of my questions floating around my head reguarding the anime did not get answered but judging on the last clip of episode 12 we might be expecting a season 2(keyword is might). I would recommend this anime highly to all. Please don't leave any hate, don't forget this is just an opinion.
Set in a fictional version of New York, where humans and bizarre monsters live together in not-quite harmony, Kekkai Sensen is one of the most successful shonen series of late. The show follows the adventures of Leonardo Watch, a kid with the gift of super-powered eyes, as he joins Libra, a quirky team of vigilantes who... protect the city… or stop crime… or something… let’s just say exposition is not this show's best suite. If there is a thing that can be said about Kekkai Sensen is that it definitely starts with a bang. The first couple of episodes are nonsensical action-packed trips that have mostof their runtime taken by stylized special attacks sequences. The pace is kept high, the tone is always over the top, and the scenes alternate almost in a nonsequitor fashion. While this can be overbearing, it sort of works in its own totally insane way. The true problem comes when, after the first handful of episodes, the pace slows down and the storytelling becomes more straightforwardly delivered. The over the top action sequences, the humour and the rest of the nice stuff is still there, but it is just not that unique or impactful when the series starts taking itself more seriously. This is especially clear in the final couple of episodes, that serve to close a "macro plot" that is simply not that interesting or engaging (and to be honest, even a bit hard to fully grasp). As it may already have transpired, the best thing about Kekkai Sensen are the overall aesthetics. The visual style is vaguely influenced by western comic books (especially in the design of a couple of characters), the animation is obviously hi-budget and the soundtrack is just great, mixing jazz and orchestral music in a way that truly helps giving the show a unique and interesting tone. And while all this stuff is quite nice, If I had to be completely honest I’d add that there’s not really much else that stands out in the show, as what we are watching is still at its core your standard combat shonen fare, except for the fact that it is delivered in a very slick and unique package. This is not all bad though, as the short run of the show (a single 12 episodes season) doesn’t really give time to this package to get old, and helps keeping the focus on the series’ strong aspects. There's not much else to say about Kekkai Sensen to be honest, it is at its core a product with not many pretenses, if not the one to mindlessly entertain, and it almost succeeds at its goal. The action scenes are fun, the humour not completely awful and the animation flashy and detailed. Sadly the overarching plot is way too weak, making the home stretch a bit of a slug. Still, not an awful show by any chance… but let’s just say that I’m not really looking forward to a second season.
New York City is overrun by monsters! The statement itself seems quite quirky. However when put into context, it truly is just another day within the world of Kekkai Sensen. A world so vast, so mysterious, so telling, and downright awesome, that the depth of its possibility seems endless. That's, enough of my praise. Let's get down to business. Story: 9 Kekkai Sensen introduces a very enticing, extraordinary, and complex story. It gives little detail upon where we are in our current situations. It leaves, gaps, holes, and mysteries to be solved. Not to mention the unbelievably fast pacing that the anime showcases. Despite the claim that allof these should be setbacks, Kekkai Sensen successfully mingles every aspect into a fantastically, smooth story. In doing so, Kekkai Sensen separates itself from the other animes within its genre, becoming something truly interesting and fresh. Art: 7 The art of Kekkai Sensen is most definitely the weakest link. The art is quite mediocre at some points and just doesn't stand to par with the other aspects of the anime. Sound: 9 Such a good soundtrack. The soundtrack really impressed me and added a lot to the overall feeling of the anime. Each soundtrack fulfilled its purpose wonderfully, even adding its own spice at many points within the anime. Not to mention the ending for this show. The ending for Kekkai Sensen really fits the tone of the anime and is simply cool. Just like the smooth, jazzy, lightheartedness that Kekkai Sensen can take on, the ending really highlights what makes the anime so interesting. Characters: 10 Almost character in Kekkai Sensen is undoubtedly underdeveloped. Once again, this aspect perfectly fits into the image that Kekkai Sensen wants to take on. Kekkai Sensen is a show that likes to be mysterious. It likes to always have a few tricks left to entertain the audience. Most of all, Kekkai Sensen loves to be different. Kekkai Sensen also encompasses the all important rule of change. What makes a character great is change. Leonardo Watch's addition to Libra and how he changes is very interesting to watch. His initial personality is changed by the end (though still fundamentally there) and his beliefs are highlighted by his choices. Enjoyment: 10 If you have read this far, the enjoyment aspect must be no surprise. The story is undeniably interesting, the humor is absolutely amazing, and the characters are very fun to watch. The anime's unique spice of jazz and New York create a unique identity that can be associated with Kekkai Sensen. With all of the eccentricity that Kekkai Sensen brings, you most certainly will not get bored. Overall : A - The mean of the scores is 9.0. That is indeed an A minus. Kekkai Sensen's ability to create an identity for itself, provide characters that are interesting, and prove its depth of story, make it one of the better anime of its season. Its flaws lie in the animation and mysterious identity that leaves many character's dry for development.
