Karneval – 02-04
That awkward moment when you realize your partner is actually an animal
 |
Helloooo. Again, I’m so sorry for the delayed posts, these few weeks have been rough :c Ah, but for every fangirl, there’s always time to catch-up on bishie bait, isn’t there? |
Of course, the first thing we have to talk about is that NAI IS ACTUALLY AN ANIMAL?! HAHA I bet no one actually expected that, I actually went like whaaaat at my screen and laughed so hard when the doctor announced it. I thought they were joking at first, but apparently no, our main character is actually some weird hybrid between a human and a rare animal. I guess that kind of explains his over-the-top naivety/gullibility, funny hair (the purple ear-like parts, I suppose, give him his extra sensitive hearing? I don’t even) and his limited pool of memories, and I think I’d have the same wtf reaction as Gareki did if I found out that the person I’d been interacting with for the past few days isn’t really a person. I’m surprised that everyone was able to treat Nai pretty normally after that – isn’t it really, really strange that such an animal-person thing exists?
Sigh, that aside, that probably means that Karoku was the one, or the “genius”, as Akari-sensei pointed out, that created Nai. Why he left him there, why he had a Circus I.D. and why he was with Erisyuka is a total mystery, but I think he let Nai be acquainted with Circus on purpose – he’s probably up to no good, and wants to make use of Nai to sabotage Circus movements in one way or another – at least, that’s what I think. That’s why he doesn’t want Karoku around Nai all the time, lest he begins caring too much for him and ends up compromising Karoku’s plans. Also, I would think that Karoku definitely has something to do with the Varuga. At first they were sent after Nai, possibly to capture him and bring him back to Karoku for whatever reason (brainwashing, perhaps?), but afterwards, they probably went after Gareki instead because Karoku deemed him a threat to their plans. I would even go as far to say that Karoku is one of the leading figures of the Varuga, but that’s just my two cents.
Moving on to Gareki, I find his behaviour really strange. If he had such a depressing backstory, having been sold at such a young age and have to suffer the loss of the person he most loved, one would expect him to have his defences firmly built up. The impression we got of him the first episode was that he was a guarded, smart man that only cared for his own interests/motives (although I’m thinking that he was originally only stealing money to help keep Tsubame/Yotaka alive, or fund his search for Tsubaki’s murderer), but his attitude towards Nai kind of contradicts that. I mean, he’s almost completely let his guard down around Nai, giving into him for almost everything, forgiving his stupid mistakes and genuinely caring about him only after having met him for a few days. I would understand if he was the kind that has a cold exterior but actually cares deeply about the people he loves, but I believe that someone who has been through so much can’t possibly be so open and loving to someone he just met. :\ His actions feel force-fitted just to make this whole BL-situation work, and although I do like my BL, it disturbs me and I can’t take their relationship seriously this way.
One thing that Manglobe likes to do here though, is ruin nearly every single serious moment by adding some unnecessary comedic line halfway through (Yogi is always the culprit – don’t get me wrong, I love Yogi and his adorable klutziness/hilariousness, just not as a serious character). I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy the little jokes here and there (Karneval actually made me laugh out loud, and not a lot of series have been able to do this recently), but there are some scenes that should be kept in a serious light, you know? Like when Gareki was talking about his depressing backstory, I think I would’ve rather them had left it there with a deep, sombre silence or some words of sympathy/comfort rather than turning the whole thing light-hearted again. It kind of undermines the actual plot and makes light of things, making the comedic factor/bishies the main focus of the show, which is kind of disappointing.
Any inkling of resemblance to No.6 has officially disappeared from my brain now, because Karneval is way too ridiculous to fit into the dystopian, cruel world that No.6 has. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. A friend of mine recently told me that she thought the show was “trashy” and wasn’t even going to consider watching it. When I thought about it, Karneval is a pretty trashy show, actually. It’s rather blatantly using its pretty animation and hot characters, as well as some very suggestive scenes between some particular guy characters to draw viewers in. It’s not that I’m blaming them for it though, many other anime do it and do it worse (lol GC), and I would say that Karneval has the [K] kind of feel – pretty animation, interesting premise, awesome seiyuu-cast, BL-baits and some extensive publicity, but not really a lot of substance. To be honest, I would’ve really loved and enjoyed this if I was younger (and if I hadn’t joined the aniblogosphere full of brilliant minds) and didn’t really read that much into things. Karneval is really fun to watch if you’re not paying attention to the details (and the fact that bishies are being used to attract you haha) because of how hilarious it can be at times, and also because the art style is really appealing. I love the Niji and all the cute little creatures that popped up because THEY ARE ALL SO CUTE!!! And also all the characters because THEY ARE ALL SO PRETTY/HOT!!! I won’t deny that I enjoy watching this show, but actually viewing it in a critical light when reviewing it does bring up lots of things left to be desired… still watching it anyway. *shallow bishie-lover*
Last but not least, what all of you came here for. Here, have some bishies:
Random thought of the day, but doesn’t Akari-sensei really remind you of Sanetoshi from Pingudrum?
