Throwback Thursday: Kiznaiver

WOAH! It’s been ages since I’ve written anything. Sorry, real life shit AKA moving into my new place. Been pretty busy with that BUT I’m here now so let’s jump right in!

It’s been some time since I watched Kiznaiver. I actually woke up at 4 in the morning to watch the first two episodes early at Anime Boston two years ago. I can say, it was worth it! Kiznaiver is probably one of the most underrated series’ in 2016 but it’s understandably so. This was the year of Yuri on ICE which eclipsed all other anime and this was when shows like My Hero Academia Started. I thought today would be a good day to look back at this series and bring some light back to it.

 

For those who haven’t watched the series, I found a synopsis for you on MyAnimeList:

Katsuhira Agata is a quiet and reserved teenage boy whose sense of pain has all but vanished. His friend, Chidori Takashiro, can only faintly remember the days before Katsuhira had undergone this profound change. Now, his muffled and complacent demeanor make Katsuhira a constant target for bullies, who exploit him for egregious sums of money. But their fists only just manage to make him blink, as even emotions are far from his grasp.

However, one day Katsuhira, Chidori, and four other teenagers are abducted and forced to join the Kizuna System as official “Kiznaivers.” Those taking part are connected through pain: if one member is injured, the others will feel an equal amount of agony. These individuals must become the lab rats and scapegoats of an incomplete system designed with world peace in mind. With their fates literally intertwined, the Kiznaivers must expose their true selves to each other, or risk failing much more than just the Kizuna System.

So before we talk about different aspects of the anime itself, I would like to talk about Trigger and Crunchyroll a bit. This series is very different than anything we have seen from Trigger. When you look at a series like Darling in the Franxx today, you can look at that and say “Yeah, that’s a trigger show.” While this series is less flashy action scenes and more drama than anything. What I’m trying to say is this is very uncharacteristic of Trigger’s norm but there was a reason.  Crunchyroll commissioned Trigger to make Kiznaiver. Not sure what they requested. They could’ve just said make something cool! If so, they succeeded.

The Animation for this series is very polished. Super clean. I can’t really think of another series that looked that clean the year of its release. Especially not Yuri on ICE… Look at that animation…

Someone mentioned previously to me that Kiznaiver is The Breakfast Club of Anime. I believe that may be the best way to describe the first few episodes of the series. It also ended giving me the same thoughts/feelings Breakfast Club did when it ended: I wish there was more. I want to see more of the characters and where these relationships take them from here!

Something that everyone should take from this series is the Opening is one of the best openings of 2016. It may be the best depending on your standards. It’s been a ridiculously long time since we’ve seen an opening from Boom Boom Satellites but man was it presented the best way possible. The way that they utilize a kaleidoscope is insane. Unfortunately, this was the last anime OP we will see from the band due to the passing of the vocalist/guitarist, Michiyuki Kawashima.

So long story short here, you should watch Kiznaiver if you haven’t. I do want to say that this series is not everyone’s cup of tea. So I recommend at least giving the good ol’ three episode test and go from there. Love to hear what you thought of it. You can either let me know in the comments below or hit me up on twitter @Blackatron_. This was a pretty quick post I put together mostly because I’m getting the rust but I will back stronger next time. Just need some senzu beans!