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exstasyplague · 1 year ago

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UnPopular Jujutsu Kaisen Opinions (with arguments)

manga spoilers

☆ Yuji is the perfect MC

i've seen a lot of people trashing on him. some say gege writes him poorly and doesn't give him enough scenes, some say he's boring because he doesn't have any fancy cursed techniques. first of all, yuji has been aware of the jujutsu world for 6 months in manga; even less in anime. he doesn't have any OP cliche to him (looking at you Ichigo) and that makes him so much more enjoyable! when he loses he loses for good reasons and when he wins you can feel genuinely happy for him because you know he deserves it. he is a teenager and the shift in his mentalities embodies that perfectly; along with him we discover the cruelty and unfairness of the jujutsu world. at first, especially if you're a shonen watcher, you'd tend to believe he will shift to a high white knight borderline annoying mentality yet he doesn't, the jjk verse doesn't work like that. yuji is able to adapt. he has traits that you'd see in your real life friends: silliness, kindness, idiocy, love for jennifer lawrence etc but also traits that make him a perfect mc: empathy, resiliance, convinction, raw anger. + gege have him some of the HARDEST panels.

ㅡif it's just pain... Yuji Itadori won't ever stop

also. his last battle with mahito. hands down. best. panels.

mahito (another well structured villain) RUNNING for his life while yuji walks slowly behind him. if that doesn't show major improvement from the kid he was at the beginning idk what does. that's some MC shit right there man.

☆ Sukuna is not a fraud

the fraudkuna memes are funny. i admit. i'm sure mahoraga kisses him goodnight and tucks his blankey, however, sukuna is a fucking piece of shit, LOL (i mean it in the best way), my man literally became curse. people expect him to not use the weapons he has to his advantage as if he didn't want megumi from the beginning specifically for using his abilities. a good gun doesn't make you a military tier shooter. it's about the resources, it's about the experience, it's about the aim. "why doesn't he use his curse technique wah wah" — because he knows gojo is strong. unless he isn't absolutely sure he will strip him away from all his gimmicks, he has no reason to flaunt his true powers. sukuna wants to win. he wanted to kill gojo since the beginning of the series. i think the fight is balanced well, sukuna uses his resources and takes the consequences for being a tad too cautious. in the heian era when cursed energy had a purer, rawer output even domain expansions were simple in principles: you're in, i kill you. (line from the manga, btw) his CT is probably straightforward as well with a simple principle so having gojo use his infinity against it and figure out how to strip him naked would make him lose faster than todo called yuji his bestie.

☆ Gege doesn't hate women

because the unfortunate thing with nobara and yuki getting xd-d by kenjaku, a popular belief seems to be that gege is fond of trashing the women in his series. argument people have for that? "the only one in the spotlight is maki and she's female toji". first of all, if gege hated women he wouldn't write them as he does— each one of his lady characters is incredibly well structured and way beyond the love interest/ gotta be protected trope. mei mei, shoko, utahime, miwa and many others became non-existent, or what? even tengen is a woman. masashi kishimoto (the creator of naruto) is an author i'd say has 0 regards for women since the way most of his girl characters are built is literal dog shit. sakura is naruto's one sided love and a sasuke dickrider, hinata is a stalker that sharts when she sees naruto, karin is a sasuke dickrider, kurenai is asuma's chick and the only two women somewhat ok as a structure are tsunde and temari. (i am a big fan of the naruto series but i am spitting facts, also an avid sakura lover) plus there is a rumour that gege is a woman too and from the way sato sugu is written i'd agree anw

☆ Kenjaku is the best villain of the series

homie got railed by itadori's papi just for his plan, that's not even aizen level of plotting bro. he got drizzled in jizz and gave birth to yuji 💀

how good that d had to be for him to get impregnated....

ANYWAY jokes aside, he is very calculated and chill. he is not the strongest but his literal essence is to be a technique stealing leech and well, he's just that. with suguru, even in his villain arc you can empathize. sukuna is cool and straightforward: he wants to massacre people, kill gojo and then enjoy his life slashing random ass people who don't kneel is total submission.

kenjaku? bro, kenjaku has plans over plans and he executes all of them. even in geto's sexy body he still gets hated because there is genuinely nothing likeable about him. not because he's a poorly written character, he's written to be a piece of shit that makes you wanna break the screen when he gets a W and idk about y'all but even when he exorcised mahito i was like "aw hell nah bruh, get your hands off asap". may come as a shock, i know but we're like supposed to hate villains (not me being the biggest sukuna simp even in his crusty dusty OG form🤭) and well, nobody fucking roots for kenjaku. so gojo, go take your boyfriend's body or something fr.

