the following contains minimal spoilers that are all tagged and clearly marked. if you haven't watched KnK, you can read and understand this essay just fine without knowing what's behind those tags - then you should go watch itIn late November, when I sat down to watch the first installment in Kinoko Nasu’s widely regarded Kara no Kyoukai, I was completely unprepared. All I knew is that I loved Nasu’s Fate/stay night visual novels, and that ufotable’s animation and production work would be stellar. I also knew that the first film was something about a series of suicides in urban Japan.I was completely unprepared for the gory, dark, no-holds-barred exploration of humanity’s dark side that awaited me. My journey through Kara no Kyoukai began with that uncomfortably startled experience. I came to believe, once I had adjusted, that KnK is an overall excellent series of films with a lot of thematic meat, and while that’s the type of stuff I would want to write about, KnK’s unconventional narrative structure is what captured my respect and admiration the most. Every film reveals a little more detail about every character and explains a little about the setting and circumstance of the cast.In addition to the elucidation of important parts of the overall story, the individual plots and character arcs of the single films gradually became more sensible as each sixty minute run time progresses.Watching Kara no Kyoukai (as a whole, or as any single movie) is watching a curtain open on a stage, and by the conclusion, being able to see every player and set piece in a delicately staged place.Each film an experienceEach Kara no Kyoukai movie follows a very predictable formula: a new character is introduced, Shiki reacts to that new character, lots of tension, some head bashing, then some thematic meditation and resolution.Except for the fact that there is always something left questionable, something unexplained. A prominent example of this is the way new characters and plot devices are introduced: dramatically. Think about how first five minutes of movie 3. Unprecedented gory spectacle in the first five minutes of a film (and the first five minutes of my time with a character) is often the start of something edgy, something where people are brutally murdered for the sake of being murdered.But KnK bounces back every time with a chillingly haunting and frequently surreal opening credits sequence. Then, the characters debate the new dark happenings intensely. The reasoning behind the new immoralities and the psychology of the guest star sinner are guaranteed to be the forces that drive that particular film forward. More generally, the movies maintain a continually dark atmosphere while letting the viewer observe how Shiki, Kokutou, and Touko respond to each new sin.That thoughtful structure is crucial to what makes Kara no Kyoukai spectacular. While these films are thrillers and mysteries, they don’t let the viewer solve the case with them like detective stories, and they don’t have some spectacularly intricate conclusion that unveils the culprit in an over the top fashion.The “mystery” and “thriller” aspects of KnK come from the psychology of the characters and the morality of the sin that particular movie hones in on. Rather than taking a traditional approach by building up characters gradually and then having a conflict and resolution, the plot of each film keeps progression and tension alive by exercising morality and psyche. The satisfaction of uncovering the killer comes not with knowing who did it and how, but knowing why they did it, seeing the darkness of their soul, and determining if the sin was justified.The films as they expandWhile each individual film is a fairly satisfying reflection on right and wrong, Kara no Kyoukai is not an episodic series of isolated incidents. Even as each film gradually dives deeper into its respective subject matter, it progresses the character arcs of the main cast and links to the other movies in the series. This second layer of roundabout storytelling engages the viewer on an entirely separate level. It’s wonderful to watch each character (Shiki in particular) gradually begin to develop and make sense.Ryougi Shiki is at first an overly serious detective who scarcely displays emotion. The first film makes vague references to past events in her life, giving the idea that Shiki is not a tool used to deliver Nasu’s message, but that she is her own person independent of Kinoko Nasu’s musings on humanity. Shiki isn’t the only one who might or might not be little more than a tool. While the first film wraps itself up pretty nicely, it leaves questions about the characters and certain apparent conveniences in the plot. All of the films leave questions like that.The second film explores Shiki’s past a little, but offers mostly hurried and confused explanations about some sort of 2. The third film seems to exist on the timeline somewhere in between the second and first films. Every film offers tantalizing glimpses into a genuinely interesting principle cast, but they stop at being that: tantalizing glimpses.But that’s the point. While recounting (seemingly) isolated episodes of evils, KnK finds time to hint at what drives Shiki, Touko, and