Youmu or Spirit Warrior In the end none of that really matters. Nor does the question of who you are. All that matters is to be close to the ones you care about. Yayoi Kanbara It really hurts me the most when I finish an anime and think to myself: If only they had more time to develop everything it wouldve definitely turned out amazing. Well this anime is one of those that unfortunately fall to underdevelopment due to a lack of episodes. From the very beginning I was in love with the beautiful and vibrant art/animation of Kyoukai no Kanata. From the hilarious moments of comedy to the more than perfect soundtrack this anime was showing a lot of promise. I had a thought in the back of my head while watching this the whole time thinking: Why is this anime rated so low anyways? Everything seems perfectly fine Then all of the problems started to surface in the second half. What used to be a reasonably paced storyline with much to offer soon did a complete 180 and you found that the atmosphere of the anime had shifted entirely. I know that if they were given 12 more episodes to work with they wouldve been able to take their time with the storyline and make it the same great quality as the first 6 episodes. You could easily see the potential it had to be SO much more but it just wasnt possible to tell the storyline effectively with just 12 episodes. Art and Animation: 9.2/10 In the daytoday events the anime was spectacular. It was very enjoyable to watch all the vivid colors of the world come to life especially when it came down to the great variety of youmu designs. The action scenes themselves were very good but somewhat recycled at some parts after careful inspection. You could see that the same moves were being used with even similar camera angles and some of the action scenes were very choppy. When it came to the various character designs I loved them all No one really felt too generic and they definitely fit their personalities for the most part. Storyline and Character Progression: 7.7/10 This is where the anime struggle the most although its not entirely its fault. With all the content it was trying to cover in the span of 12 episodes it was an impossible task with the way their pacing was in the beginning. I really enjoyed all the anime had to offer in the beginning because it was presented at a comfortable pace that was appropriate for the storyline. After that I could easily feel the shift in gears and off we went. Aside from the two main characters no one else really gained much progression at all. From episode 1 to episode 12 the comparison of each character reveals a minimal amount of progression. Even with our two main protagonists the full potential of their bond wasnt reached but rather rushed. The transition between the filler episode and the main storyline was very rough it all just.....HAPPENED. And ironically episode 6 was my favorite part of this anime. In the end while this anime wasnt a complete failure it didnt succeed in EFFECTIVELY telling its enormous storyline in just 12 episodes. This is why Im not surprised that most of the characters received barely any development through it all. Soundtrack and Audio: 8.9/10 I couldnt deny the fact that this soundtrack was AMAZING From the beautiful OP to the jamworthy ED that Ill continue to enjoy listening to for years to come I enjoyed every part of the soundtrack. The one HUGE problem though: it staled. The modest use of their soundtrack wasnt even considered as it was played again and again and AGAIN. I believe that 3040 of the episodes had the soundtrack replayed at some point and thats a very high percentage for a 12 episode anime. If they just saved the soundtrack for just key moments in the plot it wouldve given the moment a lot more depth and power. When it came to voice actors I really did enjoy them for the most part. My only slight problem was with the main protagonist who sounded like hed lose his voice if he talked any higher than a slight yell. Unfortunately this anime really suffered from a lack of episodes but you cant really blame them for it. With all the information they were trying to cover the deep storyline to tell and such a huge cast of characters to develop it was impossible to do from the start. The content itself wasnt bad but the pacing and execution wasnt satisfactory. Thats why I said that this anime had a lot of potential and this is the reason why Im giving this anime an 8.6/10. While it wasnt anything that was unbearable to watch its cons weighed it down to being anything but above average because of its beautiful art/animation and soundtrack. I really did enjoy this anime and I hope itll get a readaptation thatll do the storyline justice. Until next time see yall in the next one