Humanity is facing extinction. In a snow-covered world where water has become scarce, the last habitable lands are located at the feet of gigantic Orbital Trees scattered about the desolated Earth. According to a legend, there exists a sage who knows the secret to producing abundant quantities of water to save mankind.
Ririha, the princess of Atland, uses an organic hot-air balloon to climb to the top of an Orbital Tree in hopes of meeting her country's savior. Once she reaches the Canopy—an area that appears to be an infinite window of transparent ice—she meets Kaina, one of the last men alive on the Canopy. However, she can not find the man she was looking for.
Unable to return by herself to her country, the princess finds a helping hand in Kaina, who is eager to explore the surface world that he thought was empty. As Kaina learns about the war against Ririha's country, the antagonistic technologically advanced nation Valghia, and other perils of the surface, he realizes that his escorting mission will prove more difficult than he imagined.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Gsarthotegga
The way Kaina of the Great Snow Sea begins and the fantastical realization of its world oozes Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind vibes. I don't bring that up to say this is a "ripoff" or that such a thing would even be a problem. The main character wears a breathing apparatus outdoors and sports a spear gun for shish-kebabing gourmet insects the size of a poodle (before returning to his pod). The world's oceans—Snow Sea—consist of bubbly and slushy snow and curious critters—like if you were to run a bubble bath, but instead of a rubber ducky, you let a bunch of dolphinhorseys bob around. Additionally, massive trees stretch to the sky like orbital spires, and from their peaks, expands a bubble of ice that encloses the earth, and that is called the canopy.
These two fantasy works are similar in terms of the viewer adapting to a new and unusual ecology. The basics of snow sea girl meeting ice bubble boy and their blushing star-crossed lovers gag fest and the two going toe to toe with the evil black-clad meanie empire provide little deviation. I'd like this as much, if not more, as Nausicaä, but the problem? The visuals are ugly as sin. Nausicaä benefitted from fluid film-length animation, beautiful art direction, and a Joe Hisaishi score—not to mention Miyazaki's direction. As for the former complaint, this is CGI-inflected (rather, infected) 2D... that is, 2.5D. As is almost always the case, the characters and backdrops present an unfortunate mismatch. The bubbles flop around like a dated computer game, the flying creatures are stiff and poorly integrated, and anything large, such as the ships, the baddie fort, or any structure, are blandly textured eyesores. Only nice guy kingdom is at all pleasing to the eye.
A more thorough comparison would be to say it's a combination of Nausicaä and the infamous Waterworld! The ocean-based fantasy or dystopic sci-fi is rare, and Kaina is notable for carrying the torch, albeit in a more dignified fashion: we're not treated to edgy opening scenes like our hero tinkling into a water purification machine, but the story centers around water wars between the two sides. While there's a sense of urgency amongst the characters, the observed effects of a dwindling water supply are scant, other than water rationing once we get to the hideous raft fort that could have been pilfered straight out of Waterworld. Throwing in a kidnapping subplot, the suggestion of a sage and his panacea, and the reacquisition of written language, reading, and lost knowledge will sum up everything else.
The animation can range from stiff to having a solid amount of movement, but it always looks a bit lifeless and dull. Everything from character acting to swashbuckling sword fights to tree scaling to dolphin horsey races to 3D & nasty supersized insects leaves a worse taste in the mouth than the bug egg soup they slurp up at dinnertime. Let's just say no one will ever hold this up as an example of great animation. It's functional but does not hold any sway and, above all, has no soul whatsoever. Nothing about the composition or art direction is inspired. When they are climbing down the tree, the descent reminded me of a much more rapidly paced Made in Abyss, except that series benefits from Osamu Masuyama, who is well-known for his work as an art director on various Ghibli projects. By comparison, there's plenty of skin-crawling (often in the literal sense with how many bugs there are!) negative space and emptiness in Kaina.
Hisaishi manages to be accessible but still much more atmospheric and compelling than the stock sounds of most film scores. Kaina, by contrast, needs to improve in sound design as much as any other average anime, and its score tends toward simulacrum rather than sublimity. The music is meek for a series where people glide around on snow sludge on freaking dolphins! It's perfectly listenable and fits the scenes, but it tends to fall under "competent stock" music more often than sculpting a living, breathing atmosphere. The OP is pleasant enough, and the ethereal ambient tracks used during underwater sequences are more befitting of the mood than anything else.
