If I was to sum up this show in one word, it might just be “whiplash”. I guess that’s a natural end-product of cramming such a massive manga into such a frankly inadequate number of episodes. I appreciate that Fujita-sensei is involved in that process, just as he was with Ushio & Tora, but while I certainly respect his choices there’s only so much he can do when Karakuri Circus is considerably more volumes of manga compressed into fewer anime episodes than itself-compressed UshiTora.
To say that this narrative is careening wildly all over (and off) the map is an understatement, and it took another hairpin turn this week. Yet this episode worked for me, perhaps as well as any so far in the series. Some of that no doubt is because, while the content was yet another twist in the road, the episode itself was paced much more manageably than most of them have been. But it’s also because that content was genuinely interesting, and added quite a bit to the framing of the main plot.
I’ll tell you this, too – it sure doesn’t hurt when you populate your backstory with some of the best seiyuu the industry has ever known. It turns out that the drop of aqua vitae given to Narumi-neechan was the last in the bottle, and “contained the soul of the person who made it”. We’ll chalk that up to the already as-long-as-your-arm suspension of disbelief tab Karakuri is running up, but it sure sets up an interesting flashback sequence. It’s the story of two brothers, Bai Yin and Bai Jin, played respectively by Seki Tomkazu and Furukawa Toshio, and the woman they both fall in love with, Francine. She’s played by Hayashibara Megumi herself, which certainly strengthens the suggested link between this story and the present.
Narumi is seeing this story because he’s absorbed the memories of the alchemist who made the aqua vitae, who I assume to be the elder brother, Yin. Both brothers are puppeteers and alchemists (a rare double major), trying to find a way to animate their works through alchemy. That leads them to the alchemical hotbed Prague, where they meet and fall in love with Francine. She’s an apple seller on the street, but it turns out she has quite a backstory herself – she came from France and may or may not be of actual nobility, but she’s gotten herself branded (literally) as a thief for stealing an egg to feed a sick child. Her generosity (which extends to all of Prague’s boundless poor) inspires Yin to give up on his own quest and dedicate himself to using alchemy (or other means) to help others. It also inspires him to propose, which doesn’t go over too well with Jin, who fell in love with Francine first.
Seki and Furukawa are both predictably great here, as is Hayashibara of course. Furukawa-san is currently playing Nezumi-otoko in Gegege no Kitarou, and it’s still almost unimaginable to me that he’s over 70 – his energy and vigor is tremendous. It isn’t hard to see where the story of the brothers is headed – that was clear when they met Francine. But I am interested to see if Narumi and Shirogane are literal reincarnations of Yin and Francine, or possibly descendants – the resemblance goes well beyond the physical to their very natures themselves.
Speaking of Shirogane, I guess we should start calling her Eleonore, because that’s her real name (which it was clear she must have once it was established that Shirogane is a title). We know this because as it turns out, Guy was actually her puppeteering instructor when she was a little girl. Yes, he survived the plane crash and in fact, he’s tagged along with the Nakamichi Circus as he recovers from his injuries. But Masaru has detached himself from it – convinced (with good reason) he saw Narumi in the wreckage, he’s gone off to find him – both for his own sake and that of Eleonore, who he knows is in love with Narumi. Any one of these might be headline developments in a normal series, but they’re just logs on the fire for one as batshit nuts as Karakuri Circus. But as long as it can deliver up eps as engaging as this one, I’m OK with that.
