While a series you expect to be great turning out great is, well… great, there’s a special satisfaction in a series you had modest expectations for doing so. I did have Kokkoku pegged as a sleeper going into the season, but it exceeded my expectations by a comfortable margin. It also marks a stellar debut for Geno Studio, who obviously didn’t have a huge budget here but managed a production that was outstanding in every other way (which is a good sign for Golden Kamuy, arguably the most anticipated show of 2018 – though sadly that was just announced as a one-cour series).
Let’s tackle the elephant in the room before we go any further, though, because those three dreaded Latin words are being uttered about what I consider an excellent finale – “Deus ex Machina”. I will admit, the last five minutes of the episode did make me think that for just a moment, but I’m going to argue that isn’t what we had here. First of all, the Founder’s “wife” (though more correctly the actual founder) was in fact part of the first episode of Kokkoku (though I admit I did forget that) so technically this wasn’t a DeM. More substantively, the ending made sense in context of the mythology – though I won’t deny it might have been a bit too convenient (or at least left a little too late).
We’ll loop back to that, however, because there was plenty in the rest of the episode that was worth talking about. It begins as last week’s finished, concerned with the fate of the Sagawa baby. It never seemed possible that the Yuzawa would allow him to be killed, even if Shiemi-san argued in favor – and Shouko’s reasoning for why it might not be necessary was persuasive enough. What’s interesting is that Juri and Jii-san decide to keep him with them in Stasis, at least initially. Not a lot of time is spent on this, but I ascribe it to two factors – first, the fact that it’s going to be very lonely in there. And second, Stasis will act as a sort of quarantine for Sagawa-kun – just in case something proves off with him as he develops.
Once everyone else has been evicted, Juri and Grandpa decide to keep the baby inside until he can “keep his head up”, just to be certain he’s strong enough to withstand Juri’s power. But it’s clear that the baby and Jii-san are the only things keeping Juri tethered to her existence – and that Grandpa is going to be going back at some point. These scenes between the two of them are fantastic, and the time spend inside Juri’s faltering consciousness is the best part of the episode. Yamaji Kazuhiro and Anzai Chika are really great – the whole cast is, pretty much, but these two really stand out this week. Anzai-san is a bit of an under-the-radar seiyuu (as famous for playing boys as anything) but she’s going to be in the running for best seiyuu performance of the year for her work in Kokkoku.
What really strikes me here is how strong a young woman Juri is. Perhaps even to the point of being rash and too unsentimental – but damn, when she decides something needs to be done, she does it. She’s not going to allow Jii-san to share her fate when he doesn’t have to – they both know it, and it’s only a question of timing. For her to send him back in his sleep after promising to let him choose his moment was cruel – for her to send the baby back without prevaricating even knowing the existential cost to herself was an act of great courage.
You just don’t get material like what follows in anime much – Juri’s time alone in Stasis is brilliantly portrayed. Because of the way these scenes are directed it’s easy to imagine yourself in her place and wonder how you’d react in a similar situation. This may most literally be limbo, but in a very real sense this existence is a kind of Hell – and as Juri-san says, once the baby is gone there’s really nothing keeping her in this world. She tries various tricks to fool her mind into caring – getting drunk, going to the city and seeing the sights – but really, these are all just variations on a theme.
Then it happens… And yes, it does come out of the blue. I’m good with this development – it fits with the Kokkoku mythology, and sets up a really beautiful ending. I get that some people are going to think it’s a cheat and I won’t bother to fight that fight – we feel how we feel. But for me, there had to be somebody behind this – someone with a deeper control of what was going on with Stasis – and she’s as good as anybody. And it was nice to see an acknowledgement of why the Yuzawa were chosen to inherit the stone in the first place – because they’re good and decent people (most of them, anyway) and precisely the sort who should have power – those that have no interest in it.
There’s so much to like about Kokkoku in looking back on it that it’s not easy to define its appeal in a few sentences. I think one has to start with one simple fact – difference. Being different is not enough in itself to be good, no – but anime for the most part look more and more alike these days. At least 50% of 2018’s series announcements (and I’m guessing it could be a good deal more) are some variation on the cute girls doing cute things theme. Kokkoku stands out like a sore thumb – it simply doesn’t look, sound or act like what anime in 2018 is. And because of that, it’s consistently surprising – which is certainly another of its many charms.
As I’ve noted, Kokkoku reminds me somewhat of Kamisama Dolls. Both shows, as with many seinen, are adept at observing family dynamics and incorporating them into the narrative. The juxtaposition of the familiar and the bizarre is a powerful formula for storytelling success, and Kokkoku is superb at doing this. It’s smart, it’s perceptive, it’s inventive – really, everything you want a good supernatural thriller to be. And while – unlike Kamisama Dolls – it gives us a real ending (and a damn good one), it leaves you believing that there’s much more to be explored here without feeling as if the story as told is incomplete. That’s the mark of good writing and direction, and Kokkoku is certainly the beneficiary of both. I know we won’t see many series like it, so I’m going to treasure this one even more.
