[Fall 2018] Karakuri Circus Discussion Thread

[Buckeye]

からくりサーカス

A show about a boy who is being hunted down for his father's massive fortune he inherited upon his death by a bunch of puppets. He is protected by two guardians who are skilled in the art of circus.

Airs: Thursday, October 11, 2018

Studio: VOLN

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Official Site
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The protagonist, Masaru, has just inherited a big fortune after the death of his father. However, people are trying to get their hands on it by any means necessary, even if it means killing him. Narumi helps Masaru from being kidnapped after fighting strange figures. He finds out that they're not humans, but wooden puppets with amazing strength. After a hard fight, Narumi is forced to admit that he's no opponent for them; and just when he starts to think that Masaru will be captured, Shirogane, Masaru's watcher arrives from France with a weapon, the puppet Arlequin. Here begins the story of Karakuri Circus.

Notes
As usual, please try to follow these two easy forum courtesy habits when replying:
1) If you're the first person to post about an episode in any given week, please indicate in the first line which episode you're posting about.
2) If someone has already posted about an episode before you, please quote that post (or a relevant reply to that post), or include the episode title in the first line. ("Re: Episode 1") Just make sure the episode is indicated.

For more guidelines please refer to this thread.

[Buckeye]

Episode 1

Attack of the puppets.

That was quite a thrilling start there with Masaru being hunted mercilessly by those puppets. He gets saved by Narumi, who is a strong fighter himself, and Shirogane, who is tasked with protecting Masaru by his grandfather's request. Masaru is the son of a rich CEO who died in an accident caused by puppets as there's somebody who is hellbent on stealing his fortune. While the story didn't establish itself here, the action was great, and with three cours to work with, hopefully it leads to a rich story that is allotted by having that much real estate.

So the usual trial rules apply. So far, it has looked very nice seeing that this is by the same production team that did Ushio and Tora, all while the action there really stood out.

[Buckeye]

Episode 2

Make'em laugh.

The three were able to get away, but they don't get much of a break as the next assassin is hot on their trails led by Eiryo. Before all that went down, Narumi was just acting nuts there trying to get others to laugh with that quirky trick of his. But of course, it's now back to the matter at hand in protecting Masaru as he has been kidnapped while Shirogane was distracted, and now the three are in a tight situation having to fend off another puppet master who is after the fortune. While I'm not exactly liking the way Masaru is being portrayed as a weakling, the mixture of action, drama, and comedy is making it an entertaining show.

[GingaDaiuchuu]

Re: Episode 2

It's crazy how much this show feels like Ushio & Tora. They really made sure everyone was back on board to make it exactly the same, even down to some of the lead seiyuu. Narumi is basically human Tora in all ways, which is actually kind of appropriate given Tora's background.

[Buckeye]

Episode 3

Assassin for hire.

While Masaru is in a bad situation, the silver lining is that because so many are after his fortune that they are killing each other for it. Of course, it doesn't make it any easier for Narumi or Shirogane, especially since Masaru learns that he's the bait, but nevertheless it means they can sit back and have the assassins kill each other if they can. Masaru was a pretty weak and underwhelming lead, but after his greedy bastard of an uncle tried to adopt him for the fortune, he makes a daring move, and instead uses the money to hire Eiryo to protect him. That works out well for everybody seeing that Masaru doesn't need all of his father's fortune, all while Eiryo is guaranteed to get some of it. Quite a dramatic turnaround in character as Masaru is not the helpless brat he was at the start.

So with that, this show has secured its spot on my watchlist as this is one of the best episodes so far in this young season.

[GingaDaiuchuu]

Re: Episode 3

I should probably say something about this show before I drop it. I want to like it for the aforementioned Ushio & Tora connections. But even if it gives me that nostalgia, I just can't connect to the characters, the plot, or the silliness of the concepts used in this series, even if they're more original than the more standard shounen formula of its predecessor. It turns out a really good execution of the classics is still better than innovating but failing to introduce anything that sells something that's so hard to take seriously. And it's not like that was ever a favorite of mine, just a fine shounen series with a modern shine applied to older styles and aesthetics. The animation isn't quite up to the standards of a MAPPA co-production here, so it's unfortunate that that's the only major change on the production side. It still looks pretty good in keeping with that style, though, the weird CG of some of the puppets being the only occasional exception, albeit an important one to note. The music is also really good throughout, not just Hayashi's score (one of three this season, all for brand-new series, which is insane) but the Bump of Chicken OP and the TeddyLoid-arranged ED as well. The OP has a pretty solid visual direction as well. So close, but not quite enough.

[Buckeye]

Episode 4

Armed to serve.

