「白の世界」 (Shiro no Sekai)
“White World”

So first thing’s first, I’ll admit that I was thoroughly impressed by how this episode turned out. Some people may disagree, but I’ll explain why I enjoyed it more than the previous 2 weeks. It’s possible that the past 2 weeks have lowered my expectations for Kyoukai no Kanata considerably. This past arc has been confusing and there was a lot happening at once that left everyone up in the air. This week devoted an entire episode (or just half) to explain to the audience why these things happened and what transpired in between each episode of the series so far. It follows around Mirai and what brought her to this town in the first place. The show dropped hints here and there about Mirai’s relationship with Izumi, but it was never solidified until now. In fact, I actually forgot a lot of the “meetings” that they had until this episode refreshed my memory. It was a nice “Oooooohh… I get it now” type of moment and it makes the story come full circle. Now I realize that a lot of people could have seen it coming, but as a viewer who doesn’t try and predict everything, it honestly makes the revelation more impactful. This is one of those series that I could marathon in an afternoon and I would probably find it a lot more enjoyable because I don’t really have time to think about it, you just watch one episode after the next and it doesn’t give you time to nitpick at all its imperfections. Looking back now, the show still isn’t perfect, but this episode partially makes up for it because it ties a lot of loose ends together.

I also love the method that they chose to tell this story. I’m a huge fan of flashbacks and like I said last week, I would’ve liked it if they showed the story from one or two people’s perspectives rather than a 3rd person’s POV jumping everywhere. This episode was all about Mirai and Izumi (and Akihito) and I thought it explained a lot, but it also didn’t slow the story down. There’s still plot advancements happening with Mirai’s internal struggle and then there’s the explanation piece that ties together Akihito’s encounter with Mirai. It wasn’t an accident that they met and hey, for those that kept wondering why Mirai was stabbing Akihito all the time, that too is addressed. There were so many pieces floating around and even situations that I wrote off as “just because“, were considered when retelling Mirai’s story. I don’t want to say that it’s brilliant, but I do love a story that’s tied together well. You might say that it’s a cheap way to tie everything off because the director or writer left a lot of loose ends, but I’d like to think that they were cleverly placed foreshadowed events that led to this moment. This doesn’t excuse the fact that the previous few episodes were poorly executed, but at least this shows that they were leading up to something.

Now the question is, where is it headed? Our final arc looks like it’s all about saving Mirai after she’s absorbed the KnK youmu. Now that the KnK has been removed from Akihito, doesn’t that make him a regular human? There was also that clever kiss that just attached itself with Mirai’s goodbye to Akihito. If I had more of an emotional attachment to Mirai, I would’ve probably shed a tear, but it was too brief and sudden. There’s one thing that I still don’t think the show delivers on – attachment to characters. I much prefer the Nase siblings to our main protagonists, but that might be because of personal preferences to certain females archetypes. Anyway, I’m not so much worried about the technicalities of the show like how they’re going to save Mirai, or where she went… I think I’m more concerned about how they deliver the ending and whether they tell it right. No more abrupt changes in scenes and no more random cuts in hopes to provide explanations later. Let’s just get to the chase and hope that the show ends on a good note. It’s nice to see some slice-of-life moments in the midst of all this drama, but I honestly think that that time could be used much more wisely.

TL;DR – @RCCherrie:Well that explains a lot… I liked the way that flashback happened ^^ the subtle hints were there but it tied together wonderfully #kyo_kai

Full-length images: 10, 20.

 

Preview

84 Comments

  1. For me this episode was also more enjoyable than the action packed earlier episodes. Things have finally fallen in place, and the revelation that Mirai knew Akihito was Kyoukai no Kanata all along made me think about the development of their relationship in a new light.

    I think Izumi still has something up her sleeve that we’re not privy to yet. She has been the most enigmatic character in this whole series. To me, the way she told the Nase family elder about her plan to tell Mirai to force KnK out of Akihito’s body during the Calm makes it sound like she has ulterior motives for doing so, beyond just taking down KnK. Maybe she’s trying to kill two birds with one stone: take down KnK to help reinforce the Nase clan’s power, and exterminate Mirai’s clan once and for all.

    mangaka-chan
    1. Don’t forget the Hunter Association.
      Izumi’s plan to obtain/defeat the shade from beyond also seems to have the added bonus of ensuring Nase dominance over the Association’s influence, and the Association seeks to prevent that from happening.

      zztop
    1. I don’t think she is. She’s probably in some space that the KnK created. Plus despite this episode explaining some of the confusion, this doesn’t change my opinion about Izumi. Still don’t like her.

