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chibivesicle · 8 months

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A more comprehensive way to watch Kekkai Sensen

This is something I started way back in May when I made my best friend watch the first few episodes of KKSS but in chronological order (in universe) as opposed to episode release order.

By no means is this to be a definitive list of things and I didn't quite completely match the manga and instead went with a flow that allowed for character development. I also wanted to make certain season two scenes or lines make more sense in context with the additional information from season 2 episodes or skipped manga chapters.

Like many people, I started KKSS with the anime and watched season one. I greatly enjoyed it but immediately picked up on the fact that a lot of content had to have been skipped over. This is due to how frequently anime will so faithfully adapt manga (line by line, panel by panel) that I found too many lines/character interactions were lacking something. Yes, Steven is one of my favorite characters, and my bias is showing, but it was clear that he was one of the characters who definitely had things cut around him. Closely following Steven, were K.K., Chain and Zed to a lesser degree since he didn't pop in until S1E9 and fairly late in the manga as well (volume 5 of 10).

Another issue with the season one original arc as opposed to adapting the chapters in order meant that all of the volume 1-10 back fill that season two had hurt Leo's character the most. Season one has him slowly overcome his struggles to save Black and release White. Season two then starts with legit Back 2 Back content and then jumps to back filling with the amazing original chapter 7 Day In Day Out. All of a sudden a lot of the comments directed at Steven by K.K. in particular make a hell of a lot more sense from S1E4.

Most of the return to previous chapters fleshes out Chain and the rest of the werewolves, Zed's origin and struggle to belong, Gilbert's skill set as a combat butler and K.K.'s domestic life responsibilities. Luciana Estevez is introduced all in all much later and we also get a return to the Desperate Fight in the Macro Zone, a story focusing on Leo's friendships with Beyondians outside of work.

Why a chapter like Get the Lock Out! was smashed in the middle confused me, since the season two finale was the manga volume 10 finale before Back 2 Back. I'm not sure if they should have even included this episode and instead animated other chapters like 11.5. Cherchez L'idole, 16. Outlaw of Green, or 19. Escape from Pain: Chain Reaction.

This all contributes to a sort of 'backwards/stagnant' character development for Leonardo Watch. When he does appear in events that happened in the manga before KKSS volume 10, he's back to the usual struggles which he was supposed to have overcome by volume 10. It made it weird as a viewer to see him get his ass handed to him as he waffled on things while if things had gone in order, it would have all tied up neatly with the Spectral Vision, Spectral Eyes the volume 10 finale. Instead, this is the season two finale which makes Leo go through the same motions as with season one and the new Black/White/King of Despair arc.

This is why I argue the anime hurts Leo's character the most - he gets development, then slides back trying to match the original manga story line and then ends up at the same place by the end of season two. If you had just been reading the manga chronologically, Leo gets much more fluid development and a lot of the self-doubt and growing street smarts have already resolved by the beginning of Back 2 Back. Leonardo Watch will never be the type of character with out of the world power or stats but by time he's in Back 2 Back, his relationship with Libra is such that he is a completely equal member of the main team. He voices his opinion when necessary and rolls with whatever is happening.

This is my long winded way to say that my proposed watching order will allow for a more natural development of the cast of characters and try to keep key elements together.

Here is my proposed watch order:

S1E1 – Secret Society of the Magic Sealed City

S1E2 – After the Phantom Ghost Wagon

S1E3 – A Game Between Two Worlds

This is one of the few anime episodes that really blows away the manga panels. The entire sequence as they enter the domain of the mob boss to play prosfair is gorgeous. I was already enjoying the anime, but when I saw this transition, I knew I was caught hook, line and sinker. The clever animation sequence, the perfect OST song, the build up. It was all excellently executed!

S1E4 – Bloodline Fever

S2E3 – Day In Day Out

A critical character development chapter for Steven, Chain, Leo and Zapp. Not having this in season one greatly hurt the characterization for them, in particular Steven and Chain. However, by bumping this into season two, I can see why after Get the Lock Out! they did not include Midnight Blue as Anila and Garrett are in Get the Lock Out! and Midnight Blue revolves around Garrett.

S1E5 – The Tremendous Blood Hammer

S1E7 – A No-Holds-Barred Eden

S2E5 – One Butler’s Blitzkrieg

S1E6 – Don’t Forget to Don’t Forget Me

Read chapter 11.5 Cherchez L'idole. This is the first glimpse into K.K.'s private life removed from Libra.

S1E8 – Z’s Worst Day part 1

S1E9 – Z’s Worst Day part 2

S1E10 – Run! Lunch!! Run!!!

Note, this episode will end oddly due to it being followed by S1E11 but most of the content with Daniel and the HLPD makes sense to be here. Again, this isn't perfect; you could watch up until Zapp gets sick and hold the last bit to watch right before S1E11 for better flow.

