kiznaiver review (mostly about my gripes with the series)
Kiznaiver was a great show with a good message, stellar direction, fantastic OST, gorgeous visuals, and gripping characters.
However, what gets me is that it could have been outstanding if only it didn’t suffer from lousy pacing during the first few episodes, some unexplored characters that fell a little flat because of it, stagnation for the sake of drama, and an underdeveloped sci-fi element that wasn’t really taken anywhere.
I’ve spent the last 12 weeks singing well-earned praises about all the aspects I loved about the show, but now that it’s over, the ride wouldn’t feel complete if I didn’t also talk about the bits that were more ‘miss’ than ‘hit’ for me.
I’ll start with Episode 12 and then move onto the series as a whole!
Warning: It’s long!! And of course, nothing more than my own personal and subjective opinion!
Everything I loved about Episode 12 is HERE and HERE!
Episode 12
As a fan of Katsuhira, Noriko, and Katsuriko I couldn’t possibly be happier with this episode; it literally delivered my biggest wish (aka, Katsuhira telling Noriko that he isn’t connected to her because of the system, but because he loves her) and went even beyond it, because it was basically an ode to the strength of Katsuhira’s feelings for Noriko and how being loved by him saved her (and how loving her changed him). To how Katsuhira regaining his true self (which began precisely with Noriko telling him that he exists within her) allowed him to regain the Noriko that exists within him and thus helped Noriko remember her own heart: that she loves him and their friends.
It was absolutely beautiful. We also got a lot of touching, poignant moments from Honoka, Nico, Chidori, and Hisomu (though he once again faded into the background, which is a shame). And everyone ended up in a good place, both with themselves and with each other.
It was a fantastic episode and a lot of it played just as I thought I would. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel it was sort of underwhelming as a finale.
Part of it is probably because it was sort of tame for Okada’s standards, but this is actually not necessarily a bad thing. Episode 9 for example could have benefitted from being ‘less Okada-ish’ (confession: I couldn’t take the 'itai’ scene seriously precisely for this reason).
However, I went into this episode prepared for it to hit me as hard as Episodes 7 and 10 (the highlights of the series for me) did, and it… didn’t. Not really, at least. I was happy to see my ships sailing, Katsuhira’s development, and Noriko being saved, but at no point did I get as emotional as I did in the series highest points.
And I think it may be because it didn’t really feel like anything was at stake. We are told that connecting to these many people may break Noriko and that she is in danger, but we don’t ever really see that. Noriko simply spends nearly the entire episode being chill. You wouldn’t know she is under enormous strain if we hadn’t been told. We have already seen Noriko’s emotions overpower her sedation before, so why wasn’t that used now to fully draw home how dangerous this truly was for her? Instead, she gets connected to a good bunch of Sugomori and doesn’t even blink an eye at it.
So while we know Noriko is in danger, it doesn’t truly feel like she is, which in turn lowers the urgency of the situation.
Another reason is how relatively simple everything was. Essentially, all Noriko needed to hear to open her eyes was being asked to give everyone back their pain and reassured that she wouldn’t be alone if she did because their feelings for her were unrelated to the Experiment. A straightforward solution for a straight-forward issue: Noriko’s lack of understanding of other's hearts and her own. The thing is though, that this issue was literally the catalyst for the entire show. This right here was the plot. Katsuhira’s inability to feel pain and Noriko’s own, Noriko’s investment in the system—issues that carried on for 12 long years were resolved in about 4 minutes once Katsuhira said the right thing (“Why do we need to share it?”).
But I think it mostly has to do with all the stuff left unexplored. In fact, I didn’t even realize the episode had ended. I watched it live and after Noriko smiled, we cut to commercials and I stayed waiting for a post-credits scene that never came lol
In general, as I mentioned before, I went into it expecting to have these points addressed:
- Noriko explaining what actually happened the night she jumped.
- Katsuhira’s and Noriko’s bond (+ why their mark is still active).
- Noriko realizing you don’t need the Kizna System to connect to others.
- A solution for Noriko’s ‘pain absorber’ situation and a conclusion for Asuka’s and the others (be it them returning to normal or not.)
- Katsuhira and Noriko getting their pain back (+ regaining their true selves, particularly in Noriko’s case. Even the preview points out that Noriko being able to smile again is at the core of the next episode).