      We(ss
  2. This episode somehow reminds me of a certain scene on madoka. I’ll leave out the details on that ep. Like some mentioned, things are falling into place. Wonder though how will things wrap up since there’s a couple of episodes left. It feels like some character needs to be fleshed out more. Haven’t checked the light novel yet, but there’s likely a next arc. Correct me if I’m wrong though.

    se7en
  3. With works as great as Hyouka and works as average as Tamako Market, I did not know how Kyoani would handle Kyoukai no Kanata. The show had a very promising start, but as it progressed it left us with a lot of questions. And it seemed as episodes went on more of these questions kept popping up. BUT (and that’s a big but…t) Episode 10 came along and did its magic and it just catapulted this show into one of my favorites this season. It’s been a while since a show has really touch me and this episode has done that.

    Now, with three episodes left, I really hope that they finish this show in a very spectacular fashion!

    Cheers

    end3rr
  4. Thie episode revealing one whole part of the story we didn’t know so far gives me the vibes like that of the Homura-centric episode in Madoka Magica.
    *Coincidentally that episode is also the tenth episode.

    Btw, any chance of covering the Kyoukai no Kanata ONAs? (Two so far)
    As in Kyoukai no Kanata Idol Saiban, with CHIBI versions of Mitsuki, Ai, Mirai & Sakura.

    Techim
  5. Finally some revelations that explain events at the beginning of the story and change the perception of some others.

    One thing I didn’t quite grasp is the winter scenes with Mirai and Akihito. I assume they were part of his unconscious dreaming but they didn’t seem to have a reason, whereas the summer scenes were explanatory. Did I miss something?

    1. That was in the KnK-space. Its what Mirai is experiencing right now after she was “absorbed”. The “Akihito” that doesnt react is the youmu, (I think I heard Mirai say this in the episode?)

      Libélula
    2. I am also confused with the winter scenes. throughout the viewing I had two speculations:

      1. Mirai is gone, Akihito is awake, those summer scenes are Akkey’s dreams, and winter scenes are also in Akkey’s dreams, since dreams are bound to be somewhat unsensical. In other words, what was presented.

      2. Mirai killed Akihito. The unresponsive Akihito in winter scenes is his lifeless (or soulless) body moving as an automaton. Mirai tries her damnedest to bring back her beloved senpai but cannot do anything, hence the summer scenes and Akihito waking up scenes are actually in her mind, wishing she had done what was presented to the viewers.

      hyacinth
    3. I was a bit confused as well, but I think it is his subconcious reacting to her sacrfice, but Mirai still being there and trying to snap him out of it.

      Also, perhaps it was just me, but when they were walking home in the snow – when they had that overhead shot, I didn’t see Mirai’s footprints beside Akihito. It could simply be because he was walking so heavily and she is small, or it could have been a foreshadowing of how she’s not really there (because she didn’t make dents when she fell and was digging her feet into the snow).

      Satch
  6. I had a sort of mixed impression of this episode. I’ll admit that the backstory with Izumi and Mirai was enjoyable to watch because it finally brought a look into the behind the scenes stuff and removing some of the mystery around Izumi was sorely needed. However I can’t help but feel that the purpose for this episode was to mop up the mess that this show created through very poor pacing. But there are still 3 episodes left so there should be enough time to tie all of the mysteries together (hopefully).

    livevoid
  7. it was executed really well. gently moving from one event toward another in the dream/flashback. it was really nice.

    however, is that mean that now everything is OK with KNK? are we that easy to read? by manipulating and twisting some things in story?
    in one way, I feel a little bit cheated. sure, it was all making sense and explain things. that’s great in terms of plot (told you they’ll close all the plot holes). but it was a mere manipulation of scriptwriter. nothing was “special” here. I didn’t feel any “extra value” or a new aspect of the series. it’s like the twist is for the sake of twisting and manipulating to help them solve problems and appeal us . it’s like a “bad” salesman saying “you see, eventually this product is good”. bringing one advantage doesn’t make it good.

    but so far is just one way to look at it.
    it also brought an interesting thing which Cherrie has mentioned, and it’s about “what makes a regular in their world”. that kiss also tried to put some leverage to it, but I still wasn’t enough. but maybe they are saving it for next ep.

    a good example of this is Mirai.
    on one hand, the ep tried to make clear about her actions since day 1 and what she has been through since meeting Akihito. and it was nice to have a different explanation from what we have seen so far. on the other hand, at the end of the day, nothing really “new” here. we knew how Mirai is conflicted about Akihito. we also had the feeling she developed emotions toward him. but it’s like we are “on square 1”. actually square ep 9, ’cause in terms of her character, besides a more reasonable explanation, nothing really is new here.

