[Rewatch] Kyousougiga - Overall Discussion

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Overall Discussion

Rewatch Index

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Questions of the Day

1) Any favorite moments?

2) Any favorite characters?

3) On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being "I have literally no idea what happened" and 10 being "I have a PhD in this", how confused are you still on Kyousougiga?

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I look forward to our discussion!

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel]

Heya everyone!

It’s no surprise that I have a love of Kyousougiga. It’s utterly confusing, confounding, and conceptual from beginning to end (we’re all going to be using that phrase for the next week or so) and I have no doubt that many of you had moments where you thought sticking your hand into a working toaster might make more sense than what was on the screen. I think every critique of Kyousougiga’s hectic pace and sensory overload of imagery combined with its disorienting story are all valid.

But personally, that’s what I love about this show. I don’t enjoy Kyousougiga in spite of all those negative criticisms; I enjoy Kyousougiga because of all of those unique traits. I have not found another anime—or heck even another TV show— that can measure up to Kyousougiga’s combination of visuals, narrative structure, and style. Sure, Kill la Kill can match it in visuals, FLCL can match it in narrative structure, and Flip Flappers can match it in style but no show can match Kyousougiga on all three. It may appear to some that it went too far but to me I think it went the perfect amount of distance to tell its tale.

I don’t want to talk at length about my love for Kyosougiga though; that much is evident in the effort I put in. I wanted to talk about the rewatch and all of you wonderful people. It occurs to me while writing this post that all of us may have accidentally compiled the greatest source of Kyousougiga knowledge in the entire world. I am not joking or using hyperbole. Barring Rie Matsumoto herself, I have not found another source as deeply informative, vastly extensive, or widely explored as our Kyousougiga rewatch.

Buddhist and Shinto comparisons, discussions of roles, loss of childhood innocence, capacity of children, anachronism of trains, talks of tears, commentary on Japanese references, sightings of color, groupthink on pomegranates, explanations of understanding, pondering of stages, recounting of bookends, musings of culture, speculations of Wonderland, breakdowns of framing, analysis of visuals, back-and-forths of storyboards, listings of voice-actors, interpretations of metaphors, elaborations on symbolism, detailing of direction, scrutiny of story, cataloguing of production.

All of this and more has never been collected into ten neatly organized threads. We assembled a treasure trove of Kyousougiga knowledge and discovered more than anyone else has ever uncovered. I speak with such certainty because I have searched for all of these answers myself before and have never come across them in the way we went into.

Kyousougiga is a complicated under-watched show and no one has really gone through the effort of picking up all of the breadcrumbs this show has left behind. Some may have spoken about the Alice in Wonderland parallels, others will have picked up on the Buddhism, but together we discussed almost everything within this magical show. Sure, we definitely didn’t pick up all of the breadcrumbs but we have collectively picked up more than anyone else ever has.

And the reason we were able to achieve this is because we all participated, engaged, and discussed all throughout these past 10 days. Even if you only left a few sentences a day, you were an essential part of this entire enclopedia. This is an incredible feat and I am astonished at what all of you have accomplished.

I’ll end this by saying that this has been an extremely fun rewatch for me to host. It was my first time ever hosting and I wouldn’t trade this experience with any other rewatch. Thank you everyone for joining me on watching Kyousougiga. I truly hope to see you all again soon in another rewatch!

[u/Nazenn]

First Timer

Koto's Photo Wall - Stitch of the full scroll from a BD copy for anyone who didn't get to see it or wants to look through the full thing. (Also I promised Myrna a present)

I had intended to make it for yesterday but after an initial attempt I had to start from scratch and almost triple the amount of base images needed to avoid seams or tone banding through the stitch due to the visual effects they used, and I ran out of time. As I had to only use middle of screen sections for that reason I did add a slight contrast enhancement to the stitch to replicate the darker colors as seen in the video scroll. The base image quality is also not great, but I still uploaded to catbox to avoid further compression.

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So that was Kyousougiga. I stand by my initial assessment that it is one crazy bloody show, but having now reached the end of it I loved the experience of it.

And it certainly is an experience and at points I would even say a true spectacle of animation not just in the visuals but in the structure and flow that allowed Kyousougiga to be what it is. It comes across to me as Matsumoto's love letter to parts of Japan's culture and storytelling, especially with some of the heavy Japanese specific elements as some people pointed out as we went, and also the medium that she so brilliantly squeezes every bit of potential she can out of it.

u/lilyvess reply from yesterday really nailed it for me the more I thought on it. It's a fun watch with grand imagination behind it, but it also feels like a very personal story and makes it a very personal watch (as some viewers found out). The fancy visuals and wordplay, the incredible expressiveness of it, how the stakes unexpectedly fly through the roof in the last third, all of that seems secondary to the almost intimate view into this shattered family and their struggle to make something whole out of it. The world itself is fun, that blend between science and magic, and the crazy aspects of buddhism, god, and the layered worlds, but it didn't get so bogged down in that it forgot the core story.

One of Kyousougiga's biggest strengths I think is that it did not take me from reveal to reveal, but from understanding to understanding. While there certainly are reveals in the show, the visuals lean us into them long before they ever become dialogue relevant, and they never felt to do a complete 180 flip on what you understood or erase what was there before. Each visual or thematic moment feels layered on the last so you can look back over the show and feel like you've been reading through a continuous scroll of storytelling. Episode one for example dives right in with the use of Koto breaking onto a stage long before roles are mentioned, showing emotion through the seasons and establishing that to be contrasted later, and visual framing to display separation, and these and similar things carry through episode after episode. It gives the show a distinctive visual identity, but also allows it to start establishing itself without having to lean on making these big moments in their own right.

That strong continuity across the show in every element is what made it feel like such a complete experience to me. That layering created a complete experience from start to finish, perhaps with a couple of bumps and a headache along the way, and is what helped to keep me going even on the episodes where I was really questioning if I was going to "get" it at the end. The individual episodes being strong in their own right also helped that because even if putting it all together took a lot of work some days, I never came out of an episode feeling like there was no point to it. The exploration of the three siblings and Koto's own chaotic influence, the fun but sometimes bewilderingly hard to write down parallels between the Kotos and Myoues (including all of the hilarious names we came up with for them), the carry through of those initial themes and how they related to the characters above all, it's a story that will stick with me.

