Kaina of the Great Snow Sea is one of those anime series that started out slow and quite boring, and then gradually became more interesting as the story progressed. The first few episodes were held together by the sheer force of its stellar world-building alone, but once episode 4 comes along, that is when this series finally comes alive.
What makes it even better is the fact that episode 5 is as exciting to watch. The story finally finds its groove after such a slow start. And judging by how things ended in the previous episode, this one should be as good as the last one. So let’s see whether this is true through this review of episode 6 of Kaina of the Great Snow Sea.
Ririha In A Cage
Despite knowing that his daughter has been captured by the enemy, Ririha’s father (the King of Atland) refuses to surrender to the enemy’s commander. Not only that, he boldly declared war instead. Enraged, the commander of the Valghian army decided to torture Ririha. He orders his men to put Ririha into a small iron cage, and then suspend that cage a couple of dozen feet above their ship. If left alone in such a situation during the freezing weather, Ririha will suffer through an agonizing death.
Fortunately for her, Kaina and Yoana have finally arrived at her location. Thanks to Kaina’s remarkable vision, they both know that Ririha is in a dangerous situation right now, so they abandon all caution and infiltrate the Valghian ship where Ririha is located. It takes quite some time, but Kaina and Yoana are finally able to free Ririha. Unfortunately, since they are currently on a moving ship in the middle of nowhere, they decide to hide inside the ship until a good opportunity arrives for them to flee. What they don't know, however, is the fact that the Valghian ships are currently heading towards their home base, the Valghian Mobile Fortress.
A Stealth Mission
The scene where Kaina and Yoana have to grab the edge of the hull and hang there for quite some time in order to hide from the passing Valghian soldiers is highly similar to what we have to do during the stealth missions in Assassin’s Creed games. Not only that, the whole infiltration and rescue sequence is a reminiscence of the stealth missions that we can find in lots of stealth-focus video games.
There’s hardly any action sequences or fight scenes in this episode, because just like those games, the main focus of this episode is the thrill of the stealth mission, rather than an intense fist fight. That being said, Kaina and friends may not have to fight those soldiers, but they have to use their knowledge, experience, and ingenuity in order to outsmart them. And that is pretty much what makes this episode so exciting to watch.
A New And Fascinating World
As mentioned in the summary above, Kaina and friends are forced to stay hidden inside the Valghian ship until they find a safe place to disembark and flee. That is until they realize that their destination is actually the Valghian’s Mobile Fortress. At this point, they can’t really change their plan, so they have to adapt to this dangerous situation and find a way to get out of the base somehow.
We only get a glimpse of what the colossal mobile fortress looks like in this episode. Just a short panoramic view of the black outer walls of the fortress, and several scenes that take place inside the busy industrial complex inside the fortress. This fortress will likely be the focus of the next episode, but from what we can see so far, it’s clear that this mobile fortress is unlike any other settlements that we have seen thus far.
That means in the subsequent episodes, we will get the chance to once again enjoy the biggest strength of this series, which is its world-building. Sure, Kaina and friends may find an open door and an empty ship and simply sail out of the fortress in the next episode. However, knowing this series, it’s highly likely that we’ll get to spend at least one episode exploring this new place. Maybe even talk to some of its residents in order to get their perspective about this conflict. If that is truly the direction that they are going for, then we have another reason to be excited about the subsequent episodes.
Episode 6 of Kaina of the Great Snow Sea manages to continue the winning streak that has been going on since episode 4. The showrunners successfully carry the momentum and deliver some of the best scenes and moments in this series. Not only that, we also get to visit a new and fascinating place in this episode, which means a great chance for some more world-building. The hype has never been higher for this series, and we can’t wait to watch the next episode of Kaina of the Great Snow Sea.