Kara no Kyoukai Movie 2: Satsujin Kousatsu (Zen)

In the winter of 1995, Mikiya Kokutou passes a young woman during a late night stroll in the snow. Clad in a striking white kimono and bearing an enigmatic gaze, Shiki Ryougi smiles at Mikiya who stares back with curiosity. Later that spring, Mikiya notices Shiki at his high school entrance ceremony, and they become acquaintances through lunchtime conversations. As Shiki begins opening up to him, Mikiya learns about her unique upbringing.

Meanwhile, a series of unprecedented murders takes place across Mifune City. Seemingly related, these murders are particularly brutal and warrant a large scale police investigation. Because of his cousin's work as a police investigator, Mikiya is given insight into the investigation. Concerned for Shiki's safety, Mikiya decides to monitor her actions, but in doing so, he stumbles upon a truly frightening discovery that changes his life forever.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ryougi, Shiki Main

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Kokutou, Mikiya Main

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Aozaki, Touko Supporting

Honda, Takako Japanese

Shirazumi, Lio Supporting

Hoshi, Souichirou Japanese

Gakuto Supporting

Takahashi, Kenji Japanese

Akimi, Daisuke Supporting

Touchi, Hiroki Japanese

Ryougi, Father Supporting

Sugisaki, Ryou Japanese

Iwakami, Atsuhiro Producer

Kondou, Hikaru Producer

Hariu, Masayuki Producer

Toba, Yousuke Assistant Producer

Reviews

Feb 2, 2009

Archaeon

Recommended

Kara no Kyoukai review Part 2

The problem with movies is that all too often they're lacking in one or two fundamental areas, and unfortunately these are normally the plot or the characters. The first installment of this series suffered from the latter, and while it was still enjoyable even with that flaw, there was always the nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right.

Thankfully this episode begins to address that issue.

The second installment in the Kara no Kyoukai ~The Garden of Sinners~ franchise, Satsujin Kosatsu (Murder Speculation), is actually part one of a two part story arc (viewers will have to wait for the seventh movie ... to see the conclusion of this episode), yet while this small irony is amusing, the are some flaws with this episode which one can only hope will be rectified with the final movie.

This time around the story takes place over two years prior to the events in the first movie, and thankfully the main theme is the developing relationship between Ryougi Shiki and Kokuto Mikiya during their time together as high school students. Kokuto finds himself strangely attracted to the seemingly aloof Shiki, and proceeds to befriend her until a bizarre series of murders takes place.

Now the nice thing about Satsujin Kousatsu Part 1 is that the plot takes a far more measured approach than Fukan Fuukei does, and while the pace picks up towards the end, there's something here that was somewhat missing from the previous installment - a sense of purpose.

While the first episode was entertaining, there was a certain aimless quality about it due to the underdeveloped characters that permeated the quieter moments. This movie begins to shed some light on the actions of both Shiki and Kokuto during that time, especially on certain aspects of her behaviour and personality.

The story is generally much quieter in tone than before, which may not sit too well with those who liked the frenetic action of Fukan Fuukei. This is a necessity as the anime of Satsujin Kousatsu Part 1 is to offer the viewer some perspective on every other movie in the franchise, and the clarity it provides may force viewers to reassess their opinion of the first installment.

Once again Ufotable produce the goods with regards to artwork and animation. The character movements are excellent, and the incorporation of CG is almost seamless in respect of the backgrounds and backdrops. There are fewer action sequences this time around, but they are just as good here as they are in the first movie, especially when it comes to choreography and use of environment. As for the the character designs, they're a little different in that both Kokuto and Shiki have a certain youthful quality about them, which is reflective of the fact that this story takes place two years before the first movie.

Sound is, again, extremely good overall, and the movie uses the various effects well, however there are some issues as there are occasions where the various noises clash to create a veritable cacophony. This doesn't really detract from the movie though and, surprisingly, actually improves certain sequences.

The music throughout the movie is generally utilised to good effect, often enhancing the atmosphere in a particular scene. The voice actors are also very good, and are able to show some real talent with regards to their respective characters, however given that this is the second movie in a series of seven, this should come as no surprise. What is surprising though, is that the lead seiyuu are able to instill their respective characters with a degree of naivety and innocence, something which improves the overall effect of the movie no end.

