Using this to log my rewatch of Kekkai Sensen S1. Though in actuality it's more just me talking about Rie Matsumoto.

Just scrapes a 7 or 3.5 stars

Rie Matsumoto continues to prove herself as one of the most visually capable directors in the industry. This work bursts with energy and style, with great backgrounds, strong storyboarding, and playful editing and camera work. It also boasts some strong visual thematics, and her work as sound director here is strong.

This is stylish in similar yet very different ways to Kyousougiga, keeping a sense of style in editing and storyboards, yet opting for a less clean style with more detail and extravagance (and boy does it work to bring the chaos of the world to life).

Similar to Kyousougiga, family is the ultimate through line of Kekkai Sensen, although this time it is not as clear and consistent of a focus, and the show hones in to sibling relationships.

At its best Kekkai Sensen does a great job at representing these sibling relationships as well as its themes surrounding Leo's supposed normalcy as a protagonist, and on finding a place you belong within the chaos.

I also like Chain.

However, the convoluted nature of the plotting does work to dull the emotional punch slightly rather than enhance it like it did in Kyousougiga, and the narrative ends up far more muddled than Matsumoto's previous masterpiece.

This may be because the work had too much else going on, adapting aspects of the original manga and adopting an episodic nature with a less clear narrative direction for the most part. Also, potentially as the original aspects of the series composition were not directly handled by Matsumoto this time round.

Ultimately, this work may have been an emotional and narrative disappointment to some extent (though its episodic sections are delightful, and in the cases where the sibling focus and themes do work, they work great), it was certainly not a stylistic and visual miss. Kekkai Sensen illustrates clear versatility in style for Matsumoto, while reinforcing her strengths. The visuals in Kyousougiga are still a tad stronger for me, but the visual style in this is far and above most other productions, and it eclipses the former in places too.

I want to also note the ED, which everyone knows is a classic, more popular than the show itself and parodied by so many fandoms.

The ED has incredibly goofy and expressive animation merging brilliantly with the music. It also has some fun uses of panelling for the part on Leo and his sister (reminiscent of her similar use of that technique in Kyousougiga ep1 and 10 to add some visual flair).

The OP nicely matches the music too while showing strong colour use at times. The OP illustrates both the chaotic feel that makes up the show, as well as Leo's personal progression throughout.

Stylistically, It adopts a TV screen style in places, reminiscent of the Kyousougiga OP to a degree, with TV screen styles being used a lot within this show. The show also has the recurring and important cinema screen location with its relevance to the relationship between White and Leo.

Additionally, the OP reinforces the important thematic relevance of photos and cameras in the show (with a fun montage of photos present in this OP, the city is quite literally a collage of photos at the start, and there are shots where it looks like photographs are being ripped). The show also has use of POV and security camera shots to add to the chaotic visual fun of it all. Screens and lenses seem to reappear in her later work.

Moreover, this OP and Kekkai Sensen as a whole feel like they show the start of Rie Matsumoto's use of lighting which reoccur in her MVs. Particularly noticeable in the undeground fighting ring episode.

I also feel the need to talk about Matsumoto's work since this.

Firstly, the ED to the second season, which was sadly her only involvement in it (it was rumoured for a while she was working on a film, but that seems to have not come to fruition, though I hold out hope for the future).

This ED is just incredibly chaotic but purposefully so. Not only does the chaos fit the work in tone, but each image references each episode, gaining meaning as you progress. This ED also uses the aforementioned screen quality at one point, panelling, and has fantastically choppy and energetic animation, with this another work with animation director Yuuki Hayashi.

The main thing I want to note in this ED however is the really great colour, which alongside the great animation choices makes every image pop. This colour calls back to the more simpler style of Kyousougiga to a degree, while being very distinct from it. Also, the great colour sensibility in this ED reappears in her later MVs, particularly 'Gotcha'.

Rie Matsumoto's style has developed and not faltered since Kekkai Sensen, her eye for playful editing and fun storyboards have stayed and play into her works. This is alongside the animation and amazing character expression I have come to expect from the duo of Rie Matsumoto as director and Yuuki Hayashi as animation director and character/ animation designer. The animation and expressions are just exceptionally enjoyable and energetic.

Her first music video was 'Baby I Love You Daze', not one I personally love, but it is stylistically a joy. The lighting I mentioned plays in here alongside the sense of busy visuals present first in Kekkai Sensen, with some little snaps of colour occasionally. Some more expressive characters and POV shots are visible here too.

Matsumoto then also storyboarded an episode of my hero academia haha, which spiced things up with some fun angles from a brief look at those storyboards.

Anyways. The main work she has done since this is the Pokemon music video 'Gotcha', which likely a lot of you have already seen.

There is a lot of use of screens in 'Gotcha', some great timing, busy but fun visuals, gorgeous animation, and arguably even better colour than her previous works. I also love that photographs play into this too.

Can I mention the character expressions and character animation again? The bit where he scolds the Pikachu is amazing, and the designs of the main two pokemon (Eevee and Pikachu) are so hilarious in the best way.

Rie Matsumoto's style lends itself wonderfully to music videos, and if more keep coming then I will gladly keep consuming them, but I still have my hopes out for a future film or show from her if possible.

Also I need to note that before Kyousougiga she made a Heartcatch Precure film which I have yet to see.

So. Kekkai Sensen is good but had the potential to be great. Rie Matsumoto is great and Kyousougiga a borderline masterpiece. Her MVs are fun, and I hope she keeps working with Yuuki Hayashi. Plus i hope she gets more projects to direct.