Question

There is nothing peculiar to decrypt about her at the end of Movie 1, and Movie 2 is made clear to be a Prequel; through the date displayed, and the younger appearance of the characters. The time jump confuses the reader/viewer, and make him think about the reasons of it, but that's all, there is nothing that does not make sense.

It's even more true if talking about storytelling; Movie 1 is here to showcase the type of story it'll be; a dark, oppressive and horror-ish urban supernatural thriller, with a bit of psychology and action on top. It also shows how the characters are, but without presenting them; it's only letting you see a glimpse of them. And then comes Movie 2, which actually does present the 2 main characters, and build them, while also establishing their connection and root.

Of course, it's confusing; it's a very weird and uncommon way to tell a story, and as a watcher, you are not sure about what really happened, and what was they trying to tell you, but it's also pretty good, and is very highly interesting for people who likes mysteries.



That's not what comes out of your post, from my point of view. The disjunctive storytelling is what makes Kara no Kyoukai so special and loved (on top of the characterization of Shiki, which is hugely impactful because of this exactly non-linear storytelling). But it's a fact that you are not respecting the work as it is by trying to change the orders of things.



Not all series are made to be liked by everyone. Each work has a specific target; they must be sold to them, and if they sell to someone else too, then that's good. The confusion is done on purpose, and there is a lot of people (like me), who loves that; who loves to have to think a lot about what is (actually) happening despite the Author putting spokes in the wheels. If someone does not like that, then he does not. Trying to twist the story so that it appeal to more people is a damn crazy thing to do, and is highly disheartening as an Author...

Oh sure, i don't deny it, but i question the relevance of changing the orders of things to "simplify" a story.



Of course it is...

You are quite literally saying "I can't follow the story, but by changing that here and there, i do and like it". The fact that you do not realize how crazy it is is quite mindblowing, to be honest.

And mind you, we're not talking about a 200 IQ enigma there, if the average viewer makes a minimum of effort, and actually tries to think about the story and pay attention, they can easily understand everything.



You lost me there.

What's understanding a media doing to do with elitism, reviewers, and gatekeeping ? What's the point of watching a story if you do not understand what the Author is trying to tell through it ? (If there is something to understand to begin with, which is why Isekais are so hated, for example.)



And that's great; this is quite exactly what the Author want them to feel. Most of these average viewers will probably drop it way before finishing it, and that's not a bad thing, it's just that it was not something that appealed to them; it was not meant for them.



From my end, i also got what you are saying, but that's not something acceptable.

For some reason, everyone i've talked to tries to pass off chronological orders as valid, but only on series cut into several entries. With the same reasoning of chronological order and story simplification, we could totally start Shingeki no Kyojin with the basement's reveals and the flashback, or Naruto with the story of the Chakra with the Utsutsuki. That would greatly simplify the story that happens after too... but that would also completely change the story told by the Author, and ruins many things (especially for Shingeki no Kyojin, which is an heavy mystery-based story), and they do not realize that it does the same thing to stories such as Kara no Kyoukai. The Fate/Series also has the same problem, with Zero.

Edit; TLDR : They can follow some chronological order if they want to, but that's not something that should be encouraged. Sure, you can enjoy the story like that, but you also can by watching without sounds, colors, from the end to the beginning, in 2x speed, so on and so forth. That doesn't makes it more recommended.

Like what ? It is true that the series is confusing, and that is not the more straightforward story ever. Never saw any misinformation or lies about it.



Uh, so... ? The reviews and the score are merely an indicator of what the viewers thought about the work; a general representation, that's all. A story that is so specific, so uncommon and weird as Kara no Kyoukai can not be loved by the majority, it is absolutely impossible.

Mind you that you are also talking about only a small percentage of users of the site (those who watched the series), which itself is only a (very) small percentage of Animes consumers in the world. The reviews and score on MAL are not important at all.