“Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy.
Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related for better or for worse
...and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum.”
-Rick Riordan
Hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, and I'm delighted bring you this afternoon's review. Because, today: Kyousougiga, a mishmash of genres, color, and general madness, that surpasses conventional story-telling to create one of my favorite anime in recent memory. And if you know me, you know I do not say that lightly. Now then, let's get started.
Kyousougiga is a 10 episode anime that aired in the Fall of 2013, and was brought to us from Toei Animation of all places, a group of people who I thought had disappeared off the face of the planet to be honest. Not to say they haven't made anything in the last few years, because they have, a lot of it, but the problem lies in that all of it isn't very good and hardly worth of mention, mediocre throwaways such as Kanon(the original) and the currently airing World Trigger, and of course, they've been animating new episodes of One Piece for over a decade. However, you've probably know them from the nostalgia fuel they've given to you, these are the people that made Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z and Yu-Gi-Oh, so apparently this company is the exact opposite of wine, and gets more stale as they get older(though to be honest all those shows I just listed off are pretty bad too, even if my 8yr old self won't admit it). They also made Digimon, but since I have yet to see that I'll just give the original series and Tamers the benefit of the doubt. And taking into account Kyousougiga's bizarre art-style(which we'll get to), it's even more strange that this company, who usually do very traditional animation, would take on this project, you'd think this would be more up Studio Shaft's alley. Though judging from the end result, I am not complaining in the slightest.
Kyousougiga was directed by Rie Matsumoto, a bloke who really doesn't have any reason to have directed something this good. He's worked on some iterations of Pre-cure, but he was only ever directed by himself three shows besides this one. A Kyousougiga OVA, this thing called Blood Blockade Battlefront which hasn't actually aired yet, but it's being made by Bones and looks pretty sweet(like a vampire superhero apocalypse sort of thing). Oh, and some more freakin' Pre-Cure. The script was actually handled by 6 different people, so it's sort of a miracle that the script is not only not an incomprehensible mess, but as good as it it. The first of the writers is actually the directer: Matsumoto, who wrote episodes 8 & 10, which spoiler alert, are some of the best of the show, so well done mate. The others include Izumi Todo, Kuraku Asagi, Michiyo Yamamoto, Miho Maruo and Rika Nakase, who since I don't feel like doing a small profile for all of them, collectible works include... well... OK, here's the problem: this is the only bit of writing done ever for both Asagi and Yamamoto ever, and Todo, who handled the majority of the script, has done some more Pre-cure stuff and pretty much just that. However, Maruo has done work on Gundam, and Nakase has handled parts of scripts for such anime as Shinsekai yori and Princess Tutu.... You know, it's actually kind of amazing this anime wasn't a spectacular train-wreck.
We are finally onto the plot, and I'm sort of wondering how to explain it, because for a show like this, knowing only as little as you absolutely need to is kind of directly correlated with enjoyment, so I'll give this a go, and try not to spoil anything.
Our main character Koto has crash-landed in a world like our own but not quite the same: a replica of the medieval city of Kyoto, filled with strange oddities and occurrences, where mecha suits could stampede through the streets and all of that kind of stuff. Accompanied by two spirits and her trusty gigantic hammer; Koto is on a mission to find a black rabbit, and quickly runs into the rulers of this world; a group of three siblings; a grumpy monk named Yakushimaru, a tea-sipping demon called Yase and the mischievous priest Kurama, all who agree to help Koto find this rabbit, but are still suspicious of her true motives as their own personal agendas come towards their own respective conclusions. However, as they interact, Koto begins to realize she may have a lot more in common with this trio and this strange Kyoto than she could have possibly imagined, that dark secrets of her father could end up being really important, and forces beyond anybodies control are directly affecting the order and balance of the world. Slowly, things begin to spiral out of control, and Koto with the bizarre family try to keep their entire world from literally crumbling around them, making up a complicated yet entertaining anime that teaches about faith, love, and how even when your differences and factors drive you apart, family is still the best thing ever.