- Urushii and Yaamada helping them save Noriko.
- The current Kiznaiver gang accepting they are friends.
- The current Kiznaiver gang willingly baring their hearts to each other / accepting their true selves and honestly expressing their feelings.
- The current Kiznaiver gang giving the last step to overcome their sins.
And excepting the first one, basically, all of them were indeed addressed. The only one that wasn’t completely fulfilled was Yaamada also helping to save Noriko and arguably, the very last point because I’m not sure how Tenga jumping at the chance to beat up those bullies and initially trying to hold a grudge against Katsuhira fares as a character development, but I digress.
But the thing is, those points above were just the ones I assumed would get addressed because of their importance to the theme of the show and to its plot—but there were so many minor things that I would have liked to see as well, particularly in regards to some characters.
And that’s where my gripes with the series as a whole begin.
Hisomu
What exactly was the point of Hisomu being a masochist? Aside from Episode 3, his masochism got literally zero relevant screen time; it was simply used as a humorous kink while Hisomu stayed in the background for roughly 70% of the series. In Episode 00, his seiyuu said that Hisomu was the type that “Enjoyed doing the things he wasn’t supposed to do.” But did we actually ever see that in the show? Aside from that brief moment where he called Honoka out and enjoyed how her emotional pain felt, Hisomu was pretty content simply observing everyone and analyzing them in the background. And when he finally stepped out of the shadows, he was shown to be a very empathic, sensible, and level-headed person.
So again, I really don’t see why they made him a masochist when it played no role at all in the development of his character or even in his characterization, aside—again—from comedy relief. One could argue that becoming friends with the others gave Hisomu the stimulation he sought and thus, his desire for pain lessened—but again, this was never explored. I think that they mentioned that in the original draft, Hisomu was simply supposed to be a Hikkomori. I think that would have been much more fitting. I really don’t see why they changed it, aside from trying to make Hisomu more outlandish and the cast more varied, since Honoka was already withdrawn enough for two.
But what gets me the most about it is that it was such a wasted opportunity. There are plenty of ways a truly immoral masochist would have taken advantage of the Kiznaiver System, so Hisomu’s sin could have been a nice way to explore other sides of it and its shortcomings, and thus, a fantastic window to give him a character arc. But instead, it was used simply as a character gimmick.
Sadly though, while he is definitely loveable, I think “wasted potential” summarizes a lot of Hisomu’s character. We don’t know a thing about him. The show made a point of showing Hisomu reacting to Katsuhira and acting as if he recognized him from somewhere and dropped more than one hint about a possible interesting background related to the Kiznaiver System. But apparently, all those were just red herrings, which is a huge shame because they would have given Hisomu a solid, plot-relevant background. Instead, we are left empty-handed and without the barest idea of what makes Hisomu thick and why he is the way he is. Why he lives alone, why he never even went to school, why he was so interested in Katsuhira, why Noriko let him watch the experiment in Episode 2 rather than group him with the others. We literally know nothing.
That Hisomu is a good, caring friend, a great judge of character and has a talent for background sea-noises.
And this brings me to what somehow ended up becoming my second biggest gripe when it comes to characters:
Tenga
Here is another character that seemed to have a background… for a few episodes, at least. Because then it went absolutely nowhere.
Tenga literally had no qualms leaving his home and moving into Katsuhira’s and we don’t know why. Granted, it’s not like everyone needs a sob story—Hisomu was right about that and the show itself lampshaded it; but there’s no denying that having an actual backstory would have done wonders for Tenga’s character. So again: wasted potential.
My gripe with Tenga goes a bit further than just that, though. For most of the series, I had Tenga in a solid tie with Yuta for the best boy (after Katsuhira, of course! lol). And then Episode 9 came, and I have to confess I was sadly never quite able to enjoy his character the same way after that.
Despite how understandable Tenga lashing out may have been, despite how human it was—the truth is that Tenga’s reaction painted him as a bad friend to Katsuhira and also as ungrateful. Katsuhira literally took him into his house for free, shared his roof and his food with him—and Tenga made the conscious choice of turning his back on him because Katsuhira did as Tenga asked him to do and unknowingly hurt Tenga’s crush?