    what I am trying to say is..there is different perspective to look at what happened here.
    sure, it was nice enough and I even can say it was pretty much fun to watch. but it doesn’t make KNK now be so “bright and genius”.
    don’t get me wrong, I am not always expecting some “sophisticated” twist or something (it was in some way), but when you do go for a twist, it should also wrap up some extra dimension of characters and plot, and not leave everything as it was. they could pull out more about it.
    despite that, I did enjoyed the ep (basically if I was asked I even said I was enjoying KyoKan, though I would point out some of its disadvantages).

    p.s
    Mirai was that cute in the Kimono? I didn’t remember it that way….oh right. it was the same ep which Mitsuki was with Kimono so I was focused on her…quite clever KNK 😛

    thedarktower
  8. Me speculating what the last 3 episodes were going to be; no luck. They just broke every damn thing I was hoping they would do. Screw that, they even threw a damn unexpected one. I seriously didn’t expect Mirai would be the one taken…. That was a slick one..

    Great ep for the Mirai tidbits. Mostly almost everything regarding Mirai was a confirmation. I’d say I hit quite a lot of my speculations there but there were still some very interesting parts.
    I found it interesting that ep 4 had different points of view to its drama.

    It’s nice to see some slice-of-life moments in the midst of all this drama, but I honestly think that that time could be used much more wisely.

    I disagree. This really was what made this episode for me a great one. The sickeningly ordinary daily life in the dream sequence. It was a perfect way to approach the situation of Aki being in the hospital for months. It was quite a clever way of showing Aki gradually coming back to his senses and also depicting the seasons that went by.

    I like how the entire timeline threw me off. At first I thought Mirai vanished two weeks ago. A few skims I realized Mirai had already been missing for 3 months. What’s more interesting is that in the snowing world above(KnK realm) it showed Mirai with her birthday glasses. Another interesting note someone pointed out is that Mirai’s birthday is March. Makes me question the time progression in that world assuming it’s real and not just some realm.

    Aside from the good things in this episode there are some problems I still have. While it enforces Mirai as a character, the juciest questions are still left in the dark. I was expecting this episode to handle one of the factions which partly they did. However the ulterior motives are still murky. I refuse to believe that Izumi/Nase Clan wants Aki dead just because he is a danger. What’s even more annoying is that I’m itching to know who the lifeless Aki is.

    Judging next week episodes by the preview, it’s a full blown struggle against the KnK. However I fear that they may not have any time to flesh out Miroku and his real faction. It’s questionable at some point if Miroku does work for the society.

    One thing I can say for this show, as terribly inconsistent the quality is in the dialogue department, they still kept reasoning in tact and managed to pull off a well foreshadowed event. Can’t wait for next week.

    *Mirai being inside Aki as a dream kinda happened already in ep 4.

    megalith
    1. I think they wanted this to feel like a Chekhov’s gun situation but because they bungled Mirai’s development so completely it just ends up feeling like patching up the narrative as I mentioned below.

      Kaioshin Sama
    2. daaamnnn, that’s a bit rude to the writer dontcha think??….but anyway there really isnt anything amateurish going on here per se. You can tell a story without the need for everything to be so straight forward. As someone on the net said about this ep, had this ep been told in straight forward manner, it wouldnt be as interesting, and i agree to a certain extent (while i believe a properly well-executed, straight-forward story-telling method could have kept the intrigue within the narrative, it was a quite an interesting approach to tell it this way.)

      Mirai is stuck in the white world of the beyond the boundary (where it seems she took care of Akihito’s consciousness until it returned to him) and Akihito is within the black world ( i dont know if the black world is suppose to be their world or an alternate plain; im going to assume for now that Akihito is in the real world and it will be the next ep in which he travels to the black world of beyond the boundary when trying to rescue Mirai). This ep actually makes me want to see what happens between the two, because now this has become both mirai and akihito’s story, and its here that i feel like these two characters will finally be able to carry this series as they were meant to because from here on out, they will be both fighting beyond the boundary from opposite points. Mirai will deal with the part of it that exist in the white world while Akihito helps in the black world. Although things wont be easy because i bet you anything Miroku is going to use this chance to unleash the hollow shadow within all this confusion and mayhem

      sonicsenryaku
    3. Well I gave my reasons in my post for being impressed by this episode. First of all, my expectations aren’t that high and second of all, what’s wrong with liking this “gimmick”? I don’t think of it as a gimmick at all but if you do, that’ll just make it worse for you to watch the episode because you can’t enjoy it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the way that this episode was presented. The skipping around is only due to the fact that we’ve already seen the rest of the story previously and these scenes are just to fill in the holes. If they replayed everything from start to finish, people would call that repetitive.

