I am kind of glad I was not the only one who was a bit surprised by the name Karada.
Anyway, now I see the director, the art director and the composer (although I like his work in Rozen Maiden more) have all been involved in Utena. Coincidence? The scriptwriter (if that's what being in charge of the series' composition is supposed to mean) has been working on the scripts of Boogiepop Phantom and Paranoia Agent. I guess there will be more plot twists then.
Anyway, seems to me we have been praising this first episode too much, let's see whether there wil lbe some disappointed people after the second one.