Kaiba

Kaiba starts at the end.

Let me explain myself.

The story is a basic plot: the protagonist, Kaiba, awakes with no memories of his own past; only a necklace with the blurred photograph of a mysterious girl. Accompanied by a funny pet called Hyo-Hyo, he will start a journey in order to discover his true self and who he was.

But what makes it stand out?

This anime is the union of all its details because every character, every storyline, even the opening shots have a meaning within the plot (no spoilers). The intent of the story is to be rewatchable in order to be able to ... get the full plot of it. Also, it is short, only 12 episodes, so it is an easy watch.

The art reminds me of 60's anime and manga like Astroboy, and the visuals are beautifully done; with every place having its own aesthetic.

So, If you want to watch Kaiba, or even If you watched it and “forgot”, I suggest you give it another try!

Let me start off this review by stating I love Kabia. It is fantastic anime that everyone who loves Masaaki's works should give a chance.


I'll start off by stating what really drew me to this show. I love the animation, art style, and soundtrack. I think the art style is really unique and really the selling point of this show. Episodes 1-7 are perfect and one of the best experiences I have had watching anime. Masaaki uses these episodes to flesh out the world and concept of Kaiba to a great extent. He takes advantage of Kaiba's 'gimmick' of memory transfer to tell great short ... stories that really build up to a great climax at ep. 7.

However, episodes 8-12 really bring out Kaiba's shortcomings as a story. Characters are not strong enough to carry the show and the plot is weak and convoluted. Masaaki tries to stuff as much plot as possible in these last 5 episodes and does not capitalize on what made this show special for me. I wish the plot was more streamlined and expanded on the great 7 episode run. It should have fully fleshed out the world and concept of Kaiba.

Kaiba is worth your time for the art style and the magical 7 episode run. However, the characters are not too strong, and the plot becomes too busy at the end.

Worth your time. Strong 7 to light 8.

One of the most unique and touching anime made during the late 2000's!

Kaiba is a very adult series, despite it's childish look. It talks about the importance of Memories in a very thoughtful way. It explores it's themes very well and leaves a lot to think about after most of it's chapters.

The unique art style and setting is very interesting to watch. Every episode shows something different, both in world and theme exploration. It is a very powerful and emotional series, but it's never too over dramatic, since it talks about Life, death, memories and more, presented in a world very dystopian.
The way this ... show talks about all of those themes is outstanding and very touching.

It has amazing animation and it's super distinguishable from anything else. The contrast between the cute looking style and how crude and brutal the series is makes everything stand out more and becomes more effective.
Characters are well thought, and have very interesting stories to tell and explore. Each of them is very insteresting to watch, but it's not the most deep thing ever, at least in terms of characters.
The worst aspect of it has to be it's rushed ending. It goes very well for the first 2 acts of the series, but at the end you feel like it probable needed like 2 or 3 chapters more. This tho, doesn't ruin anything the series built up to and does not ruin the show as a whole. It just got a little rushed in the end.

In general, this series is more about theme exploration and a very existential show, all very well presented and executed. Totally recommended, since it's a super memorable, super unique and very artistic and thoughtful series to watch. It is by far on of the best anime ever made in the last decade.

Story

Kaiba is a story about an abstract world where an individual's existence is defined by their memory. The anime applies the theme of existence, self interest and happiness within such a context and does so in an way that is likely to elicit emotions from the viewers who abide by the common virtues. We are heralded into kaiba without much of a background of the world. There seems to be events occuring but because they are not explained we do not initially understand their significance, but as the story progress we begin to learn more of the world and the characters within it. The protagonist ... is introduced to the world in the same manner that we are, without any knowledge of it whatsoever because it seems that his memory disappear. He is similar to us in that sense, but I also felt that I shared his morality. As he ventures through what I suppose is the creator of the anime's perception of a dystopia within such a context, I find myself, similar to him, pained by the lack of virtue of other characters. What I see is the byproduct of greed and the desire for power that led to the demise of other individuals.

Structure

The structure of kaiba is episodic, each episode is independent of one another, but there does exist instances where overarching characters appear within multiple episodes and these instances should be noted upon because they will likely be alluded upon in later episodes thus giving them significance.

Characters

I found that the manner in which kaiba developed their characters to be quite nice. We are initially not given much about their characters, but as we progress we learn more and more about them. This is core for mostly any time of story telling but I found the manner in which kaiba dragged the character development to the point of which it pulls the greatest significance to be a really appealing factor.

Art/Sound

I was quite fond of the art style. Though it striked me as initially very childish based on the similarities with western style animation, the adult themes which the anime employed helped to sway me to believe otherwise. The creator of kaiba also does a good job is using imagery and symbolism to showcase such an abstract world and it was easy to discern these representations. The music also quite complements the anime by setting an appropriate tone for the viewer to understand the significance of what was occurring.

Overall

Overall, I was quite fond of Kaiba, but I have to give it criticism for lack of depth for such an abstract world. The core focus of the anime seemed to target at morality and explored many different virtures within each episode, but it did not substantially explore the abstract concepts of the world. So while it did elicit a great deal of emotions within me, I have to admit that there is not a great deal of philosophical meaning within kaiba. I am not saying that their is none, but it is merely glanced upon.

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For those that may have trouble interpreting kaiba, I can showcase the manner in which the creator shows implicit meaning. This section of the review will contain spoilers for episode 3 so be warned. Though it is a spoiler, I believe it will give a good basis of understanding the way in which the anime showcase it's meaning implicitly.

