Kyokou Suiri – 02 [Guardian’s Serpent Heard]

Hope springs eternal, and Amun is here with another show that he’s incredibly hyped about (and a little wary of).  It’s my turn this week, so how does the second episode stack up to an excellent premiere? Let’s find out!

First, some broad statements on this show. Two episodes in, there are three shows I’m going to compare it to: Beyond the Boundary, Natsume’s Book of Friends, and Charlotte. The first, Beyond the Boundary, had a similar premiere – boy meets girl, supernatural, great animation, great world introduction. Unfortunately, that show got dragged down by its episodic nature and muddled plot, that was complicated by family involvements and history that no one cared about. In/Spectre (or Kyokou Suiri) doesn’t seem to have those anchors so far, but who knows.

Second comparison is to a highly ranked favorite show of mine: Natsume’s Book of Friends. Made by the same production house, the supernatural connection and general attitude towards yokai are remarkably similar – also, the main lead is a bridge between the human and the unseen worlds. However, I will say Kyokou Suiri seems more focused that Natsume, which wanders at times – could turn out to be a positive or a negative.

Finally, the main character (Kotoko) is extremely similar to Charlotte. Both are self-assured, but willing to retreat; both take charge and want what they want – but also shrink away sometimes.  In short, these are two high school girl protagonists – occasionally confident, occasionally confused. I very much enjoyed Charlotte, which I thought punched well above its weight – I’m hoping for the same here from In/Spectre.

I think this show’s done a good job of subverting expectations so far. In Episode 1, it looked like Kotoko had a one-sided, slightly stalkerish infatuation with Kuro. Come to find out – she’s actually staking him out for semi-professional reasons related to the amount of disruption he’s causing her subjects. In the second episode, Kotoko’s meandering talk with the serpent never is quite what it seems as she slowly reveals more and more of the truth (which, as the serpent points out, comes about as Kotoko continually contradicts and corrects herself).

What’s great is you’re never entirely sure if Kotoko’s got a master plan or if she’s just an airhead – even Kuro is like, oh, I thought you had it already figured out, when he gets his arm bit off (and Kotoko naturally freaks out).

The mystery is good, the supernatural yokai look sharp, and – despite majorly slowing down the action from episode 1 (this episode is spent on a log, talking to a snake).  So far, I’d say we’re on track.

I think the chemistry between the two leads is solid – and more importantly, believable.  I think Kuro’s actions are 100% legitimate – he literally just met this crazy high school girl, so no way is he going off in the middle of the night to meet a giant snake with her.  But since he’s a good guy, he’ll follow her at a distance….nice work.  And he gave her soup.  Prime waifu material right there.

For a minor side rant, I’m always concerned in anime with characters who are missing limbs/eyes.  There’s a history of guro that gets into real sketchy territory – I don’t think Kyokou Suiri is going that route, but I’m always just a little bit concerned.  Also given that Kotoko is pretty close to type A …  Maybe someone who has read the novels/manga can put me at ease here.  I don’t think Brain’s Base rolls like that, so I’m pretty hopeful.

Kyokou Suiri so far has been great, no complaints.  I’ve been lulled into a false sense of security and high expectations too many times before, so I’m just waiting for something to go terribly wrong or the quality to just fall off a cliff.  Until then, Kyokou Suiri has done everything you could ask for in early setup: not rushing or bombarding with characters, building out the mains, developing the story, and introducing issues slowly and deliberately.  I also applaud when a character acts with depth – I would say both Kotoko and Kuro so far have been developed pretty well.  So far, so good – I’ll keep my fingers crossed!  Check out Mario’s review next week!