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| Welcome to Kyoto. |
Through perfect pacing and some wonderful storytelling, the plot slowly begins to reveal itself to the audience, revealing the amazing blueprints the show was built upon. I talked a little about how good it is to have a story that is so.. perfectly complete in my Over the Garden Wall review, and that is extremely prevalent here. You can tell someone sat down one day and planned this story out from beginning to end; it leaves clues, has major foreshadowing for both character development and future events, and all those seemingly little strange moments build towards an exceptional finale that surely will fit somewhere on my list of my favorite anime endings I've ever seen. Keep in mind, that is also a list that includes the ending of Code Geass and Kara no Kyoukai, so yes people, that good, as it brings themes and characters full circle to form something so epic, emotional, bizarre, and fun that I wouldn't have had it any other way. All the weird and confusing crap in this anime are all necessarily steps to this end, and you can trace it all the way back to the beginning, something most anime can't actually say. And this all fits, so snugly, into just 10 episodes.
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| Here's a little snap-shot of said fantastic ending. Look, there's confetti and stuff. |
But going back to the flaws, as well constructed and air-tight the story is, there's a couple of boils sticking out. Sometimes the anime will go a little too far with being weird and stuff, and occasionally instead of being amused, just left me with one eye raised, very confused. There's only a couple of these though, and they don't really belittle the plot in any sort of way. Also, there's a plot twist near the end, which while being in hindsight sort of a brilliant move both contextually and thematically, just sort of rubbed me the wrong way. I'm pretty sure this is literally just my problem though, so feel free to just disregard that and enjoy the scene for yourself.
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| From left to the right: Kurama, Yase, Lady Koto, Koto, Inari, Yakushimaru/Myoue |
Namely Yakushimaru. Besides from maybe Inari(we'll get to him, oh we'll get to him), Yakushimaru is probably the most interesting and complex character in the show(and we'll call him by his other name Myoue now, mostly because Yakushimaru is getting annoying to type out). On the surface, Myoue is kind of a prick; he's grumpy and somewhat self-centered at times, but he also has every reason in the entire universe to be the way he is. His back-story is dark as you'd expect, but it also has a certain twist that makes things interesting, and completely justifies the way he acts towards his missing parents: Inari and the Lady Koto(yes, there are two characters named Koto) who disappeared from the mirror Kyoto some time ago completely without warning. And without a doubt, watching him grow throughout the show is brilliant.
It's also that sudden disappearance of their parents that drives the motivation of Myoue's sibling, Kurama and Yase, though admittedly, they take it vastly different ways. Kurama sees it as his responsibility as the oldest to find his and his sibling's parents, and his methods are sometimes questionable. He's undoubtedly good-natured, but the lengths he's willing to through with sometimes border on sinister, all of this driven by a deeper motivation that he has successfully buried deep within his heart. Yase on the other hand, reacts sort of how you'd expect a normal child to react when two parents who she thought loved her vanish without a trace, though maybe a little more on the extreme side. Understandably, she's a little screwed up from the experience, and it doesn't help that she already feels isolation from others due to being the only demon inhabitant of Kyoto. She's one of the weaker characters of the show, but that's still better than most characters in other anime, and watching her get over her trauma is still interesting and somewhat emotional in some scenes; and really, the emotional aspect is something this shows does actually really well, despite the wacky nature of the world.
Now I won't mention Inari's purpose in this world or how he effects the plot later on, in fact, I'm going to keep any meaningful information on him under seal since spoiling his character for you would be a cardinal sin to commit. What I will tell is that he is the missing father of Myoue, Kurama and Yase, and yes that's technically a spoiler, but the anime basically tells you that in the beginning of episode 2 anyway. His character is one of the most interesting scenarios I've ever come across, and after you learn of his true role in this world later on in the anime, it will bring about an interesting conversation or two, and I think that shows how intelligent this anime really is without needing to shove it in your face, unlike other anime. Admittedly, unless you do some serious thinking, you probably won't completely understand his character or motivation, but that's not really a bad thing, though if you don't pick up all the aspects of his character, you won't completely appreciate the ending of his character arc in the last few seconds of the show. That would a deep, deep shame, because that scene is quickly becoming one of my favorite moments in anime... ever, and something I can definitely use in an Anime Moment somewhere down the line.
