NoaIzumiAnime Review: Karin
January 18th 2009 05:04
Karin Maaka appears to be just another normal (if slightly klutzy) schoolgirl in Japan. But she’s actually a vampire, in a family of vampires, their true identity kept secret from humans. Karin is unusual even among her own kind, as she doesn’t suck blood, she makes it! When new student Kenta Usui transfers to her school, she discovers that he causes her blood-making problem to get ten times worse. On top of that, another new student turns out to be a vampire hunter with a special grudge against Karin’s family!
This is the anime adaptation of Chibi Vampire, and follows the manga fairly closely, at least at first. Karin meets Kenta, she reacts to him, he discovers her secret and agrees to help her. The rest of the family, Kenta’s mother, and Karin’s friend Maki are introduced as well, just as in the manga.
Then comes the end of episode six, and the introduction of Winner the vampire hunter. As a reader of the manga, I thought, “Enter blonde dude with a strange voice and big floppy pimp hat. And not only does he have no clue that Karin’s a vampire, he’s fallen in love with her. Oooooookay.” This is where the anime takes a total left turn from the manga. Gone are the subplots of Kenta’s father and vampire infertility and the half vampire-half human hybrid, and replacing them is the saga of Winner’s crush on Karin and his grandfather’s vendetta against the Maaka family.
I’ll admit I was unsure at first, and it didn’t help that utterly clueless Winner is kind of annoying. But it works. One effect of replacing the stories is that the anime series is much more focused, while retaining the main points of the manga. And vampire hunters had been mentioned in the manga, but never seen, so it is kind of cool to see the anime’s take on them.
The vampire mythology is retained, with vampires’ affinity for people with specific emotions being very important to the story. Little sister Anju’s awakening is given its own episode, and incidentally, I really like the way that they showed Karin and Anju’s relationship; it seems like they did a better job than in the manga. Karin’s grandmother again plays a key role, and is just as funny as in the books (the anime creators obviously agreed with me on how much fun she is to watch).
Winner’s infatuation with Karin, of course, adds a new dimension to Kenta and Karin’s relationship, and as a bonus, he’s involved in a subplot involving Karin’s friend Maki, who was a little neglected in the manga. The love triangle which turns into a love quadrangle is a pretty common thing in animes like this, and is fairly predictable, but it’s fun.
Great moments: As in the manga, there are a bunch of them, but the scenes involving Karin’s grandmother are among the best.
Summary: Fun romantic comedy with a vampire twist. Complements the manga very well. Grade: A minus.
Extras: Clean opening and closing, previews. Pretty standard.
Age rating: 14 and up. Less blood than in the manga, but more fan service (of the bikini and bath variety)
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