Unfortunately that's not enough to raise the characters from their stupor.

While there is very clearly some development occurring over the course of the movie, one of the issues that seems destined to repeat throughout the franchise is that the plot doesn't give them enough time for this growth to set as part of their persona, and that leads once more to an imbalance in the storyline. The revelation about Shiki's personality goes some way to explaining why she is the way she is, but Kokuto is the real problem. As a character he is simply bland, and at no point does the movie go into any detail about his goals, thoughts, ideals, etc. Everything in the movie actually revolves around Shiki, including Kokuto, and all of his actions stem from that one driving principle. Unfortunately this feels like a missed opportunity to add some real meat to both the leads, but it may be that all of these concerns will be addressed by the time the series ends.

The other problem was the lack of Aozaki Touko. It would have been a nice addition to have more information on her from that time period as she is one of the mysteries of Kara no Kyoukai, and in all honesty this could have been done simply and easily. Sadly, the fact that she has not been included in this movie means that it has a slightly disjointed feel compared to the first, but again this may be rectified with the second half of this story arc.

We shall see...

Even with those flaws this is still an enjoyable movie, and it's nice to finally see how the two leads met and got to know each other. It would have been nice if the plot wasn't focused so much on Shiki as this would have allowed for some introspection of the part of Kokuto. On the plus side, the slower pacing of this speisode actually adds to the tension this time around, but like the first movie the plot continues to retain a degree of predictability.

Fans of Fukan Fuukei will be pleased at this second offering as it is very much in keeping with the spirit of the series, however I would advise against making snap judgements about the whole franchise simply on the basis of this or the first movie.

As before, I look forward to the next episode.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 4, 2016

Schwert

Mixed Feelings

This is my first review on MAL !
Kara no kyoukai is a series that I've been willing to try for a long time now and I finally started it yesterday with high expectations. I am watching this in the release order + for the first time :
*Art : 9/10 : It is stunning , specially the background and its beautifully drawn details. The light is perfect and matches the atmosphere. The reason I'm not rating this a 10 is the eyes... I find them at times way too blank or big (the male lead's case) and this might sound picky yet it really ... bothers me at times.
*Animation is decent I am not even going to rate it since there were nearly no action scenes or focus on movements.
*Sound : 8/10 Like the previous Film , the soundtrack fits perfectly.
*Story : 5/10 : a prequel to first movie.The focus was rather on the nature of the two main characters as it also kind of clarifies the bond shared btw both of them (How they met ... ) To say the least , unique is the adjective that could describe this story , but it being different and new to some extent doesn't mean it'll be good when not handled well. It isn't interesting enough since it only touches the surface even if the dialogue seems to dig in the depth.
The fact that there's yet much to know makes the point of the whole movie either to make you curious or just slightly uncover some of the facts and since there's an ending or rather a result to all what happened in the movie (How Shiki's behaviour was dealt with) with the cause or the reason like I said earlier insufficient and unconvincing (due to lack of revelation : just saying it is because of psychological instability is not enough ) I can't seem as a viewer to buy that explanation.
*Characters : 4/10
Let me start with
- Mikiya : Is he just believing in what he wants to ? Creating an illusion and just going along with it while using 'love' to justify it ... I don't understand the reason there's so much 'depth' in his feelings towards Shiki and I don't buy 'love' as an excuse either... He doesn't know enough and accepts everything the way it is or at least seems to and I dislike this type of characters.
- Shiki : I feel neutral towards her character she's interesting enough and I believe we'll get to know her better (hopefully) in the next movies. She has a heavy past as it seems and just acts under its effect .
- The rest are well , there aren't many are there ? they are decent.

