Welcome to another episode of Kokkoku, the premier time based anime of the season. This week we have growing mysteries and intelligent villains. Lets jump in.
To start off, I want to talk about our main cast and the mystery surrounding them, as that seems to be the core of Kokkoku. Blood and family ties have come up often, both in regards to our heroes and the villains. Blood is what is used to activate the Stasis Stones, though we don’t yet know if it matters whose blood is used. It also appears that each member of our leading family has some sort of ability. The Grandfather is able to teleport short distances while Juri is able to expel people from Stasis. So far neither has been able to use the others abilities, though it is possible they might learn them in the future. If blood does matter however, I am curious what abilities the villains will develop, as they also have a stone and can enter the Stasis. Next up is the mysterious spirits.
The spirits, the little balls of glowy strings, are the next big mystery to me and are no doubt connected to the Handlers. We have seen that when a Handler kills someone that the spirit finds someone else to inhabit. As if the number of people in Stasis must be constant. What interests me is if the same thing happens when a human kills someone else or if it is unique to Handlers. Next up is the question of whom do the spirits pick? So far they have prioritized members of our lead family, but will we start seeing random people in this stasis? The fact that Kokkoku is making me ask these questions, and that they are all good questions worth answering, is a good sign. It means there is plenty of content for Kokkoku to explore, with plenty of time to do so. I love it.
With the mysteries done, the next big point worth mentioning are the villains. So far, with the exception of the random mooks, they have been largely intelligent. The first example of this is Mr.Sagawa and how he handles the Father. He could scare him, for the information he wants. Instead however he plays to the Fathers pride, a “deal between heads of house”, turning him into a potential ally rather than a belligerent hostage. Next we have the end scene, being one of my favorites so far. The large man shown for an entire scene to be standing still as our leads walk closer and closer. Letting them walk by, only to get close, faking being in Stasis the entire time. I always hope to see tactics, taking advantage of a setting, yet we see such intelligent villains less and less lately. Its a pleasant surprise.
Not everything is sunshine and roses for Kokkoku however. While the story, setting and direction have all been string, the actual visuals can be very stale. Kokkoku has this very washed out color palette in a number of scenes that don’t do it any favors. The Handler CG is also out of place, though that is more acceptable as they are supposed to be otherworldly. In terms of music, aside from the OP, nothing has been memorable. The OP is amazing, one of my favorites for the season, but it seems out of place with everything else. It doesn’t detract from anything, but it doesn’t add either.
All in all, Kokkoku is in a good place. The characters are great, one of my favorites being the Uncle and his love for his nephew, his recognition that he isn’t in a good place. As I said the music is just there, without any real additions, and the animation is serviceable. The true value of Kokkoku is coming from its story which is rich in worthwhile questions and, hopefully, some quality answers. With plenty of episodes left, Kokkoku has a promising next few episodes.
See you next time!
