Karneval : Rainbow Colored Fuse

Episode 1

I have no idea what this series will be about so this blog isn't just a review on episode one but also a question of whether this series will be seen out till the end.

First time I've wrote a review on something that I didn't know whether I'd watch it till the end or not. Exciting times for us here!

So what has Karneval got in store for us?

***SPOILERS***

We start the episode in a field, a boy lying on the floor is dreaming about someone. Karoku. The boys name is Nai.

The opening titles are different I'll give you that. Very intriguing.

Apparently the bracelet that Nai wears is Karoku's, the women who is trying (I guess) to seduce Nai mentions that the bracelet is Circus ID. She then disappears and someone else drops into the room.

By the sound of it Nai is a slave, the man who droped in is a theif. The lady goes all funny and turns into a grotesque monster. It was awesome! Sorry but it has to be said.

After blowing up the place they were in and the monster lady as well it looks like Nai is free. His thief friend seems a bit in two minds, something about his past seems to have made him see people as enemies, nobodies or prey (his words not mine). His name is Gareki.

A cloaked figure shows up in front of the monster, he doesn't seem impressed with her.

There is a whole side story with a guy and a girl who seem to have wanted to capture the monster but got there just after she was killed. I hasten to add it would have been the cloaked man that killed her not Gareki. Thus meaning that whoever these two are work against whatever the cloaked figure is up to.

Gareki and Nai are trying to escape the city, they hear a train that is about to pass under the bridge they are on. I'm guessing this is the train we had glimpses of before where someone is being held hostage. They escape and Nai is free.

By the description that Nai gave us Karuko might be dead as it seems that Nai followed a trail of blood and found the bracelet (Circus ID) at the end of it.

The girl and the guy from early finally catch up with Gareki and Nai on the train, they are here for the train jackers (identically thinking Nai and Gareki were involved). After defeating the first wave of bad guys they carry on up the train, Nai and Gareki follow. The train hijacking seems to be because the man kidnapped had to fire a load of workers, they kidnapped him and his granddaughter. As you probably can guess the granddaughter is innocent.

The guy in the top hat is "Second Ship Captain, Hirato, of the National Defense Organization, Circus". The girl is "Second Ship Fighter, Tsukumo."

For some reason Nai can hear the sound of the bombs that the hijackers have planted on the train before they go off (the bombs are programmed to all go off if the train stops), Gareki gets Nai to take them to the source of the noise that he can hear and they find a jammer. With a little bit of magic Hirato chops the tail end of the train off and thus stops the problem.

The guy who was kidnapped doesn't seem to be so innocent. He was kidnapped on purpose to see how good Circus was. He wants to capture Nai it seems.

And that is it!

So the episode......

It was really brilliant to be honest. It had a Victorian feel to it as well as being modern. It was different from a lot of the stuff I watch but with a sprinkle of the things I really like.

I loved Mine (the monster at the beginning) at first you just think she is going to be a bad guy then suddenly she changes into this monster thing, it was awesome. I had a huge moment just jumping on my bed I liked the effect so much.

The characters were mixed. Nai was a bit boring, Tsukumo was only slightly better. Geraki and Hirato look like they will be really interesting characters though and my interest in them was there from moment one. Hirato's hat doesn't fit his head though, it'll be a bug bear. I love the whole top hat look but I hate it when the top hat doesn't fit (and this is real life problems as well as anime problems).

So what are Circus? Who is Karuko? Why is Nai the way he is?

A wonderfully presented episode with so much mystery.

The question was will I watch again.

The answer is how couldn't I? I don't think I could live not knowing more about this whole show. I'm really interested in knowing more about Circus and what they do, are they some kind of undercover agents or something completely different. What is it that they do? Is it normal that people like Mine turn into hideous monsters? If not then is that what Circus do? Hunt down those monsters?

What is it that old man is up to? Is he related to the cloaked figure at the beginning?

so many mysteries bundled up in a bow in the first episode, it was a tease to bring people on board and it worked for me! But the constant adding to the mystery didn't overshadow what was a contained story, when you watch it it feels like so much more than it is, but what it is it did brilliantly well. Introduce you to main characters, have a straight forward plot and ask the audience questions under and interesting story that they only realize are being asked after the show finishes. Thus we have to tune in again to see what happens!

So far there have been 2 other episodes of Karneval, I will write a review of each of these this week and start reviewing them weekly from the weekend.