Karin ep.19-22

May 7, 2006 | 11 Comments

Hmm, Karin anyone? Okay, I admit I haven't exactly been up to date with the series but it's kind of hard to do with my RL schedule as well as the new series I'm trying to keep up with. On the one hand, I need to finish what I started. On the other hand, if I fail to catch up with the recent releases, I'll have even more backlogs. Thankfully this series is almost close to its completion. If I remember correctly, I think there are only 2 more episodes left after episode 22. I assume J.C Staff will then work right away on the new season of Honey and Clover. Anyway, although it's hard to see from the screenshots, some of the animation in these episodes are quite impressive. In adddition to this, there are also some nicely designed static shots which I think helps to make the anime looks different from other comedy-based series. Right now I'm just hoping that J.C Staff writers can end the series on a good and conclusive note.

Episode 19

Christmas is coming to town so Maki suggests that Karin knits something for Kenta since she is going to do the same thing for Winner. Later on, because of a conversation that Kenta had with Karin about the countryside, Kenta ends up asking his mother to tell him something about his father. At the same time, Anju realises that her body is underging a transformation. Despite this, she still manages to help Karin when her sister needs her help. During Christmas Eve, Kenta thanks Karin for her advice and tells her that he wants to always be with her. Karin is happy to hear this and decides to give the sweater that she has knitted to Kenta and the two spend Christmas together happily. Maki, however, doesn't have the same luck. Despite her attempt to give sweater to Winner, Winner ends up ignoring her because he has to meet his grandfather who has arrived in Japan. It appears the old man has arrived with the intention of exterminating the Maaka clan.

Episode 20

Anju wakes up from her sleep after experiencing an erotic dream involving herself and her sister. She then becomes worried when Boogie-kun doesn't respond to her but after a while, it seems he simply wasn't awake yet. Meanwhile, Kenta invites Karin to go on a date together. Their conversation is somehow heard by a jealous Maki who decides to ruin the date by asking Karin to come and see her 1 hour prior to her meeting with Kenta. At home Karin is in the middle of making love love bento for herself and Kenta while she and Anju talk about the time when they made a snowman. The two wanted to make one which would not melt but eventually realise that it was impossible. Nevertheless, Karin thinks that they should do some snowman building again soon and promises Anju that they will do this as soon as there is snow around. At the same time, Winner is informed by his grandfather that their enemy is in the country and therefore they must ensure its destruction.

Back to Karin and Anju, Karin asks Anju what presents she wants when Karin goes out tomorrow. Anju starts to say that she wants Karin but quickly changes it by saying that she wants Karin to choose for her. In her room, however, Boogie-kun scolds her for crying in silent instead of telling Karin about her feelings for her. Anju, however, refuses to tell Karin her feeling because she wants her sister to be happy. Because of this, after Karin left to buy her present the next day, Anju also leaves the house. She then finds Maki in a park and ends up talking to the other girl. Maki admits that she's envious of Karin's new relationship with Kenta. She tries her best not to feel this way but unable to do so. Anju tells her that she really understands how Maki feels before revealing that her blood urge is finally awakened. She then bites Maki to relieve her craving while at the same time inside her room, Boogie-kun becomes lifeless.

Karin is shocked when she sees Maki unconscious while Anju has blood all over her dress. Anju explains to Karin that she's finally awakened as a vampire and opens her glove to show that can't stand the Sun. Maki is upset about this because Anju bit Maki, whom Karin considers a close friend. Anju claims that it doesn't matter for her because any human is just a food for vampire. Karin becomes angry to hear this especially after Anju encourages her to suck Kenta's blood. Karin finally can't control her anger and ends up slapping her sister and tells Anju that she hates Anju before running away. Meanwhile, Anju finally returns home to a lifeless Boogie to tell him that her plan work right through the end and she didn't cry while doing it. She thinks that Karin can now be happy with Kenta. Karin, however, is too upset with what happened to see Kenta. Moreover, she receives a phone call from Elda, telling her that Elda knows a way to turn her into a full vampire.

Episode 21

This episode begins with Winner's grandfather, Victor Sinclair arriving at a settlement that he thinks belong to a group of vampires since all of the houses are hidden from the Sun. Meanwhile, Kenta is still waiting patiently for Karin. Karin herself finally remembers that she is supposed to have a date with Kenta and tries to make it at the appointed time. Unfortunately when she arrives there, Kenta is inside a phonebox trying to call her mobile. But since Karin drops her mobile somewhere and she can't see Kenta, she thinks he already left after waiting for one hour. At the same time, Victor Sinclair finally manages to confront Elda while she's looking for Karin. Through a flashback it's revealed that the two had a fight after Victor burnt down the vampire settlement but Elda got injured. Victor then uses her blood to track down all of the Marker family using his special compass. At the same time, Karin is cornered by two sleazy guys who try to take advantage of her.

Thankfully Winner hears her screaming and distract the guys attention. This, however, means that he ends up getting bashed by them. While the guys beat up Winner, they tell him about their unhappiness at work. This makes the blood in Karin's body increases and she ends up having a nosebleed, scaring the guys off in the process. Karin and Winner end up having a good talk in a park but they are immediately joined by Victor and Elda who are in the middle of fighting with each other. Karin's identity as a vampire is finally revealed to Winner and on top of this, Victor tells his grandson that she was the one who bit him when he was a kid. Victor asks Winner to shoot Karin and Elda for the sake of their clan but Winner refuses to hurt Karin. He tells Karin to run away so Elda takes her granddaughter away but they are being chased by Victor so Elda tells Karin to run ahead of her. The episode ends with Ren rushing home to warn his family about the existence of Victor Sinclair.

