# Karakuri Circus (2018)

> A dying-on-the-inside laughing-cure sufferer becomes the bodyguard of a boy heir hunted by his own family in this grotesque Japanese animated action series.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/70889

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 36
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: action, animation, mystery, drama
- Created by: Kazuhiro Fujita
- Network: TOKYO MX, BS11
- Cast: Chihiro Ueda, Rikiya Koyama, Megumi Hayashibara, Romi Park, Masahiko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Takahiro Sakurai, Nozomu Sasaki
- TMDB rating: 7.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9050366/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: grotesque, darkly comedic, macabre, intense, sincere

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series as mixed overall, with the single season scored highly by fans for its action and dark fantasy storytelling.

## Synopsis

Karakuri Circus (2018-2019) is a Japanese animated dark fantasy adventure series adapted from the manga by Kazuhiro Fujita and produced by Studio VOLN, broadcast on TOKYO MX and BS11. Middle-aged part-timer Narumi Katou (Rikiya Koyama) suffers from ZONAPHA Syndrome, a disease whose seizures only stop when someone laughs, and his life changes when a boy with a giant suitcase, Masaru Saiga (Chihiro Ueda), arrives fleeing pursuers. Masaru has just inherited the Saiga Enterprises fortune after his father's death, and relatives want him dead so they can claim it. Narumi becomes his unlikely protector, and the engine of the show is a running pursuit: each stretch brings a new assassin, bounty hunter or hidden organization, and fights with grotesque, mechanically enhanced performers. Across a single season of thirty-six episodes the story builds a larger secret network around the Saiga family. The tone mixes macabre spectacle, dark humor and sincere emotion, with gore and brutal imagery never far away. Fans of Hunter x Hunter, Hellsing Ultimate and Black Butler will find resonance in its blend of shonen action, gothic menace and a dysfunctional family at the center of a conspiracy.

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