Karas: Difference between revisions

{{work}}

 

 

The plot is centered around Otoha, the new Karas of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Each city has a single Karas, humans empowered by a contract with the "Will of the City" to protect it. Oh, and each can transform into a sword-wielding knight, a jetplane, or a car-tank.

What makes Shinjuku more interesting is that its ''previous'' Karas, Eko, has decided that the city has been corrupted by humans, and intends to "cleanse" them from the land. To that end, he has created ''mikura'', [[Youkai|demons]] bonded to machines. Most of the first half of the series involves Otoha tracking down and destroying these ''mikura'', leading up to the final battle against Eko for the future of the city.

 

 

Backed up by the near-constant presence of a soundtrack performed mainly by the Prague Symphony orchestra, infused at points with techno beats, the OVA series works to deliver emotionally as well as visually. According to the Other Wiki, reception was somewhat mixed based on the main characters being "underdeveloped". The first two episodes focused mainly on presentation and action, which is a long time to wait for the actual plot in a six episode series. Beautiful and spectacular as the presentation may be.

----

 

* [[Aborted Arc]]: Remember how it looked like the humans had some sort of connection to the story at the start?

*** More like the extended conscious of a [[Genius Loci]] or something

* {{spoiler|[[Calling the Old Man Out]]}}

'''Otoha:''' ''You're the only one who calls me a monster... {{spoiler|'''Father'''}}!'' }}

* [[Car Fu]]: More like plane- and ''tank''-fu, but the idea is the same. {{spoiler|Nue manages a particularly fancy example, using a hail of gunfire to distract Tsuchigumo before ramming her with his motorbike... ''out of a window halfway up a skyscraper''. Unfortunately for him, spiders are very good at climbing.}}

* [[Catgirl]]: This is how the "Will of the City" is manifested.

* [[Comic Book Adaptation]]: A rare instance where the first American DVD came packed with a small comic book tie-in published by Dark Horse that explained the story's main conflict, as opposed to a tie-in manga.

* [[Conspicuous CGI]]: Not quite averted, but well enough integrated that its about as close as we're going to get.

** Pretty much any time there's a transformed karas onscreen, it's CG. While some parts are conspicuous, much of it isn't as noticeable.

* [[Cute Mute]]: Sagisaka's daughter, Yoshiko. Subverted, in that she's catatonic after surviving a horrific demon attack.

** And just plain presumed to be insane for SAYING a demon did it. The catatonia is partly implied to be caused by the attempts to treat her. She'd probably be better off in a world [[There Are No Therapists|without therapists.]]

** Until he becomes a true Karas, and picks up that nifty gold & black costume.

* [[Deadly Doctor]]: Otoka isn't actually a doctor, but he helps patch up the demons, so they call him "Doctor Karas."

* [[Disability Superpower]]: Otoha, as a mere human, has CIP (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain), which is why he can't feel pain.

* [[The Ditz]]: Hinaru. The director said he designed her to represent the noblest aspects of rural folk trying to make it in the big city.

* [[Eye Scream]]

* [[Fan Disservice]]: Tsuchigumo provides a ''lot'' of this. Which is sort of fitting, seeing as she's also [[Ms. Fanservice|the show's primary provider of straight-up fanservice]].

* [[Ho Yay]]: Otoha and {{spoiler|Reiji}}.

** {{spoiler|They were going to move to New Zealand together!}} ''AND''

* [[Kudzu Plot]]: The primary complaint about the series. It takes more than one viewing to get a really good idea of what's happening.

** First episode especially. Despite being really awesome.

* [[Light Is Not Good]]: The main villain is themed entirely around white, shininess, and light. He's also a [[Complete Monster]], and has no traces of any morality {{spoiler|except in his backstory}}.

** And that's what pushes it into [[Fridge Brilliance]] territory.

* [[Not So Different]]: A very subtle, but genius example. {{spoiler|The main character and the main villain are ''exact opposites''. The main villain started out as a hero, but became a monster. The main character was a mafia hitman before becoming a hero.}}

* [[Oedipus Complex]]: {{spoiler|Eko, who sees the city as a father-figure and Yurine as a mother-figure}}.

* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: The Mikura are predators in human guise who feed on the blood of mortals, which is pretty standard for vampires. They're also technosorcerous [[Transforming Mecha]] inhabited by spirits from Japanese mythology, which is... less so.

* [[Parental Incest]]: {{spoiler|Otaha's}} father/brother.

* [[Paranormal Investigation]]: Kure and Sagisaka work as Shinjuku's sole paranormal police task force, making them a bit of a joke to the rest of the police.

* [[The Quisling]]: {{spoiler|The mayor.}}

* [[Rule of Cool]]: The series uses this all the time, especially when it comes to the monsters and transformations.

* [[Scenery Gorn]]: {{spoiler|The lovingly-detailed destruction of Shinjuku}} is all about this.

* [[Yakuza]]: {{spoiler|Otoha}}

* [[Youkai]]: Are invisible, but possess a symbiotic relationship with humans. As humans stop believing in them, they start to get sick.

** She actually quits the reporting job after the incident. Wanted to start fresh.