Welcome everyone, to another week of Kaina and the Great Snow Sea! Continuing its upward rise through the season, this was another good episode for Kaina, with a lot to like. So lets skip the preamble and dive right into it!
Having talked about the CGI and the backgrounds for a while now, this week I wanted to start with something different: The music. Composed primarily by Kouta Yamamoto and Misaki Umase, Kaina has one of the best OSTs of the season. Not just in the uniqueness and style of the music, but in how its integrated into the show itself. Tracks like “In The Snowsea” merge beautifully with the immense majesty of the undersea roots. Meanwhile “K_hide_G” I think it is fits the chase of the undersea fish so well. While I haven’t heard enough to truly make a decision on it yet, I can certainly say its something I notice every week. Its the combination of music and background that really bring Kaina’s setting to life I feel.
Getting into the content of the episode, what surprised me most was the pacing of it all. I fully expected Kaina to make it to the island and for the episode to end seeing Ririha again. So I was pleasantly surprised when not only did they not reach the island this week, they were late. It really reinforces just how long this journey under the sea is, and how imperfect a mode of travel it is. This also makes their inevitable rescue much more believable, as now all of the guards are lax after dealing with the messengers. No one is expecting a rescue mission after the King of Atland effectively just declared war! Maybe some will be annoyed by what they see as slow pacing. But for me this is just Kaina being very methodical in how it expands its world, giving each bit the attention it deserves.
Speaking of expanding the world, did you see that undersnow area? It was gorgeous! Dyed this ominous shade of red by the barnacles growing on the roots and the evening sunset passing through above. The roots stretching on forever in every direction, the Canopy Trees themselves the only thing sticking up out of the skyline. These small pockets of air from holes in the roots and the ancient buildings lost to the ever growing sea of snow. It’s all so… grandiose. I really get the feeling that people have lived here for ages, their islands getting smaller and smaller forcing them to abandon more and more buildings to the Sea. I really hope we get to see more of this! Maybe it becomes how Kaina travels the world, safe from the Valghian ships, I don’t know. But I love it!
Getting back to the actual narrative, and Ririha, this week we also met the big bad, the Admiral. This guy seems… rather stereotypical all things considered. He’s setup like this rather standard villain, complete with an eyepatch and a hook hand. From comically villainous monologues to killing the messenger, I’m not sensing any real personality to him just yet. No, the real value of what we got from this in my eyes was from Amelothee. She already seemed very honorable and straight laced. But compared to this guy? Between this and Ririha trying to broker, I say broker I mean more like threaten, peace via the story of the Sage, I feel like Kaina is setting her up to join the good guys. Maybe they do find a way to solve the water shortage for everyone, and she joins in, I dunno. But she clearly doesn’t like the admiral.
As for the Atland side of things, this continues to be an odd one. I do like how no one panics about Kaina and Yaona disappearing. There really is no way off this island without a Snow Horse, that they know of at least. And Yaona showing Kaina around does make sense. It also reinforces the size of this island that they didn’t immediately search the hole thing, Kaina is recognizing the scale of the city. But on the other hand, this King is kind of a dick. Their plot to try and use Kaina to buy themselves time, only shooting it down because they don’t think he’s actually worth anything? They are clearly in this for themselves/Atland. And while this makes sense, it doesn’t really endear them to me.
Finally I want to take time appreciate Kaina and Yaona’s relationship, as well as a few other small tidbits. I really like how these two are supporting each other, how Yaona wasn’t just a drain on Kaina. He keeps up, and when he gets knocked out, Yaona drags him to safety. Meanwhile Kaina is understanding towards Yaona and doesn’t view him as a burden. He really comes off as this understanding, chill guy, which makes sense living on the canopy free of conflict for so long. And the letters! We got more evidence of writing on the tapestries hanging at Atland. While Kaina can’t read them just yet, its clearly setup for some kind of greater mission in the future. Maybe they speak of a legend or some kind of path to the true sage, or some ancient machinery. I don’t know! But I like it being setup early.
So yeah, all in all this was another really good episode of Kaina and the Great Snow Sea. It’s moving slowly, but not at a glaciers pace like Fire Hunter. All the while still building up and expanding this beautifully dystopian world. The only cause for concern I’m seeing so far is that Kaina is about halfway through its 11 episode run, and it feels like we are just getting started. It makes me worried that we won’t get any sort of real conclusion, and that Kaina will be just another series with an incredible start but not enough attention to continue. Hopefully that’s not the case! Either we get a solid ending, or Kaina becomes the start of a great seasonal series, I’ll take either one! Just don’t end this season on a disappointing cliffhanger. Please.