      1. What better way to make yourself sound intelligent and important by calling other people simple and amateurish? Sceptile should be able to educate us all because s/he’s such an expert and genius in literature and directing.

        RickyMack
    1. I think it was passable compared to what we’ve seen before. The problem is that the show set the bar so low already with how it’s storytelling has been up to this point that it feels like right now they’re just sort of plugging holes and trying to make things that made absolutely no sense before sort of make sense. Essentially the show is trying to make it so that it can least be functional as a narrative, but it’s still incredibly mediocre and looks to be setting up a rather predictable finale. Hopefully for it’s sake it doesn’t create any more narrative problems and character inconsistencies in the final two.

      One thing I definitely don’t agree with is some people saying that it magically fixes everything that was wrong with the show just cause Mirai’s motivations and goals sort of kind of feel more consistent now. It was terrible that they left things hanging so long that this essentially just feels like a quick fix for tying the anime original content that started with episode five back to the novel content and it sucks that I still don’t give even the slightest damn what happens to Akihito and Mirai or how their relationship turns out. It’s just hard to care whether Akihito can go back to lusting over Mirai’s glasses look and Mirai being flustered over absolutely everything or not. This show still has a lot of problems….

      Kaioshin Sama
      1. Well,the fact that KnK’s set the bar so low is actually the main reason that I’m personally liking this episode more than I probably should(same thing with the idol episode,but I’ll admit that it got a little bit better after that).I’m barely expecting anything from it so when it does something good I’ll go like “Hey,this wasn’t so bad.”

        Also,as in a post below,KnK’s story Mirai & Akihito’s so despite the story itself being rather decent,it’s hard to be interested in it if you’re not invested in the characters.It’s a character driven story with weak characters.

        MgMaster
  9. With most questions answered and things now open up in the air…HOLY FRIJOLES DID YOU SEE THAT BEAUTIFUL OP TRANSITION?! I couldn’t help but stand up and applaud. Using such a thing as a true relative storytelling device (like Fate/Zero’s first ED), ugh I love the creativity and cleverness of it.

    The Amateur Detective
    1. I agree, that prologue transition to the OP was genius indeed. It makes me think that the whole OP sequence is actually a prologue to the story in itself.

      Notice how Mirai is only shown in the train during the whole sequence, I’m thinking the other scenes shown are actually events that happened before Mirai’s arrival. Like a couple of battles with youmu and possibly a brief glimpse of when Aki lost control and hurt Hiroomi. Also, I think the end part of the OP where Mirai steps out of the train and Akihito was on a bench near the train station is where Aki actually saw Mirai for the first time. Being the glasses freak that he is I’m quite sure he noticed her immediately 😛

      Zechan
  10. There was also that clever kiss

    They didn’t actually kiss though; unless it was mistranslated she chickened out. Which was entirely in character for her as they’ve been hinting/teasing through other character’s that she liked Aki for a while now and she’s been too shy to outright admit it to anyone let alone him.

    Dave
      1. It could be but what she says and the way they setup they sequence feels more like they’re being very deliberate teases there.

        Show Spoiler ▼

        Admittedly, subject to interpretation but that also feels more like the character.

        Dave K
  11. One question about Akihito that I’ve been wondering about is that now that it seems he is just human is he a Spirit Warrior like his mom? He could be but then Sakura didn’t inherit the same abilities as her sister.

    1. Speaking of his mother, I wish she was a little more involved other than those stupid postcards. Does she know any of this happened or what? How exactly did Akihito come to be anyways?

      sealouse
      1. Yes, i liked a lot of this episode but there are still two things bothering me. Our boy is half youmu correct? So dad is the father of KNK? How is there a prophecy that he is going to destroy the world if he is only 16? Is it if a half youmu is ever born? Where are his parents? You would think this would be important enough for them to show up.

        Mike
  12. As someone who’s considered this show average at best(and that’s including KyoAni animation),I’ll admit that I very much liked this episode and would consider it the best one so far.I always appreciate a show who doesn’t leave out loose ends.

    It’s still far from making me eagerly anticipate the next episode though.The story’s come full circle but I barely feel any attachment to Mirai & Akihito and the fact that this is their story doesn’t really help.

