Kara no Kyoukai Review

Title: Gekijouban Kara no Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners / The Garden of Sinners / 劇場版 空の境界
Type: Movie, 7 Movies
Genre: Mystery, Horror, Action, Thriller, Romance
Themes: Super Power, Magic
Year: 01.12.2007 till 08.08.2009
Producers: Ufotable
Rating: R – 17+ (violence & profanity)

Plot: After spending two years in a coma caused by a traffic accident, Shiki Ryougi awakens with amnesia. Inexplicably, she finds, in turn, that she has also obtained “Mystic Eyes of Death Perception” in which she can see the invisible lines of mortality that hold every living and non-living thing together. Working for a small independent agency, Shiki attempts to unravel the baffling mystery behind a series of abnormal, horrifying incidents, but are they a foreshadowing that leads to something even more tragic and ominous? Things are not what they appear to be on the surface, but what dark revelations lie underneath?
Aniplex USA

Review:
Movie series and OVAs always have a sophisticated plot and more exquisite art than anime series. Kara no Kyoukai has those with a complex story telling to comprehend at first, unless you’re really paying attention to when that chapter took place. It’s adapted from the Japanese novel series with the same name written by Kinoko Nasu of TYPE-MOON and published in KODANSHA BOX series. The novel has seven chapters and each corresponding movie directly covers one of the original seven chapters. At first, I thought it was dull and boring with long dialogues, and it kept jumping from past to present so I was kind of lost, BUT, what makes it a joy to watch is its unpredictability, you can’t tell when a brutal fight is coming or an incident tells more about one of the characters’ background; so it’s like a filler mixed with a very well-told story plus a top-notch action.

The seven chapters that the movie series adapted:
Chapter 1: Thanatos. (Overlooking View)-September, 1998.
Chapter 2: …and nothing heart. (Murder Speculation Part A) -1995
Chapter 3: ever cry, never life. (Remaining Sense of Pain)-July 1998
Chapter 4: garan-no-dou. (The Hollow Shrine)-June 1998
Chapter 5: Paradox Paradigm- November 1998
Chapter 6: Fairy Tale. (Oblivion Recording)- January 1999
Chapter 7: ……not nothing heart.(Murder Speculation Part B)-February 1999

The voice acting was good, except for Shiki Ryougi which was excellent, voiced by Maaya Sakamoto who’s been in enormous main roles and most noticeable as a tough girl like Alphard Alshaya (Canaan), Mari Makinami (Evangelion 2.0, Evangelion 3.0), Deunan Knute (Appleseed), and the cute Hitomi Kanzaki (Escaflowne). The music was epic with its traditional Japanese tunes mixed with a symphonic sense. My favorite parts were the first, the third, the fifth, and the seventh, but the fifth movie was insane, filled with action, the three main characters Shiki Ryougi, Mikiya Kokutou, and Touko Aozaki were involved in some how or another against some tough villains with a hard case to solve.

I didn’t read the original novel but from what I grasped from this movie series I’d say it’s been conveyed perfectly. Sometimes I felt it’s a bit lacking but there’s always something else make it up for me, it was fulfilling with its dark atmosphere as I’m an easy prey to dark themed anime.

Art: 9/10
Storyline: 7/10
Characters: 8/10
OST: 8/10