I can say now with confidence that Studio Bones is the best animation studio in Japan. They have consistently created some of the greatest animated series to ever grace the anime industry. The resume of the studio is a storied one, ranging from Fullmetal Alchemist to Ouran Highschool Host Club to Darker than Black to so many other amazing shows. Yet amidst all of this, one anime was criminally underappreciated. 2015's Blood Blockade Battlefront, or Kekkai Sensen, is an explosive, beautiful, and at times hilarious romp through one of the coolest fictional takes on New York City I've ever seen. From Yasuhiro Nightow, the writerof Trigun, and director Rie Matsumoto comes an exciting adventure through the strangest city in the world. Kekkai Sensen hooked me right from the very beginning with our main character narrating a letter to his sister, as we are treated to a stunning montage of what is clear to be the climax of this 12 episode series. A wide array of colorful and sleek characters are seen dismembering ghoul after ghoul across a vast and expansive metropolis under the night sky, all the while our hero scales a tall staircase approaching what he hopes to be direction needed to stop the chaos and save the day. The main title flashes on the screen with dazzling effect and we are brought back to the beginning of the story. The protagonist Leo is a refreshing take on his character type. He lacks any sort of lethal skills in combat and he's overly humble, but he isn't afraid to speak on behalf of those who are oppressed and the narrative never spends too much time forcing him to be a stronger person, rather it lets him become a hero in his own way. Klaus V Reinherz, Leo's boss, is the kind, gentlemanly but undeniably formidable friend who helps Leo to realize his potential. He sees how torn up Leo is over what has happened to him and his family and wants to help him become stronger by "welcoming him into the family" in a way. In that sense, Zapp Renfro, Leo's punkish co-worker, is like a brother figure to Leo, having been asked to protect him so no one uses Leo's abilities for evil. The rest of the cast excels too. From blond, one-eyed gunslingers, to ice power wielding superheroes, to eccentric vampire hunters, every character in Kekkai Sensen is memorable and badass. The series starts out fairly episodic, with each episode working to develop the world and introduce the members of Libra. The show does a great job of presenting each character's abilities just within the opening montage. They introduce so many characters over the 12 episodes that you worry how well all the characters can gel together, but the story is so well directed that it feels like I'm watching the Avengers. Every character gets to enter the spotlight whether it be to dispense wisdom on our hero or take part in an operation to bring down a high-level threat. For the most part, the series is a collection of standalone adventures, but with an underlying narrative spliced. What makes that even better is that it splices in that through-line narrative without it feeling forced. What I mean is that some shows with only 12 episodes and an episodic structure will devote so much time to the through-line plot that the side stories seem pointless or just underdeveloped. Thankfully, Kekkai Sensen doesn't have that problem. But how does it balance all this chaos? The answer: Beautifully. Director Rie Matsumoto is a genius. Unbeknownst to me until just recently, the characters Mary and William Macbeth, and the entire throughline plot were all original creations made for the anime alone. The second to last episode is dedicated to Mary and William's backstories, and it works as a fitting primer to the incredible finale that follows. While the first 11 episodes are a typical 24 minutes, the last episode is 48 minutes, and the added run time helped to close the narrative in a perfect way. However, while the story is told very well, there are some things that might go right over your head if you aren't paying close enough attention. There were times during the finale where I couldn't quite understand what certain characters' plans were, or how certain elements of the world worked. What's worse is that when the show was first airing, the final episode was postponed because of its extra length, so rather than airing at the end of the spring 2015 season, it aired at the end of the Summer 2015 season a whole THREE months later. Needless to say, I was confused about what was happening. All in all, Kekkai Sensen put all of its chips on a pretty conclusive anime-only finale that despite a bit of confusion will leave viewers satisfied with the whole journey. The world of Kekkai Sensen portrays a foggy, dirty, but at the same time lively city that captures the feeling of New York City well while injecting its own sci-fi fantasy charm into it. the gothic style of many of the skyscrapers and the bright colors that pop