Kara no Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners
The entirety of Kara no Kyoukai is finally out on fan subbed form. Seems hard to believe I watched the first movie only a year and a half ago. Kara no Kyoukai is a seven movie series based on the novels by Kinoko Nasu. The movies are short, and for a comparison the total screen time is 51 minutes less than the theatrical Lord of the Rings trilogy. Nasu's unique voice can be heard throughout Kara no Kyoukai; the creators of this series were careful to preserve it. I have not read the KnK novels, but I'm a huge fan of Tsukihime - the visual novel that made him famous - and when I watch KnK there is no mistaking that this is his story. Nasu's has a distinct writing style that's difficult to summarize. He is sometimes brilliant yet sometimes exasperating. For this reason, he's so much fun to critique.
I'm hard pressed to think of something darker than Kara no Kyoukai (aside from Tsukihime), and I haven't been as shocked by a scene since Evangelion. I love it. KnK's visuals are outstanding, the action fluid, but it's greatest strength is the characters.
I'm blown away by these characterizations... full of paradoxical traits and yet always believable. Shiki is curt, stoic, bold, intimidating, and murderous but she's graceful, adorable, and vulnerable. She says that she's a murderer in a way that isn't boastful, insisting, or in any way untrue, yet when victorious when fighting a villain she always manages to spare them. Still, the viewer and the characters close to her worry that she really is a murderer. Shiki is convinced that she's unlovable. So much so that the only time she's seen laughing was when a minor character she was sheltering confessed his love for her. Her suitor, Mikiya, is compassionate to a fault, with an absolutely unwavering morality. He believes that there is no situation where taking a life is justified. He never defends himself, not even when being drugged and stabbed by a serial killer. Admirable, but his moral code sometimes gets him in trouble: at one point he finds himself siding with a serial rapist to protect him from a newly supernaturally powered revenge-seeking victim, which - in addition to being a cursed predicament - earns him Shiki's anger. But Mikiya's faults make him human. He doesn't understand women, he lets his heart supersede common sense, and while he knows he's a fool for doing so, he places limitless trust in Shiki because he's madly in love with her. Always calm and soft-spoken, his courageous compassion manifests as a charisma that makes complete strangers warm up to him, meaning he's great at gathering information. Since he's also meticulous and organized, he's a natural detective. Shiki secretly loves Mikiya in return, but their relationship seems doomed to forever be just friends.
To summarize the appeal of Kara no Kyoukai's story: take these likable, captivating characters and face them against themes that include rape, murder, cannibalism, revenge, suicide, and the supernatural. Did I mention that Nasu's writing is dark? This formula works wonders. Consider a depraved "Harry Potter," or a "Twilight" without hormones and fluff, or a "Se7en" with lovable characters and you'll understand the appeal.
There's more pros than just the story. Ufotable has done an world-class job with the visuals. Detailed, realistic, and fluidly animated... It's beautiful. There is CG everywhere, but it's so subtle and well integrated that you have to look to notice its there. The music is good too. It's classy and mysterious, and with little to no repetition. Plus most of it is variations on a theme, as all the best soundtracks are.
For all the pros, there are significant cons. Most of which are flaws inherited by Nasu's... "unique" writing. There are dialogues that make no sense, and they're all because of some supernatural rule or some far-fetched metaphor that Nasu pulled out of his ass. The movies like to keep secrets. Things tend not to make sense at first and they don't always make sense in hindsight. I'm all for delaying a reveal to give it greater impact, but Kara no Kyoukai frequently keeps the viewer in the dark for no reason. Speaking of which, the movies aren't in chronological order. The final movie has a big reveal that was worth waiting for, but the rest are made more confusing with little benefit by watching the movies in their release order. Three more minor complaints: the sound effects often seem ill-suited, and the directors frequently employ edits that cut away from the ongoing scene, the effect of which is quite distracting. And finally, some scenes are overly graphic. Pushing the envelope is fun, but the third movie's graphic scenes of gang rape go too far. The violence is borderline pornographic, too. Oh, there is only one English sub and it's poorly done.
I have to talk about the fifth movie: Paradox Spiral. The first part of this three part movie absolutely blows me away. Each movie has a different director, and the director of Paradox Spiral is the only one to successfully emulate Nasu's writing at it's surreal best. He employs numerous tricks and jarring edits to keep the viewer disoriented and off-balance, and he does so in a way that oozes style and malice. He keeps the build-up flashy and fast until the climactic scene where he does a complete reversal in style, drawing out the scene's gruesome, surreal violence with an unmoving, unflinching eye. The affect is terrifying. In short, the fifth movie has aspects so outstanding that it makes the entire series.