And I say “made the conscious choice” because while Tenga’s actions in Episode 9 were visceral and thus out of his control, Tenga’s “I haven’t completely forgiven him just yet” was not. Sure, Tenga himself admits that he can’t leave Katsuhira alone after all, because they’re friends, but the simple fact that he originally wanted to try and do so suggests Tenga never put himself in Katsuhira’s shoes or even looked at his own actions and realized where he messed up in regards to him. Or perhaps he did, but he was too prideful and too loyal to Chidori.
And that happens to be yet another aspect of Tenga’s character that would have benefitted from Tenga getting a backstory: the strength of his feelings for Chidori and his loyalty to her would have taken a deeper layer of meaning if we knew this was the first time someone cared for Tenga and looked after him. If that were the case, his questionable choices in regards to Katsuhira would have been much more understandable.
Tenga and Nico
Another thing we never got in the finale was any sort of meaningful interaction between Tenga and Nico. They literally interact only once after Tenga finds out about Nico’s feelings, and it’s only so Tenga can remind Nico to have some tact for Chidori’s sake.
The reason why I could never get on-board of Nico and Tenga as a ship (despite loving Nico and finding them cute, because I do!) is that Nico’s feelings simply never got any significant amount of focus, which made me think they would simply be used more as a complication rather than an actual, legitimate feeling. And I feel I was sadly right, for the most part.
We never do get a chance to hear Nico talk about Tenga, and her feelings for him get little to no focus in comparison to Tenga’s feelings for Chidori (or Yuta’s for Honoka, Chidori’s for Katsuhira, Katsuhira for Noriko’s—you get the idea). So I feel that Nico’s feelings for Tenga were there mostly so that Episode 9 could happen and everyone—minus Hisomu—could have their hearts broken. And to show another possible way to deal with rejection, of course.
On the upside, they at least served to highlight Nico’s emotional maturity and how fantastic she is as a person. And I also appreciate that they didn’t have Nico end up with Hisomu just to ‘pair the spares’.
Nico’s is actually another background I would have liked to see. When did she choose to sell herself as eccentric? What brought it on? These are questions I would have liked to see answered, but there was simply not enough time.
Which brings me to:
The pacing:
I also mentioned this before, but the finale solidified it for me: I feel most of the problems of the series are due to its pacing. I think the issue in this regard lies mainly in three areas:
- The pacing of the first 5 episodes (and of the first 3 in particular). The Friendship, Love, and Rampage arcs were solid, but the first 5 episodes could have been easily merged into 3 without anything of value being lost. That would have allowed us to get to Honoka’s Arc and thus the turning point of the series way earlier, which in turn would have given us more time to explore the characters and the plot.
- Leaving the plot for last in order to keep Noriko mysterious for as long as possible and save Katsuhira’s character development for the end. The climax was always going to revolve around Noriko’s goals regarding the Kiznaiver System and her backstory with Katsuhira. But by the time they actually got addressed, there were already a lot of hanging plot-threads left to solve and little time to get to them. This ties directly into:
- Dragging out the character resolutions for the sake of drama. The biggest example of this is Chidori, who should have started to develop from Episode 4 or 5 at the latest and was instead kept stagnant / caught in a downward spiral until Episode 11, in what was most likely an attempt to make her actions in Episode 12 more impactful.
The initial disconnection between the character-focused drama and the Kiznaiver plot was my biggest gripe for the longest time.
This would have been fine if the series were 24 – 26 episodes long, but it wasn’t. As such, putting off the revelation of Noriko’s goals and motivation was counterproductive for the show, because they were left with roughly only 2 episodes to a) Introduce it b) Flesh it out c) Explain it d) Resolve it.
Leaving aside pairing bias, that’s the reason why some still find it hard to sympathize with Noriko: she only started to be fleshed out from Episode 6 because until then the show wanted to keep her mysterious. And that’s also the reason why an issue that Noriko has had for 12 long years was resolved in less than 4 minutes.
Not to mention, I feel the Kiznaiver Experiment was simply used to make a point about the birth and nurturing of connections rather than actually exploited as a system. So essentially, it was a plot-device. There was so much that could have been done with a system such as this, and yet it was treated simply as a way to foment true empathy. So, again: wasted potential.
I feel it would have served more of a role if Okada had been allowed to make her battle anime, but in a character-driven drama, it became such a secondary thing that it felt kind of out of place at times. And this was a problem because, again, the literal climax of the series hinged on Noriko clinging to it.