In episode 3, the protagonist encounters a girl that had decided to sell her body for the sake of her family. We have already been given the fact that memories and bodies can be sold for money within the initial part of episode 2 and other episodes there after till the last. The significant aspect comes when we are shown how much her guardian lamented her existence. Initially, we do not know the reason, but later as the protagonist encounters the guardian we begin to learn. When the protagonist ventures into the memory of the guardian it seemed as if the guardian was quite fond of the girl. It should be noted that in this instance, we are shown a library with books and these are symbolic representations of memory as shown by it's implication. It seemed contradictory that the guardian would act in such a way towards the girl because they seemed to of had such a good relationship. The answer to the reason why is shown to us when the guardian starts to play the piano that she had once played with the girl and her memories of the girl return and the guardian's dismay upon realizing what she had done. At this point, I also realized what had occurred though the reason had not been given to me directly but subtly referenced upon. The guardian had sold her happy memories of the girl because of financial reasons. As a result the guardian held contempt over the girl and found means of ridding her for the sake of money. But when the guardian buys back the her own memories, she begins to recall the relationship she had with the girl and the cruel reality of what she had done.

This is the type of beauty that you will see within kaiba. It is very cruel in the way that it tears your heart apart, but in that sense it is also beautiful.

*A one-of-a-kind stylistic powerhouse, visionary yet sometimes (personally) counterproductively labyrinthine*

~~

Some creative works lead as the definition themselves, incomparable in numerous respects and the basis for its class. At the hands of the oft-praised unorthodox mind of Yuasa, overflowing with his distinctive direction has a brimful anime called Kaiba spawned that challenges the limits of the medium. One can say it is a significant hallmark for animation simply for its visionary maneuver of movement, the heart of the storytelling vehicle, and its partnership with volatile plot progressions both in the episodic portions and the primary tale for how the narrative is unfolded by its world and its ... characters. Complete the puzzle pieces together, and it simply is "one-of-a-kind".

Now to be quite honest, as of this section I'm still unsure of what I feel about Kaiba in the realm of "liking" and "not liking (enough)". In engaging myself with writing I'm seeking out the truth in the process. It's fun to find a definitive answer by navigating through a sea of unpolished thoughts by means of writing it all out. But of course, I already have preliminary impressions.

!! SPOILER REVIEW !!

Yuasa and team have created a stylistic powerhouse to be sure, but I personally encountered a degree of difficulty in following the scenes and piecing two and two together due to a feeling of being lost in the marathon.

Kaiba is fundamentally a show which aims to shower the viewer with existential acceptance and ease through emphasizing the importance of memories, that is the continuous past that creates the present which powers the future, acceptance of the many versions of one's self (Kaiba accepting his being Warp--a distinguished copy of it--and the Final Warp at the end), maintaining harmony with the body as a vessel, and making efforts to be vulnerable and honest and faithful to the virtue in interpersonal relationships. Detailing the path towards the nucleus is the presence of societal and moral ills namely discrimination, objectification, the stark divide between different economical classes, power struggles, and even one under the umbrella of child labor, as the sources of conflict and a way to condense a statement which tells of the state of such a large entity as the world heavily affecting one's sense of self as well, elbowing at the political sphere.

Packed with many things to say, no doubt. But its container as a 12-episode-long anime I believe has made it fall victim to the common problem of compressed content with airy depths. This is where the animation further fills the gaps, but in some moments, it becomes the purveyor of confusion.

For instance, this clip (https://imgur.com/AHXOJNy) from episode 8 shows Kichi, the one Popo slandered as a "degenerate memory merchant" way back in episode 1, in his moving chair collecting the body of Kaiba. It was the first time his name was revealed, and his unnanounced entrance, alongside the speed of his exit without clearly showing his overall image, puzzled me as to who that person is and why he seems important to the scene and to Popo and Sate. It didn't help that the previous sequences between Mantle, Evil Warp, and Hal was heated and crowded with action, and it also didn't help that Kichi's screentime was very brief to register his character with utmost clarity amidst the bustling episodes in between. What's more, the events that followed with Sate pointing her gun at the defenseless Evil Warp's head which she noticed from a large distance, yet not shooting her enemy, was quite unreasonable. Popo noticed it too, but none of them reacted over seeing a Warp copy, feeling urgent instead a certain Kichi's involvement. It felt really awkward. There must be a reason for this, and indeed one point was raised a minute or so later when Sate said in an amazed tone how there are multiple Warps existing, but shouldn't seeing one firsthand opt a resistance group to at least immobilize their foe on sight? That portion always bugged me.

Another one was in episode 11 (https://imgur.com/jW6MazA), with Mantle suddenly revived after Evil Warp made him pop in episode 8. It took several revisits of the scene of his supposed death to have an inkling on how he survived.

From what I understood, it had something to do with the violet substance he bit with his teeth, since after liquefying, the pool was of the same color, unlike the rest of the instances of being shot turning the body into yellow (except the Warp line which bleed green). What that substance was, it is quite unsure. I couldn't find any other explanation to defend it from being a major plot discrepancy, since he didn't collaborate with anyone other than Dada (and even then he was betrayed); that whole feud with Evil Warp couldn't have been scripted. Perhaps that Mantle who got popped was an exact copy using Patch's bio-copy technology; still it bleeding purple wouldn't make sense, and no one else other than Patch can avail of the factory I think. Although a sort-of logical answer is found, the many neglected details tarnish it, and the process in achieving it isn't intuitive for such a revelation very late into the game.

Speaking of neglected details, has this "Meiri" object Mantle brought to Evil Warp ever been explained? I might have missed it out.

One last thing in the department of difficult to understand: Kaiba's motives in willingly removing his memory by falling from Heaven through the electrolytic cloud. There are things which should be discussed before reaching that point.

Warp's reputation as king betrays him due to converting memories into chips which can be exploited and putting up memory tanks for its operations. But did that Warp who had been a vile king for many years also include Kaiba? It probably did, since Kichi did say in episode 10 that Kaiba was like that before meeting Neiro and falling in love with her.

So why did he willingly forfeit his memories to be reborn underground?

