空の境界俯瞰風景

KARA NO KYOUKAI: FUKAN FUUKEI

MOVIE

MOVIE
Dubbed
SOURCE
OTHER
RELEASE
December 1, 2007
LENGTH
50 min

DESCRIPTION

September, 1998: In the city where Shiki lives, something triggers a spate of mysterious schoolgirl suicides. The connection between the girls who've leapt to their deaths is unclear, although all of them have jumped from the Fujou Building, a skyscraper scheduled to be demolished.

(Source: Aniplex USA)

CAST

Shiki Ryougi
Maaya Sakamoto
Touko Aozaki
Takako Honda
Mikiya Kokutou
Kenichi Suzumura
Kirie Fujyou
Rie Tanaka
Azaka Kokutou
Ayumi Fujimura

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REVIEWS

planetJane
72/100
A strangely-paced film that gets by on atmosphere and tone.
The Garden of Sinners Chapter 1 (KNK 1 from here on out) is a film that very much feels like what it in practical terms is, a setup for later adventures in its universe, effectively the first "episode" of a "series" consisting of these films.

KNK 1 is not terribly concerned with getting you up to speed regarding its characters or its narrative, our protagonist is Shiki, a sort of hitman of supernatural beings (though again the film does not go out of its way to really make this clear) who works on behalf of a pair of paranormal investigators named Kokutou (who spends most of the film unconscious) and Aozaki, the latter of whom is also a magus although again here the film more or less glosses over this point. Of these three only Shiki herself gets any real focus, and the film is short enough that that's not a major problem.

The plot--such as it is--concerns a rash of suicides, all perpetuated by young women who jump off the roof of the same building, an abandoned skyscraper called The Fujou Building. Kokutou goes to investigate and, after falling unconscious not long after returning, Shiki does as well. There she--and I am glossing over a lot here--meets a group of ghosts (one of whom is technically an astral projection), stabs herself in the (artificial) hand while fighting said ghost because the ghost possesses it, gets a replacement hand, returns to the tower, meets the ghosts again and succeeds at laying them to rest and returning the astral projection to her body. There's a bit more to the plot but that is the gist of it.

What's not conveyed here is that it's paced extremely quickly, and the end result is an odd narrative knot of a film that doesn't really seem to care whether or not you understand what's happening on a literal level. While this all probably sounds very negative what it really means is that KNK 1 is a project that gets by on strengths of tone, atmosphere, and direction.

Let's discuss the visuals. They're simply gorgeous, and anyone familiar with ufotable's other Nasuverse adaptions knows what to expect here. Characters are rendered with just the right amount of detail and each has a distinctive, memorable design (which is not easy given the character designs skew realistic in style), everyone has beautiful, glassy eyes, and the backdrops range from "pretty" to "jaw-dropping". In particular, the shots we get of the moon are simply gorgeous, and the abandoned Fujou Building is drawn with such care that it'd be harder to believe it weren't based on a real location.

The fight choreography warrants a mention too. Even though there are just two major physical conflicts in the film (both involving Shiki and the tower phantoms), both are handled with an airy weightlessness that, given who is fighting, makes perfect sense. When Shiki draws her knife and her eyes begin to glow, even if we in the audience don't necessarily have the context for these weapons, it's immediately apparent how powerful they are, and how strong she is.

The music, composed by Yuki Kajiura (.hack//Sign, Fate/Zero, cult classic-in-the-making Princess Principal, countless others) is similarly ethereal. Crescendoing to strange, unearthly peaks at opportune times, such as during Shiki's second encounter with the phantoms.

So what you're left with at the end of the day with KNK1 is a film that is paced bizarrely--it is clearly not meant for neophytes to the franchise, simply given how little is explained--but has a lot of appeal simply for how atmospheric and mysterious it is. It could certainly benefit from being longer, and more care could've been given to point the audience in the right direction in terms of the plot and worldbuilding, but by the time I was finished watching KNK1 had so impressed me off its visual and aural strengths that I simply didn't care, and was fully willing to consider more entries in the series.
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ThyMrMan
70/100
An intriguing introduction to the world
the Garden of sinners Chapter 1: Thanatos (Overlooking View), or Kara no Kyoukai: Fukan Fuukei, is a slow start to the series overall. I don't know much about the series, only that I do believe it is part of the larger Fate world with magicians and magic abound. And I don't think it is a very good introduction to the world really if you are looking for answers or explanations as to what is occurring. Many aspects get introduced without any explanations as to how they fit into the world, and what is going on. This movie did do a good job of presenting philosophical ideas and giving you time to understand what they are talking about though. It will present an idea and then just do some nice slow pans of the characters moving or of the city in general to let you digest them before moving on.

Story

Overall the story in this first movie was bare bones. It was decent, you understand where is goes and how it gets there certainly. But I don't feel like it was outstanding, merely a way to introduce the characters to you and show you some of the world. And I don't really get the idea that this movie will have any lasting effects on the other movies or the characters.

Characters

The introduction to these characters made me definitely interested in learning more about them. Who are they, what are their histories, how did they all come together, and what are their goals are all questions I will love to see unfold in the upcoming movies. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like they got explored much this movie being more a way to set up the characters to be explored later. And help you place them in the world that will help build on them more in the future.