Overall : 5/10
I recommend this movie to those who are interested in finishing the whole series and not this movie in particular because what it lacks may be fixed with the next ones.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Aug 19, 2024

Gsarthotegga

Not Recommended

Spoiler

This entry does away with the alienating solidity of the first film, and even the audiovisual appeal and dense atmosphere are diluted compared to other entries in the series. The mask of pseudo-depth concealing our duo falls aside, and we're left facing nothing but hollowness, and "Tell my crazy yandere waifu to stop murdering people!" It doesn't help that the storyline is kind of stupid, with the female lead, who is in high school, wandering around the city late at night, while a serial killer is prowling the streets, making her an obvious suspect (she might be a high school girl, but she has the ... ice-cold killer vibe) or thrusting herself into dangerous scenarios for no worthwhile reason. Her wealthy, upper-class family even seems to realize she is leaving, making them either neglectful or harboring a special motive. While I've yet to see part 2, there are a few oddly placed scenes involving her brother that suggest the latter is true. Either way, this is not believable nor compelling.

It's hilarious how the yin-yang symbol (even recycled with the stuffed cat toys) is being used to convey Shiki's alter, acting as her "partner in crime," and the other half of her dissociative identity disorder (is it made up? It's certainly an exaggerated phenomenon in fiction). The film presents a conflict of halves between what can be characterized as a noble samurai on the light side and a perverse serial killer on the dark side. The detective even states, "some kind of symbol was etched upon the body." Yeah, it's obviously a yin-yang symbol, dipshit. How could you miss that?

The male lead is a dope for not realizing the obviousness of the situation with his yandere sort-of girlfriend, even after his "bunny rabbit" admitted many details implicating her as a potential culprit and stating that he would probably die if he didn't stop sniffing after her tail like a dog in heat. He even stumbles upon Shiki playing with the blood of a corpse, wets his pants in fear, and is like, "Ungh, I can't turn my waifu over to the police. Maybe she'll be my girlfriend eventually! She told me that she wanted to kill me. That's so intimate and means she's totally into me! It's so exciting thinking she might kiss me one second and gut me the next!" probably followed by wetting his pants again, this time in ecstasy. What a fucking degenerate. It doesn't help that Shiki is such an unpleasant personality, making this unacceptable as waifubait, meaning we're just left with schizobait (sigh, just to prevent an akshually, yes, I know the difference between schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder). The latter half of the film, where the male lead is standing outside in the cold upon the premises of his waifu because she is ignoring him (or maybe he's trying to cockblock her kill streak) reminds me of that John Cucksack romcom garbage Say Anything, when Cucksack stands outside the girl's house and holds up his boombox.

Frankly, serial killers are mostly a sensationalized media construction by the U.S., whether it's some MK Ultra or other spook psyop or just a means to close cold cases. A lot of the body counts have little evidence to tie them to a particular killer, often only having a modus operandi in common, most of which are not especially unique... in fact, the bulk of the alleged body count of any particular serial killer is not even unearthed (very few of them carefully keep all the evidence collected under their house, like John Wayne Gacy), merely attributed to them because they claimed them to up their infamy, and a higher body count, more inventive methods, and an interesting story leads to the serial killer being more popular; it's already common for nutbars to call in and take responsibility when they verifiably had nothing to do with the act! One could even liken serial killers to a pantheon of dark gods, committing outlandish acts to enthrall and grow their followers, which gives them strength and love letters in their shrine (prison). Of course, it's glamorized in such a way that a person who would never have a place in history is immortalized by pointlessly killing a bunch of people by means of a discernible pattern, memeing the behavior into having a tangible existence it would never otherwise enjoy, only to be snuffed out by DNA, CCTV, and voluntarily opting into carrying a spy device everywhere (the smart phone). Man, I'm sick of serial killer plot lines. So trite, just like this film and psychobot anti-waifu.

For the reverse scenario of a female getting wet over a serial killer or murderer in prison, in which we have a cuck male falling for a female serial killer (the guy would definitely qualify to be the president of the Yuka Takaoka fanclub) who could and maybe even would turn his spine into a Christmas ornament, The Garden of Simpers Chapter 2: A Study in Hybristophilia - Part 1 is perhaps the ultimate vicarious experience. What a deranged, embarrassing romance, where the young lovers whisper sweet psychobabble and pseud philosophy 101 into each other's ears.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Poll: Kara no Kyoukai: Satsujin Kousatsu (Part 1) Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) dtshyk - Jun 23, 2008	236 replies	by HansDevX »» Aug 27, 9:39 PM
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