Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: Oblivion Recording

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here a new anime review. Yes I've been gone for 2 weeks. I'm a college student, give me a break. but anyway.....I have not been looking forward to this review. To be honest I really didn't want to revisit this movie. But because I have reviewer integrity I will watch the movie! Oh boy is this movie weak. So without further or due let's proceed with the review shall we?

Story:

The story this time around actually has very little to do with the main plot of the whole series. It's has very little to do with anything that has happened in all of the other movies. the story follows Azaka, Mikiya's sister who appeared in "A Remaining Sense of Pain" and "Paradox Spiral". The movie follows Azaka as she is given an assignment from Toko. The mission she has been given is that "fairies" have been reported to be stealing students memories and the cause of suspicious suicides at an academy that Azaka actually attends. So she is to get to the bottom of it and see just who is behind these fairy related incidents. Oh and Shiki is here too. Just because, Yeah that's is the biggest issue with the movie, it feels like filler. Nothing in this movie really tells us anything about what has happened in the previous movie, it's very self contain compared to the other five movies before it. The movie doesn't add much when it comes to the story of Kara no Kyoukai and it really feels like it.

Animation:

As you would expect the animation here is very good. The location this time around is a private school so we get a lot of nice colors going around. Also with the inclusion of fairies we get to see the cool little trails of light they leave behind and of course, the fight scenes in this movie look really good. Just about every bit of animation is great here but hey, what did you expect? It's Ufotable.

Music:

Music here is good, but not as good as it could have been. Due to the pretty much lack luster story going on here music doesn't have a lot of time shine. The music is soothing and nice, it kind of feels like the soundtrack to slice-of-life anime. The music does stand out however when ever the fight scenes are going on. That's when the music gets into gear and becomes very impressive. Once again not a lot I can say here. It's like I'm beating a dead horse at this point.

Characters:

This is another point in which the movie feels like it doesn't add a lot to the series, the movie only has Shiki in it. She doesn't really do in the story and her character doesn't really get further developed. Toko and Mikiya are just about absent from the movie. The only character who gets screen time is Azaka, who isn't really that great of a character. She's a bitch to Shiki, way in over her head, and really wants to bang her own brother. Okay that last bit is just my personal distant for insect but in all seriousness she's just not an interesting character. She's not nearly as complex as Shiki and that just makes the movie feel pretty useless seeing as how Shiki is the main character.

Overall:

This movie is pretty much filler. It's not a bad film by any means but it doesn't really add anything to the overall Kara no Kyoukai movies and it can easily be skipped. As I said it's not a bad film but it's not really needed to enjoy all of the much better films.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: Oblivion Recording a 5.5 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: Paradox Spiral

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.

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: The Hollow Shrine

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you new anime review. Oh hey look at that, a new review that wasn't uploaded last week. Look I'm a busy guy and at least I posted something for last week and didn't leave you guys hanging. I know no excuses. But hey look at that another Kara no Kyoukai movie. Yay. Now unlike the last review I did this movie is nowhere near as dark as the last review. But not that all of that is out of the way lets jump into my review for, The Hollow Shrine. Just how much does the 4th installment hold up against the other 3, lets find out shall we?

Story:

In this film it takes place right after the events of the 2nd movie, within the timeline order. Shiki has fallen into a coma and she ends up waking up about 2 years later. But she is not without some scars from what ever happened to her. Her eyes seem to be acting weird and she keeps seeing horrible things like people falling apart and these crazy red lines all over the place. Yeah, Shiki's fucked up isn't she? The story here is very slow and not a lot actually happens. This may seem like a bad thing seeing as how most of these movies, the exception being the 2nd film, the slow pace here actually helps the feel of the movie. The movie doesn't have a lot happening and mostly fulled with people just talking but this is pretty good because seeing as how the last film was a very heavy and foreboding monster that makes you feel sick this film changes things up a bit which is a good. The movie also really dives deep into Shiki's mind and shows us a lot of layers to her character that we didn't really know. So this film does a pretty good job at keeping your attention even though there may not be a lot happening on screen and it's a great chance to develop Shiki into very more of a complex character then before.