Dawwwww tsun tsun Gareki blushing >////<
Karoku stares into your soul and beckons you to join Miyu next week on Karneval! >D
About Miyu
A stressed-out jyoushi kousei doubling as Metanorn's loli with a soft spot for sappy romance animanga. She will watch anything with bishies in it. :3
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I dunno why I’m still watching this show. Nai makes me want to shove him and all his cute animal buddies like him into a chipper, and Yogi right after him. Gareki can go too, because he annoys me with his oh-I’m-so-angsty self.
What I’d want the show to be about is Hirato and Tsukumo and Akari and Iva and Circus, and the Circus folks go around solving crimes and stopping bad guys. That might be an awesome show. That show might be awesome enough to even keep Gareki and Yogi around. As it is, Nai’s just this huge boat anchor that drags everything down into his awfulness, despite things like Iva showing up and saving Gareki (definitely the high point of episode 4).
Ugh, why did Nai have to ruin this show?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
There wouldn’t be any problem watching this if it was centered more on Gareki and the other members of Circus. They’re a lot more interesting than the animal boy. Regardless of what anyone says, I really don’t like Nai and he’s being far too useless for me to say anything positive about him. People could tear him to pieces for all we know and I wouldn’t care a bit. Yogi also isn’t far from ending up in the same infuriating category.
What I’m getting from this is that Karoku may be a villain rather than a potential victim. Episode 4 basically crushed any defense that he’s innocent bystander. It’s possible he’s the one behind the Varuga experimentations and the cause leading to Tsubaki’s death.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
When you are alone you are the cat you are the phone, you are an animal.
The words I’m sayin’ now mean nothing more than meow to an animal.
Wake up and smell the cat food.
Highway stole my comments. Cheers, mate.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I am the new Spammy!!!! Aw yeah, stealin’ comments.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Karneval is one of those animes that has it’s ups and downs with every episode. Episode 1 was a good start, but 2 was lacking in several aspects. Episode 3 was back in form, but 4 was lackluster. It just seems as if this show can’t really form itself well, and because of that it just seems as if it’s all over the place with a loose plot thread to somehow string it all together.
Gareki is a interesting character but he doesn’t seem to have much depth to him. I found Nai to be very annoying to start out with, but once I found out he was an animal in human form, I could forgive him his extremely trying,very naive, annoying tendencies. I think of him more of a lost pet that’s trying to find his owner and get along in the world by his lonesome. He finds Gareki who takes him in and takes care of him and he finds himself attached to his new owner/caretaker.
I’m afraid that despite their large cast, I find “Circus” to be the most transparent characters in the show. With the exception of Yogi, Tsukumo, and even Dr. Akari, I find all the others to really just be background. The villains are the same, except Karoku who is interesting simply from the mystery behind his character. I too thought Karoku a villain, in the vein of Seimei from LOVELESS, but this last episode has made me think that he might be being mentally controlled (either through drugs, hypnosis, etc,) by the villains for some ultimate purpose.
Gareki’s backstory, while sad, never actually gave me any emotional punches. I just felt I was floundering along through the story with no really connection to anything. I have no reason to care about the twins or Tsubaki and the whole affair feels like a side quest in a video game.
Karneval is an okay show, nothing to write home about, but it does have it’s good points when it wishes.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 102 comments
Tsun dereeeeee <3 lol
I finally looked up what it ment!!haha
I see ppl writing it on different places and didn't get it XD
Dawwwww, Gareki
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Nai is an animal. Did not see that coming at all. Lol
I also agree with the plot being bland at the moment. I don’t even feel like there is one other than Nai trying to find Karoku and that plot feels “thin” too.
As for Gareki’s backstory. It was interested I guess? The twins I didn’t feel any connection too or was worried about them being monsters at all. Maybe if there was an episode focusing on their relationship to Gareki before tearing it all apart, the transition might have been better.
Well, I’ll keep watching it for now and hope the plot picks up. I’ve heard some good things about this manga but at the moment I don’t see it…