Taking place in the summer of August, the film serves as a side story based off the novel series. Divided into two parts known as Mobius Ring and Mobius Link, the movie explores an insight relating to the power of precognition. That’s what it is on the surface anyways. In essence, the movie composes of two worlds as the main character Seo describes – the present and the future. In retrospect, we see from her viewpoint the power that encompasses herself as a special individual. She is able to see into the future before an event and can respond accordingly. But as a young and shy girl, Seo lacks confidence in her powers to be able to deliver its message at first. It’s easy to tell since such a power can be viewed as both a gift and a curse. That doesn’t come easy for her until fate comes together with a young man named Mikiya Kokutou whom she meets. Their meeting marks a breaking point for Seo. It’s from this encounter that she realizes there’s more than just what meets the eye. Mirai Fukin deals with Seo’s understanding of her powers and its responsibilities.
On the other hand, we have a young man named Mitsuru Kamemura also possessing the ability of precognition to foresee into the future. Unlike Seo, he uses his power for twisted purposes. Adapting the role of a serial bomber, Mitsuru describes his bombs as “toys” and treats the world like a twisted game. In essence, he holds the controller to trigger the bomb and thanks to his foresee ability is able to cheat life and death. Representing the dark side of the movie, Mitsuru is a man that lacks compassion in Mobius Ring. From minute one that he enters the show, there’s a thrilling atmosphere surrounding his appearance. It stands out for the fact that he simply enjoys every kill and treats it as a game. At one point of the story, Mitsuru admits that he hasn’t had this much fun in a while until he meets Shiki. Returning from the previous Kara no Kyoukai movies, Shiki plays the role of a player in Mitsuru’s twisted game. But to defy against such a power takes guts and complexity. For Shiki, she is a cunning woman and stays ahead of the game. While not always able to solve problems in a civil way, Shiki comes off as a woman that can perceive death based on her own powers – the sacred Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. In retrospect, she shows her fearlessness and goes against destiny.
The remainder of the film revisits Mitsuru’s life. Only this time, he plays a different role with a young girl named Mana. Rather than killing others for the sake of the thrill, Mitsuru adapts more of a guardian role for this young girl. Fast forwarding to 10 years into the future, Mitsuru acts with care for Mana but also questions about his own future. It’s symmetric to the film’s power involving premonition. At the same time, there’s a concept involving salvation dealing with choices and regret. With such a power, one would think its way to change the world. But for people like Seo and Mitsuru, they use it for their purposes. And while contrasting in one another with their usage, they deal with the responsibility.
Throughout the film, a supporting character by the name of Ms. Diviner talks about destiny and what fate has in store for people such as Shiki. And it’s true too, because fate allowed Seo and Mikiya to meet one another. Through their bonding comes trust and more confidence. Mirai Fukin focuses on a more psychological aspect of its storytelling rather than shounen action. That is one part the movie lacks in terms of aspect. Action is minimal in the movie only involving the serial bomber Mitsuru as he uses his powers. But what we should be more focused on is Mitsuru’s motivations. It delivers a stellar execution as he tests the limits of his powers but not fueled by any significant goal such as revenge or bounty. He is more like a textbook with no answer key that is hard to read on the surface.
Regrettably the movie lacks spectacular action but it makes it up for its extravagant visuals. As expected from the studio ufotable, known for its other involvement of the previous films, it delivers its magnificent animation style to life. It triumphs not just in its visual production values but its ability to match with the atmosphere. The Kara no Kyoukai franchise has an eerie atmosphere and this latest installation adapts it like a charm even for morbid actions such as serial bombing. It also captures the moment of the setting with its dog days in the summer when it focuses on the background such as the plants and chilling nights. Some of the scenes involving the characters walking in a dark alley brings back some nostalgia from the previous movie to convey its eerie atmosphere. Character designs are also consistent that conveys Shiki’s cunning personality, Seo’s innocence, Mana’s ebullience, Mikiya’s wisdom, and Mitsuru’s ideologies. It holds it altogether with their visage.
While ufotable is known for its prowess with animation production values, the soundtrack of this movie is also not a pushover. From the introduction to the very ending minute, this movie seizes its every moment to bring the OST to life. It ranges from the eerie atmosphere, the intimidating tone with the cat-and-mouse game between Shiki and Mitsuru, and mature conversation in the café. I would also give praise especially to Mitsuru’s performance for his voice mannerisms that captures his calculating movements. Similarly, Shiki’s voice also conveys her sly personality as she is able to fight against fate on her own terms. The theme song by Kalafina as well as Yuki Kajiura’s performance also shows their talent in an elegant manner.
1 hour and 30 minutes. That’s all it needs for this film to deliver its message. But for such a power to be able to foresee into the future through precognition, there are infinite answers to its true purpose. What we know is that everyone’s ideologies fits somewhere like pieces to a puzzle. This movie presents its themes and ideas in tolerant manners that matches with its mysterious atmosphere. And as expected, ufotable adapts this atmosphere with consistency in both artwork and soundtrack. For a movie that serves a side story, I highly recommend this presentation as an appreciation to its previous installations. It’s a gem that shines with grace.
