Kiznaiver

Plot

Kiznaiver takes place in the futuristic, fictional Japanese town of Sugomori City. While the city appears to be normal, in reality, it was created to test a large-scale experiment known as the "Kizna System". The ideal goal of the currently incomplete Kizna System is to create world peace by connecting people through shared pain and suffering. All those who are connected to the system are called "Kiznaivers". If a single Kiznaiver experiences pain, either emotional or physical, the system distributes it among the other Kiznaivers.

A few days before the start of summer vacation, a mysterious and seemingly emotionless girl, Noriko Sonozaki, tells high school student, Katsuhira Agata, that he has been selected to become a Kiznaiver, alongside several of his classmates. This allows Katsuhira to share his pain and build bonds with his classmates, whose lives and personalities each differ from his own. This leads to serious implications as Katsuhira's classmates attempt to shoulder each other's pain and Noriko assigns them on various missions.

Main characters

Katsuhira Agata (阿形 勝平, Agata Katsuhira)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji, Ruito Kuga (childhood) The story's apathetic and "semi-emotionless" protagonist. During his early childhood, he was part of a previous Kizna System experiment which had failed, rendering him incapable of feeling pain; however, he only has vague recollections of these events. Katsuhira lives alone next to his friend Chidori, as his parents seldom remain at home due to their jobs. During his second venture as a Kiznaiver, he begins to understand emotional pain through his connection with the other protagonists, allowing him to express his own emotions better.

Noriko Sonozaki (園崎 法子, Sonozaki Noriko)

Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura, Sakkuru Zaizen (childhood) A beautiful girl who lacks human kindness and displays no emotion whatsoever. She acts as the arbitrator for the Kizna System and is a member of the Kizna Committee, alongside Urushibara and Yamada. It is revealed that Noriko was a member of the same failed experiment as Katsuhira but instead of distributing her pain to others the experiment wound up taking all nineteen candidates' pain into herself while the others lost most of their emotions and sensation. Consequentially, she requires constant medication and has remained connected to him through the Kizna System ever since. As such, she seeks to help Katsuhira regain his lost sense of pain. In the end of the anime, she and Katsuhira start to date as well as showing a bit of her emotions.

Chidori Takashiro (高城 千鳥, Takashiro Chidori)

Voiced by: Yuka Terasaki Katsuhira's childhood friend who is humanistic, emotional, and seemingly nosy at times.She is called "Two-Goody Shoes" by Noriko.She fell in love with Katsuhira during their childhood and desperately wishes for him to return to his original kind and funny personality. She is a good cook and often makes meals for the other Kiznaivers. In the end of the anime, it looks like she might end up having feelings for Tenga in the future.

Hajime Tenga (天河 一, Tenga Hajime)

Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno A delinquent who is impulsive and rowdy to the point of being obnoxious, but is caring and very protective of his friends. After they become Kiznaivers, Tenga casually begins to live with Katsuhira in his apartment. He attempts to act as Chidori's wingman to help her win Katsuhira's affections, but is revealed to have feelings for Chidori himself. Despite receiving the nickname "Mad Dog", he suffers from an intense case of cynophobia.

Nico Niiyama (新山 仁子, Niiyama Niko)

Voiced by: Misaki Kuno An energetic girl who behaves in an eccentric manner by claiming she "sees fairies". This is revealed to be a lie in order to create a quirky persona, which she developed out of fear that people would dislike her because she is attractive, naturally intelligent, and comes from a rich family. For this reason, she becomes slightly bothered when people point out her intellect or exhibit more quirkiness than her. Despite of her unique personality, Nico is shown to have a mature side. She is also extremely perceptive and is not afraid to show it when it is important. Although in love with Tenga, she and Hisomu scheme a date for Chidori and him at the end of the anime, showing her mature side. She still affirms that one day she'll have a show-down with Chidori to win Tenga's affections.

Tsuguhito Yuta (由多 次人, Yuta Tsuguhito)

Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki A sly and self-centered honors student and ladies' man. With the exception of Honoka, he attempts to dissociate himself from the other Kiznaivers, whom he views as "peculiar animals". Yuta's darkest secret is that he used to be severely overweight, due to being a latchkey kid that resorted to eating junk food instead of being fed proper meals; he is still an extremely fussy eater as a result of this. He holds affections for Honoka and wishes to help her sort out the issues stemming from her past; in doing so, he becomes more open-hearted, and his more gentle personality is revealed. In the end, his efforts to get close to Honoka seem to pay off.