Possibility 1: He wanted to save the underground world. This claims that he already possessed sympathy despite being Warp. He saw the state of the world and wished to change its condition. Vanilla did remark that Warp wouldn't want a town like Abipa, and the last episode showed the grievances of Kaiba regarding the thick evils of the world. But why did he need to go through the cloud and remove his memories? Wouldn't it be more optimal to use his powers to abolish the system as the omnipotent being that he is? And not in a way that he should threaten--rather, participate in rebuilding the laws and recalibrating the culture towards a more conducive society. Maybe he didn't trust himself due to being a part of the Warp line, and willingly subjected himself to be shaped by the consciousness of his impoverished citizens, so he calculated his descent to crack straight through the old palace which contains the memories of his previous brethren to eventually return there after gaining new insights, go back to Heaven, and fight from there again? Then his reply to Neiro that he is fighting the best he can rings solidly. Still, I'm not sold in the cause of his actions being strong distrust of his own self, when he apparently already has gained empathy by that time. And that same possession of empathy conflicts Kichi's comment regarding his tyranny in the past.

Possibility 2: He was still a vile king who schemed to be an insider threat to destroy Issoudan's resistance. We bring back the idea that he calculated his fall from the cloud to breach the old palace and eventually regain memories. His preliminary plan would be to get rid of Issoudan by learning about it as much as he can, but he didn't take into account that he would be someone else after being fed with new memories. Additionally, upon Kaiba's return to Heaven, the Computer relayed this specific line: "The mission is complete." The "mission" must be Kaiba's invasion of Issoudan headquarters, especially since a Warp figure exclaimed its danger for defying the government. Therefore Kaiba's vileness is as Kichi has stated, but it refutes Vanilla's and Final Warp's thoughts on the matter. I understand, however, that Kichi does not personally know Kaiba, whereas Final Warp does, so his voice should probably place him in a less reliable position as an observer. I'm disinclined to put my belief on this possibility; I've become more forgiving of the former.

Before moving on, who was that Warp which was delivering death sentences to reported criminals and said that Issoudan is dangerous? It couldn't have been Kaiba, since this Warp's chest has no hole. It couldn't have been Evil Warp because he was born only after Neiro was reborn, and this scene came way before that. Was this another Warp before them? A very out-of-place move if it were. So maybe it is Kaiba? I found another moment where Kaiba had no hole where he should've, which might just be an error. (https://imgur.com/dXeSlsP) This wouldn't be the only time this happens, because the finale proved that such things could occur. A blood-filled Neiro, after one short cut, suddenly became clean (https://imgur.com/jW6MazA). In and of itself, such a thing shouldn't be anything more than awkward. But when made as a reference for earlier errors, it only fortifies the credibility of a personal headache-inducing experience. The small details present themselves to be important, such as Hyo-Hyo's disappearance from the capsule and Kichi's clenched fist in episode 1 and Quilt being recurrent, which when thinking about possibly Neiro inhabiting the scientist's body to shut down Patch, and Quilt's design being an important stuffed for her from childhood, adds more tragedy to Neiro's manipulated fate. It makes a few brief scenes of Kaiba not having a hole for some reason become catastrophic and a turn away from its own virtues.

Kaiba is a heavily dense show, with non-stop movement and relevant lore drop until the end. More often than not, every minute part of it serves towards a complete tale. The merits of a packed story were unfortunately heavily obstructed by a tad bit too loose direction which forsakes an intuitive experience and a room to breathe amidst the boisterous and all the same intriguing events, not to mention what seemed to be technical inconsistencies.

What a long errand that section of relieving my stress was. All in the name of propriety; it's usually best to first leave the baggage behind.

Although I couldn't say that finally knowing what I needed to know provided orgasmic satisfaction in being emancipated from bogging questions since it was more of a relief than a revelation which cleanses me from lingering reservations and purifies me to be of apostolic devotion, it would be remiss of me not to appreciate what Kaiba stands for in a more thematic standpoint.

Any theme around the matters of the soul can easily find their way through my sensibilities and repose from the warm reception and service. Kaiba is no exception with its indulging in memories, something very much a prey under my fixated gaze. It's a whirlwind to try to expound upon it due to the compact link it has on everything else, but I'll do my best.

The past is what created us, each present is meant for us to create something for our future: A back-and-forth dance between creator and creation that will inevitably land on the castle of memories. A poetic idea to think about. Since memories from what Kaiba asserts are practically what composes our soul and what gives substance to our existence, dabbling on the concept already touches on our overall humanity in every movement of the pen.

Yuasa in candid and creative fashion criticizes the raw objectification of the flesh which has spawned like a swarm due to the memory chip innovation that can extract memories from the body, leaving it to be a mere toy for the people in power's pleasure, such as Chroniko's buyer and many other pedophiles. Another good example of misusing technological advancements is the town of Abipa becoming a "Land of Paradise" in a manner that defiles itself, where they cast off their original essences to become nothing but delectable snacks for one another through Patch's bio-copy technology. It mirrors the recent trends of AI as a tool for generating pornographic material which can even tarnish the bodies of real-life human beings. One interesting character which practices the same criticized behavior is Vanilla, who throughout the episodes was set up to achieve a sort of redemption by sacrificing himself to save Kaiba (in Chroniko's body), fully knowing his feelings, whether sexually motivated or romantically nurtured, were unrequited. His journey was interesting for being a vessel to present the distinction (or maybe harmony) between sex and romance, especially when taking into consideration the characteristics of his masculinity; I made a separate brief writeup for it. It was simply interesting how he becomes a more sympathized figure with glorified sequences by the conclusion of his screentime.

The commodification of memory is the commodification of the body. In treating either and each as mere resource that can be exploited, both victim and perpetrator become more deviated from humanity.

What becomes of the King of Memories then? This is the perfect segue to talk about Kaiba.

Protagonists are written to be the embodiment of a story's main theme. That is a given. I gotta say, it still doesn't hinder awe and appreciation of Kaiba's concept as a copy of the Warp line of memory kings.

