Ranked #387

Kara no Kyoukai 6: Boukyaku Rokuon

Kara no Kyoukai review Part 6

The sixth movie in the Kara no Kyoukai series is, once again, a departure from what one has come to expect. Unfortunately Boukyaku Rokuon (or Oblivion Recording), is a somewhat lacklustre effort compared to the rest of the franchise, and is only carried through by some great visuals and excellent sound.

The story takes place in January 1999 and focuses on Kokuto Azaka, Mikiya's younger sister who was "adopted" by their uncle. She is enrolled at Reien, a school for girls, and is also apprenticed to Aozaki Touko in order to become a Magus.

The movie begins in a fairly ambivalent manner, with Azaka remembering a scene from her childhood. Her current task is to investigate investigate a string of events at Reien which seem to involve "fairies", and to aid her investigation Touko sends Ryougi Shiki to work undercover at the school (posing as a student), something which Azaka is not too pleased about.

Now the plot itself is pretty straightforward, however this is also the biggest problem with this movie. Story-wise this is by far the weakest episode in the series, and even though simplicity may not be a bad thing in a show, in this case it comes at a price. The plot is extremely feeble when it comes to the characters and their development, and whilst the concept may be a good one, the movie is never given a chance to realise it's potential.

One of the reasons for this is that a great deal of effort has gone into fleshing out the two main characters (Kokuto and Shiki), who, along with Touko, form the backbone of the franchise. Azaka's inclusion however, seems more of an afterthought, and there is little in this movie to fully justify her presence in the series. Granted she adds a different dimension to the relationship between Kokuto and Shiki, but the impact is almost negligible, and viewers may find themselves wondering how she fits in to the grand scheme of things.

The art and animation are of a very high standard, but there is once again a drop in the overall quality of some scenes (the young version of Azaka being cross-eyed at times is an example of this). The action sequences are extremely well choreographed and executed, whilst the character animation is often fluidly smooth. Unfortunately though, there are again times when the movements do not match the actions, and while these occasions are not too common in the movie, they are noticeable because of the quality of the rest of the animation.

Sound is, once again, excellent. The music is extremely well suited to the movie, with the more cheerful scenes feeling cheerful, and so on and so forth. The pieces are varied, with some being more reminiscent of Maria-sama Ga Miteru, while others are very much what one would expect of the Kara no Kyoukai franchise. The effects are very well crafted and choreographed, and while there is some slight cacophony to be heard at times, this should not really impede on one's enjoyment of the movie.

The acting is pretty much what one would expect from the franchise, with each of the characters being portrayed very well overall. One does have to wonder what Sakamoto Maaya (Shiki) was trying to achieve this time though, as there are occasions where she sounds like she has blocked sinuses.

From the start of the movie it's clear that this outing will be all about Azaka, and whilst this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it could have been done far better if the story was tighter, more interesting, and a little darker (which is what one would have expected from the series). There is an effort to give Azaka a degree of depth which comes off as laughable at times, mainly because her "love" for her older brother is given as the reason for her adoption, her choice of school, etc. Her apprenticeship as a Magus is purely based on the fact that she considers Shiki a rival for her brother's affections, and while I have no problems with personal reasons being the basis for such actions, it just seems a little too neat an excuse in Boukyaku Rokuon. Having an unhealthy interest in one's siblings may cause some aberrent behaviour in people, but there is an expectation that the viewer will simply accept Azaka's actions and reasons without questioning them - not a good move on the part of the writers.

The other characters don't really get much screen time so there isn't any really much one can say about them. That said, there are some pretty obvious hints given about Shiki which feel more like preludes of things to come than any real attempt at development.

Given the flaws in the story and its characters, I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed Boukyaku Rokuon as a whole. The movie represents a big departure for the franchise, and has a far more lighthearted feel to it at times than any of the previous outings. The action is well done, and there is enough going on to keep the viewer interested till the end. It's unfortunate then that the main feeling one gets from this episode is that it is nothing more than a prelude to the final movie, a factor which upsets the balance of the narrative and can leave the viewer frustrated that many obvious questions remain unasked or unanswered by the end of the movie.

