Kyoukai no Kanata Episode 4 - Akihito is the REAL Danger!

Hey guys, today I'll be talking about the 4th episode of Kyoukai no Kanata which concludes the Hollow Shadow arc and reveals what it means for Akihito to be a half-dreamshade and let me tell you something - it's badass.

Continuing from where we left off, Akihito took Mirai and is trying to escape from Sakura with her in hand. Meanwhile during the chase, we're shown Hiromi taking out the rest of the dreamshades that were attacking him. Once he finished, he gets a call from Mitsuki. She's looking for Akihito and asks Hiromi to help find Akihito. Of course, this wasn't a free service and Mitsuki had to pay the appropriate price.

Scarf Power!

Creepiest ringtone EVER..

Back to Akihito and Mirai, it turns out that their memories were what created this labyrinth that they're mixed up in. Sakura finds them again but they use Mirai's pantyhose as a scapegoat and again escaped her attacks.

No-Plan-Mirai everyone!

Mirai explains that Yui is Inami's little sister and she's most likely out to kill her. She supposedly wasn't supposed to have any powers as a Spirit Hunter which confuses Mirai but before she knew it, things escalated again.

She catches a glimpse of Yui on one of the trains in the area and proceeds to chase after her. It led them to a "Giant Yui" who attacks the train and them both. It grabs Mirai and as Giant Yui was about to kill her, Akihito threw her ring at her reminding Mirai that Yui is already gone and this clears her mind and she breaks free. The Hollow Shadow reveals itself as the Yui and Mirai delivers a blow to its core sending them back to the real world.

With everything seemingly done and the Hollow Shadow supposedly defeated, Sakura disappears shortly after but not before reiterating that Mirai's blood is corrosive and corrodes everything to the core. It's no mystery why they call her blood cursed.

She makes it sound so sad :(

Still a megane freak

That cute Ai and her real form haha. 

Akihito approaches Mirai but is possessed by the Hollow Shadow in a matter of seconds. He makes Mirai stab him in order to lure the Hollow Shadow out but she has a hard time with this considering this is almost the same situation as with Inami. She eventually musters up the strength and courage to do so, releasing the Hollow Shadow from within Akihito. She proceeds to finish it off with tons of flashy moves.

Ouf

Yeah you are...

That smile :/

Creeeeeepy but COOL

Chop chop! Bye bye Hollow Shadow

Just when everything seems like its over, Hiromi, Ayaka, and Ninomiya-sensei show up. It seems the real danger wasn't just the Hollow Shadow, but Akihito himself. They immediately throw up a barrier around Akihito.

What D:

Why are they setting up bar..

When Akihito is on the verge of peril, his inner shade awakens and he becomes truly terrifying. His half-shade form is able to negate everyone else's spirit powers and on top of that, it is incredibly strong. It takes everything they have just to keep the barrier up. The 3 barely lasted against Akihito and if not for Izumi, the head of the Nase clan, arriving whens she did, there would have been a lot more damage done.

Oh...that's why

Good thing you have a barrier

Akihito is still OP

Sexy nee-sama

Mmmm eyecandy

After the onslaught of Akihito's attacks, Mirai was the only one left 'standing'. Everyone else was knocked out and the area around them was completely destroyed. She looked at Akihito and remembered how she told him "you don't understand anything about me" and she apologized while crying. She made her way to Akihito where she hugged him and caused him to return to his normal form.

WRECKED

Yeah you didn't

Mirai used: MOE HUG

Super effective!

Yeah you did this...

SO KAWAII~

In the end, Mirai didn't even get the Hollow Shadow, but rather a 200 yen core. It apparently wasn't the Hollow Shadow (or at least that's what they're led to believe). As they're eating in a restaurant, Akihito and Mirai exchange a similar conversation before the episode ends.

Megane freak!

Following the ending song, we're shown that Izumi actually retrieved the Hollow Shadow and brought it some old man who I assume is their grandfather or something. It will apparently be used to keep the Spirit Hunter Association in check. She then leaves with a cunning smile.

WHO DAT

SILF

PV

Review

I'll admit, I was kind of expecting more when it came to the fighting, especially when it came to the Hollow Shadow but that whole thing only lasted for about half the episode. The other half was a surprise. I didn't expect Akihito's inner half-shade to be so monstrous (very much like Ichigo's inner hollow from Bleach).

His power was so strong that even 3 high level Spirit Hunters were unable to suppress him. If he ever went out of control (which I'm sure will happen again), Mirai will be their only hope to stop him.

Seeing Mirai cry and realize that Akihito was actually very much like him was touching. He kept saying he understood how she felt but she always brushed it off. Now she knows that he does understand and that they are quite similar in terms of having some kind of power that they can't do anything about.

It also seems Mirai's blood isn't just corrosive as it somehow purified or healed Akihito while he was in his dreamshade form. That raises questions that maybe this blood has more ties to the past of dreamshades. If she's able to calm him down with it and 'purify' him, could calming dreamshades have been something that her clan had done?

The ending also raises questions as to who the Nase family really is. That old man seemed like the grandfather of the family and it also turns out that Izumi isn't Mitsuki's mother, but rather her sister. Still, she's a SILF.

From the preview, it looks like it might focus a little more on Mistuki and her interactions with Mirai and possibly more about her past. Definitely looking forward to more Mitsuki fanservice since she lacked screentime this episode.

Until next episode,

-Tadashi