Kaina of the Great Snow Sea

A great ambition of an original high/epic fantasy world, ultimately marred at the shortcomings of its own plot. When it comes to original anime made out from celebrating anniversaries, these shows are not as worthy as one would expect, especially if you take a look at the past few years of hits and misses. And in this season, there is just one like it: Ooyukiumi no Kaina a.k.a Kaina of the Great Snow Sea, created by Tsutomu Nihei of Blame! and Knights of Sidonia fame to celebrate the 3DCG studio Polygon Pictures's 40th anniversary. And for better or for worse, it came out rather decent. Fans ofTsutomu Nihei would immediately recognize the trademarks of the famed mangaka in developing caustic settings of impeccable atmospheric craftsmanship as seen in both Blame! and Knights of Sidonia, but to the average viewer, both shows may very well be ahead of its time as it was released in the early 2000s to mid-2010s respectively. And his latest work in the form of Ooyukiumi no Kaina is, to my eyes, no different at all: a "boy-meets-girl high fantasy" set in a world where land is being swallowed by the encroaching Great Snow Sea. This world that the endless Snow Sea covers all of the lengths of a typical ocean, is located at the foot of the Orbital Spire Trees, beneath the organic membrane called the Canopy, where the Spire Trees have been dying out with the villages that rely on them for survival, with the young man Kaina's own village believing that they are the last remaining tribe. Beneath that on the surface, it's a war between the rivaling countries of Atland and Valghia, typical fantasy stuff, and it's where this girl, the Atlandian princess Ririha, wanting to seek help from someone called the Sage to protect her country from the barbaric aristocrat nation of Valghia, meets Kaina and sets off on a journey to travel around the vast world to uncover its secrets. The whole premise of the show can be boiled down to as such: a war of killing, just for water. You see, the Canopy where Kaina and his tribe that was somehow managing to stay sane for survival, legend has it that the Sage is rumoured to be able to create water to end this conflict, but it's a disappointment that it turns out that the legend is nothing more than a demystifying myth. And this to Ririha, catching a Floater on the way up to see the Sage, this one-way journey is nothing but a waste, and she has no choice but to make her way down from the Canopy onto the Snow Sea where her country of Atland resides, where the aggressive pinning from the Valghian military that's led by the Admiral and General Amelothee is ruthless to say the least, conquering other smaller nations for water and coming up short, with Atland being the next best possible nation to finally end their drought. Of course, on the way down, there's a treasure trove of secrets yet to be discovered of the vast world that is the Great Snow Sea, and together with Kaina and the companion that is Ririha's brother Yaona, the survival of the trio to save their land and avoid conflict at all costs, hones in the massive stakes of whatever the Valghians have in mind to force Atland into surrender. Kaina is an easy-going young man, but he's a bit in a recluse from being in the Canopy too far long, simply because the outside world is too dangerous to be roaming around, let alone to harvest any kind of resources so that his small tribe will have enough to go by. Compare that to Ririha, her vast nation of Atland is thriving right at the base of the Great Orbital Spire Tree that's full of life (until the Valghians surmised the invasion attacks), and she's the central scapegoat of the entire debacle of the race to provide water, despite being the strong and courageous princess to do what she needs to do. And apart from some of the notables like her brother Yaona and the rest of the people whom the trio meet on the way to have a small bond (such as the Valghia Brotherhood), there isn't really much to note that in the war of good vs. evil, it's tropes as heck, and for the par of the course, it's decent enough but nothing special. To be honest, I didn't even know that Polygon Pictures were around for this long, 40 years it's been a heap of nothingness, because there is just nothing noteworthy to come out from the 3DCG studio, apart from producing the aforementioned Knights of Sidonia and the Ajin series to much fanfare. In reality, 3DCG in anime wasn't even something that was noteworthy at the time, that with the release of the much acclaimed Houseki no Kuni from studio Orange, begun the era of 3DCG criticality on any show that is produced by studios like Polygon Pictures. For one, this show is exactly what I've come to expect from the studio trying its best to flourish the 3DCG style that its very own thing, and the visuals look nice indeed, plus the CGI isn't all that bad...or rather, I've pretty much gotten used to this distinct style. The music is fairly good in spots...that overall, even if made by the venerable HiroyukiSawano, it just came out decent. I especially liked Yorushika's OP "Telepath", despite the repeated punctuality beats of the piano instrumental that once the song gets going, it grows and magnifies into the catchy and upbeat song of its own. GReeeeN's ED "Juvenile" however, just sounds like a typical J-pop B-boy band's kind of song that just didn't quite fit the mood of the series, and this was easily skippable and forgettable. Well, what can I say? For a 40th anniversary show, it definitely shows how much Polygon Pictures have come this far in the AniManga space, but yet again, it only starts showing around the mid-2010s and even now, still gains a polarizing reception on the effective use of 3DCG in the anime realm. Sadly, Ooyukiumi no Kaina a.k.a Kaina of the Great Snow Sea was a show that had both start and end points, but just couldn't decide on how to deliver the show in a better contrast that's based off of Tsutomu Nihei's idea, and ended everything on an amicable note. If you ask me, this show is forgettable at best, and legends like Tsutomu Nihei have long past outlived their prime when it comes to the writing prowess of a story that could hook the audience from start to finish. Try this only if you feel like experiencing something that's out of the ordinary, but I won't place my bets on it that you could last all the way through. And if you do, catch the sequel movie that's coming out later this year.

