"Hardly The Greatest Show On Earth"

This particular entry may come off as a mite bit odd to some of my more long-time readers.  The last time I was down at the bookstore, I saw that the manga version of Karneval had released in English.  However, unfortunately, I did not have enough time to read it before we had to leave.  So I decided to content myself with watching the anime, which I knew had been released in English by Funimation.

In a strange, European-inspired world, a mysterious organization known as Kafka seeks to accelerate the evolution of humanity into high-powered monsters called Varrukas through drugs.  The national defense force known as Circus seeks to stop them.

A mysterious boy named Nai, searching for his lost patron, carries with him a bracelet-shaped ID from circus when he meets hard-hearted thief Gareki.  Suddenly pursued by a Varruka, they quickly encounter Circus and begin searching for both Kafka and the missing patron.

The voice acting in this anime is passable, particularly its use of Greg Ayres as Gareki and two voice actresses from Haganai (Sena's and Kobato's).  Story and action-wise, it reminded me pretty much of almost Black Cat meets Sakura Wars.

Perhaps I should clarify: Circus is called Circus because, for some reason, in addition to keeping the peace, they also see fit to put on parades and stage shows and such-like for the populace of wherever they happen to touch down.  But, unlike Sakura Wars, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with increasing their spiritual powers for combat.

Maybe it's because I didn't watch every single episode back-to-back, or maybe it was just the limitations of it being condensed into a single 13-episode anime season, but I didn't really feel like I could connect to any of the characters.  It was good to see Gareki starting to find a purpose, but that was about it.  Most everyone's backstories and motivations felt more than a little cliched, and the battle sequences weren't really anything to write home about.

If you liked Black Cat enough, then maybe you would feel some attraction towards this awkward knockoff.  Don't get me wrong: I did enjoy Black Cat, but Karneval (if you'll pardon the pun) simply fails to perform to their standard.