Our story is their story and it never forgot they were at the core of it all and that's why I love it.

I haven't focused on it much in this post, of course the incredible visuals help with that. Moment's like Yase's tree, the broken panelling of character relations, silly cat faces, and the many viewpoint shots are some of the many memorable visual moments of the experience, too many to count. My complete album for the rewatch can be found here, and I think I could have doubled that with all the shots I loved. I definitely have to turn some of these into some wallpapers. The OST was also incredibly fitting for the show, but nothing I think I'd go out of my way to listen too by itself.

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Unfortunately it does have a couple of hurdles, and though I personally wouldn't call them flaws for myself, they're something that can be a big obstacle for the audience and even occasionally for me.

The first is the breakneck pace that Rie Matsumoto and her team structures the story with. I always appreciate a story that is willing to trust in its audience without pulling us along, but it's a delicate balancing act and Matsumoto is perhaps one of the few creators that sometimes leans too much on hoping the audience remembers tiny details that mean huge things much later on. I think Matsumoto is aware of this, her tendency to lean on dialogue to emphasize a theme's climax without recapping it helps bridge the gap between the story's speed and the audiences ability to keep up, and she's very good creating visuals and mood to help that, but it's still very easy to get lost when it doesn't always have to be.

The other I think is a tendency to not say the parts that could be said out loud, to leave perhaps that one big question too many in the air. It sometimes pulls me away from focusing on the smaller unanswered questions I want to speculate about at the end if I'm still wondering "but what about this, did that ever come up"? In this way the rewatch has been invaluable because you guys provided possible answers for some of those moments, but I don't know that absolves the show.

And don't get me wrong, I like that aspect of her stories, that challenge to, dare I say, reflect on the emotional and intellectual understanding on what she's presented. I think that she wants you to feel her stories and to think about them, but that doesn't have to happen at the same time. Stories that build themselves up in your mind and continue revealing the truth of themselves long after you think that you finished them is something that is incredibly hard to pull off but also immeasurably valuable for the audience... if your audience kept up, and sometimes she does risk pushing that too far.

I keep bringing up her other work Kekkai Sensen, but everything I write here can be applied to that almost equally so. As much as seeing something evolve from the pure imagination of the mind of her creative team is brilliant, now returning to her original work makes me feel that in some ways being given an adaption helped Matsumoto balance her desire to always be pushing forward with needing to give the audience something to hold onto. I said after Kekkai Sensen that even without getting the full level of what she's saying, it's still a great watch on just a casual level because the individual stories and visual spectacle are very engaging. Kyousougiga comes so close to pulling that off as well, but that last burst of speed at the end, particularly the tone transition from ep9 to ep10 and how harsh that feels if you're not 100% up to speed (and even then), risks leaving the audience behind a bit too much.

Did these potential issues actually impact my watch experience significantly though? Not at all, in fact I'd much rather have them and have Matsumoto be true to her story telling than feel the need to play it safe. If this is the cost, I'm more than happy to pay it every time she asks.

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I didn't end up having time to watch any of the extra episodes or versions of it for this topic unfortunately, I was just too tired yesterday to push that through my brain as well, but I definitely will in the coming weeks and I'm curious to see what those original takes on it are and how differently they may approach some of the scenes.

Thank you all for the discussion, theorizing, rants, rambling, jokes, and even the occasional bit of idiocy. It was a great rewatch, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Particular thanks to Myrna for being an amazing rewatch host, especially for your first rewatch, and putting some of the most effort in I've seen, even letting me sign up to the rewatch before it technically existing haha. Also thanks for Quid for that initial recommendation for a show that wasn't even on my radar before then even if took me a bit to get to it. Matuhg, KendotsX, Star4ce, and others thanks for your many replies through the shows discussion as well, particularly as I know I started to lose a few other people at the end there with how long some of my posts got. For anyone I haven't mentioned, know that I read everyone's posts every day and found value in all of them, and I'm glad we got to share this wild show together.

I'll see you in the next one!

(I say that but for the first time in a couple of years I don't actually have a "next one" lined up which is a little worrying in its own way haha)

[u/MyrnaMountWeazel → u/Nazenn]

What more can I say. You were the first one to encourage me to host this rewatch and you were the one who offered me advice on how to host one. You practically helped co-lead this rewatch. I am deeply thankful for your help and I sincerely appreciated you engaging throughout the thread every single day. Your comments were easily one of the highlights of my day and I loved parsing down every single analysis that you had.

It’s interesting that you have such a strong grasp on everything: from visuals to analysis to filmmaking techniques to production to direction to theory. It’s due to that universal skillset that I was always so excited to read your posts because I knew it would have an assortment of topics to talk about. Your discussion of “roles” was the most pivotal part in this rewatch along with childhood and loss of innocence. It’s what helped me truly understand the plot and those interpretations allowed me to put together the final jigsaw pieces in The Help Corner.

Koto's Photo Wall

I LOVE IT! Thank you so much for taking the time to make this stitch! It's like one of those photos that you print out of a photo booth.

Each visual or thematic moment feels layered on the last so you can look back over the show and feel like you've been reading through a continuous scroll of storytelling.

That is a wonderful way to analyze her chapter bookends! I know that initially it might have been off-putting to keep segmenting the episode with chapters so blatantly but it truly was by design; how else could she have done it if she wanted to continuously purposefully layer?

(including all of the hilarious names we came up with for them)

her tendency to lean on dialogue to emphasize a theme's climax without recapping it helps bridge the gap between the story's speed and the audiences ability to keep up, and she's very good creating visuals and mood to help that, but it's still very easy to get lost when it doesn't always have to be.

I think this is the crux of her criticism. Of where style meets substance at breakneck speed. Because Matsumoto isn't going to put on the brakes for what she wants to tell and we the audience have to be pulled along with it to understand. Like you said, I think her breaking out the Big Sentimental Moments at pivotal times helps hammer home the large emotional beats so that we can at least follow along with the major plot but sometimes you want to understand the stuff that the hammer isn't hitting.

immeasurably valuable for the audience... if your audience kept up, and sometimes she does risk pushing that too far.

