Anime Review: Beyond the Boundary (or Kyokai no Kanata)
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Genre: Drama, action, supernatural, fantasy
General Set-up: Beyond the Boundary doesn’t really do a very good job of explaining itself. Viewers of the show are kind of pushed face-first into a full-immersion experience and left to flounder to the surface by themselves. Thankfully, the world isn’t too complicated and after an episode or two the viewer should be able to figure things out. With this in mind, I would like to give you all a bit of a road map to this show.
This show is set in a world similar to ours, but with an emphasis on supernatural elements. These include monsters called youmu (pronounced yo-moo) that form from the negative feelings of humans. Most people are unable to see these monsters, so it is up certain gifted members of society, called Spirit World Warriors, to deal with these monsters. The two main characters of this show, Mirai Kuriyama and Akihito Kanbara, meet in a somewhat unconventional way. Their relationship gets off to a rough start, especially after Mirai stabs Akihito in the chest with a sword made of her own blood (see what I meant by it not being very well explained? - don’t worry, it gets worse). She is surprised when Akihito calmly asks her to remover her sword. Her surprise grows when she finds out that he is a rare breed of half human, half youmu, thus making him immortal. The story starts out with Akihito helping Mirai gain confidence in defeating youmu, but the true purpose of the series soon comes forth (sorry, I can’t spoil it for you).
Characters: Is it possible for characters to be both dynamic and static at the same time? Because that’s the way it feels in Beyond the Boundary. It’s not that the characters are poorly written, just that they don’t seem to have made any significant changes, but that could just be me. As mentioned before, Akihito Kanbara is an immortal half-youmu. He is part of the literary club at his school and has a thing for glasses. Mirai is a recent transfer to Akihito’s school. She is the last living member of a clan who can manipulate their blood as a weapon. Because of her ability she is ostracized and hated by most of the Spirit World Warrior community (a dark past is hinted at!). Hiromi and Mitsuki are members of the prestigious Nase family. Mitsuki is also in the literary club with Akihito. She reminded me a bit of Chisaki from Nagi no Asukara. I like to think of Hiromi as a Haruka Nanase (Free! Iwatobi Swim Club) with green eyes and a scarf.
Plot: As I mentioned previously, the main conflict takes a while in appearing. It is not that the story is boring at the beginning, just that the true ‘villains’ lurk in the shadows before revealing themselves. As such, there is a decent handful of plot twists that liven things up (gotta love those plot twists!). Also, when the action gets going, it stays going until the end.
Ending: I’m just gonna be honest here, and say that the ending didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I liked the ending, but it didn’t really make sense. There were still questions I had at the end of the anime and some things felt like they needed to be explained, but the plot felt resolved and was enough to satisfy me.
Things to Watch For: The show has some darker aspects to it (ex. Some of the youmu are scary), but keeps clean for the most part.
Sights and Sounds: The style of this anime is very clean and vibrant. It is a joy to watch. I really really liked both the ending and opening songs. Both were catchy and just seemed to fit. The opening builds up in intensity before slowing to a stop at the end, releasing tension in a way that I thought was novel. The ending song is more relaxed, providing a period of down time between episodes. Also, the inset song for the 'filler’ episode is highly entertaining.
Other media: Beyond the Boundary is based off of a light novel series by the same name. There are also two movies, one that retells the events of the anime, and another that is set a year after the anime takes place.
Fillers: One could argue that episode 6 is in fact a filler, and I might agree. While extremely entertaining the episode accomplishes little in the way of advancing the plot. However, it does not detract from the overall flow of the show and I would encourage you to watch it even if you are against fillers as a rule.
Length: Beyond the Boundary is short, with only 12 episodes. Even with the one filler episode it manages to pull off a full-fledged plot that connects from beginning to end.
Where to Watch: You can watch this show on Crunchyroll.