    MgMaster
  13. I genuinely liked this episode; i didnt just enjoy it…i actually liked it which took me by surprise. The only thing i kept saying in the back of my mind as i watched this ep was that it would be so much more heartbreaking had the first nine eps spent its time more carefully making me care deeply for Mirai and Akihito…i care about those two dont get me wrong, but i dont care as much as i should and i feel that part of what made this ep more successful is that when the ep was over, i cared a lil more about what would happen between the two. It’s funny that so many people mention that Kyokai no Kanata has set the bar so low when the show itself is quite solid. The first five eps, while not breaking any new ground were quite solid despite some execution hiccups. I guess that’s what happens when hype surrounds a series just because kyoani was doing an action series where not many people are privy to the source material or its quality because i can almost guarantee that had many poeple known what kind of series they were getting into (a decent series with decent source material), opinions would be less critical.

    sonicsenryaku
  14. I can’t remember the last time I watched a series with characters I felt nothing whatsoever for. I like Hiroomi, dislike Mirai and don’t care what happens to any of them. I’m just curious where they’re going with this and apparently that’s enough for me to keep watching…

    q
  15. Maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention during previous episodes, but the revelation about Mirai actually did come as a surprise to me. I figured the trying-to-kill-Akihito-constantly thing in the first episode really was just her being curious about his immortality, and inconsiderate about his pain (since she’s been shown several times to think of youmu as lesser than humans). It seemed to just be played for laughs/shock value, so I took it at face value. And I thought her pushing Akihito away was just her reserved nature; just her being socially awkward; just her feeling like she doesn’t deserve to have friends after what happened with Yui. And I completely forgot about most of the meetings with Izumi, too. The show didn’t dwell on them, so I didn’t either.

    I thought this episode was really well done. The flashbacks really did make me go, “Oh, THAT’S what was going on”. I’m not super attached to Mirai or Akihito as characters, either, admittedly. There just hasn’t been enough time put into building their relationship, I guess. But I did really feel for both of them this episode, and I think they’re both more nuanced characters than the usual KyoAni leads. During the first episode I got a negative first impression of Mirai, because she seemed like yet another shallow, skittish, clumsy moeblob. But I think she’s been given more depth than any of KyoAni’s other moe girls by now in these 10 episodes. And she hasn’t tripped over anything since like, Episode 2, man … \o/

    AJ
  16. …. For any of you who had doubts about the weird pacing, I think this episode should turn you around! TONS of revelations happened in just this one alone!! Now the dynamic for the two main characters changes!

    starss
  17. im a little sympathetic to the twist if only for what it was trying to do… i don’t know that the show bungled the character development so much as it was attempted in a much more subtler vein and the twist certainly added to that.

    honestly im really just thinking of the akihito questioning mirai why she constantly pushes him away, and it adds a nice extra dimension to that arc. im not sure what people were looking for in terms of further character development in 9 episodes, apart from being more attracted to the nase family/society dynamic than your typical romeo and juliet bastardization (although this one at least is a little more overt in pointing out how stupid the two are for wanting to sacrifice themselves for the other… youthful lust indeed). and honestly the whole siscon humor bullshit fell flat for me, apart from him mocking the perverted nature of akki.

    i do find fault in the whole society guy (cant even remember his name) being there to simply cause drama, unless they retcon that as well. then again, they can’t tie up EVERY loose end with one plot twist… furthermore, the younger nase siblings seemed to have had very little effect on anything plot-related in the end which certainly seems kinda shitty towards their character arcs…

    i honestly think the twist did a good job of explaining the seeming plot holes and adding a nice emotional touch to the reveal. after all the twist wasn’t COMPLETELY out of left field (hell the constant stabbing in the beginning and the kyoukai-reveal seemed to be MORE than enough to hint at this development) and it didn’t take away from the emotional impact of the reveal by reveling in it’s cleverness. it came across as “here’s something you didn’t know (but could probably guess) about mirai and why she acted the way she did”. point of order, they chose to reveal her sacrifice AFTER the first plot twist thereby adding to the drama in that respect…

    Bananarchy
  18. I’m happy that this episode answered some questions (was not expecting that Mirai was the one taken!), but I don’t know… I didn’t really like how they gave us a roll of flashbacks? It just seemed… so packed/stuffed? I really can’t find the right words…
    But, definitely, this episode was better than last week’s!

    rochichan
  19. Mitsuki : Also, drag that pervert over there back to the clubroom with you. *point to the bushes*
    Akihito : Hey, pervert.
    Hiro’omi : What, pervert?

    oh gosh I love the interactions between those 3

    Kairoru
  20. Meh, so Aki is actually alive and it’s the reverse: Mirai is the one trapped in Beyond the Boundary.

    Also, we finally get too see how it all started: Mirai being hired to kill Aki but she became too close to her target and every one is convinced that the yokai inside Aki can destroy the world. The onee-san is actually the mastermind of this cruel play and every one knows, save Aki.