Animation:

Now at first glance this film may not seem like it has the best animation out of all these films. Which is understandable, most of this film takes place in a hospital. Most notably one freaking room. This may seem like a downside to the animation seeing as how beautifully animated the last 3 films were. However the film does amp up the visual beauty in the middle and later half of the film. The movies has scenes in which it show a cavalcade of colors and gorgeous animation. It is just amazing to watch all of these glimpse of how badass Ufotable can make scenes look. There is also a great fight scene at the end, well sort of. The scene is nowhere a good as the final fight scene in A Remaining Sense of Pain but the sequence is made very memorable by the sound design the accompanies the scene. Speaking of which...

Music:

The music and sound design in this movie is really good in this film. Now like a lot of the other films music here is very good and is used wisely. But, at least to me, music is used the least in this film then in others. So you end up having a lot of all of these background noises like footsteps on the floor, wind flowing through the room, and the ruffles of clothing while characters move. When music does play it feels very strong and makes scenes feel like they hold a lot of importance because of the sudden change in sound. Great usage of music like this really makes the anime stand out among other anime that just use music for the hell of it.

Characters:

Now just like the last film this movies really has only one character that has any real character development. Shiki is the main focus of this film and she gets a lot of great development and character building. In other films we usually see Shiki as a emotionless badass but this film ends up showing a very different side of her that we don't get to see a lot in film. The movie really wants us to feel Shiki's pain and struggle which as she has to push through the horrible events that are happening to her in this film. This film felt like it was the movie to give us some real reasons and answers as to why Shiki act the way that she does and I feel like it does a very good job at that.

Overall:

This film kinda end what I like to call the "Out of Order" sequence of the Kara no Kyoukai films. The first 4 films where purposely put out of order and now that I've seen all of these films in that format I really do like. You ask question in one film and only get a few answers in another, it really makes these movies like a puzzle to watch. I do feel like this is the 3rd best out the first 4 but it's still a great watch that you should not miss.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: The Hollow Shrine a 7.5 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.             

1 Year Anniversary Special: Top 5 Favorite Reviews and Top 5 Hated Reviews!

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to say happy one anniversary to me! That's right, one year ago today I started doing these reviews. Now I will admit I am very sorry for the hiatus I took I still feel as though I should celebrate being able to come back to this little blog and keep doing reviews. I know my reviews aren't the best or even the most thought out but hey, I never calmed to be perfect. But at the same time there are some reviews of mine that I have to admit that I just really liked writing and I feel came out really well. So how about I count down my Top 5 Favorite Reviews and my Top 5 Hated Reviews. Because there are some reviews that I will admit I hate looking back at now. So how about I start this list off with the best, here are my Top 5 Favorite Reviews!

Top 5 Favorite Reviews

Number 5: Fate/Zero Review

This was a review was one that I was really looking forward to for a while. Ever since I stared this blog I was really saving Fate/Zero for a while. So when I went on a little Fate marathon in the months of November and December I thought it would be the best time to hunt down the show and finally review it. I was very happy with how it came out. My only real problem with the review is that I didn't make it longer. But aside from that I loved writing this review and it's still one of favorite reviews even to today.

Number 4: Chobits Review

When I decided to do Romance Month, which I was very happy with, I knew for a fact that I would have to review this for two simple reasons. One; it's one of the most popular romance anime so it would make sense to review it for Romance Month. Two; when I first watch Chobits, I fucking hated it. I mean I hated it. But as years passed by I stared to wonder why exactly did I hate it so much. I really couldn't think of a good reason so I decided to rewatch it and see how I felt about it years later. I am very happy say that when I went back to watch Chobits I just loved it. I was very surprised by just how good this show actually was. So when I finally wrote the review it was actually insanely fun to do because I had just so much to say.