Visuals

Being a ufotable production means you really know what you are getting already from the beginning. Really stunning action scenes that you have to expect from ufotable, and some amazing looking shots of the characters filled with detail. Gorgeous slow pans just filled with detail and color that make so many shots background worthy. Small details pack many backgrounds giving them lots of depth and make them stand out. Overall everything combines to help assist in the amazing atmosphere of the movie.

Sound

Man did I love the music and sounds throughout this movie. It was really strong and powerful, and helped add to the atmosphere of the show. It always felt like it fit the scenes right and added so much to the movie. Helping to just keep you interesting even when nothing was going on with the story or the characters.
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AJYuusha
80/100
If only I could fly too, so Shiki could cut me down as I fall from the Overlooking View.
For my first review on AniList, I will be reviewing the first Kara no Kyoukai (The Garden of Sinners, also known as Rakkyo in Japan) film. Kara no Kyoukai is a movie series based on the webnovels by Nasu Kinoko of Fate/stay night (and all of its innumerable spinoffs and AU stories) and Tsukihime fame. After five chapters were published on the dōjin-based website owned by him and long-time collaborative partner Takashi Takeuchi, Takebōki , the final two were ultimately sold at Comiket 56 in August 1999. Although this would not be the last time that the novels were published as dōjinshi (the duo would do so again by featuring a portion of the novel on the TSUKIHIME FAN-DISC and at Comiket 61 in December 2001), it wasn't until August 2004 that Kodansha picked up the novels for commercial publication.

KnK is widely considered by TypeMoon fans to be Nasu and Takeuchi's earliest published work despite it having mostly being written prior to TypeMoon establishing itself as a corporation around the time Fate/stay night was released in January 2004. It is officially the first series to be considered part of the fan-coined "Nasuverse" meta-franchise, which includes all of the works penned and commissioned by Nasu such as Fate and Tsukihime (although he has stated that Kara no Kyoukai takes place in an alternate universe but that's neither here nor there).

After the success of the novels, in 2007 Ufotable began releasing the film adaptations with this film, Overlooking View. The structure of the narrative intertwining these films is in anachronical order, which is polarizing to even the most seasoned anime fans, as well as those for TypeMoon and movies in general.

I very much enjoy the films for this that I have seen and don't have an issue with the structure myself, so I ultimately decided to rewatch the first two before writing this review (and also because I was in the mood given the return of the collaboration event in Fate/Grand Order going on now).

Overlooking View is an odd film. Clocking in at only 50 minutes, it wastes no time in throwing the viewer into the world of protagonist Ryougi Shiki who fights ghosts and other supernatural entities while investigating the paranormal for a mysterious detective agency led by Aozaki Touko (all while struggling with an identity crisis involving her split personality disorder, though she doesn't seem to do much of that in this film). Since Overlooking View takes place before the events of the fifth film, Paradox Paradigm, many things about it will not make sense (including the nature of her abilities and condition) until the viewer has seen several more of the films.

It took a few viewings for this film to ultimately click with me, but there's a lot to like about this movie. It's a very tense piece heavily reflecting the Lost Decade when Nasu initially wrote the webnovel that can't only be watched once, and has stellar direction by Aoki Ei who is excellent at building an atmosphere when it ultimately counts.

Ufotable's composite and art direction is simple and favors orange and green-blue palettes. But its all very effective at conveying the desolate vibe and the decaying architecture of city Shiki lives and works in, and the solitude she faces when her partner Kokutou Mikiya is not present due to being in a comatose state.

Kajiura Yuki's score completes the set ofc, striking the perfect mood. Were it not for all of the obtuse philosophical musing and the events in this timeline being out of sequence, this would be a somewhat easygoing yet no less engrossing film to watch.

The ultimate adversary of this film, suspected to be the cause of the schoolgirl suicides Shiki is investigating, is Kirie Fujō. As a terminally ill bed-ridden patient with the powers of astral projection and possession (heavily resembling the Ikiryo, a Japanese "living ghost), she expresses extreme loneliness which prompts her to possess the schoolgirls who died and put Mikiya in a coma due to her infatuation with him. After Shiki fights and ultimately kills their ghosts and Kirie's astral projection while confessing her crimes to Touko, Kirie commits suicide by falling from the building she haunted.

When I initially watched this film the first two times, I kind of felt like her case wasn't ultimately solved in spite of her explanation and her passing on. Now on my third viewing, I see that it actually was, although I still have questions regarding her backstory (keep in mind that I have only seen the first five films).

All in all, despite its inextricable connections to continuity and an occasionally verbose screenplay by Hiramatsu Masaki that for the most part only bogs down the pacing in a few moments, Overlooking View is a solid first film for this series. However, don't expect to have context for much of what is shown here before having seen the other films.

I still believe that the mysteries Nasu provides us with are engaging and well thought out enough for people to stick with the series to in order to get more answers, but that may not be the case for everyone. Still, hopefully the tone and atmosphere of this film is enough to satisfy viewers, as the following films do not let up on what made this one work in the slightest.

However, I do find the next film, Murder Speculation Part 1, to be a far stronger film overall. It also serves as a better introduction to the series based on it taking place 3 years before Overlooking View, although some mysteries around Shiki's condition still yet remain.

I will be reviewing that one later though, so if you liked this review, look forward to my next one!
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