Kaina of the Great Snow Sea

Episode 8

Beggars can't be choosers, and that's how Kaina, Ririha, and Yaona find themselves escaping Valghia's hook-handed clutches in a boat that doesn't meet the bare minimum semantic requirements for something to be called a “boat.” Let's be real; it's a raft. It looks like it was cobbled together with driftwood. And it probably was.

It's also, however, a very kind parting gift from the Valghian street urchins, who put their faith in Kaina and his passing familiarity with the great spire tree. I think our heroes escape the mobile fortress way too easily for renegades who showed themselves to the Admiral in broad daylight just a few hours ago, and that's consistent with my general dissatisfaction with Kaina's ability to make and maintain stakes. Their departure, though, hits a familiar emotional touchstone. It's sketched out rather than full-bodied, but the Valghians let them in on their rite of passage, and that feels like a small yet genuinely human moment.

The episode picks up for me once they're at sea. I like the boat scene, because it strips the show down to its uncanny appeal. The character work is clumsy, and I don't think flashbacks to events from six or so episodes ago have the emotive power the writing thinks they do. However, all the spoken and unspoken details add to this world's atmosphere. Their boat, for instance, clearly has some kind of advanced propelling mechanism, but nobody so much as alludes to what it is. I like to see that kind of confidence in sci-fi/fantasy stories. Their concerns about navigation also ground the story. It's easy to take sea travel for granted in the modern age, but learning to read the currents, winds, and stars was a huge, civilization-defining element for humans across the globe. While Kaina's still not the greatest at putting its characters in believable peril, the prospect of going adrift in the Snow Sea is one of the direr scenarios it's come up with.

The blunt, almost slapstick way that Yaona almost drowns does Kaina good on that front too. This feels more like a Tsutomu Nihei scene, where something stupid like tossing and turning in your sleep narrowly avoids becoming a death sentence. It drives home the precariousness of their voyage home, and of their overall journey, better than any amount of human conflict or pontificating. Whatever the Snow Sea actually is, humanity's relationship with it mirrors our current one with the oceans. It's a frontier we'll never be able to fully trespass into. It's an expanse that demands respect at all times, and that punishes with egalitarian cruelty.

All that said, Kaina and the others find their way safely to Atland in the end. If I were writing the story (and if original anime series were still allowed to get more than one cours at a time), I would have preferred some more adventures adrift to help breathe life into this world and these characters. Presuming, however, that Kaina has only twelve or so episodes to work with, then I can understand the narrative not wanting to dally. And after a happy but tense family reunion, Ririha points Kaina towards their next destination:

The episode ends with an extended sauna scene, and although it's played as a comedy scene—a treat after several episodes of a high seas rescue mission—it's more troubling than fun. First of all, the concept of a sauna in a world where water is a dwindling, precious, and war-instigating resource seems insane to me. It's not like human history isn't full of wealthy people flaunting their extravagances in times of need, however, so if this is a way of exposing Atland's privilege and endearing me even more to Valghia scrappiness, then kudos. Mission accomplished. The conversation between Kaina and Ririha also emphasizes how little chemistry they have, despite being the story's romantic focus. When Ririha thanks Kaina for rescuing her, it feels less like an awkward flirtation and more like a reminder of how much she was damseled in the previous arc. Truthfully, all of these characters are underutilized irrespective of gender, so that's not a specific knock on Kaina's biases.

I suppose it's telling that I like this anime the more adrift and aimless it acts. When it's on the narrative's rails, the inconsequentiality of the plot to date is that much more obvious and disappointing. When it's meandering and showing us the weird little corners of this setting, it endears me towards what makes this ecosystem tick.

Rating:

Kaina of the Great Snow Sea is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Twitter while it lasts. While he enjoys writing about cartoons, he is currently looking into becoming a post-apocalyptic bug hunter. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.