out through the foggy gray streets help make Hellsalem's Lot one of my favorite fictional cities, right up there with the towns and villages from Ghibli movies. In addition to this, the character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto are on par with his other designs from Cowboy Bebop and Noragami (And yes you read that correctly, this is the same designer). The fight scenes are wonderfully coordinated and the architectural destruction is just as fun to look at here as it is in all of Bones other shows. Visually, the show hits all the right notes. But the sights are just one half. The sounds are just as good. The soundtrack is composed by Taisei Iwasaki, who seems to have made his anime soundtrack debut with this show. His style of music resembles that of Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop). That is to say, it is diverse. The music combines beautiful orchestral pieces, with some pop, rock, jazz, and even some strange, but undeniably memorable songs intended for moments of comic relief. It is a well-rounded soundtrack that compliments the journey well. A lot can be said about this show, probably because it went criminally underappreciated. Perhaps I couldn't appreciate it when I first saw it, but every time I watch it, I love it more and more. To put it simply, Kekkai Sensen, AKA Blood Blockade Battlefront, is one of the greatest action anime in years. You owe it to yourself to watch it.
I feel like I forced myself to complete the anime tbh. The anime lacked clarity in so many things and you can barely understand most of the events happening. It just feels like you missed something and I kept on replaying in an attempt to see what had I missed. They wanted to make the main character as someone who has high values other than his eyes bla bla .. but none of that was actually portrayed, everything they say to make him all the more valuable member of Libra I found to be a cliche just to make him sound more heroic!
(This review has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!) In Kekkai Sensen, a character goes by the name of White. She reminds me of my own sister since she also has a heart condition. Nothing serious, but it’s a condition she has had to deal with all her life. I remember one night when my sister went out to eat with her friends. She came home eventually; nothing out of the ordinary. Except, before heading off to bed, my sister let my father know of a pain in her chest. My father hesitated not, rushing her immediately to the hospital. So fast, in fact, that Idid not realize where they went to until they got back. It turned out that my sister just had some heartburn, but it was still a scary moment for our family. I can only imagine how harrowing it was for her. I admire my sister for always dancing, always traveling, always living, despite her condition. Her heart may be weak, but it’s stronger in ways that I will never truly understand. Kekkai Sensen has heart, too. Not as strong a heart as my sister’s, but, as she proves, a weak heart isn’t the end of the world. STORY Kekkai Sensen follows a teenage boy named Leonardo Watch. He arrives in Hellsalem’s Lot, a city filled with monsters, demons, and creatures that live (somewhat) peacefully alongside humans. A rather peculiar event (normal for Hellsalem’s Lot) grants Leonardo the chance to join Libra, a secretive group of elite fighters that protect said peace. At least, as best as they can. The anime seems fantastical, and, in practice, it is. Seeing a bunch of aliens fighting each other in an arena, an onion boy vying for hamburgers, or a pair of duelists playing an absurdly advanced game of chess can only appear in fantasy. Despite the fantasy roots of the events within Kekkai Sensen, they feel rather realistic in their presentation. Those aliens are gambling on the fighters. The onion boy leads a lonely life. And the chess game, for all of its rules and difficulties, is still nothing more than a battle of the minds. It’s not fantasy or science-fiction or random. The anime takes its surrealism and underpins it with unbridled realism. “Realistic fantasy” is another way to put it. This realism is achieved through a lot of world-building. Acronyms and concepts are given quick, succinct definitions. The melting pot of characters creates bridges that introduce new ideas in a natural fashion. The episodic narrative portrays multiple areas and aspects of Hellsalem’s Lot. The episodic narrative is particularly interesting due to its two-fold approach. First, it gives the anime a slice-of-life feel, making the oft comedic material of the show feel right at home. Second, and most important, it grants Kekkai Sensen the chance to “reset.” By going episodic, the anime always gets the chance to try something new from what it did before. This onslaught of hodgepodge material, that never seem to be related to one another, reflects Hellsalem’s Lot beautifully. Now, in