For some reason I’d not been keeping up with Kaiba after the first episode. Hitmen and adorable kittens caught my eye instead. But I’m up to episode four now, and so a few comments:
Unlike some commentators, I’m actually preferring the move to the episodic tales of life on other planets we get from episode 3 (and to some degree Butter & Kochu’s tale in episode 2). The sci-fi concept heaviness of the first two episodes wore me down a bit, not being that big a fan of sci-fi. Episode 2 was particularly heavy in dumping ideas, without explanation, onto your lap.
The transition to a Galaxy Express 999 type of narrative – dipping into people’s lives to tell stories that reflect the series’ theme – made the sci-fi a bit more palatable for my tastes.
The Galaxy Express comparison extends further to the structure of course, both deal in the concept of self and loss of self. However Galaxy Express seems to put a greater tie between identity and your physical body. Kaiba has that some degree, however it puts much greater weight to the idea of memories being the root of identity. I want to say more, particularly some thoughts on how it relates to themes in Kemonozume, but I’ll wait until the end.
That’s pretty much all I have to say at the moment beyond stating the obvious – it looks far better than anything else this year, the love of gags shines through the fairly depressing nature of the stories and that Michio Mihara is an animating machine.