Karin ep.23-24

May 19, 2006 | 10 Comments

As far as resolution goes, this is not exactly what I had in mind for the series. I always feel that the anime suffers greatly because of the writers' decision to exclude some of the darker storylines and themes from the manga. I also find the excessive fanservice to be rather silly and distracting instead of enjoyable. On the positive side, the anime contains some lavish character design and background images courtesy of J.C Staff. I really hope the company will give similar or more attention when they get to work on the second season of Honey and Clover. Anyway, back to Karin, I think that overall this is not a bad series to watch. From time to time, one can sees that the writers are actually capable of writing some good and interesting dramas. Unfortunately their tendency to keep things light made the series feels rather generic.

Episode 23

Karin returns home feeling heartbroken but is quickly consoled by the fact that her family was worried about her. Because of this Karin agree to become full-fledged vampire and since the ceremony has to be performed at the place where her vampire instinct was awakened, they have to go to the lake where she first bit Winner. Before they can go there, however, the family house is under attack by Victor Sinclair. Elda decides to fight the guy so the rest of her family can escape. In the ensuing battle, Elda got stabbed by Victor using a knife that belongs to Alfred. Upon seeing the knife, Elda feels nostalgic about Alfred and in the process, allows Victor to finish her off. In her dying moment, Elda remember how back then after Alfred stabbed her, he apparently returned to normal again, regretting what's he's done. Meanwhile in other part of the city, Maki tries to confess her feelings to Winner again but ends up bumping into him in the middle of a street as usual.

Winner, however, ends up crying because he's unsure about Karin. Because of this, Maki ends up consoling him and finally finds out the truth about Karin. Despite knowing everything now, Maki doesn't seem to mind at all. She believes that Karin will always be Karin. Maki then gives Winner the scarf that she has made and tells the guy that she loves him. Unfortunately for her, Winner is still fixated on Karin's first kiss. Because of this Maki decides to kiss Winner on the lips so she and Karin will be on equal footing. Due to the kiss, for the first time ever, Winner actually calls Maki by her name. On the other side of the town, Kenta has given up hope of ever seeing Karin again until his mother encourages him to talk to Karin. When he arrives at Karin's house, however, Kenta is shocked to see it completely destroyed. Out of nowhere, however, Winner appears and tells Kenta that he's going to save Karin. The two then ride a horse so they can save Karin from Victor.

Episode 24

The episode begins with Marker family changing the day into pseudo night so they can begin the ritual to change Karin into a full-fledge vampire. Karin actually doesn't want to do this but decides to go ahead with it for the sake of everyone. In the middle of the ritual, however, Victor appears and kills all of Karin's family. Before he can kill Karin, however, Karin is awakened and begins to attack Victor. Thankfully before Karin can bite Victor, Kenta appears and tells her to bite him instead. Victor warns Kentat that he will change if Karin bites him but Kenta ignores the advice. Kenta momentarily pass out after letting Karin bites him but strangely, he doesn't change at all. Similarly, Victor hasn't change his desire to terminate Karin but now decides to kill Kenta first because he thinks Kenta has been contaminated. Karin steps in between Victor and Kenta in order to protect Kenta. Instead of getting stabbed, however, her dress simply got ripped apart.

Karin's state of undress shocks both Victor and Kenta. In Victor's case, it also causes him to suffer from heavy nosebleed, making him unconscious. Karin and Kenta are relieved about this and even more so when they find out that Karin's family are not dead at all. Apparently vampires are stronger than humans so even Elda is still alive back home. They, however, still need to deal with Victor and because of this, Karin has an idea that the entire family suck all of Victor's bad trait. This means that they take away his pride, dishonesty, stress, jealousy, and unhappiness. The result is one happy Grandpa Victor, one that embarasses even Winner. Everyone then returns back to their home and Elda finds out that the ceremony wasn't actually a ritual to turn someone into a vampire but rather a ritual for breast enlargement. The episode then ends happily with Karin and Kenta are seen studying inside Julian but end up being disturbed by their family and friends.

Impression:

I am a bit disappointed with the resolution of the story. It feels a bit tacked on and inappropriate after all of the seriousness. I realise that Karin, or at least the anime version of it, has always been a comedy first and foremost before serious drama. Having said that, I don't know how sucking Victor's blood so that he will lose all of his negative emotions actually solves the problem at hand. If I remember correctly, the effect of a vampire's bite in this series usually wear off after a few days. When that happens, what is the Marker family going to do? Oh well, I did enjoy some parts of the story. In addition to this, the character as well as background design was pleasant to watch. Overall, Karin is not a bad series to watch if you want a light entertainment to get your mind off work or other serious matter. I do feel, howeer, that it's rather inferior in comparison to the manga, which was the reason why I wanted to see this in the first place.

© memento 2003