☆ Yuta is.... mid

hear me out.

i don't hate him— not in the slightest. i hope he will actually have something going on with maki since apparently nobara is afk. i liked his entire rika situation but... bro.

yes, i will be going into the power system 😭I'M SORRY BUT like all he does is copy shit. wow. sure, he's a good copycat. i am not complaining about him being called so powerful and wtv but i don't find anything exciting about his battles and his personality is dead ass boring. do i get happy when he wins? yes. do i hope he'll come and save goatjo? yes. yes. yes. but people call him the real MC and all that shit... not even that— i... nothing in me likes him. my opinions are not absolute. his story is cool. i liked jjk 0 but the only thing that ruins his story is literally his lack of perosnality. and don't come at me for not grasping his depths or whatever. yuta is best fanfic y/n material because he can be turned into bashful stereotype really easily. "omg, best friend power, precious friends made me wanna live ❤️" very sweet HOWEVER very untouching for me. i only liked him when he made maki go all blushy because my girl deserves happiness.

☆ Toji actually cares about Megumi

is he the good father that would spoil his kid as a ray of sunshine?

no.

but he chose this. to forget about everything, to abandon his pride, to part himself away from the clan that rejected him and live his life on his own. megumi's mom made shit better for him and she died so his life became shit again. he thought that by entrusting megumi to the zenin clan he would actually be able to make something of himself since he had cursed energy.

also, people tend to forget just how conservative and judgemental the 3 big clans are, maki and mai have been shat on their whole life by the zenins, especially maki. toji went through the same shit if not worse. he wasn't always buff max version of himself, he wasn't born with anything. exactly because he gave up on all the things in his life he was able to reach that type of power and live with some purpose since he failed in everything else.

in the manga he has the option of coming back to life as long as he keeps killing sorcerers, which is his speciality, but he meets megumi, recognises him and kills himself in order to not hurt him. be fr. anciet sorcerers sold their booty holes to kenjaku to get a second chance at life.

ANYWAY. SADLY i can't post Toji memes since i reached my pic limits.

let me know what you think:) i may make a part 2. feel free to also ask for my opinions about anything in the verse, lol. if you wanna see my fics check my ao3, i promise i don't write in the same braindead way i type. <33

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wxndswept · 2 years ago

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"Wooow~ You are so angry today!" Yuuki laughed and spun around the attack hurtling toward her. That same black and red energy coming from a familiar face. "You do realize these emotions make you a lot easier to deal with right?" Not that these... energy blasts were any less powerful. "So what's it this time? Did I come across you and that creepy masked dude you were with, or do you actually want something this time?"

"Honestly, will you stop pestering us like this? My master has better uses for her time than wasting it here with you." Moon's irritated voice rang from the Ruin blade at Yuuki's hip. "And you! Stop antagonizing her! You know one of these hits can kill you, right?!"

"Shut! Up!" The girl swiped at Yuuki, energy bursting from the ground where she once stood. "Shut up shut up shut up! You don't understand! Just give me this and-" Her words were cut off when in an instant Yuuki disappeared before slamming the girl against the wall. Pinning her with one hand against her wrist and the other pinned with the flat of her sword.

"Then make me understand." Yuuki's playful tone was gone now. "You've attacked me twice now for no rhyme or reason. What is it you want? The sword? because that isn't happening." Her grip only tightened as the girl struggled to move against her.

"I don't want it." The girl was hesitant, but her words were honest. "But... I need it. If I can get it, then I can be of some worth again. And if you have to die, then so be it. But I'd... rather avoid it if I had to."

"Humph." Yuuki pulled away, taking a step back. "Is that it? You just want to impress someone? You're not even curious about this?" Yuuki sighed and lowered her sword. Finding your worth in someone else. Ridiculous. Even more so when it was apparent how conflicted this girl was. Her reasoning alone was shaky enough, to the point it piqued the adventurer's curiosity.

"Tch." Yuuki shook her head, taking another look at her. "Find your own worth. It shouldn't be wasted clinging to someone who doesn't respect you." With that, she turned to walk away. "So unless you want to work together, I've got no interest in sharing any info on this blade." There was a pause before Yuuki stopped in her tracks. "Ah, that's right. I never got your-" Turning around, the girl was gone, leaving a trail of black smoke behind. "Ah, damn."

"Do not fret, my master. I've analyzed her energy fairly well." Moon said as Yuuki drew the Ruin Blade. "Come on, let's get somewhere safer and we can talk."

