[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Kaiba 5-7: the value of identity
If I hadn’t promised myself that I wouldn’t blog episodically any more Kaiba would be one show that I’d find easy to blog episodically. It’s an interesting experiment in playing around with the linear narrative idea - while the instalments are clearly in chronological order each one is a self-contained piece that examines a particular planet and situation before our hero moves onto another planet, learning more about the bizarre universe he’s found himself in as he goes.
The recurring issue of memory rears its head again, most notably in the cases of Patch, the lonely inventor whose former assistant lives on in the form of a dog, and the elderly couple in episode 6. In the case of Patch, maybe ignorance is bliss…he is saved from the full extent of the realisation of what he’s lost through forgetting every day. The conclusion to the latter situation, if you emphasise the hopeful aspect, bore a passing resemblence to the end of Place Promised… in that we see the two of them for the last time setting out to spend the rest of their lives replacing the memories that were lost. It is a tragic moment of course, but is a result of the ease by which memories in the Kaiba universe can be moved and exchanged; cruelly ironic in that the old couple had avoided these very practices to enjoy their lives and memories in the conventional way. I’ve covered some of the implications of how memories are portrayed and used in this show but the other half of this issue - that of the question of identity - has come to the fore too.
I was surprised at myself for feeling a sense of loss at the end of ep 7 - it’s hard to justify saying Chroniko died when her true self was lost several episodes ago! It does seems strange to think that the presence we see on the screen is not the same character - the outward appearance is different so strictly speaking the hero of the piece is a set of memories inside a little conical chip with a locket to go with them.
Vanilla did however redeem himself - after coming across as an old letch for most of the episode run, his final action was an act of sacrifice with honourable intentions; his demise was a powerful scene in a story that is at times quite hard to follow. Because of the art style, everything from characters to buildings and mechanical contraptions look unlike anything we’re used to seeing, in anime or elsewhere - I must confess I have trouble keeping of track of what is what at times.
Vanilla bows out in heroic style
Keeping track of who is who also presents an unusual challenge in Kaiba. The protagonist has inhabited three different bodies so far - I can’t recall another series in which the main character’s appearance changes completely on multiple occasions. He may even be Warp, the bad guy of the piece, who did some deplorable things - including acts of violence aimed against the girl who he’s been looking for since the first episode (another similarity I spotted that reminded me of the Total Recall movie). It’s possible I suppose that he is his own worst enemy in a very literal sense: the protagonist and antagonist could well be one and the same. After all, the name Kaiba is allegedly that of the memory-eating plant so I have my doubts that it’s his true name…unless he really is connected to the plant, or memory transfer, in some other way.
The body swapping that takes place raises more questions regarding who we are - in a world where the protagonist is indeed a few scraps of memory transferred from body to body, some characters encounter problems with the changes in physical form. Gel is a case in point: a consciousness that was originally female is inside a man’s body and as a result has problems with activities such as using the bathroom; I also noticed how surprised Kaiba was at what I’m guessing are ‘women’s problems’ when he’s obviously unused to inhabiting a body that runs on a different set of hormones. While these incidents are somewhat trivial (unless you’re the poor individual suffering from them, obviously), deeper ramifications were coming through.
Take for example Gel’s feelings for Chroniko (or, at the very least, Chroniko’s appearance) - a female who presumably was heterosexual when she had her original body is inside a male’s body…could this be the reason why she’s now starting to think like a male and find females attractive instead? Are the body swaps responsible for changes in what makes up the consciousness? It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if, because mind and body are supposed to be inexorably tied, unexpected and confusing results ensue when this tie is severed and replaced with something else.
Alternatively, a more…romantic? theory of mine is that Kaiba and Neiro shared some relationship in the past and, even though they now inhabit different bodies, they somehow recognised one another. After all, if the body can affect the mind, what if the mind can transfer mannerisms and other less tangible qualities through a different body and make that consciousness recognisable to someone else? When people talk of true love rather than physical attraction it stands to reason that what’s inside is going to be important to someone else, as well as what they look like on the outside.
When you have yet to lose EVERYTHING…
Because Kaiba is allegedly a romance, I suspect issues such as this will form the core theme of the story; of course there are plenty of incidentals that crop up in the process, such as the nature of the sci-fi setting, which I’m pleased to see are being addressed and examined thoroughly as the series progresses. Not only does this show have the potential to be the most innovative offering of the year so far, with one of the most beautiful op and end theme tunes into the bargain, it also has the potential to be the most emotionally powerful too. Yuasa and Madhouse (whose official site, by the way, has a downright cool animated design and makes me wish I could read hiragana more fluently) have created something truly extraordinary here.