reality (meta joke intended), the anime puts emphasis on its overarching narrative which features its titular twins Black and White. Interestingly, it is not Leonardo’s quest to restore his sister’s eyesight that is most important – that quest is very rarely referenced beyond the first episode. No, it is Black and White’s tale of love and loss that means the most. Sadly, a couple of problems exist in the structure. For starters, it’s all a bit too obscure. For a large majority of the anime, little is given of the twins, what they are doing, and how their involvement plays into the bigger picture. The anime makes up for this quite a bit when it dedicates an entire episode to their upbringing, but, even then, the main events and details surrounding their involvement are still superficial. The biggest problem, not mentioned as such but mentioned all the same, is how it detracts from the main goal: Leonardo’s quest. Leonardo’s whole purpose of trekking to Hellsalem’s Lot, of joining Libra, of going through trials he has never experienced before, was to help his sister. More specifically, to restore her eyesight that he indirectly caused her to lose. The slice-of-life episodes already did next to nothing in this regard – indeed, being abducted by a psychopath and delivering pizzas does not yield (relevant) profitable results. But when the overarching narrative continues to ignore the original motivation, the main reason why this tale is being told to begin with, it makes Kekkai Sensen come off as unfocused. Distracted by the monsters and oddities it contains. Despite the distraction, the narrative as a whole has a theme that persists through both the episodic and overarching content. It’s not explored, so it’s not exactly deep. But it is an idea that most people can relate to: life is unpredictable. People usually have a plan for themselves. Who they want to be, where they want to go, and what they want to do. But life is a road filled with people and events which create potholes and forks and detours. In Hellsalem’s Lot, it is often taken to an extreme: getting visited by a god or having to evade a zombie apocalypse certainly create cracks in that road. But, as has been discussed, the anime is “realistic fantasy.” Missing out on lunch, resonating with a film, or losing loved ones are experiences that, while ranging in severity, are relatable while still skewing that road. But it’s not the unpredictable nature of life that matters most. It’s how one responds to those events that does. Never giving up, being there for another, and having hope. Taking it all in stride or sulking in defeat. Believing. These responses can be applied to those previous examples as well as throughout the whole season. Because each event is unpredictable, each event demands a response. And it is these responses that dictate where one goes down that ever-present road. Thus Kekkai Sensen delivers its message: Life is unpredictable – that’s the reality – but thinking one’s response does not matter is just pure fantasy. ANIMATION Perhaps Kekkai Sensen’s strongest part is, surprisingly, its art and animation. On an animation level, the anime does not (openly) cut corners. Almost every episode has some fight or brawl or massive movement that keeps Hellsalem’s Lot lively. A huge, metal contraption careening through the streets. A master with missing limbs battling a so-called Blood Breed who similarly lost body parts. A vampire getting sealed by the veterans of Libra. These examples are some of the more grandiose. Normally, the anime still holds up, characters acting appropriately with hair, facial, and nuanced movements. Crowds of moving people breathe life into the city. And background objects, such as a Ferris wheel or an airplane, make even the static scenes partially dynamic. On an artistic level, Kekkai Sensen performs even better. Of course, lighting plays a huge role in the visuals. Blue, orange, and red lights accentuate the abilities and moods of the characters and the situations respectively. The norm, however, has Hellsalem’s Lot draped in a dreary atmosphere. Cloudy skies, fogged locations, and gray lighting keep the crazy city, like its inhabitants, in a morally ambiguous spot. This dread contrasted with the more colorful parts is an added bonus. But the anime really shines in two subcategories of the art: the details and the cinematography. Despite Kekkai Sensen purposefully constraining itself to a single setting, the amount of areas that are visited are vast. A hospital, the Libra headquarters, a side street. The inside of a diner, an abandoned crypt, a grass-filled plain. Another dimension, atop floating debris, a highway traversing part of the city. The city alone looks detailed and crisp, but when every background and location has the same attention to detail, that sense of realism is ramped up that much further. The best, though, is the cinematography. Kekkai Sensen likes