Kara no Kyokai – Garden of Sinners Movie 1: Overlooking View

What does it mean to float? What does it mean to fly? What is the difference between floating and flying? Is one content to float on a certain, overlooking view, or must one fly into the vast skies to amass the new facets the world has to offer? What does it take to float? What does it take to fly? How does one know if one is floating or flying? And what reason is there to do them?

Finally, the long awaited official animation for Kara no Kyokai with its first movie episode, and I must say I’m impressed at how it’s trying to go parallel with the novel, as well as the splendid work done with the animation. I’m going to go serious this time guys, so fuck the puns this time around. Serious material needs serious assessment, and for that I’ll waste not a second.

Kokuto visits Shiki.

Someone knocks on the door, and Shiki gets it. After acknowledging it’s Kokuto, Shiki opens the door as he goes in with bags of groceries. Shiki gets a bag while Kokuto proceeds to the bed, bag with magazines in hand. He then tells Shiki he’s got strawberry ice cream for her today. Shiki declines, telling him she doesn’t eat ice cream. Kokuto notions about the weather about being hot, so he bought it. But what got me is how he managed to pick the flavor fitting for Shiki’s image. For one who doesn’t have anything, doesn’t want anything, and doesn’t need anything aside from what she already have, there’s almost nothing to describe an image for Shiki. So for Kokuto to image Shiki in the form of red, blood rose strawberry, he’s got good sense.

Shiki visits Toko’s office, eager to know some information about the recent suicides that are happening in Fujō Building. The victims are all high school girls, without anything notable for them to commit such acts. There were no suicide notes, no apparent reason for the said act, no connections with the other girls killed, and no last words before the fated fall. However, this being the case already is like a deathnote in itself, telling that they did not have anything to connect themselves to the world further, as if they WISHED to die. That contradicts on all the given facts, as it is explained like an accident wherein there was a subliminal intention to die even though there’s none on the part of the one who died. Nighttime that same day. Shiki pays Fujō Building a visit, only to find the fifth victim of the suicide. As she looks up to the building’s roof, she sees nine apparitions, floating above the roof without any motion whatsoever.

Eight lives it will claim. Nothing more will come after that.

The next day, Shiki tells Toko that the case will claim eight victims, nothing more, nothing less. Toko’s surprised that Shiki paid the building a visit, but was expecting it nonetheless. Shiki asks about the building, and its nature was brought to light by Toko. It seems that the building was built two decades ago, and that it was supposed to be the main attraction for the town at that time. However, it recently went decrepit, and ever since, the very corridors of the building itself bend time towards its will. If one tries to unearth something there, it would take a lot of time to get it. So what happens when a person DIES in that place? Would the memories immediately disappear, or would these be remembered for a while till forgotten?

What does one usually imagine when one approaches a high, overlooking space? How does one see the world below? If one uses common sense, one shall view the world below as one’s place to live. But if one uses one’s experience, one will know that the vast landscape below isn’t for the taking. These thoughts bring in confusion as one gets second thoughts on what to believe between the two points of view, until they clash as they take their last step. Maybe they tried to make that vast world a place to live in by reaching an open hand to grab it…

Even though they know it’s impossible…

‘

Comatose: Kokutou’s true condition.

The sixth girl falls, and the true reason of Shiki’s interests for the case come forth as Shiki tries to hold on Kokuto’s shoulder, only to let him fall comatose on the ground. It seems that the apparition behind this, Fujō Kirie, has caught Kokuto’s consciousness, his “soul”. Shiki, fearful of Kokuto’s safety, swiftly rushes into Fujō, and finds the seventh victim, which she was thankful for since it wasn’t Kokuto. Of course, having only one person to save, Shiki herself goes into the building with knife in hand, only to be plagued by malicious suggestions and menacing laughs from the apparition herself. But enough playing around, it’s time to kill Shiki to complete the list.

Shiki was quickly overwhelmed as her controlled hands try to either stab her with her knife, or throw her body of the ledge. Kirie, floating as Shiki tries to control herself, tells her about Kokutou’s soul, only to confuse Shiki more. To ultimately control herself, Shiki cuts off her marionette arm using Chokushi no Magan, and Kirie retreats.

Emptiness: The doll speaks for itself with silence.

Back at Toko’s place, Toko immediately prepares another arm for Shiki. Of course, Toko’s mad about Shiki breaking the arm, but Shiki’s mad at Toko for making a useless arm as well. But that can’t be helped, can it? Dolls are dolls, marionettes are marionettes. They can be controlled using strings, but they cannot have a soul of their own. Hence, they can be controlled by anyone regardless of whom it’s attached to. That’s emptiness in the open, and for one to be able to use an artificial arm with ease, Shiki must be empty herself, and Toko didn’t fail to tell her that. Kokuto did tell Toko that after all…

Night. Shiki arrives at her room, and proceeds to the fridge for water. After wallowing her thoughts in Kokutou, she remembers the strawberry ice cream on the freezer, and proceeds to eat it. The next day, the arm was set, and Shiki was told that it’s twice as durable as before. Shiki looks at the sleeping Kokuto again, and remembers that Toko warned Kokuto not to go to Fujō, for one with such charismatic sense and thinking would only lure emptiness in the supernatural to fill its void. Finally fed up with all the shit, Shiki grabs her rose coat and proceeds to Fujō.