Despite being a copy, Kaiba eventually achieves a more comfortable sense of individuality--he becomes his own person. What he does with his endless ocean of memories separates him from every other Warp that came before him as well as the last two after him. Although he didn't live the life of the First Warp who was poisoned by his mother, he was still as affected, amplifying the impact of external influences. By the help of Neiro shedding light to the truth of his past, Kaiba and the world were saved from complete eradication.

In having the mother become Warp's greatest grievance, he becomes a figure that symbolizes a dissonance from the natural state of being. We are brought into this world by our mothers, and Warp's creator handing out an attempt of mercy killing started the madness.

I believe the existence of memory tanks, the memory chip, the authentic Warp copying technology, and the dynasty was for civilization not to suffer what the first Warp had via inheritance issues. Normalizing absurdity also lessens discrimination to the outliers like Warp. There will be no siblings fighting each other, no mothers and fathers killing their children over the continuation of rule, if Warp rules by himself throughout the generation.

Things went out of control with society's misuse of the invention, with the electrolytic cloud allowing Warp to escape from the bad memories of the Old Palace (which caused a ripple effect dividing the rich and the poor), with Evil Warp cursing his fellow Warp as if mirroring his progenitors' act, with the Final Warp advocating unequivocal escape to the land of death, and this makes Warp's and by extension Kaiba's tragedy a colossal one. That every Warp stays infantile (with their age appearance sometimes an indication of their mental state, mostly for the Final Warp) speaks loudly of how they couldn't move on from the past and have stunted their growth because of it. Not to mention Kaiba's hole in the chest, an overt sign of his despair.

Funny enough, the word Kaiba is more famous for being the legendary plant who swallows memories to grow. Neiro gave it to the protagonist for a reason contrary to that entity, being like a reborn baby (due to the amnesia) who has sharp memory that can instead swallow Neiro's pain and has the neverending possibility to grow.

On that note, let's talk about parallels. Kaiba and Neiro's first meeting resembles so much like a mother and her child. The resemblance becomes uncanny by Kaiba's behavior of someone who just got birthed, being rather wordless at the start, rather curious, uninhibited, and even imitating some of Neiro's mannerisms. Episode 10 henceforth changed my view of their relationship to something attaching...Freudian suggestions. The parallels continue with Neiro twice preventing Kaiba from being poisoned via drink, both times with her as the instrument to deliver the toxic potion, whereas the First Warp's mother let her son drink it by herself. Uncanny positioning and framing at episode 12 fortifies the comparison, which is appropriate because now a mother-like figure has given this child a more optimistic view of life as a whole, now being able to reconcile with his memories due to the truth discovered by Neiro. And for Neiro, who is parentless, now is in the position of a nurturer (I apologize for the mother-child relating for anyone who has reached this portion of the reflection and sees them as partners, can't help it, I see their relationship in a less romantic way). (https://imgur.com/UOZiTak)

Kaiba has come a long way from his many past lives, and from changing bodies in order to survive. The episodic content were highly entertaining segments to build the interesting fantasia world, but each also hold contributions to the overarching plot. The stuffed toy era signifies Kaiba after the removal of his memories, unable to talk, with Hyo-Hyo in the same avenue of lackluster communication. Chroniko and Negi's relationship is a reflection of First Warp and his mother's, but the daughter, with memories sold, remained fond of her mother despite the sacrifices she herself needed to make for her brothers; Negi's lamentations symbolize Hal's regrets over trying to end the misery of her son, left with nothing but deep-seated emptiness and a gaping reminder that the past had been paradise. Patch's doctor inhabiting a non-human creation in the form of Quilt is much like Hal with the body of a chicken; Patch is a leader of the ingenious bio-copy technology much like Warp invented the memory manipulation idea. The tower episode further demonstrates appreciation of one another, and the preservation of treasured memories. Although the rather standalone episodes offered the better experience to me personally, realizing their significance to the main plot starting at episode 8 remedies many of my gripes.

After a tumultuous series of occurrences (I never even touched Popo specifically, but well he already blends with parts of the reflection as a manipulated individual who was made to mistake becoming great from simply being a healthy person due to her mother's words being edited by Dada, the latter turning into a robot scrapped by her son, and ending with the on-the-spot acceptance of complete universal destruction with only his and Cheki's memories stored), we are left with an empty slate: strangers without recollection of who they are reaching out to grasp another person's hand as if by instinct so as to concentrate the importance of harmony from the very start of birth, the electrolytic cloud diffused, the legendary plant Kaiba warded off, and Neiro and Kaiba finally able to live together.

It begs the question: What will happen next? Will Kaiba and Neiro become eternal beings by preserving their existence through constantly transferring their memories into different bodies? Or will they accept the equal sentence of the Reaper with open arms? I believe they will, knowing the repercussions of memory transfer in history. And now that they have both accepted what they have done wrong, perhaps they will together herald a new beginning of society, which now safeguards dignity and free will, and pass on their legacy to suitable souls.

I really don't want to rate this series, but posting things here necessitates it. Still, no matter what quantified value sticks out like a thumb amidst this wall of text, I cherish this one-of-a-kind experience watching Kaiba through the episodes and thoroughly eliciting my realizations upon finishing the show, and no number can win over this fruitful journey.

Kaiba is like a good story which was important for you in the past and, when you remember it, it feels like a great painting.

This anime is considered a cult classic and i realised why: From the great direction of Yuasa and the unique artstyle to the interesting world building and reflections. It couldn't be different.

When talking about the plot, i like to divide Kaiba in 2 parts. The first is more episodic styled and the last one is more focused in the main characters. I really love the first part and i think if it was just that, it would be a masterpiece. The ... world-building is so well done. You discover how everything works with the main character that can't remember nothing. Everything feels so unique and every episode is a different place and different characters to be introduced. The second part is good, but i think it is worse. Usually i prefere not episodic animes, but in this one the non episodic part was not well executed. Sometimes it feels too confusing and the plot doesn't end so well.