    Looks like we’re headed for an end where Aki will attempt to rescue Mirai. Can’t wait to see next week’s episode.

    TheMoondoggie
  21. Wasn’t really surprised about the revelations they did in this episode… at this point I hardly care about the cast anymore lol and to be honest some of these revelations, while it answers some questions, make some parts kind of pointless.

    For example… if you go back episode 4 where Mirai and Akihito are doing the “do I look normal” drama… Mirai was going “I’m sorry senpai it was me who didn’t know” but as episode 10 has explained she actually knew about Akihito being dangerous. So what was that all about?

    Mirai has trouble killing youmu at the start? Why? She was set on killing Akihito. Another useless alteration made by Kyoani.

    And also 1 drop of blood used by Mirai to communicate with Akihito? You’d think that Mirai’s blood would poison him instead but Mirai’s blood somehow gained a new ability… I dunno I just can’t accept the fact that Mirai’s blood can magically do stuff when the plot needs it to. So far it can: can kill and erode/poison things, can suppress KnK without killing Akihito, can be used to communicate with other people, can absorb KnK without killing Akihito… the last part was actually some made up BS by Izumi(she said it herself this episode that it’s just some stupid bait to trick Mirai into killing Akihito) but it ended up working anyway.

    MartianMage
    1. Mirai said so because she was lying of course. She is hinding her true purpose from Akihito, and for me, that answer has a great impact indeed. It show that she had a hesitance in her mind.

      “Mirai has trouble killing youmu at the start”. I not sure why, might be she made it up with Akihito, might be that youmu bring back bad memories to her. In the second ep, I saw that she has a realy powerful power that she not be scared because she weak, but because she don’t want to kill it. She was set on killing Akihito because she have to, there are no other way, to a girl of cured clan, hated by many other, and of course because Izumi saved her.

      And I will not talk about why Mirai able to communicate with Akihito with just 1 drop of blood. It obviously, this is a fantasy anime, you don’t need to question yourshelf why there are youmu or why there are Kyoukai no Kanata. It’s something mysterious make up for your imagination. So please, stop complain about the show, just enjoy it. I don’t see this show has to much issue in it, it’s a anime anyway. Just watch it and use your imagination, that will help you enjoy the anime more.

      Gennuy
      1. What makes you sure Mirai is lying? Also even if she did lie it doesn’t make all the drama in episode 4 any less awkward.

        Also just because this is a fantasy anime people can just roll with whatever it throws at us. At the very least they should try to explain but they don’t even try so it’s pretty much an asspull for me.

        MartianMage
      2. What makes you sure Mirai is lying?

        What makes you sure she isn’t. She has a motive to lie.

        Also just because this is a fantasy anime people can just roll with whatever it throws at us.

        There’s a reason why fantasy needs constant suspension of disbelief. There’s no need to explain everything about Mirai’s blood since it’s not important with the story.

        TheMoondoggie
      3. What makes you sure she isn’t. She has a motive to lie.

        So? Right now this is only an assumption. An assumption made just to make sense of the drama. And like I said even if you assume that Mirai is lying it doesn’t make rewatching episode 4 any less awkward. Well that’s something I don’t have to worry about cause I definitely don’t have any plans to rewatch this lmao.

        There’s a reason why fantasy needs constant suspension of disbelief. There’s no need to explain everything about Mirai’s blood since it’s not important with the story.

        It is important. Like I said just because it’s fantasy doesn’t mean people can just roll with whatever it throws at us. If Mirai’s blood cleaned the dishes, cured cancer, and prevented world hunger next episode you’re just gonna roll with is and say it’s fantasy so it’s ok? Obviously it’s not. They need to explain the limits of what she can do. Besides Izumi said in this very episode that all that talk about absorbing KnK using her blood was just some random BS she made up to trick Mirai into killing Akihito.

        MartianMage
      4. If Mirai’s blood cleaned the dishes, cured cancer, and prevented world hunger next episode you’re just gonna roll with is and say it’s fantasy so it’s ok? Obviously it’s not. They need to explain the limits of what she can do. Besides Izumi said in this very episode that all that talk about absorbing KnK using her blood was just some random BS she made up to trick Mirai into killing Akihito.

        But then what if there’s no limits? Seriously, it’s like asking Log Horizon to explain everything about the world and the game, which I gave up on since I realized it isn’t important(and they won’t do it anyway). The information you were asking isn’t important because it’s not gonna help the plot in anyway. It’s just gonna be a piece of trivia that won’t be explored again after this arc, should a second season appear and the series be extended.