Honoka Maki (牧 穂乃香, Maki Honoka)

Voiced by: Rina Satō An aloof and intelligent girl who outwardly maintains a cold and condescending attitude towards others. She used to be best friends with a terminally-ill girl named Ruru, and the two became a manga artist duo under the pen name Charles de Macking. While working on the project together, the two gained affection for each other; However, Honoka feared the pain of losing her would be unbearable if they were in a relationship. She decided to break off their friendship entirely, leaving Ruru to complete the last chapter of their manga alone before finally dying. Initially, Honoka never read the series finale and assumed it left feelings of hatred behind, subsequently becoming bitter and guilt-ridden. However, with the help of Yuta and the Kiznaivers, she realizes that Ruru actually wanted her to move on. Honoka then decides to reject being "friends" with the Kiznaivers, believing that their bond through the Kizna System made them closer than friends or lovers. In the end of the anime, Honoka states that she wants to help Yuta gain weight again, in order to keep possible other love interests away from him.

Yoshiharu Hisomu (日染 芳春, Hisomu Yoshiharu)

Voiced by: Kōtarō Nishiyama A handsome and distinct man shrouded in mystery. He is a masochist who becomes easily aroused when feeling or even thinking about (physical) pain. Despite this, he is seemingly harmless and spends most of his time smiling, although his bluntness sometimes unnerves his new friends. Hisomu very rarely attends his classes and had never been seen by the other protagonists prior to their connection to the Kizna System. When he does attend, he never wears his uniform, opting to wear tattered gym clothes instead.

Others

Kazunao Yamada (山田 一直, Yamada Kazunao)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe Nicknamed Yaamada (やーまだ). He is Katsuhira's perverted homeroom teacher and a member of the Kizna Committee. Was one of the caretakers of the original nineteen children that Katsuhira and Nori were a part of. Unlike his colleague, Mutsumi, Yamada seems to take a deranged pleasure in putting the Kiznaivers through different challenges and tests.

Mutsumi Urushibara (漆原 睦, Urushibara Mutsumi)

Voiced by: Mie Sonozaki Nicknamed Urushii (うるしー). She is the counselor of Katsuhira's school and a member of the Kizna Committee. Was one of the caretakers of the original nineteen children that Katsuhira and Nori were a part of. Unlike Yamada, she seems to have genuine concern for the members of the Kiznaiver group. She also reveals to the Kiznaivers the result of the original experiment and why Noriko is the way she is. She seems to have a maternal connection to Noriko, showing extreme emotion and concern when Noriko attempts to kill herself.

Gomorin (ゴモリン)

Sugomori City's mascot character. It is typically used as a costume for staff who work under the Kizna System, although ordinary city workers also dress as Gomorin.

Ruru (瑠々)

Voiced by: Sayaka Nakaya Honoka's deceased best friend and the other half of her manga artist duo, who died from terminal kidney disease. Ruru fell in love with Honoka and sought a romantic relationship with her. Even though Honoka only viewed her as a friend, she feared the grief from Ruru's inevitable death would be too much to bear if they became further involved. Honoka stopped their friendship entirely, leaving Ruru to finish their manga alone. After her death, Honoka blamed herself for forcing Ruru to work on the last chapter by herself, worsening her illness due to overwork and heartbreak.

Anime

Kiznaiver is an original anime series from Trigger. It is directed by Hiroshi Kobayashi and written by Mari Okada. While Shirow Miwa provides original character design, Mai Yoneyama adapted it into anime. and the opening theme is Lay Your Hands on Me by Boom Boom Satellites, and the ending theme is Hajimari no Sokudo (はじまりの速度) by Sangatsu no Phantasia. The anime has been licensed in the UK by Anime Limited.

Manga

A tie-in manga by Roji Karegishi is published simultaneously by Crunchyroll digitally and by Kadokawa Shoten in their Dengeki Maoh magazine. It premiered on March 25, 2016.

A gag manga featuring the characters in chibi form called "Mini! Kiznaiver Gekijō" (みにっ! きずないーばー劇場) is drawn by S. Kosugi and serialized on Dengeki Comics NEXT. The tankobon version is released on June 6, 2016. Crunchyroll took the English license for it, titled "Mini! KIZNAIVER Theater".