Karneval

From the same company who bought us Deadman Wonderland comes a totally different style of anime! Gareki lives a solitary life of stealing and travelling but that soon changes when he meets Nai, the young and eccentric boy who is searching for Karoku. Originally taking Nai along with him to earn some more money Gareki is quickly charmed by Nai's innocence and positive outlook on life and ends up caught up in Nai's search for Karoku. However, the two attract some less than welcome attention and end up under the protection of Circus, the nations ultimate defense. Circus only accepts the most capable fighters and after performing raids, capturing criminals and solving crimes for the government they will put on performances for the public as an apology for scaring them. Although seemingly sweet and harmless, Karneval is so much more than a silly children's anime!

So maybe a defense force that doubles up as a performing circus is a bit silly, but don't we all need a bit of childish silliness sometimes? Not only are the performances adorably sweet, they help the show avoid becoming too serious! In general the series has a good balance of the dark and the humorous, one thing I am always looking out for in an anime! The pacing is an aspect which I feel is a bit weaker. There are a few too many side stories which prevent the plot moving at a more satisfying rate but I feel that's quite a common problem in anime. So, pacing aside, I really like the plot, we've only had 11 episodes so far but there are a lot of hints as to what might happen in the future and from what I understand of the plot it's all good! If the show continues as is it might just be my favorite anime of the year! What I worry is that they'll either patronize the audience by making the hints obvious and the characters oblivious or they'll forget about the more sinister parts of the anime and just focus on making in cute.... But Alex, you love cute anime! Yes, I love cute anime, but I hate it when they turn a really good plot into pure sugar just for the fan girls!
However, when I think about Karneval it is not the plot which fills my thought, it's the art and character design! Right from the get go, the anime is nothing short of perfection! The animation is so beautiful and fluid and consistently detailed! But what I really love about this anime is the character designs! The simple costumes for Gareki and Nai are convincing given their situations but Circus members are allowed to be flamboyant and the designs certainly take advantage of that!! They don't even wear the same clothes all the time, they mix thing More than a feast, it's an all-you-can-eat-buffet for the eyes! I could go on about their beautiful clothes, lovely hair and awesome weapons enough to fill two blog posts and I haven't even started talking about the fight scenes! You don't need to like the plot to enjoy this anime, it's such a wonderful thing to watch!
It's wonderful to listen to too! It has a really beautiful OST to match the wonderful animation, I especially love that eeriely alluring harpsichord piece! Although I wouldn't say Nai is some one I'd want to listen too much. His cute and all but his voice is awkward sounding. This is Hiro Shimono's first anime role but this is also the first time I've felt the need to mention a voice actors performance! Easily the weakest thing in the show.
Many people have looked skipped over this anime, judging it as a 'pretty boy' anime created purely for fangirling over. But it has so much more to offer! It's true that most of the characters are 'pretty boys' but with animation as good as Karneval's got a pile of poo could look pretty! It's a piece of art that really should be treated with more respect than it's given! Also, the art and animation are not it's only selling point! It has an interesting plot and a good sense of humor. So despite what you may hear about Karneval being a silly bishounen it's a good fantasy anime with genuine merits!!

(I hope you can understand Japanese!)