Kara no Kyoukai: Overlooking View
There is a sense that Kara no Kyoukai (lit. Boundary of Emptiness): Overlooking View has something to prove; eager in both presentation and story it demands to be watched. It has every right to be keen with the success of six further instalments resting on it, the first movie can't simply warm up the engine or it risks losing an audience that is unfamiliar with its Type-Moon heritage or those with only a passing interest. The result is a movie that baffles as much as it entertains by taking a matter-of-fact approach to elements which, one can only hope, will be explored elsewhere and providing a measured introduction to the kaleidoscopic beauty of the characters and universe.
A spate of seemingly unrelated suicides catches the attention of Touko, a red-headed pseudo-detective nestled in a chaotically organised office, who asks the acerbic Shiki to look into them. From the pre-credits scene it is clear that Shiki shares a relationship with Mikiya who now sits torpid in Touko's office, his condition linked to the derelict apartment block where the suicides occurred. Visiting the building, Shiki finds another girl who has leapt to her death and spots nine spirits floating above the building. After relaying the information to Touko, she returns only to be resolutely beaten by a powerful resident spirit. Their final confrontation takes place atop the rotting building while Touko locates the source of both the spirits and the suicides.