Boukyaku Rokuon isn't the best installment in the series by far, but it's not a bad effort on the whole. While there are a number of improvements that could have been made (in particular the rather haphazard plot), there is still an entertaining addition to the franchise here, and one that has a different feel to it than the other movies.

One can only hope that the final chapter will represent a return to form for the franchise. read more

Another addition to the Kara no Kyoukai series of films.

To me this film does not seem to be anything more than a 'filler' if you will. This is due to the fact that there is little no development of any of the characters and the only thing that this particular addition brings any light to is the confirmation that Azaka Kokuto does have an elder brother complex.
Speaking of which, it is done in a very cliche manner, however, it does attempt to explore the past of Azaka and Mikiya the reason being 'Azaka does not remember the exact moment that she fell in love with him.'
The rest is entirely, almost sickenly cliche there are no real reasons given as to her love for him, from the film's point of view it is basically just 'it was bound to happen, let it be.'

Onto the actual story:
It has a reasonable premise, a suspicious string of deaths, a prime suspect, the supernatural aspect of fairies is also added. However, there is no building upon this, the actual perpetrator is revealed very quickly without any intelligent reasoning, simply 'revenge'.
Within the story there is also a factor of jealousy that Azaka feels towards Shiki in being too close to her brother. Azaka is initially very cold to her, yet towards the end of the movie this attitude just seems to fade for no apparent reason.
This is where I feel the movie failed the most on.
6/10

Art:
There is something about Kara no Kyoukai art that I simply cannot dislike, in other words, it is AMAZING.
There is no other word to describe it, I adore the character designs for one, but my main praise is for the fight scenes, not only are they beautifully choreographed and animated; they also seem to bring your whole screen alive with the fluidity of the motion.
This movie does not fail on this aspect either, in Azaka's fight scene with Ouji, her senpai, in the church; I found that my mouth was agape for the entire sequence, with the entire light spectrum flashing before my eyes and the fairies all over the place. Simply marvelous.
9.5/10

Sound:
The ED was nothing memorable... there were the standard sad tracks played in the BGM when Azaka is reminiscing about her days with her beloved brother, pretty standard.
There was also the usual 'epic' sort of music played during the fight scenes that I found fit quite well, however, the fact stands, there was nothing MEMORABLE.
It was decent, but at the end of the day, for the most part, remains forgotten.
Voice acting was also just... fine, nothing outstanding, I also found that Shiki's voice sounded a bit flat and nasally for the few lines that she did speak in this film.
7/10

Characters:
I find myself actually disliking Azaka for being such a possessive brat over her brother with Shiki, who actually doesn't view Mikiya as a love interest.
In addition her depth is equivalent to that of a puddle upon a road after a light drizzle of rain.
Read - VERY SHALLOW.
Her love for her brother is simplistic at best, her personality is one of the ultimate stereotypes of anime, quite disappointing overall.
As the story was mainly focused on Azaka I found that the other characters were basically omitted on the development area. Shiki, Touko and Mikiya all get basically no development relative to Azaka.
6/10

Enjoyment:
I usually tend to enjoy all Kara no Kyoukai films to at least a certain degree due to the fantastic artwork and choreography; and I'm afraid Boukyaku Rokuon is no exception, despite my previously bashing of pretty much every aspect except the art.
I did find myself having fun during the fight scenes, especially Azaka Vs. Senpai.
So all in all, 7/10.
I expect the final movie to be AT LEAST the standard of Mujun Rasen, ufotable do not fail us now!

Conclusion: If you have seen the previous 5 movies, watch this one, if only for the sake of continuity, however, if you have not then do not bother.
You would not understand what was really happening anyway, and I do recommend watching the rest of the movies, 1-4. As 3 and 5 are simply brilliant and are amongst the top anime films ever created, next to
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone.

TL:DR

Story : 6
Art: 10
Sound: 7
Character: 6
Enjoyment : 7
Overall: 7

Good fight scenes, crappy main character with very limited depth, typical brother complex to boot.
Sound is nothing special, but nothing very out of place either.
Good starting premise for the story, but fails to build upon and ends up being borderline mediocre.
Worth watching, if only for the fight scenes.
Above all - still DECENT enjoyment.

Splendiferous!

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