For the artistic part, there is no mistakes. The soundtrack and the artstyle are perfect. Both combine with the world and with the confusing and sometimes sad atmosphere of the anime. The characters in general are not bad, but the ones that appeared in the first part were better for me. I think the ones of the second part didn't have a chance to be developed in a good way.

Overall, it's a fantastic anime. Truly a classic and worth even if you don't like the genres so much.

You know what - the art style isn't for me, the story is kind of complicated and confusing to follow, some of the characters make you go o.O but goddamn... still can't deny this was a good show. It kind of gives off Giving Tree vibes, with a heartbreakingly tragic adult story cleverly clothed in child-like media. It's strange but even the most graphic scenes like the sex and violence still look colorful and funky and fun. It gives off kind of early 2000s Cartoon Network vibes with a really adult story-line. Really recommend, it's only 12 episodes so it's quick but really deep.

i try my best to review it but i'm still a beginner at reviewing animes.

i gave this anime a 7 with the following criteria.

Story (7/10)
A boy without memories travels through the universe, searching for his
past and the person whose photo lies within a locket around his neck.
the story get's executed pretty well.

Concept (6/10)
... I liked the idea of the anime with the memories begin transferable
and altered/deleted and the idea of swapping bodies by swapping memories.

Characters (6/10)
This anime has very unique characters each one with, it's own story / memories.

Music (9/10)
enjoyable music it is a bit similar to the mushishi osts in my opinion.

Style (3/10)
i didn't like the drawing style at all, i like more the typical
mainstream drawing style but that wouldn't suit this type of anime.
but the style is unique +3 points.It has also a lot of action
car chase/runaway style.

Enjoyment (6/10)
The first few episode i were curious how everything develops and
what kind of tech they have but as the series going on it turned me a bit down.

it's definitely well made but can be kinda hard to watch if you dislike
the style(graphics).

Kaiba is by far one of the most unusual yet incredible anime series that I've ever seen and I'd truly consider it to be one of my top recommendations to anyone who wants to watch something truly unusual and incredible. It's by far one of the most fascinating dystopian/science fiction stories I've ever seen.

The story has you constantly wondering what will happen next as it constantly surprises you with what comes along the way. It paves way to show an incredible journey of which all the characters take on as each episode continues.

It has a very unique and unusual art style that proceeds ... to continue to make itself stand out as the series continues from beginning to conclusion. The soundtrack is excellent and always fits the scenes in which the music plays. I'd give it a 9/10

The character design is excellent, each character tends to be well designed and unique. So many eccentric types of personalities are explored. Any backstory that was explored tends to be a vast journey of its own. It makes it ever so obvious that this is an absolute masterpiece. 10/10

My enjoyment of this series is quite obvious as this review makes clear. 10/10

Kaiba has to be one of my top favourite anime's of all time; Every single category of animation, sound, characters and story are well crafted and really creates a setting. The whole premise of the show is very unique and the whole story fells like a massive piece of art (not in a bad subjective way).
The simplistic artstyle combined with the atmospheric colours and animation really set the tone of it's surroundings not to mention how well setup the story is and along with it's premise.
If you're going to end up watching this be prepared for some underlying melancholy and confusion throughout it, but damn ... is it good.
I highly recommend it for people who want to watch a long story with a conclusion a long with a whole lot of artistic integrity in it.

Yup, this is another Madhouse production with the surreal imagery and animation used again like in the previous entry, Kemonozume, and it is also from the same director Masaaki Yuuki, which debuted on the WOWOW network in the spring of 2008 in Japan. Despite the Dr. Seuss-lite appearance of the show, the show is a science-fiction romance story which in the series, it’s now possible to store memory data into a body so the death of somebody wouldn’t really be a “death”, they are just transferred to new bodies but because of that discovery, or “memory trading”, it is now become very illegal to steal ... memories and trade them for others. The society in that world is being degenerated; authority is losing its grip towards the state of having the rich and powerful beings to barter others’ bodies and memories for their own enjoyment and longevity while those who have various money problems have to struggle finding a good body for themselves or a loved one. The main plot consists of a boy named Kaiba, who woke up in a smashed room and has no memories of his own and he find a pendant with a picture of an unknown woman named Niero inside of it. Then after being attacked, he escapes into space and meet all sorts of people and starting to regain most of his memories and still be of worry of the problems of the world, especially of why does he exist?




One of the important features in the series is the ability to store memories inside of a body and like in the real world, where we use flash drives, memory sticks, and external hard drives, memory chips are exactly like that but with minor differences. It is a great convenience and advantage but prolonging their ego can make them vulnerable to an extent putting them at the attacker’s mercy if it’s removed. Also there is the use of memory tanks, as in when a person dies or is killed, their memories are released as small yellow-orange beans floating away, creating rivers of dead people’s memories out in space.



As for the characters in the show, they often jump into every different character throughout the whole run of the series and there is a lot of deeper characterization within them, mostly from the title character and Niero. Popo, the public voice for Issoudan, the anti-memory chip organization, is a decent and perfectly flawed character but as for Vanilla, the sadistic sheriff who also has a weakness for extremely kawaii girls (which Chroniko, a girl who sells her body so the money can support her family, comes in) wasn’t actually needed for the show. I feel like he is just there for…..something but he felt useless to me.



Now for the animation and its surreal imagery and strange surroundings, this is miles ahead and completely surpasses Kemonozume in that department. Yes, some of the characters do look like little children but this is another world we are enchanted in and it felt more finished and not at all rushed before production was finished. The soundtrack for this has an more ambient feel in the background music and it enhances them well together and the opening and ending songs “Never” & “Carry Me Away”, both sung by Seira Kagami, are very welcoming and comforting to listen to and what’s weird about it is that the songs are in English but yes, there is no English dub of this.




FINAL VERDICT: This is one anime that had some good things about it going for it and originally I thought it wasn’t going to be excellent. It’s a great anime that’s also good for the mind in your anime diet and also requires all of your attention whenever but at some times, you’ll tend to drift off a few times if you are a casual/rising anime fan like myself but give it a try if you can handle reading subtitles.

