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radiantresplendence · 6 months ago

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What Even Is a Kara no Kyoukai?

Kara no Kyoukai is a series of anime movies put out by Ufotable between 2007 and 2013 based off of the light novel series of the same name written by Type-Moon founder and creative director Kinoko Nasu in the 90s.

That's it, that's the post.

But seriously, if you're familiar with Nasu's other works, you'd know that they have a reputation for being rather inaccessible, especially to those in the west and Kara no Kyoukai specifically comes with some extra content warnings that aren't as prevalent in some of his other works.

Now, this would normally be fine, however a lot of content put to the forefront as "primers" to the show by the anime community either focus too much on the metaphysics and how it relates to other Type-Moon media or is a detailed thematic analysis that gives away too much of the sauce.

I plan to do neither here.

Instead, I'll give a brief rundown of the show's traits. Then, I'll talk about the main cast of characters and I'll finish it off by giving the general premise of each episode. (And I'll lump all of the Extra Chorus OVAs together for this purpose.)

So, Kara no Kyoukai sorta paved the way for the trappings you'd expect of modern Ufotable. Even over 15 years later, the show is absolutely gorgeous and puts a lot of modern anime to shame with its production quality. The attention to detail, shot composition and immaculate backgrounds that you'd expect of a Unfotable production are all here. Except this was really the first work to bring those traits to the forefront.

Just on the merits of that, as an anime watcher its worth the curiosity. The triumphs of productions like Demon Slayer and Fate/Zero clearly trace their DNA right back to Kara no Kyoukai.

The OST for this series is... basically unmatched. Kalafina was founded to do the music for this show, and the general consensus seems to be that Yuki Kajiura did some of, if not her very best, work on this show.

Admittedly I'm a not a big music analysis person, but I will personally attest that the ambiance and immersiveness of Kara no Kyoukai's score is some of the best in any piece of media that I have consumed. Also the big theme songs for each film all absolutely rock.

Doing a little background research, it looks like a lot of those theme songs are on the Kalafina album Seventh Heaven, so if you're a fan of high-quality J-pop/rock, give that a go maybe. I mean, they're really good in a vacuum, better in the context of the episode they were written for.

Its paced a lot slower than a lot of other anime movies, leaving a lot of room for ambiance and quiet character moments. Also quite a bit of the series is just characters talking, be it about philosophy or metaphysics, but it's usually not egregious and if you're into that sort of thing (which I am) it's a good time. Also the cuts can be quite creative, especially in Paradox Spiral.

So, now that a lot of that peripheral housekeeping is done:

What the Fuck even is a Kara no Kyoukai?

It's a paranormal mystery, dark urban fantasy thriller seinen anime that explores themes of humanity, identity, sin and dichotomy. Oh and murder. Especially murder.

The general plot setup is more something you'd expect of a shoujo. Boy meets girl, the complexities and trials of their relationship etc.

The big twist is that the girl in this trope is best described as "one who murders" and the story is told out of chronological order.

It's set in a fictitious city in Japan called Mifune, mostly between '96 and '99. Supernatural phenomenon exist, but aren't common knowledge and the main focus of the subject matter is individuals with some manner of ESP or active psychic ability, though there's significant representation from elements of mysticism as well as more archetypal wizard sorts.

I strongly recommend watching the films in release order because its better thematically, however there's a lot of value on a rewatch and doing so in chronological order could shed some light on things.

As I'm about to transition into talking into some of the show's particulars, here's where I'll put the content warnings for those who would prefer going in blind and would like to know what horrible imagery they're about to be exposed to or would maybe be dissuaded by.

CW, suicide, gore, horror, sexual assault, domestic violence, cannibalism.

Who are the main characters in Kara no Kyoukai?

Shiki Ryougi is our main character. A young woman with an attraction to death and murderous impulses. She presents as stoic, but she's anything but uncaring. She's very nuanced, but as the main character a good deal of the series goes into exploring her, so I won't delve into her complexities. After an accident as a teenager that left her in a coma, she gained the ability to see death in the forms of lines that act akin to the 'seams' of living beings, objects and even concepts. By cutting on these lines, she can kill anything.

Mikiya Kokuto is our male lead. An intelligent and excessively kind young man who became hopelessly infatuated with Shiki in high school, only to suspect that she was the one perpetrating a series of serial murders. When Shiki was comatose, he wound up working as a private investigator of sorts for the Garan no Dou agency, but continued to carry a torch for Shiki.

Touko Aozaki is our mentor character of sorts. More than likely the greatest doll and puppet maker in the world, Touko is also a mage and a lauded polymath, excelling in basically any field that proves of interest to her. She runs the Garan no Dou agency and employs Mikiya for his investigative prowess and later Shiki for her combat abilities as her sole employees. She's a chainsmoking girlboss who can be overly verbose and pretentious. Despite some unscrupulous morality, she legitimately cares about her subordinates.

