THIS REVIEW IS BASICALLY ONE HUGE SPOILER

Quick note first

You probably just want the conclusion.

I wanted to keep a running log of what I think of this show to, after I finish it, serve as a review to be posted on Anilist.

I will run over this quickly after I'm done and add edits etc (in bold), and will write up a conclusion the day after that's done so I can clear my thoughts a bit for a more traditional, if shorter, review style.

Note from after finishing: This was the first time I wrote a review, and very likely the only time I will ever do it this way - it generates a lot of text, and may have impacted my wanting to watch Kiznaiver because of writing after. However it is good for seeing my thoughts over time, and how they evolved.

(2021-05-26 - watched ep1-5)

I am enjoying this series a lot. It has a really interesting Idea and it's working well so far. Most of the characters seem to have something to make them unique and some appear to have some decent back story. The show is very good at leaving a good cliffhanger each episode. The animation has been accentuated yet natural, with more detail than usual and the op is awesome.

I really like seeing how the characters interact as it's generally pretty natural and especially Chidori's emotions and interactions toward Katsuhira, and reactions to Sonozaki, feel super genuine, and this is helped by the animators doing a great job with body language and facial animation. In these interactions the writing is great. The show has intrigued me so far and I also like how in the moments where Sonozaki pulls in close to Katsuhira there is legitimate suspense as to what's going to happen, especially that second time where we already know that last time he was pushed down the stairs and this time they very much setup a kiss just to drop the tension and leave it. On the other hand I feel as though Yuta is somewhat neglected in storytelling, not interacting with others much.

The scene where they first experience the Kizuna system is great at conveying how intrinsically linked they are, and I'm excited to see what happens with linking in a masochist with the others. Sadly the app I use for anilist failed to hide the spoilers on a character page and through ep5 and onwards I will probably have less enjoyment from what was the bit of the show I was the most interested in - the subplot with Katsuhira & Chidori (& Sonozaki) :(

EDIT: Actually knowing this didn't impact my thoughts too much, but this was only revealed in the last ~5 mins of the series

On the whole though I'm liking it a lot so far.

(2021-05-30 - watched ep6)

At the start of the episode, learning more about Maki's past is gripping and deepens her depth of character from enigmatic to a much more complex back story. We see real emotion and legitimate trauma tied to her, and when this comes back for the movie deal and the film crew its somewhat uncomfortable to watch as they're filming her going through huge amount of emotional pain over her dead friend.

This episode has made Maki an even more interesting character and on top of that we see a decent hook for the next episode with Katsuhira's disappointment at Sonozaki. Another very good episode.

(2021-06-02 - watched ep7)

Maki and Ruru's past relationship has overtaken Katsuhira & Chidori's as the part of Kiznaiver I'm most focused on as this episode goes much more in-depth to Ruru's side of the story and we see Maki's feelings resolved over the length of the episode, until the end where she finally accepts the others as "more than friends or lovers." It's genuinely heartwarming to see how the final chapter of the manga had been finished off compared to how Ruru had said in the spur of the moment after Maki stopped working with her on it.

EDIT: lol this subplot lasted for like 1 episode so yep didn't end up "overtaking" it :p

Also, the chance is not wasted to show off the personalities of the others too, most noticeably with Yuta changing from a fairly shallow character not doing much, to being the one to get through to Maki and spark off her acceptance of the others. We do see more of the others though, with Chidori continuing to try to control the group (to little effect of course), Nico's usual eccentricity, and Tenga continuing to be rather reckless (although, he is well intentioned in his actions).

And the end leaves us on a good hook (just like this show has already been doing very well up to this point), with a glimpse at Sonozaki's past, after she cancels an enigmatic "movie deal" - my best guess is that it's the same movie deal Maki was dealing with earlier.

EDIT: huh this movie is never really referenced again or explained further huh?

(2021-06-08 - watched ep8)

I found collecting my thoughts for this episode a lot harder than the preceeding episodes, and while the show makes another attempt at a cliffhanger, it was undernined by the series of events beforehand, causing me to leave this episode with confusion rather than intrigue.

At first it seems to go well, you learn a little more about the goals of the Kizuna system, etc, however all subtlety is dropped when they go ahead and directly tell the audience the relationships and dynamic they should have picked up. If you had been paying any attention at all you would pick up on Katsuhira and Sonozaki liking each other, with Chidori in the awkward position of liking Katsuhira, and on Maki and Yuta's relationship (of course remembering that Maki is still having issues letting go of Ruru) yet Trigger decided to go ahead and tell us.

In addition they then attempt to force the characters together, which works somewhat okay for Maki and Yuta as it's hinted that it will go somewhere from Maki's somewhat enigmatic smile before the cut away, but in the case of Katsuhira's little harem over there it doesn't quite feel right.

Chidori seems to open up with what would be a sincere speech/confession from the heart, only to be interrupted by Katsuhira's memories of the past and sudden running away. While I understand their implication that he and Sonozaki were experimented on as young children etc in the program, killing this otherwise emotional moment just feels bad to watch - I mean imagine it: you're talking to someone you love sincerely and they aren't listening at all, then run away after someone else. That's gotta be painful.

They mixed in some decent bits, like Hisomu being an asshole to Maki and Yuta to get some pain for his masochism, which is in character for him, but it just didnt carry the same intrigue and balance as earlier episodes.

I think at this point I'm seeing why some reviews say it goes downhill - maybe it'll pull it back but this episode is noticeable weaker. Maybe I'm being mean about the whole episode based on the ending as I've only just watched it but oh well.