Watchout ! Review made by French guy ! I will try to be objective.... Yeah, wish me good luck.

Here's some existential dilemma. It's easy to create a more or less good constructed review about a bad anime. I made some review about what I tought was more that ordinary or a waste, but never about an anime I love. Why ? Because it's hard. It's hard because you can't just review something you love, you have to analyse it, savor it, and here isn't the place. Make a review about something that is good for ourself is too difficult, because saying it's good or a ... masterpiece is just like saying something you can always say. So, that was my existentiel trouble, thanks for reading !

No seriously... Kaiba. Well, oh damn good lord, here we go. This is a f**king brillant piece of art. Maybe a little less than Tatami Galaxy from the same director, but sure is that Kaiba is a troubling and brillant sci-fi work. It's so fresh that the air seem beautiful, everywhere, after you have seen this. But after a while, everything seem the cripple itself, because, the joy of Kaiba disapear when you know that other original masterpiece like this are more than rare. Well, let's really begin shall we ?

Art :

Childish, clear, colorful, accurate, original and it's liked a monk that you can't judge by his clothes. Kaiba is a cyberpunk sci-fi anime, and it doesn't look like it. It don't have the typycal design of cyborg limb, the character look strange and everything have strange proportion. It's not scribbled-like as Tatami Galaxy or Kemonozume/Mind Game, it's more easy to watch, but more disturbing. Some will like, other will not. It's a question of what kind of artistic feel people are searching. Useless to say that I love it. Everything in the world of Kaiba have a fresh design that is always good to see like some new discovery you make when you are a child. It's a risk-taking artstyle and it's perfect for what it's trying to be.

Sound :

Here is another distorbing thing. The music and sound-design of Kaiba don't follow what you will habitually see in a sci-fi cyberpunk anime. It seems more light-hearted. Just watch the opening and you will understand. With the childish art-design, the soundtrack complete what Kaiba is even before the story/character. And that's because it automatically create a distinguished universe. Just by listening the soundtrack, it's possible to imagine what the art-design could be, and that's something important. A masterpiece can't be a masterpiece just by beeing good. Weel, yeah... it can. But, it's not the same thing.....oh well.
Here is a little flaw though. There isn't many prominent piece of music in Kaiba. Every each and one of them have something special. But, they aren't perfectly presented everytime. Well yeah, it is in reallity....But, let's say that the soundtrack lost itself without the anime....here's why my 9 out of a 10.... Yeah, it's just to say that it can't be THAT perfect. What is a masterpiece without fault ? Hmmmm.

Character :

It could have been 10, but at the end, Kaiba make a horrible mistake, but it's due to the 13 format episode anime...maybe.
Every character in Kaiba has a personnality. Not just every important... noooo, every single one ! At the first episode, it's the best time to see this when Kaiba (lead character) see some people trying to find the memory of a member of their family. Every member is presented in a fast laps of time and it's more than enough to understand the entire universe of the anime. The first half of the anime, before the real story begin, is like this, and it's the better part. Subtle cliché and a good use of theme, original personnality, intense emotion, there is everything to make a perfect cast !
Here is the problem, the second half of Kaiba, where the story begin... It's not that the quality drop. It's just that the story is less interesting that the first half world building episodes. So, the character seem less "fresh". Their evolution is more predictable and déjà-vu. It's all good thing. But it's just "good, very good" thing. The developpment seems rushed out and the evolution of the psychology was more to show a moral for the character, more than a real evolution, and it's a little frustrating. That's why a 8. Easy, put 10 for the first part, and 8 for the second. But the change is so intense, that it's an important fault.

Story :

And so, the story. Same thing than the character : first half perfect, more than excellent second part, but feel rushed, what is a little disturbing, in the bad sens of the way, mainly for the three last episodes. The anime seem sto remind itself, in the middle, that it had a story to tell. Some revelation are just beautiful and a piece of art, but other are déjà-vu and typical none-predictable thing. But here's the thing : Kaiba had a story to tell, yes, but before this, it had a universe and philosophical theme to develop. And THAT, is what really put Kaiba as a masterpiece with the art and soudtrack. There is some deep metaphore that will take many time to develop in our head. The anime don't want to just tell a story. It want to show something, and then, want that everybody try to develop these thing for themselves. It's a way of creating a story, more than a fault. Still, the last episodes are rushed and the final scene really need some thinking, because the story itself is not suffcient to explain it.
Oh yeah, there is some intense and oneiric emotions too !

Enjoyement :

Oh. 10 ? Yeah, 10. Kaiba is an anime to feel and to think about. It's not just about a story, but it's about ideas and this is what this work so marveluous. I can't say that Kaiba don't have flaw. But I can't really say that these flaws are bad. A think that a real "perfect" masterpiece would be more mainstream thant original. In the way that, flaw are a necessity to lead to thought. Without flaw, the mistery behind a piece of art is less. So, how can we say that something is a masterpiece or not ? Well, it some debateable philosophy. But, things seem always more oustanding when frustrating. Kaiba achieve to creat an interesting balance between these two extreme. I suppose it's about what the creators wanted to create, the epoch when this is created, and about the perception the we, ourselves, have. I don't think saying that Kaiba is a masterpiece is really subjective. But I do think that saying it's perfect and the best thing in the world is subjective. I don't think seeing Kaiba as something that have to be perfect is a good idea. Kaiba meant to be savour like something with nuance that just want to show that it exist.

A subjective overall indeed, but a 10 out of 10. But, I give a 8 out of a 10 for trying being more objective, but it's according to want you want to find in it. Can't deny that Kaiba is an outstanding work. But, this note is different form an 8 for other anime. It's an 8 about that Kaiba didn't achieve perfectly what it was trying to do. It's not an 8 that can be compared to ohter anime though.