Azaka Kokutou is Mikiya's younger sister who vehemently opposes her brother's relations with Shiki. Certainly the "4th wheel" of the cast made worse by the adaptation greatly condensing her chapter to laser in more on the Shiki and Mikiya dynamic. She apprenticed herself to Touko as a means of inserting herself into the workings of Garan no Dou. Azaka is smart, expressive, headstrong and funny. Touko is teaching her flame manipulation, as that's what she has the most affinity for.

I'll omit the antagonists here and encourage folks to watch the show as my little blurbs here give the jist of the cast, but really doesn't do them justice. The cast for the most part is really well characterized and much in Nasu's style, even when he plays to a trope there's a lot more to it than that.

What Exactly am I in for?

So, there's (depending on your definition) 8-9 films and a few ~10 minute OVAs. Unfortunately, the light novels have never been localized and there's only an incomplete fan translation and a somewhat inaccurate machine-assisted translation.

The film series adapts every part of the series except the side-story Final Record, albeit Azaka's chapter, Oblivion Recording, was greatly altered for the film adaptation.

The main series ran from '07 to '09 and includes episodes 1-7 and the Epilogue. Future Gospel and the OVAs came out in 2013 and they're a few side stories with the main act functioning as an epilogue of sorts to the epilogue.

So, the films post their position in the timeline at the end of each instalment, but I'll post them upfront here for the purposes of making it easier for one to keep track and using this piece as a guide.

I - Overlooking View (Sept '98) A series of suicides committed by schoolgirls jumping off of the roof of an abandoned apartment building catch the interest of the members of Garan no Dou. Some supernatural effect causes Mikiya to fall into a deep sleep and when Shiki investigates the building, she sees the ghostly figures of eight girls in the sky.

II - Murder Speculation Part 1 ('95-'96 schoolyear, ending in March) Mikiya becomes classmates with Shiki, who he immediately becomes infatuated with despite her less than accommodating personality. A series of murders happen in the city and Mikiya, suspecting her to be the perpetrator, tries to prove her innocence.

III - Remaining Sense of Pain (July '98) A young woman is viscously assaulted and the perpetrators are turning up dead, their bodies horribly mangled. Garan no Dou is presented with the case, but due to Touko's monetary problems, Mikiya resorts to freelancing in the short term. Shiki intends to put the murderer down, claiming them to be similar, albeit one of them is out of control.

IV - The Hollow Shrine (June '98) Shiki awakens from her coma after the accident, feeling hollow due to what she lost and now possessing the ability to see death. Mikiya is barred from visitation, as it's restricted to the family, so Touko sneaks into the hospital to check on her and takes immediate interest in Shiki's new perceptive abilities.

V - Paradox Spiral (November '98) A young man murders his mother in self-defense and winds up being helped by Shiki. Mikiya investigates some suspicious tenants of an apartment building that Touko designed and some old associates of Touko's are in town, one of them with a bone to pick.

VI - Oblivion Recording (January '99) Garan no Dou is asked to investigate a suspicious suicide at Azaka's boarding school and some lapses in memory around the incident in question. Shiki is dispatched, much to Azaka's displeasure and the two work to uncover a mage using fairies behind the two events.

VII - Murder Speculation Part 2 (February '99) Shiki, feeling perturbed, hasn't been frequenting her apartment. Meanwhile the serial murders from '96 start back up. Mikiya, trying to prove Shiki's innocence, begins investigating a drug ring related to the incidents and the events of the unsolved '96 murder cases finally come to light.

Epilogue - The Boundary of Emptiness (a few weeks after the events of Murder Speculation 2) Two people have a fateful meeting where they discuss some particulars of the events of the series, metaphysics and philosophy. It's literally a half-hour conversation. It's classified as an OVA, but it's almost as long as The Hollow Shrine.

Future Gospel (August '98 & Summer 2010) A serial bomber with the ability to see the future winds up targeting Shiki after proving unable to kill her meanwhile Mikiya has a chance encounter with a girl with a similar ability. Later, an elderly woman who tells fortunes attracts the negative attention of a crime syndicate.

Future Gospel - Extra Chorus (After the events of the summer of '98) A series of short vignettes, about 10 minutes apiece. Shiki takes care of a cat. A girl feels guilty over the death of her best friend. Mikiya and Shiki celebrate New Years.

The Future Gospel stuff, being a side story has a very different feel than the main series (I blame most of the events happening during the day and it being notably less gore-y than the earlier parts). But it's still a very fun watch. In a lot of ways it acts as a means of tying the series up in a bow with a nice "10 years later" segment and some flashbacks to the '95 school year. If you're going to skip something, skip it, but seeing as you've presumably made it that far already, you deserve a treat because it's just fun.

But yeah... this is my favorite anime series. I just finished a rewatch last night and felt urged to type this up. Hopefully it helps people or encourages folks to give the show a try if they've otherwise felt daunted.

#kara no kyoukai #type-moon #kalafina #the garden of sinners #ufotable #shiki ryougi #mikiya kokutou #touko aozaki #azaka kokutou #demon slayer #fate zero

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