12.14
Strike a pose, readers.
Since I have taken the reign in blogging Kill la Kill, now’s a better time as any to discuss the show’s counterpart this season. Kyoukai no Kanata, or Beyond the Boundary in case this ever gets dubbed, has proven to be an irksome watch. You might ask me why I would continue this show if I dislike it, but there’s a certain catharsis in seeing a show stumble like this. I often feel like I’m watching a mirror of the former show, illustrating the foil that turns left every time Kill la Kill goes right. In a sense, that’s what describes Kyoukai no Kanata. Kill la Kill is the high school dropout with high ambitions, whereas Kyoukai no Kanata is the college undergraduate with no real goal in sight. Despite having more refined production values, KnK doesn’t have the zest that its contemporary has.
Early criticism for Kill la Kill weighed heavily on how the show’s depiction of female characters, with some declaring the show as sexist due to Ryuko often being shown in revealing clothing. In time, that accusation became questioned as only a surface criticism, with any perceived misogyny only coming from a cursory analysis of the show instead of looking further. Plus, saying that women wearing revealing clothing are demeaning goes into another implication, with how we expect people to be dressed. Does an open costume mean that the character should be judged on that merit, while not looking into the personality to see if there are flaws from a narrative standpoint instead of any skin-deep demerits? That’s why debates on slut shaming have raged on the Internet, with people assuming that a woman who wears little clothing is not an ideal human being.
That ideology annoys me, and casts concern as to why there has been relatively little controversy about Kyoukai no Kanata. Except for one episode that begs to be forgotten, the main character Mirai has the fashion sense of a middle-aged librarian. Men from the Victorian era would think she was too heavily dressed. But compared to Ryuko, I see Mirai as less developed in terms of character. Mirai seldom fights for herself or her own goals, but instead that of her newfound friend Akihito. And despite being a demon slayer (or Spirit World Warrior, if you want to be retentive to the show’s mythology), the majority of scenes are dedicated to making her the clumsy kid that Akihito has to help. While that’s normal for the hero to need help from their friends, their relationship is too one-sided to be healthy. There are moments throughout the show where Akihito talks about having a glasses fetish, which is fulfilled by Mirai wearing oversized spectacles. He often has to help her barely function in society. One scene even goes by where he fantasizes about her “unspoiled thighs” in front of her, and she hardly objects to being seen this way. If that were Ryuko, she would have made a scene and fought Akihito for viewing her as something to lust after.
Maybe that’s me playing favorites with shows, but the supernatural action premise calls for someone who can stand up to the challenge, not a Mikuru Asahina clone. The show does try to resolve that concern though. They give Mirai a tragic backstory for instance. But does that really improve anything if she can seldom react to these issues, with anytime she overreacts being played for comedy than anything else? As December ends, so does the Fall season of anime. And as Kyoukai no Kanata nears its own finale, I see attempts to address those issues. I see a director who wants to improve what they have in front of them. But so far, over two months of evidence makes any objection within the next two weeks too late to improve what I have found to be a laughable series.