Kyousougiga: A lot of things, A lot of Meaning

Ok, I’m not going to speak hypothetically here. Do any of you have that one anime you’ve enjoyed to the point that you couldn’t summarize it the second you watched it? Like it affected you so much that resulted in you continuing failing to write about it because it was impossible to describe at that moment? That is Kyousougiga to me. The first time I tried writing about this show, I failed. Now, I can write about it again. Having that time distance to think about it more has helped me gain a little more thought in figuring out what I wanted to say about it. Also, this is the start of a New Year. What better way to celebrate that fact then with a little Kyousougiga? I was thinking about Paprika first, but this works better. Lets celebrate the new year with some new perspective, color, and family love to it.

Kyousougiga is a very Japanese anime. I don’t mean just in terms of it being anime, but a lot of the cultural and religious references in it. I am not going to act like I know everything, because I don’t. There is a cultural ignorance here that comes from living in the United States to a lot of what happens in Kyousougiga. The mirrored city in Kyousougiga is based around Kyoto. The show features a lot of the shrines of Kyoto in it in terms of setting to create a living atmosphere. It’s really easy to say that Kyousougiga is a story about Kyoto itself, if not an alternate one. There is a lot of Shinto-ism and Buddhism in this show and I can’t say much more than that. Does that mean someone who doesn’t understand can’t learn to love and enjoy it? No, because I did. Just know this going forward.

This anime takes place in a mirror Kyoto. A Kyoto created by the priest Myoe and Lady Koto, who comes from a drawing of the rabbit. Myoe lived a life of solitude until he met and married Lady Koto, then gained three children. Two children came from drawings (Kurama and Yase), while the third is a human orphan named Yakushimaruwho. After getting in trouble by causing too much noise from the Capital’s officials, the family moves to the created city to live a better life. That is until the one day where Myoe and Lady Koto disappeared. The three kids were left to their own devices in the city their parents made. This is a show about what is left and learning from it in this fantasy.

There is a lot of science fiction things going on in Kyousougiga as well. This is a meeting of science fiction and fantasy like its a meeting of tradition vs new tradition. Mirror Kyoto was created through religious means, but it appears to be one dimension of 13 different dimensions in the story itself later on. Yase, the daughter is an oni that lives in the past with her dressing style and tea parties. On the other hand is Kurama, the older brother, is a Buddhist priest that lives in a scientific laboratory building robots and who knows what else. In between is Yakushimara, the human brother who could be considered both. In the present, he is stuck in his past and cannot see the future because he died and was brought back to life. There is a value that he is missing in himself to make decisions.

Years later after being left in solitude, Yakushimaru is the lead priest of this Mirror Kyoto. It is an indestructible city where a lot of cool beings live. That doesn’t amount to much considering that he sleeps in all the time, goes on dates with his girlfriend, and doesn’t show up for the meetings to run this city with his sister, Yase and his brother, Kurama. That changes a bit when a mysterious girl appears out of nowhere with her two brothers. The girl’s name is Koto, named after her mother, and her two brothers are familiars called A “the beginning” and the Un “the end”. This girl wields up a hammer that can smash parts of the city in unrepairable ways who is here to smash up Yakushimaru’s life and the city of Mirror Kyoto.

So the mystery of this show is obvious to everyone. We should all know how Koto is related to the three siblings at the youngest one. It takes a bit for the characters to figure that out, but it’s a mystery that changes the game of the show and it’s good. The reveal that Koto has a power that others don’t have and is related to the siblings pushes things into how each sibling treats her. Yaku treats her like an actual person, which involves the growing relationship between them over the series. Yase sees her as a segment of her past, and Kurama in his priestly ways uses her to open the gate to getting their parents back through very advanced and technology means. She was also treated as a tool by her dad when sent to Mirror Kyoto by treating her as a member of a military organization and nothing else. That’s why Yasu and Koto’s relationship feels so wonderful and he is the only person Koto can come back to when suffering her owns struggles.

Kyousougiga is a story with a lot of things in it and it moves at a fast pace, but the core of the story is what makes it so great. It’s a story about found family and finding the will to live. Koto brings Lady Koto back through some crazy means and then their father comes back to cause all sorts of damage. Mainly from using Koto to destroy this city through brain washing. Something happened in the past that made Myoe more antagonistic towards the city he created and how he tossed Lady Koto away until she came back recently. Coming together is what this story is about. Yasu pushing past his trauma to find himself, Koto finally being regarded as a person instead of a tool, Lady Koto making a permanent appearance, and Myoe coming back to where he was after who knows how long. This story is heartwarming and wonderful. A feel-good show for everyone that is full of energy and excitement.

That goes with the visuals of the show too. Kyousougiga is a beautiful show to look at. Not just in terms of creative character designs and great animation. The main star of Kyousougiga is Mirror Kyoto itself. It’s a beautifully colorful city that looks so inviting to live in. A color city of yester year that has so many layers and districts for all the unique people living in it. If I could, I would live in this city no questions asks. The character designs themselves are very expressive and fun to look at. Koto is such a fun and energetic character to watch destroy things before even mentioning how she talks, looks, and acts with her character animation. That goes for everyone by the way. Each person lives their own lives in the way they want to live which matches their character design. So much crazy action animation too from Koto smashing the city and other things with her space hammer to all sorts of chaos. This is just a fun show to watch for so many endless reasons.

Kyousougiga is a very solid anime to watch. There is so much going on it that I think it’s impossible to ever get every single detail and point of view of it. I covered the things that I considered the most important things in my eyes. The family, the setting, and some aspects of religion and technology, but Kyousougiga is such a stuffed anime that I’m amazed that it works as great as it does. Every single frame has some kind of hidden meaning behind it and I really enjoy it like that. I am very excited to watch it again eventually and see what new things I can get out of it. Only time will tell what I can see next time.

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