Thank for reading, I hope my english was comprenhensible ! show less

Story: 6
Art: 8
Sound: 7
Characters: 6
Enjoyment: 7
Overall: 7


I really wanted to enjoy this series that Masaaki Yuasa created as he is my favorite anime director of all time. I definitely can see that he put a lot of effort in this anime, resulting in a spectacular show which deviates from mainstream anime conventions. While this is one reason why many liked the show, in my opinion, it is also the main reason why the show is just average.

The visuals are impressive as it deviates from the established anime look and is trying something new, resulting in a fresh aesthetic that screams Masaaki Yuasa. The sound ... is also very good as it is complementing the visuals and sucks you in a state of mind that results in melancholy and reflexion. These are the strong suits that regardless of my criticism, should absolutely be appreciated.

What didn't I like? Everything else. The story is one which at first seems interesting. It follows a boy with amnesia who is traveling through the universe. It is simple but is also effective in showcasing the world and introducing themes such humanity and morality. Things start good but finish awfully. By the second part, the show has just started to feel rushed and incomprehensive. The passing is just bad as at the beginning is slow and at the end, you don't even understand what is going on the show. There are elements that are badly explained at best and to this day, I still don't understand what was the point of that....

The characters are badly written, I don't understand their motivation and what they are trying to achieve. Warp/Kaiba is still a conundrum to me as I still don't know why he lost his memory or what he wanted to do. The only character that I ended up enjoying is the sheriff, who is the only non-one-dimensional character.

Overall, I think this was done asa way to experiment with the animation style and not so much as to tell a story. It is format over content and this is what ruined it for me.

Kaiba is a wierd anime. It's an experimental cyberpunk adventure and romance story. Kaiba is an original anime written and directed by one of anime's greatest directors-Masaki Yuaasa. Yuaasa's anime Kemonozume proved that, although an excellent director, he is not a very skilled writer, thus you would expect form Kaiba not to have a compelling storyline. However, that's not the case. Kaiba, although boring at times, is a compelling, but not great. Kaiba is the definition of GOOD. Why is that so, let's find out!

The plot of Kaiba has two main parts, the episodic first half and the second half which focuses on the protagonist ... and romance. Even though I enjoyed the second part better, I'm going to have to say that the first part of Kaiba's plot is the better one because it shows us just how dark the dystopian world of Kaiba really is. Don't let the cartoony artwork fool you, Kaiba demonstrates perfectly how flawed its world is. In Kaiba, people are able to put their memories and consciousness into a chip and transfer it into a new body. The rich people are always able to get new bodies and practically live forever, while the poor people are left to die. Sometimes even poor people have to sell their children's bodies and put their memories inside a computer so they could afford their life expenses. The world of Kaiba is not a happy one. In the second half our main character discovers its past since at the begging of the show he doesn't have his memories. Yes, amnesia is very generic, but in Kaiba's case it is well executed. The second part of Kaiba is more about the romance and that is where issues start to arise-the characters of Kaiba aren't that great. We do get to see their past and backdrop, but their personality is flat. They don't develop. They have no ideologies. Just cardboard cutouts. Which is a shame because Kaiba would have benefitet from better characters as they would enhance the romance aspect of the series.

Kaiba is wierd and experimental and the world of Kaiba is no exception. The creators really tried to create a world different form our own in many aspects such as: character designs, everyday life, even toilets work on a completley different way. The artwork is phenomenal. The animation is fluid and the world is colorful and bizzare to the point of wondering "What did I just watch?". The animation style is a tribute to Osamu Tezuka's works, that is why Kaiba looks so cartoony. Animation and artwork are Kaiba's strong suit which is no suprise considering it's made by Yuaasa.

Sound effects are also pretty wierd which enhances the strange atmosphere of Kaiba. The OST, however, is not very good. It's way too repetitive. One music theme all over again, it gets boring very quickly.

While I can't say I truly enjoyed the series I definitley respect it because of its presentation of an alien dystopian world in the first half of the show. Kaiba is not enjoyable unless you're into art cinema, but objectivley, it's good, that is why I rate Kaiba a 7/10.

Reccomendations: Tatami Galaxy(same director), Texhnolyze(another arthouse anime done right), Kino's journies(more philosophical, the premise is similar)

Kaiba expresses childhood loneliness, the guilt we feel towards our parents when we feel like we don't deserve their care, and has an amazing story attached to it. I feel like people only think it's overrated because they're not dissecting the psychology behind some of the events that take place, and I really wish they would overthink about this show just as much as I did. The style of the anime is also amazing, I really love artistic styles. I sobbed so hard after I finished it that I think i popped a blood vessel in my face.

Why do you want a longer review, ... myanimelist? I'm not trying to sell this anime, it's an experience like no other, you should not have to read someone elses' opinion on it to watch it.

What happens when you fuse the zany visuals of Dr. Seuss with the oppressive tone of Orwell’s 1984? You get Kaiba; a beautiful dystopia on the verge of nihilism.

Sound - Good stuff. Lots of retro noises which compliments the art style. Background music is a good blend of wonder and haunting. Especially Chroniko’s theme / the Tree Song.

Art - Kaiba’s strong point. The art style is unique and nice to look at. Resembles something like the Cat in the Hat or classic animation from the 1960’s. This makes it all the more jarring when a plant sucks out an old lady’s brain or ... a person literally explodes from too much pleasure. The simple lines and relative lack of detailing allow for fluid animations and funky shifts in perspective.

Characters - For a 12 episode series Kaiba does an impressive job managing as large a cast as it does and having them all feel significant. In the first half most characters come and go within the span of an episode. And more often than not these characters do not go out on a happy note. Kaiba is merciless when it comes to making its characters suffer. From an old Grandma living alone with two ungrateful grandchildren to a man traveling the stars with his wife who cheated on him; the problems Kaiba’s characters face are profound. Yet this makes it all the more satisfying when a character actually finds happiness.

