Crunchyroll Expo 2022

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea premiere

Crunchyroll Expo attendees were treated to a whopping four episodes of Polygon Pictures' newest work, Kaina of the Great Snow Sea. The manga began serialization earlier this year, with an animated trailer released in late July. Collaborative partners, Tsutomu Nihei and the Polygon Pictures, have worked together to bring the world of Kaina to life in CG. Although the series is set to premiere in January 2023, it promises a rich cast and a vast fantasy landscape. Members of the project's staff were in attendance at the panel, excitedly taking pictures of the crowd sitting in anticipation.

While most premieres show one or two episodes, the audience was treated to four. Likely the four episodes shown at the panel are not the final version as they seamlessly transitioned straight through without any episode cuts, or theme song pauses or breaks. At about an hour and fifteen minutes, the premiere played like a special rather than an episodic TV series. However, that didn't deter the story of Kaina from captivating the audience. For those who are skeptical of CG animation, Kaina might change your view on the medium. Early concept art of the setting and characters is reimagined flawlessly onto screen.

Given that the anime is a high fantasy series, there's no time wasted on world building. Thankfully, there wasn't a need to draw out the history of Snow Sea with exposition. The first episode started off with Kaina hunting a blue, orbital bug for food in an area high up in the sky. He's the youngest in a small group of elderly villagers living near the Celestial Membrane, an area high up in the stratosphere that acts as a film around the planet. The village resides near the top of an orbital tree, and their primary source of food and water are those blue bugs. Kaina is the only one who is able to hunt as the other five members are too old to climb the tree's higher branches to gather the bugs. After a successful hunt, Kaina comments that although the bugs help close the holes in the orbital tree, the holes are getting bigger while the population of the bugs begin to dwindle. The other members keep silent, but reveal that the tree is most likely dying. They voice their worries that Kaina will be left all alone as the rest of them will eventually die.

Down below at the base of the tree, Princess Ririha of Atlan and her knights desperately try to escape a Valgian ship. She is trying to reach a mysterious sage, who she hopes will help her people with their resource problems. The Valgan soldiers catch up and outnumber the small band, and begin to kill them one by one. Although her knights valiantly try to save her, only the general manages to push her into the basket of a float bug (which acts like a hot air balloon). She watches his brutal murder by two soldiers, but not realizing he left Ririha with his dagger.

Kaina, who is hunting for bugs on the Celestial Membrane, notices a float bug ascending through a hole in the membrane. He sees an unconscious person in the basket, and quickly runs over to separate the basket from the bug before it floats into space. He gives Ririha a hermetic suit as the oxygen is low in the area that they're in. Before bringing her to his village, he notices a green light in the distance. As the villagers help care for Ririha, who is still unconscious, When she comes to, she asks about a sage, to which they bring Old Man Billboard. He is unaware of any sage, and he is simply someone who collects all the old billboards. Even though he and the main character can read the words on various warning signs, they have no idea what it means as the surrounding villages all died out from drought.

Ririha introduces her country, Atland, as a small country at the base of the orbital tree. The villagers were surprised the Snow Sea had people, and vice versa. However, there are only six people left living near the Celestial Membrane. After the water dried up, their village became the last. Grimly, Ririha reveals that her country below near the Snow Sea is also on the verge of extinction. The endless ocean of snow is harsh, and only a limited area around the orbital tree is liveable. She explains that the Valgia, a floating country of powerful ships, plunder and steal water from neighboring countries. The war that's happening in the Snow Sea below needs to be resolved, but either way, the countries need to find a solution to the water shortage.

Because she made it up without finding the sage, she needs to find a way to go back down. She went to seek the sage based on a story her mother told her when she was a child. Apparently, the sage has magical powers and can create an endless amount of water. Yet, she doesn't know why she was seeking the sage up in the Celestial Membrane. Ririha desperately pleads to find a way to go back down the tree as there's a negotiation that is happening in a couple of days. Kaina mentions that even the villagers lack the means to scale down.

