***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Kaiba. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
A boy (voiced by Houko Kuwashima) wakes up in the middle of what seems to be a battle. On top of that, he has lost all his memories, including his name. The only clue he has is a pendant containing a blurry picture of a girl.
Out of nowhere, the boy is attacked. While on the run from his pursuers, the intricacies of this world start to come together.
People can store their memories as digital files. This allows anyone to transfer their consciousness into whatever body they like. Except this process is quite expensive. Thus, only the very rich can afford to do so. Everyone else must live in a lawless wasteland of impoverishment.
The boy manages to escape his current planet and blasts off into an unknown universe. He takes the name Warp and begins a quest to recover his memories. As well as discover his connection to the girl in his pendant.
Series Positives
Kaiba is not an anime you relax with. It will require you to step back for a moment and take in everything that is going on. This isn’t a negative. This series was well done and enjoyable.
The Animation
I could use words like gorgeous, breathtaking, and stunning to describe Kaiba. This show was all those things. But those are not the most appropriate ways to describe this animation. That and the fact that I'm aware of my tendency to overuse these words.
Imaginative, unique, and reliant on the abstract are better. But the truth is, my vocabulary isn’t expansive enough to portray what I saw.
Regardless of what the right words are, I liked this.
Kaiba’s artwork was calm and relaxing. Then when it needed to, it was fast paced and intense. This series was full of vivid motion and movement. There was also plenty of emotional, heartfelt, and at times heartbreaking images. On more than one occasion the story would not say a word and the visuals would do the talking.
The Story
If you’re halfway through Kaiba and feel you’re still not sure what’s going on, join the club. The pieces of this puzzle are slow to come by. But they do come.
This story was through Warp’s eyes. He didn't know what was going on. Therefore, we didn't know either. Never did we have less information than our main character. In fact, there were times where we knew more.
What I’m about to say is actually a negative to this series which I will address later on. Yet this negative feels almost necessary since the payoff was positive. This is why I'm mentioning it here first.
Following the times when we know more than Warp, he seemed to catch up pretty fast. And often with no clear indication as to why that was possible. Except this came paired with outstanding bits of visual storytelling.
One example was in episode three, Chroniko's Boots. Here, Warp met a girl named Chroniko (voiced by Chiwa Saito). She explained to him that this was her last day in her current form. She was selling her body and the money would go to support her family. Though a frightening aspect, she knew her mind would live on.
We then leave Warp’s perspective and jump to Chroniko's during her procedure. Things did not go as she had hoped. As was the strength of this series, this scene was as stunning as it was difficult to watch.
We go back to Warp discovering what happened to Chroniko. This was a sad moment, but at no point should Warp have realized the full gravity of it. And what he did next made no sense.
This is the negative I am referring to. There was no reason for Warp to do what he did. But again, this was a necessary evil when compared to what followed.
Through limited dialogue, we learn everything about Chroniko's life. The full weight of what transpired was powerful. This made it possible to look past Warp’s questionable actions.
This is my favorite moment of the show, but this was only one of many.Series Negatives
This series was good. Except it's important to remember that story comes first. Pretty pictures and stunning animation are nice, but there needs to be something to them.
Kaiba was a gem in its own right. It was breathtaking and at a casual glance, it looked solid enough. Too bad when you take a closer look, you begin to see the flaws.
Plot Holes
Considering the themes of this show, it's a marvel that it fit together as well as it did. The majority of the questions got an answer by the end.
Although, that wasn't one hundred percent. There were still plenty of plot holes and leaps in logic. These may have been necessary evils, but then again so are politicians. Yeah, they’re there, but it doesn’t mean I like them.
The payoff was strong enough to accept this fault. Yet these issues were here nonetheless. And they were in numbers. On top of that, some of them left some glaring inconsistencies.
There are two that come to mind.
The first one came in the first episode, The Name is Warp. Why did Warp have to escape into space? It was clear why he was being chased, but the solution to that problem doesn’t make any sense.
The second occasion occurred in the final episode, Everyone in the Cloud, during the climax. This was when the style and animation finally overshadow the story. I have no idea who was fighting who or what some people were trying to do. That said, everything did end up working itself out, somehow.
Final Thoughts
This was fantastic.
A great story, paired with outstanding animation, there's no reason not to give this one a look. Fair warning, please be willing to take the time to piece together the imagery.
There were a handful of plot holes, but they did lead to some amazing sequences. Though I would prefer them not being there, this is the less egregious way of having them.
Kaiba gets an absolute recommendation from me.
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