Scum's Wish

Kuzu no Honkai is the heaviest drama I’ve seen to date. Now trust me, I don’t use that designation lightly, I’ve seen some stuff (whether it’s anime or not) that really messed with me, but this show packed a surprising punch, one that I did not, in any way, shape or form, expect. It is, to me, a heartbreakingly real portrait of human nature, and all the scummy and cowardly thoughts and acts in entails.

At a first glance, the central theme of the show is unrequited love. That is something that’s made clear right in the first episode, and through each step of the world-building process. It is a sentiment which is shared by most characters, whether they are on each edge of its spectrum, or even both at the same time. As such, this feeling is aptly used to explore and meticulously analyse the psyche of each character, which then reveals what is, at least in my opinion, the true central theme of the show: convenience. Convenience as a futile mean of attaining a solution, even if temporary, to the troublesome nature of human emotion. The usage of convenience, as described, requires a mechanism for its fulfilment, which, in Kuzu no Honkai (and, by proxy, in many real-life situations), is momentary pleasure, as an attempt to ignore feelings of loneliness and existential dread (among others).

Just a simple analysis can allow one to conclude the result of this mean of escapism: self-destruction; and that is (without spoiling it too much) what happens here. We witness characters making bad decision after bad decision, shifting their personality to one that even themselves felt repulsed by, but now embrace, as there is no other apparent solution, at least not one that is as convenient.

It is then, when the mask of morality slips, and righteousness reveals itself to be an illusionary concept, that we perceive the characters’ true personality, their true nature, and what derives from that is, to put it bluntly, soul-crushing. Honestly, to witness the corrosion of morality in the way that Kuzu no Honkai displayed it was distressing, to say the least. It’s definitely a show that I won’t forget, and one I won’t be able to revisit in quite some time due to how it made me feel.

This anime manages to, in just 12 episodes, explore a wide variety of themes and emotions in a very competent, honest, and compelling manner: unrequited love, convenience, escapism, loneliness, obsession as oposed to love, the contrast between being the exploiter or the exploited (or even being both), are just some of the issues it tackles, and does so surprisingly well. It’s a brutal, dreadful, and exhausting experience, more than I can put into words.

This exploration is done recurring to a comparatively large web of characters, and the relations that exist between them. At first, I confess I felt a little bit overwhelmed, due to how much information was being transmitted in a short amount of time (since this occurred in the world-building phase of the anime). However, when I absorved what I had to, and grew accustomed to it, everything worked perfectly. I guess that’s one of the limitations of working on a 12-episode limit, it makes some things more cluttered than others. Despite that, I wouldn’t change a thing about the show’s structure, as I believe every second of it was essential, and the psychological exploration it provides in latter episodes is of the right depth and extension (which it probably wouldn’t be if the world-building phase were longer than it is).

The direction in Kuzu no Honkai is very competent, to say the least. One thing I found to be unique was the back-and-forth that happens between internal monologues, as in one second we’re listening to the thoughts of one character, and right after we are presented with the inner reflections of another character. This gives the viewer a broader perspective of what is, at face value, a simple situation (in most of the times), and I loved its inclusion. This directive feature ends up making the more explicit scenes feel very bleak, and honestly depressing. This is apparent right on the first episode, and every time it happened, it managed to make me feel very unconfortable and emotionally moved.

The art that is presented is, in my opinion, fantastic. It has a very distinct style that focuses on detail when it’s necessary, but takes many artistic liberties when it comes to representing realism - for instance, by removing characters of their physical location during some sort of physical occurence, adding a layer of abstraction to what is being presented. It also has some manga-esque bits which I found to be a very unique addition. It’s just beautiful to gaze at and appreciate completely.

Don’t even get me started on the soundtrack. Honestly, there is not much I can say, other than “it’s perfect”. Every song fits the situation it’s played in, and some of the piano pieces here managed to get me on the verge of tears. It’s really well crafted, and often adds to the depressing situation it’s accompanying.

To conclude, watching Kuzu no Honkai was not enjoyable, in fact, it was a rather sadistic ordeal. However, it’s something I do not regret in the slightest. For an anime to make me feel the way this did, is something commendable, which I admire with the utmost awe. It’s self-evident that this show does not exist to entertain you, to make you feel joy, to make you feel good about yourself. Instead, it’s purpose is to punch you in the stomach, presenting the viewer with a reality that most choose to brush off and ignore, and the fact that it did so in such a compelling and emotionally potent way, is something I won’t be able to forget for a long, long time.