#[story post]#;;wandering wind(yuki/yuuki)#;;freedom shackled(lyza)#;;star watcher(moon)#don't mind me i've been possessed by this idea between my gaming

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whiteclericmaris · 7 months ago

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Wow! I love the composition of this piece op! The way you have Judai and Johan posed and the interesting thing is that they have a part of Rainbow Dragons wings on their back. Kinda like an angel and demon characteristic in the piece. Oh damn, I just noticed that you drew Neos near the center. I love how you have Rainbow Dragon curled as it really brings the polymerization/fusion effect in place.

The background is also cool with the colors of the rainbow and I love how Johan is with his hands clutching the other as he eyes Judai. Judai does not look as if he is paying attention with his pose but his eyes also appear to be looking at Johan.

I can't help but think Judai is gripping his hand to the side. Also wow there are some traces of Neos red stripes on the painting. The lighting and shading is cool as the gems in rainbow dragon look shiny! I love how you arted this. Fantastic job and thank you for sharing!

Cross the walls that divide our decks, and achieve ultimate evolution! Fusion Summon! Rainbow Neos!

#watcher gushes!#yugioh gx #spiritshipping #judai yuki #jaden yuki #johan andersen #look at that gorgeous art!#I love the composition op!

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linkspooky · 2 years ago

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Jujutsu Kaisen, Chapter 205 Thoughts.

AND IT’S YUKI TSUKUMO WITH THE STEEL CHAIR!

So this week we continue with more fighting, however rather than the powers and strategies used in the fight itself, let’s look at the two special grade sorcerers fighting Tsukumo Yuki and Kenjaku. The matchups in Jujutsu Kaisen are not just about power levels, often the characters fighting foil one another in some way, so let’s analyze Kenjaku and Yuki the old school and new school sorcerers.

1. Thinking outside the Box

Considering half of this chapter is Tsukumo and Kenjaku analyzing each other’s strategies and cursed techniques before either of them throw the first punch to the point where the above image has their faces exactly aligned like they’re the left and right lobes of the same brain.

This happens every time Kenjaku and Yuki interact, down to the first time we see them meet in canon. Despite the fact they are clearly on opposing sides, they discuss their plans and theories like they are a pair of colleagues aruging with each other rather than on opposite sides of the battlefield.

Besides the fact that they have completely different ideas on what they think (the next stage of humanity) should be, they still talk and pick apart the holes in each other’s plans. Yuki grasps immediately that if Kenjaku were to try to optimize cursed energy, the people around the world would start targeting sorcerers as sources of cursed energy because they are almost exclusive to Japan.

She in effect predicts a part of Kenjaku’s plan far ahead of time, his going overseas to get world superpowers interested in harnessing energy from cursed sorcerers in Japan. Whatever Kenjaku’s actual objective is with introducing armies from foreign nations into the culling games, Tsukumo was able to predict the inevitable next stage of his plan through sheer guesswork.

On top of that, Kenjaku himself comments that he and Tsukumo think similiarly and that makes him happy because and this is just supposition he believes that few sorcerers in history have ever truly looked at the world the way he did.

The most famous appearance we have of Kenjaku in history is when he took Noritoshi Kamo’s body, and was reviled by the world around him for his experimentation with cursed energy. Living a thousand years body hopping he has been a social pariah for a long time, for good reason.

Kenjaku himself does not make social connections, and does not usually care at all for the thoughts and feelings of other people. He sees everyone as tools for furthering whatever result of his experiment he wants to bring about, and seems to judge people on whether they catch his interest or not. The fact that Tsukumo Yuki intrigues him when he dismisses his own children as boring is definitely something.

What unites their thinking is most lilely that they are both outsiders to the current world around them, seeking to bring about a change, though they obviously have opposite ideas of what that change might be. Yuki is similar to Kenjaku in the fact that she is a big picture thinker who is less concerned about the individual lives of people involved in her plans.

Yuki warns the main characters themselves that she’s not on their side. She also says that as a special grade she could have intervened and acted sooner, but she chose not to at the consequence of everything else. Considering that Kenjaku reconfigures Tenge’s barrier into a movie theatre, both of them tend to act as watchers from the outside rather than direct players.

They are like scientists observing the result of an experiment and therefore they minimize their involvement until absolutely necessary. Though, I’m sure the people who died in Shibuya aren’t really appreciative of the fact that Tsukumo didn’t play her hand sooner because she wanted to watch what happened next. Not that I’m saying it’s her fault directly but she herself admits she could and should have done something earlier and holding back to just watch was a mistake on her part.

