Previously on Beyond The Boundary:

High school student Akihito Kanbara meets a young spirit warrior named Mirai Kuriyama when she attempts to cpmmot suicide on the school roof. After Mirai tries numerous times to kill him for being a monster known as a youmu, the two strike an uneasy truce. After talking in a park Mirai reveals why she can’t go home and Akihito agrees to help her with her problem. Spoilers Ahead!

Akihito & Mirai find and engage a youmu that was hiding in Mirai’s home and chase it through the streets. After pretty lengthy chase, the two manage to subdue it and they agree to take it to an appraiser in the morning. After missing the appraiser the two meet up with Mitsuki and walk to school with her. After school the pair go to see the appraiser again and Akihito receives a warning from his mother. Later after treating him to dinner, Mirai tells Akihito not to involve himself with her anymore, explaining why she believes can’t have friends.

The second episode of Beyond the Boundary does certainly have more action that its first outing and develops the mains dynamic a bit more, but it does flounder in some places.

The episode opens with a fight scene and pretty fluid looking one at that. Mirai takes on the youmu in a pretty fast paced action scene that plays out through the city streets. There is a point where the youmu gets away and Mirai expresses interest in just letting it be, that is until Akihito asks how shes going to make money. She chases the youmu to a rooftop and removes her ring, which amplfies her power and allows her to throw acidic blood at the beast. This in turn weakens it and she finally kills it (youmu cannonly be killed by stabbing their eye). Here we also learn that youmu turn into a crystal like substance when they die, which are exchanged for money.

This seems like a good time to introduce new characters. When Akihito & Mirai  go to see the appraiser, they meet Ai Shindo, who is a humanoid youmu like Akihito who explains the difference in youmu appearamce to Mirai saying that many youmu are humanoid. In addition to Mirai’s meeting of Mitsuki, we also meet another spirit warrior, Hiroomi Nase. Akihito meets with him om the roof of the school in order to see why the youmu they fought was so aggressive, but aside from being uncomfortable he gets no info.

Ai showing Mirai their appraising certificate

Later we do meet the appraiser, Ai’s sister Ayaka (who is also a youmu) who gives Akihiko a card from his mother. This is easily the breakout character of the episode, Yayoi Kanbara is extremely peppy and pretty obsessed with cosplay (this is evident as she is in a cat girl outfit in the message card, Akihito also explains that she dressed up on his elementary school’s parent day and answered questions with the students) and is also a spirit warrior. She tells Akihito of a powerful youmu called the “Hollow Shadow” an extremely dangerous youmu with no body of its own that already beat 5 A-rank spirit warriors and that maybe why the other youmu are so aggressive.

Mirai gets more development in relation to the others as she is trying hard not to get imvolved with Akihito and the others. Repeatedly turning down offers to join the literary club and not saying much to the others. She is still reserved but she does open up to Akihito at points, and Mitsuki seems to be involving herself as well, but as to why she does is still unknown. Akihito & Mirai have a moment in a restaurant where Mirai tells him she can’t live life the way he does because she’s killed someone.

Akihito’s mother Yayoi

“Ultramarine” is a pretty good episode with a few good moments and a pretty good action scene.While it can get talky and the cute moments don’t mix well with the dramatic ones but its not a total mismatch. The characters continue to be likable and the world is expanded nicely.

4/5