Once in a place far away,
When many planets intermingled and
the boundary between man and god was vague…
This is a tale of a particular family, a tale of love and rebirth.
Best anime of 2013? Yes-
Considering how bland the season looked, with exceptions to Log Horizon, Kill la Kill, and a few select others, one hasn’t been so underrated and unwatched as much as Kyousougiga. With a mere 17k members on MyAnimeList, it seemingly doesn’t compare to some of the other shows that were less redeemable, such as Kyoukai no Kanata (73k).
With a solid score of an 8.07, it barely makes it past the mark of average, beating Kill la Kill, Log Horizon, and many other shows this season (With the exception of Little Busters: Refrain [cough Key titles are overrated cough come at me!], Kyousougiga transcends the boundary of average and great. For a fact, the show deserves it, whole heartedly.
The trouble for me, is to find out where to start. The story, isn’t seemingly complex, but there are many things that are not told to us right at the beginning. We seemingly think that it is some sort normal story about a mother and father disappearing from the lives of their children, who are forced to grow up by themselves, but yet, it completely transcends to that of dealing with gods the more we dive into it at the same time, retaining the element of family.
The Looking Glass City is your home, the one you made…
I included a picture of Lewis Carrolls, Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There, mainly because this is what Kyousougiga is influenced by. There are many, MANY MANY allusions to this age old novel that is seen in Kyousougiga, primarily, the mirror, the bunny, and the chessboard. And like I said in my previous impression, this show is like Alice in Wonderland mixed with FLCL, Bakemonogatari, and Buddhism combined.
The concept of basing an anime on a novel published in 1871 is quite unusual, but Kyousougiga pulls it off brilliantly. With quirky, but stunning visuals that seemingly flare with imagination, it gives the show a unique edge against the other shows this season because it gives off that “wonderland” feel. It’s surreal, creative, and most importantly, with meaning.
It doesn’t fail to show the legnths that family will go just to be together, even when faced with the impending doom of all the worlds in existence. It portrays family in such a real way, loss of parents, reuniting after a long awaited return, the problems that families encounter, parents devotions to their kids and what lengths they will go to to make their children happy.
The sound is amazing, with all the voice actors doing great jobs, especially for Koto, who voiced Kagura from Gintama. (Weird hearing her without say aru at the end of every sentence!) The ED for the show is possibly my favorite soundtrack of the season, Shisshou Ginga by Teppan.
All in all, this show was the highlight of anime for the fall season, and it seriously brought what I expected from it, actually, even more than what I expected. I hardly remember what I thought of the show before, but just by looking at it now, I am thoroughly impressed. I would recommend this show to anyone because honestly, this show is worth the watch. At only a starch 10 episodes, it manages to trump many of the popular shows this season, while itself being overly unpopular, and I like it like that.
So my word to the reader, this show is a very valuable gem, and is totally worth the find.
Brave New Moe 