She also at one point casually considers researching Toji as a test subject. Part of me wonders what that experiment would have been, considering that her ambition to change the whole world is probably more important in her mind than the life of one person.

However, Yuki at least seems to have some morals whereas Kenjaku is literally amoral ( driven by no sense of right and wrong or moral standard everything he does is just based upon his own personal desires and objectives), Yuki takes a firm stance against the senseless sacrifice of life.

2. Eros and Thanatos

Yuki and Kenjaku also oppose each other thematically, Yuki is a character surrounded by symbolism associated with life and the proliferation and preservation of life, whereas death haunts Kenjaku’s character itself where he may be a force of death itself bringing tragedy and destruction to the lives surrounding the main characters.

In Freudian Psychoanalytic theory, we would call this Thanatos and Eros.

With the publication of the book “Beyond the Pleasure Principal” in 1920, Freud concluded that all instincts fall into one of two major classes: life drives and death drives - later dubbed Eros and Thanatos by other psychologists. Eros was the god of love, fertility and passion in ancient Greece. Thanatos was the human manifestation of Death. [X]

Yuki is painted many ways as the Eros of the story, it all starts with her question. “What kind of girls are you into?” Both her and her student Todo constantly interrogate others about this question, and this question itself is symbolic of Libido, while her cursed energy makes little hearts.

In psychoanalysis Libido is the energy of sexual drive as a component of the life instinct. Quite simply, in order for all human life to continue people have to reproduce so early, early psychology theorizes that sex drive is influenced by psychological factors. Aoi even goes onto explain this question in basically terms of the Freudian idea of libido, that a person’s attraction to others is influenced by personality. Regardless of if this is actually true in real life or not, Megumi himself shows that his own personality has an influence in the kind of person he’s seeking a relationship with, because he wants a compassionate person.

Aoi just like Yuki is surrounded by ‘Life” symbolism. Todo explains cursed energy to Yuji in cooking metaphors (you have to eat in order to survive) he loves passionate people and takes no interest in people who are boring / have no passion for life. Food, love, sex, passions are all things that make life worth living.

Todo is also the most cooperative of all the Jujutsu Sorcerers as shown in his teamwork with Yuji, because the social cooperation that humans are capable of is also considered to be part of the life drive. Humans are a social species, no man is an island as they say, they have to cooperate together in society in order to survive. Yuki herself unlike Kenjaku cooperates with allies including Larue a former member of Geto’s family that has hearts on their nipples (recurring heart symbolism again).

When Kenjaku tries to paint Yuji as the center of all that disaster and death brought upon the world, then Choso corrects him and says that Kenjaku is the one who brings death to everyone around him, a symbolic bringer of death himself like a Grim Reaper or a Shinigami.

Kenjaku is surrounded by death symbolism, he is literally inhabiting a dead body as we speak. His nine children are named after the Death Paintings, which are named after the Kusozu (Nine Phase Diagram) , a budhist serious of nine paintings that depict the stages of death and decomposition of a corpse.

Kenjaku may seem like a life giver, because he is a single mother of one Yuji Itadori, and father to the Death Paintings, but what he does is actually a perversion of life. Succesful procreation requires that your children after all, he abandons the Death Painting Sibs to death, and sets up Yuji as a sacrifice to die. Even the curse painting sibs themselves aren’t properly born, they all in their cursed womb forms look like aborted fetuses in the nine month stages of fetal growth, which probably gives you a hint of how they came out of the mother.

Kenjaku prolongs his own life at the cost of other lives, he kills people and steals their bodies, and does the same for the resurrection of old sorcerers they have completely overtaken a host body in order to continue living for the culling games.

The death drive being the opposite of the life drive, drives people towards risky behavior, death, destruction. Which fits Kenjaku as his whole goal itself is to create risks, trying to bring something unexpected into the world.

The ultimate irony in Kenjaku is that while his goal seems to be creating something new, a future he can’t see beyond the chaos, a cursed spirit with an unexpected face, he himself is incapable of creation his methods are just destruction. He creates children and then abanons them when they disappoint him, he creates Yuji just to die. He is a perversion of motherhood, and he is a perversion of a creator too. He doesn’t create so much as destroy what is already there, recklessly, hoping that will lead to something new.

Yet, death is one half of life.

Everything life positive (love, social cooperation, etc. etc) is done by human beings, and everything that creates death (murder, violence, self-destructive behavior, addiction, risk taking) is also done by humans as well they make up two aspects of human lives. All humans want to live, and yet all humans also are aware no matter what they do they may someday die.

