Karin

This is mostly a test of the integration of Picasa2 with Blogger.

But I'll use this opportunity to write some impressions of the anime Karin.

Karin (Episode 1, fansub)
Anime and manga always provides an opportunity for unique and frequently bizarre plots that you don't encounter anywhere else. Take for example Midori no Hibi (Midori Days), the touching story of a boy and the girl who, um, became his right hand. The thing is, as the humerous yet frequently touching (no pun intended) Midori no Hibi shows, many times the anime/manga creators make these bizarre plots work, and work well.

After watching a fansub of the first episode of Karin, it is too early to tell how well the plot of this show will work. However, it certainly fits in the "odd" category. Karin (pictured above) is a school girl who comes from a family of vampires - a fairly normal plotline. Unlike the rest of her family, she is a bit of a reverse vampire - can't see well in the dark, likes being out in day light, and is generally lacking in most vampiric powers. Oh, and instead of needing to intake blood she makes blood - in vast quantities that manifests itself in a geyser of a nosebleed that pretty much splatters blood everywhere.

So far the series is pretty much pure comedy, as you may guess with the setup. Karin's parents are slapstick comic relief. There are hints that there may be some more serious underlying elements, but at this point it is hard to tell where they will go with the plot.

The character designs are decent, but the only ones that really grabbed me were Karin's overly violent aristocratic mother and her subdued younger sister.

I'll probably watch one or two more episodes to form an idea if this is one I want to look for if it gets licensed.

Content ratings (out of 5)
Comedy: 3 - Enjoyable humor, but nothing laugh-out-loud
Character Designs: 3 - Pleasant, but nothing really grabbed me
Gore: 2 - Not much in the way of gore, except when the nosebleeds come there is a lot of blood.

BTW, the idea of the content ratings is not to give an overall "score" or somesuch nonsense. Instead, I will list the common anime things in whatever I am giving my impressions of, and the quantity/quality of it. So, it will be different from show to show. A ninja drama may have gore, fights, etc, while a mahou shoujo could have kawaii (cuteness), comedy, etc. Really, it is more of an attempt to give an impression of what kind of show I feel it is, and how well I feel it does at being that kind of show.