Karneval - 03

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Karneval 03

After Nai collapses, he is taken to the infirmary where a doctor with a crazy beard assures everyone that Nai will be perfectly safe. Meanwhile, Nai dream-speaks with Karoku, who warns Nai to stay away from Gareki if he cares for Gareki’s safety. (Jeez, what a guy, huh?) However, more important discoveries are made, such as Nai not being human. To find out more, the gang decide to visit Nai’s home...forest.

After two okay episodes, episode three was a big improvement for me. This may be partially because it was an episode mostly focussing on character relationships (Mostly Nai and Gareki’s.) and I love good character relationships. It also helps that Nai was not as stupid as he was last episode, and that I find his crying face cute. So, so cute...

Uh, where was I? Oh, yes. At this point, Gareki and Nai are still pretty much strangers to each other, but I’m glad they’re building bridges. We get a lot more Nai and Gareki’s characters as individuals too, including Gareki’s surprising weakness to cute things. We also get another Gareki flashback. Apparently, Gareki was born in some kind of slum. Compared to the beautiful forest where Nai grew up, you couldn’t have a more different upbringing, but it’s these difference that make their relationship interesting. I did appreciate that they didn’t spin out the misunderstanding between them, but resolved it fairly quickly. After watching many rom-coms (anime or otherwise) in which whole arcs, and sometimes whole series,are based on misunderstandings, it’s good to see them slash through the drama with honest communication.

The big discovery this episode is that Nai is not actually human. I’m sure that wasn’t such a big surprised to viewers. Nai was always a rather...odd little boy. This explains some of his naivety and his impeccable puppy dog eyes. (Although surely animals would have better survival instincts that Nai does!)

Anyway, as the episodes go by it becomes increasingly obvious that Karoku is going to be a nasty piece of work. We also get a brief look at other Circus members. Again, I must say I really like the character designs. We then end on a cliff-hanger with Gareki being injured/abducted by what looks like black goo. I admit that I have a soft spot for Gareki so this ending particularly had me on my toes.

In short, I appreciated the character building as well as building up Nai and Gareki’s character. There are some interesting things shown this episode, and I’m looking forward to the next episode more than I was for the previous two.