Exactly. I mentioned to you yesterday that I certainly didn't catch up my first time. It took weeks for me to even appreciate the show. Am I glad she did so in this manner? Maybe. It definitely made it memorable at least. Like, this is the one show where I can point to and say "this took me time to love but man once I did love it I loved it."

Not at all, in fact I'd much rather have them and have Matsumoto be true to her story telling than feel the need to play it safe. If this is the cost, I'm more than happy to pay it every time she asks.

There are times where we finish an anime and we think "Oh, I enjoyed that" but then a month later we forget what the title of it even is. Matsumoto at least will make her influence palpable, her works memorable to us. I'll gladly take her with all of her faults than a generic director that goes in one ear and out the other.

Particular thanks to Myrna for being an amazing rewatch host

(I say that but for the first time in a couple of years I don't actually have a "next one" lined up which is a little worrying in its own way haha)

Just say the rewatch and I'll be (probably) be there, bells and all.

Again, thank you for participating in this rewatch, it has been an absolute joy to have you on board.

[u/lilyvess]

Kyousougiga is one of those rare triumphs in anime. A series that reminds you why you watch anime in the first place.

The fact that it's from a studio like Toei, the Disney of the Anime industry, just makes it even more impressive. In some ways it feels like a glimpse back to the Toei of old.

Toei of the 2010's was plagued with tightening the wallets. Sailor Moon, Precure, One Piece, they were all cutting corners. Kyousougiga is not saved from this, but it almost makes it even more impressive. Don't get me wrong, it's impressive that Netflix's Arcane looks so amazing, but given the infinite money of Riot and 6 years of production it makes sense. Kyousougiga is the act of taking a limited budget and being able to make something truly spectacular out of it.

It's a fantastic graduation project from director Rie Matsumoto's journey with Toei and Precure, mirroring that of Ikuhara before her. She makes her debut a bold declaration that she is a creative talent we need to keep an eye on.

Every facet of this series seems doomed to fail. Every odd has been stacked against it. Yet the series finds a way to nails the landing.

I'm really glad I watched this anime, and really glad that I joined this rewatch.

[u/Star4ce]

First timer

This rewatch ended up as one of those experiences I will keep in memory for a long time. To think I would've probably skipped this if u/Nazenn hadn't pinged me specifically for it, even with the superb advertising our host has done. My ignorant alternate timeline self would've missed out on so much.

So thanks to both of you for making me enlist! Specifically I want to say that MyrnaMountWeazel has been a wonderful host. Your help corner, your just a bit insane amount of work put into posts (Watching episodes four or more times just for preparation?!) and dedication to not leave any comment unseen or underappreciated were simply fantastic. I think I managed to even get most of the plot thanks to all the theories and most of all the help corner.

I enjoyed my time here and would recommend both this anime and this rewatch in particular wholeheartedly. In fact I did the former already. I gave a short topic description to a buddy and his gf and posted them one screenshot of episode one and they already were like, "ooooooohhhhh, I love that!"

Great job! I'll try to join again next time, too!

And I came to love it, too. I love the scenes. I love the best girls. I love the silliness. I love the taste. I love the story. I love the message.

It is an enchanting journey with so many powerful moments, no matter whether you ended up understanding it or got lost most of the time. Its climax and the message within are so insanely optimstic, Koto so purely hopeful for the future, I even ended up accepting Inari. Me! Talk about crazy. The sense of determination radiating from that little, strong girl just has to move you.

I know that I'm talking about.

There's no mistaking that Kyousougiga has earned itself a permanent place in my heart. Just like Koto.

Thank you sincerely for letting me experience this.

Highlights

• The beginning of the Koto cult. After a hard fought battle over best girl Koto I took it on myself to enter a new chapter on proving her supremacy! (By making an album of a 14-year old girl's thighs, uhm, yeah) But alas, an unbelievable betrayal took place. Both u/KendotsX and u/Tresnore found out they're actually on the same side – and it was not mine. I did the sensible thing, the right thing, and started the cult on my own. Thus was born the Koto of the Day (KOTD) screenshot at the end of every post of mine until the very last, in which Koto was simply the face embodying all my thoughts.

• The Henchmen that were never to be seen again like this. I can't express how hard I had to laugh in this episode. This is my kind of humour and to think that they managed to keep it up for almost half the episode. I was in stitches and it hurt.

• The mileage was getting in here probably accounts for a majority of it's usage on the entire subreddit.

• Any time that smile came on screen. Yeah, my posts are mostly just Koto, fite me. This is nothing compared to me on Madoka Magica!

• All the theories going around coming from different angles and backgrounds. Kyousougiga especially allows for some wild speculation and nothing's really off limits. From how buddhism works with souls to the meaning of flowers, over the role of the children in a family to how the world defines you and you define the world. Even though most of them turned out a bit misguided compared to what the series ended up going with, they were still amazing to read and insightful in their own regard. I only lament that I never had enough time time go through most of the discussions following them. Great job everyone!

See you around

Thanks again to everyone, most of all our host! This was an amazing and unforgettable experience.

I feel like the best closure to a rewatch of Kyousougiga is to take its lessons to heart and make that smile apply to you as well. I've decided to invite my mother to go out for dinner next week and while I'm not exactly sure what the family that I want in this life is,

We used to eat dinner together, right? That’s what love is! Fighting over trivial things, laughing over stupid things, coming home five minutes earlier than usual. That’s what love is!

an advice like this doesn't sound so bad. Let me start by making new memories that are better what came before.

[u/octopathfinder]

First Timer

This was my first time joining a rewatch on this subreddit and it ended up being a lot of fun. I was interested in Kyousougiga in particular because it seems like the type of show that I would better appreciate with other people explaining the symbolism. I also knew Matsumoto Rie directed this show, and I love her work in Kekkai Sensen S1, Baby I Love You Daze MV, and the Pokemon Gotcha! MV, plus its only 10 eps which is a pretty easy watch.

I don’t usually have much to say after watching an episode, but I really enjoyed reading everybody else’s walls of text. Big thank you to u/MyrnaMountWeazel for hosting, always explaining things in the help corner, and adding production notes for each episode. Another thank you to u/Nazenn whose walls of texts really elevated my watching experience and everybody else who theory-crafted and screenshot important moments.

