Kiznaiver (anime)

Kiznaiver (キズナイーバー) is an anime series produced by Studio Trigger. It began airing on April 9, 2016 and ended the same year on June 25, totalling 12 episodes, and there has been no announcement of a second season. It features character designs by Shirow Miwa and Mai Yoneyama. The title and story are based upon the Japanese words "wound/scar" and "bond/connection".

Plot
The story takes place in Sugomori, a city built upon reclaimed land that once prospered as a futuristic city. One high school boy living there, Katsuhira Agata, is somehow unable to feel any pain.

One day just before the start of summer break, Katsuhira is called by a mysterious girl named Noriko Sonozaki and chosen to become one of a group of people who share one another's pain: a "Kiznaiver." Several of his classmates have also been chosen as part of this group, but they're all people from different circles who normally wouldn't associate with each other.

Staff

 * Concept: Trigger/Mari Okada
 * Director: Hiroshi Kobayashi
 * Series Composition: Mari Okada
 * Screenplay: Mari Okada
 * Original Character Design: Shirow Miwa
 * Character Design: Mai Yoneyama
 * Art Director: Masanobu Nomura
 * Color Design: Osamu Mikasa
 * Cinematography: Hitoshi Tamura & Mitsuyoshi Yamamoto
 * Editing: Hiroshi Okuda
 * Music: Yuki Hayashi
 * Sound Director: Toshiki Kameyama
 * Sound Effects: Hiromune Kurahashi
 * Animation Production: Trigger

Japanese

 * Yuki Kaji as Katsuhira Agata
 * Hibiku Yamamura as Noriko Sonozaki
 * Yuka Terasaki as Chidori Takashiro
 * Tomoaki Maeno as Hajime Tenga
 * Misaki Kuno as Nico Niiyama
 * Nobunaga Shimazaki as Tsuguhito Yuta
 * Rina Sato as Honoka Maki
 * Kotaro Nishiyama as Yoshiharu Hisomu
 * Junichi Suwabe as Kazunao Yamada
 * Mie Sonozaki as Mutsumi Urushibara

English

 * Rylan Strachan as Katsuhira Agata
 * Natasha Strickey as Noriko Sonozaki
 * Caitlynne Medrek as Chidori Takashiro
 * Lucas Gilbertson as Hajime Tenga
 * Katrina Salisbury as Nico Niiyama
 * Scott Roberts as Tsuguhito Yuta
 * Lori Bachynski as Honoka Maki
 * Hans Wackerhauser as Yoshiharu Hisomu
 * Michael Adamthwaite as Kazunao Yamada
 * Jennifer Cameron as Mutsumi Urushibara

Characters

 * Katsuhira Agata - The main protagonist of the anime. He is a seemingly emotionless boy who, at the start of the series, gets beaten up for money constantly. He also has a high tolerance for pain. While he may not show it to the others, in reality, he does care about his friends. As the anime goes on, he understands pain through his connection with his friends, allowing him to express his own emotions better.


 * Noriko Sonozaki - One of the members of the Kizuna Committee and acts as the leader of the Kiznaivers. She lacks emotions despite her being very beautiful, the reason for the latter being that she takes constant medication. However, at the end of the anime, she and Katsuhira fall in love and both become more capable of expressing their emotions.


 * Chidori Takashiro - Katsuhira's childhood friend who fell in love with him and desperately wishes for him to return to his original kind, funny personality. She is humanistic, emotional, and seemingly nosy at times.


 * Hajime Tenga - A delinquent who is impulsive, loud, and rowdy to the point of being obnoxious, but he cares and protects his friends. It is revealed in episode 2 that he has an intense case of cynophobia, despite having the nickname "Mad Dog".


 * Nico Niiyama - A girl with an energetic, cheerful personality who acts in an eccentric manner by claiming that she "sees fairies". However, in episode 2, this is revealed to be a lie in order to create a quirky demeanor, which she developed out of fear that others would dislike her because of her intelligence, beautiful appearance, and the fact that she comes from a rich family. Most of the time, she acts immature and girly, but later on, she is shown to be very mature and perceptive, with the latter not being afraid to show it.


 * Tsuguhito Yuta - A sly and self-centered honors student and ladies' man. He views the other Kiznaivers as "peculiar animals" and dissociates himself from them. It is revealed in episode 2 that he used to be overweight as a child, due to him eating a lot of junk food growing up; he is still a fussy eater as a result of this. He has affections for Honoka and tries to help her, and while doing so, his more open, gentle-hearted personality is revealed.


 * Honoka Maki - An aloof, but intelligent girl who usually maintains a cold, cynical attitude towards others, especially the Kiznaivers. She used to be best friends with Ruru, a terminally-ill girl, now deceased, and the two worked on a manga under the title Charles de Macking. After Ruru's death, she blamed herself for the incident, but thanks to the help from Yuta and the others, she realizes that Ruru actually wanted her to move on.


 * Yoshiharu Hisomu - A handsome young man shrouded in mystery. He is not introduced until episode 3. He is a masochist who seems to enjoy physical pain, most of the time thinking about it. He usually spends most of his time smiling, although his blunt personality unnerves his new friends. Not much is known about him, and he rarely attends his classes, but when he does, he wears tattered gym clothing instead of his uniform.

Music

 * Opening theme: LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME by BOOM BOOM SATELLITES
 * Ending theme: Hajimari no Sokudo by Sangatsu no Phantasia

Episodes
The Kiznaiver anime series has a total of 12 episodes, and ran from April 9 to June 25, 2016.
 * Main article: List of Episodes

Adaptations
The Kiznaiver anime received a tie-in manga series illustrated by Roji Karegishi, which was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Dengeki Maoh magazine.
 * Main article: Kiznaiver (manga)

It also received an official chibi spin-off manga by S.Kosugi, which was also published by Kadokawa.
 * Main article: Mini! Kiznaiver Theater

Both manga series were licensed to Crunchyroll for overseas release and can be read on their website.