Kokkoku Episode 2 Review

Last Updated on by Szuniverse

The second episode continues where the last episode left off at where Makoto was at knife point and this creature comes in. This creature promptly kills the man holding the knife and Juri and her grandfather make an escape to think of another plan to save Makato and Juri’s brother. However, it isn’t as easy as it seems since leaving this part of the stasis would leave Juri’s father stranded at this point. It also seems that the pursuers that showed up last episode is apart of a cult that worships the creature in the beginning. They were specifically targeting Juri and her family for the stone that’s in their possession.

 

The biggest take away from any good adaptation is how well the director can keep the spirit of the original work without losing the meaning behind it. Kokkoku unfortunately has this current issue of inconsistency in regards of it’s storytelling. One while this episode adapts more than last weeks it goes way too fast and feels like it’s cramming a lot just so they can get a move on. The first episode adapted about two or so chapters of the first volume this episode is on fast forward it adapted a lot from volume one and sadly loses a lot because of it. We don’t see a lot of other characters nor a proper introduction to the woman who appears in this episode. Who by the way is crucial to the narrative. They do expand upon her in the second volume but the introduction to her just doesn’t do much. She just appears and that’s it. Secondly, a prevailing issue with Kokkoku so far is that I don’t see the same heart which was what made the manga good. While I did like episode one I can’t go out and say that that episode blew me away. Their was something mechanic about it meaning it functioned but it came off as hallow in the end. If anything I’m getting that same feeling with this episode it’s fine, but I wish it could do more than what it’s currently offering.

 

All in all episode two of Kokkoku was another adequate episode but I hope the rest of the series does not follow what episode two did. If it does then this will sadly be another botched adaptation on good source material.

 

Final Verdict: 5/10

Kokkoku is currently streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video

Szuniverse

Senior Editorial Writer for Toonami Squad and former writer for Swim Squad. Host for Toonami Squad Sessions Podcast.