While they figure out a solution, Ririha learns more about the village and how they collect resources. After realizing she's been fed pupa soup and various other culinary bug delights, she expresses disapproval. Even though there are bugs below in the Snow Sea, they don't use it as food. However, the way they extract water from the bugs is the same. Both her and Kaina comment that the water output has been lowering in either case. As Kaina shows Ririha how to collect luminous shells, she's surprised to see it snows this high up in the tree. Meanwhile, the village elders are discussing the possibility of Kaina leaving, and trying to pair him up with Ririha. They hope things will happen naturally as they spend more time together.

When Ririha attempts to catch a nearby float bug, she slips down into a bug egg nest. A large bug, reminiscent of a dragonfly and a shrimp head, begins to attack her. Kaina manages to strike the bug before it becomes more aggressive. After hearing their story, the villagers chastise Ririha for going down into such a dangerous area. Breaking the tension, Old Man Billboard provides them with a bark carver, and a carabiner. There's no word for the tools in their language, but he remarks the tools are sturdy enough to help them to rope climb down into the Snow Sea.

Before they leave on their journey, the grannies took Ririha's measurements to make her new clothes. They joke that they prepared a wedding dress for her, when in reality they made a fitted hermetic suit for use during her travel back to the Snow Sea. Ririha voices concern over their well being, but they reassure her that they'll be ok for a while. Kaina gives Ririha the blade that fell out of her basket, and she realizes it belongs to the general who had saved her.

As they begin their climb down the tree, they encounter more giant orbital bugs. Kaina explains the bugs are not naturally aggressive and that they'll be fine if they leave them alone. The scene switches to action down in the Snow Sea. The Atland Calvary find a dead Valgian soldier and search the perimeter. Rumbling at the base of the tree shakes all the way up to the top. Kaina and Ririha realize a high branch fell off and Kaina is worried that it was part of his village. She convinces him it's just a dead branch as they hurriedly continue their way down.

Due to Ririha's urgency, they managed to scale down and lower their ETA from thirty days to three days. Kaina manages to spot a new bug that reminds him of a Candida fly. They rest, and Ririha gives him a bag that will help him to maintain buoyancy in the Snow Sea. Kaina and Ririha exchange stories about their parents. He tells her how he lost his parents as they were hunting eggs and his dad got killed by a giant orbital bug. That's why the elder yelled at Ririha for going near the bug nest. Ririha's mother passed away from an illness while she was young. Although their time was short, her mother told her a story about the sage who magically created the orbital tree, and how the Snow Sea will eventually engulf all of the land.

When Kaina asks Ririha about how she came to think that his village was a celestial forest, she brings up a mysterious green light. She first saw the green glowing object in the sky when her father took her on an expedition to cheer her up after her mother passed away. She snuck away to an area and got lost, but saw the light which showed her the brightness of the Celestial Membrane. Apparently, Kaina had never seen it until Ririha showed up. Ririha reflects that it might be a relic from the ancient times when the sage was alive, but it's possible he's not anymore. Kaina agrees with her, but she notices that he's just falling asleep.

At the base of the tree, the Atland calvary find the general's steed. It's been wandering for days, trying to find its master. After a mercy killing, the captain yells “Purge,” as his other knights follow. They raise their swords to release the seahorse's spirit and send it back to the gods. Once they complete the ritual, they drop the carcass into the Snow Sea.

Back to Kaina and Ririha, they've moved into the awkward reality of their situation. As they share a tight space together, Ririha tells him to turn away as she needs to relieve herself, and prays that Kaina “won't hear it.” He's soon distracted by a rainbow and turns her way, causing her to slap him in the face out of embarrassment. Luckily, he's caught by the rope and discovers a hollow area in the tree and rest inside. He tells her that the bugs help repair the tree and shouldn't overhunt them, leading Ririha to reflect that bugs and people are in the same boat. He catches a bug nearby and takes a bite out of it, much to Ririha's disapproval. There's a sign of their relationship growing closer as she suggests to Kaina that they should tell her dad about his village. Kaina notices it's the first time saying his name, and takes another bite of his bug.

