Kekkai Sensen & Beyond

Watching some over the top action anime these days can really fill anyone with a dose of popcorn entertainment. There’s popular Marvel based movies coming out each year, book adaptations that turned into cultural influence, and iconic Hollywood stars that made history in the film industry. Then, there was Kekkai Sensen. Remember Spring 2015? Among the many action based shows, Kekkai Sensen stood out as a show that stylized action and violence to present a storyteller of supernatural gimmicks. Well guess what? Bones is back at it again and made sure that Kekkai Sensen is here to talk about for 2017. I’m not going to lie.Kekkai Sensen’s return didn’t come as a total surprise given the popularity of the manga in Japan. What started out as a one-shot by Yasuhiro Nighthow became a serialized manga and eventually turned into this animated action flick. Known for his work Trigun and Gungrave, Kekkai Sensen had to make a name for itself. It did just that through the incredibly addicting storytelling and characters. To make things even better, the franchise adapted Nighthow’s style of humor, the type that can hook anyone in with just how over the top it can be. Titled as “Kekkai Sensen & Beyond”, the sequel starts off in the aftermath of the first season. Some time has passed and once again, we are introduced to the city of Hellsalem’s Lot. From the first few episodes, we see that Leo’s life is still as hectic as you can imagine. It doesn’t long at all for the sequel to get you into the mood again as the pilot episode reintroduces the humor of the franchise. Episode 2 also gives an insight on the backstory of Hellsalem’s Lot that is more than just an exposition. It’s told through meaningful dialogues and gives the viewers a better understanding of its world setting. Indeed, Kekkai Sensen’s world fiction is colorful and has always bought a fascination to me. Now, here’s the curious part about Kekkai Sensen. Who is your favorite character? Maybe you like the typical main protagonist, Leo. Perhaps someone as crazy as Zapp is on your list to look out for. Or maybe, someone that was overlooked from season 1 like K.K or Gilbert? Thankfully, Kekkai Sensen & Beyond gets to work at bringing those characters to attention. The first season heavily focused on the core members of Libra. However, this sequel brings to light with storytelling about the other characters too. Some of the noticeable examples are Chain, Gilbert, K.K., and even Zed. It’s interesting to see what these characters do during their free time and honestly, it bought more interest to them. For instance, did you know that Chain and her fellow comrades (a member of the Invisible Werewolf) still had an old nemesis who wanted revenge? Ever curious about what K.K’s family life is like and relationship with her son? Or even, Zed. The man has been really an outcast but in this sequel, he gets a nice spotlight with is background storytelling. I can also confess that seeing Gilbert go beyond his duty as a combat butler was highly entertaining. It reminds me of the Gotham/Batman-style action that became iconic from American culture. That being said, I can’t say the storytelling is always great at selling its plot. Some of the later episodes can be a bit tedious and even boring to watch. Two episodes in particular (as a 2-episode arc) in the latter half of the show gave me a weak impression. It focused on one of Leo’s friends (Riel) that I just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy watching. Not mention, Riel’s personality isn’t interesting to watch either despite the friendship he shares with Leo. In addition, it also felt inevitable that the sequel would bring back important characters from the first season. Leo’s sister Michella is a prime example. There have been several flashbacks throughout the sequel that shows how important she is to his life. It’s hard for me to say this but while it’s important to get to her character’s story, it doesn’t feel that impactful. Sure it’s important to see her again but did we really need two episodes to focus on her? I’ve only read parts of the manga so this came to me as more of letdown than as a blessing. Still, the series does maintain a decent pace mostly thanks to the character cast, stylistic episode adventures, and excessive humor. Bones is back at it again and Hellsalem’s Lot is looking better than ever. Just like season 1, this sequel makes attention to detail as one of its highlights. The complexity of the cities, advanced technology of abnormal sci-fi elements, and the even everyday objects makes its mark. It really excels at making its world feel alive. Character designs still gives a sense of style to themselves and we also get to see the hardcore action that bought so much entertainment like the first season. Fan service is mostly presented through the action sequences as the characters showcase their unique powers. The key selling point is how they influence outcomes and interacting with certain situations. I also can’t stress this enough but when it comes to action, Kekkai Sensen knows how to hit the bull’s eye to give the viewers what it wants. While I can’t say Kekkai Sensen & Beyond’s theme songs are as creative as the first season’s, it still gives a memorable impression to showcase the talent of the directors. What really drew my interest towards technical aspects of the show is the OST. The mixture of jazz, eerie, orchestral, and melancholic music really synchronizes well with each other. After watching this show, it’s easy to say that Kekkai Sensen still has what it takes to deliver entertainment. It had the capability of expanding its plot even with episodic adventures while giving side characters their own stories. However, I will say that the sequel isn’t as impactful compared to the first season. At some point, you may feel like the show tried to showcase everything and has nothing more to offer. I had that feeling at some point especially in the final few episodes. Still, give the sequel a try. It’s a series celebrating the work of Yasuhiro Nighthow that opens the doors to fun.

[Re-Submission] I'll try and explain why this isn't a good sequel, at all. [Spoiler Free] I'd just like to get it out of the way that I'm watching this hot off the heels of the first season, as I binged the first and second season in about a day. The details of which are still very fresh in my mind. This is also the second season of Kekkai Sensen, so I'm assuming you're familiar with the story. Why does Kekkai Sensen 2 fail as a sequel? To put it bluntly, it's because this season is much more episodic in nature. In the first season, almost every episode leading upto the finale had something to do with or laid down the subtext for the overarching plot of the story, which culminated in a satisfying, if a bit hollow ending. It was still episodic, but was also eluding to the bigger picture. The second season has failed to do this mostly and has felt flatter and less engaging because of it. This is a spoiler free review, but the plot point that ended up being the finale was the exact one I thought it was in my preliminary review, and was only mentioned a grand total of about two minutes before the final two episodes. Every other episode just feels like exposition and world building that are just loosely strung together without any grounding in a plot structure. That's why I feel like this fails as a sequel, it feels like a bunch of OVA episodes mashed together.

