The Garden of Sinners Movie 1: Thanatos. (Overlooking View) - Reviews

Kara no Kyoukai has a pretty distinguishable atmosphere and style for a start. Usually in supernatural/bordeline horror anime, we have a lot of action, scary musci and such, but here, these are more or less absent. So for starters Ill try to define its genre: psycho-thriller would fit it best, maybe psychologycal horror. The following review will be about all of the movies, not just the first one.  

Story: the story revolves around 2 main characters, a few secondary characters and a few episodic ones. The chronological order of the movies is not 1,2,3, its complete chaos. I actually watched it in release order, so it gets kind of confusing from time to time, but the thruth is, this is intended. The main characters are confused and lost sometimes, so watching it in this roder might get annoying sometimes, but I actually think its a bit better. But if you get pissed off easy, look up the chronological order and watch it that way. The story is not too complicated, at elast usually not, the important thing is the really messed up psyche of the main characaters. Dont expect too much action, but you will get your fair share nonetheless. In the paradox movie, I feel they went a bit overboard by trying to confuse us. I like the ending. 6/10

Characters: They are messed up as I already tell you. We have a male lead, who is attracted to a girl, who is a dormant serial killer. Darwinism dictates that Kokutou should be dead by the third movie. The charcater is pretty good though. Shiki is complex(you dont know the half of how complex she is unless you watch the whole thing). Almost all the characters are likeable in their own way. Even the engative ones have their motives, which is important. 7/10

Animation: Holy fuck it looks great! Same animatiors as Fate/Zero and its pretty obvious, the difference is that this time they actually had more to work with. The background animation is by far the best I have ever seen in my life. The charcater animation is second behind SAO. 10/10

Music: atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere. Great music and sounds. Put it together with the great animation and you get pure art! 10/10

Overall: Eye candy. While the story and characters are not the best(still good), they manage to overcompensate with the other aspects. It confusing and annoying sometimes, the philosophycal text becomes boring from time to time and forced. But it is beautiful!

I recommend it to everyone! 7.5/10

Intro...

Shiki can see the lines of death on all objects, with her eyes of 'death perception'.  Cue the start of 7 films, each exploring an aspect of her life.

Story: 10

Made up of 7 films, even after having watched the first one (and loved it) I was surprised and delighted to find that another 6 were lined up.  I mean, I watched them as they were being released over the years and yet I've felt that every single one of the individual film adds something or builds upon the gentle plot woven throughout the films, and still manages to make each one individual, with its own sense of self.  The story is refreshingly original and telling of the plot is so amazingly done that you are never left in the dark at the end of each film.  These films are based on books and in some ways, you can tell.  After all, to weave the tangles of each film into its own basis is a hard thing to do and the book gave the best solid groundwork possible for something of this scale.  Amazing...in fact I've run out of words to say just how good it is....

Animation: 10

Gorgeous.  I should be able to finish this section of the review with that one word.  But I know that people just won't accept it unless its backed up.  The animation quality is stunning and of an exceptionally high standard all the way throughout the 7 films.  The characters move with a fluid movement and the scenes and backgrounds are beautifully capture giving a whole feel to the world in which Shiki lives.  The characters too are uniquely individual with each possessing their own true identity and appearance.  My only grudge though with the films is that only once did I feel the animation quality was not up to the consistently high standard.  That appears in film 5 and the clip is barely 2 seconds long.  Because of this, I'm not factoring into the score, mainly because the fights scenes are some of the best to ever grace our films.  Not only are they meticulously detailed, but they feel real, as though you are there witnessing it.

Sound: 10

The voice actors were well cast and each of them brought their character to life.  Even if they didn't have many words or weren't that big a part, each delivered an impressive performance.  However, its not really the voice acting that made me give sound a resounding 10.  The OST is by far one of the best ever written.  The beautiful yet amazingly haunting melodies and tunes not only perfectly match the scene that it accompanies, but makes the film seem incredible.  When the fight scenes happen, the fantastic choral music kicks in and does so at the perfect moment when you want it to.  So well time and brilliantly scored.  My advice, try listening to it outside of the film and I assure you that you'll love the OST.

Character: 10

Actually, Kara no Kyoukai doesn't have that many characters.  In some ways that's the nice thing about the films.  It allows them to really interact with the characters that it does have.  I mean, even characters who only appear in one of the films, still manages to leave an impression on you as though they were part of the whole experience.  Distinct personalities and unique backgrounds and settings, even the bad guys get the chance to be delved into in a different way.  Its really well worth watching.

Overall: 10

I would have given the first film 10 overall.  Then when you throw in the remaining 6 films, you realise that actually, it really deserves the 10.  I loved it, my brother loved it and tons of people out there love it.  And its not hard to see why.  So my advice would be watch it, I'm more than sure that it will be able to please at least one aspect of your time while watching it, whether animation, sound, characters or story, it has them all.  Go watch, its certainly not a waste of time, but a serene luxury.

kara no kyoikai 1:fukan fuukei is a 1 instalment of its 7 part anime movies.without introduction viewer will face alot of question that make viewers a bit of confuse in the beginning.Animated by ufotable studio for series TYPE-MOON,by watching it viewers will experience some horror scene and some of it scene is kinda annoying for viewers but its still a good show to watch with blood splattered ,body been torn and some suicide...Kara no kyoukai 1:fukan fuukei anime was really dark with supernatural and horror and some action as it based genre,because Kara no kyoukai 1:fukan fuukei was the 1st movie for it 7 anime the story was really confuse its start with ghost story and a suicide and how their going to solved that case...
The art and the characters design was really good neither that bad also but if the viewer was really comfortable with TYPE-MOON style of the character design maybe there's no problem with the design,the animation was really fluent with interaction in ever character and it was really fit with the design and the action scene was really amazing also the environment and the background design was stunning and beautiful the colour was well made..
The sound or BMG was awesome fit for the animation the sound for action scene was really awesome...
So an overall the anime was confuse but enjoyed to watch also,the pacing of the story,interaction between the character is not that dull but interesting ....but still is still confuse by watching it... For those who want to watch in chronological order: Movie 2, 4, 3, 1, 5, 6, 7.