        So? Right now this is only an assumption. An assumption made just to make sense of the drama.

        And your guess on this is what? Bad writing? Plot hole? Some buzzword “critics” use just to make themselves look smarter? If that is how you answer everything in anime, all of anime would just be like Swiss cheese: full of holes.

        TheMoondoggie
      5. I dunno, there does have to be a limit. Certainly the fantasy setting allows for the limits of OUR reality to be extended but the setting needs some internal consistency because suspension of disbelief doesnt just mean you get to throw all the rules out when it comes to character motivation and plot progression and really any other narrative device. So yes, all of these magical new blood abilities dont necessarily have to be explained but they certainly cant contradict what we’ve been told unless you devise some way for it to work within the context of the setting thats been developed at this point because that just turns mirai’s blood into a dei ex machina (which its already dangerously close to at thia point) and becomes an easy fix to plot/setting constraints that allow for lazy storytelling and undercuts whatever drama the story attempts to sell us. So really just saying “lol its anime whatever” isnt anything close to a justification and your example of log horizon falls flat. Because the plot hasnt chosen to address why they’re there and any rule they’ve made about the internal structure of that plot/setting hasnt relied on why they’re trapped and they’ve managed to stay consistent within that context. Which is why people arent exactly complaining about the log horizon setting because by leaving it a mystery hasnt infringed on our suspension of disbelief or resulted in contradictions for how that world operates.

        Bananarchy
      6. I agree with TheMoondoggie in the sense that, you can’t go questioning and overanalyzing every detail in a fantasy story. Especially since this is an anime with 20 mins/episode, there isn’t a lot of time to explain the entire world that the story lives in. It might be possible in a novel, but definitely not for the sake of this anime. I think that as long as something isn’t completely offside (like monsters appearing in Samurai Flamenco lol), then I don’t see why I have to always ask “why”. If so, you really will be disappointed because a lot of stories will have plot holes or unexplained phenomena (like things happening because of “the power of love and friendship”).

        At the same time, things can’t be completely random like how Bananarchy pointed out consistency. The problem with fantasy is that a lot of elements may change overtime or further explanation is provided for certain events. I remember blogging Accel World and so many things would just pop up about the world because those rules or players exists. Just because I never knew of it’s existence, doesn’t mean that it’s random. In this case, I think Mirai’s blood can be capable of many powers, and perhaps she’s not even aware of some of them herself.

    2. Its actually stated in the ep that although mirai knew what she was enter out to do..she didn’t full understand his situation until ep 4…which makes sense. Just because she was sent out to kill him doesn’t mean she knows the isolation he feels. Ep 4 is when she saw first hand how someone who she didn’t think was a bad Guy got treated like which was why she felt so emotional when it hit her.

      sonicsenryaku
  22. I really enjoy this anime. This is one of few anime in this season that I able to follow. I don’t see why many people don’t like it and love to watch kill la kill instead. Kill la Kill, for me, that anime is hard to swallow. I don’t watch all of it ep so I don’t know if its splot are good or not. However, its animation, the characters, I really don’t like any of it.

    This anime of course has some ep that disapointed me, ep 7 and 8, but it’s still not enough to make me drop it. other than Kill la Kill, I droped it after watch ep 2. It’s just my oppinion though and I still believe in Kyoukai no Kanata that it will bring good entertainment and good ending aswell.

    Gennuy
    1. Kill la Kill has a ton of energy and invokes that feeling of gar and coolness that we don’t see all that often out of anime anymore, at least not to the degree it does. Kyoukai no Kanata feels like the same old kind of show we always tend to get from Kyoani albeit with a sort of fantasy action skin it tries to wear. Lot of focus on slapstick and manzai comedy, lot of trying to make the female characters seem as moe and quirky as possible, lot of cheesy one liner shouting from the male characters and talking about fetishes and otaku culture stuff, occasional fight here and there, an ever so slight twist of drama at the 11th hour. It all has the feeling of been there done that despite there being some action sequences inbetween and I just don’t think there’s enough imagination put into any of this be it from a visual or writing perspective. Yeah it looks good, but Kill la Kill easily stands out by comparison with what it has going on as a battle action anime.

      Kaioshin Sama
  23. Honestly I turned my brain off towards the plot a good number of episodes ago, and am now just enjoying it for the character interactions and the flawless animation style. Despite having my hopes dashed that this would be Kyoto Animation’s epic return, I still find it incredibly enjoyable to watch on a completely shallow level. It gives me a nice feeling and every now and again the fight scenes just get me pumped. At the end of the day, as long as I’m entertained, why complain about what COULD have been.