Number 3: Serial Experiments Lain Review

Not only does this anime have a special in my heart the review does too. When I was watching Lain it was during a time in my life when I wasn't too sure what college I wanted to go too and I wasn't really taking my education ever seriously during my final years of high schools. But when I decided to sit down and watch Lain I was just horrified by what I saw. The story of a girl who's life was quite literally fading away and how she started losing her grip on reality. This scared the living shit out of me! This was so damn scary that I completely changed and took my education very seriously. So this review sticks with me because this was one of the few times that an anime really made me rethink my life. I know that sounds silly but I can't deny that this anime was pretty damn freaky and this is one of my favorite reviews.

Number 2: Guilty Crown

This review, oh my god, was so much damn fun to do. This was my first really negative review. Because I fucking hated this show and I still do. Guilty Crown was an anime that I decided to watch in one sitting. I stayed up all night so that I could watch because the first 12 episodes were actually pretty damn good. So when I watch the last 12 I was angry at just how bad the quality dropped. So when time finally came for me write the review I went mad on my keyboard. I just typed and typed and typed, until I couldn't think of anything else to hate about this show. i went fucking ballistic on this damn show and it resulted into a review that I think was really funny. Due to how mad I was at the show. So I guess I have to thank Guilty Crown for giving me a great review. But seriously though fuck Guilty Crown. Don't watch it.

Number 1: Aku no Hana Review

I have to say. I really loved how this review came out in the end. When I was on hiatus I really struggled to find any anime to actually review. I felt really unmotivated to watch anything, it was a really dull time for me. So one day I decided to check out a manga that I heard was really missed up and was disturbing. When I finally checked it out for myself I could not believe just how amazing this story was. I found it really fucking hard to not put down my phone and look something else up, I read manga on my phone most of the time, I had to keep reading. When I was done with it I felt that itch. That itch I feel when I really want to review something. So I decided to say "fuck it, I don't care if I don't review manga, I'm reviewing this!". That is how I finally returned to doing my reviews. Because of one of the most fucked up but best manga I have ever read. But the review itself was also really good. I had a lot to say about the manga and I just decided that I am going to write until I have nothing else to say and just like that the review was made. It's my favorite review to date and the manga that got me back into reviewing.

But with any good review, sometimes you have bad ones. So it's time that I poke fun at myself and list the top 5 reviews that I personally hate.

Top 5 Hated Reviews

Number 5: Corpse Princess Review

The Corpse Princess review was a review that I felt was just a really poorly put together review. Not because it was my feelings on anime changed or anything like that. The reason was the actual anime was so lack-luster that when I actually had to write the review I had nothing to say. I was just struggling to find 11 different ways to say that anime was just "okay". I had nothing to really work with and nothing to get mad or praise about the show. I had so little to actually say that I felt that the review was one of my most boring and hollow reviews to write and review. It was a review that I just couldn't find anything to say and I just hated it once I actually finished it.

Number 4: Angel Beats Review

Okay let's get this out of the way, I fucking hate this show. It's shit. So when I review the show I thought I was fair but when I really look back at the actual show I can't help but point out just how shitty the anime really is. I just hate everything about it. So after a good year I decided to look back at the show and I shocked myself. I was so damn soft on this show it disgust me and I was most shocked at the final score I gave it. A 6.5. A fucking 6.5. What the fuck was I thinking?! This show doesn't even deserve a goddamn 4, and I a gave it a 6.5?! Was I high or something!? Now I don't like to go back to my old reviews and edit them, it's not my style. But holy hell I will never forgive myself for giving this show such a high score and that's why I hate it so much.

Number 3: Squid Girl Review

Okay so I know I don't get a lot of views on my reviews but I'm proud of the views I get non-the-less. When I reviewed Squid Girl I was pretty excited, mainly because I really liked the show and I wanted to share my opinion about it. Clearly no one really cared. Squid Girl is my least watch review ever and I am a shamed of it. I think the review itself is fine but it's clear that no one gave a damn about it because of how little views I actually got. It still haunts me to this day and I can never live it down.