Characters? The best swordsman and antagonist is a bipolar Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde configuration that has her shifting from the role of discount cat girl to an imposing black knight villain from medieval tales, brandishing a weebish katana because why not? The top dog is a cruel and possibly senile Captain Hook-type who kills people as part of a standup comedy routine—instead of "pull my finger," he says, "hold my sheath." Sporting blonde hair and turquoise swirls, the king has become known as King Tumblr and has a provocative and spicy verified Twitter account. The refugees who help our trio of protagonists look like a gaggle of goomba jesters from Mario's Mushroom Kingdom.
Usually, you would start by mentioning what the main characters are like, but there aren't any details to dissect. They have nothing to define them besides their character designs. These are some of the most innocent, sweet as honey, naive nincompoop character designs I've ever seen for mains. They look like perfect marks, and thieves would be tailing them instantly, so it's no surprise they get robbed for everything they're worth without effort. They're tall enough to be adults, but all grandmothers would instantly tousle their hair—no blood relation required.
The character interaction and story delivery style also don't bode well for an atmosphere-based work. It's silly and childish, and the sluggishness of the second episode is quite the potent sleeping pill, but later episodes aren't much of an improvement in writing or pacing. Episode 8, in particular, is filled with the most torturous, cliche, and tiresome "innocent couple mating ritual" starter pack (it's impossible to imagine they know humans can even give birth) and R&R vignettes I've ever seen in an anime. Only a few scenes stood out for me: when we first see what is beneath the surface of the snow sea when the two mains plunge into its depths, as well as when the main and the prince trudge through the sea on the roots. The world has potential, but it's a shame that all it offers is a novel world begging to be explored, yet we're distracted from it by the humdrum plotting and 3D & nasty visuals.
The ultra-basic good guy-bad guy setup, storytelling, and character dynamics are so predictable and unengaging that I pondered a toddler must have constructed the script from a storytelling 101 block set with the help of his parents. He'd put a block in place with text indicating "The hero begins his journey," "The hero meets his sweetheart," and "The feisty cat girl confronts and roars at the hero." His parents are like, "You can do it! Yay!" every time he gets a block in place, and he finishes putting Ooyukiumi no Kaina together. He's so proud when his parents congratulate him and reward him with milk and cookies for a job well done! The parents publish the result, and we get Kaina! This fabricated origin story is entirely believable to explain the cute-animal-wearing-a-propeller-cap ineptitude.
Tsutomu Nihei's involvement with the story is what piqued my interest. Thus far, any anime attempting to adapt his work has been a 3D & nasty monstrosity with no sense of atmosphere. Conversely, Kaina is an improvement over what I've seen from the Knights of Sidonia or Blame! adaptations, but it screams for the atmospheric craftsmanship of Nihei's best manga works. On the surface, this series looks fantastical, but the storytelling is too mundane to maintain any sense of wonder and the visuals too caustic to invite awe.
KANLen09
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.
Marinate1016
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.
jus7aguy
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.
Brightly_Lit
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.
Aragane
"Ooyukiumi no Kaina" is one of the most fascinating anime shows I've seen in a long time. This show follows the story of Kaina, a young boy who lives above an atmospheric layer that the residents call a Canopy. Weirdly similar to how our ozone is getting "holes," the same thing happens in this show. Maybe as a reference, or maybe as a soft social criticism, who knows. The world is filled with exploration opportunities. Although, sadly we have to wait for the movie sequel to get deeper into it. What sets this show apart from the usual fantasy anime is its unique take on theworld concept. Instead of getting another weird medieval setting, this world is filled with a post-apocalyptic setting. The people above the Canopy even cook bugs to survive. While the people below the Canopy go to war for the sake of fresh water. Every little aspect introduced builds this unknown world.
The animation in "Ooyukiumi no Kaina" is absolutely stunning. Everyone familiar with him knows that when Nihei Tsutomu is involved, they will need to use a CG anyway, so using 3D at the get-go does make sense. The opening and ending themes are also worth mentioning. There are not that many songs from Yorushika used in an opening scene. So anything that we get is greatly appreciated.
That much is what can be said at this time. More judgment is pending until the movie comes out.
Godslayer27
Set in a apocaliptic world where humanity is on border of extintion and drinking water is almost non-existent are the main bases for what is all about this series and the general conflics that surround all the plot. The settings are interesting and the world building is something that from the first episode hook you though as you move forward on the series you go discovering that the structure that follows is rather pretty predictible and in general terms i should say kinda lazy not only in story but also character wise which provoques losing their most stronger points instead of getting something withmore exploration on the surroundings and slowsly learning more about the lore as also developing the character in a manner much more mature it just follows an route that feel like you have watched before even started.
