“Nai and Gareki join Circus to find Nai's friend while battling varuga and uncovering Kafka's secrets.”
Karneval
カーニヴァル
Would You Love or Hate This?
AI-powered analysis tailored to your taste
Based on your preference for character-driven stories with layered emotional arcs, this title's exploration of identity and belonging would deeply resonate. The pacing mirrors series you've rated highly, and its thematic depth aligns with your appreciation for nuanced storytelling...
However, the slow initial episodes might test your patience given your history of dropping shows that don't hook you early. The art style shift in the middle arc could also be a concern...
Synopsis
Nai and Gareki join Circus to find Nai's friend while battling varuga and uncovering Kafka's secrets.
While in search of his precious friend, a young boy named Nai falls captive to a beautiful woman, whose looks are matched only by her taste for human flesh. Meanwhile Gareki, a clever thief, is in the midst of robbing her luxurious home. After causing a distraction, Gareki agrees to help Nai escape, but they are discovered upon the woman's return. As she transforms into a ghoulish monster, the boys flee. On the run, Nai and Gareki are found by "Circus," a government defense agency that deals with criminal activity too difficult for the police to handle and protects civilians from "varuga"—terrible monsters that devour humans for sustenance. In the hope that it will lead Nai to his missing friend, he and Gareki decide to join Circus. On their perilous journey, they face dangerous varuga and begin to uncover the secrets behind a shadowy organization known as Kafka.
What people say
Community consensus
Derived from 60 sampled reviews
What 60 viewers settled on.
Polarized
σ 1.98 · split reception
4.6 pts
Recommenders 8.1 · others 3.6
↓ 0.90
Running avg · May 2013 → Jan 2025
- 10 “I Love Much Karneval.. The Story Is Make Me Happy,Fun, And Sad When Gareki Think He wasn't able doing anything to protect nai,yogi and others.. Best Anime in my life,,, I Hope Season 2 will be...”
- 10 “I have never seen an anime follow the manga quite so closely before. There are very minor differences, the biggest one being how Gareki leaves at the very end of the show, but other than that it is...”
- 9 “Really adorable show! I love the art style of the characters! But now that I think about it, the beginning was kind of stupid and I "laughed out loud" so many times cause it was ridiculous. Like...”
Watch Order & Related
Explore the Karneval universe
Cast
See all →Trailers & videos
See all →Gallery
See all →If you stay for this, you'll stay for these
See all →The community pairs this with
See all →Made by
See all credits →Production slate
- Format 13 × 24′ eps × min
- Total runtime 5h 12m all episodes
- Aired Apr 2013 – Jun 2013 Spring 2013
- Source Tv media type
- Rated PG 13 - Teens 13 or older
- Ref. BS-7349 catalog
Produced by
- Bandai Visual Producer
- Lantis Producer
- Ichijinsha Producer
Licensed by
- Funimation Licensor