Recommendations: If you liked Beyond the Boundary, or think it sounds up your alley, here are a few other shows you might be interested in:
- Bleach
- Noragami
- Ao no Exorcist
- Nagi no Asukara
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Genre: Drama, action, supernatural, fantasy
General Set-up: Beyond the Boundary doesn’t really do a very good job of explaining itself. Viewers of the show are kind of pushed face-first into a full-immersion experience and left to flounder to the surface by themselves. Thankfully, the world isn’t too complicated and after an episode or two the viewer should be able to figure things out. With this in mind, I would like to give you all a bit of a road map to this show.
This show is set in a world similar to ours, but with an emphasis on supernatural elements. These include monsters called youmu (pronounced yo-moo) that form from the negative feelings of humans. Most people are unable to see these monsters, so it is up certain gifted members of society, called Spirit World Warriors, to deal with these monsters. The two main characters of this show, Mirai Kuriyama and Akihito Kanbara, meet in a somewhat unconventional way. Their relationship gets off to a rough start, especially after Mirai stabs Akihito in the chest with a sword made of her own blood (see what I meant by it not being very well explained? - don’t worry, it gets worse). She is surprised when Akihito calmly asks her to remover her sword. Her surprise grows when she finds out that he is a rare breed of half human, half youmu, thus making him immortal. The story starts out with Akihito helping Mirai gain confidence in defeating youmu, but the true purpose of the series soon comes forth (sorry, I can’t spoil it for you).
Characters: Is it possible for characters to be both dynamic and static at the same time? Because that’s the way it feels in Beyond the Boundary. It’s not that the characters are poorly written, just that they don’t seem to have made any significant changes, but that could just be me. As mentioned before, Akihito Kanbara is an immortal half-youmu. He is part of the literary club at his school and has a thing for glasses. Mirai is a recent transfer to Akihito’s school. She is the last living member of a clan who can manipulate their blood as a weapon. Because of her ability she is ostracized and hated by most of the Spirit World Warrior community (a dark past is hinted at!). Hiromi and Mitsuki are members of the prestigious Nase family. Mitsuki is also in the literary club with Akihito. She reminded me a bit of Chisaki from Nagi no Asukara. I like to think of Hiromi as a Haruka Nanase (Free! Iwatobi Swim Club) with green eyes and a scarf.
Plot: As I mentioned previously, the main conflict takes a while in appearing. It is not that the story is boring at the beginning, just that the true ‘villains’ lurk in the shadows before revealing themselves. As such, there is a decent handful of plot twists that liven things up (gotta love those plot twists!). Also, when the action gets going, it stays going until the end.
Ending: I’m just gonna be honest here, and say that the ending didn’t make a whole lot of sense. I liked the ending, but it didn’t really make sense. There were still questions I had at the end of the anime and some things felt like they needed to be explained, but the plot felt resolved and was enough to satisfy me.
Things to Watch For: The show has some darker aspects to it (ex. Some of the youmu are scary), but keeps clean for the most part.
Sights and Sounds: The style of this anime is very clean and vibrant. It is a joy to watch. I really really liked both the ending and opening songs. Both were catchy and just seemed to fit. The opening builds up in intensity before slowing to a stop at the end, releasing tension in a way that I thought was novel. The ending song is more relaxed, providing a period of down time between episodes. Also, the inset song for the 'filler’ episode is highly entertaining.
Other media: Beyond the Boundary is based off of a light novel series by the same name. There are also two movies, one that retells the events of the anime, and another that is set a year after the anime takes place.
Fillers: One could argue that episode 6 is in fact a filler, and I might agree. While extremely entertaining the episode accomplishes little in the way of advancing the plot. However, it does not detract from the overall flow of the show and I would encourage you to watch it even if you are against fillers as a rule.
Length: Beyond the Boundary is short, with only 12 episodes. Even with the one filler episode it manages to pull off a full-fledged plot that connects from beginning to end.
Where to Watch: You can watch this show on Crunchyroll.
Recommendations: If you liked Beyond the Boundary, or think it sounds up your alley, here are a few other shows you might be interested in:
- Bleach
- Noragami
- Ao no Exorcist
- Nagi no Asukara
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