Review of Blood Blockade Battlefront

If you ever feel like watching a simple shounen battle anime with lots of over-the-top action and not as much an over-the-top plot, I would recommend Kekkai Sensen. It is truly a fun anime to watch whenever you feel like relaxing after a long day of the boss complaining about your work being incomplete. Story – 7/10 Kekkai Sensen has a simple plot which doesn’t try to accomplish much. Depending on your personal preference, that can either be a good or a bad thing. Three years before the current storyline a supernatural occurrence happened in the bustling metropolis of New York, merging the Otherworld and NewYork into a single city. This is the origin of the wacky city, Hellsalem’s Lot. Our protagonists are members of the secret organisation Libra who catch criminals to keep the balance between the human’s and ‘monster’. Personally I love the way Kekkai Sensen was written as a single episode usually revolves around the core group of Libra trying to catch some sort of supernatural criminal. By having a different plot every episode you never know what to expect from the writing department as the criminals – not the antagonists mind you – are extremely colourful, personality wise and design wise. This aspect made the show a joy to watch, as we could see the different members of Libra in action and the chemistry between the characters. The only thing I can complain about plot wise, are the last three episodes with a combined plot. The pacing was awful and I couldn’t care enough about the generic antagonist.

Art – 8/10

With studio Bones in charge of the anime we can expect two things: Consistent animation quality and some gorgeous sakuga. One of the nicest things about Kekkai Sensen is the setpieces. Hellsalem’s Lot is a diverse and colourful city filled with interesting characters and vibrant streets. The amount of detail given to the smallest of details in the city is what truly made the city beautiful. Not to mention the action scenes were downright awesome with the insane amount of particle effects whenever abilities were used. Made me feel like I was busy watching a Marvel/DC superhero movie than an anime.

Sound – 9/10

By far the best aspect of Kekkai Sensen, the music in the anime was fantastic. The opening and ending were both incredibly catchy and I actually watched them both every single episode. The usage of fast passed Jazz was an excellent choice for the anime as it helped to create a laid back and generally fun atmosphere. It also helped with the pacing of the fights as the characters fought in synchronization with the soundtrack. I watched the series in Japanese and the voice acting was really good. Some of my favourite voice actors appear in the anime such as the voice of Zapp.

Character – 7/10

Even though the anime had a new plot every episode, most of these episodes didn’t revolve around character development and instead on a central theme, which is kind-of sad because I would have loved to learn more about the members of Libra. Weirdly enough the protagonist – Leonardo Watch – happened to be a character I really enjoyed. Within the context of the story he was an excellent choice for the protagonist as he is just a normal guy who happened to end up in the craziest and wackiest city on the planet. We as a audience can feel for the poor guy as he reacts to situation the same way the majority of us would react if we were in his shoes. Another character I really enjoyed was Klaus von Reinhertz, the cool, calculated, suave gentleman who had some great comedic moments as his cool personality worked in contrast to the majority of the cast. Other than these two the rest of Libra were interesting in their own rights if but a little underdeveloped. As I mentioned before, I found the antagonist a boring and useless character thrown in at the last minute in order to make the plot appear more put together.

Enjoyment – 8/10

The first nine episodes are insanely fun to watch. It has everything I love about the shounen genre and does it well. It moves at a fast pace and genuinely makes me smile, even though the last three episodes feel like an entirely different than the episodes which came before them.

Overall – 7/10

Kekkai Sensen is a average but fun show. It’s not the type of show a ignorant elitist would watch but for the majority of anime watchers – and myself – Kekkai Sensen is a damn fun watch. It has a simple plot, fun characters, great visuals and a fantastic soundtrack which makes the show extremely enjoyable. What more could you ask for in such a fun shounen?

Thanks for taking the time to read my review!