I'll get one thing out of the way. The film series "Kara no Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners" is probably my favorite anime. From the early days of Ufotable's first steps towards becoming one of the best animation studios anywhere to Yuki Kajiura's hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, this first film does more to get me invested in 50 minutes than some 1 cour anime take in their entire 6-ish hour runs. In less than an hour, it takes the time to build suspense and mystery with clever writing and even cleverer editing. If you are the type of viewer who needs plot points explicitly stated in chronological order, you'll probably get frustrated awfully fast with this. But if you let the story take you along on its pace and trust that all will be explained, you'll get one hell of a fantastical murder mystery story for your patience.

Kara no Kyoukai review Part 1

Kara no Kyoukai (The Boundary of Emptiness), is a series that has taken a long time to become well known. The story was originally created in 1998 by Nasu Kinoko and Takeuchi Takashi (who later went on to form TYPE-MOON), with the first five chapters being released on their doujin website, whilst the final two chapters were released in August 1999 at Comiket 56. The series was picked up by Kodansha for commercial publication in 2004, and 2009 saw the series released on the international market courtesy of Del Rey Manga.

Now fans of  Shingetsutan Tsukihime will be find many things in Kara no Kyoukai familiar, not the least of which is the fact that they are both created by TYPE-MOON. The stories have several parallels within them, which has led to the latter series being considered an alternate version of the former, or at the very least, set in the same world.

The anime adaptation was released as a series of seven movies, each of which run for approxiamtely 50 minutes. Each individual film features a different time period, with no two consecutive movies following in any kind of chronological order. Unlike Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu though, this seemingly out-of-sequence airing is not simply because of a whim on the part of the producers. The non-consecutive ordering is how the series should be portrayed, and the anime has stayed faithful to that method.

The first movie,  Fukan Fuukei (Overlooking View), is surprisingly good in terms of its story. Although there is very little character development, events move along at a nice pace and the tense nature of the plot is very much apparent to the viewer. The movie is somewhat predictable in though, but this doesn't really detract from one's enjoyment of it as an individual episode, nor does it impinge on one's enjoyment of future installments.

One thing to note is that the series subtitle, "The Garden of Sinners", is actually very appropriate. The first movie does a good job of highlighting the fact that the world in which the story takes place is no heaven by any measure, and that not everything is as simple as people may at first believe.

Ufotable have garnered quite a name for themselves as an imaginative yet quirky studio, and with titles like Futakoi Alternative and Coyote Ragtime Show under their belts, it's difficult to fault that perception. Like many of their productions the animation style in Fukan Fuukei is distinctive, especially during the action sequences, and fans will notice the studio's trademark claymation sequences at the beginning of each movie (normally they're at the end of an episode). The animation is generally very well done, and what may seem like blips in the animating sequence are often purposeful additions that prevent the show from becoming too "clinical" with its visuals. That said, the characters are taken directly from the original designs for the  novels, which is a little unfortunate as it means that Ufotable were unable to allow their eccentric creativity to shine through. Fans of Tsukihime will also notice some surprising similarities between the two anime, not just facially, but in certain actions too.

The backgrounds and backdrops are generally excellent. The maze-like structure of the Fujo building is very well depicted, as are the various outdoor scenes and indoor scenes. The CG has been almost seamlessly incorporated into the show, and the smoothness of the CG adds to the effect of the action sequences.

One area where the movie manages to stamp its mark is with the sound effects. These are often very clear and well used, fading to background noise when necessary.The effects used during the action sequences are sometimes sharp in comparison to the rest of the movie, whilst the effects used to promote an atmosphere of tension are a little lacking. The music sometimes lacks a little subtlety, but generally serves to heighten the effect of a particular scene, adding a sense of foreboding in to sequences that need that extra "oomph".

The voice actors are well used, with the three main characters being decently portrayed. Sakamoto Maaya, who plays the role of Ryougi Shiki, brings a certain edge, a certain chill, to her voice at the times when it's necessary, something which adds to the overall effect of the character. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast don't really have much scope to display their skill, and this barrier pretty much destroys any hope of decent character development.

Ironically, a fair assessment of the individuals in the movie is difficult due to the run time (about 50 minutes), and that may actually be a good thing. Because of its length there is no real development to each character, and since the plot doesn't seem to account for this aspect anyway, the hope is that there will be substantials inroads into this are in future installements.

Which is why I'm withholding a final opinion until the end of the series.

As I mentioned before, there are certain parallels with Shingetsutan Tsukihime, and nowhere is this more apparent than with the characters. Ryougi Shiki doesn't just share her name with Tohno Shiki of Tsukihime, she also has the "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception" (and she looks a bit like Ciel). Likewise, Aozaki Touko shares her name with Aozaki Aoko, and both help the person named Shiki in their respective shows (they also seem to know more than they let on as well).

In general the characters are well done, but they lack a certain depth which will hopefully be rectified as the series continues.

Overall this is a very enjoyable movie. The pacing of the story, the tension of various scenes, and the semi-combative relationship of the characters, all serve to raise this above the often substandard fare around. The fact that the series is being done as individual movies is also a plus, as each story arc is completed within a nice timeframe. The movie may be a little predictable, but as a first offering it is very impressive nonetheless.

Some people may not enjoy the first movie for a number of reasons (it has no real romance, no character development, no sequential plot, etc), but personally, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.