The side characters are quite a joy as well. Kurama's science team led by the over-reactive Shouka provides some truly excellent comedy in the show's more directionless first half, and the other characters provide a certain flavor to the show. The issue I have character wise is with Lady Koto, who is supposed to be one of the main characters after all, but is severely under-developed in my opinion. Maybe her character and development is something you really to pay attention to, like Inari, but I personally found her a little boring, and presence in the narrative seemingly purely for convenience.
You could describe Kyousougiga's animation like something straight out of a coloring book, because once you think about it, that actually makes a lot of sense. In consideration to the unique setting, background scenery or characters will sometimes intentionally look hand-drawn or crafted, and this does nothing but add to the pure charm of the show. The city of Kyoto itself just looks like a cool place to be, with a lot of experimental or downright surreal animation techniques used to craft the environment. However, like all shows that have a heavy emphasis on such things, it will occasionally become a little cluttered, or even make things hard to make out. This really isn't as big a problem as it would be in say, a Studio Shaft work, but it will take a little adjusting to for a viewer who is used to a traditional anime style. However, when the art isn't playing around with eccentric styles, the anime can make itself look really nice, whether it be the lighting, colors or camera for certain scenes. So, therefore, Kyousougiga's art is not only fun and unique, but also really really good, and I have little to complain about.
I'd say the OST for Kyousougiga is actually pretty great. Produced by a relatively unknown by the name of Go Shiina, who has done music for Gyo and the upcoming God Eater, the tracks keep a certain whimsical feel about them. Everything has a lot of variety as well, they sound distinct from one another, but all feel like they fit together at the same time. I didn't always realize it I guess when I was watching the anime, since the music isn't quite as prominent in scenes, but a re-listen of the OST by itself revealed some wonderful pieces. Highlights, I think, include "The Secret of my Life" and "To the Ends of the Earth" which are just both ridiculously good. Shiina obviously has a knack for this music thing, and I'd like him to increase the number of anime he has done the music for, though maybe next time, go easy on the number of tracks. Despite only being ten episodes, there's a total of over 35 songs in Kyousougiga's OST, and while some of them are only about a minute, it's still a lot, though judging from the quality of the tracks, I guess I shouldn't be complaining. Furthermore, the OP: "Koko" preformed by Tamurapan is truly magnificent and one of the best OP's I've ever heard; from the cleverly inserted foreshadowing, to the uplifting tune that represents the show well. I never skipped this opening once; which is not something I can always say. The ED: "Shissou Ginga" by TEPPAN is more intense and dark-sounding than most of the tracks here, but it's rather good too, and it fits within the kaleidoscope of emotions that Kyousougiga exerts as a show, and the song is even played to great effect during the final episodes of the show. It's all and all one of the better OST's I've come across in these reviews, and once you're done the show, I'd say give the whole thing a listen. Actually the more I listen to it, the more I'm beginning to love it.
The OP
Kurama Temple in the Looking-Glass City
The Secret of My Life
Without Speaking
To the Ends of the Earth
You'd be surprised how little the theme of family is touched upon in anime. At best, the parents of a main protagonist are either dead, or practically non-existent within the narrative. It's rare that a show would even bring the topic up, never mind making it the integral strand that connects of your character's relationships. However, it this non-conventional approach to family and the tone of the anime is what gives Kyousougiga such distinctness within the medium, and through this approach, and some truly great writing that this anime becomes a must-watch in my eyes, and how it has become one of my new favorite anime. I mean, what else can I say to convince you? It's fun. It's emotional. It's well-written, intelligent, eccentric and just... plain... wonderful.
Final Verdict: 8(.5)/10
P.S: Listen to me or I destroy the all the universes? Seems fair.
Recommended Anime:
The Eccentric Family
Gankutsuou
Goodbye for now guys.
Click here for my First Impression of Kyousougiga.
If you liked the review, click here for my review of Gatchaman Crowds
If books are more your thing, click here for my review of Coraline.
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