Jul 13, 2013
(This is one of my first reviews so bear with me please)
So Karneval is mystery anime, with some tints of action and some shoujo for the fangirls. We meet the main character, "Nai", who by first glance isn't nothing special. His name literally means, 'Nothing'. By chance he meets Gareki, your typical 'bad-boy I don't need anyone' type of character. Those are our main characters we will be following throughout the series.
Story: 8/10
Nai is looking for someone special to him, Karoku, with only a bracelet as a clue. At the beginning of the first episode we find him in a difficult predicament, in which
...
he meets Gareki. How did he get there? We will never know, and it will never be explained. Being of the mystery genre, there are some things that will obviously leave you clueless but there are some things that this anime can leave in blank. They meet the secret (yet flashy) organization "Circus", who fight against the organization "Kafka" and the monsters called "Varuga". These monsters are often mentioned in the series but we never go in depth with them.
So overall the plot is very interesting and enticing, but the anime left more than a few things to be asked for.
Art: 9/10
The animation for this series was very beautiful and well made. The colors they used were very soft, and for the most mysterious character they weren't so solemn or anyting of the sort. The animation was very smooth, taking well the flips, the turns, the explosions and the other movements. The drawing was very 'cute', what with Nai being your typical big eyed feminine meek character and Tsukumo your beautiful limber acrobat. The characters were distinguishable and I had no hard time in differentiating them. The only downside were some animation mistakes but those can be looked upon on and are hardly noticable.
Sound: 9/10
The opening was rock, with some 'carneval' touches. As a fan of GRANRODEO, it was good but not their best. But it was appropriate for the anime. The ending was a pop/catchy tune, and it caught me singing it every time I heard it. The soundtracks stuck to the moment, with the fighting scenes and the sad parts, but they weren't very noticable. The voice acting was fine, the seiyuus stuck to the character's personality and I had no problems with this.
Character: 8/9
There many characters in Karneval, all with a beautiful character design and their own personality. The main character Nai is extremely innocent and pure, knowing nothing from the real world, as he couldn't even distinguish blood. But once you find out what he really is, it's quite understandable. Gareki was probably one of the only characters we got a somewhat full backstory, explaining his attitude and why he does what he does. The supporting characters, the members of Circus, look like some of the most interesting but with no development at all. We get subtle hints of Yogi and Tsukumo, but nothing on their backstory. Including with Captain Hirato and the other members of Circus. There are also some members of Kafka mentioned in the series, but nothing explained on them whatsoever, and you will be scratching your head at the end with Karoku. But once again, it is understandable since you can only pack so much in 13 episodes.
Enjoyment: 9/10
Even if there were somethings that left me wondering with this anime, I enjoyed it. The character interaction was enjoyable and it reached it's cuteness factor and some humor.
Overall: 8/10
It was a nice anime, overall. It's great if you want to look at something cute and pretty while having some mystery and action at the same time. With so much left to ask for, it makes you want to search for more but there's the manga for that. It's an anime that needs focus and dedication, but if you can do that then I can assure you can enjoy its moments.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all