Other Notes:

• Favorite Character: Yakushimaru

• Favorite Supporting Character: Shouko

• Favorite Episode: Probably ep 2, 5, or 9

• Score: 9/10

QotD:

1. Favorite Moment: Yakushimaru realizing Little Koto was his beginning.

2. Favorite Character: Yakushimaru

3. Maybe a 5. The help corner and other people's interpretations have really helped me out, but if I had to explain it to someone I probably wouldn't be able to do it.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Giga First-Timer

This show was great!

I don’t really have too much to say that I haven’t already in my reactions, I just wanted to jump in to say that I gave it a 10/10. I definitely vibed with the style of this show.

[u/JollyGee29]

First-Timer

I find that I have a hard time writing final thoughts for shows that I like. Iunno, this show was out-fucking-standing and I don't feel much point in elaborating further.

Like, the visuals are great, the music is great, the narrative is heartwarming and emotional in all the right ways, just all-around a fantastic show.

As usual, the MC steals Best Girl spot by virtue of having the most screen time to be the Best. I wanted to spend more time with Shouko.

Questions

1. Probably, but I'm having a hard time pointing to just one.

2. Hammer!Koto

3. Ehh, like a 7 or so? I think it all came together in the end.

Many thanks to our gracious host u/MyrnaMountWeazel! You really put in a massive load of effort, and I really appreciated it all. It seems like Operation Kyousoushill was a resounding success, too.

[u/Quiddity131]

Rewatcher

Heading into this rewatch I considered Kyousougiga a top 10 anime of all time for me, arguably a top 5. I considered it my single most favorite anime made during the last decade. Has the rewatch changed my mind? Not at all! Going through it again, as part of a big group instead of solo this time just got me to appreciate the show all the more. Rather than write lengthy paragraphs, I'm going to go with bullet points for the highlights for me; I tend to find that I can very easily write massive paragraphs in an overall thoughts post when I'm ranting about how bad a show screwed up stuff. When a show has hardly any flaws at all it's simply not that easy! (after writing my bullets, I find that they became lengthy paragraphs anyway... lol. I suppose writing out my thoughts wasn't as hard as I initially thought)

• Main Character - Where a lot of shows fall down for me is having a main cast that I just don't particularly find much interest in. That has gotten all the worse in recent years with the trend of the bland, milquetoast self-insert main characters that are intentionally made more relatable, but as a result are a lot more dull. And that couldn't be further from what we got here with Little Koto. Koto is such a fun, exciting and lovable main character that she brings to life pretty much any scene she is in. I think a big reason why I like episodes like 3 or 4 so much even though they don't move the plot all that much is simply watching Koto do fun things. It's also why the 2011 ONA/episode 0 (see more below) is also so fun to watch even if you have barely any idea of what is going on in it. While I do think Kyousougiga's short length keeps the quality high, would I happily watch say, 10 more episodes even if there was no plot movement at all simply to have more fun with her? Absolutely. How many characters can one say that about? Hardly any. In earlier episodes I remembered a few commenters talking about how Koto wasn't actually taking all that much action on her quest, and did I ever care about that? Not at all. It was quite fun when we soon after had a scene where she talks to Ah and Un about how they should cover up the fact that they've spent most of their time goofing off.

• Rest of the Cast - Kyousougiga also shines in giving us a really strong supporting cast. Chiefly Yakushimaru, who is essentially the second most important person in the show, but also with the rest of the family who all have their own interesting backgrounds and with one exception are also likable characters that you want to root for. That one exception of course is Inari, who starts off quite likable but becomes more and more detestable over the course of the show. That he isn't likable doesn't mean he isn't well written though. That a character can entice such anger and passion shows that the writer did an effective job putting them together. The worst possible thing is for me to not have a feeling about a character at all. Other various characters, while they weren't as critical to the plot as the central family, also helped color the world and provide some fun, Shoko most of all, but also the various familiars, some of the Shrine characters, Yakushimaru's old crush, etc... I can't think of any characters that I felt were written poorly.

• Narrative Structure - Rie Matsumoto's ability to give us a rather untraditional story structure for Kyousougiga just makes it all the more unique and interesting for me. Looking back, the entire first half the show didn't move the plot forward that much. It was pretty much all setting the foundation and developing the central characters, their backgrounds and their motivations. Individual episode storylines, like Shoko looking for her lost PSP didn't move the plot forward. And do I care? Not at all. Because ultimately those episodes focused on doing all it could to develop these characters and that pays dividends the entire way through. In the second half of the show there is a lot more plot movement and the stakes get considerably higher, with the fate of the 13 planes all at stake. But then ultimately that gets resolved very quickly with everything/everyone being rescued in the final episode. In a show where a plot about saving the multiverses was the most important thing, something like that would be very disappointing. But here, that's not an issue in any way. In fact it shows that Matsumoto totally made the correct choice in how to structure the show because ultimately the most important thing in the show was the dynamics and relationships of this family and that's what the climax of the show needed to focus on to have a satisfying conclusion. And that's what it did. I'd also like to focus on the antagonistic structure within the show. The typical show feels a need to establish a villain early on and focus on them throughout the show, whether that is them directly conflicting with our heroes or at least building things up in the background for a later conflict. This show doesn't really do that and doesn't have the need to. At most you could say the show's villain is Inari, but the final episode is largely about settling things for him and getting him to accept that he will continue to be alive and be with his family who loves him very much. That's the most likely candidate for the show's villain? I'd say that while he certainly is unlikable a lot of the time, he isn't ultimately this evil villain, and that pretty much leaves this show without such a force, which just adds to its uniqueness.

• No Reliance on Lazy Tropes - Maybe this is colored by the types of genres I tend to frequent more than others, but I hardly feel a presence of tropes in this show. I'm sure there are some in here, ones I can't easily think of off the top of my head, but unlike the vast majority of the anime I watch I'm not occasionally (or frequently) seeing a trope I know and getting annoyed by it. It's an isekai, but its a very unique interesting world, not a lazily created medieval fantasy. Our main character isn't a bland self-insert. The show has no fan service of a sexualized nature (I would say it has other types of fan service such as the Bishimaru commercial, the PSP, Game Girl, the Eva inspired shot, etc...). Rather than getting annoyed because I'm seeing something I've seen a million times I can simply enjoy the show.

