Common Name: Kekkai Sensen / Kekkai Sensen & Beyond
Alternative Name: Blood Blockade Battlefront, Bloodline Battlefront / Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond, Bloodline Battlefront & Beyond
Score: 8/10, 3/5
Length: 2 Seasons of 12 Episodes, 1 Recap Episode, 1 OVA
Genre: Action, Drama, Comedy, Shounen, Supernatural, Super Powers, Slice of Life
Summary: Throughout history, there have been individuals who work to protect our world from the threats of the Alterworld. When the divide between these worlds collapse around New York City, though, the world doesn't end. Determined to live on in spite of their differences, monsters and humanity come together to create the lively and deadly, chaotic and beautiful city of Hellsalem's Lot. Still determined to maintain even a fragile peace, the allies of humanity and demon-kind alike have come together to balance the scales as the covert organization known as Libra. Recently drummed into Libra's service because of "The All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods" forcibly gifted to him by one of the gods of Alterworld, Leonardo Watch has little choice other than to use his unwanted gifts to aid Libra in their battle against the greatest threat to the city, the Blood Breed. While demons, vampires, and malicious microorganisms might regularly threaten the city, though, Leo is more concerned about not getting mugged every day and that's the reality of the lively battlefront that is Hellsalem's Lot.
Review: Oh boy, it's finally time to review Kekkai Sensen, the series that singled-handed proved to me that a sequel can, in fact, be objectively better than the original product. Plagued with multiple delays during the season it initially aired, a recap episode offered after episode 10 out of 12, and a final episode that rushed things so fast that the animation quality couldn't keep up even though it ran an hour long, I'll still give this show credit where it's due. In spite of it' many faults, the first season of Nightow Yasuhiro's (the creator of Trigun and Gungrave) latest entry into the world of anime isn't bad. It isn't good either though. Rather, it struggles to earn its standing as "being good in spite of itself." So, imagine my surprise when I hesitantly walked into this show's second season, trying my hardest to only remember the good parts of season one, and ended up with a season that not only blew that divisive season out of the water but actively made up for the problems it had.
Well, most of them anyway. But I'm pretty sure we can blame
this garbage on an equally garbage budget.
If there is any praise I can offer the first season, it is that it establishes most of what is then fleshed out during the show's second season. A good way to think about it is that the original functions as the bones that shaped the show as a whole, but it could not be called a living, breathing series until the second season offered reasons to care about what this show is at its core. As much as the first season loves to revel in the existence of our main character, Leonardo Watch, Kekkai Sensen isn't about him. No, the reason to care about this show isn't the characters. It's the nature of the titular Bloodline Battlefront--Hellsalem's Lot itself--the core that holds this show, the good and bad, together. Since it all has to begin somewhere, though, I suppose Leo is as good a place as any since a good part of this show is dedicated to his growth as a character.
That's right, this is one of those shows where we get to watch a sniveling waste of space slowly evolve
into a guy who's pretty cool to have around, even though he tends to snivel a lot.
I'll admit I'm being a little hard on Leo with that dig, but it's not entirely inaccurate since his segments are easily the weakest part of the show and kinda why the first season flopped so hard. Throughout the show, Leonardo functions equally as the main character, MacGuffin, and the buffer that helps the audience take in the lively and chaotic nature of Hellsalem's Lot at the same rate at which he is exposed to all its quirks. The general idea is that he is an innocent nobody who just doesn't belong in this bustling city that is just as likely to buy you a drink as it is to knife you when you aren't looking. He is, in many ways, the Alice in this crazy Wonderland. Yet, in spite of feeling like he doesn't really fit in, his newly minted "All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods" equally prevent him from fitting in in the normal world as well. Since the greatness attached to his eyes is something he neither wanted nor asked for, it is also a general point to note that Leo does, unfortunately, suffer from "whiny protagonist syndrome." To be fair, it's not like he really gets a say in the matter since one does not simply say "no thanks" when Riga El Menuhyut, "Ophthalmology Engineer for Beings of Higher Existence," offers you some new god-tier eyes in exchange for those of your already paraplegic sister. Obviously still a little miffed about this whole "with great power comes great responsibility" situation he didn't ask for, we do eventually gain an explanation as to why Leo is in Hellsalem's Lot in the first place. While it is is certainly the natural home of supernatural weirdos, this city is also the only place where Leo might find a way get his little sister's eyes back.
At least he gets to look cool while he mopes around, complaining that he didn't ask for this.
Of course, since his eyes are kinda OP in that they can "see all," like it says on the tin, it figures that his eyes are something of a commodity that everyone wants to get their hands on in this city that might as well be one, big black market. It just so happens that the mysterious organization known as Libra is the only buyer that sees no reason not to employ Leo along with his eyes. And so we are introduced to a cast of characters who are equally detrimental to this story, simply because the show never really gives them their due. Out of the few we get to meet in this first season, we only really get to learn about Klaus von Reinherz, the strong yet kind co-founder of Libra who will sacrifice anything to maintain the peace; Steven Starphase, the tactical genius and fellow co-founder of Libra; and Zapp Renfro, the cool guy who is too much of a tool to actually be cool. While others, like Chain Sumeragi, are mentioned and seen frequently, the first season never really gets into them since Leo is the main attraction.
Yup, rather than focusing on ANY ONE of these super-powered special ops badasses, we get a whiny nobody whose only likable features are that he's a nice guy and he loves his sister very much. Starting to see where I might have an issue with the first season?
