Episode Summary
After all the introductions are done with, the Kiznaivers are free to go back home while awaiting their final mission that is to come this summer. Katsuhira and Tenga have moved in with each other to make sure Katsuhira doesn’t get bullied anymore. They all then get a mission to track down the seventh Kiznaiver. Who turns out to be a shut-in masochist. The gang chases him around for an afternoon until Katsuhira incapacitates him by jumping off a bridge.
Review
If Kiznaiver is working towards something, it sure likes to explain it in complicated ways. One quick line from Chidori basically spells the intention of this episode and the seventh Kiznaiver, Tsuguhito. She talks about the difference between residual pain and initial pain and why only the Kiznaivers can feel the initial pain. Theme wise this could be a very interesting plot line to explore since even though they are connected they still only feel the short-term effects of each others pain. However everyone knows that pain can last long after the initial wound, both physically and mentally, so I’m interested where they’ll go with that concept.
The events are still rather dry in concept this episode, but the execution keeps it engaging. I’m not sure how long I can keep from wanting to brush of the script if it continues at this dry pace. I’m all one for cool ideas, but those ideas need to be weaved into the narrative well, and Kiznaiver seems to be all ideas and visuals, but not much else. The position where everyone is at, now having learned something deeply personal about each other seems to be rather brushed off in a sense. There is some dialogue between Chidori and Katsuhira that seems compelling, but I was sort of expecting everyones viewpoints of each other change once they found out that secret. I can’t tell if this story is going to be a bout Chidori and Katsuhira or not. Basically, I guess I don’t actually know what I want at this point, and the show isn’t giving me enough to care about in the mean while.
So far the writing has been really shallow and only played with the idea of big themes. Those big themes and the promise of them going somewhere later isn’t enough to keep me invested in a show. So Kiznaiver better gets its act together and pull together a gripping narrative worth its messages.
Episode Rating: C+
