Kara no Kyoukai Movie 7: Satsujin Kousatsu (Go)

When it comes to watching anime, any anime series can keep someone entertained for the entirety of its length. But it takes a truly remarkable series to become memorable among the bottomless sea of anime. Kara no Kyoukai is that series. Kara no Kyoukai 7: Satsujin Kousatsu Part 2 is the finale of a string of movies based of a series of light novels by Kinoko Nasu. In the final movie, the story revolves around the appearance of multiple murders as well as the disappearance of Ryougi Shiki, and Kokutou Mikiya's attempt to unravel the mysteries of the murders and Shiki's whereabouts. Story: 10 I wasreally conflicted on whether or not the story for the finale deserved a 9 or a 10, but in the end i chose the give it a 10 against my better judgment. All of the Kara no Kyoukai movies have a very adult plot, focusing on murder and moral values within society, and the 7th movie also takes this stance while focusing on Shiki and Mikiya's relatioship, as well as tying up lose ends in the plot, and revealing things that the other movies left out. The use of suspense and mystery, as well as the constant flash backs that reveal more and more of Mikiya and Shiki's tale really helps to keep the story flowing as well as keeping the viewers interested. If I had to be really picky, the only problem with the story is the pacing at some points. The flow of the story does not have a constant pacing, where at some points it seems to move extremely slow while other times the story seems to progress and reveal information in a short amount of time. Art: 10 Really, all the Kara no Kyoukai movies have amazing art and animation and the finale is no exception. The use of a dark color palet brings out the story's dark undertones of the story, as well as complementing the characters and scenery. Sound: 10 Sound is also used very effectively as well to help create a mood to immerse the viewers in. It is up beat when it needs to be, and sad when it needs to be as well. The combination of the art and sound creates a mood that helps immerse viewers in Shiki and Mikiya's world and the situation they are in. It is the addition of these elements which truly brings out Kara no Kyoukai's brilliance. Keeping the viewers attention is only half the battle, for an anime to truly become remarkable in the eyes of the public it needs to draw in the viewers, immerse them in the characters world. Having the viewer feeling tense as a character rounds the corner, having them feel for the characters during emotional moments, this is all created through the use of art and sound, and Kara no Kyoukai nails it. Character: 10 As stated in the story, we get to see more of the relationship between Shiki and Mikiya as well as their development as characters. Shiki is a very unusual character, one of the reasons that people are drawn to this anime, and although she is hard to identify with, seeing her struggle with her problems, struggle with understanding her emotions, as well as evolve as a person is what draws us to her. While other movies did not so much focus on Shiki and her emotions and how she is changing, this movie is solely dedicated to it, and that is one of its greatest draws. Enjoyment: 10 What can I say, I have been praising this movie for the whole review. It is a masterpiece in my eyes, and while it may not have as much action as the others, it is still my personal favorite. While writing this review, I was trying to find things wrong with this movie, but not matter how hard I thought, I was not able to. It may seem stupid that I gave this all 10's, but really, this movie deserved every one of them. It is outstanding, amazing and remarkable. So let me ask you, what makes an anime memorable to you? Characters? Story? Art? There are only a select few animes that ever reach this level with people, an anime which you will remember while forgetting many others. It needs to stand out, it needs to grab your attention, and most importantly, it needs to affect YOU. For me, Kara no Kyoukai 7 is that kind of anime.

