Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to continue my very long retrospective of the Kara no Kyoukai series. We have finally made to the 5th film everybody. So that means that I only have two more films to review and then this little marathon is over, yay! For today's review I'm going to take a look at what many fans of the series consider the best film out of the seven. I am of course talking about Kara no Kyoukai: Paradox Spiral. Is this film really as good as most die-hard fans say or is it just a sub-par film at best? Let's find out shall we?
Story:
In this film we follow a young man named, Tomoe Enjou, as he kills his parents and runs away after committing the dirty deed. He then runs into Shiki in where the two of them get well acquainted with one another and quickly become friends. But not everything is what it seems as certain things that Tomoe say don't really add up. Like the fact that no real news outlet ah reported on his flocks murder despite the fact that he left the bodies there to rot. So something does seem very odd indeed. The story for Paradox Spiral is certainly a crazy one. Just when you think that you're done with the films being placed out of order, in comes this film. The structure of the film is very out of order and purposely confusing. But fear not, you don't have to watch four other films to try and understand it. The film eventually syncs of and everything comes into order giving you that beautiful of "oh so that's what happened." Which is always fun to sit through. But along with the out of order story comes that dark themes that these films are very well known for. Which I can't really get into thoroughly in fear of spoiling the film. I will say that family plays a huge part in this film as well as the idea what a true home. Hell, the film also goes into the idea of whether or not the end justifies the means to find the truth. As well as discussing who you are as a person and what makes you, you. You got that? Good, because this film will through that shit at you like a damn baseball. The heavy themes are well presented and the film tackles them like no ones business. The film can be crazy confusing at times, which can through some off, but the story has a very well written plot that really hits the viewer hard.
Animation:
Now this film has the most odd animation out of the seven. Including the two films that come after this. The animation feels, slightly erratic. All the movement here kind feel messy and not very smooth as the other films. This is both good and a little bad. The bad part here is that it can be a bit hard to clearly understand just is happening during some of the fight scenes. The animation is so wild that everything is moving and the camera goes a little baserk with it as well. The good though is that it gives the film a very uncanny feel to it. Something feels off about this films which makes sense because the whole film is kinda off with the whole out of order stuff going on. So the animation does help the story feel off as well. But unlike the other films, the backgrounds have no real meat to them. The other films always out a lot of background detail into the shot to bring more life to it. Now while this movie does have some fairly nice scenery, it's not a lot and even then it doesn't last long. Most of the film takes place in one building and while the lighting and the building it self are very impressive, it is the same background you've seen already. Now I'm not shitting on the animation at all, it's still really good. But compared to the other films it does lack a bit.
Music:
The music here is just as good as the other films but like the others it does find ways to be different. The film actually has a lot of uplifting tracks in it. Songs that feel as though they should go into a much lighter toned film but that where the music shines. It plays in scenes that call back to a character's past or when someone is having a personal moment. This works really well as it intensifies the emotions in the given scene. The music that plays during fights are what you'd expect at this point into the series. Fast-paced action and triumphant sounding, a mix that has made the battle music for Kara no Kyoukai so damn enjoyable and in the mood for some kick-ass action.
Characters:
The film's strongest point here is the characters. The characters from the main cast that get to shine are Mikiya and Touko. We see why Touko chooses Mikiya as her assistant and he comes off as a very smart and caring person. He knows he's not the strongest guy around but that won't stop him from from trying to help his friends when ever they are in need. Touko get's her shine in the spotlight as a badass. She doesn't do a lot but when she's in action you really get to see why she's such a great character. The other character that has a lot of development is Tomoe. We don't really like at first but once you really start to understand his character he comes off as a very sad person who just lost sight of really mattered in his life. He's a great character and this is most defiantly his film and his story.
Overall:
Now is this the best film in the series? In my opinion, no. But this is still a really good film. It's animation is very good but lacks in comparison to the others and the out of order nature of the film can be a bit frustrating to some. But the music is still top notch, the story is dark but oddly uplifting, and the characters are at their best in this film. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves anime and dark stories in general.
Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: Paradox Spiral a 9 out of 10.
You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:
No legal streaming sites. Sorry.
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