Number 2: Mistudomoe Review

Oh god this review. One thing I love about reviewing anime is that it never feels like a job. I am doing something that I love doing and I never feel hindered by it, until anime came around. This anime sucked all of the joy out of reviewing and for the first time ever I felt like I was just watching the anime and reviewing it because I had too, because it's my job to review anime. That's why I hate this review. Not only that but this anime was just so boring and painfully stupid to actually write a review about. I just hated every damn moment of typing up the review. So in turn I hated how the actual review came out and I hate the show just as much.

Number 1: Elfen Lied Review

Seems kinda of obvious that my most hated review is my first review. Yeah I hate my Elfen Lied review. I always go back to it now-and-then and I just can't stand it. I mean damn that review was bad. I gave Elfen Lied a damn 9 even after pointing out a lot of bad things about it, really unbiased huh? The Animation Category was only 2 sentences long and I hardly talked about the plot or characters aside from the main characters. Every time I look back at it I can't help but be so ashamed by the fact that, that thing was my first review. But I can also look back at it and appreciate how far I came from that style of reviewing to how I review now. Elfen Lied, I may love the anime but I hate my own review for it.

So those were my favorite and not-so-favorite anime reviews that I've done so far. I'm happy to say that I'll keep doing reviews and I hope to get even better at them in the future. Also no need to worry, the 4th Kara no Kyoukai review will be released this Saturday. I just wanted to think back on old reviews and find a way to celebrate on one year of reviewing. Thanks for reading.

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: A Remaining Sense of Pain

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to continue my retrospective of the Kara no Kyoukai films. This one is gonna be a bit tricky to review. Just to start off, this is one of the darker entries in the Garden of Sinners series. This film has some of the most brutal death scenes and contains a lot of rape. Yes, rape. To make this review short for those who don't like the idea of rape in anime and just want my opinion on the matter I will say that this is a good film. If you can handle it then you should check it out. If you don't think you can then skip this one. Now with that out of the way let's talk about this dark as hell movie. Kara no Kyoukai: Remaining Sense of Pain. Let's begin shall we?

Story:

The movie follows a young woman named, Fujino Asagami. The first time we see her in the film is of her being raped by a group of thugs. Afterwards all of the thugs that participated in the rape just so happen to be getting brutally killed off one-by-one. This gets the attention of Toko as she is already on the case with the help of Shiki and Mikiya. As you would expect it's Fujino who's doing the murders but she almost seems to be joyful while committing these horrible killings. She also seems to be experiencing a horrible sense of pain that just won't go away as well as demonstrating powerful telekinetic abilities. So now it's a twisted game of cat-and-mouse as Shiki is hunting down Fujino and she's hunting down the men who violated her. This film is fucked up. This is probably the darkest anime I have ever had to review and oh god is it hard to review. The themes brought up in the film is the feeling of pain and pain of rape. The rape part is very unsettling due to how graphic the film gets with the scenes but at the same time the film shows how the pain of being violated can effect one's psyche. Fujino is like a fucking horror movie villain as she slowly hunts down every last member of the gang that did this horrible act upon her. There's also the theme of feeling pain and if pain makes of human. I wish I could talk more about this but I'd be giving away some major spoilers. So trust me when I say that the film does a good job at explaining this theme in very disturbing detail. The story is dark, unsettling, and very hard ti set through but I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't done well.

Animation:

Just like always the animation here is great but holy crap, the backgrounds here are even darker then the first film. The movie has a very dark tone so in turn the setting is just bleak, ugly, and almost disturbing to look at. It goes hand-in-hand with the fucked up feeling that the movie is going for so in retrospective it does a good job. But the highlight of the animation here is the final scene. One big ass action sequence that is just batshit insane to watch. The final fight in the film is animated beautifully and is so tilling to watch. The fast pace movements as well as the intense cat-and-mouse style to the fighting made so interesting to watch. The rain effects during the fight was also extremely well done to. It feels like it's actually raining really hard while these characters are ducking it out to the death and the way the rain moves along with the characters is just amazing. So the animation is once again really well done here but that final fight scene is the real highlight of this film.