I usually don't feel compelled to review animes. I watched the entire "Garden of sinners" series of films and would give all of them a collective grade of 8 if I was forced to. But after watching the seventh film, seeing nothing but rave reviews all over the web saying this is the best of the bunch, I felt I had to say something. *slight spoilers ahead* This film had some good points (the art for example, which has been a consistent highlight throughout all of the films) but it's heavily outweighed by the low points in the execution of the movie's story. For one,it ran an hour too long. The film is a bulky two hours I felt was mostly filler, and definitely could of been condensed. It seemed like the director and writer made this film way too long to make up for the long wait but it was completely unnecessary. That being said, I did enjoy the first part of the film. It's starts off very promising with a suspenseful murder-mystery sort of vibe that's been prevalent with all the films. Shiki's back story is finally fleshed out a little more which was nice, though you have to have a good memory to catch everything. (Lots of references to the past films, to be expected.) Where the movie really lost points for me was the main theme of the film; the idea that Shiki has always had this latent desire to kill and Kokuto's argument that murder is never justified. I agreed with Kokuto and the movie argues very well throughout that killing means killing a part of yourself too. This was a recurrent theme throughout the films and they had me believing it, which was why the ending was such a supreme disappointment for me. The film seemed to contradict and ignore it's own argument for the sake of a "happy" ending and I felt a little cheated by it. Where are the consequences of murder they kept talking about? the loss? So, if you liked the other films then you'll get a lot of the same. The tone, characters and artwork are all familiar and are certainly worth a look if only to know how the series ends. But this film is a prime example of a story that was structured with a very clear ideal in mind, only to chuck it out the window for no reason at all. If your a fan of good, consistent writing like me, you'll be disappointed.

Well... this is the first time I've deviated so much from the consensus. I really wanted to like this movie, but unfortunately I just wasn't able to be entertained. I watched all seven movies on Amazon Prime video,and I liked every single entry except this one. The major problems that I had with this movie have to do with the thoroughly annoying and uninteresting villain, the forced melodrama, and some plot holes. The villain in this movie is introduced fairly early on relative to the previous movies in the series. However, this villain is also the least interesting villain in the entire series - which is sayinga lot since some of the previous movies had some really dull antagonists. His intentions and motivations are all in your face and incredibly cliche and his only purpose in this movie was to force a moral quandary onto Shiki. Additionally, his over the top personality, which consists of mainly jumping around like a god damn monkey, screaming, and acting like a maniacal pervert, got old real quick. Additionally the philosophy aspect really doesn't add much to the story compared to the previous films. In this story it mainly has to do with Kokutou's no kill rule, which I can respect. But then they add in all this fluff where Shiki feels oh so lonely, or that she loves Kokutou and she doesn't want to hurt him ... blah blah blah. In the end there's just so much of it that it just comes off as feeling forced. Additionally there was one major plot hole that kind of set me off. It has to do with a scene where Kokutou is an abandoned ware house towards the end of the film. Here it just felt like the creators didn't have the balls to complete the story with what should have been the natural progression (those of you who have already seen the movie probably know what I'm talking about). Additionally there were some other minor problems with previous antagonists being reintroduced into the story without any real insight into their significance in the plot line. Honestly, this didn't bother me too much. Also I didn't like the whole drugs subplot. There were some good things as well, like the animation and the soundtrack, but as a whole, the negatives outweigh the positives by a large margin. This is my first real review, so I know it's kind of bad and all over the place. I'll just add that if you liked the movie, then that's cool too. I'm not here to hate on anyone, I just wanted to add my own two cents into the mix. Thanks for reading!

