Tsutomu Niheis attempts at commercially viable narrative are even more offbeat than his overtly nonhuman work only in subtle infinitely funnier ways. On the one hand he doesnt look all that concerned with traditional narrative even when he really ishttps://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/20160826/knightsofsidoniamangakatsutomunihei/.105800 his character interactions tend to be a little stilted and his structure always steers away from convention somewhere. On the other regardless of genre he refuses to let go of his careerspanning imagery mutating seemingly stereotypical concepts into whatever the Polygon Pictures series end up capturing. Going through his current work feels akin to communicating with an alien thats trying to replicate human behaviour and he appears to be in on the jokehttps://anilist.co/manga/47368/BlameGakuenAndSoOn/. Its a little sad then that Kaina is such an alright show. 520https://externalcontent.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https3A2F2Fwww.play3.de2Fwpcontent2Fuploads2F20222F082FKainaandtheGreatSnowSeaCRXWeltpremiereKainaundRiriha.jpgf=1nofb=1ipt=9cb02ec8bc19033be3028d20be6dd42ed34001123601d1fcea17a979d784f0e8ipo=images The series is still offkilter enough. Despite a selfdescribed high fantasy setting all of Niheis obsessionsfrom TOA Heavy Industries to monumental orbital structuresshow up in one form or another accompanied by the strange sense of physicality that he creates through clothing gear and specific interactions between characters and setting. And in the middle of that theres two teenagers inexplicably engaging in the most bythebooks heterosexual romance possible as footballsized snowflakes levitate and ancient mecha emerge from the depths. In a selfaware fashion the anime lets these two tones bleed into eachother making a slapstick joke into a fit of realistic violence or interrupting a tense sequence with teen awkwardness in the most willfully jarring way possible. Its all part of the game thechnically and it does manage to create a neat sense of familiarity by staying consistent in its contradiction and using the characterswho remain supernaturally human through the absurdity of it allas a reference point. The larger the contrast the better it works which also means the series worst moments are the ones that blend too well and feel like a generically competent fantasy story. Said moments are more frequent than Id like either due to the show being a minor production or the team lacking an unhinged original comic to follow but not enough to make the experience boring. In the final episode when its getting somewhat close to that point The Graviton Beam Emitter makes a surprise appearance in what feels like a punchline to the whole fantasy story. Its at once funny meaningful and a perfectly appropriate ending to the action sure to make people looking for serotionin in any form of Nihei media who knew it would happen all along me shout HE DID THE THING and put on a dumb smile for a few minutes. Thats the show at its core: caf para los muy cafeteros an overly expensive treat for people who know what theyre going to get and are looking to get it along with some fantastic background work and cool worldbuilding ideas. If you find the romcom aspect funny or enjoyable because of the absurd circumstances around it you owe it to yourself to check out Knights of Sidoniahttps://anilist.co/anime/19775/SidonianoKishi/. If you already have this one cant hurt. 520https://externalcontent.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https3A2F2Fanimesgames.net2Fwpcontent2Fuploads2F20232F012Fooyukiuminokainaepisodio1animesonline.jpgf=1nofb=1ipt=164d385b77a34a99e82baa4849b4d7c8de2846e7ad1b0121333f9a162dba8a55ipo=images Thanks for reading You can comment on this review herehttps://anilist.co/activity/536413836. For what its worth I recommend checking out all of Tsutomu Niheis manga starting with BLAME which influenced a lot of amazing creators and finding what your favourite flavour of his work is. If it turns out you only enjoy the more audienceaverse stuff the BLAME ONAshttps://anilist.co/anime/1055/Blame/ are definitely the thing for yout