Then we have the dragging out the character resolutions. We saw this most strongly in Honoka, Tenga, Noriko, and Chidori. But Chidori was definitely the one who suffered the most because of it, for the reasons I mentioned above.
If she had been simply allowed to realize her self-centeredness earlier and to start to move on, Chidori telling Tenga that he is all she can think about now would have felt much more natural and less for the sake of making it obvious they are going to get together in the future. Not to mention, people wouldn’t have (understandably) lost their patience with her and she wouldn’t have received so much hate from the fanbase. But of course, Okada needed Chidori to be stagnant and remain self-centered in order for Episode 9 to happen.
Noriko though also suffered from this. The lack of self-understanding was a big point in the show and an essential part of everyone’s character development, but in Noriko’s case, the stakes were pushed higher this episode because she unintentionally and accidentally trapped Asuka’s and the other’s pain within her, and we saw the consequences of this. I feel we should have dwelled more on this because I’m certain it must have come as a shock to Noriko to finally realize it and she deserved to be able to deal with it—but again, the episode simply ran out of time.
It also ran out of time to effectively include Asuka and the others. I actually feel kind of cheated, because the show managed to make me 100% invested in those kids in under two episodes, and then they just faded into the background and simply showed up for 10 seconds. Thank God we at least know they’re slowly going back to normal lol
Yaamada is another character I wish would have gotten more to do in the finale. The way we pan to him after Katsuhira tells Noriko that he is sure everyone would like her as she is now just the same said it all, but after how touching the revelation of his devotion to Noriko and the kids were, I would have liked to see him come to the same realization Urushii seems to have had. Sometimes, loving someone means protecting them from themselves and what they think they want, in order to help them gain what they actually need.
But needless to say, I absolutely loved the show!
I probably wouldn’t even be bringing all that stuff up if it weren’t because I wanted even more from it and I feel it could have given us more. And to be fair, perhaps some of the issues I mentioned above will feel less glaring when I binge-watch the series. Watching week per week can have its downsides haha
I went into Kiznaiver for mainly two reasons: the direction—because I knew I could expect lots of symbolism and foreshadowing, which is just loads of fun!—and Okada, because having her onboard guaranteed tons of interesting character development and relationships (I wanted a new OTP and I got it). The gorgeous animation and the fantastic soundtrack were just the cherries on top.
And did the show deliver on all of those areas! I’ve spent 12 weeks waxing lyrical about all the areas of the show, and this level of investment would have never happened if I didn’t enjoy the cast as much as I did. It was an entertaining, solid, and relatable cast—and I think that’s precisely why I’m left feeling I would have liked to see even more of it.
While it did leave some of them unexplored, most of the characters were fantastic examples of how to subvert expectations based on character tropes. The best examples of this being Nico, Yuta, and Hisomu. I also adored the way Katsuhira’s character was handled, his development couldn’t have possibly been better and his and Noriko’s conditions made for some interesting character study. The main relationships between the characters were also vivid and very well handled, in particular Katsuhira/Noriko, Yuta/Honoka, and the Nico/Katsuhira/Hisomu trio. Honoka’s backstory with Ruru and her feelings for her was also stunning, and I am still in love with the way her feelings were handled.
All in all, just like many have said before me, Kiznaiver may have probably benefitted from being 24-26 episodes long. More episodes would have given us the chance to get more character backgrounds, a better-developed plot, and even more developed relationships. After all, I think we can all agree that one of the areas where the show truly excelled was its slice-of-life moments; and the time-skip is the best proof of that!
But honestly, it’d have been a two-edged sword because I think Okada would have still left the character resolutions and the mystery of Noriko’s and Katsuhira’s backstory to the end. So maybe we should simply hope for an OVA lol
Leaving all that aside, I truly enjoyed Kiznaiver for what it was. A show about how important it is to know, accept, and understand ourselves before we can even hope to understand and bond with others. About how we must not run away from our pain or from the possibility of being hurt, and we shouldn’t give up even when things don’t go our way. About how complicated relationships can be and how much they are worth the risk.
All of those are important reminders, and scenes like Honoka coming to terms with her feelings for Ruru and Katsuhira remembering just how much they lost alongside their ability to hurt are things that will remain with me for a long time.