Not God-Tier but definitely Good-Tier and much better than average. Just be willing to put up with some trademark Nasu Bullshit.
And it's so similar to Tsukihime.
I'm hard pressed to think of something darker than Kara no Kyoukai (aside from Tsukihime), and I haven't been as shocked by a scene since Evangelion. I love it. KnK's visuals are outstanding, the action fluid, but it's greatest strength is the characters.
I'm blown away by these characterizations... full of paradoxical traits and yet always believable. Shiki is curt, stoic, bold, intimidating, and murderous but she's graceful, adorable, and vulnerable. She says that she's a murderer in a way that isn't boastful, insisting, or in any way untrue, yet when victorious when fighting a villain she always manages to spare them. Still, the viewer and the characters close to her worry that she really is a murderer. Shiki is convinced that she's unlovable. So much so that the only time she's seen laughing was when a minor character she was sheltering confessed his love for her. Her suitor, Mikiya, is compassionate to a fault, with an absolutely unwavering morality. He believes that there is no situation where taking a life is justified. He never defends himself, not even when being drugged and stabbed by a serial killer. Admirable, but his moral code sometimes gets him in trouble: at one point he finds himself siding with a serial rapist to protect him from a newly supernaturally powered revenge-seeking victim, which - in addition to being a cursed predicament - earns him Shiki's anger. But Mikiya's faults make him human. He doesn't understand women, he lets his heart supersede common sense, and while he knows he's a fool for doing so, he places limitless trust in Shiki because he's madly in love with her. Always calm and soft-spoken, his courageous compassion manifests as a charisma that makes complete strangers warm up to him, meaning he's great at gathering information. Since he's also meticulous and organized, he's a natural detective. Shiki secretly loves Mikiya in return, but their relationship seems doomed to forever be just friends.
To summarize the appeal of Kara no Kyoukai's story: take these likable, captivating characters and face them against themes that include rape, murder, cannibalism, revenge, suicide, and the supernatural. Did I mention that Nasu's writing is dark? This formula works wonders. Consider a depraved "Harry Potter," or a "Twilight" without hormones and fluff, or a "Se7en" with lovable characters and you'll understand the appeal.
There's more pros than just the story. Ufotable has done an world-class job with the visuals. Detailed, realistic, and fluidly animated... It's beautiful. There is CG everywhere, but it's so subtle and well integrated that you have to look to notice its there. The music is good too. It's classy and mysterious, and with little to no repetition. Plus most of it is variations on a theme, as all the best soundtracks are.
For all the pros, there are significant cons. Most of which are flaws inherited by Nasu's... "unique" writing. There are dialogues that make no sense, and they're all because of some supernatural rule or some far-fetched metaphor that Nasu pulled out of his ass. The movies like to keep secrets. Things tend not to make sense at first and they don't always make sense in hindsight. I'm all for delaying a reveal to give it greater impact, but Kara no Kyoukai frequently keeps the viewer in the dark for no reason. Speaking of which, the movies aren't in chronological order. The final movie has a big reveal that was worth waiting for, but the rest are made more confusing with little benefit by watching the movies in their release order. Three more minor complaints: the sound effects often seem ill-suited, and the directors frequently employ edits that cut away from the ongoing scene, the effect of which is quite distracting. And finally, some scenes are overly graphic. Pushing the envelope is fun, but the third movie's graphic scenes of gang rape go too far. The violence is borderline pornographic, too. Oh, there is only one English sub and it's poorly done.
I have to talk about the fifth movie: Paradox Spiral. The first part of this three part movie absolutely blows me away. Each movie has a different director, and the director of Paradox Spiral is the only one to successfully emulate Nasu's writing at it's surreal best. He employs numerous tricks and jarring edits to keep the viewer disoriented and off-balance, and he does so in a way that oozes style and malice. He keeps the build-up flashy and fast until the climactic scene where he does a complete reversal in style, drawing out the scene's gruesome, surreal violence with an unmoving, unflinching eye. The affect is terrifying. In short, the fifth movie has aspects so outstanding that it makes the entire series.
Not God-Tier but definitely Good-Tier and much better than average. Just be willing to put up with some trademark Nasu Bullshit.
And it's so similar to Tsukihime.