to play with perspective, rotation, and closeness, creating shot after shot of coolness. Seeing through Leonardo’s eyes or a top-down view of the headquarters from the inside or a wide shot of Zapp versus his opponent make the anime a visual treat to watch. Finally, due to the nature of the anime, the character designs (for the actual cast as well as the background characters) are each creative and fun. Leonardo wears goggles for driving that also hint at what rests beneath his oft-shut eyes. Zapp’s all-white outfit and darker skin forms a dichotomy that matches his mean-yet-caring personality. And while Klaus’s red sideburns and fangs highlight the ferocious beast he can be, his glasses and suit create an air of importance that befit the gentleman. CHARACTERS Kekkai Sensen’s cast is filled with people who are each a character. That reads like a redundant statement, but that’s what they are: characters. To clarify, they are not characters. They do not have complex conflicts. They do not have multiple sides to their personality. And they do not even have fully fleshed-out backstories. They are each a character, but they are by no means a character. Using examples makes this observation easier to see. Chain is a woman and a member of Libra. More importantly, she is a werewolf, granting her dexterity and quickness. Such skills she uses to tease Zapp, tricking him and literally standing on top of him, taking immense pleasure in doing so. That’s it. How she came to be a werewolf, whether or not her teasing hints at other feelings for Zapp, and what she thinks about herself and the situation does not get explored. She exists solely as a cute character who makes the audience laugh at her mistreatment of her friend. This same process can be applied to almost every character. Zapp is a jokester who is more caring than he first appears to be. Klaus is a lion-like leader who is cordial, determined, and powerful. Zed is a fish man who is respectful to everyone around him. Abrams is a master vampire hunter who reduces the luck of those around him. Gilbert the bandaged butler with wicked driving skills, K.K. the sniper (despite her eyepatch) who also has a crush on Klaus, and Dog the man-and-blood-beast hybrid. The cast are a bunch of characters, and that’s perfectly all right. Not only are there way too many to develop individually, but also it makes sense within the context of the anime. Hellsalem’s Lot is this hodgepodge of weirdos, so having the main cast be made up of a werewolf, a fish man, and a butler continues the motif already started by Kekkai Sensen. Interestingly, due to the nature of the narrative, Leonardo is the same. He is a regular, kind kid who just so happens to wield the All-Seeing Eyes of God (as the anime ordains them). To be fair, he gets a bit more than the rest of Libra. The story molds him into a brave, confident kid who has clearly grown beyond being the weak, scared kid he was at the beginning. But, to reiterate, the narrative does not focus on his main goal of helping his sister. Meaning, such bravery and confidence does not mean a whole lot when the bigger picture is looked at. The question, then, becomes a simple one: Who is not just a character but instead a character? The narrative makes this clear once more: Black and White are arguably the main characters of the anime and thus are actual characters. Their names alone provide a lot of symbolism. They are twins, Black a boy and White a girl. Black grew up with psychic powers rivaling the best of them, and White grew up without psychic powers, a “failure” in her lineage. Ironically, Black tended to be weak-willed, a crybaby of sorts, whereas White tended to be mature for her age. But they grow up together. They get bullied, they look out for each other, and they come to the conclusion that they cannot live without one another. Not in a physical sense but in a philosophical sense. All of these details are given quite later on. (Episode eleven to be exact.) Preceding them are a different Black and White. Black seems possessed by a dark entity, masquerading as the boy in order to enact some evil scheme he has been concocting behind the scenes. White finds herself in the hospital, dealing with a heart condition that keeps her confined and irritable. The reason for their turn of fates is pieced together through more flashback. During the calamity that spawned Hellsalem’s Lot, Black and White are visited by the King of Despair. Black sacrifices himself, letting the spirit take his body on the condition that he does not harm White. Despite his valor, White dies. (It’s a bit unclear how.) Her parents, who likewise are near their doom, use the last of their powers to “resurrect” White, turning her heart (and, by extension, her whole body) into a piece of the barrier protecting the city. As such, Black and White’s motivations come forth. Black (who is really the King of Despair) needs Leonardo’s