Kokkoku Episode 9: No Idea What The End Game Is Here

Review:

So Sagawa wants to live forever but he’s going to waste time in a stalled world to kill the family that have no means of stopping him and don’t really care to try because…?

And Juri intends to get out of stasis, how?

As much as I love a good mystery, this one just seems intent on tying itself up in knots and at this point I can’t really understand why any of them are still in stasis given they have nothing to gain from it. Juri could send the all out and I’m guessing they continue their lives, unless of course they just stall and stay stalled until Juri gets out of stasis which seems to be impossible. And how exactly does Sagawa intend to get out of stasis?

It is messy and even the reveal that Makoto can use a power (though that was a reveal to the audience and not the other characters because of course you need to set up some dramatic irony for later) doesn’t really help the situation. If anything it makes things more confusing as a herald is now acting weirdly, a power hasn’t been properly defined, and if the tenuous rules of the stasis are going to be broken before they’ve even been firmly established this mystery is just going to become one throw explainer after another as the plot skates over increasingly thin ice.

None of this necessarily makes this terrible to watch. It just kind of means that this show won’t be climbing up my list any time soon. It remains watchable and thinking about the mystery is fun, but at this point there just isn’t enough known that the audience can actually actively participate in figuring out where the mystery is going or why. And I suspect this story is quickly going to become a monster smack down which would be kind of disappointing.

Previous Review:

• Episode 8: Sagawa Is A Man on A Mission
• Episode 7: All Their Reasons
• Episode 6: The Plot Thickens as the Brother Gets Thinner
• Episode 5: Motives Matter, So What Do These Characters Want?
• Episode 4: More on Stasis
• Episode 3: Slow Progress
• Episodes 1 + 2: This Is What A Bad Day Looks Like

Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more great content on this blog, consider becoming a patron for as little as $1 a month.

Another way you can support the content here is by buying a copy of ‘Thoughts on Anime 2017‘ as an ebook. It contains a selection of reviews, features and top 5 lists from 2017 and while the content is available free on the site, this is a great way to give a one off show of support for the blog. It is available for $3.99.

Finally, you can use the affiliate link to shop at Play-Asia.com if you are interested in anime, soundtracks, figures or games. Should you use the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small percentage of the purchase price.