Kaiba – 03


Oh for Christ’s sake! This episode took freaking ages to show up on Share, and even longer to download. I really wonder: how popular is Kaiba in Japan anyways? I remember how even Kaze no Shoujo Emily didn’t run into these problems, and that series probably was one of the least viewed anime around at that time…

Still, this series is pure gold, and I love every single bit of it. I’m an absolute sucker for good series that show how random people deal with its concepts, and Kaiba combines it plot with these random stories in an excellent way. What I especially like his how Kaiba meets the random people, he watches them, but he never interferes with them. He just tries to understand them, and that’s all. The stories of these people would have ended in the same way if Kaiba was never there, and that’s REALLY rare in this genre. It’s a great way of symbolizing the whimsical nature of memory in this series.

I’ve probably said this before, but PLEASE let there be more series like this one in the future. 12 episodes is just criminally short for a series with such a terrific concept. This episode shows a girl who sells her body in order to feed her family. Her memory then gets sent into space, in the hope of someday reaching a new body. Kaiba then steals her body, and ironically enough gets a free ride from the guard, who was sadistic to everyone only an episode ago.

This episode masterfully explores first this case from the perspective of the girl, and once she’s dead it’s the perspective from her stepmother, who was probably the one who suggested the girl to sell her body. The mother first was happy that the girl went, but very soon afterwards, she was full of guilt about what she did.

Kaiba definitely is my top-recommendation for the spring-season. It’s got everything: great graphics, an excellent concept, a fitting soundtrack, terrific characterization, it’s thought-provoking, short enough for a quick watch, and I can go on and on with this list.

7 thoughts on “Kaiba – 03

  1. I’ve barely seen one single episode of this show, and pretty no other new serie you blog here and now.
    I can’t even comment or reply to other comments as i’ll probably gain an opinion to tell when this show will be old to you all.

    Right now i comment shows as old as one month (or more) and they’re already deserted and forgotten…

  2. I have to agree there. 12 eps is criminally short. I thought Kemonozume was too short at 13 eps too, hence the rushing of the plot.

    Too few people give credit and actually watch these amazing anime works that pushes the boundaries of animation. I guess it’s altogether too new and too jarring for most people.

  3. I really wonder: how popular is Kaiba in Japan anyways?

    Hardly anyone has heard of it, i guess. It’s understandable, as the series airs on an expensive satellite channel that relatively few has access to.

    I don’t know if thread lengths on 2channel are good measures for a series’ popularity, but the Kaiba thread has accumulated less than 700 posts in three weeks. Normally, comments about an average series fill a thread of 1000 posts in a week. Popular series like Code Gayass can get more than 10 threads per week.

    Her memory then gets sent into space, in the hope of someday reaching a new body.

    I’m afraid it’s more cruel than that.
    She believed that her personality will be uploaded into a chip and delivered to her step-mother’s house.
    She was tricked.

    Her memories are simply discarded and they will float in space without the hope of ever being in a body again. It’s a fate worse than being killed: her hopes, her memories, her personality, everything that makes up a person was cast aside as worthless. And now that hideous guard will ravage her body.

  4. I’ve just finished watching the FB-Ureshii sub for this episode. I agree, 12 episode is really way too short. Kaiba turns out to be really good, and I’m really anticipating each new episode with awe. Definitely one of the best show this season.

  5. This episode was nothing short of amazing. I got goosebumps all over during certain scenes (like the piano playing part). This series is one of the best series to have aired in a long, long time and I’m definitely hooked on this awesome, yet oh so cruel world.

  6. I have to agree with you wholeheartedly about Kaiba, after watching the first three episodes I’m ready to declare this the best anime of 2008. If Kaiba keeps up it’s current level of quality it quite possibly could be considered a masterpiece, and could influence future anime of years to come.
    The one scene that ripped me up was when Chroniko asks Kaiba if her boots look cute on her, that’s like having your girlfriend ask you if her makeup looks good on her as she’s walking towards her death. Then to have to see the doctor casually discard all the girl’s hope and dreams of the future away like a piece of trash.
    That scene had almost the same affect on me as one of the final scenes from Blade Runner, the one where Roy Batty’s life runs out on the rooftop. While some anime fans might not like Kaiba, this series shows the true possibilities of the medium, to me it’s art of the highest level.

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