Which is why despite having opposite goals, Yuki and Kenjaku exist as two sides of the same coin.

#jjk meta #jujutsu kaisen theory #jujutsu kaisen meta #jujutsu kaisen 205 #jjk 205 #jjk 205 spoilers #jujutsu kaisen 205 spoilers #jujutsu kaisen spoilers #kenjaku #tsukumo yukji #aoi todo #jujutsu kaisen

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ausetkmt · 5 months ago

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 21: Rakim performs during the "Dj Cassidy's Pass the Mic Live" at Radio ... [+] City Music Hall on July 21, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Richard Bord/Getty Images)Getty Images

Set to release his fourth solo album in 15 years, hip-hop luminary Rakim Allah is making a return to the hip-hop cipher.

Although 15 years have elapsed since the God MC’s last solo project, his stance remains interwoven in the fabric of hip-hop culture, ensuring he has never truly left the scene.

Two weeks ago (May 16), Masta Killa of Wu-Tang Clan took to Instagram and posted an image with Kurupt and Rakim, announcing the upcoming release of a single featuring the three renowned lyricists. Though Masta Killa did not reveal the single's name, he shared it would come from the “#GODSNETWORK” and instructed followers to remain attentive.

Cover of Rakim Allah's single, "Rebirth (N.M.A.) featuring Kurupt and Masta KillaInstagram | @almightym80

On Friday (May 24), Matthew Markoff, a markerting A&R for the project, announced on Instagram the solidification of a contract with Rakim for the release of his fourth studio album, G.O.Ds Network (REB7RTH).

Set for a worldwide release on July 26, there will also be a special edition released as a six-inch A and B side vinyl, with “REB7RTH” on one side and “Love is the Message” on the other. This special edition, limited to 500 pieces, will feature an array of hip-hop heavyweights such as Masta Killa, Kurupt, Nipsey Hussle, Snoop Dogg, Planet Asia, as well as seasoned creatives including Sally Green, Louis King, Kobe Honeycutt, Summer Yuki, and more.

The debut single from the album, “Rebirth (N.M.A.),” also produced by the “I Ain’t No Joke” lyricist, featuring Masta Killa and Kurupt, is set to drop next month on June 21, coinciding with the web and pre-order launch. Kurupt shared the single’s official cover on Instagram Friday (May 24), confirming the coming of Rakim’s new album. “July 26th - ‘Rebirth’ Rakim new album…Produced by Tha God Mc himself,” the caption noted.

Cover for six-inch special edition side A and B side vinyl, “Love is the Message” side.

The album is thoroughly produced by Rakim Allah, with Markoff also serving as an executive producer.

G.O.Ds Network (REB7RTH) marks Rakim’s first solo effort since 2009. He transformed the landscape of rap in 1987 with Eric B. on Paid In Full, and the duo went on to shape the Golden Era of rap with three additional albums: Follow The Leader (1988), Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990), and Don’t Sweat The Technique (1992), all deemed classics of the Golden Era.

Rakim’s solo debut came in 1997 with The 18th Letter, featuring production from Pete Rock, DJ Premier, DJ Clark Kent, Father Shaheed of Poor Righteous Teachers, and more. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and went certified Gold. In 1999, he quickly followed up with his second solo album, The Master, which includes the DJ Premier-produced standout single, “When I B on tha Mic." Afterward, Rakim took a 10-year hiatus before releasing The Seventh Seal in 2009, the first project on his record label Ra Records.

Throughout the years, Rakim has made guest appearances on unapologetic rap songs including G-Dep’s 2001 track “I Am” with Kool G Rap, the 2003 Dr. Dre-produced Jay-Z track “The Watcher 2,” Lloyd Banks’ 2006 song “You Know the Deal,” and he even added a surprise verse on Linkin Park’s 2014 track “Guilty All the Same.”

With his latest performance alongside Slum Village and Talib Kweli at Panic in L.A., the hip-hop luminary has been making his presence felt in the culture. He narrated a Bronx history video for the New York Yankees' opening season, and last month, he joined DJ Jazzy Jeff and Ravi Coltrane for a showcase at the Kennedy Center. As hip-hop enters its 51st year and Rakim makes a comeback, it's safe to conclude that hip-hop was never a fad and is bound to continue dominating and persisting as not only a music genre but a culture.

#Rakim #The God MC #To Drop New Album After 15-Year Hiatus #Rakim Allah #Rakim Release New Sides

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radiantresplendence · 5 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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