Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy, Supernatural
Season: 1
Episodes: 12 + 2 Movies
Director: Taichi Ishidate
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Original Airtime: October 3, 2013 – December 19, 2013

Plot

Kyoukai No Kanata (Beyond The Boundary) follows Akihito Kanbara a high school student who meets Mirai Kuriyama. Mirai is a spirit hunter with the ability to manipulate blood. She attacks Akihito however to her utter surprise she finds out that Akihito is completely unharmed. What mystery lies behind this happy go luck high school guy and why did she attack him?

Story: 7/10

Kyoukai No Kanata (Beyond The Boundary) has really done a good job in executing a promising plot. It has moments to make you laugh, it has moments to get your blood pumping and of course there are heart breaks. There is no pacing issue. Irrespective of its simple impression the show really does a great job in surprising you, I firmly believe it is one of the more under-appreciated Kyoto Animation works in terms of execution of plot. They also did a great job with the ending. They made sure you go for the sequel movie, Kyoukai No Kanata – Mirai Hen. Be sure to watch the movie if you want to see the real ending of the story.

Character: 7/10

Kyoukai No Kanata (Beyond The Boundary) is decent in terms of incorporating characters. While the show mostly revolved around the two main characters, Mira and Akihito, the side characters were hardly explored. While the chemistry of the main characters were wonderfully portrayed the same can’t be said about the other characters. The same thing can be said about character development. The main two characters showed significant development throughout the course of the series but the character development of rest of the characters were close to none. Despite being such a lovely anime, the character portrayal has been the weak link of the series.

Here are some notable characters from the anime:

Animation and Art: 9/10

As expected from Kyoto Animation the art and animation of Kyoukai No Kanata (Beyond The Boundary) is top notch. The animation is fantastic even by Kyoto’s standards. Every minor detail is presented with excellent precision. The color choices were superb and greatly complimented the vibe and the atmosphere of the anime. The action scenes were also displayed in more than satisfactory way. I could not have asked for something better. Overall Kyoukai No Kanata is a beautiful to look at

Here are some screenshots from the anime:

Music: 7/10

The soundtracks of Kyoukai No Kanata (Beyond The Boundary) were more than satisfactory. The opening and ending themes were great. Especially the ending theme ‘Daisy’ by Sterio Drive Foundation. But what particularly impressed me were the background scores. Not only were they well composed but also well timed and executed. So you will notice that the background scores really compliment the atmosphere of the show. I am quite impressed by the music department of Kyoukai no Kanata.

https://youtu.be/nwl6Polwq4Q

Final Thoughts

Kyoukai No Kanata (Beyond The Boundary) is a well executed show that had so much to offer. You will laugh, you will go ‘awww’, you will cry etc. I personally believe it really doesn’t get the amount of appreciation it deserves. For me personally, I would say this is a gem of show and I would urge all my kouhais to give it a shot. I firmly believe the show will not disappoint you.