[SIZE="6"]Kara no Kyoukai (空の境界)[/SIZE]
Overlooking View
Kara no Kyoukai - The Garden of Sinners is a novel by Nasu Kinoko, the author of the visual novels Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night, the anime adaptations of which you might be familiar with. There are some connections between the series, some of which might seem a little too familiar. This is because it's sort of the prototype for Tsukihime. Kara no Kyoukai is about humans with special powers and follows Ryougi Shiki (voiced by Maaya Sakamoto), a girl with two personalities whose eyes can see the death of everything in existence and kill it by destroying its origin, as she becomes involved in a series of strange deaths.
Thanatos
A Study in Murder (Zen)
The novel is being adapted into a series of anime movies by ufotable. Each movie corresponds to one chapter in the novel and averages at about an hour each. The movies have received theatrical releases in Japan, with the last one having opened in August. So far, the only way to watch these is to either live in Japan or wait for subs of the DVDs. No, as amazing as the series is, it has not been licensed.
...and nothing heart
Remaining Sense of Pain
So what is so amazing about these movies? Well, in a word, everything. The art and animation are stunning. The shots of the city and the backgrounds and the action scenes are all ridiculously detailed. The music, composed by Yuki Kajiura, is fantastic and the theme songs, performed by Kalafina, are great. The voice cast is also great. I also happen to really like Maaya Sakamoto, so maybe you shouldn't take my word for it. Ignoring everything else, the quality of the production alone makes this worth watching. It's easily one of the best looking and sounding movies in recent years.
every cry, never life
The Hollow Shrine
How about the story? You may remember the Tsukihime and Fate/stay night anime adaptations and are wary of another TYPE-MOON production. I'm glad to say that the problems stemming from those were mostly because of its visual novel narrative structure. That's not to say that the movies aren't confusing, otherwise it wouldn't be a Kinoko Nasu work, would it?
garan-no-dou
Paradox Spiral
Okay, so what about the story? Now that I've seen most of the movies, I can say that yes, the beginning is confusing. And I can say that yes, there is a definite overarching story to the seemingly disconnected chapters. Yes, the story has a really strange structure, which hops back and forth between time. It really isn't until the fourth movie (chapter) where you have enough information to able to put things together.
Paradox Paradigm
Oblivion Recorder
If you enjoy a deep and dark story that forces you to sort things out, this is for you. If you like pretty visuals and beautifully choreographed fight scenes and excellent music and acting in your anime, this is for you. If you're a fan of TYPE-MOON and you are tired of seeing your favourite works destroyed, this is for you.
Fairy Tale
A Study in Murder (Go)
Go watch it tell us how great it was.
...not nothing heart