Ooyukiumi no Kaina is the biggest surprise of the season for me. I notoriously hate CGI and 3D anime, but when I saw Sawano and Yamamoto on the OST it was a must watch instantly. I’m glad I did because the sense of adventure and wonder that this show has is something I have not felt in a long time in anime. Kaina honestly took me back to being a kid and watching stuff on Toonami after school. Post-apocalyptic worlds and societies are always some of my favourites. This is such a rich, diverse and wonderful world that is full of mystery. Every single weekI was left wanting more of this. 25 minute episodes went by in what seemed like seconds and questions that were answered turned into more questions. I wasn’t familiar with this author before this anime, but I certainly am now and he will get my view on anything else he puts out. Seriously one of the most talented people at creating a world that absorbs you. I really appreciate that the show doesn’t spoon-feed you everything either. You actually have to use your brain and think about what’s going on in the world and that’s such one of my favourite things with writing. Show, don’t tell. It became apparent during the midway point of the show that there was no way 11 episodes would be enough for this. There’s just too rich a world, too many questions, etc., to be answered so soon. A movie has been announced that will continue the story and honestly I don’t even think that will be enough so hopefully we will see more of this franchise soon because it has all the makings of a classic for me. Going back to the animation, like I said before, I am usually against CGI. I didn’t watch Beastars or Trigun remake or anything else that was CGI heavy, but this was not bad at all for me. I honestly forget it’s CGI most of the time and the characters/story are just so good that that’s my main priority. I’d say if you’re like me and don’t normally like 3D animation to just give it a try, Polygon Pictures did some great work here and you will not regret it! The fights are well done and character models are really nice. Music is incredible as you’d expect. Yamamoto and Sawano snapped as always. The OST provides such a boost in atmosphere in every scene and heightens the impact of scenes. I think we throw the term “underrated” around a lot, but if there’s one series that truly is underrated and slept on this season, it is this. Ooyukiumi no Kaina gets 8 lights out of 10.

It is not good. All it has going for it is beautiful visuals and initially intriguing, if nonsensical, world building. The main problem facing humanity is lack of water, though the world is almost entirely covered with ... water -- the titular "snow sea," which is fluffy on the top and simply water underneath .... The longer you watch, the less sense it makes, though it initially seems very interesting. The plot, such as it is, is one you've seen a million times, and there are basically 2 characters: bad guys are simply misguided except for the ridiculously over - the - top main villain.Good guys are bland, sweet, occasionally "cutely" obnoxious, "quirky," and dumb as dirt. All this said, I nevertheless enjoyed watching it until the final 3 or 4 episodes as it ground exhaustingly to its inevitable conclusion, yet once it was finally over, I was disgusted at the time wasted. I can't rate it one star because of the beautiful visuals and how the cliched story was adequately executed, but I can't recommend it to anyone.

I wish there were 1/2 ratings on this site. Because I'd like to give this a 6.5/10. I have given it a 6 because I tend to rate "down". I didn't find the anime "good" but I did find it a bit better than "fine". I wasn't a huge fan of the animation style, I can sort of see why they went with it for the atmosphere that they were trying to convey, it's just not a style I'm a huge fan of. For work WITHIN the style I think they did pretty okay. The background score was fitting thoughnot outstanding, and the voice acting was quite good. The pacing seemed to drag in some areas, but then other important sequences felt a tad rushed. I did like how they animated the body language and facial expressions of those making a tough decision, either one they made instantly or agonised over. Honestly the kinetic portrayal of thought and emotion was well done throughout. Where the show falls down is in the world. There's a rich world there, and there are hints towards a lot of it, but some things are just totally unexplained, and they're kind of important things. Other things are just handwaved away. This is what really lets the story down. Without a foundation for the story to happen in parts of it are just like badly fitting jigsaw pieces. Something strange happens and you're "This will be explained sometime right?" but nope. Objectively this is probably worth a 7/10, but subjectively for me I rank it 6.5 and drop it to a 6 rather than bumping it up. If it was 1-2 episodes longer with a few minutes here and there to fix up some of the pacing and building issues. Fantastic. I'd basically say it was a great concept and idea for a story, told mediocrely. Your mileage may vary.