To be continued: Kaiba 2
With the first episode finished, it’s no longer enough for Kaiba to merely look original. This follow-up wasn’t as visceral or as exciting as the first, but one scene in-particular struck me as really quite lovely. Nine minutes in, ‘Warp’ and friends, flying high in their aircraft, glimpse out of near-by window. What they see is a river of gleaming ‘Roe’ (a liquid-golden egg of human memory that appears after that person’s physical body has expired) floating into the vast expanse above. As animated art alone, scored with a soft, melancholy tune, it’s a moment that looks and feels wonderful, yet it takes on an added poignancy because we know that every egg, and the sky is full of them, represents a unique person. As far as I can tell, the Roe have no direction, no identifying features, they just float aimlessly, carrying their memories, destined for nowhere. Is this a comment on life? If so, I suppose it’s sounding dreary and hopeless, but the scene itself feels as beautiful as explained. It’s true that there is something small and insignificant about one individual egg (person) in a thousand, yet each one gleams golden in the sky, just the same as any other, so pretty, adding to the scene. Without the Roe, essentially, without life, the sky would be dull and empty. I’m reminded of a favourite line from Kino’s Journey; “The world is not beautiful, therefore it is”.
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Episode 2 did indeed look wonderful…I’m eagerly looking forward to your appraisal of the third instalment though because for me at least that was the point where Kaiba was ‘more than a pretty face’ and became something really special.
Unless there was a last-minute alteration to the script that I wasn’t aware of, I’m pretty sure that it’s clearly written as “Roe”, as in eggs, or, if we’re going from the original dialogue, “Tamago”. The sum of a person’s existence in Kaiba is their “tamago”, which we (we being the two editors) decided to translate as “roe” after much debate.
You’re right, Owen. When I’m writing these posts, I tend to do them without reference and ‘Rue’ was a main character in Princess Tutu, so that’s probably where I’ve crossed wires. Updated it now. Also, I see another new episode has just been released… Just as I think I’m getting close to catching up, two episodes come out in a week!
Also, the usage of “roe” here was due to it being plural — it was decided that we’d translate it as “egg” if it was singular. Glad to know you’re catching up. With any luck, you might just surpass me! I’m off editor duties as of episode 6 till I get regular internet again, so if the style dramatically changes or anything, I’d rather you know that I had nothing to do with it. (:
Ahh, that’s a shame Owen, but such is life. I was enjoying watching the credits role and saying “I know that guy” every time your name appeared. But I’m not the kind of guy to criticize fansubs anyway, and that should go a long way to explaining how I feel about this Otaking (”old anime is the bestest”) chap too.
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