Based on a manga by Seita Horio, this horror anime series starts with an intriguing premise. When spunky heroine Juri Yukawa returns from another unsuccessful job interview, she discovers that her brother Tsubasa and nephew Makoto have been kidnapped and a hefty ransom has been demanded. Her grandfather reveals that he has a mysterious stone with a supernatural ability—the power to stop time and move through a world that is otherwise motionless in a state called Stasis. Ostensibly, they can use the stone to find the culprits and rescue the captives. But the kidnappers are part of a cult called the Genuine Love Society led by Junji Sagawa, who seeks to exploit the secrets of the Stasis for his own purposes and proves to be a formidable foe. The danger is exacerbated by the fact that the Yukawa family is highly dysfunctional, with Tsubasa an unreliable layabout and Juri’s father Takafumi an oafish sort who has just lost his job. The series follows the clan as its various members discover the extent—and limits—of their powers (which they are prone to misuse). Also introduced are Specters (which enable people to move in the Stasis) and Handlers (which can intervene to stop those who try to use the Stasis to inflict harm on others), and it closes with a curious reversal involving Juri and Sagawa. While the ideas behind Kokkoku are interesting, the characters are mostly unlikable and the narrative often seems confused. Compiling all 12 episodes from 2018 in a dual-language Blu-ray edition, rated TV-MA, this is an optional purchase. (F. Swietek)
Kokkoku: Moment by Moment, Complete Collection
(2018) 2 discs. 300 min. Blu-ray: $69.99. Sentai Filmworks (avail. from most distributors). Volume 34, Issue 4
Kokkoku: Moment by Moment, Complete Collection
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