godly eyes to fulfill his plan. And White, unable to live without her brother, becomes friends with Leonardo in order to get his eyes in order to save Black. (The condition to set her brother free.) What’s cool is that this series of events is designed to mirror Leonardo’s. Leonardo and his sister were visited by an all-powerful entity, she sacrificed herself for him, and Leonardo seeks to help her out in whatever way he can. Sadly, this parallel means little since little is done with it, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Of course, everything goes wrong. White does indeed betray Leonardo, Black later “kills” White, and a second calamity is about to occur. But thanks to Leonardo and some deus ex machina, White comes back to sacrifice herself, removing the King of Despair from Black and reestablishing the barrier. So Black and White are characters. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. That is, they go through an entire arc over the course of the season. The next step is what these arcs did for them. I.e., how did they develop over the course of the anime? In White’s case, some development is seen. She protects Black after failing to do so multiple times before – the anime has a nice parallel with this saving scene and the one from her childhood. She also opened up to Leonardo, a person other than her brother. She does betray him, but she at least admits the mistake she made (even if that immediate turnaround is a little silly). In Black’s case, it’s a bit more complicated. His action to sacrifice himself for his sister demonstrates that he, however slightly, overcame the cowardice he had when he was younger. But the crux of his character focuses on the demon possessing him. To put it differently, he does not have a conflict that he deals with personally over the course of the season. Black worries about White and befriends Leonardo, but the events that unfold do not seem to directly affect or influence him. Instead, they focus mostly on the King of Despair being this evil, nonchalant antagonist. His final conversation with White echoes the same sentiment they had all along: a world without her is not a world worth living in. That line makes sense for his character, but, since he never seems to fight for her, never seems to do whatever he can while possessed by the King of Despair, his echoing rings hollow. So while Black and White are characters, they are not particularly impressive. Still, the other lovable troupe of characters help to make Kekkai Sensen the strange anime that it set out to be. SOUND If Kekkai Sensen is remembered for anything, it will be its ending track. The ED is, in short, a big bundle of fun. Bass strings, hard guitar, and nice vocal work come together to create a dance number that gets one grooving. The changing tempo, the other instruments, and even just the name of the song – “Sugar Song to Bitter Step” – make the entire piece a joy to listen to. It’s one half cool, one half smiles, and wholly awesome. The opening track is as well done, if not better than, the ED. It starts off quick yet reserved, the low tone and soft-speaking singer continuing for a portion of the piece. By the halfway mark, the instruments and the vocalist pick up, the track becoming more frantic and passionate in tone. As the end approaches, the OP builds and builds on itself until a triumph is reached. It’s an empowering song that follows the flow of Kekkai Sensen, making it just as welcome of an addition as the ED is. The rest of the original soundtrack is not as strong as the OP and the ED, but its wide range of tunes cannot be denied. Many of the tracks are jazzy, like “Sidewinder” and “Catch Me If You Can.” Others are eerier, like “Victim” and “Presage.” Others are more rock-n-roll, like “Call You Later” and “Traffic Man.” Some go cultural, like “Oblivion” and “At The Gates.” Others are mellow, like “Keep On The Sunny Side” and “Early Train.” Others are melancholic, like “A Funeral” and “On My Own.” Others are simply fun, like “Toy Blues” and “BCCGS.” All of this to get at a single idea: like the story and the characters, the music is a hodgepodge of different beats, tones, and compositions, creating an amalgamation of sound that not only fits the anime but also is pleasant to hear outside of it. Also, a shout-out to the reverberating sound-effect whenever Leonardo used his eyes. It gave his power a powerful feeling, the blueness and otherworldly vision notwithstanding. The only miss in the sound department is the voice acting. To be fair, it’s more a mix than a miss, but it’s certainly a step down from the rest of the music. On the one hand, Daisuke Sakaguchi as Leonardo does a nice job, using a voice that works for the growing-up boy. On the other hand, Rie Kugimiya as Black uses a voice that is a tad bit too effeminate. Everyone else falls somewhere in-between. ENJOYMENT For those that do not know, this anime has a