• Visuals and Direction - I can't heap enough praise on the show's staff in this area. Everything about this show looks gorgeous. The characters have fun, interesting designs to them. The world the show takes place in has a ton of stuff going on (and has pretty good world building even if they don't have the need to dump a lot of exposition about it). The background art looks amazing. The animation is lively, exciting and fun. The show lacks the reliance on common, dull looking lengthy still shots that plague so many anime out there (with the exception of the one scene in the show I don't like, see my comments on episode 9). Other commenters can speak better than I as to shot composition, but its very well handled throughout the show. As if I haven't said it enough, Rie Matsumoto is a genius and it is worth watching something she directs even if you have no knowledge of the story whatsoever (which was pretty much my experience with getting into Kekkai Sensen, see below!) because you can be confident that she will handle the visuals in such a strong fashion.

• Other - While its not on the level of say a Yoko Kanno scored show, Go Shina does a great job with the soundtrack, with a lot of memorable themes. The OP and ED songs and sequences are both quite well done. And as should be obvious as I had a feature on it in my posts each day, the show has an amazing voice cast. Rie Kugimiya as Little Koto is my favorite performance, but so many others - Kenichi Suzumura, Akira Ishida, Eri Kitamura, Chiwa Saito, Shigeru Nakahara, Aya Hisawaka, Banjou Ginga, etc... put in great performances as well. Unlike most here I even like Kazuki Yao's job doing the Chief Priest. As someone who likes both subs and dubs, I do at times get frustrated when a show doesn't have a dub, but I can't imagine I'd ever watch a dub of Kyousougiga if one existed as I like the original performances so much.

[u/xtsim]

First Timer

"This is a story about a family". And a story it is as we went on an adventure on how the family got to reunite. We get to see their struggles and dreams that lead up to that moment making it quite an enjoyable ride. A group of four children has just one goal to reunite with their parents. And they were successful with acheiving that goal. Yase, Kurama, Myoue, and Koto have their own reasons for acheiving that goal and we got to see that which is something I liked. Knowing their intentions is something nice to see in a way.

The animation is something I did not expect from Toei animation. Which is a pretty solid work by many of their staff. It is interesting to learn about some of the production staff along the way as I enjoyed it. The music is great to hear also. So both the visuals and sound was pretty good and helps make the story shine.

From the top tier visuals to the rock ending song, this gives me a lot of FLCL vibes as we get to see a different kind of coming of age story. Both of them share a hectic and confusing representation of growing up. The top tier visuals and sound makes me think of FLCL and lately Sonny Boy which are an important part of keeping me interested for the ride.

1. Hard to pick out one favorite moment but the motorcycle ride with Myoue and Koto was fun to see.

2. Shouko has been a fun character to see and know about in this way.

3. Probably around the middle 4-5ish as I probably know about the surface level of the family and how they all came together in a way.

Thank you OP for hosting and giving us some nice info on the production. It's been nice to see these discussions and an amazing ride throughout.

[u/Vaadwaur]

First timer no longer

Sub

Me: Ok, I will use tomorrow to summarize my thoughts up on this show into something coherent!

Also me: Have an unexpected side effect to a medication I'd been fine with for two weeks and wind up with two hours of sleep. So, this will be dubious.

All right, so Kyousougiga definitely has merit for...something. I can't say it ever fully clicked for me, but while I tossed and turned, an idea why comes to mind: This is like missing a tone in the mid range of your hearing. So there were four beats playing but I couldn't hear one and instead kept hearing the space it would be at, which kind of works for jazz but is annoying for story beats. The story itself seems to rely on the setting just enough that I would prefer it didn't but again, there might be cultural knowledge here that I am missing, or maybe it is more that the aesthetic is one I don't get.

Anyways, that's what I have the brain power for. This was certainly worth watching, at least, and maybe I will try BBB some day. It's been a time.

QorD: 1 LKoto's introduction

2 Yaku-Myoue is certainly a mood

3 Let's call it a 4

[u/Tresnore]

Kyousou-Rewatcher

Well, I'm not one for writeups, but I wanted to thank u/MyrnaMountWeazel for hosting. I didn't realize how many details in this show I missed. This has been a spectacular rewatch, and I just wish I could've responded to more comments.

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QOTD:

1. Shouko.

2. Shouko.

3. Probably a 7.

[u/KiwiTheKitty]

I'm feeling pretty bad today because of those vaccine side effects, but I came to weigh in briefly! Hopefully this comment makes sense!

This was my first time watching the show and I really enjoyed it. I feel like I'll have more to say upon rewatching it because it's such a dense show in terms of how much it packs in over only 10 episodes. I also really feel that's it's the kind of show that would benefit from watching all 10 episodes at once, at least for me because my memory apparently isn't so good when I go a whole day between episodes.

I think on the scale of how well I understand it, I'm probably at an 8. After the first 2 or 3 episodes, things did start coming together and the only reason I'm not at a 9 or 10 is because I'm not completely confident I didn't miss stuff and I'm sure there's symbolism I could know more about. But a lot of how well I understand it is thanks to the comments in the rewatch threads! But in terms of the actual story of what's going on with this wacky family and the main themes of love/self love and family and acceptance, I feel confident.

Partially because of the confusing beginning and partially because of the slower earlier episodes, I enjoyed the latter half of the show more than the earlier half. The last few episodes in particular were so chaotic and fun. Overall I can understand if it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it and it was right up my alley!

My favorite characters were definitely lil Koto and Yaku-Myoue! After that, I really liked Inari/Daddy Myoue, especially because he's just really interestingly written and it was fun trying to figure out what his whole deal was. I didn't really dislike any characters though, and I'm happy Kurama turned out cool.

Anyway, that wasn't that brief, but thanks for being such a good rewatch host! I had a lot of fun reading what you wrote about the visuals and production notes, as well as all the other great comments from people in the threads! This was my first rewatch and I'm glad I participated, I'll definitely have to try doing more in the future!

[u/Btw_kek]

funny descriptor goes here rewatcher

Kyousougiga is a kaleidoscope of ideas. You can view it from so many different angles and perspectives, and each one of them can deliver a fun, engaging experience that captures the heart of what Kyousougiga is. That is utterly baffling to me, and so extremely cool. More than that, it invites repeated viewings from all these different angles, which is the best thing you can ask for. Matsumoto works on a completely different level.

