Kara no Kyoukai Movie 1: Fukan Fuukei

A series of eerily similar suicides occupy newspaper headlines in late '90s Japan. Amidst all the bizarre resemblances, there is one detail that stands out above the rest: the victims have all taken their lives by leaping from the Fujou building, a run-down abandoned structure rising high above the city.

Shiki Ryougi, a cold-hearted girl living in an empty apartment, suspects that these sinister events have a supernatural cause. Possessing a mystical power herself, Shiki works to investigate the incidents alongside Touko Aozaki, a doll-making detective specializing in magic, and her friend Mikiya Kokotou who works as Touko's assistant.

Shiki unravels the mystery as she ventures through an enigmatic world to uncover the dark secrets surrounding the strange phenomenon.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ryougi, Shiki Main

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Aozaki, Touko Main

Honda, Takako Japanese

Kokutou, Mikiya Main

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Fujou, Kirie Main

Tanaka, Rie Japanese

Kokutou, Azaka Supporting

Fujimura, Ayumi Japanese

Reporter Supporting

Nakao, Eri Japanese

Iwakami, Atsuhiro Producer

Kondou, Hikaru Producer

Hariu, Masayuki Producer

Toba, Yousuke Assistant Producer

Reviews

Jul 25, 2024

Dompa112

Recommended

Confusing. Nonsenical. Pretentious. Oh yes its another so called Nasuverse thing. I can only laugh at people trying to find deeper meaning, philosphy, and som sort of sense in their stories. There is non. The last Garden of Sinners episode/movie said it all really. 33 minutes of nonsense conversation between the Main characters. Trying to picture the guy writing that and thinking it was good or deep in any way. For the lack of better word. Cringey. Rest of the movie/episodes are darker, more gore. Pretty graphic.

Now despite sounding critical i have it at 7/10. Which might sound strange. But i do in fact ... like Type Moons works. But its more for its bizarre nature. Music. Style. What crazy shit is this Nasu guy up to next? Its enjoyable. It does get a bit old though. Same characters. Same fetishes för certain girls. Some of the prentious stuff and especially dialogue can drag on way to much.

But easily enough you enjoy other Type Moon works theres a good chance enjoying this one aswell.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 11, 2024

LevixAckerman

Mixed Feelings

Title: Garden of Sinners

This is a summary review of Garden of Sinners. Having finished all the parts, I wanted to share some thoughts. First of all, I watched the anime Garden of Sinners chronologically and not by release date. In my opinion, this is also the best way to watch it to have the proper sequence. The story is set in a real world but with magical abilities.

The year is 1998, and news of a series of suicides is spreading through the media. Our two main protagonists, Shiki Ryougi and Mikiya Kokutou, attend the same class and often hang out together on the school roof ... during breaks. Both seem interested in these incidents. Shiki appears to be a complex person, making it often difficult for Mikiya to reach her. We soon learn the reason: Shiki has two personalities. One of them is a normal girl, while the other is a cold and very distant person, even driven by thoughts of murder. Mikiya has a contact in the police who updates him on the latest developments in the investigations whenever he visits. We learn that the bodies have been dismembered, so the authorities now suspect murder instead of suicide. As Mikiya begins to suspect that Shiki might be behind these incidents, he starts to watch her. He sits outside her estate every night until morning to ensure she doesn't leave the house. One evening, Shiki has had enough and confronts him, attacking him with a knife and attempting to kill him. Something happens, and she is stopped at the last moment. To avoid spoiling the plot, I’ll leave it at that and encourage you to watch it yourself.

The first film begins chronologically with the second episode.
Overall, Garden of Sinners has a very dark story, with intentionally rough and dark colors. The atmosphere is intense. With Touko Aozaki, we get another main character who is a magician and now acts as a contractor. Her character seemed serious to me. Nevertheless, she cared a lot about Shiki. When there were new cases, she assigned the missions. She often used Mikiya to gather information, and Shiki's task was to apprehend the murderer.
I liked the animation and character design, and the sound was excellent in some scenes.
But no review is complete without criticism.
The supporting characters in each episode felt like they were only there to be defeated at the end. You knew there was a new murderer to be defeated in each film, making it quickly monotonous and predictable. They were neither interesting nor could you connect with them because you knew little about them. There were also often unnecessary conversations that were quite lengthy, so I had to skip scenes several times. I also felt that Mikiya was merely an instrument to shape Shiki's character. Without him, she would have probably ended up as a murderer. He always reasoned with her. Shiki's character only changed somewhat towards the end of the film series, so I wouldn't talk much about character development here. The film series also had its ups and downs. The episodes were not always exciting enough to captivate you.

Here’s how I rated the films (in chronological order)
Film 1 (7/10)
Films 2-5 (6/10)
Film 6 (5/10)
Films 7-8 (6/10)

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 25, 2023

4MAD3US

Not Recommended

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Do yourself a favor, and don't start watching this franchise from the first movie. This first move is completely skippable, and a painful 50 minute experience if you don't know the backstory already.

First time watchers are recommended to watch in release order, if that really is the best way, watching onwards from the second movie and leaving this movie for the last seems a lot better. Honestly though, just not watching it at all is even better.

Let's break it down then.

Art: Good, as one would expect from ufotable.

Characters: Extremely bland, could have been swapped with cardboard cutouts in this movie.

Plot: The movie intentionally has the ... viewer not knowing what is going on. That would be fine if executed well, however in this movie that falls flat on it's face. The lack of backstory and development, with a plot so shallow it feels there isn't one, makes watching this straight up boring.

Sound: Fine, sound effects and the OST wasn't impressive in any way.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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