Karin ep.11-12

February 21, 2006 | 9 Comments

These two episodes signal the return to the manga's plotline. This is a good thing because I personally am starting to get sick of Winner's subplot. It doesn't help that his voice is completely annoying and makes me want to reach through the screen and squeeze his neck. Come to think of it, lately I've been questioning some of the VAs' decision to use a particular voice for their character. Take Takahashi Mikako, for example, no matter how much I try, I can't distinguish her voice as Maki from her other roles such as Ayumi in Hachikuro and Rika in Hantsuki. Similarly, Suwabe Junichi's character, Ren, sounds just like Archer in Fate/stay night. This makes me wonder if these VAs were told to use their standard anime voice, or if they just couldn't be bothered changing their voice. I find this to be a bit disappointing because I like it when a VA make each character sounds different (ie. Kamiya Hiroshi - Takemoto in Hachikuro, Shinji in Fate/stay night).

Anyway, episode 11 itself begins with Winner dreaming about his childhood. Back then, he was frustrated because he wasn't good enough to be a vampire hunter so he decided to go to a nearby lake where he got to meet Karin. Back in the present time, Winner wakes up from his dream and decides to invite Karin to a theme park because it's Summer holiday. Naturally Karin is flustered and not sure how to reject Winner's invitation while Maki wishes that she's the one who gets invited. That night, however, Karin gets an idea on how to make Winner lose interest in her fast. The next day, Kenta is surprised when he finds out that Karin is on holiday. He, however, feels relieved when he realises that Karin has left him a bento box. At the same time, Karin and Maki are meeting with Winner outside the park. Winner wonders why Maki is there as well but when Karin threatens to go home, Winner immediately gives Maki a flower and invites her to come with them.

Winner's gaijin magnetism immediately attracts the attention of many local girls. Much to their disappointment, however, Winner only has eyes for Karin, even when Karin wears the ugliest swimwear ever known to men. This frustrates Karin because she actually wears the ugly swimwear on purpose so that Winner will lose interest in her. When she realises that this does not work, Karin decides to switch gears and play the role of a selfish and greedy girl. She orders Winner to buy her some foods and then proceeds to eat them like there is no tomorrow. Unfortunately for Karin, it seems Winner likes girls with appetite so the plan fails spectacularly. Maki, who tries to help Karin to finish the food, also ends up getting stomache because of it. Later on, Karin decides to ask Winner why he likes her so much despite the abundance of a much prettier girl. Because of this, he tells her that this is because she looks like the girl that he always sees in his 'dream'.

Karin doesn't seem to understand this until the two watch a solar eclipse moment together. Upon seeing this, Karin realises that she has indeed met Winner back when she was a kid. Back then she was holidaying with her family and her blood level was on the increase. She met Winner near the lake and ended up biting him. Ever since then Winner gained the confidence that he needs to be a competent vampire hunter. Karin becomes flustered upon remembering this and even more so when Winner tries to kiss her. She ends up having a nosebleed, scaring Winner in the process. When Winner sees Karin falling unconscious, however, he tries to be stronger and takes Karin to the hospital. The next day Karin returns to her workplace and wonders what would have happened if her first victim was Kenta instead of Winner. She, however, has no time to contemplate this because she has to stop Winner from telling Kenta about their time together in the park.

Episode 12 begins with Karin giving Kenta a bento box as usual. She, however, becomes embarassed upon realising that Kenta actually already gets free lunch from the restaurant. It doesn't help that the manager begins teasing the two about how a bento made with love will taste more delicious than foods from the restaurant. From here on, Karin and Kenta can't stop themselves from looking flustered like two lovesick birds everytime they look at each other. After Kenta left, Karin realises that lately her blood level hasn't been on the increase, suggesting that her lunch operation is a success. She also blushes when she remembers Kenta's words that her lunch tastes delicious. Unknown to Karin, however, her behaviour has been observed by her brother, Ren. That night, when Ren is trying to pimp some blood from one of his girlfriends, he bumps into Kenta's mom, who is depressed as usual. It seems she has just been fired from her latest job.

Ren then visits Karin and becomes unhappy when he finds out out that she's been busy trying to make lunch for Kenta. He tells Karin that she should just bite Kenta and get it over and done with. Karin doesn't seem to like the idea. But when Ren asks her if she likes Kenta, Karin pretends as if she doesn't know what he's talking about. Because of this Ren tells Karin that if this is the case, then she won't mind him sucking 'that blood'. Karin's mind immediately goes into yaoi overdrive and assumes that Ren wants to molest Kenta. Anju, however, corrects her older sister and tells her that Ren's target is actually Kenta's mother. She believes that Kenta's mother is most likely stressed out and Ren has always been attracted to this kind of people. Karin, however, still doesn't like this because in Ren's case, sucking blood usually goes together with doing the nasty. Karin begs Anju to help her to stop Ren but Anju refuses because she knows her brother is stubborn.

Anju, however, asks Karin why she is bothered about this especially since Ren can just make Kenta's mother forget about it. Karin tells herself because this will make her feel as if she betrays Kenta. Meanwhile, Kenta's mother tells her son that she lost her job again. This causes Kenta to become unhappy as well the next day and consequently, Karin's blood level increases the minute she gets close to him. After Kenta explains his situation, however, Karin gets an idea to bite Kenta's mother first. Meanwhile, Fumio is seen walking through an empty road when Ren suddenly appears, ready to bite her. Unfortunately for him, Winner appears with his silly vampire alarm, causing noises throughout the neighbourhood and preventing Ren from doing anything to Fumio. This, however, should not be confused with Winner being competent because in the end, he never captures Ren. If anything, he ends up getting into problem with a local policeman.

Meanwhile, Karin ends up working at a Chinese restaurant as a favour to Maki. Much to Karin's delight, however, Fumio ends up working there as well as a waitress. Unfortunately, Fumio's inexperience in the job leads her to perform badly. The failure makes Fumio even more unhappy and this in effect, increases Karin's blood level. Karin tries to bite her in order to alleviate her problem but unfortunately she never gets a chance to do so. Meanwhile, Anju finds out from Ren that the reason that he goes after Fumio is because he wants to show Karin that vampire is different from human. At the same time, Karin's blood level increases when Kenta suddenly appears in front of her. Kenta, who realises this, decides to take Karin away from other people. However, when the two arrive at a quiet place, Karin can no longer control her blood lust and decides that biting anyone will do. So she pushes Kenta to the floor and bares her fangs, ready to bite him.

Impression:

I am starting to wonder now if Winner's addition is the writers' attempt to stretch the series as long as possible so that they don't go beyond the available manga volumes. Because if I think about it, the storyline that we get to see now would have been aired around episode 6 if Winner and other various subplots were not around to take the series away from its course back then. Either way, I'm not too fond of his addition and I am glad to see the series start moving back towards its manga plotline. Anyway, I think one of the most interesting parts of Karin's story, apart from her romance with Kenta, is her unusual vampiric nature and her unclear future due to this very nature. Anju mentioned about this back in episode 5 but we still don't know why she thinks Karin will be all alone by the time Anju becomes an adult vampire. I also wonder if the writers will actually keep Fumio working in the Chinese restaurant or if her story will be similar to the slightly risque manga version.

© memento 2003