Episode 22

Karin realises that she has no place to turn to because she is afraid of biting Kenta and is conflicted about her vampiric family. At the same time, Kenta tries to go to Karin's house but can't seem to find it. Elda, on the other hand, manages to elude Victor and returns to the Marker's estate on her own. The next day, Winner is berated by his grandfather for refusing to kill a vampire. Meanwhile, Ren stalks Kenta before taking him to a carpark to show him the difference between vampire and humans. He points out how vampires can't stand the sun and how they will age differently from humans. Because of this, he asks Kenta to let go of Karin since they've found a way to make Karin a real vampire. At the same time, after getting advice from Maki, Karin decides to tell Kenta how she feels about him. Unfortunately for her, after hearing Ren's words, Kenta feels that Karin belongs to her family and therefore thanks her for everything and asks her to go back to them.

Impression:

There's nothing special about episode 19 despite the fact that it is the episode where Kenta and Karin got together. The emphasis here is on the fact that Karin makes Kenta happier and that in exchange makes Karin's blood less likely to flow. I am quite disappointed that the discussion about Kenta's father in the end doesn't lead to anything but a sentimental reflection on Kenta's mother. But I suppose it's a fitting theme for a Christmas episode. I am, however, glad to see a development on the Maki/Winner part of the story even though it ended in a disastrous manner. As much as I'd like to, I don't think I can entirely blame Winner on this matter. Maki immediately assumes that Winner knows what she wants to talk about and doesn't realise that he has a much important thing on his mind. Winner, on the other hand, simply doesn't put Maki that high on his interest list and therefore decided to put her request aside. In other words, it was a simple case of bad timing and unmet expectations.

Episode 20, on the other hand, is where things start to unravel. Prior to this episode, I didn't know that Anju has a complex for her sister. Admittedly, it has been hinted at but I always thought that it's a simple sibling affection. Either way, this is one powerful episode that makes you question how much what Anju said was real and how much of it was an act to make Karin hates her. While the Kenta part is probably something to make Karin angry, I have the feeling that the rest of her sentence is the vampire part of her personality speaking out what she really feels about the issue. It's also interesting to see how Anju's ascend to adulthood means the disappearance of Boogie-kun as a speaking companion. I don't get this part because I always thought that Boogie-kun is an entity of its own as opposed to a figment of Anju's imagination. Case in point, when Anju stuffed him in a locker full of rats, Boogie can still talk and scream.

But then again, I supposed that could be a part of Anju's imagination. However, that would also mean that all of the sarcastic thing that Boogie-kun has said thus far is actually Anju's own sarcastic personality. This is probably explains the appearance of her predatory side during her conversation with Maki. Speaking of Maki, this episode reveals another layer to her personality and it's not an attractive one. She's actually jealous of Karin and her luck in love to the point that she tries to ruin Karin and Kenta's date. It's interesting how Anju has an affinity to envy while Maki feels envious towards Karin. In a way, Anju helped Maki to get rid of her jealousy, allowing Maki to rekindled her friendship with Karin. I also should not forget about Kenta and his determination to wait for Karin. I don't normally like characters like Kenta and Karin because they are too perfect and wholesome despite everything that happens around them. But these two are quite okay, I suppose.

Tense is probably a word I'll use to describe episode 22. Although it was rather brief, Elda vs. Victor fight scene was quite exciting to watch. Studio Deen needs to learn a thing or two about animating close tracking fight scenes from J.C Staff because as brief as it was, the fight scene between Elda and Victor on top of the luxury cruiser was very dynamic and interesting to watch. Although that was probably why it was very short because if it were any longer, I'll assume it'll blow the small budget allocated to this series. I am also glad to see the confirmation that it really was Winner that Karin bit when she was a little girl. Despite the newfound knowledge, however, Winner remains a kind character who can't hurt Karin despite his grandfather's expectation. He also remains as silly as usual here so I guess the message is not to judge a character based on their outward appearance. It's kind of hard to do this with Winner though because he's so annoying.

In episode 22, all hell breaks lose once more as the Marker family has no choice but to raise the barrier to their house so that Victor can't find their whereabouts. It's strange that Kenta knows about this though. I can't seem to recall an episode where Karin tells him about the barrier surrounding her house. At the same time, Karin has a crisis of identity here. On the one hand, she wants to be with Kenta but is afraid of biting him. On the other hand, she can't go back home because she's essentially different from the rest of her family and can't understand their predatory nature towards humans. In the end, she ends up going to Maki's house of all places, which suggests that she seems to gravitate more towards her human side. This gives J.C Staff a chance to make a reference to Honey and Clover, which happens to be a series they were working on prior to Karin. And I assume J.C Staff will also work on the 2nd season of Honey and Clover.

This reference comes in the form of Ferris Wheel and the fact that the VA for Maki, Takahashi Mikako, also happens to be the VA for Yamada Ayumi in Honey and Clover. Takahashi Mikako must be happy to be able to move on to a new job after Karin is completed without having to audition again for it. Anyway, back to Karin, what happens at the end of episode 22 makes me realised why the writers have build up Kenta's broken family background. This eventually becomes Kenta's reason for leaving Karin because he doesn't want to break a family apart. I think Kenta finally realises that when faced with a choice between what he wants versus what is right, the answer is not always easy. In this case, someone will get hurt regardless what decision he made. Unfortunately for Karin, Kenta prioritises her family's need before his own needs to be with her and this results in his rejection of her.

© memento 2003