S2E4 – Werewolf Mission: Chainpossible

Somewhere around here read the chapter 16, Outlaw of Green. Again, a Klaus-centric chapter with more unsavory aspects of Steven's character that are removed from the anime.

S2E8 – Desperate Fight in the Macro Zone part 1

S2E9 – Desperate Fight in the Macro Zone part 2

Read chapter 19, Escape from Pain: Chain Reaction for Zapp & Zed Big Dipper bonding and hangry Steven. [Where's my subway sandwich?] and more unsavory Steven behavior dropped from the anime.

S2E2 – A Phantom Hospital Ward Rises

S2E7 – Bronchial Blues

S2E10 – Bratatat Mom

Watch the Restaurant OVA or read chapter 20, King of the King of Restaurants.

S1E11 – Paint it Black

S1E12 – Hello, world

I have no good filler for this section. Imagine some sort of boring time passed between these two situations. Due to the White/Black storyline it seems odd to flip the order of the finales.

S2E11 – Spectral Eyes, Phantom Vision part 1

S2E12 – Spectral Eyes, Phantom Vision part 2

S2E1 – Lights! Camera! Action!

S2E6 – Get the Lock Out!

There you have it, my proposed watch order for KKSS. If you want to throw in the zany formal dinner with the generic middle eastern prince OVA, go ahead and put that in sometime before S1E11, perhaps before watching Bratatat Mom since K.K. thinks lovingly about her husband Yukitoshi.

I personally love the OVA since it is one of the few times we get to see Steven's inner thoughts in a difficult situation animated. I still can't tell if the only reason why he doesn't succumb to the out of the world delicious food is to how anxious he is that he can't enjoy anything. He's so worried about landing the additional donation all other things fall to the wayside. Perhaps he should have brought a subway sandwich just in case?

That's all I have, go ahead and give my order a whirl if you want it to flow a bit better and read a few of those missing manga chapters.

#kekkai sensen #kekkai sensen meta #blood blockade battlefront meta #blood blockade battlefront anime #episode watch order #anime vs manga

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chibivesicle · 7 months

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Kekkai Sensen character clothing colors continued

I've been under the weather with epically bad seasonal allergies and a busy few weeks of work on top of deciding to draw and write for fun. Oh, and working on my Daniel Law cosplay for the future. Anyhoo, I'm back to thinking about clothing colors and outfits in KKSS and of course I'm stuck on my man, Daniel. Which might be less about clothing colors and more about the fact that he's got different outfits compared to the rest of the cast.

The most common look and appearance for Daniel Law is from the anime as shown here.

He has his dark brown hair, white dress shirt, red tie, brown suit and tan coat.

In the same episode we later see him kicking back at the office with his messy desk without the coat but still wearing the rest of the drab brown suit. I still want to know how smoking is still allowed in offices and he's got his own ash tray at his desk, where we see the smoke rising up in the entire scene from every angle.

Later on when he appears in season two, he still maintains the same look, tan coat, red tie, white shirt and brown suit.

This is most famously highlighted in the OP where he's on the fire escape here looking at the camera while the rest of the police are not.

He really got the short end of the stick in season two; despite being in the OP and ED (standing near Steven in the ED beyond the yellow police tape) he had one scene in the background looking disgruntled as they arrest the men Steven froze. I'm guessing he's on the phone with Steven or something to that effect.

Of course he shows up in the finale only to yell at Libra that they are finally there still wearing the same outfit.

All of the above scenes except for the Get the Lock Out bit (where he isn't even in the manga chapter) are from the KKSS volumes 1-10. Interestingly, when he's introduced in the manga, Daniel has a light colored tie, both with the policesuits and during his formal introduction through Steven and Klaus.

I guess we are to retroactively interpret this tie to be likely light green since he'll sport one much later in Back 2 Back.

One thing I noticed while reading Back 2 Back was the fact that his suit and tie colors were different depending on the arc.

For the Noctova Smile arc, Daniel sports his most popular look (based on fanart) the pinstripe waistcoat and pants. We first get a look at his pants under his signature coat when he tells Steven to get back to Klaus as he leaves the crime scene.

Later on we get many panels of him at the precinct wearing this waistcoat which save for one page is dark so I'm going to go with red tie. By far this is his best outfit and I refer to it as his outfit upgrade.

The next few stories settle on a mismatched suit pants combination. It is most obvious in the My Life as a Doc chapters.

I guess this is a light brown suit jacket with dark brown pants and a red tie? We also see this in the dead lynx short chapter with Brody & Hummer, as well as Neyka and Patrick's backstory chapter with Guinness.

When the final story of Back 2 Back starts, the Calamity Auction arc, Daniel is back to wearing a light brown suit and red tie. This is likely to contrast with his brother Marcus appearing for the first time with an actual name since his introduction in the background of Bloodline Fever/chapter 5.

