Review of Blood Blockade Battlefront

Kekkai Sensen is a thrill ride from start to finish, throwing its viewers into a confusing mess of conflicts, monsters, and the awesome heroes trying to keep the city (somewhat) safe. With a sizable cast of eccentric characters and a wide array of conflicts and subplots, there is endless excitement to be had. Where Kekkai Sensen really shines is its captivating setting and unstructured plot. Incredible effort was put into developing Hellsalem's Lot, the dystopian metropolis that was once New York City before a mysterious portal opened up, connecting our universe to another and allowing monsters to flood the city. Not all of these monsters areunfriendly, however; most of them have assimilated into society and coexist with humans. Kekkai Sensen puts you on a tour of the city, showing you countless human and monster pedestrians and their bizarre lifestyles.

The confusing, loosely structured plot has been criticized by many viewers, but I think it is one of Kekkai Sensen's greatest strengths. This isn't a linear story of one boy fighting the villain and saving the day. It's the story of an apocalyptic city and all of the calamity going on inside of it, and the stronger powers keeping this calamity loosely in check. There is Libra, the league of vigilantes trying to keep violent monsters at bay, there are large-scale criminal organizations, there is an ambiguous militaristic police force threatening to shut Libra down, and a few powerful individuals trying to take down the whole planet. It only makes sense that Kekkai Sensen is a chaotic mesh of storylines that our main character, Leonardo, gets caught up in. More than anything else, this anime is FUN. It is loaded with action, interesting characters, and plenty of mysteries to keep you watching.

Libra itself features a strong cast of lovable characters. Klaus, the almost comically masculine leader who can fight harder and think faster than any other human. Zapp, the lanky, aloof wannabe tough guy who begrudgingly takes Leonardo under his wing. KK, the mysterious woman who is deeply dedicated to her son and fights with electrified bullets. All of the major characters in Kekkai Sensen are well-developed and unique, and each has their own demons to battle. Watching Leonardo join Libra, you can feel his excitement and nervousness as he enters a world full of powerful characters and the complex ties they have within Hellsalem's Lot.

Then the anime twins show up. The super-crazy battle arena of an anime suddenly turns into an ultra-generic melodrama about some emotional 15 year-olds. All of the subplots that left you craving information are dropped entirely, Leonardo's status as a goofy kid trying to make a difference is gone, and suddenly all we're supposed to care about is the feelings of some sappy kids who lost their parents. The series essentially forgets everything that it achieved for 10 episodes and completely redefines the storyline to focus on a moody teenage girl, while every conflict is instantly resolved with the power of friendship. After watching 10 episodes of Libra causing thousands (they openly admit to this) of casualties in their effort to keep the city safe - rightly so, they blow up some buildings but prevent giant monsters from going on city-wide rampages - it becomes a bit difficult to feel sympathetic for the little girl who wishes she had super powers, and her emo brother who is too noble to save himself. I just watched Klaus murder 500 innocent people when he threw a giant monster into a skyscraper, now I'm expected to feel sorry for a little girl who doesn't feel adequate?

Better yet, the entire story conveniently becomes centered on these moody teens, and saving the world becomes a matter of inspiring them (with a super cheesy "i believe in my friends!!!" monologue) to stop being self-pitying twats long enough for the world to not end simply because they're too mopey to lift a finger.

I may be a bit too strongly opinionated, but Kekkai Sensen's evolution from Baccano-esque thrill ride to super cliche shonen crap left a bitter aftertaste. While I still think this show has immense potential to continue on as a great series, my interest will drop significantly if it doesn't go back to its strengths and start exploring the amazing world it has set up. There is so much potential for this series to really dig into any of the subplots it touched on throughout the first 10 episodes, like "Angel Scale" the mysterious super-drug, the seemingly corrupt police force patrolling the city, the source of the "blood powers" wielded by the members of Libra and the experiments that gave Klaus his incredible power, or Ulchelko the crime-boss chess wizard and the other powerful bosses of the alterworld. Anything to get more screen time in the awesome city of Hellsalem's Lot, watching Libra clown around and take down bad guys while digging into the underworld of terrible powers fueling the chaos withing the city.

I give Kekkai Sensen a 6/10 for having an awesome story with a completely unsatisfying ending. I sincerely hope that this series gets a second season, and that it taps into the huge potential of its setting rather than make a story revolving around romantic teenagers. There are a lot of loose ends that could easily make for a few season's worth of content on their own.