Kiznaiver: Overcoming pain

The discussions surrounding Kiznaiver are mainly divided into two sides: those who can relate to the “feels” and those bashing it as too sappy and full of teenage angst. I consider myself part of the former, so I advise this now if you haven’t watched it yet: it’s a show you won’t enjoy if you lived your high school life like Tanaka of Tanaka-kun.

Or perhaps you’re one of those winning in high school and making the L sign for all the losers you’re forced to spend your youth with.

The idea’s supposedly straightforward: people will be connected through a sci-fi mash called the Kizuna System where they will share each other’s (physical) pain, eventually learning to understand each other’s emotions. The idea that such a experiment will bring world peace is too lofty and idealistic, but many bought the idea a whole city was even built for the purpose. The show mainly focuses near the end of the experiment — with a desperate move to salvage it by connecting a bunch of kids in the local high school.

The concept’s very raw as executed, though. There’s a visible struggle to articulate its purpose as the show goes along. The series of challenges the Kiznaivers faced unearthed their fears and worst secrets, creating a bond among them only to be broken shortly when love enters the picture. Then it suddenly jumps into the Kizuna System’s past and what connects two of the main characters more than anyone else.

This lack of clarity triggered a search and intense debate of what the show’s really saying. At the surface, it’s all mumbo jumbo of dialogue attempting to be relate-able. Some argued, if Kiznaiver was an experiment about the processes behind empathy isn’t it silly, if not absurd to conduct it in the first place, more so build an entire city just for the purpose? It’s one of the many unresolved questions in the show but I don’t delve to it that much — adults can be silly you know, just look at our politicians.

It took me a while to barely understand that this is a show about pain after all. Looking back at the characters’ experiences, pain is what holding them back from living and connecting with the world. We either fear to be hurt if we get too close with others, or we have existing wounds that we’re afraid to share or is traumatic enough to make us cynical. When we confront that pain (and the fear associated with it), it sets us free and makes us appreciate our humanity — pain is an integral part of the human experience and we’re not alone in experiencing it. We are all hurting and need a helping hand, no matter how strongly we deny it to ourselves.

We either fear to be hurt if we get too close with others, or we have existing wounds that we’re afraid to share

Katsuhira pretends to ignore pain as he wants to prove to himself he can walk the earth alone. Sonozaki, harboring the pain from the previous Kiznaiver experiment can’t let go of it, having mistaken them as her happiness for a long time. Maki doesn’t want to get close with the other Kiznaivers as she doesn’t want to relive the pain of losing a friend. Chidori takes care of Katsuhira to distract herself from her own pain, while Tenga, Yuta and Nico create their masks to make their teenage life a little more bearable and to make them accept themselves a little more.

But with all its weaknesses, Kiznaiver gathered a loyal audience due to its impeccable art — with careful use of color, lighting and framing to articulate the intended mood between scenes and the interactions between characters. Add to that the catchy music, especially the opening from Boom Boom Satellites which could be one of the best, if the not the most excellent this season.

It’s a pity though that Trigger seems to be hesitant in producing the series and it’s reflected till the end. It’s a good concept that was lost in translation — maybe because it’s not their forte, or Mari Okada doesn’t glue much with the production, or they’re just in a rush to get it over and done with. If they’ve released it another time and enough episodes for two seasons, it could have avoided the tangles it went through and brought more clarity to its critics.

Nevertheless, it was a fun ride, probably because I could relate to the characters and their personal struggles. This in itself would make the series a potential classic worthy of revisit.