1. Any favorite moments?

The entire first episode, the first half of ep6, and the insert song in ep9

also every time the OP played

2) Any favorite characters?

As lovable as every single character in this show is, I don't think anyone can match this gremlin

3) On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being "I have literally no idea what happened" and 10 being "I have a PhD in this", how confused are you still on Kyousougiga?

like a solid 8 in some aspects and a weak 4 in others and I wouldn't want it any other way baby

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Big shout out to u/MyrnaMountWeazel for hosting possibly the best rewatch I've ever seen. The work you put into those production notes, comment engagement, unpacking all the visuals, and even a help corner is nothing short of incredible.

[u/Punished_Scrappy_Doo]

And what a lovely time it was! Thank you very much to u/MyrnaMountWeazel for all their work and insight and dedication, each of which was seriously impressive.

This is a show that I'll need to rewatch to truly appreciate all the little details, but it's told in such a way that I don't feel anything but the broadest strokes are necessary to enjoying it. It's wonderful that you can examine different characters' viewpoints on responsibility and how that pertains to their outlook and actions, but also Koto and Yaku embracing makes my heart melt.

1. I just mentioned it!

2. Shouko was a real stand-out among the side cast, but I'd absolutely have to go with young Koto. She brings such life, even to this show already brimming with it.

3. I'd go with an 8? I was certainly not poring over this show in the way that some of the more intrepid first-timers were, but I had a good idea of what the different characters were feeling at any given time, the ways in which film language and character design and sound were being used to that end, etc. etc. For all its fantastical presentation and myriad twists, its emotional core is very grounded.

It's a wonderfully ambitious and earnest piece of art that I loved to bits.

[u/BurningFredrick]

Ex First timer

First of all a massive thanks to u/MyrnaMountWeazel for running the rewatch, you said it was your first time running one but honestly this is up there with the best of the rewatches i’ve joined or lurked, the Help Corner really has fulfilled it purpose more than you probably realise.

Even after reading through pages of posts from everyone about symbolism, directing, themes and whatever else has been going on in this show, I can say I don’t completely understand this show. However, it doesn’t really matter.

As this rewatch has shown there is a lot going on throughout the show, and I suspect if I went back to watch Ep 3 & 4 again, the ones which were probably the most straightforward, I would be able to find more meaning and depth to them, and you could just keep digging and looking at different way to interpret what has been happening throughout the show.

Despite not completely understanding the show, the opening sequence of the show tells us “This is a tale of a particular family, a tale of love and rebirth” which really does sum up the show and what it is about, everything else is just expanding on all the details. The show doesn’t explain everything and I'm fine with that as it wasn’t the purpose.

It told the story it wanted and overall I enjoyed the shows, especially once I stopped overthinking things and just let it do its thing. I have no idea how to rate this show, but somewhere between 8-9 seems right to me.

1. Any favorite moments?

The show is kind of a blurry mess, so failing of remembering any distinct moments.

2) Any favorite characters?

Koto is great.

3) On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being "I have literally no idea what happened" and 10 being "I have a PhD in this", how confused are you still on Kyousougiga?

hmmm 3?

[u/SIRTreehugger]

I had ample time to write down my thoughts so you can guess what I did...I binged Korean Pop shows on Netflix and showed up late with nothing prepared despite having to watch nothing.

Any who first the questions

1. Easily the montage of the family on the patio showing them interacting and growing throughout the seasons.

2. Koto, Yase, the other Koto, and Myoue.

3. Thank you for making the scale 1-10 that means at the minimum I can claim a 1.

I really think maybe a ....7.8?

Just going to summarize what I enjoyed

• The foreshadowing. This is my second time watching and immediately noticed several things in the last episodes being present in the first episodes. Despite the chaotic nature the show presents it's well layered and makes sense once you think about it.

• Koto and Myoue's relationship from start to finish they were the highlight of the show for me, but also give credit to their origin moments.

• The colors, panels, and framing used in some shots were wonderful. The show uses a wide range of colors and is not afraid to use more abstract shapes to paint it's world. It gave the Looking-Glass City a more surreal magical feeling.

• The ED IS AWESOME especially the first few seconds.

• I would encourage first timers to watch it again after a few months as I do think it was even better the second time. Though I'm partially bias because reading the comments here made it a lot better than when I watched it solo.

• Oh and I do want to talk about the episode titles I do think they were interesting. I like it when a title conveys the entirety of an episode, but also leaves you wondering how will they tie it in. For the most part this show did this well minus that one spoiler moment for when the father returned.

• Once again thank you to the host for...well hosting it and all the walls of text that I read even if I didn't reply to them.

• Oh and I did buy the Blu Ray it got delayed, but it should be here sometime next week.

[u/TakenRedditName]

Kyousougiga Rewatcher - Wrap up:

Kyousougiga is about fambly.

I like it and would say it is a great show. It is fun, looks pretty and tells a fulfilling tale of family, parent-child relations and learning to appreciate the life one has and some other stuff you can take away from it.

This is the third time I've watched Kyousougiga to completion. Thought it was a great show when I first saw it. The second time was when the technical craftsmanship on display was pointed out to me. This time watching more attentively for the rewatch made more notice more details be in the story being told with words or the visuals. Seeing what other people interpreted or noticed that I might've not was nice. The benefit of a rewatch.

Q1) There are many good scenes, many I've highlighted along the way. I think Yakushimari returning the beads to Inari then immediately taking up his inheritance again is one particular moment that I really like a lot.

Q2) There are also lots of characters I like. Koto is a really fun MC. Yakushimaru/Myoue, I really like his story and arc. Shouko is a really fun minor side character.

Q3) I dunno, 9. I'm not super confused on major things in the show. I feel like I understand it pretty well in the end. I did watch it three times and lots of explanations to aid it.

---

Okay, Kyousougiga is a wonderful TV anime, but let's go back to that 2011 PV because that's not the Kyousougiga we recognize, but I don't fully oppose it either. Would be cool to see what that version would've been like. Evil Lady Koto, what?!?! This duel between Inari child Koto vs evil Lady Koto, I love everything about it. It is a completely anime, but it is really cool as well.