Story - Kaiba’s world is a dystopia where memories and bodies have become commodified. Technology where an individual can store their memories on a computer chip has become ubiquitous. This allows for the sick and elderly to transfer their memories into new healthier bodies. Alternatively it allows for the poor to auction off their memories of music and literature or literally sell their bodies to the rich. The world is ruled by a monarch but he exercises little real power. The true horrors of Kaiba are caused by the free market. I thought this was a fun change of pace from the standard fascism-based dystopia.

Conclusion - Watching Kaiba is like a trip through the world’s most badass art museum.

8/10

Plot: A young man wakes up in a destroyed room and an attempt is promptly made on his life. he goes on an adventure.

What really makes Kaiba stand out is the mechanics of the universe it takes place in. the conscious mind can be placed into a chip and modified through various means and even transferred to other bodies. With the proper device, memories can be viewed externally and the mind can even be entered. It's never used as something for laughs, is cemented within the world as something everyone knows.

Animation: I love the animation style in Kaiba and Masaaki Yuasa's other anime. It's ... so...unrigid and not uniform. Everything feels liquid and soft and round. I love how unique it is

Characters: You really have to talk about characters in terms of their personalities, since of the main characters, no one stays in their original body for longer often. Warp (the man character) has to abandon his body for the majority of the first half of the series. The important thing to think about is characterization though. minor characters in each episode have huge importance. Aside from crowds, everyone has a reason to be there. Every character on screen fulfils an important role. And everyone is fleshed out and is their own full character. Characters willingly let themselves die to be reunited with their loved ones, people have ulterior motives and partners unaware of them. Good characters make for good storytelling and Kaiba's cast is remarkably fleshed out

personally i have to give Kaiba a "perfect score" for a few reasons. It's one of the most visually stunning and unique anime I've seen, the story is different from the norm but still fantastic and cute and heart-breaking. Of course you could point out flaws and personal dislikes, but I really loved it and while it can get kind of draggy near the end, the pace of the show was never so fast that it felt disorienting. I seriously love it and I think it'll follow me for a very long time.

Spoiler-free.

I’m going to discuss Kaiba in terms of the three modes of persuasion: ethos (persuasion through presentation), logos (logical persuasion), and pathos (emotional persuasion). I do this, because the fact that Kaiba is very uninteresting to me is ironically very interesting to me.

Regarding ethos:
I felt secondhand embarrassment watching Kaiba, because I’ve made art like Kaiba before: Art that is so serious and earnest yet so unimportant. Kaiba is an entirely serious show, but I could not take it seriously. The biggest problem, in my opinion, drives the anime so much further down than any of its “minor” shortcomings and cliches (information being withheld, inexhaustible flashbacks, ... spoon-feeding the plot to the audience, guns that fail to work only against important characters, songs that try hard to evoke melodrama, characters with simple motivations in service of the plot [this is not a character-driven story, which makes it a little less interesting imo]). The biggest problem is so much worse than any of those mediocre story-telling devices. It is the unshakable nature of the anime being completely serious, unironic, and unapologetic in its attempt to wow and move the audience using very insubstantial drama and minimally explored themes (of memory chips, replaceable bodies, human nature, capitalism, and globalization). Most of the characters being one-dimensional (had a few traits each) and acting like children (suitable and reminiscent of kids shows) did not help matters.

Regarding logos:
The “sci-fi” (science-fiction) tag is truly the most enigmatic scrawl I’ve had the prerogative to investigate. I used to think that only the highest of stories deemed scientifically plausible would be conferred this emblem of intellectual creativity; I was quickly proven wrong as I noticed that some sci-fi are almost completely implausible, or at least, grossly speculative and without a single line of justification. I decided then that there must be a spectrum, a scale, as with most things, on which some sci-fi are more science and some more fiction. Today, I disagree with both of those past stances. I now think that all sci-fi contain some speculative elements and some realistic elements, and, in effect, concede that every sci-fi is indeed unrealistic, which is why they are called “sci-fi” and not “hyper-realistic stories containing only currently available technologies.” To put it simply, all sci-fi contain unexplainable phenomena that may or may not come to exist in the future.

However, some sci-fi really stretch the boundaries of its genre. I’ve noticed that anime in particular often does this, where borderline fantasy is often either tagged as or mistaken for potential future technology/circumstances. Kaiba is one of those anime. How? As Charlie would say: You do the math.

I’m kidding. I’ll do the math. In Kaiba, rich people buy poor people’s bodies. That will not happen in our world. And I don’t mean human trafficking or smuggling organs. I mean rich people transplanting their memories into poor people; this will not happen. For countless logical, medical, ethical and legal reasons, rich people will instead artificially design or request the most efficient bodies from tightly controlled labs with scientists and AI smarter than we can imagine. Kaiba, in that sense, is completely irrelevant to reality if it seriously means to be sci-fi. Besides some symbolic value or being a mental exercise in futility, Kaiba is valueless in terms of being a sci-fi, void of any logical merits.

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ve gathered absolutely nothing new or complex from this anime that I haven’t thought or known about already, despite my dire efforts to derive from the anime any food for thought.

Regarding pathos:
I’m the kind of person who becomes teary-eyed watching anything the slightest bit sad, and yet, I only teared up during this anime from the stress induced by the fact that the anime said near nothing despite being so stressfully fast-paced. It rather reminded me of The Tatami Galaxy.

About Chroniko’s story: I was sad and really almost cried. But I was also mighty bored. I am sorry (to the animators who tried hard), but each of the sob stories were so standard and cliched that my mind gnawed at itself in boredom. I understand that Chroniko’s story is a real world problem, however. I think that it is an IMPORTANT theme, but it wasn't any radical or deep one, just like every other theme in the show.

Ultimately, I award Kaiba with its extra score (2 instead of 1) for having allowed this self-analysis. I’ve wondered before why some stories don’t engage me. It was especially puzzling this time because I love sci-fi. I understand a bit better now.