Release Date: Oct. 10, 2013
Studio: Toei Animation
Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Action/Adventure
Premise: A monk whose drawings come to life and his anthropomorphic bunny wife create and inhabit a fictionalized version of Kyoto for several years before disappearing. Some time later the monk's son, who has taken his name, encounters a young girl - the first human to cross into the "other" Kyoto in several years.
Verdict: Every once in a while an anime comes along that is so original, so wildly creative and ambitiously different, that it demands to be seen. At the turn of the century, it was FLCL. In 2010, it was The Tatami Galaxy. And when industry powerhouse Toei Animation trotted out the first Kyousogiga ONA roughly two years ago, I had a feeling that another masterful experiment in animation had come along. After viewing the first episode of the series proper, that feeling is quickly crystallizing into certainty.
Serving as a prologue of sorts, the first episode sets up the origins of "Kyoto" (spelled using the characters for "Mirror Capitol" and pronounced "Kyoto"). We meet Kyoto's creator, Myoe, a monk whose enchanted drawings become real. Myoe's unique talents get him relocated to a remote village in Kyoto, where he is immediately shunned by the superstitious town folk. Lonely, he draws a bunny with black hair and red eyes for companionship.
The bunny, named Koto, begins to develop feelings for her creator, and her love is noticed by a bodhisattva residing in a nearby Buddha statue. The bodhisattva offers to give Koto a human form, so that she may express her feelings for Myoe more clearly, and she obliges. At first reluctant, Myoe gradually warms to his bunny wife, eventually starting a family with her: Yakushimaru, a human boy, Kurama, a boy born from Myoe's drawing, and Yase, a demonic girl with bouncy blonde curls. When disdain continues to pour in from the outside world, Myoe and his family decide to depart to a different Kyoto that has been created from his drawings.
In this separate dimension, the family lives out many happy days until Koto reveals the unfortunate truth about her human form. Although she was given a human form to express her love for Myoe, she was supposed to relinquish it the moment her feelings were returned; although Myoe has loved her back for quite some time, she has selfishly remained in her form, not wanting to return to the world outside. Touched by her devotion, Myoe agrees to leave Kyoto with her, leaving his son Yakushimaru with the title of Myoe and appointing him to watch over Kyoto in his absence.
The story then jumps forward several years, when a fully grown Yakushimaru, now going by the name "Myoe," notices a disturbance at the entrance to Kyoto. Thinking his father has returned, he rushes to the source...only to find a magical hammer-wielding teenager named Koto and her twin younger brothers.
What brings Koto to this dimension, her connection to Myoe, and the whereabouts of the original Myoe and Koto remain to be seen. All that I know is that I'll be along for the ride. Despite the heavy exposition, newcomer director and series creator Rie Matsumoto is able to string together beautiful image after beautiful image. The streets of Mirror Capitol Kyoto are colorful, bizarre and teeming with character; Matsumoto has created an interesting world for her characters to inhabit, and if Koto's sudden arrival is any indication, it might not be the only one out there. I will definitely be tuning in to find out.
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