This is the final and possibly best installment of the series Kara no Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners. I would like to mention before I begin that if you have a minimal knowledge of the previous movies in the series this may spoil the franchise for you. Let me also say, I have not read the novels, for in a way, I wanted to savor the animation and suspense these movies bring. And boy am I glad I did. When I finished this anime, I was taken back for a moment. It's one of those few anime miracles that occur, a deep breath, an awkwardsigh, and then followed by a short reminiscence of what you just spent two hours watching. The plot delivery, the characters, the animation, the sound all astounding. Subtly tying the entire series together, almost nothing is left unexplained - while many questions remain. Story: 10/10 The story wraps up what the other six movies manage to establish - an awesome gut-wrenching plot that really shifts your way of thinking. Now I can't really say anything because I don't want to spoil the movie, but this movie really does it right. The character you saw for a brief moment during the end of the fifth movie appears, playing a major role. But what really makes this anime different in the story telling department is (and this is why I love it) not the solid plot itself, but the details that surround it. A minor phrase can inadvertently change how the story progresses, or a scene that occurred a few movies earlier can really influences what happens. Now about the seventh movies story. Shiki and Mikiya's love is really held high here, seeing as it is the final and climactic movie. The time is also set as the furthest set time to date, which was threw me for a loop because since this movie was called "Murder Speculation (Second Half)" I thought it would be a direct sequel to the second movie. It is in fact not, and explains what happened shortly after the second movie through flashbacks. The fight scenes are as always, top-notch. The 'other Shiki' is explained in this movie, for up until now the idea of 'another Shiki' (SHIKI) seemed rather abstract. As I said before I can't say too much about the story, seeing as it would ruin the suspense. Art: 10/10 The art and animation are far beyond any anime, rivaling 5/Centimers Per Second. The fighting scenes are so high tension that you can't help but move a little in your seat every time the camera switches angles. Ufotable, which also worked on Eve no Jikan and Pale Cocoon uses the same kind of art style, so if you liked those you should also like the way this anime looks. Some moments of animation are just jaw-dropping. In a scene where Shiki is lying down the camera pulls forward, pulses blue, pulls back a little and continues to zoom in. It may be hard to visualize in your head but this one scene was so intense I move closer to my computer screen, as if the anime was drawing me in. The chiaroscuro used in this anime really enhances the overall experience. The horror scenes in this anime are too, really disturbing, not because of the what is happening but how it is presented (an anime that does not truly excel here is the original Hellsing, where what is happening is creepy, but without proper animation it seems to lack the oomph Kara no Kyoukai has). No 3D elements or CG can be scene although the way this is animated makes it feel as if another dimension exists between the two, the movements of characters, vehicles, and even magic are so realistic it's fascinating. Sound: 10/10 Not much to be said about the sound other than it too, is stellar. The opening song really creepy. I started drawing short breaths when it was finished, it fitted this anime quite well and it matched the animation to a T. The background music is creepy in its own, quiet, way. It plays as light filler in the background for when the fighting scenes start, building suspense all the while. The sounds of the cars, the rain, the sound of knives clashing with one another - all superb. It's like your really standing in front of a knife fight (that is without worrying for your life). The voice acting, too, is done really well, the voices fit the characters well and are executed without problems (I'd say more but I'm not an expert on VA). The ending song like all Kara No Kyoukai ending songs, fits the movie well, using lyrics that actually relate to what you just saw. Character: 10/10 The characters reach a climax in this movie. All that you knew and didn't know about them meets here. Mikiya begins to reveal his love for Shiki, and you see him in a new, darker light. You'll find yourself asking "Is this the same guy from the second movie, or what?" the change is quite apparent. Shiki and her counterpart SHIKI's motives are explained and the view you have of her will also change from the beginning to end of this movie. I do digress that Araya had less of a role than in previous movies, seeing as he was such an interesting character, I wish they made more use of him. He does appear but doesn't say much. The new character, Lio, was briefly shown in earlier movies, but is revealed as Shiki's "stalker". He is a pivotal character that explains a lot of what happened in the second movie which was essentially the catalyst for the entire series. Once again, if I say too much, it'll be ruined. Enjoyment: 10/10 By God! If you're still reading, you should know that I harbor a deep love for this series, these characters, and this movie! What an incredible experience. There was not a single moment that I didn't enjoy this movie. Now you're probably thinking "Well because yeah, you were having a freaking orgasm the whole time just by staring at the animation", and essentially, you could say I was. I'm writing this to heavily suggest you watch these movies. I want to you, the reader, to want to watch this, not because it's gimmicky, or all the cool kids are watching it (but they are) but because it's simply amazing. Overall: 10/10 Masterpiece. Closing note: This is my first review, and I'm writing it because I feel that more people should know about this anime. My review may sound pretentious (which my writing may be, but not this movie) and over-exaggerated but it really isn't. This is truly one of the great anime epics, holding its own with Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Monster.

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