There are classic anime with beloved endings and just as many that are disappointing, divisive, or plain weird, but nobody likes a series that never got an ending in the first place. In a medium that too often can leave adaptations unfinished for various reasons,Blood Blockade Battlefront(AKAKekkai Sensen) ensured its ending was nearly perfect, but with room to continue if possible.
Kekkai Sensen,directed by the brilliant Rie Matsumoto, aired in the Spring of 2015 and though it only had 12 episodes, it didn’t officially end until October 4 of that year, at the tail end of Summer. The reason is a bit complicated, and unfortunately, it contributed to this series sort of falling off the radar for viewers, many of which might have missed the conclusion.
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What is Kekkai Sensen?
Based onthe manga byTrigunauthor Yasuhiro Nightow,Kekkaiis the story of New York City - except not really, because at some point a dimensional rift opened up and changed the metropolis forever. The city became known as Hellsalem’s Lot, a melting pot of humans and supernatural beings, living in precarious balance - a balance protected by the agents of Libra.
Leonardo Watch has come to Hellsalem’s Lot in search of Libra in hopes that they can solve a certain problem: a mysterious entity bestowed upon him the All-Seeing Eyes of God and took his sister’s sight in exchange. Unfortunately for Leo, his new, powerful eyes come quite in handy and until he gets his answers, he’ll need to work with Libra to protect the city.
Those who have read the mangawill confess that there is not much of an ongoing narrative toKekkai. It’s more of a collection of adventures, making it perfect for an episodic character-driven action series. But that’s not all that director Matsumoto did with this anime and, in fact, she and screenwriter Kazunao Furuya made the bold choice to create an original story for the anime.
The Story of Black and White
Fans of the medium have been conditioned to raise alarm bells when a series diverges from the manga for understandable reasons but bear with us. These 12 episodes might be the best supporting argument for diverging from source material ever put to screen, precisely because - as mentioned - the manga doesn’t have much of an over-arching story.
This might sound like a disqualifying quality for a story whose premise very clearlysets up a question to be answered, namely Leo’s eyes and the resolution to that problem. And even with the legacy of a series likeTrigun,Kekkai’s fandom is fairly niche. A completely faithful adaptation risks running for only a single season with no end in sight; a textbook “read the manga” ending.
The framework for such an approach is right there to see in the final work. Most of the episodes are adaptations of chapters hand-picked across the first six volumes. However, in a clever adaptive twist, Matsumoto creates a throughline narrative and even offers a satisfying ending WITHOUT ending the series as a whole.
For those unaware of Matsumoto as a director, her stories are wild, vibrant, and constantly moving, but at their core,they are often about familyand the heart of this story is about a normal boy just trying to save his sister. Matsumoto hones in on this and creates a complete arc by mirroring Leo’s dilemma in the lives of two original characters, the twins William and Mary MacBeth, nicknamed Black and White, respectively.
Laying the Groundwork
Leo starts to develop a crush on Mary after an early episode ends with him in the hospital where she is admitted due to her poor health. Soon after,he becomes best friends with her brotherWilliam. When Leo isn’t nearly getting killed on missions, he’s hanging out with both of them and slowly building up the courage to take Mary out on dates.
But Black and White aren’t just a pair of lovable side-characters. They are the very core of Season 1’s story. William is a powerful psychic but also is the host of the King of Despair, a powerful entity that occasionally possesses his body, plotting to trigger another Great Collapse like the one that created Hellsalem’s Lot.
The penultimate episode is entirely dedicated to these anime-original characters, answering long-standing questions and setting up a grand conclusion. Just as Leo does what he does for the sake of his sister, these two are struggling to save one anotherwhile the villain manipulates themboth for his own gains.
“Hello World”
Due to a scheduling conflict withDurarara,Kekkai’s finale, named after the opening theme “Hello World,” wasn’t able to air and fans had to wait three months for the last episode. But to their credit, Bones must have made every extra week count, because the results were gorgeous. Every background and character is bathed in the warm glow of Halloween night in Hellsalem’s Lot and all the horrors that come with it.
The breakneck pacing and Matsumoto’s often unconventional visual direction are at their peak as the city turns into a warzone. Leo has to make one last mad dash across town to save the day, reuniting with every one of his peers along the way as they lend him assistance, encouragement, or wisdom.
For all of this story’s insanity, the script has a charming earnestness to it, especially when the members of Libra bond with Leo. As a protagonist, and furthermore, as a hero, he doubts himself, being a normal guy in the most abnormal place. But as he comes to learn, those qualities that make him “normal” are actually pretty special in a world as dangerous as his.
In many ways, the story ends where it begins. The montage of Libra’s agents battling ghouls in the city streets on which the series opened is returned to but so too does Leo rise to the same heights as his peers. In episode 1, Klaus Von Reinherz, Leo’s role model and the symbol of who he wants to be, tells him this:
You are not a coward. The reason being that you are still standing there, and haven’t given up. As long as one tries to take even one step toward the light, the human spirit can never truly be defeated.
So it was only fair that Leo echoes that rousing speech at the ending,leading to many a tear-jerking momenton the path to a musically-charged, blissful conclusion. They even play the opening theme over the climax, which is as tried-and-true a tactic as ever to put a smile on our faces.
WhenKekkai Sensenwent on hiatus, it felt like a fatal blow to what was a fairly beloved show in the community. Yet, thanks to the extended runtime, gorgeous visuals, and a story that the creators believed in, it managed to not just succeed, but arguably elevate the original text in the process. Perhaps not everyone will be able to keep up with the pacing, but the more one rewatches it, the more impressive this conclusion becomes.