Marcus is show back at the precinct wearing a white dress shirt, light green tie and his firearm holster.

This also gets back the the point that I keep thinking about - does Daniel even carry a gun in the story for the most part? Sure he shoots at Nightow in the omake; yet we only see him pull his gun on the auction house manager when he's under arrest with plenty of support. Which makes Daniel's own gun pointless to aim at him.

Adding into the mix was the manga color chapter here after the official introduction of Marcus.

An interesting thing to note is that in the full color page, Daniel is wearing black oxfords which are clear if you have the acrylic stand. Here we have Marcus in a medium grey suit with red tie while Daniel has a purple-grey one with the light green tie. Or perhaps, Marcus is wearing a sort of navy suit which would be the most popular and easiest.

The only signature aspect of Daniel's look are the following; tan coat, white dress shirt and a tendency to wear earth tones, the brown and purple-grey (stone?) sort of color above. He's got a mix of red and green ties just like his brother. Perhaps, the scenes where he's got the darker pants color is when he's wearing this purple-grey suit? There are a few shots of him with dark shoes which may be black instead of brown.

We sort of have to wing it, so I'll go with Daniel either having brown or a possible purple-grey suit.

Brown - this is seen as a classic suit color and one that had the additional vibe of a person being honest, humble, approachable etc. When thinking about Daniel's character, I feel that he's almost honest to a fault - when Luciana Estevez prevents him from entering the hospital to make an arrest he expresses is discontent with a kick to the pipe as well. He's got that scruffy hardworking vibe that he's not trying to impress anyone and instead means business.

Grey-purple - it is hard to determine where this color falls; I'm just putting it under the general darker grey category. It has a warm undertone and would be very practical. Professional but not over the top.

Pinstripes - the Noctova Smile arc was the one time Daniel was sporting pinstripes which are a very formal and power play for menswear. This makes sense since he was the head of the operations to take the object outside of HL via police escort. Additionally, this was a chapter where Daniel was incredibly confident with his plan and back up plans. You couldn't help but feel sorry for him as even his intricate plans did not work out. In his defense he didn't include Curious showing up . . . Return of his pinstripe outfit when Nightow?

White dress shirt - the most classic and practical thing to chose. So, very much Daniel. I could see him rationalizing it based on the fact if it gets dirty, he'll just bleach it. Really, you can't go wrong with white and it works well with brown suits.

Red tie - a clear power color. Shows that he's in charge and fits with his personality to quickly get people to move to action. This is quite obvious across media and styling especially in the States.

Green tie - a confident color. Another example where Daniel is demonstrating that he knows what is happening and competent. I don't think it leans towards the concepts of envy or jealousy. Apparently, much more popular in the UK than the States. Which, now that I think about it, green isn't really a thing in the States. I personally, feel the green is also more youthful; maybe Daniel is trying to compensate for his exhaustion?

Tan coat - classic detective garb in American media. This garment goes back to film noir and detective stories of the early twentieth century. Daniel (and Marcus) are simply more examples of characters who are visually identified by this obvious clothing silhouette. The cigarette adds to his classic detective appearance and the only thing missing is a fedora honestly. However, I don't think that most men have such cinched waists as seen with Daniel. The exact style of his coat also varies from time to time. It could be variability in the artwork (most likely) but I like to think with all of the crazy shit in HL, that's how many coats he goes through in the line of duty.

Anime Daniel is considerably stockier as well as shorter when compared with his appearance in the manga. He is also notoriously slouchy in the manga, making him have posture that is as bad as Steven's. The tight waist is not a part of his character design and they really went with very drab colors besides the red tie. I'd be curious to know what the decision was to change that aspect of his appearance. Hell, I've always been curious why the made Steven's suit charcoal instead of light grey.

Interestingly, the color which is never associated with Daniel is blue - either the classic navy blue or even a more blue-blue. I feel that we might get Marcus wearing navy blue in the future. Hell, it might be sort of what he's wearing in the color panel a navy blue suit with red tie is just classic, lazy, American male power look.

Whatever the color is, it is clear that Daniel does not wear blue. I feel that his color palette is earth tones that are warm. It shows that he's serious, confident and capable but approachable. With a slight issue of getting mouthy or hot-headed when people do things he thinks are really bad ideas. I would guess, Daniel shows that he's somewhat unconventional and doesn't try to default to looking how people expect him to. Instead, he's got a clear retro vibe showing he likely isn't one to follow any sort of trends. He makes his fashion statement with his coat not his suits or ties for the most part. All in all, I think his style choices are deliberate to make sure he looks decent. Yet, at the same time not putting to much effort into it for fear someone would judge him as shallow or vain.

Anyways, that's all I've got on this for now.

#kekkai sensen #kekkai sensen meta #kekksai sensen manga #lieutenant daniel law #daniel law #assistant inspector daniel law #blood blockade battlefront meta #blood blockade battlefront anime #character color choices

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