slightly strange history. Here’s the short of it: The last episode got delayed. And delayed. And delayed. To the point that questioning if the season would ever officially end became a joke itself. Granted my timing is even worse when I see that I am completing this anime literally more than a year after I started it. Regardless, getting to go from the second-to-last episode to the last one, while knowing that so many people waited months, made me feel oddly privileged. As for the final episode itself, it was okay, neither momentous nor horrendous. It certainly had scale, considering that the city was about to blow up again. But I can’t say it’s one of my favorites. For me, my favorite episode happens to be the eighth one for a single moment. Allow me to explain. Much of the episode revolved around Zapp being a lazy, promiscuous, and incompetent dude. So, of course, he gets tasked by his master to take care of this egg enemy: Attack each of its eyes simultaneously lest he risk a limb or two. But, as was shown, there is no way he can do it because he’s, well, Zapp. Cue Chain receiving a phone call from her lady friend that Zapp tried to flirt with earlier in the episode. Said lady friend essentially wants to get in Zapp’s pants. Upon hearing such news, Zapp channels his inner focus. A hawk screeches, a water droplet falls, and the sun peeks out over the Earth’s horizon. Zapp succeeds with ease, his reddened crotch on the infrared scanner indicating his motivator. Only the phone call was fake, a ruse to spur him forward. And all the while Zapp has his goofy, big belly from his numerous days of debauchery. I remember pausing the episode from laughing so much at this wonderful and clever joke. I even went so far as to mark it down in my notes for this review later on. That’s how much I liked it. That joke was the high for me. Of course, there were some lows. The material on Black and White (the last quarter or so of the season), while more in-depth compared to everything else, was not as fun or engaging. I wish Dog had more of a role in the show. I would have liked to see the potential romance between Leonardo and White progress further than it did. Not everything else was a low, though. The cast was fun and the comedy made me laugh. Chain’s interactions with Zapp always made me smile. There were cool moments like when they fought the Blood Breeds in the underground or Leonardo being an awesome friend with the hamburger kid. Overall, I liked the show. Not a whole bunch, but it was definitely entertaining. Kekkai Sensen ends up better than expected. It does a lot right with its art and its music. It falters slightly with its story and its characters. And it can be both fun and frustrating to watch. Its heart was in the right place, but the execution just wasn’t quite there. SUMMARY Story: Fine, “realistic fantasy” sets the stage, with an obscure and distracting subplot getting in the way of its theme on life’s unpredictability Animation: Great, wonderful art, above-average actual animation, and nice character designs Characters: Fine, the majority of the characters are just characters, and Leonardo, White, and Black are not impressive but they at least go beyond their superficial traits Sound: Good, good OP, good ED, good OST, okay VA performances Enjoyment: Fine, silly cast, clever jokes, and a mix of fun and frustrating material Final Score: 6/10
Spoiler Free. This is my first review so bear with it haha. Story-8: First and foremost we have the story. It consists mainly of episodic storylines for about half of the series until the overall plot is revealed near episode 8. I was personally a fan of this setup, but it can be deterring for those who wish to know the exact plot and point of the show early on. Art-10: This show, in my opinion, deserves a 10 in art because of its unique art style and the backgrounds were absolutely amazing in the amount of detail. A city setting is not often seen and thisgave the show a refreshing feeling compared to the often seen schools or rivers that plague anime today. The sheer amount of varied monster designs alone gives this category a 10. Sound-10: The soundtrack coupled with the environment of the show gives off a very distinct and memorable emotion of its own, often upbeat and exciting. This Soundtrack was one of my favorites of all time. I will definitely be replaying the ending song over and over again. Characters-7: Sadly, this is where Kekkai Sensen fails a bit. Due to the large amount of characters introduced, many of them were ignored or were given only one episode to develop them. Only the main characters, Leo, White, Black, and Klaus were given any significant development. Overall Enjoyment-9: This show happens to embody exactly what I believe to be great anime. An interesting cast, amazing soundtrack, and an original story all come together to form a masterpiece, though one that certainly has its own share of flaws.
