Kara no Kyoukai: Garden of Sinners: ANIME REVIEW
Hello there Minna-san,
I hope you're up to a new review here on World of Anime Girl. This time, it will be an anime that is actually made of seven movies. An Action, Mystery, Thriller, Supernatural and Romance anime made by one of my favorite production studios, Ufotable. When I think about it, I can't say that I loved it, but it is not like I hate it either. I am neutral about it but it was good. Now let's discuss the details in the review.
PLOT AND STORY LINE
Kara no Kyoukai follows Shiki Ryougi, a girl who, after a terrible car accident, stayed in coma for two years. Being a member of the Ryougi family, Shiki owned a dual personality, a feminine and a masculine side which were created by splitting her soul. After waking up from the coma, Shiki realized that the masculine side was gone but as an after effect she gained the power to perceive death with her 'Mystic Eyes'. The ability to kill any living being with only a knife lures Shiki into a darker world but fortunately for her, she is not alone.
The thing about Kara no Kyoukai is that it is really complicated. Actually, it is not the story that is complicated but the story-line. The movies actually tell Shiki's story in a retrospective way of telling. Moving from the present to the past, back to the present then into the future...I found it rather confusing and I always had the feeling that I had missed something very important. It made me think that either I am too stupid to understand what's happening or the anime is really bad. It was neither of those, just the specific way of telling the story. Now I don't want to say that the retrospective story line is bad, but it did took some time to understand everything. In addition to the retrospective-confusion, plot holes also made the story less enjoyable. Things like how the Ryougi family actually split Shiki's soul or how did Touko teach Shiki to use her eyes are important and interesting parts of the story, but there is not a single scene that actually covered that. I can't remember much plot holes right now, but besides little plot holes that appear in almost every anime, Kara no Kyoukai also had some greater ones. When it comes to the story alone it is really interesting. Especially the way the story develops trough mysterious cases going on in the city. They always find some connection to Shiki, whether it is a girl who bends things just by looking at them, a mage that collects deaths, a cannibal etc. I pretty much enjoyed the whole story from the beginning to the end. It was entertaining, catchy, rich in action and amazing fight and of course romance. Now for those who think that the romance is a side story of Kara no Kyoukai, I have to say that they are wrong (in my opinion at least). True, Kara ni Kyoukai is firstly a thriller and supernatural story but the romance between Shiki and Mikiya is the core of it. Everything happens because and around the two of them and to be honest, it is probably the best love story I have ever seen. It starts of as a cute, little high-school love but becomes a dramatic and serious love story in the end. It carries that deep and heavy meaning of love and becomes the only thing to guide Shiki trough the Garden of Sinners. By the way, in the end you'll also understand the depth of the subtitle of Kara no Kyoukai, "Garden of Sinners". It is ingenious.
On the whole, it takes some time and to watch all seven of the Kara no Kyoukai movies to understand it completely, but it is definitely worth it.
ANIMATION AND STYLE
Even tough I praised Ufotable for their animation in the Fate series, I have to say that I was a little bit disappointed about the animation of Kara no Kyoukai in the beginning . Still I had no reason for that because, when compared to other animations from the period 2007-2009, the animation of Kyoukai no Kanata rocks. Wery fluid movements, amazing backgrounds and despite I am not a fan of dull environment it actually amazingly brought over the darkness and the depth of the anime's story. The style is also very good, nothing special but also nothing to be criticized about. As always, I especially liked the action and fight scenes of the anime because they were incredible. I really have to get rid of the habit not to watch anime just because of their age, because even older anime may have good animation. CHARACTERS
Generally, the characters are not bad. Still, the only characters that you really get to know in the anime are Shiki and Mikiya. There are also Touko and Mikiya's sister Azaka but they are the randomly cool and genius investigator/mage/senpai and Azaka is a typical tsundere character. Mikiya's character does have some depth in his personality but nothing that special that would make him a unique character. Shiki on the other hand is special due to the story. The whole anime is about her complex and unique personality and I must say that I loved it. She is lovable and cheerful in one moment, but in the other she turns into a killer. Just do not confuse her with Yandere characters, she definitely is not. Her character undergoes a great development and that's exactly why I loved her character the most.
CONCLUSION
When it comes to Kara no Kyoukai, I personally didn't like it in the beginning. Mostly because it was all so confusing and I didn't understand what was going on in the first two movies. Despite some plot holes, the idea of the retrospective way of telling was actually pretty good. I even loved it after finishing all seven movies. Kara no Kyoukai is a catchy and entertaining thriller and supernatural story that still turns around a romance, but around a very good one. It could also have been a 12/13-episode-long anime but it is okay either way. Not my favorite, but I do recommend you to watch Kara no Kyoukai: Garden of Sinners.
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