First Impressions / Karneval

「蒼い薔薇」 (Aoi Bara)
“Blue Rose”

Tired of tea parties? Well then, let’s have a masquerade instead!

It seems I was off about Yogi after all… sort of. Though he’s not a true Varuga, Akari-sensei explains (reluctantly) that members of Circus who have high contact levels with the Varuga have an “allergic reaction” over time. It’s something like a slow poisoning process, where the victim, as in Yogi’s case, is affected and changed over time, and it’s only his bandage that keeps his alternate personality in check. Yet as Gareki notes, something is not quite right about this whole thing; Akari is definitely keeping something hidden from him and Nai, and I suspect this isn’t quite as simple as an “allergic reaction”.

Unfortunately Yogi isn’t the only member of the second ship who’s in dire circumstances. During the struggle, Tsukumo is kidnapped by the attacking Varuga, where she finds herself right in the clutches of Khafka, during a mysterious party no less. Khafka as an organization continues to puzzle me somewhat; Circus knows they’re behind the Varuga (whatever the goals are), but for whatever reason it seems that Khafka enjoys some government protection. At the very least, Circus can’t openly act against Khafka until there’s evidence they can show the government about their Varuga experiments. Central to all of this are people like Karoku, who seems to share an intimate link to Nai (more than even Nai suspects), and its clear he’s not someone to mess with. Among all of this, Tsukumo faces a dilemma; either escape unnoticed or commit suicide and remove all traces of her body so it cannot be used for experimentation. Unfortunately, however, when she decides to do her utmost to escape, Karoku gets the best of her. Though I suspect she’s been poisoned, I have a horrible feeling that she may be dead rather than just paralyzed. I truly hope this is not the case because though she hasn’t been in the spotlight much, I really appreciate Tsukumo’s presence in this series.

Then there’s Nai, who finally seems to be getting the character growth he’s been lacking for most of the run. Though not as complex as Gareki, Nai is really defined by his interactions with the former and with the other members of Circus. He truly cares for his friends, animal though he is, and he’s slowly coming to understand their pain and suffering as human beings. His link to Karoku is certainly going to prove pivotal to the Circus and Khafka confrontation, but it definitely brings up the question of whether or not he’s actually dangerous because of this link.

 

Preview

14 Comments

  1. I, too, hope that Tsukumo is still alive. They did do that thing with the manual closing of the eyes, but I doubt they’d just kill off a character like her so quickly.

    kevinball4115
    Reply

  2. As I said its just the tip of the “iceberg”! It will take time before the all truth of Yogi will be reveled…. Just dont be mean to Silver Yogi his a nice guy but I bit sadistic a bit…

    lune
    Reply

  6. I really hope she is alive, I appreciated her presence in the series too. I’m really excited to see how they end this, but I will be picking up the manga after this most definitely.

    Jani
    Reply

  10. I really like where this show is headed , its a nice mix of genres and though it took awhile for me to start connecting to the characters I’m glad I stucka round to see it

    Annami
    Reply

  11. Apologies for the late posts on 10 and 11. I had internet issues last week and I’ve caught myself a nasty case of walking pneumonia and have been out cold on medication for days. I should hopefully be lucid enough today to finish. I’m really sorry for the delays everyone. >.<

    Kairi
    Reply

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