Karakuri Circus Episode 36 Discussion

_MushiRock11_ said:
Pretty ‘meh’ finale to me, to be frankly honest.
I don’t know why but I just feel as though the writer was out of ideas for a fitting finale and so decided to go ‘all happy’ in the hopes of satisfying us (assuming that the manga ends this way too).

And to the very bitter end, I just couldn’t get myself to feel for Yin. Even his “I’m wrong, elder brother” didn’t really resound with me, especially considering everything that he’s done. All those ‘good’ acts of this episode, such as helping Masaru on both the occasions just felt so cheap and unrealistic. Also, he is the ‘father’ of Masaru so I don’t get why he would think of himself as an ‘elder brother’. Basically, just so out of place, that whole remorseful scene of Yin. Also, why on Earth can Eleonore’s singing save the world from the ZONAPHA Syndrome? It can, what, change those bug’s modes, are you serious? I get she has the large chunk elixir within her but why exactly singing? Does she need her soothing voice to be heard or something? If so, how’d you connect that around the entire world simultaneously?
Anyway, I was very relieved to see the kids in that institute (in the US) back to life though and those final few minutes after the timeskip were really nice! Narumi’s arm is back even, this was far too happy for an ending of a show of this calibre lol. Eleonore and Narumi seem more lovey-dovey now and that’s wonderful to see! Meanwhile, Masaru is playing the role for those kids that Narumi played for his, really liked the striking similarities between this and the very start of this show. Fine idea to end things off like that, the ride really felt like a circus to me too: Bloody enjoyable to start off with (Episodes 1-8) but boring somewhere along the line from then on (Episode 12 or so onwards); a few cool tricks every now and then (Backstory bit, to be precise) and by the end of it all you just have to clap even if the finale wasn’t to your liking for the effort and whatnot.

As I’ve hinted above, the show started off strong (actually strong would be an understatement, this was actually in my top 3 Fall 2018 shows) but gradually lost its way and never really seemed to make it out of that pit. I’m sure most people will relate to me when I say that this show was simply just far too rushed! It’s sad that such an intriguing show had to receive such a cruel fate but I’m glad that this show got to see daylight nevertheless. As a form of graciousness, I’ll be a little lenient with the over all score (which I’ll mention down soon).

Story-wise (4/10), this show was a complete train-wreck sadly. Rushed as well as incoherent, to say the least. For one thing, though, the manner in which it unraveled the past dark mysteries as well as some of the info dump was really engaging but sometimes a little overdone.
Characterization-wise (4/10), there were examples of some really good characters but most fell into the ‘meh’ to ‘poor’ categories. Squeezing in little backstories for the minor Characters did give the deaths some meaning but there were far too many of such cases. At the start and throughout the middle, the show didn’t seem to be afraid of killing off characters but, towards the end, it kind of toned down a little so a bit of an inconsistency in this regard too. And then there’s Yin which I mentioned above but the main trio were really good in terms of development and such. Masaru has been a great highlight of this and Narumi has had his ups and downs, while Eleonore always the mid of the two.
Animation-wise (8/10), Character expressions was a big highlight of this show and I’m glad that they did it justice! I’ve seen Ushio to Tora so I’m assuming it’s one of the writers’ trick and I’m glad that they managed to to make the most of it (thoughts as an anime-only, that is). But, that aside, the animation overall was really good! Action choreography was great initially but somewhat repetitive by the end of the show. Quality obviously downgraded every now and then (it’s a 36 episode show, after all) but nothing too much of a biggie.
Sound Department-wise (9/10), some really powerful soundtracks! One of the reasons I was so enthralled by the first episode was in fact thanks to the Sound Department. Yuki Hayashi, thank you loads for this! Sad, hype, happiness - you name it, all of these were delivered in stunning fashion. Op and ED themes were really good too, Gekkou coming back was an awesome treat and Lozareena’s music really nice to keep up with too!
Personal Enjoyment-wise (6/10), a total mixed bag (as you can probably tell by now).

Over all, a fine 6/10. I hope we will get an OVA or something more from this series in the near future! Last but not least, a heartfelt thank you from me to Studio VOLN and Twin Engine for going out of their way to adapting this classic! I’ll try to give the manga a go someday! And I’m looking forward to seeing the other Twin Engine works! Vinland Saga, for sure, will be a treat so I’m ecstatic over that!

Edit: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-06-27/karakuri-circus-stage-play-gets-sequel-in-october/.148343 looks like we’ll be getting something more from this series, though not in animated form.

AhmedJafar1 said:
That is a really nice review, you summarised my thoughts about this show almost exactly. During the first couple of episodes I thought this was going to be one of my favourite Anime ever, never expected such a drop in quality.

I gave it 6/10 just because I enjoyed the first third of it a lot, but I completely lost interest afterwards especially during the last 10 or so episodes. Characters were dying left and right and didn't feel anything at all.

the falshbacks and infodumb episodes was interesting. some of the backstories were nice and some were just rediculous.