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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.