    SugarBand
    1. lols, really ? .. there is nothing wrong with the plot sir, turn that brain back on please .. and don’t give us the “what COULD have been” monologue because this makes it sound like you are saying that you more talented than the writers working on the show, because you know .. PROVE IT, write a better story and entertain us please XD

      Oh, and Kyoto aren’t about making epics or series with complex multi-layerd plots .. if you think so then you clearly haven’t been watching them for long, they deliver wonderful animation, likable characters and decent plots that have a lot of fun/silly moments and at some point deliver some emotional moments near the final arc using our attachments to the characters and the silly moments to their advantage .. that’s all what Kyoto is about and i love them for being good at what they do .. and that formula applies to all their shows whether it’s Hyouka, Chuuinbyou, Tamako Market… etc etc, sure some of them are better than others but they all have their charms.

  24. I guess I’m in the minority for not liking this episode (and liking the previous episode more) huh? While the flashback explanation and sort-of-kissing scene is nice I spend too much time wandering what’s going on in this episode and the end still left a bit confused with what’s going on. So, that’s kind of ruin the episode for me. People talked about how this series has terrible pacing and stuff and this episode is the turn around but it was the reversee for me. It feel just fine except for this episode. (emphasis on feel I don’t really bother thinking about storytelling technicalities here). Heck, I even like the idol song episode.

    Salbazier
    1. The “idol song” episode (also known as the fruit yomu episode) is a crowd splitter .. people will either love it or loathe it, and i can see why .. it’s quite a risky choice, on one hand it was damn funny (heck damn hilarious), it delivered some interesting look into the world of kyoukai-kanata and its inhabitants, and even a nice fun song (with beautiful animation) and a montage that involves what can be considered the four main character bonding together .. it’s a nice package even if some might consider a waster of time, a filler episode or pandering even .. i can see why they would say that becasue it doesn’t really push the plot forward and seems quite silly and out of place .. but to hell with that .. i still love it .. i even downloaded the song clip and play it over and over along with the OP and ED songs XD

    2. I’m not particularly confused at all, the symbolism is actually surprisingly simplistic compared to say the likes of Kyousougiga this season. The winter scenario symbolizes what is supposed to be the harsh reality, Mirai trapped alone and having to face the Kyoukai no Kanata, the summer scenario symbolizes what is supposed to be the ideal which is Mirai and Akihito both being fine and enjoying time together, and the Autumn scenario is the real world which symbolizes that the actual situation is currently hanging in limbo between the two inside of the Beyond the Boundary thing.

      The real problem comes in that this all relies on us actually caring enough about the cast and thinking in terms of Kyoani idealism (girls in bathing suits, puppy love between Aki and Mirai, clear summer lit skies) to want the summer scenario to become the reality and the winter one to be rejected and to be honest I don’t necessarily care what happens either way.

      Kaioshin Sama
      1. There’s more to it than that; the dark world, white world, and real world are all working in tandem while Akihito and Mirai interact in a dream-like state, the real disastrous stuff is happening in the real world, which is also reflected in the dream. This is the potential i saw in Kyokai no kanata and im glad its here; this scenario is pretty ambitious.

        sonicsenryaku
  25. Last week, they trolled us about Aki’s sudden “death”…and now, it turns out to be Mirai. I’m not expecting KyoAni to hurt me like this! D; Why must this anime is 13 episodes?! The way they explained everything in a flash, man that was hard to register especially the fast flash-back!

    For the last two episodes, Izumi really swooned me with her epic moves. And now, Mitsuki is distracting me with her assets which i cant decide whether to read the subtitles or observing her boobs XDDD

    onion warrior
  26. I am a bit confused, as the constant time-skipping made mess of my head. Is Mirai dead, possessed or still rescue-able? And what time of year it actually is? (Summer in the dream, autumn (by the color of leaves) when Akihito wakes up, or winter as seen with the scenes of Mirai running in the snow?

    ewok40k
    1. That’s my interpretation.

      Winter – The Black world, a dimension where Beyond the Border exists i suppose, that’s where Mirai was pulled when she was possessed by it.
      Autumn – The Real world where Akihito wakes up.
      Summer – The White World, is Akihito’s summer dream world which Mirai created in his head using what was left of her blood in his body.

      I suppose the next episode will be about Akihito trying to enter the “Winter world” to save Mirai.

  27. What if they are more after Mirai? That it’s Mirai’s blood that they are trying to not let the Miroku get a hold of? And this is all going according to Izumi’s plan?

    It’s just a shot in the dark, and I’m probably thinking too deeply on it, but I thought I’d throw it out there as a possibility.

    Satch

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