Tsutomu Nihei's 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 doesn't look all that concerned with traditional narrative (even when he really is); 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 career-spanning 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 that's trying to replicate human behaviour, and he appears to be in on the joke.
It's a little sad, then, that Kaina is such an alright show.
The series is still off-kilter enough. Despite a self-described high fantasy setting, all of Nihei's obsessions--from TOA Heavy Industries to monumental orbital structures--show 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, there's two teenagers, inexplicably engaging in the most by-the-books heterosexual romance possible as football-sized snowflakes levitate and ancient mecha emerge from the depths.
In a self-aware 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. It's 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 characters--who remain supernaturally human through the absurdity of it all--as 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 I'd 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 it's 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. It's 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. That's the show at its core: "café para los muy cafeteros", an overly expensive treat for people who know what they're 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 Sidonia. If you already have, this one can't hurt.
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