Kekkaishi

[insaneneko]

I went on a crazy marathon session watching all 52 episodes of an anime called Kekkaishi in a very short amount of time. It's based on the shonen manga about kekkaishi (barrier masters) who protect some land that allow ayakashi to power up and thus attract the ayakashi like mad. I had some issues with the pacing at the end, but overall enjoyed it very much. The main character is a 14 year old boy kekkaishi with huge undeveloped potential who isn't a (wanna-be) alpha jerk, who is motivated to become stronger from a very sincere desire to protect, who likes to bake cakes. The other kekkaishi is an older girl who is smarter and more mature but doesn't have the sheer power the main character does. She gets to remain a smart and mature character who can do stuff by thinking rather than by brute force all the way through! The two characters care for each other very much, and it comes through all the way. The other characters are also pretty awesome for the most part. The plot has its typical shonen manga weaknesses, but nothing totally egregious. Now I want to read the manga...

In any case, the anime has been picked up and will start airing in the US later this year. The torrents look pretty dead but I did find direct downloads of some crappy (but watchable) real media files here.

Comments

[ramble-corner.livejournal.com]

XD I Can't remember where the anime ends but I do know it differs a bit at the end from the manga. And yes the manga is still ongoing (and made me despairs) as it seems to slid from one long arc to another ^^

[insaneneko.livejournal.com]

I heard the manga got bogged down in Urakai politicking, which doesn't sound too pleasant. But I still want to read it! I think I can borrow most of the series from a friend...