Ranked #648

Karin

To be honest I expected a lot from it and unfortunately the first 5 episodes didn’t really grab me. However, after episode 5 things got better and the plot became more definite.

Speaking of the plot… So it’s about Karin, a freak among vampires. She’s probably what you would refer to as an anti-vampire. She doesn’t suck blood as often as other vampires do, since she actually makes blood, she bathes in daylight with no problem whatsoever – The bottom line is that she can do what other vampires can’t. Basically, the fact that Karin’s not a normal vampire, is what the plot revolves on.

She would get into crazy situations such as preventing schoolmates and teachers from finding out about her true identity, having a vampire hunter as an admirer, keeping her grandma from sucking out her crush’s blood and whatnot. These situations would usually end up with her as the victor and everyone (including me) will be laughing at the end. Anyway, situations like this would go on until the last episode, which I actually like. It wasn’t expected, nor was it underwhelming, and I would say it ended on a high note.

As a comedy, I would say it’s so-so. Sure it was funny, but it could have been funnier. It’s probably because the comedic scenes are also chockfull of ecchi and fanservice, which I'm not really into. As a romantic comedy, I’d give it an A. For some reason, the Karin-Kenta love match really works, they go so well together, and I’m sticking to that opinion regardless of how creepy Usui Kenta may look compared to Karin. Plus there’s always the love-hate relationship of Maki and Winner to back that up.

Characters are OK. I love everyone in Karin’s family. The Maaka/Marker family is probably the dictionary definition of dysfunctional, and you know how funny dysfunctional families can be. My favorite Marker would probably be Ren, since he’s such a bad boy. Usui Kenta is the stereotypical loser, and Maaka is the usual “growing pains” star of the show. Winner Sinclair is also funny, his dialogues are absolutely absurd, and it cracks me up whenever he speaks English. An outraged “no” from him already merits a laugh from me. Conversely, the villains are also quite interesting. Elda, who was a villain at first, was very convincing for her role. She really did annoy me, and what annoyed me more is the fact that she barely looks like Karin and yet everyone mistakes her for Karin. Doesn’t anyone notice how her hair is much longer than Karin’s and that it’s light pink? Plus that Victor Sinclair guy kinda pissed me off too. He was unforgiving and heartless, like a true villain would be.

I love the vibrant colors. I really prefer vibrant colors over subdued tones, but even with that said, I still like the water color backgrounds, plus the occasional water colored scenes such as the ones shown during the ending theme sequence. They were delicate, but it was done nicely and it suited to my slight fondness of water color backgrounds. Character design was OK, except maybe for Karin and Kenta. They looked bland and commonplace, especially for Karin. She’s just the usual big headed anime girl with big boobs. There was also the use of CG, which at times made me a bit iffy. They used the CG for the weirdest things, and the last I remember CG was used to depict falling leaves in one of the last episodes.

I wasn’t happy with the huge amounts of fan service and 2-lady bath scenes. There was even a few seconds worth of Naked Karin that was shown during the opening sequence. I guess that’s expected from Yuna Kagezaki, who’s actually known for her “H” works.

The voice acting was also so-so for me. It’s not entirely bad, but something’s off. Props to Karin’s seiyu, Sayuri Yahagi. From what I researched this is actually her debut role. And when I shamelessly say “props”, I meant A for effort. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I got a feeling it can be done better than that. Same thing for Winner’s seiyu, Kouki Miyata. Winner’s a funny guy, but his voice compared to his looks? Doesn’t really go together, does it? I did like Kouki’s work on Kyo Kara Maoh! where he played Ken Murata. The one that impressed me the most is Katsuyuki Konishi. I just finished watching Loveless and when I found out he was also Soubi’s seiyu, I was awestruck since he didn’t sound a thing like Soubi. Maki’s seiyu, Mikako Takahashi, did an OK job. Even though she’s played 2 similar characters, Maki in Karin and Ayu in Honey and Clover, I still would have liked it if she gave more intensity to Maki’s character.

The BGM and sound effects was actually quite outstanding. I like the “tell tale heart” sound effect whenever Karin’s blood would increase. There was a wide variety of BGM for Karin that can go from cheerful and upbeat to thrilling and intense. I actually prefer the more intense BGM compared to the “it’s such a nice day” genre of BGM. The opening theme was OK, but I definitely liked the ending song better since it’s more cutesy and catchy.

I can’t say it’s one of my favorites, but it was a good watch. I might’ve enjoyed it more if I was a guy, since it had a lot of nude scenes and fan service, but I as I’ve said, I like it enough. read more

Karin is my favorite romantic comedy ever. I believe the reason for this is because I like vampire shows so this is a huge plus for me, there is also the fact that it had a real end unlike most romantic comedies. I love the characters in this show especially karin herself she is definitely unique. My biggest disclaimer to people about this show would be if you are looking for a show that is on the serious side this is not for you. so if you like things a little out of the norm then this may be a good fit for you. read more