Kokutou. It also throws around cool magic like the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and Puppet Arms. Even though none of it really makes sense.Then film five, the Paradox Spiral, comes around. It connects the isolated instances of immoralities of films one and three to Shiki’s past and her present. It merges the disconnected sixty minute slices of movie into a magnificent conspiracy that questions nothing short of the meaning of life itself. Every isolated reflection on random heinous acts combines to tackle the biggest question of all. Most of the previous events in the series click. It’s a wonderfully gratifying feeling.Backloading everything on the fifth film would normally not work, but the way in which KnK teases the viewer with the “big picture” and gets the viewer thinking about the world and mind of Shiki is engaging enough to the point where it feels like a natural progression to address some questions and loose ends in a masterful fashion. Not everything is solved, though. Shiki’s past and Kokutou’s one dimensional psychology are still left untouched.SPOILERS UNTIL THE NEXT BOLD HEADING (all tagged)Film Seven is excellent for the same reasons that film five is, but different ones at the same time.Here’s what I mean: One of the most baffling things presented by the first six KnK films is Shiki. She doesn’t make sense. Films two and four explain her somewhat, but for the most part they provide isolated instances of her growth and development as a person.Film four shows Shiki recovering from a grave loss, the film two/four spoilers and film two demonstrates how 2 affects her life and the life of her closest and only friend Kokutou Mikiya. Neither film bothers to explore the nature of 2/4 Her actual condition is hardly touched on, but its outward symptoms lead to some excellent talk of inherently broken people and murderers.Film seven not only clarifies the difference between 2/4 Additionally, it brings to the forefront subtle interactions with Kokutou from the previous films. Such interactions include the Haagen Dazs scenes from film one and 2, 5, 6 conveyed in films 2, 5, and 6. These elements meld together to form a story about coming to terms with a sinful past, learning to love oneself and others, and living in a flawed, but beautiful present.So, why?KnK seems pretty fractured until films 5 and 7, but those two episodes not only justify the events of previous films but build upon them. But why? What’s the point of telling a story in such a roundabout way?Ultimately, there is no “correct” reason. This is art, and ufotable and Nasu told the story as they did for their own reasons. What I can vouch for, however, is how these storytelling choices affected me and my enjoyment of KnK.Come number 5 and then 7, my rapt attention to the narrative clues of each movie was rewarded in the most gratifying way. The magnificent reveals during the fifth and seventh movies were exciting not because of the fight scenes that came with them, but because they were unexpected and fulfilling (respectively) and justified when considering the story so far.The same goes for the subtle buildup of the individual films. Excluding the parts of each movie left unexplained for 5 and 7 to handle, each hour-long vignette resolves thematically in a sensible, thought-provoking way.Both types of resolution lead to gratification. During that moment of comprehension during each movie, and the two big moments during films five and seven when I understood the overall narratives and characters, I felt closer to the characters and story. Like I had taken Kara no Kyoukai’s hand and ventured into awonderland of death and magic and came out with an intimate understanding of my partner. It’s a unique sort of connection that could only have been made through KnK’s one of a kind narrative structure. The philosophical density of each film in isolation, the sky-high production values, and actual events of the overarching plot seem tangential when compared to that gradual but rewarding connection KnK made with me. I think that that wonderful feeling is what KnK aimed to do with its fractured chronology and spotty details.Thanks so much for reading!Given the fact that I don't often feel like sitting down to watch a movie, Kara no Kyoukai took me four months to complete. But it was definitely worth it. With this piece, I strove to give my perception of its odd structure without talking too much about concrete examples. It's an exercise, for me at least, in providing solid analyses with minimal long-winded justification of said analyses. One of the plus sides of working on such a style is that it's pretty spoiler-lite, so I was able to tag all spoilers rather than have to mark the entire thread.So yeah, there you go. If you haven't watched KnK, you really should. It's not for everyone, but if gels with you in any way, you'll end up loving it.Please feel free to engage me about what or wrote (or didn't write) on KnK! I write these essays for the community feedback and discussion, so please, give me feedback and discuss!I've archived this essay along with my others here.That's about all from me!-Cloud http://ift.tt/1UtzVpN
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