Hello and welcome to the 2018 Winter season! This time, we have an interesting little time-based drama called Kokkoku. It has mystery, it has cults, it has dead-beat parents and apparent god-like beings. Lets jump in!
To start, a quick blurb about our characters. Personally, I like them so far. They are all flawed and imperfect people. From the hikikomori Uncle/Brother to the laid off father, these are people with problems. Emotional issues that, hopefully, will get resolved or at least get started down that path. For instance the Uncle is already starting an arc. He is first introduced as a game-focused otaku, upset when his game is turned off before he can save. But when unplugged, clearly cares for his family, he just doesn’t know what to do or where to go with his life. The father that when danger came to his family, however foolishly, resolved to only put himself in danger by going alone. I am hoping that throughout this series we see him, and others, grow more and more. Even if, technically, this entire series takes place in a single frame.
Speaking of that, time to talk about the time-stop rules in Kokkoku. It’s a refreshing take on time-based anime. Rather than time travel, its stopped time, and Kokkoku tries very hard to sell you on this. From squeezing liquids out of a bottle, to showing the same character mid-flight through a door in every scene. Geno Studio is very dedicated to consistency it seems, and I can’t wait to see how this reflects in later episodes as more and more hi-jinks happen. The rules as well are interesting, with “Handlers” protecting the frozen people, but anyone free to move during the time-stop is free game. Its a nice limit with the promise of greater mystery and most likely clever plans involving these “Handlers”. Even their explanation of a “single frame” was spot on. If Geno can keep this up, I can see static shenanigans being more and more interesting.
As far as story goes, its interesting but not because of our villains. I am less interested in our ‘devoid of emotion’ villains and more on how our cast will deal with them. Their “take over the world” plan is standard fare, so they are really just a wall for our MC’s to overcome. The mystery girl and their knowledge of the family is interesting, but only in how it affects our cast. That said, the “Handlers” are interesting and I want to learn more about them. We heard a bit from Grandpa, that they are those who did bad things while in stasis, but I want to learn more. What kind of bad things, why did they change, is there some higher power? What are these glowy spirit balls? These are the real questions of Kokkoku and we have 10 more episodes in which to answer them.
All in all, I am enjoying Kokkoku. It probably won’t be a standout of the season, it lacks the punch or polish for that, but it should be a good watch. The characters are the sort of dead-beats I want to see succeed, those depressed with their life with a chance to improve it. Lets just hope they don’t over use the Deus Ex Machina that the “Handler”/Spirits/Grandpa Magic has the potential to be.
