When was the last time you thought about circus, and it sent a chill down your spine and made the smiling clowns abhorrent? For me, it was back in 2018 when Karakuri Circus started airing.
Twisting the cliché theme of ‘smiling’ and bringing more to it than you might expect, Karakuri Circus is coming back.
Sentai has licensed the anime adaptation of Kazuhiro Fujita’s manga, Karakuri Circus, for its release on Blu-ray Disc and will be hitting home video in Spring 2021.
Directed by the director of Trigun, Satoshi Nishimura, Karakuri Circus was hailed as one of the best series of Fall 2018.
And if the character designs look familiar to you, that is because Takahiro Yoshimatsu (2011 Hunter X Hunter) also worked on the series.
Despite having such big names working in the production of the anime, the adaptation of one of the greatest classic manga failed to leave its mark in the anime community due to the fast pacing and poor execution of the plot.
Studio VOLN tried to adapt the 42 volumes of manga into 36 episodes, resulting in the messy execution of a plot full of creative and entertaining ideas.
The fast-paced nature of the series failed to provide the wide cast enough screen time, and it breezes through them so quickly that a few of the character deaths failed to hit with the impact they deserved.
In the face of having terrible narrative and build-up, the battle shonen between mechanical puppets even received a mobile game and an inspired stage play.
If you are a fan of circus motif and/or are afraid of clowns, the series does a pretty good job of adding to that atmosphere and will capitalize on different elements of circus, presenting lots of unique puppets as the nemesis.
The visually pleasing designs with classic ‘90s aesthetic and a well-suited OST which can twist your comedic and joyful look of the circus.
If this line sparks interest within you and a 42 volume manga is too big of a commitment, then you should definitely check out this anime!
About Karakuri Circus
Karakuri Circus is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiro Fujita.
It was serialized in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine from July 1997 to June 2006, with its chapters collected into 42 volumes.
The story is centered around a young boy named Masaru Saiga, a young boy who inherits a massive fortune and aspires to become a puppeteer, Narumi Katō, a kung-fu expert who suffers from Zonapha syndrome (a strange illness that stops his breathing unless he makes people laugh), and Shirogane, a silver-haired woman and Masaru’s caretaker who controls the puppet Harlequin.
They must fight against the battling automatons (auto-mannequins) and save the world from the Zonapha syndrome.
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