Music:

Just like the other movies before it, the music does not disappoint. The music here is very similar to the first film. The music is very atmospheric and very hunting. It almost feels like the further we dive into Fujino's mind the music in return gets more and more disturbed. You also have the music during the final fight. The music during this fight is very intense and fast but the song also has a very quite tune to it as well. Not only that but the film also knew when to completely stop using music to further deliver the straight of the scene itself. The music here is very good and I feel like the music just keeps getting better and better as these films go along.

Characters:

Okay so to be honest none of the main cast here have any real development in this film. We see some at the end but I'm not going spoil that. However the real star of the movie is actually Fujino. Holy shit is she one fucked up person. Fujino's character is displayed as someone who isn't quite sure what it really mean to be alive. She basically comes off as someone who's completely devoid of any emotions or feeling at all. But when Fujino starts to feel the pain in her abdomen this is when her character really changes. Before when we saw her she was just an emotionless shell that didn't even care about being raped constantly. But once she feels this horrible pain she turns into the near monster of a person. She starts to find enjoyment in the killing and mutilating of the men who raped her. But even as she starts to go even more insane through out the film you can't help but feel sorry for her. She seems like someone who just wants some basic human connections is her life but her emotionless state and now her new murderous intent she just seems too far off to help her.

Overall:

To close this review I would like to say that this is a good film. However I would like to warn you that is the darkest film in the Kara no Kyoukai series so this film may not be for everyone. But overall I thought that this was a very good film. Just really fuck up and hard to watch.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: A Remaining Sense of Pain an 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry 

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: A Study in Murder-Part 1

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new anime review. Yeah sorry about no review last week. I was a bit busy with college stuff. Nothing important. However this review being on a Saturday is not me being late with reviews. Nope this is a new thing that I'm gonna start doing now. Reviews will no longer be on Wednesdays but insisted being moved to Saturdays. Also as you might have been able to tell from the review I did two weeks ago, the Nitpick category will no longer be used anymore. I don't like it and I feel as though it was hindering my writing for these reviews. But anyways let's move on. Last I was here I reviewed the first Kara no Kyoukai film, which is actually like the the 4th film in the timeline of the movies. So now today we jump back in time to the origins of Shiki, when she still had SHIKI. Today I'll be covering Kara no Kyoukai: A Study in Murder-Part 1. Is it just as good as the first one or does it pale in comparison? Let's find out shall we?

Story:

Now as you would be able to guess, this film takes place a couples years before the events of the first years. We go all the way to Mikiya's high school years and follow him when he first meets a young Shiki. The story here is not as intense as Overlooking View but still is a very high quality story on the same level but with different content in it. While Overlooking View was very much a story that talked about suicide and was built as a ghost story. However, A Study in Murder is more of a murder mystery while also having a very odd romance thrown in there. The movie doesn't tackle any major themes that the first film did but it's okay because this movie has a very good story behind. The story mainly centers around Mikiya trying to get to know Shiki more as he ends up becoming interested with her and eventually falls in love with her. All the while a series of murders are happening around the town that they live in. Even worse is that Shiki always seems to be at the scene of the murder. We don't see her actually kill anyone but she is always at the crime scene and standing over the corpse. This leads into Mikiya basically trying to convince himself and even Shiki that she's not the killer. Now even though the story here is really good it also does the dirty little things that a lot of movies in series do, give you a lot of questions and no answers. Now I can understand that this was made to be apart of series but the answers to who is doing the murders and why is he doing them actually doesn't get answers until the 7th movies. That's a pretty long wait. But aside from that small point the story is still very strong and really fleshes out these characters as well.