While I'll admit I love them to pieces, I say the whole of the Libra organization is an issue to the story specifically because they are a distraction from the main plot. Worse still, I actively wanted to watch them do their thing more than I wanted to see Leo grow up a little. While Leo's story about growing more confident in himself and deciding to not use his sister's disability as an excuse for his own weaknesses is interesting in its own right, it simply doesn't come close to the action-filled glory fueled by the rest of the cast. Leo's weakness, paired next to the indomitable and noble strength of these ACTUAL HEROES, only makes him seem all the more weak; so much so that his story is nothing short of being an annoying distraction from the rest of the cast. Simply because there was no chance that Leo could even hope to stand next to these giants, I could not bring myself to care about him, his romantic drama with White, or his desire to be rid of the power that gives him reason to be in their company in the first place. This frustration was only made worse, though, since the hard focus on Leo prevented any chance of these characters getting any real definition or personality outside of their desperate need for a power like Leo's. So, go figure, all the second season needed to do was showcase these badasses being badasses to win my approval and forgiveness simultaneously.
So, rather than being the central focus of the show, Leo finally gets put in his proper place--
piggybacking off these cool guys as their SUPPORT CHARACTER.
Petty as that might sound, it's simply a matter of course that this kind of show doesn't really work unless it can get all its parts moving in unison and this is the best way to do it. Rather than letting the rest of the cast stagnate while Leo goes through his drama, the second season features episode after episode with the Libra crew doing their thing. We get to learn more and more about their daily lives while Leo gets every other episode to move the plot forward, making him the central force but not the focus of the show. What this format also does, however, is bring life to the true focal point of the show--the city of Hellsalem's Lot itself. Since the second season spreads its attention to the whole of the cast, it properly expresses the idea that the chaos seen in Leo's life is indicative of the city as a whole, rather than that chaos just being isolated to weaklings like him. More than that, though, having these kinds of character featurettes sprinkled throughout the series do a great deal to make the main Libra team feel more down to earth than they did previously. For example, where Klaus was presented as some kind of unkillable god-being in the first season, we get an idea of why he tries so hard to protect the city. Specifically, by getting to see the moments where he fails, which results in the deaths of several innocents, we understand that he is trying to make amends for all the losses that have happened under his watch. Similarly, we are given an understanding why he brings Leo into Libra in the first place. While doing so does serve his purposes, he also seems to hold Leo's innocence on a kind of pedestal--following an idea of "if I can't even protect this boy, the key to our success, then I have failed utterly in my mission." While that kind of characterization doesn't necessarily paint him in a good light, it does flesh out his character more as well as the history of the city itself, since Libra has been instrumental in shaping the city over the past few years.
I really appreciate how the show openly acknowledges that it
needed to flesh out that concept more.
To clarify something, though, for those that liked following Leo's story, though, this kind of set-up also benefits his story as well because it gives a solid impression of how Leo has started to adapt to the city around him. While he still can't really stop from getting mugged on a regular basis, he learns how to lose less in these typical interactions within the city. All the while, he is still growing in his role in Libra until he the season reaches its conclusion--ending with Leo in a position where he's really earned the right to stand alongside the rest of Libra, rather than simply being in their shadow. Perhaps this conclusion can be reached simply because the previously ill-defined power of Libra gang has been made attainable. Regardless of whether this is due to the Libra cast getting nerfed or a sign of Leo getting stronger, it still validates Leo's position as an actual member of Libra, rather than one of their dozens of support members.
Now, consider for a moment how much more validating Leo saving the city would have been if he'd
already gone through all of his personal drama, making him a full-fledged member of Libra,
able to succeed where all the other badasses failed.
Despite the endless quantities of shit I give the first season of Kekkai Sensen, I do still like it. It just felt rushed, forced, and horribly out of place, and those issues are only made more obvious when compared alongside the second season which paced things out masterfully and gave me enough investment to actually care about Leo, the city, and the state of the world as a whole. Had the show given me that kind of investment and payoff in the first season, I'm sure I'd be singing the same kinds of praises, but the escalation of being a nobody to being the only one who can save the city just didn't really work for me in the end. Had the show already resolved Leo's drama with Michella, that kind of escalation would have made perfect sense as a follow-up, not to mention it would have given Leo greater validation in his ability to resolve the conflict with Black and White. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I'd have really preferred having these two seasons meld into each other. That would have solidly followed a line of escalation and threat, rather than the de-escalation seen in the second season. It would have given the characters seen in the first season their dues then and there, rather than waiting entire seasons for that kind of development to be realized. More than that though, it would have made Leo's character far more fun and engaging than it was initially. Unfortunately, that's a desire that could have only been realized through hindsight. Given that there wasn't even a guarantee that the first season would even end, due to budgetary constraints, I suppose I should just be happy that we got such a fantastic second season in the first place.
Well, that and the glory that is "Sugar Song and Bitter Step." God, even that would have been better
with the way season two ended though! I just can't win here.
As flawed as Kekkai Sensen is as a franchise, I will still give credit where it's due. It's a fun, silly, and action-packed that that never grows boring. Every situation the cast finds themselves in offers a perfect balance of cool and "what the actual hell" which is just typical of Nightow Yasuhiro. In terms of technical skill, the show is both great and lackluster, depending on the state of the budget, but I can't necessarily call that a criticism since that's just the nature of anime in general. In regards to the show's music though, I can't offer enough praise. Offering a mix of music as chaotic and varied as Hellsalem's Lot--filled with as many jazzy tunes as quietly orchestral pieces and a number of songs Japanese, French, English, and Chinese (I think)--it goes without saying that this show's OST perfectly matched the tone of the show itself. Since I've already given well over my two cents on the nature of the show's pacing and use of themes, I will just say I I highly recommend this show. It's a good, action-filled romp well worth the patience necessary to get through it all. It might not be perfect, but I think most people will enjoy it regardless.