I really enjoy these series that dig into the plot, revealing all sorts of mysteries, all the while creating even bigger questions for which the audiences long to find the answers.
In episode four of Kyoukai no Kanata, we learn that Akihito isn’t weak due to his half-blood heritage; instead, he’s remarkably powerful and unable to control his immense strength in times of distress. He isn’t at all what Mirai thinks he is, and perhaps not what the viewers think either.
It’s interesting how in times of trouble, our own inner selves come out as well. I won’t say that our “true selves” bubble to the surface, because we’re more than our innermost emotions, but sides of our personality that we might carefully try to hide often pop up when we’re confronted with events that are dangerous, painful, or stressful.
And it’s in those moments that maybe we begin to understand that we don’t know each other, sometimes, as well as we think we do.
It’s funny that as we develop relationships with people, we sometimes get this sense of ownership over that person. Our unique relationship perhaps creates in us the idea that we know these people – at least a side of them – that others don’t. And without even knowing it, our minds have shaped a friend that doesn’t exist, as we deem ourselves experts in what that person’s likes and dislikes are, even if we do so without pride. For instance, we might assume how our friend will react to an offhand comment, based on how well we know him or her.
But unless we’re the most intimate of friends (and possibly not even then), we don’t know know the innermost feelings – and demons – that people carry with them. And we all have sins that haunt us and thoughts, feelings, and actions that cause us shame or distress. But most of us are considerably good at hiding these scary and embarrassing parts of ourselves and be confident of the response we’d get if we ask the question that Mirai and Akihito asked back and forth: “Do you think I look like a normal person?”
Most of us look normal, but inside, we’re broken to some extent. God says we’re broken beyond all hope, except for that which comes through Christ.
I think that with our friends, we can take this episode of Beyond the Boundary, one that examines our outer self and our deeper one, and use it to understand the type of friend we should be. We need to be more loving than to simply assume; we need to never close our ears and hearts, and understand that people are often much more complex than we give them credit for. And by being open to a person’s “full self,” rather than just the self we usually get to see, we’ll offer something everyone needs more of – love.
Beautiful post, friendship is such a hard topic in a sense that some things could be a facade. Like you said, we tend to forget that that person true self is different from what we see. Sometimes we aren’t ready to carry the burden of others, however, when we do it could be one of the best feelings in the world.
In a way it’s beautiful if we learned to accept our and our friends flaws. Sadly, we over complicate things when it comes to social life. That’s the gist of it I guess.
As for the episode. I wish there was more! It didn’t do justice to just have 24 minutes this time haha. Akihito and Mirai development was superb. The only thing that bothered me is that she had around 90 gallons of blood in her body to make it rain blood, geez!
Thanks for the comment – I agree with you.
Hehe, yes, I didn’t think about that…well, perhaps she creates blood at extraordinary rates? 😛