直死の魔眼: Ryougi Shiki’s true power!

Fujō Building rooftop. Shiki meets Kirie and the apparitions. She activates Chokushi no Magan, and makes quick disposal of the eight apparitions. Unlike their first meeting, Shiki is much faster, agile, and aggresive as she cuts and stabs the lines and points of death with cunning precision. With her apparitions “killed” Kirie floats herself to the other building, only to be followed by Shiki via a colossal jump.

Faceoff below the moonlight. Shiki tells what Kirie is, but Kirie fails to acknowledge. Shiki then uses her marionette arm to “hold” Kirie by the neck, strangling her with Shiki’s vicegrip hold. Kirie tried to plant more suggestions to Shiki, but it seems that this Shiki cannot be affected as the one from last time. The Shiki last time had feelings of worry of Kokuto, but this time, none was harbored. Complete emptiness against complete emptiness. The fight finishes as the spirit Kirie finally gets killed.

Death: A spectacular, enigmatic death…

A hospital. Kirie wakes up on her original body, only to be surprised of Toko’s arrival. Toko then interrogates the blind Kirie about her past, how she was, how she got bedridden, how she was offered to see more than what she can see on that hospital window in exchange for her eyesight, and how everything came to pass till the recent case or murders. Toko then left her with the critical decision: how will you escape? Will you escape without purpose, or escape with one? If that is so, this I ask again then: What does it mean to float? What does it mean to fly? Toko answers this with the power of purpose. Kirie answers this with the power of decision.

And so, Kirie finally managed to fly, for she found something dear to her: a purpose.

Awakening: Kokuto returns.

Next day. Kokuto finally awakens, with Toko immediately asking him for coffee. That’s a good order for someone who’s just awakened after a few days being in a coma. While going home, Shiki asks Kokuto is suicide is a bad thing. Kokuto tries to explain this via an example. If you had a virus that can kill the entire population of Tokyo, would you kill yourself to save them rather than continue living under the deadly ire of the people living around you? A person would readily say he or she would just kill herself to save Tokyo, and that would easily be merited as courage. But isn’t it by doing so, you are running away from your other self, the one who yearns to live? And so it is also a sign of weakness and cowardice. But that is how nature works, Kokuto says, and with that he is only human, so he would rather kill himself if that was the case.

Shiki’s home. Kokuto tells Shiki something about his dream about a dragonfly and a butterfly. The butterfly tried its best to chase the dragonfly, but died in the process. If the butterfly hadn’t done so and remained floating, it would’ve lived longer. But the butterfly didn’t want to do nothing as to float aimlessly, and so it flew. Shiki then asks Kokuto to stay for the night. Kokuto asks why, only to be surprised by the leftover ice cream in the freezer. Shiki tells him to eat it, and Kokuto fights back by telling her to be a little more feminine on her way of talk, for she’s a woman after all. Credits then roll, and a preview for the next episode shows.

Feelings: A warm, loving heart behind the cold, stern facade…?

My say: this has certainly won the night. This alone was already enough for me to sit in awe and shit bricks. Of course, the lack of fight scenes kinda put me off, but the general, provocative thought is already enough. Nasu’s way of depicting life and death in different ways is certainly interesting. To view death in a disregarding, yet powerful way is enough to make it play either a subtle or a powerful part. The movie also showed huge differences in power between the two Shikis: Ryogi Shiki and Tohno Shiki. Tohno Shiki has no control over his eyes, whereas Ryogi Shiki can activate Chokushi no Magan anytime she wants. Tohno’s eyes are only limited to lines and points of living and non-living things, as well as places and closed dimensions. Ryogi’s, however, can kill immaterial entities, apparitions in this case. Their ways of battle also differ as Tohno is way slower and more human-like compared to the agile and swift Ryogi, unless Tohno deactivates Chokushi no Magan and inverts to his Nanaya self.

The animation is sleek, without a moment of loss as each frame moved smoothly. The renderings are quite well, too. I mean, just look at the coffee inside the mug! Look at the view effects! And the battle scenes were quite good in choreography, though I really wanted more than what I just saw. Really, it needs more kicking of ass, more than elaboration of the story. But nevertheless, the interest it gave me is already enough to suffice for that loss.

To sum it up, the way it was downplayed by the characters certainly boggles the mind. How does the words relate to the current situation? How can one designate life without purpose as flying? Those are things duly explained with precise detail, and I sometimes see myself in utter humiliation as the narration went on. It certainly feels I have a lot to learn when it comes to expressing emotions in a very understanding, yet peculiar detail. Overall, I was entertained. Though I clamored for more fight scenes, I understood how it remains connected to the main plot, and that alone is great a feat to do without getting people bored.