Jan 4 2012 02:23 AM Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon is based off a popular light novel of the same name. It started off as a complete troll show with not only the protagonist looking and acting like a constant troll but also the poor presentation of the story...that is true, at least for the first 3-4 episodes. From there one out, I would say the show really began to pull through and show what it's really about. While the show constantly included common cliche elements as well as lacked an overall serious tone and pathetic battle sequences, I found it to be actually a hilarious watch at the end of the day. The comedy was surprisingly well done as Tori constantly trolled everyone. The cliffhanger for the second season isn't exactly an enticing cliffhanger that makes me want to watch more, but as I initially thought, the premise or his show is actually very interesting and I'm glad they managed to at least bring out that element throughout these 13 episodes, unlike a few other shows these past few seasons.
Animation wise was pretty darn cheap from Sunrise. For a studio that produced at least decent animation for worse shows like Sacred Seven and Gundam Age, I'm fairly disappointed that this got the short end of the stick, especially when it's getting a sequel next summer. The fact that they don't even bother to move character mouths in side shots when they talk in a number of scenes is just wrong in this day and age. Art wise though, is fair.
Soundtrack is quite strong for this show. Loved the battle and "enter hero" type background music. OP could use a bit of work but the EDs were decent, especially the one by Ceui. Seiyuu was priceless, particularly for Tori. Jun Fukuyama playing two different ends of the spectrum: one is his usual comedic voice while the other is the unforgettable Lelouch/Zero voice from Code Geass. Great usage. Minori Chihara as Horizon could have been cast better though in my opinion. While Horizon does give off the Yuki Nagato feel from Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya of whom Minori voiced as, it didn't have the same impact, especially when Horizon retrieved one of her emotions back towards the end of the season. The vast amount of characters in this show, unfortunately make most other characters forgettable and relatively unimportant.
Enjoyment? Like I said, the show sucked really bad the first 3 or 4 episodes before things got serious. I was literally bored to death watching them as it felt as if I was watching "just another romantic comedy." Of course, looking back with 20/20 hindsight, I really should have paid more attention to the time stamps as they did play an overall role in bringing the story's foundation together. It's a huge misjudgment of mine to ignore it, but am glad I stuck with the series to the end regardless.
Overall, Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon likely lost 80% of its initial viewers just from the first one or two episodes alone. It's got a great premise and many people foresaw the strong story that would eventually arise, but sadly, the show really tests the audience's patience to its limit if you ask me. It's not a show that you literally can present to someone and claim it's good. It's a show that you need to give someone time and find a way to shove the first half of the series in their face all at once. Furthermore, the vast amount of terminology (as anticipated) as well as characters make it very hard for someone to just jump right in. Heck by the end of the season, I barely know even 1/4 of the Musashi students, let alone the other characters in this show. Regardless, it's been a roller coaster for this season but I look forward to the sequel now. Long story short for this season: good story, poor execution/presentation.
Preliminary Score: 6/10 Final Score: 7/10 
