Kekkaishi is written and illustrated by Tanabe Yellow. It was later translated into a television show with 52 (I have not actually watching the anime yet, but it looks like it just covers the first arch).
On to my thoughts about the series! The series mostly follows Yoshimori as he tries to follow in his family's footsteps of protecting an ancient land from demons. There is a rival family which is where the girl, Tokine, comes in. Each has a demon dog that helps them hunt.
The relationship between Yoshimori and Madarao is a rather odd on, but I enjoyed the back and forth banter between the two. They are rather playful and make fun of each other often.
The relationship between Tokine and Hakubi is the opposite. They work well together and make a perfect team. There is also more of a serious air with the two.
Overall, I do enjoy the two main characters especially Yoshimori. He has this amazing nature of being goofy and funny, but then turning around and being super serious. There is just an amazing flexibility to the character and it was fun watching him develop his powers throughout the series. Best example is his odd passion...baking...My favorite character form the series does not get a lot of time in the storyline which makes me super sad! But that is probably due to my knack for picking that one character in every series that just doesn't get the time they deserve (in my opinion). That character would be Gen Shishio.
He comes fairly early in the series and is just so stubborn and mysterious. This is the first character that shows up that kind of rocks the boat in the series. His personality and traits aren't like most of the characters that you have seen up to this point. There is also a truly interesting and dark past story for this character that I just fell in love with.
This character is then pretty much over-shadowed by two new characters (because one person wasn't enough to replace (actually two wasn't enough either >.< my personal grudge)). These two characters are rather nifty, but there really isn't much bad ground given on the two. Kagemiya (left) is an odd character that often gets made fun of due to his rather feminine qualities. I like how intellectual this character is though; he just has this unique quality to gather so much information from so little details. Shuu (right) is, however, my favorite of the two because of that cheery disposition (and probably the fact that he is later to be reveled to be much like a vampire).
A character that I was convinced I was going to hate because I just had a feeling was Yoshimori's older brother Masamori. He had this annoying older brother complex that just pissed me off because he thought he was all high and mighty. My feelings towards him did, however, change throughout the story. Through events in a secret society, the Urakai, it is really shown that there is so much more to the character and he always managed to leave me confused and guessing about what he was thinking. That isn't something that I find myself normally feeling towards a character. Plus he has a koi fish for a partner!
Ultimately, my other favorite character (and probably only comes in second because you don't get to see much of him) is Hakota. There is just this randomness to the character. He has amazing vision that allows him to survey locations from outrageous distances away and a gentle, humorous personality. Though, his role is mostly comedy relief. If he was in a scene, I would always get a little excited (the paper bad might have also been a factor in my love for him!).
THE STORYLINE
The storyline to the manga is decent and had two main arches. I say this because there is a section towards the middle that just feels off. I don't know if it was just too slow paced or too random for me, but there was a moment towards the middle that left me a little put off. If you can, however, get over that middle hump, the storyline as a whole is well put together. The little details that you kind of have to accept in the beginning make sense by the end. I also enjoyed the random little moments that showed their everyday lives. The only thing that I would have loved to see more of was from the ending. I like to have all the loose ends bundle together nicely with a bow and there being no vague reference. Literally, I want exact details and no pussy footing around things. There is also a desire from me for coupling to happen in a series and there is almost never enough for me; this is true of this series as well. It was still a rather nice put together ending that just left an open feeling to a new beginning (which leaves me wondering if they will do a mini-series later of where the characters are now???). That would be an ideal thing for me, but overall I would give the storyline and series as a whole an 8.
ART
I enjoyed the art within the manga. The characters are very well drawn, and the other not so normal characters are actually inventive. Sometimes with a manga that is kind of creating a whole new world with special abilities, those special abilities can be draw in a rather confusing way. I never got that from the entire series. It is all done in a manner that is capable of being followed, and you can see that there is thought actually put into the drawings and the layouts.
Favorite Moment:
I think most of my favorite moments happened on the roof of the school during school time. There were just such random conversations and it revealed a lot of how Yoshimori thinks. It was the moment you got to see what a character was thinking.
That, or, when Tokine has a cockroach in her house and ends up having to go to Yoshimori for help because no one else was around to help. It is just comical!
Hated Moment:
I think I would have to pick the reveal of the antagonists for the second arch. It just seemed like you get a hindsight kind of look into them. That is something that I am not use to from a series and there was just a general vagueness to them overall. I was left scratching my head and confused by the whole thing. That may, however, been the best way to go about it (not really sure).
Side notes: I do not own the rights to any of this pictures; I am merely using them as a visual tool for readers.
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