Story (2/10) Except for the last two episodes, there is no plot in none of the 10 episodes. Some are just background of Libra members (4,6,7), others are nonsense ( 1,8,9) and some are rushed (2,3,10). The episodes 8 and 9 are the worst of the season. The episodic episodes feels like a bunch of OVA mixed together. Art (7/10) In this aspect the show in much better than the other options. The fights have very good animation and the colour is beautiful. Sound (6/10)Besides the opening and the ending, i don't remember much of the soundrack. Characters (3/10) Despite the show have episodes dedicated to Libra members, after that, their presence feels nonexistent. Also they still are some Libra members that barely know anything. Leo is undeveloped until the last two episodes, he is just beaten all the time. Klaus feels more a background character in most episodes unlike the first season. Zapp have less screen. Steven in the only character in this season that was well treated. The villains: all are generic, boring and are the same just with different designs. The Blood Breed of episode 10 and the villain of the last two episodes are the only with personality in the entire season. They are so bad written that i just remember the villains of the first season. Aligura and Femt barely appears despite being in the opening. Enjoyment (3/10) I don't like most of the episodes. Nearly all the episodes are just the same: some generic villain do something against a Libra member → characters try to finding them or do something to defeat them→ explosions everywhere and the generic villain is defeated. Even in the background episodes this happens. Overall I don't like this season. Despite the first season was average (5/10), this season feels more chaotic and a wasted of time in most of the 10 episodes. This season handled very bad the villains and forget Femt and Aligura. Only for the animation and the last two episodes, my score for Kekkai Sensen & Beyond is 4/10.

Its not Kekkai Sensen Season 2. It is Kekkai Sensen and Beyond!... The first season of Kekkai Sensen was aired last Spring 2015 and gave us a good plotline of the characters of Libra. With the story on point in season 1 up to the end, it was a good anime on my perspective. Then here comes Kekkai Sensen and Beyond. The season 2 of the hit anime and I, to be honest cannot really decide which is better. Thus, I compared both of them for this review and come up that it is without a doubt there is a great difference. Story: Beyond starts of withLeonardo reflecting the past event that happened to obtain his "All Seeing Eyes Of God" power. In season 1 we are hinted about his sister's involvement on the eyes of Leonardo although we were never showed the history, riddle or anything about it (except its abilities prior to combat). This anime this season gave us a clue or a hint already in the very start that Beyond's objective will be focusing on uncovering some details about the mystery eyes of Leonardo. Though I was surprised that it didnt get along with the storyline of the first Kekkai Sensen. Instead of rushing to the objective (which is uncovering any details about the eyes), it offered us backgrounds on each and every member of Libra. To be fair, I really don't like this type of things in anime like reflecting or having side story and all but it turns out that Beyond gave me or gave you a good impression to every single character. Enjoying there fun moments and feeling their struggles when they have problems. For example, I was amazed by how awesome Gilbert Altstein was in the episode he was feature. He looks like Alfred from Batman on that time. In season 1 it looks to me that he is just a trustworthy butler but I was surprised by it. Also, the story behind Obrien Zed, is also a quite emotional and informative on how he interacts with others. Even though these are all good stories in an episode or two, I have one question. Why not just turn this stories of every Libra members as specials or OVA's? Here's the point. The storyline is quite confusing in Beyond. At first we were given a certain clue about the storyline. Hinting us that this will be Leonardo's spotlight again but different as he will be encountering a secret about his eyes, or his sister. But that idea got temporarily dispose and replaced by stories of each characters. I am not against it that much because I, to be honest enjoyed there own episodes, but along that characters should try to solve the main conflict little by little, though this was never seen until episode 11 - 12 (which is a fight about those eyes). Although despite of all this, the action of the story is still mindblowing and fun to watch as it gets intense on every episode. Characters: The characters are the same and still being one of the best groups in anime. I still love it when especially when they say their moves like "Lance Of Absolute Zero" by Steven. The whackiness of Leonardo and Zapp are still onpoint that makes Beyond have a bit of comedy tint on it. Art: The art never changed, thus it is a good thing as the art on season 1 of Kekkai Sensen is already perfect for the story. The visuals of when they say their moves (the japanese letters striking to your screen) never gets old and the effects of the action parts. Sound: Season 1 opening and ending is indeed better than this one though the jazz soundtrack of season 1 is reflected to season 2 which gives us a nostalgic atmosphere. The jazz fits the aerosphere of mood on situations. Though I said that opening and ending of season 1 was better, I still can't stand that the new openings and endings are quite plausible as they are unique as well. Overall thoughts and Enjoyment Kekkai Sensen and Beyond brought me back to when I watched the season 1. How I judge it if it was better than it is quite difficult because the enjoyment level is quite indeed very good for me but the storyline and outlining the conflicts is always important on storytelling. And that whats lacking Beyond. It maybe enjoyable although a story... is a story. Overall, I enjoyed Beyond but not as I enjoyed season 1 of Kekkai Sensen. Even though its like this, I still highly recommend you to watch it. If you still didnt watch Season 1 then go ahead and then watch Season 2.

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