[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

ANN Entry
My Anime List
Official Site
Amazon

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.