Beyond the Boundary (Anime)

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Name: Beoynd the Boundary
Type: Anime

Official Rating: TV-PG

Director: Taichi Ishidate

Seasons: 1
Genre: Action, supernatural, fantasy
Age Rating: 14+

Review:
A short anime about a girl with powerful, magical blood, and a half-human, half-youmu boy who decides to befriend her. 

I watched Beyond the Boundary with my younger brother, Nathan, because it is one of his favorite anime and he wanted to share it with me. It was particularly fun to watch it with him, and I believed it to be worth the watch. The art and story were very similar to Kotoura-San, as if the same studio produced it. The characters were drawn like the characters from Kotoura-San and possessed many of their same characteristics as well. In a lot of ways, it was a subtle retelling of the story, though Beyond the Boundary came first. I had to get used to all of their voices in the English subtitled version, because they didn't seem to always match the character. Nonetheless, the story felt completely original and the characters were all very cute and easy to connect with. I understand why Nathan likes it so much.

Although I wouldn't consider the battle scenes as completely graphically-intense, a lot of blood was shown, mostly due to the fact that Mai uses her blood as a weapon and fights with it. There were also a lot of violent-looking weapons such as machetes, a powerful spear/scepter/chainsaw object, and a sword made completely from Mai's blood. Because of this, I put a higher age-limit on the show as a reminder for parents to preview it before allowing their children to watch.There were some magical elements to the show as well, and Ahkito in his youmu-form was almost demon-like.

This anime was definitely entertaining and fun, but at the end I felt as if not enough answers had been given. The fights were well-developed but kind of weak at the end, when it was supposed to be the most intense and emotion-provoking. It was also never clarified whether or not Ahkito and Mai actually got together at the end. Despite some of these confusing elements, it was a good show, and I liked watching it. I would recommend it to both boys and girls who can enjoy this show in a safe environment.

For more on Beyond the Boundary, click here.

Mature Content:

• Nudity- The characters are shown taking showers in a locker room, but nothing is ever shown
• Sexual References- There are a few, subtle sexual innuendos 
• Ahkito has an  uncanny attraction to women wearing glasses
• Violence- A lot of blood is shown during fights
• Magic- Mai can manipulate her own blood
• Most of the characters possesses magical abilities
• Spiritual- Demon-like creatures
• Profanity- Use of the word "damn"

Personal Note: 

A special thank-you to Nathan. I love you, little bro!