Masaru confronts his no-good uncle one last time as he blows up the house having been rejected. While he initially accepted the offer to be adopted in order to free Masaru and Shirogame, Eiryo knew better. And thus, the escape is on and while Shirogane and Eiryo escaped, Masaru didn't while Narumi protects him. While Masaru is still alive, Narumi has disappeared leaving only his arm behind. That was pretty intense stuff there, and while Masaru still exhibits qualities of that weakling he was at the beginning, at least he's not going to take things lying down.

[Buckeye]

Episode 5

Being bullied is nothing.

So after a chaotic opening, things settle down as Masaru is finally back at school after spending two months in the hospital. I was pretty sure that Shirogane was an adult, but she's still high school age, so she transfers over to the nearby high school to keep close watch. Masaru certainly has changed for the better seeing that bullies don't scare him anymore, and after showing them his scars, that brought his friends closer to him. Meanwhile, Shirogane puts on a show in gym class seeing that she is a circus performer after all. That was a nice change of pace here as things have finally settled down after almost nonstop action as the end result is that Masaru has shelled his wimpy personality after seeing Narumi going the extra mile to protect him.

[Buckeye]

Episode 6

This place is Hell on Earth.

It turns out that Narumi was taken to a hospital in America where they are keeping children infected with Zonapha, a syndrome that causes irrational behavior and turns these people into fighting machines. Narumi miraculously survived thanks to the Aqua Vitae that has since ran out and he has a new prosthetic arm that's indestructible. But of course, he has a huge fight ahead now that he is aware about Zonapha and the kind of crap going on at the facility. Should be interesting to see where things go with this.

[Buckeye]

Episode 7

Dagger not through the heart.

And the circus gains another member in Vilma as she came with the task of killing Masaru, but Shirogane protected him with her life. Masaru knew that she wasn't an evil person as she missed Shirogane's vitals on purpose. Petty nice to see Shirogane do her thing as that's one of the benefits of having Zonapha, being able to quickly heal from those dagger wounds. In the meantime, Narumi's prosthetic arm is quite a useful weapon there taking down that attacker, but the situation has gotten really bad there now that the children are exposed to all that fighting that is leaving Narumi a bloody mess.

[Buckeye]

Episode 8

Puppets on a plane.

Quite an intense battle that was on the plane as somehow the self-destructing puppets made it on-board sneaking past security, and not to mention they are attacking from the outside as well. Guy sure showed how tough he is fighting even with most of his fingers smashed, all while Lucille did a great job in getting the plane to safety, which just happens to be by the coast where Shirogane and company are performing. The silver lining in all this is that it gives the Nakamichi Circus an even bigger audience, but nevertheless it was a battle that Narumi was at a severe disadvantage, and they managed to somehow make it through all that.

[Buckeye]

Episode 9

This is not equivalent exchange.

This episode tells the backstory of the aqua vitae that was exhausted to save Narumi, and it's no wonder he got the last of it as the one who created this looked just like him, while the person he fell in love with looks just like Shirogane. The two brothers ventured from China to the Czech Republic where they meet up with a poor girl from the slums who had been stealing to survive, but everything changed when a sick child died because somebody ratted her out. That's when the Narumi look-alike Yin fell in love with Francine, and that drew a jealous reaction from his brother Jin. It will be interesting to see just where all this led to as it can't possibly be good.

[Buckeye]

Episode 10

Francine doesn't laugh.

That was just totally mad what Jin did in order to steal Francine for himself. And that's how it all started as Yin made the Aqua Vitae in order to cure Francine, but it never reached her as she was locked up and burned to the ground just as Yin was ready to give it to her. And that gave rise to the first puppet using Francine's appearance and hair, but just one problem in that she can't laugh. Pretty tragic how everything went down as Yin and Jin couldn't have been more opposite of each other, and Lucille lived through all that.

[Buckeye]

Episode 11

Round and round they go.

It's off to the Sahara to square off against the Midnight Circus, and Narumi and company are in for quite a fight against the Four Pioneers. They manage to defeat their first opponents as Narumi wasn't fazed by the guy with a Merry-go-round on his head, all while Fatima and Mingxia used a wardrobe malfunction to their advantage against those brothers. They won the battle, but the war is just beginning.

[Buckeye]

Episode 12

The gears of fate are turning.

And deeper into the labyrinth everybody goes as they aren't leaving until Francine is destroyed. The enemies and traps just keep on getting more dangerous as Narumi got hit with spikes protecting everybody, all while Rockfield sacrificed himself to stop the gears from crushing everybody who is still left. Pretty twisted all this is, but Narumi made it to the end where the four generals await, with Francine watching over everybody.