Sunday May 4, 2008
Recovering lost memory
By MAKOTO FUKUDA
This unique anime that premiered last month in Japan will likely stay in viewers’ memory for a while.
THE broadcast of new anime has begun in Japan – the spring season’s crop numbers at least 40. Actually, many animated shows have been churned out year after year, leading me to wonder whether there is truly such a large demand for them. Manga, video games and novels have all been used as fodder for creating new anime, and these original works seem to continue being devoured by television viewers.
The anime are not very much different in terms of content. Bishojo, or pretty girls, are often the main characters, and many of the stories are set at schools or are medieval fantasy stories. You often can’t tell which is which unless you really carefully watch them.
But Kaiba, which started airing on April 10 on the Japanese commercial satellite broadcasting station WOWOW, is proving to be more unique than most.
Kaiba is set in a world where memories can be filed as data, and humans no longer regard the death of their physical bodies as the end of their lives.
The story revolves around the main character, Kaiba, who wakes up without his memory. While still in his confused state, a stranger attacks him, forcing him to flee in a spacecraft.
Kaiba stands out among the crop of new anime in Japan’s spring 2008 season. In the first episode, the story developed without giving viewers any explanation about the setting or the situation. This may sound rather unkind to viewers, but the lack of information smacks of sarcasm towards conventional anime that explain everything.
The producers must also be aiming to give viewers an opportunity to experience what memory-less Kaiba goes through.
Kaiba is directed by Masaaki Yuasa, who debuted as an anime director in 2004 with the film version of Mind Game. He attracted attention as an animator with his distinctive sense and expression of action in works such as Chibi Maruko-chan and Crayon Shin-chan.
He drew further attention with Mind Game, where he was lauded for combining live-action images and 2D and 3D animation to express the inside of the human mind.
Yuasa’s stylistic fingerprints are extensively evident throughout Kaiba, too. Simple but fascinating characters, which reminded me of those found in manga for children popular several decades ago, move around freely in a world whose status is unknown to viewers.
Anime fans will also be delighted with the popular voice actresses that are cast in Kaiba. Although they are not the type of artistes cast for so-called bishojo characters, popular names such as Mamiko Noto (Nodoka Miyazaki, Negima!) and Romi Park (Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist) are on the list. Meanwhile, Hoko Kuwashima (Clare, Claymore) voices Kaiba.
Kaiba’s name is also the Japanese word for “hippocampus”, a part of the forebrain which forms a section of the limbic system, and which plays a role in long-term memory.
The anime will give viewers an opportunity to enjoy Kaiba’s quest to recover his memory, while exploring metaphysical questions such as, “Do owners of the exact same memory be regarded as the same persons?” and “What would happen if there are many humans sharing the same memory?” – The Daily Yomiuri / Asia News Network
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