Kaiba - 04
Okay, so while the introduction of weird accents didn’t exactly help my ability to understand this episode, I still loved every bit about this episode. Really, I’m trying to think of one part of this series that doesn’t stand out, but so far this series couldn’t have progressed better. I absolutely LOVE the pair of Kaiba and the guard (I think his name was Vanilla) as they travel through various world. They stand so incredibly far apart from your usual travelling-companionship. The two of them are without a doubt my favourite characters of all new shows this season, apart perhaps from xxxHolic.
I originally thought that Kaiba would switch bodies with every new episode, but this episode proves us wrong. He just has two bodies: one of the stuffed animal and one of the girl. Both bodies are very different from the Kaiba we saw in the first episode, and it felt especially weird when the stuffed animal suddenly started talking. It turns out that normal rules don’t really apply when you’re into the mind of a person.
What’s also interesting: we see Vanilla into Kaiba’s mind this time, and there, we saw the body he was in when we found him in episode 1. The thing is also that this doesn’t seem to be his original body (because yes, this episode also gives us a small shot of Kaiba when he still had his memory). There’s nothing of that fancy outfit we saw. And really, what the hell has happened to Popo? He hasn’t appeared for four episode, and yet he seems like a vital character in all this, after the previous episode showed some hints that he was connected to Neiro.
In any case, this episode is about an old woman, who refuses to share her dead husband’s “treasure” with her two sons. They may be poor, but they’re always causing trouble for others, and don’t ever pay attention to their surroundings. Of course, the “treasure” turns out to be an ordinary memory-box, but still. The interesting thing is how this episode went into this old woman’s mind, as she’s still trying to forget her deceased husband. He fell off a lighthouse, but she never knew why. Inside her memory, she then finds out that he was just trying to pick a flower, in the hope of making his wife smile again. I probably missed the important point of this episode again, though, due to the above-mentioned dialect.
The art this time was also different from usual. It looked much more like Kemonozume than ever. While it’s usually not that good of an idea to have an episode with a different animation-style than usual (just take a look at Gurren Lagann 04), for Kaiba it works surprisingly well. Perhaps it’s because the changes are there, but not quite radical.
I took that to mean it was his original body, which is why it appeared in his mind; the flashback shot isn’t particularly clear, but was still blonde. I think he was just wearing different clothes.
Possibly he only appeared that way in his mind because he does not remember any earlier bodies, however.
Comment by Zerozaki — May 3, 2008 @ 5:04
I am Japanese.
I am interested in your article and enjoyed your blogEE
Please keep it for us.
Thank you!
Comment by タイピング — May 3, 2008 @ 5:18
I suspect that Popo is the one running around blowing stuff up with locket girl’s body. As in, we do see him, in the news report.
I have this terrible feeling he’s going to turn out to be the main antagonist for this series.
Oh, and have we seen Kaiab use his pyrokinesis outside of his three rings body? do we know if that ability is connected to the body?
Comment by Autonomous Monster — May 3, 2008 @ 12:35
Really can’t wait to watch this one. Hope the sub come out soon.
Comment by lodip — May 3, 2008 @ 16:48
It´s by far the most amazing anime from this and the last 2 seasons!
Comment by Perneta — May 9, 2008 @ 18:25
I realised that, in Kaiba’s flashback, locket girl wears a necklace with a locker around her neck, but Kaiba doesn’t. However, in the picture of her in Kaiba’s locket, she’s not wearing one. Hm….
Comment by Cas — May 10, 2008 @ 10:43