Animation:

Just like before, Ufotable delivers in this category. But I am very happy to say that the feeling of the animation here is on a very different tone then in Overlooking View. While Overlooking View had a very dark, washed out, and creepy atmosphere to it, A Study in Murder actually has more colorful scenery while mixing in the darker tones as well. This gives the movie a very different feeling to it because by showing what the modern day world looks like and then bringing the darker side of this world into the spotlight it makes it seem even darker. Not only that but the animation for the characters is still just as damn good as it was in the first movie. There aren't any big action scenes like in the first movie but the movie doesn't skip on the quality either. The animation is on par and even at some points better then the animation in Overlooking View. The anime looks really damn good and it just a joy to watch.

Music:

Just like with the animation the music is beautiful but is a different kind of beautiful. The music here works really well with the animation and really likes to keep things very quiet. While the first one had amazing music as well it was more of a dangerous and almost occult sounding, giving a lot of to the supernatural aspect of the first film. But this time around the music has more toned down and somber tone for all of the creepy scenes. But also has more uplifting and relaxing music for the more quiet scenes. If two people are talking and having a normal conversation then the music will be subtle and faint or no music will be used. However if a conversation is being had with a much heavier weight on then the music will be a little louder but will also have a much more sinister tone. The music works great here and is easily the strongest to the movie.

Characters:

Another strong aspect to this movies is it's characters. Just like the first film we don't have a very large cast. The only two characters that have any real importance in the story, Mikiya and Shiki. Mikiya comes off as a normal guy who just ended up falling for a very odd girl. Then again it's Shiki so I can't blame him. So his character is pretty damn determine to prove Shiki's innocent even if she herself believes she's guilty. You can really tell that he genuinely loves Shiki and wants to her to have a normal life. Shiki also comes off as a different person from the first film. That Shiki was a cold but good hearted badass while this Shiki is more of a shut in that doesn't want to get close to anyone. We even learn that she has another personality called SHIKI, (Note: The capitalization of her name means male in the Japanese writing. So the direct translation is just her name in all caps.) her other half that is more out going then her and is even more friendly as well. We get to learn a lot about the two personalities here and get a good sense of who Shiki really is. We see why she's so cold and why she's so shut in. But what sells these characters even more is the fact that they have great chemistry. We can get a good idea of how Mikiya could fall for Shiki while also seeing her warm up to him and how this starts to scare her. The characters work great off of each other and even more so are great characters in of themselves.

Overall:

This is a pretty damn good follow up to Overlooking View. Or a good beginning to the Kara no Kyoukai series seeing as how this is the beginning of the timeline. Oh fuck it, it's a good movie! It has a great set of characters and has some damn fine music. Not all of the questions raised in the story are answered but at least we got an amazing movie in the end, and that's really all that matters.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: A Study in Murder-Part 1 an 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: Overlooking View

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals! It is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you with another anime review. Now that I'm back In decided that I would like to actually do something special for all of you! The one year anniversary of when I started doing reviews it coming up so I thought why not give you guys a series a reviews for the next seven weeks of one of my all time favorite anime film series? That's right for the next seven weeks I'll be taking a look at the whole film series of, Kara no Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners. So to start this series off right lets jump right into it with a review of the first film, Overlooking View. Let's begin shall we?

Story:

The story begins in the 1998 with our hero, Shiki Ryogi. A young woman with an amazing gift, the ability to see the death lines of anyone or anything. We also get to meet her two coworkers, Toko Aozaki and Mikiya Kokuto. They are a supernatural investigation group who, as you can imagine, deal with with anything that may seem to dwell into the surreal or supernatural side of things. They get a case that has been getting a lot of wind lately. Over at the abandoned Fujo building a group of young high school girls have been committing suicide unexpectedly. None of the girls seem to have anything that relates to one another and even more odd is the lack of a suicide note to at least explain why they did it. As Shiki inspects the building she finds that things are not all that they seem and something dark and twisted is happening inside that old forgotten building. Now the set up here is a bit odd, what do I mean? Well it's odd because the film does this really weird thing of name dropping characters, events, and certain places that all of the characters in the movie knows but not the audience. That's because the first four films in the Kara no Kyoukai series are actually out of order. So this film is in fact the 4th film in the series. Now while some may be a bit turned off by this I found it to make the film very interesting to sit through. Because know what's up and all of the major pieces plot development are put to the side of the audience but we know that we'll see what the film is talking about sooner or later. But for now we're just left in mystery, which may turn some off to the idea of watching these films. Also the subject material in this film may be a bit too heavy for some to handle. Suicide is a big subject matter in this film and it doesn't really pull any punches on how some of these characters feel about the notion of suicide and whether or not it's okay to take your own life. It's pretty heavy and some may feel a bit offended by the film but I personally thought they tackled the problem with taste and didn't really lean on what side was "right" or "wrong". They kept it very even and I thought that the film was pretty damn good with how they presented and commented on the issue of suicide.

Animation:

The fact that this is a Ufotable anime should already tell you already just how damn good this animation is. But just in case you need a reminder, this animation is amazing! Once again Ufotable shows off once why they are my favorite animation studio by just how jaw-droppingly beautiful this film looks. The design of the city is just so damn good and you get a lot of shot of the city just to give you an idea how big this place is. Not to mention the atmosphere that is created with the more darker and empty setting of the Fujo building as we get to look inside it as well. The animation during the two fight scenes are also done really good as well. You get a very claustrophobic and uneasy vibe from the first fight but then during the final fight you get this whole show of colors and fast-paced action that just never lets you go because of just how well it's animated. Character designs also look very simple, clean, and nice. But this is a Type-Moon product. These guys could make a redhead in jeans and a baseball shirt look iconic.......wait. Anyway animation is great and really gives a wide scope to the film.

Music:

Oh my God this music. This music! Yes the music is really good here well. The music, very much like the art and animation, set up a tone of somberness, loneliness, and overall dread. It's a hauntingly beautiful sound that set up a very eerie stage for the film. Not to mention that the music would become creepy and ghostly at the right moments to invoke a sense of fear or weariness. But the film doesn't go to over bored with it's music too. When the film needs to be more quiet and subtle the music would also get a downgrade in scale or no music would be used in certain scenes This gave the film more room to breath and not overuse any of it's tracks like a lot of anime does. The music is used very well and it's a treat to listen to. But then again what do you expect from Yuki Kajiura? Greatness that's what.

Characters:

This part is going to be a little tricky. Now while I already know what these characters go through I know that at a first time glance you're gonna be a bit lost. The characters here don't get a lot of development because this film is the 4th installment so their at the halfway point of their characters. So that means this film does very little to actually give a lot of in-depth development for these guys. But that doesn't mean that they come off as stale either. Shiki comes off as a harden badass who takes shit from no one but you can still tell that there is a softer side to her that we've yet to fully see and we can also tell that she has kind of relationship Mikiya. How deep this relationship goes though we don't fully know but you can tell that they are special to one another. Even if Shiki doesn't reveal it very much. Toko is another character we get a good idea of. She comes off as a very cool, collective, and smart individual. She clearly has a lot more going on then she leads on but for now she's just one cool boss that I personally would love to have. Mikiya is also kinda hard to get a point on. That's mainly due to the fact that he's not in the film a lot. But as stated before he has a very odd connection to Shiki and the moments that we see them together we get to see more of his character traits shine. He seems like a cool guy and we wait to see why he's so into to Shiki later down the films.

Overall:

Well in the end Overlooking View is a bit of an odd choice to open up the Kara no Kyoukai series. Now while there are six more films to go through it is understandable for some to be a bit lost after watching this. But even not fully knowing what's going on I still feel that this movie is a interesting first watch for the series and has enough plot and subtext that it can keep a person's interest long enough for the next installment: A Study in Murder-Part 1.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: Overlooking View an 8.5 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.