Posted on June 8th, 2008 @ 7:16 pm
The death scene with Vanilla and Chroniko’s corpse was just wonderful. Especially the floating boot afterwards. With so many visually overwhelming scenes (like the drunken revelling)preceding it, to be able to go to such a visually simple and sincere emotional moment and have it hit home shows how the directors can make Kaiba a romance as well as a disconnected nightmare. I thought the scenes with Gel were amusingly adolescent, though I’m guessing the physical/mental attraction thing might be best being left ambiguous.
Posted on June 9th, 2008 @ 12:38 am
@coburn: that one shot of the floating boot sums up what makes visual entertainment work: a (moving) picture telling a thousand words and then some. The scenes between Gel and Chroniko/Kaiba had a lot of unsaid feelings - like you said, tantalisingly ambiguous which works better I think.
I also thought the question “what would Chroniko want?” was interesting - Kaiba was obviously feeling a kind of responsibility towards the former owner of the body he was using…an interesting point that I’m now kicking myself for forgetting about when writing the post! Hopefully I’ll write more about that next time because it really felt significant in regards to the whole identity concept.
Posted on June 11th, 2008 @ 2:50 am
I also like analyzing Kaiba because it’s so simple yet has deep meaning to it
I still need to watch 2 and onwards though
Posted on June 11th, 2008 @ 5:35 am
This is a beautiful combo Kaiba entry.
“I was surprised at myself for feeling a sense of loss at the end of ep 7″
I love that you expressed your emotional response to this episode, because I think the series compels its audience to learn not from just the contents being conveyed, but also from their own deeply personal reactions to it.
Kaiba is thus far unknowable as a character because of his lack of memories and any perceived idiosyncrasies, therefore he is able to assume different bodies without warranting any noticeable disparity between individual personality and host body. If Kaiba were to have a more distinctive personality from the get go, then his disposition in itself would be able to stand on its own as a character and clash with certain bodies. But because of the lack of these things, we are more inclined to identify him with any current body that he is using. And this metaphysical slip-and-slide aspect of Kaiba [how hard it is to keep track of identities when everyone is hopping from body to body] can probably be woven into the bigger themes of the series in so far as the transcending of the human body and the meditation on the intangible things that make up a human being.
Once again, wonderful entry. Gems of thoughts. <3
Posted on June 11th, 2008 @ 6:51 pm
@blissmo: for your own sake, please keep watching! Episode 3 is fantastic but it starts making a bit more sense after that too.
@itsubun: thanks! ^_^ I’m intrigued that the show is using a protagonist who is so clueless, impassive and faceless (in that he has several faces from episode to episode) - he’s not so much the hero of the story as a ‘representative’ for the viewer; we know as little as he does so he’s conveying the confusion and wonder that we’re feeling as we watch it. That ‘blank canvas’ type of character certainly does allow him to slip from body to body - I agree it would feel odd to see someone go from young boy to hippo to cute girl otherwise.
I can’t wait to see what form he ends up in next though!
Posted on June 18th, 2008 @ 7:40 pm
Kaiba definitely seems intent on addressing as many topical issues regarding its bizarre status-quo as possible. Gender has been one I’ve been eager to see touched on – especially with Chroniko’s body being a major (it feels odd to call it this) ‘vehicle’ in the journey – so the strange romance in episode six was fascinating. Particularly to see how the sex of their respective bodies affected their gendered behaviour. Neiro/Gel attempts a move on the submissive Chroniko/Kaiba and fumbles because it feels unfamiliar. How both characters seem innately aware for their love for one another, even though they’re superficially strangers, also suggests a ‘love that transcends all’ angle that I think Kaiba-the-romance-anime looks to pursue.
I’m eager to know more about why Warp seemingly executes Neiro in that wee memory vignette Chroniko/Kaiba views. The fact that his body doesn’t have the hole in the chest is very curious – it probably marks the point where Warp/Kaiba becomes an amnesiac and in turn not an evil bastard. We’ll no doubt learn more in subsequent episodes.
One thing I disagree on (mostly from the comments rather than the entry - I still luv u, itsubun <3) is the fact that the current Kaiba is a blank slate. He definitely seems to have a consistent sense of morality that influences his emotional responses to things, and you definitely get a sense of his ‘self’ regardless of the body he’s in. You’d think someone completely blank wouldn’t feel empathy or sorrow in the same way Kaiba has over the course of the series. I agree he doesn’t have any grand personality traits, but those minor bits of empathy suggest something more than a blank canvas. This in turn may well tap into another element of the ‘some things are universal’ idea – regardless of memory we have base characteristics like empathy and love that exist apart from experience. Things we generally associate with the soul rather than the mind, I guess.
Still, these little fragments of self could easily be a result of his experiences up to this point. There’s just not enough definites to form a concrete opinion on, which is why I’m enjoying the series so much. Good job on this post – I’m trying to catch up with all the entries I haven’t read yet and this was a stimulating start to a fairly daunting task!
P.S. Ditto on all the Vanilla thoughts, though I’ve always kind of liked the guy. His death was very upsetting…