Okay, Kekkai Sensen. Let me just say that if you like your superpowered urban fantasy or Baccano and/or Durarara, you may like this series. Story:7 The story revolves our main character, Leonard Watch who moves to Hellsalem's Lot a monster filled New York, in an effort to find out about the mysterious power he has been given. While this, at the start, is his main goal, I don't believe he finds out by the end of the season which makes sense as the anime is only a partial adaptation of a longer manga series. However, there is a larger, plot that goes on in the background ofeach episode that doesn't receive complete focus until closer to the end. Otherwise it's a bit episodic in nature, but believe the short, episodic stories are quite interesting. One episode had me sad about a mushroom. Warning however, at times it can be a bit confusing. Art:7 The art is pretty good in this show. It's not Your Lie In April beautiful ,but it doesn't need to be. It uses just the right style for both comedic and dramatic moments and the character design is fitting. The visuals for the opening and ending are nice as well. Sound:10 Jesus Christ the music is great in this anime! They have some really good background music with a lot of variety that really helps with the scenes. As for the Opening and Ending themes..... THEY FIT THE SHOW SO PERFECTLY! The opening feels like it could be the main character singing about himself while the ending perfectly encapsulates the more lighthearted, comedic side of the series. Also, my God is the ending theme catchy. Characters:7 I personally liked the characters. However, to my dismay there wasn't enough time in its run to give more characterization to all of the members of Libra. I'll admit, fleshing them all out wasn't really important to the most important plot and the characters that did receive focus proved to be rather interesting. Enjoyment:9 I finished this series in a day. This is rare for me, even for shows that have less than twelve episodes. This was suggested to me by my sister and it proved to be rather good. I'm glad I took the time to watch it and I think others will enjoy it too. Overall: Tally up the scores and you get a..... 8!
"Welcome to my review" Words that I never imagined my self typing due to the absurdity of the statement (how do you welcome someone into a review? Its like saying welcome to my article, its just stupid.) and the fact of well, I don't write reviews. Now if you would excuse my shortcomings I am by no means the end all be all of reviews and do not intend to write myself off as that, I am simply here to provide input to help you decide whether to watch this anime or not. Simply put Kekkai Sensen is all over the place. The story is disjointed andcharacters seem to drop in and out with focuses going from one place to another providing no sense of structure until it decide to throw over arching plot at you when it sees fit. Now this might present itself as a problem to some who don't enjoy this kind of story telling. IN fact some might go as far as to call it lazy writing, and deem it un watchable. Understandable but the beauty of the show is the fact that is it is all over the place. You see the problem with this site is either you are one of the two extremes. You give something a 10/10 or a 5/10 because around here there is no damn in between. Even reviews that write and anime as 7/10 or 8/10 might as well be 5/10 or 10/10 because they write the damn review praising the anime or pointing out so many flaws you'd think they have a personal vendetta against the damn thing. (not that pointing out flaws makes an anime bad its just you don't speak much on the behalf of the good things.) So in my hypocrisy to shorten things up and tie them in a pretty unruly, unkempt bow, Kekkai Sensen is a enjoyable anime, plain and simple. Watch it and then decide whether you like it or not. Ultimately none of us who write reviews can speak for anyone else, so don't even pay attention to them, if you think an anime is interesting than fucking watch it. Since when do you need a person to hold your hand and tell you what to watch??