22nd Thought: Beyond the Boundary - I'll Be Here

HELLO, DEAR READERS!!!

 Sorry for the word. Can't find a better anime meme.

It has been a long time since I last posted in this blog, huh. That’s because English term has come to an end, and currently, I’m in my third term here in college. I thought my days as a newbie blogger would end also, but no! Why? Because I found the goodness in being a blogger. No wonder why most of the renowned ladies like Alodia Gosiengfiao (Philippine Cosplay Goddess), Maine Mendoza (The Dubsmash Queen of the Philippines) and Kathryn Bernardo (one of the famous teen actresses here in PH) are bloggers.

Anyway, I went back on blogging for a movie review. February 10, 2016, Wednesday, I watched three animated films: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Kyoukai no Kanata: Kako Hen, and Kyoukai no Kanata: Mirai Hen. But in this post, I will talk about the Kyoukai no Kanata animated films. 

Kyoukai no Kanata, KyoKana for short, is originally a light novel of the same title with three volumes that had an animated series adaptation (just like most anime) consisting of 12 episodes. In this anime, dreamshades or shades for short (youmu) are the negative emotions of people that take the shape of dark monsters. And it is the job of the Spirit Hunters to lessen their number. Akihito Kanbara, our male protagonist, saw a “bespectacled beauty” (in his opinion) namely Kuriyama Mirai on the rooftop who he thinks will commit suicide. He ran for it and “saved” the girl, but what he received as a reply was unexpected. He was stabbed by the Mirai with a sword of blood, and she said she’ll kill him. Mirai came to his life for a goal: to slay the powerful shade called “Kyoukai no Kanata” or “The One Beyond the Boundary.” However, that powerful creature is inside Akihito which makes him half-human and half-shade and immortal, and he’s aware of that. Because of this, his circle of friends even before Mirai came are Spirit Hunters or related to them. And the story revolves on how to get rid of the powerful shade from his body.

*I made this as short as I can so I can’t give spoilers.

After the series, two animated films were made: Kako Hen and Mirai Hen which follow the original title for distinction; The Past and The Future in English respectively. They are also called the "Beyond the Boundary: I'll Be Here" movie series for their full alternate names are:  

• Beyond the Boundary: I'll Be Here - The Past; and  
• Beyond the Boundary: I'll Be Here - The Future. 

Kyoukai no Kanata: Kako Hen is a summary of the important events in the anime series while Kyoukai no Kanata: Mirai Hen is the sequel of Kako Hen (or the anime series itself) showing the events after the ending of the series and Kako Hen.

Kyoukai no Kanata: Kako Hen Movie Poster

Kyoukai no Kanata: Mirai Hen Movie Poster

I got hooked with this anime before for its well-mixed comedy, fantasy, drama, action and romance genres. I watched the movies of this series because I wasn’t satisfied with the ending of the anime. And now that I really liked it, I want to read the light novel. I hope there’s an English version of the light novel. 

As for the movies, Kako Hen is perfect for those who doesn’t want to watch the anime series because it summarized the whole series well. It also used both the opening and ending theme songs of the series as insert songs of the movie. I enjoyed the ending song so much for its beat because the ending theme is a mild Japanese rap that can make your head banging mildly. On the other hand, Mirai Hen was different. It’s full of drama because… HOMAHGAHD no! I can’t tell you! All I can say is that it’s full of drama that’s giving off a sad mood. It gave me so much “feels” as what today’s generation call it (talking as if I’m old, huh) specifically sadness and at times, pain. It also gave me some realizations that can be reflected to real life. Don’t worry ‘cause it still has those action scenes and suspense so as not to bore you. Overall, the two movies are fine. 

There are many anime series that you can watch. They’re so many that you can’t pick which one to watch first. There are also many good anime series to watch, and they’re most probably the famous ones online. But if you are the type who doesn’t want to resort to the mainstream ones like Sword Art Online, Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, Your Lie in April, Tokyo Ghoul, Parasyte: The Maxim and many others, try this recommendation of mine: Kyoukai no Kanata. :)

PS: Guys, get ready to love the female characters XD