Once they reach an area of warmth, Ririha takes off her hermetic suit and makes Kaina carry it. They go back outside from the hollow of the tree, and see that they've reached their destination. However, Kaina notices Valgian soldiers climbing the tree. General Amelothee, the leader of the Valgian ship, commands that they capture the princess immediately. Kaina's quick thinking saves both of them as they jump onto a float bug, as they'll stay afloat due to the bags Ririha gave him. They sink below the Snow Sea, and seelong roots extending far across. As the camera pans, a melodic background song plays as they ascend, with Ririha placing Kaina's mask on him for air. She teaches him to stay afloat in the water as he adjusts to the sea.

Despite valiant efforts from the Atland calvary, the Valgian ships catapult stones on top of them. The soldiers manage to capture the two and Ririha feigns passing out in order to stab the soldier. Kaina, holding a naive pacifist attitude, tells her not to fight or she'll die. In spite of his earlier words, Kaina points his weapon at the soldier but he's outmaneuvered by the ship's general. The calvary general engages in a sword fight with the Valgian general. As she lowers her helmet, she charges at him in her full suit of armor. General Orinoga is knocked down into a lower platform as she pursues him. His style of sword fighting is less agile than her fencing moves, and he's losing their fight.

Ririha assesses the situation and orders Orinoga to retreat with Kaina and take him to her father. As they escape, Amelothee lifts her helmet to reveal that she only received a scratch on her face from their battle. Once they reach the rest of the remaining members of the calvary, Kaina attempts to ride a Snow Seahorse. He gets a hold of it but witnesses a mercy killing of a seahorse that no longer has a master. Kaina shows them Commander Jarge's blade, and they demand to know what happened to its owner. They figure out quickly and head to Atland.

As they take Kaina to the King, the heavily dressed citizens take notice of Kaina, and comment on his weird clothing. The general informs the King of the situation, with the King's advisor warning him of Kaina. Because they've never met another person from the Celestial Membrane, they can't trust Kaina and think he could be a Valgian spy. Orinoga asks to be sent back to retrieve Ririha, but the King tells him not to sacrifice an entire country for one girl. He thanks Kaina for helping his daughter, but Ririha should've known the risks when she went out to seek the sage. After quickly introducing himself, Kaina gives the bug pupas as a souvenir from his village, which all the Atlandians flinch at.

While in his room, Kaina meets Prince Yaona—the younger brother of Ririha. They hear palace staff calling for the prince, but Yaona tells Kaina to keep quiet. Yaona assures Kaina the Valgians won't hurt his sister as she's their bargaining chip. He explains that Valgia is a mobile country that doesn't stay near an orbital tree. Kaina, who is new to their tense relations, naively suggests splitting the water with the Valgia so that they don't attack. But Yaona is taken aback by this idea. Valgia has a large population, and the water would run out anyway as there isn't enough to go around. Yaona reveals that his father puts the country before family, and that he's unlikely to surrender.

Kaina recalls how the roots of the orbital trees are spread out, but connected to each other. He suggests that they walk to the next nearest orbital tree. The bag he brought with him is filled with air berries, so they'll be able to walk underwater. Yaona comments that the Celestial Membrane has “some cool stuff.” They begin to travel in a secret underground route out to the Snow Sea as the castle guards are on the lookout for the both of them.

The episode draws to a conclusion with a lingering show of a Valgian ship navigating through the water with Ririna on the ship.

As the video cut to black, the audience were on the edge of their seats. Before ending the panel, the panelists raffled off a couple of shikishi signed by the animation staff. The lucky winners happily took their signboard home, but everyone left Hime Stage contemplating what will happen to Ririha.