To be continued: Kaiba 5

While the bond shared by Patches and Quilt was lovably quaint, this episode, in an allegorical sense, was hard to follow. It didn’t feel as coherent or as meaningful as the previous couple, but seemed half intent on satirising the fashion industry. It was fun, easy to watch and, for once, finished off with a hint of optimism. Of particular note is that the visuals were probably the most surreal yet, with scene after scene cutting from brilliant yellows to depressed greys and thick, scratchy outlines containing some truly odd shapes. From start to finish, it was pure imagination, so creative, and just a joy to watch. Korean Choi Eunyoung was the co-writer, storyboarder, director and animation director for this episode. Eunyoung is female too. There are so few women working within the anime industry that she merits special attention. This could be something that many of the anime fans following Kaiba might have overlooked; though Masaaki Yuasa sits as the “Chief Director” of the series, many of the episodes are being handed off to some of the brightest up-and-coming talents of the anime industry. This is why the style will often shift from one episode to the next, as each artist is given free reign to inject their own creative styles. I would even go so far as to say that this whole planet-of-the-week premise exists merely to offer up the likes of Eunyoung as much artistic freedom as possible. On a related note, the next episode will be handled by an American called Jamie Vickers. Obviously, both Eunyoung and Vickers are foreigners, a fact that not only blurs the very meaning of “Japanese animation”, but suggests that as the global popularity of anime develops, more and more talented artists from outside of Japan are working their way into the industry.