EDIT: (1) this was probably skewed by my immediate thoughts, (2) probably just a bad week at Trigger if watching Shirobako taught me anything it's that sometimes you just have a bad time

(2021-06-15 - watched ep9)

The episode actually starts off fairly strong as opposed to the previous mess. They all gather together and are shown a stream of Katsuhira and Sonozaki together. As they exchange feelings Chidori collapses to the ground, which truly shows just how much it pains her that they won't be together. At this point, they also talk about the past experiments on children which is equally concerning as it is intriguing.

We see Katsuhira remembering the experience, it appears to be torture as we see a scene of the children writhing on the ground in pain. Those few second make the Kizuna system feel even more like a sinister force than before.

As Katsuhira is hugging Sonozaki, presumably to feel safe in the memories he's recalling, the others arrive and Chidori looks as though her soul has just been crushed. At this point the episode gets a little messy as people's feelings start to be revealed to each other.

They all end up outside and they begin to be able to hear each others hearts. Due to this they all learn each others' feelings about them and after a little fighting, all collapse from pain. Katsuhira starts to feel worried here that it's his fault, but Hisomu is sane enough to recognise that they're all suffering from each others pain. The scene that remains precisely mirrors that of the children Katsuhira remembers and it deeply drives home the reason why Kizuna had never worked in the past.

As all this is happening, we see that one of the experiment controllers, Urushii, attempts (but fails) to stop them all meeting up outside as she knows this will "break them". This is the first time we see a conscience overriding the goals of the experiment as the Kiznaivers here are headed for the same fate of incredible pain as those children earlier in the experiment.

This episode is a little messy about everyone's romantic feelings but is able to get across a point well and holds together well, though the end cliffhanger is weaker than most episodes before.

EDIT: some advice from my school English teacher is relevant here I think: "Don't retell the story in your exam!"

(2021-06-23 - watched ep10)

This starts off as just a solid episode of Kiznaiver. We see the characters after remaining apart over summer. We can see how some of them, like Katsuhira and Hisomu, and as far as I can tell Nico, seem to be mostly recovered, if a little shaken, while Tenga is on edge and Chidori seems to be suffering hugely.

We see this in the scene where, from the aftermath of them hearing each others hearts, Tenga tries to clear up some complications, yet Chidori seems unable to even think about it without cracking under her emotions.

We then learn a lot more about the original Kinuza system and how the system actually did not function correctly. Instead of dividing pain equally, 15 children's sensations, not even pain just feeling like the impact of your feet walking, we're all concentrated into Sonozaki, causing her unimaginable pain even after the experiment.

They also mention how the kids have their emotions diluted, and while Katsuhira and some others kept it together and released, some didn't. Katsuhira then gets to meet these others. At sight of real people and past friends now devoid of any feeling, barely human even, he breaks down in tears. They're essentially dead.

Seeing these characters shown like this not only develops the original experiment story and Katsuhira and Sonozaki's backstory, but also lets us begin to make links to our current (ex-) Kiznaivers - Chidori could possibly represent Sonozaki, the more affected of them the ones who held it together, and the largely okay ones the braindead.

We also get a bit of a punch in the face at the end - you're already sad from seeing the state of the braindead people and how Katsuhira reacts, but then we see them interacting in what seems accurate for the age depicted, the whole "x loves y" teasing, and Sonozaki replying to the kids teasing that she loves him back. This is a huge mix as it's a positive thing overall except those kids are now unable to function, though surviving, and it just makes things worse for Chidori than they were already.

Great episode - really went all in on the emotion and story.

(2021-06-28 - watched ep11)

This episode was a little confusing at points - such as the very end and the talk on the roof, however there were some good moments, a better look into the past, and overall a pretty solid episode.

Oh yeah, also good job to the animator for the opening scene and Katsuhira's VA - that was mildly hard to watch it was so well done.

Also it's heartwarming to see the others being impacted by Katsuhira's pain - though they don't realise, they do actually care about each other and can feel empathy towards it.

(2021-06-29 - watched ep12 - finished series)

Not the best episode of them, but still very good. Maybe not quite as strong as say after Shirobako or something, but I definitely got that satisfied happy feeling of finishing a good anime.

The last parts after the climax were relaxed and nice to wrap everything up, and that smile at the end is kinda adorable ngl and I can't think of a better frame to end the anime on.

The actual climax scene itself did feel a little like Trigger were, so to speak, speedrunning the story and tying up all the loose ends as fast as possible while still spending adequate time where it mattered. I did have to put effort into following it but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

Seeing the previously brainless "kids" finally showing some signs of human life - bringing flowers to Katsuhira in hospital - was really nice to see as well, which is compounded by the flashback scenes. The way they lined up all the times Katsuhira confronted Sonozaki to all flow together, right from the past experiments up through the whole series, was pretty clever and worked well.

It was nice to see that they wrapped up Chidori's subplot as it has been running from literally episode 1, even though she still likes Katsuhira, she clearly has new feelings for Tenga which made me happy as she can finally just have what she wants.

Very good ending to a great series.

Conclusion

Overall, Kiznaiver is a good series. It's definitely quite interesting with a complex story and fairly deep characters.

The romantic interactions between characters didn't seem too trashy or forced which is always nice to see, and everyone behaves in a realistic and understandable way - nothing happens that is overly unbelievable.

The sci-fi elements were kinda neat and the experiment organisers definitely had an interesting idea with the whole world peace through pain connection thing, and I did think about it a little just while sitting down with a coffee a couple of times, but the overall scale of the experiment with the entire city of Sugomori for it is a bit over the top (not that this makes the show less enjoyable, though).

The start and also the very end of the series had me pretty hooked, though from roughly halfway in up to nearly the end this was lost and I personally didn't feel like watching on a lot of the time.

A little shaky in the middle but overall really quite good.