Ranked #161

Kaiba

::QUICK REVIEW::
Story: 9 (Great amnesia story, love the sci-fi elements)
Art: 10 ("I DO" yelled Sam, "I do like green eggs and ham!")
Sound: 7 (overly silent at times, but dialog helps lot)
Character: 9 (So simple yet very complex, a must see)
Enjoyment: 10 (Felt like a 3-hour summer blockbuster movie)
Overall: 45/50 = 9 (Everyone must experience this)


::FULL REVIEW::
People always try to be above others. It's because they can't be happy unless they have people below them. This show creates a whole universe around this concept and other unconventional ideals. From the anime description and genre choices for this show, and even the database picture the normal anime viewer might be a little turned off from this show. At first glance for me I quickly turned it away as I thought it was aimed toward children. Despite showing an R+ rating I also notice ratings are usually 20% correct in the MAL database.

But after pushing it aside for about two weeks, I finally decided to give it a shot and boy will you be surprised. Right off the start, you're heart will start racing as you follow the story of the main character. A after waking up from a daze, blade runner 'esque chase quickly follows. After the action, the main character appears to be very lost, which I'm sure most of you will feel the same way he does. This also starts a unique connection and experience between the viewer and the main character. This is where the show really starts.

One thing I'm sure most people will notice is the art style. You will either love it or hate it but don't let the artwork turn you away from this show. After an episode or two you will most likely appreciate the level of originality this art style brings to the plate. After i have seen over 100+ series in a three month span, this was a very welcome change to the orthodox anime styles. Dont let the simple look fool you as well, there are more than enough small details to pay attention to throughout. From the tiny memory pellets to an overcrowded storage room. Everything looks very thought out and amazing. Often you'll probably think to yourself, how the hell does Misaaki and Nobutaka make this ***t up?

Another false assumption was that the characters were mostly children since they have a simple child like look to them. But they are very much mature adults. The characters are are all so very likable and I owe a lot of that to the art style and the small details that they do or don't leave out. The even greater point is how Masaaki Yuasa goes to great depths to control the viewers emotions with the use of these characters. One minute, you'll hate a character, then the next you'll feel sorry for them, then you'll feel frustrated because this is almost an emotional roller coaster. Rest assured, this is a good kind of frustration (if there is such a thing).

Defintiely "don't judge this book by its cover." This point of view story was rather an interesting one and the science, technology, and hierarchy surrounding this universe was very captivating experience. There are quite a large number of allusions and ideals in every episode that got me reflecting on what I have just experienced (which I absolutely love). I can't really compare this to any other anime show. If i had to compare the story to something, it like a telling of a blade runner/ matrix story in the eyes of Dr. Seuss.

A great way to close this epic show would be a quote from Dr. Seuss' Yertle the Turtle:
"You hush your mouth!" Howled the Mighty King Yertle.
"You have no right to talk to the world's highest turtle.
"I rule from the clouds, over land, over sea!
There is no nothing, NOTHING, that's higher than me!" read more

Kaiba is a story that begins with a young boy who possesses no memories, a locket with a blurry picture of a girl, and a hole in his chest. From there on, it dives into a complex look at what it means to live, speaking to its audience in eclectic ambient music, flat hues, simplified textures, and caricatured expressions.

It is a story of heartache, rejection, and despair. It is a story of loss and of pain, and one that explores a world in which there is incalculable capacity for wrongdoing, cruelty, and evil. It is a story that hits its audience with difficult and complex moral problems, yet it offers very little in the way of solace or resolution for any of the questions it raises. It pulls no punches and promises no answers, and in doing so, retains a sense of honesty with its audience that few works of its nature posses.

And yet, in spite of the horrors and sadness that the world of Kaiba is embroiled in and consumed with, the core cast of characters are simply ones who—similar to each and every one of the characters they meet on their journey—are struggling with the questions of how to be, and what it is that constitutes being. In a world where memories and forms are stolen, bartered, and sacrificed as easily as clothing or food, identity becomes even more fluid and fragile than it is in real life. Kaiba takes this theme and extrapolates it into a reality so twisted and surreal that its commentary is impossible to miss.

Cinematically, Yuasa offers a unique directorial method of presentation that draws far more from Osamu Tezuka’s gekiga than from the prevailing influences of today’s directors. Yuasa’s adaption of Tezuka’s style goes beyond the obvious character model similarities (designed by Nobutaka Ito), infiltrating every nook and cranny of the narrative elements. A reverence for and homage to Tezuka’s method is present from settings and thematic scope down into the minutiae of presentation, particularly in shot compositions and depictions of action or psychoses that alternates between reserved detachment and unforgettable heart-pounding relevance. The surrealistic, futuristic depiction of the thematic emphasis on the relationship and nature of individuality, consciousness, memories, and flesh could be right at home in something like “Apollo’s Song”. The portrayals of intolerable human cruelty resultant from complex, struggling characters seem to spring right out of something like “Ode to Kirihito”. The heavy handed assault of dense symbols and exaggerated physical forms screams for a sense of old-school melodrama that much modern anime generally lacks—or often enough, when it IS present, it is rarely ever handled with the level of versatility and adroitness that Yuasa presents in Kaiba.

But this is not to say that Yuasa is somehow “ripping off” Tezuka’s legendary works in any way—in fact, one need not even be the least bit familiar with Tezuka’s body of work in order to enjoy this program. What maintains Kaiba’s uniqueness is that, both in spite of and because of its use of Tezuka-esque elements, it ultimately offers an experience that is greater than the mere sum of its parts. The skill with which Yuasa manipulates his characters and paces his episodes bridges the gap between the work and the audience in a way few anime series achieve; although the first episode resembles more a dream than a traditional narrative, it doesn’t take long for emotional attachment to form around both the primary characters of the show (as they are sparingly revealed) and the secondary characters that pop up per episode and often disappear just as suddenly. Much of the program retains a quality akin to something of a vague hallucination even after completion, however its narrative remains traditional enough that things like characters, plot, back story, and development are all recognizable.

What begins as a fever dream or a nightmare turns out to be a cerebral quest through amnesia, psychosis, revelation, doubt, and finally trust. Some of its mysteries are slowly unraveled explicitly, others are left to subtle allusions or drift wantonly in a haze of ambiguity. Development of the characters involved with the story of the protagonist alternates between exceptionally subtle and heavy-handed, though often times both ‘subtlety’ and ‘heavy-handed’ development occur simultaneously. It is most likely its themes and tone—outside of the visuals, of course—that will leave the heaviest mark upon its audience; Yuasa’s skill at sculpting atmosphere through imagery and sound is truly worthy of recognition.

In short, Kaiba is not an easy series to watch. It is one that will present to its audience powerful images with powerful connotations that are not easily shaken off by the invested viewer. Its characters are memorable and complex. Its visuals, no doubt the most obvious thing to distinguish it from its peers, may give false first impressions or lend to it unjustified labels of pretentiousness. In the end, it is a work that is extremely difficult to describe in full, and one that is likely to affect each of its viewers in radically different ways.

Recommended for fans of abstract cinema, surrealism, science fiction, Osamu Tezuka, other Yuasa works, or simply anyone looking for a short cerebral series that is nigh indescribable. read more