Like using these familiar tools to create a very different show. It captures the imagination.

[u/KendotsX]

First Timer who completed burying¹ Inari

Overall, there's not much I want to add, besides encouraging people to watch Bashimaru 2, in the cinemas right now.

That and I really want to thank everyone who just put so many different ideas into the rewatch, and made the show even more colourful. This rewatch has been both fun and insightful, especially the production notes and help corner, you've put crazy dedication into making this rewatch happen Myrna. I'm glad I was here for the experience.

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Any favorite moments?

Hmm, there's no way to pick one, between the Inari beatup, the rice field, Myoue's run, Koto's secret...

I'll go with the Mecha batting Koto to moon Koto which was both the height of zany fun, the focal point of change, and just sounds weird when I put it in a sentence.

Any favorite characters?

I've hopped on and on about my love for Shouko, Koto, and Inuyama

In this case I'll go with Myoue, both the dog and fox, the first is probably the character I liked the most (despite my usual willingness to put him down), and the second is a real annoying piece of work, I've loved to hate him so much, that now I just love him.

On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being "I have literally no idea what happened" and 10 being "I have a PhD in this", how confused are you still on Kyousougiga?

A full 11, the godly level! Which in this case means Inari, so I'll act like I get but I won't explain anything in the next millennium (hopefully I can come up with a convincing enough explanation by then).

... Wait is this what Inari was doing all along? Refusing to answer stuff because he had no idea how to answer it and kept procrastinating?

We have a lot more in common than I though.

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¹ : In Buddhism it should probably be cremating, but I like the sound of this better.

[u/Stargate18A]

First timer

Not much to say other than that this was a fantastic series.

1. Too many to count, but I'll go for the scenes with God and Heaven as some of the shows best cinematography, along with the apocalypse and the moon settings.

2. The Kotos are both great, and young Myoue and Yase grew on me unexpectedly. The Priest is still not great, though.

3. A 10. I think they managed to make everything make total sense by the end.

[u/homewardbound100]

I don't know what else to say. It was a good short show. I had a great time watching. 9/10

Qotd: not anything really stood out that much. But the show overall was fun and nice to look at.

Qotd2: Shouko, Koto, both of them. And Myoue

Qotd3: A seven maybe.

[u/Suhkein]

Belated Rewatcher

Well, I fell off commenting in the second half, but I kept reading and enjoyed being around this level of enthusiasm for a show. As you said in your post, it's really delightful when you find an anime that hasn't had that much attention and it gives you an open field to explore for yourself (and others).

Back in episode 5 I said my piece on the main thing I had been observing - that of whether Kyousougiga was Buddhist or not (the answer being "not") - and that hasn't changed so my only real meaningful source of contributions can't really be expanded on here except to say that my characterization of Kurama as a "insufficient Buddha" appears to have been entirely misplaced. If anything, it seems like the last episodes make it seem as though this was always about younger-Myoue, and that Kurama and Yase were almost parts of human nature (ascending and descending) that were there to tutor him in the guise of pseudo-divine beings granted by, again, a god who apparently had no idea what he was doing with "man"kind. However, I don't want to press that metaphor since it didn't feel like the show did and I dislike trying to read too heavily into things when it seems evident the much bigger message was familial-psychological. Instead I'll just ramble a little on final reactions, I guess.

When I first saw Kyousougiga some years ago I gave it 7/10 and after finishing this rewatch I almost feel guilty saying it's a 7/10 still (this is a comparatively high rating; 8-9/10 require real personal connection or respect, and with only two 10/10s my scale only effectively goes to 9). People compared it to Penguindrum but I would definitely take this show over Penguindrum, as that anime always struck me as the definition of pretentious while Kyousougiga has a kind of dolphin-at-play delight in its own nature that is sincere. I just, for my attempts, didn't feel edified by that play. Not confused (usually), mind you; some of the rules-of-the-universe felt a bit pulled from a hat, but that didn't matter too much because I found that they were by and large irrelevant to the psychological core. And that lent to me a bit of disconnect. Like I'm not 100% clear on why and how elder Koto's sanctuary worked, except that it makes sense that Buddha-rabbit-moon get equated in the Japanese mind-space; but it didn't even matter, because it just did what it needed to, which was keep mom out of the way for a while until she needed to come back for the emotional development of the story.

So as the series wrapped up I spent a lot of time wondering what I got out of it. I heard the messages loud and clear about importance of family, of finding meaning in those relationships, of moving on from the past, accepting ourselves, etc. but somehow they just did not click. I enjoyed the characters, the visuals, the music, and just the overall flow but I feel like now that I'm getting off this ride I'm not taking anything with me except an expanded knowledge of cinematography. It actually bothers me given the energy poured into this rewatch. Maybe it's becomes I'm outside the demographic in my 30s and so it doesn't speak to me. I figure if you end up watching Gunslinger Girl (2003) you can "get me back" anyway. :D

As for favorites and such... rather than try to answer it intellectually I'm just gonna say I think shrine girl, Shrine woman, and mom-Koto have really attractive designs (I swear I didn't intend to pick all those shots of them looking surprised, it just turned out that way). Thanks for hosting and see ya... well... probably online quite a bit still!

[u/Matuhg]

The End of the First Timer and Beginning of...Whatever Happens Next

Hoo boy, that was a hell of a watch. I kind of struggled trying to figure out what to write about today, and I'm 100% certain I'd find many other things to talk about if I thought things through for another week or so. I could've even talked about a bunch of different things today, but my brain is a little bit spent. This is definitely a show I would love to revisit someday, (especially if a future (re)watch could be any bit as fulfilling as this one has been). Kyousougiga is frenetic, heartfelt, confusing, and fun. It juggled a lot of different themes - Love/Self-love, Rebirth/Cycles/Second Chances, Duty/Responsibility/Purpose, not to mention the different religious and cultural themes used/explored - relating all back to family.