ED Sequence:
Epilogue:
HoTaRu
March 26, 2018 at 1:47 amThis was my favorite show this season for sure. I have had a lot of things going on in my life lately and haven’t had very much time to spend watching anime (or feeling up to it), but every week I made time for this show. I loved the twists and turns, the characters, the concept, and the direction. I agree about the ending not feeling incomplete though there is more left to explore. That is a clear sign that the story is well developed in my opinion. I was especially impressed with the final two episodes and was thrilled to see what was going on in their lives after all of this happened. I just love shows like this. Anything that isn’t mainstream catches my attention, and I was so glad that this one surpassed my expectations for it. I’m really looking forward to watching Geno’s next show Pet. It also sounds like it will be different than everything else out there, so I can’t wait.
Koku
March 26, 2018 at 3:30 amIt bears mention that Sagawa may have achieved exactly what he wanted all along. If the “founder” didn’t leave anything out and being born with the Spectres is indeed the main prerequisite for not aging (beyond maturing, obviously) and fully mastering the Stasis, then he got that part exactly right. Of course getting expelled by Juri may have thrown a wrinkle in this, but it’s quite likely that he’ll get there eventually.
Overall, a pretty great show, although I’d have liked it even more if the Yukawas had displayed slightly more intelligence throughout the whole thing. (BTW, re: your “have no interest in it” comment: remember the musings grandpa had in the beginning of the series about many members of the family having abused their Stasis powers in the past?)
Scampi
March 26, 2018 at 5:09 amI’m pretty sure most of the people complain about the Deus ex Machina purely because the founder happens to be nearby, but in my opinion Juri was pretty much a herald at the moment, and with it the ability to sense people with spectres and teleport. It would make sense that she finds the one remaining person with spectre in stasis and teleport there out of innate desire to make contact/find a way out. Although Tobino being around and the street appearing the same pointed to the fact that the founder IS indeed nearby, the encounter is really kinda coincidental. I’m still really happy Juri got the happy ending she deserved.
Also it was neat oji-san waited for her, since that wasn’t in the manga. It made use of the logic that she’d return within a couple days to the family if she finds a way out, and of course oji-san would be ready for her no matter what
Mayuf
March 26, 2018 at 6:58 amThanks
Earthlingzing
March 26, 2018 at 10:12 amOverall I think this series turned out pretty great. You can tell there’s intelligence to the writing, the part thats especially great to me are all those character moments, such as Juri’s interactions with grandpa and her time alone in stasis. The logic behind the scifi elements is a bit wonky, but its used well to create a nice unpredictable-ness to everything that goes on, even up to the end.
Guardian Enzo
March 26, 2018 at 4:00 pmPart of that wonkiness, I think, is that it’s not strictly a sci-fi – more a hybrid of sci-fi seen through a Shinto fantasy lens.
wandering-dreamer
March 26, 2018 at 5:37 pmI actually did manage to remember seeing the real Founder at the very beginning all the way through the story (although I interpreted that scene rather differently) and I still found that ending to be a Deus Ex Machina (I mean, she is basically the god of this whole concept for one thing). The fact that Juri found her, when none of the other heralds noticed at all, that we’ve seen no one with overlapping powers so far (at least I don’t think we did) and now we see an overlapping of the most critical of them all, thaaaat felt all too convenient for me. I did wonder a little if this feels a bit more “natural” in the manga but I’m not so curious that I plan on reading all of Kodansha’s releases to find out!
Scampi
March 27, 2018 at 12:33 amThe manga didn’t handle it differently, just had couple more lines between founder and Juri. Now looking back on it, it was curious how Sagawa’s presence overshadowed his tidbit of info that there was an ageless founder writing the scripts and potentially hanging around in stasis. In the first half of episodes, there was this sense of foreboding that there is an overseer in stasis world with the introduction of heralds. I also speculated there’s a king herald somewhere based on how menacing they were presented in the opening. Then as the story progressed and the heralds’ functions get unraveled, they take a backseat to Masami’s tragedy and Sagawa becoming a herald himself. Sagawa’s theories are very persuasive and doesn’t leave the viewers with much to speculate, but in truth they aren’t. The founder revealed there’s a limit to how reasoning can control specters and (in manga only) people can indeed learn how to leave stasis, but it took her husband 20 years to learn how to do so and probably going to take as long for Sagawa. It’s dicey if he can last that long before frustration turns him into herald. She’s a reminder that stasis is supernatural and not something for human workings. Having her give some kind of final conclusion to the Yukawa’s disposition and Sagawa’s ambition was a good way to end the series, despite the convenience of the encounter.
donhumberto
March 27, 2018 at 3:58 amThanks a lot for the review. I was kinda bummed that I had been reading some lukewarm/negative reviews all around so it was nice to see that you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. It truly is an unique series and sadly is like an unicorn in today’s moe/isekai infested anime landscape.
To think that a big part of the anime fandom/bloggers have pretty much ignored such a gripping, well told sci-fi thriller in favour of moe girls going camping (or to the Antartica) is truly depressing… that’s why I really appreciate your review so much.
Thanks again and keep up the good work!
Guardian Enzo
March 27, 2018 at 4:19 amYou know, I saw an interview with Ishizuka and he said “the problem was, with so many cute girls anime out there how could I make this one different? I know – Antarctica!” Well – how about doing something else besides a cute girls anime? I mean – that’d work too…
Ja
March 27, 2018 at 7:04 amYou’re really selling Yorimoi short if you think its only CGCT in Antarctica.
Kokkoku has been a great ride and somwhat of a expectation subverter and its one of my 2 top shows of the season. Amazing stuff!
donhumberto
March 28, 2018 at 12:54 amHehe, indeed 😉