The first 2 or even 3 episodes started pretty well introduce us the main characters (kaina and ririha) and still i would mention that there was a farwell scene (early on the series) that felt very cold on the context that happened, we learn a little more of the story and just little after that went straight to the main matter with all the war thing, the truth here is that i just got bore (due to two things "direction" and "characters") even more on the last stretch which felt like the producer go out of ideas and just copy-pasted all the cliches possibles for the final (and last couple of episodes) which i couldnt even name it like that because this seems to not end here but on a movie that serve as secuel.
Also the fanservice on the series made his apparition with the piss scene that cannot miss ohh boy really didnt served to anything for the series but still its there not for less XD.
With kaina i feel the series maked him too naive and clueless (which i dont know if is the right word to describe it) but not even according to his age and the environment in which he grown up which maked for situations pretty frustratings along the series with ririha really dont have much to say you watched one character on the rol that she occupies (the cclasic princess) on this kind of genere and for 90% of the cases you have seen all of them (sadly).
Secondary characters i dont bother too much on talk about it with some that are presented kinda wise and everything to go taking stupids actions and actually being surpirsed on the last moments on how turned out (Hallesora), others that look cool have an misteryous aura and have an promising background to develop that is not even touch (Amerote) or the actual tyrant that i dont get how turned ruling an entire country without anyone realizing that the man was entirely fuckup and out of mind until actually the last couple of episodes which was in a way hilarious (Handagil).
Animation was good is an 3D CG anime with polygon pictures behind which i consider being one of the only studios that produce good series that are not 2d and still remain that vibe of traditional drawing for the characters and backgrounds, it might not be their best work or at pair with others like ajin or knight of sidonia but still at least on visuals looked pretty good.
Sound wise i didnt like the opening neither the ending the melodies were very dull and the soundtrack had some tracks that sounded like some compositions of Hiroyuki Sawano but even then just felt like an mere reproduction of it and didnt gave me the same excitement or evoque the same emtions on the moments that was used.
The experience overall of all the "package" you could say was meh at least on my case maybe because i have watched a lot of anime thats why the reason i just got feed up on seeing the same formaula again with little to no difference from many other ones sure maybe to newcomers give it a try you might like but still then dont expect anything outstanding.
fast2611
This forms a split cour with its followup movie, so I'll 'forgive' it the aprupt end one got watching this at release. First off, yes, its 3d, no, you should watch it anyway, you'll get used to it before they finished their first exposition dump This series greatest strength is its world building, instead of its characters, in fact, I'd like to call the world itself the main character. A higher suspension of disbelief will be required of you than of a hardcover book, but it does not rise to to the all too comnon level of continuing to fight with a stomach stab wound through thepower of friendship, thus I dont think this is a problem with the writing, as anime is a medium not unfamiliar with such over dramatization of what's physically possible.
Without spoiling the plot, I'd advise to pay careful attention to the unspoken visual worldbulding, As there wont be a omniscient narrator to hold your hand and make sure you don't miss something. Something I greatly respect this series for, but which likely is also the reason for the low audience score, cause let's face it, being expected to pay attention is a thing not usually expected from an animes audience.
Overall, decent show, greatly held back by its unusual look and trust in their audience's intelligence, although I must note that intentionally using the uncanny effect of bad liquid physics for the snow sea to make it terrifying to the viewer is a great show of artistic ability.
Another aspect that makes it obvious the people that made this cared to get it right is how both the sociological and environmental aspects of the world building is generally very clever and well telegraphed if you take a step back and think about this world from the perspective of the audience, instead of the characters.
If I may mention my favorite example that becomes relevant later into the story without spoiling it, the way the great snow chasm, something initially seeming utterly nonsensical, "works" is a great example of this. I do not wish to ruin the "aha!" moment for you, but feel free to DM me if you cant figure it out yourself after youre done with the followup movie.
paintpixie
This is a pretty fun anime. The concept is really interesting, and there weren't any times when I felt that the story was just dragging along for the sake of increasing the amount of episodes. The subsequent movie really adds to the lore if you want a bigger picture, but it isn't necessary to watch it if you're just looking for a short, simple anime to fit in between longer shows or if the world doesn't really interest you much. I like the two main characters. I think they're really relatable and likeable. I like many of the side characters. I think the villain is abit of a stereotype. (The villain from the movie isn't much better.) I also think the various cultures and people are interesting, in spite of being stereotypes, for the most part, as well. The world is interesting, and it leaves me wishing that I knew more about it.
The animation isn't that great, in my opinion, but the scenery and world-building do make up for it. The animation style does seem to fit the feel of the show, as it made me feel as though I were watching something unique and different. The music is also pleasant.
Overall, I would recommend giving this anime a watch. I would also recommend the movie.
