Four films into the Kara no Kyoukai series and the expectation is for a quality dip, something thrown together to appease fans and cover some of the source material that wasn't as glamorous or directorially challenging; The Hollow is none of these things, but it is the closest the collection has become so far to being formulaic. Following a similar tempo to the first film and of comparable lengths, whereas the first was meant as a soft-landing to the dense and chaotic universe of the series, this is more preparatory by taking away the focus from Mikiya and letting both Shiki and Toko expand and develop. Toko is no longer just a quirky red-head and the juxtaposition in Shiki's circumstances from film to film is elaborated upon.
Brutality and intrigue draw and engage but without exposition and understanding, the long term entertainment of the audience suffers
Opening moments after the calamitous ending of film two, Murder Speculation Part One, Shiki is taken to hospital and stabilised but remains in a coma for two years, watched over by Mikiya whom the nurses refer lovingly to as a puppy. Upon awakening her vision is besieged by scratchy, ephemeral fissures and hallucinations of death; after attempting to physically exorcise the visions, she is wrongly diagnosed with aphasia and a speech therapist is called in. Touko masquerades as the therapist and tells Shiki of her affliction while reporting back her progress to her new employee, the expectant Mikiya. At night however, spirits roam the hospital and take a deadly interest in Shiki's predicament.
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If part one of Murder Speculation was grisly, Remaining Sense of Pain is abjectly brutal. Rape, murder and torture all feature heavily in this pitch black story where a girl aggrieved slaughters her tormentors in a most barbaric fashion. Unflinching throughout, this entry in the Kara no Kyoukai series of movies explores the meaning of pain - both emotional and physical - and the nature of murder.
gone are the warm sunsets and delicately cold whites, replaced with streetlight ambers and frigid blues and greens
Mikiya is older now, Shiki has awoken from her coma and once again someone is murdering indiscriminately. After caring for a girl in pain he finds on the street, Mikiya is asked by an old school friend to track down a junior who has disappeared. Toko, after splashing out on an extravagant purchase, accepts an unsavoury job and assigns Shiki to track down the murderer. The two investigations converge when it becomes apparent the murderer, Fujino - a classmate of Mikiya's sister Azaka, is after Keita, the classmate Mikiya is tracking down. Regularly raped and beaten by Keita's gang of deviants, Fujino is massacring them one by one, but wracked by unfamiliar pain and hunted by Shiki, her power grows as her sanity slips.
Please note: the remainder of this post contains images and themes of an adult nature, if you are offended by these subjects or are otherwise restricted by laws or moral obligations within your municipality, please do not proceed.
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The danger with a seven movie project such as Kara no Kyoukai is that certain entries will be little more than stop-gaps meant to prime for forthcoming releases. This could be no more worrying than with a title suffixed "Part One", thoughts of incomplete plots and abrupt conclusions abound. The series has somewhat mitigated this by chronologically shuffling the releases; whereas the first movie was keen to eschew understanding for suspense and action, the second favours a sedate but no less gripping narrative that starts at the very beginning of Shiki and Mikiya's relationship.
the characters all occupy a space in the penumbra of supernatural fantasy and routine reality
Meeting by chance on a snowy evening, Mikiya - bespectacled and easy going teenager - strikes up an uneasy friendship with Shiki - a kimono-wearing misanthrope - which gradually leads to an infatuation with her. Grisly murders meanwhile are happening around town with bodies gruesomely disfigured or dissected and as the number increases, evidence points to Shiki who frequently roams the solemn town in the night time hours. Mikiya's cousin Daisuke is investigating the murders which indirectly leads to Mikiya becoming mixed up in them. Events escalate and a confrontation between Shiki and Mikiya takes a deadly turn that has long term consequences.
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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 stellar opening gambit to the series and [...] is perhaps the only satisfying way Kara no Kyoukai could have started
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.
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