To be continued: Kaiba 4
Though it didn’t offer up of the kind of visual poetry I’ve come to associate with the most transcendent scenes of Kaiba, the fourth episode was just as affecting as ever. The bleak final moments, in particular, left me with a bitter taste. A lot is said about treasure. Treasure can be gold and diamonds, or a photo and a flower; a special memory. Because the boys in this episode are so emotionally introverted (selfish, basically), their understanding of other people, even family, is tainted; from their limited perspectives, their Grandpa’s treasure has to mean wealth; it can’t possibly be anything else, as this concept of being in love, or of cherishing family, is so completely alien to them. In the end, they die pathetic deaths, without a friend in the world, because, with their selfish lives, they can’t even remotely relate to others. It feels so sad, like such a waste, because no-one is born truly alone; “The world’s the same all over, big or small.” said Grandma, “What truly matters is the size of your heart.”
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What I found interesting about this particular planet was that it was completely cut off from the technology of the rest of the Kaiba universe - the inhabitants accrued a lifetime of memories in ‘real time’ rather than having someone else’s swapped in. Maybe it was this that caused the parents to desert their kids…all in all their life was quite a sad one really. Abandoned by their parents and dying before appreciating what they still had wasn’t a good way to go at all! The contentment their grandmother felt when she passed away was comforting but otherwise this was a very tragic, albeit brilliant, episode.
Yeah, I was all set to talk about how this was a relatively romantic and happy episode until those two boys are turn up dead in the final scene. It’s funny how a mere ten seconds can completely change the feeling of an entire episode. Also, nice point on how relatively “natural” their planet/lives were… Thinking about it, I’m not sure anyone would actually want those bodies though, as it was notable just how outwardly ugly/weird they all looked.
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