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