To be continued: Kaiba 3
For such a sad episode, by far and away the best, most cohesive in the series up to this point, it’s notable that the heart-shattering story is left almost completely unspoken, yet, piecing together Chroniko’s life and ultimately, death, just as her Aunt’s lost memories fade back into perspective, isn’t difficult at all. Aided with its lovely, whimsical soundtrack, Kaiba speaks a universal visual language; the colours, the weather, the landscape, they scream of loss, regret and nostalgia. This episode is about, if nothing else, the value of memory, not necessarily the every-day, mundane ones, but those of your closest friends and family. Removing all of those precious moments, selling them like books from a shelf, inevitably reduces the effected relationships to loveless, null apathy. The way this episode finishes, the culmination of the Aunt’s introspective realization of guilt and loss through elegant music and fast-returning memories, is one of the most emotionally evocative and down-right sad sequences of anime I’ve seen for a very long time.
3 comments
I’m sorry, I just can’t leave this post un-commented on. The first two eps left me in two minds - it looked innovative but seemed to be selling itself on the style and tried to confuse the viewer on purpose rather than exploring the implications of its themes and ideas. Ep #3 rectified this and much more besides - it was a shining example of concise and powerful storytelling. At this point I really felt I had a grasp of what Kaiba is trying to say…the only problem is, it’s set the bar so high for the rest of the series!
This was definitely THE Kaiba episode which glued all the scattered puzzle pieces in the first episodes together, the one that convinced me (and most viewers) that this show is definitely a keeper
and I’d have to agree this was by far the most moving, emotionally-wrenching episode yet.
Glad to know I wasn’t the only one to enjoy this episode that much. It’s definitely the turning point for the series, but now, following it up is even harder!
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