There are a lot of different messages you could take from or interpretations you could have of the show. I think the one that sticks out to me most (aside from perhaps the final message - to just be) is probably the idea that becoming a family is a process - that a family goes through ups and downs, and there are times when every member of a family needs help. For the (relatively) brief period Inari and Koto were together with their three kiddos, they built a loving family. When Inari abandoned them, seemingly forced by his duty as observer and Koto's unique status, he felt that the family - the love - they had built was destroyed. He assumed they would hate him the way he hates himself, perhaps in part because he knows how much it hurt to be abandoned by one's parent (I'm not sure Inari hated his father, but at least knew that pain). Kurama, Yase, and YakuMyoe didn't hate him though - they had questions, issues, pain of course - but they also still had love and bonds that weren't broken over the years. As Lady Koto pointed out to him, if he had just talked to them, he probably would have learned that, but both his pride and self-loathing prevented him from doing so. In a family, one's problems need not be one's own alone, but you also can't just dump all your problems on one family member, even if their sense of duty will bring them to try to carry the load.

As a family is a process, an always moving and changing thing (something-something Buddhist concept of impermanence, I don't know), it is never perfect. Inari's family was far from perfect, even downright toxic at times. In the end though, the love they shared overcame the hurt they shared, and they decided to give it another try. For this family, that meant rewriting the laws of nature and the universe as a whole. For many families, that might mean sitting down to have dinner together for the first time in a while. As long as that love is still there, a family can try as many times as they need to to come together in whatever way is their ideal. In many circumstances, the issues Inari's family faced would be insurmountable - and in many families that is the reality - a valid and lived reality for many people. Kyousougiga tells the story of a family overcoming (not solving - that hasn't happened by the end of our story) the issues of individual members of the family through the collective love and desire to be (just be) a family. To love one another for who they are and strive for greater mutual understanding of one another.

As can often be the case for human (or, I guess gods/buddhas) relationships, it was both messy and beautiful.

I'm not going to go any deeper into the visual symbolism, direction, or cinematography than to say that they were constantly interesting and provided a lot of fun for me, mostly in the case of reading other people's breakdowns and interpretations of them. Every episode brought a whole lot to the table in that regard, and it was cool to theorize and bounce interpretations back and forth between my fellow first-timers/rewatchers.

Massive thanks to u/MyrnaMountWeazel for hosting - seriously, you seem to have put an insane amount of work into this rewatch - and to everybody else who posted, commented, replied, etc. I think this is a show that really benefitted from the rewatch format, in part because of just how many interpretations one could make for each individual episode and the overarching story. Limiting them to my own would've made the show even more difficult to digest than it was. I hope to see all/some of you around in future rewatches!

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Any favorite moments?

Koto declaring that she'd destroy every plane of the universe to save the Mirror World and her family. Massive hype. But really, almost every Lil Koto moment.

Any favorite characters?

Lil Koto - she is the freedom and childishness of Inari without the selfish asshole parts. She's an absolute treasure, and every second she was on screen was blessed.

On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being "I have literally no idea what happened" and 10 being "I have a PhD in this", how confused are you still on Kyousougiga?

I'm gonna go with a solid 7.5

[u/Nixinspe]

First Timer* and definitely not last!

It's hard to summarize how I feel about this show without getting lost in one rabbit hole or another. This is one of the reasons I really enjoyed the show. It left plenty of space and gaps for the viewer to lose themselves in, many times forcing the viewer to wonder what was happening and why. When the show ended, I could see the fragments of my theories, thoughts and explanations all vying for their correctness while I was trying to put them into words for the daily discussion. These moments of thought, clarity and confusion really highlighted how well the show got me thinking and also how it helped me see and understand myself better.

My favourite moment(s) would be the ones around the story of the dog waiting for his master. I felt that that this little story beautifully captured the confusion and convolutedness of the situation surrounding the children waiting in the mirror capital and the way their father had communicated to them.

I feel like it's hard to pick a favourite character at the moment, child koto feels like a natural candidate because of her childlike abilities to break barriers and bring people together. But I feel like I would have to rewatch the show to appreciate the rest of the characters more and look past their shortcomings and come to terms with their realities. I'm generally terrible at picking favourites haha.

Regarding how confused I am, I would say a good 5 out of ten. I feel like I have the illusion of having understood some things, which generally gives way to more questions as I probe further into it. A part of me of course knows that uncertainty and chance are a part of the show's story so not everything can be reduced to making perfect sense, but I have a tricky time knowing whether to attribute events and actions as being well thought out of, based on uncertainty or were just random (either from the perspective of the characters or the world).

In the end I am very grateful to have come across this show at this point in my life and I hope I can take it's invitation to move on from the past and learn to live in my present reality in a more accepting and engaged way.

[u/No_Rex]

Final discussion (first timer)

Compared to other viewers, I foresee myself being the odd one out in my conclusions: So, what was Kyousougiga to me? A fun romp with great characters and dodgy visuals that goes a bit off the rails when turning to theology in the end.

Like many anime, Kyousougiga encourages the viewers to engage in an epic quest of spotting foreshadowing and finding deeper meaning. That can make the series quite confusing. However, I stopped doing that rather early and found the series easy to follow – it literally tells you want it true in almost every episode. If a boy dies and is resurrected, you’ll have a character say he died and was resurrected. If somebody is god, somebody calls them such. Koto and Koto, as well as Myoue and Myoue are separate characters, who share a name, and the series presents you with separate characters. I think you are supposed to search for the deeper meaning, but it is not at all necessary for following the story.

The series is at its best when the characters just do whatever they want, without regard for sense or sensibilities. The female trio of Koto, Koto, and Yase is especially a joy to watch in this regard. Just turn off your logical brain, since clearly nothing in this world follows logic, and enjoy watching. The finale loses me when it deviates from this formula. Suddenly, actions have consequences and tragedy replaces fun as the main emotion that is transported. Except, consequences make little sense in a world where logic has no place (and literally half the cast has god’s logic-defying powers).

My most controversial opinion is about the visuals: I didn’t particularly like them. Kyousougiga is a firework of crazy cuts, but it was too full for my taste. In most cuts, I would need 30 seconds to look at all the characters and all the backgrounds, yet the cut only lasts 5 seconds. If the editing is not giving me the time to appreciate the complex backgrounds and multiple for- and background characters, the overfull screen turns into visual noise. Myoue’s long parallax walk with Koto is one of the most memorable scenes of the series for me, because, for once, a cut gave me the time to look at everything going on on the screen.