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I've watched all 4 parts before the release of the 5th, as I remember. The movie was so good I wanted to watch all parts again and then go and watch this masterpiece once again. Overall I've watched it 4 times so far and I'm so willing to watch it again. You don't see movies likes this everyday, be it anime or not.
I've just watched the fith part of the series and it's so far the best one in my opinion. Its dark atmosphere, great music composure and really fascinating story-telling really got me.
Enjoyed this even more the second time watching this. Typemoon always floors me with how well thought out their plots are and this was no exception. I loved how this film punished those who didn't pay attention and rewarded those who did pay attention, it makes me as the viewer feel appreciated and respected.
My only issue is that the dialogue is a bit wonky now and then such as Enjou's "Ah, I wish my life was a Spiral Paradox." Otherwise, this is pretty much as good as anime gets. 9/10.
"Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job."
Splendidly done. And the best Kara no Kyoukai movie out of the first five. Seeing the rating, I think it will remain the best once I finish the remaining two.
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I criticized the previous four movies for being eye candy and failing to make any sort of connection to the audience. But; holy crap, this movie scared me, made me angry, almost made me cry, and had me cheering for the characters. And while it was confusing at parts and abstract dialogue heavy, this had me glued to the seat for the full two hours.
Fantastic movie, it feels like they made the first four movies mediocre just so they could blow us away with this one.
It was really good in terms of direction, characters, animation and score. However, I was left rather perplexed by all the various concepts, like the Spiral of Origin, counter force, taiji and whatnot. They weren't explained properly, and it made the whole movie much more difficult to understand.
Sickly_Grin said: However, I was left rather perplexed by all the various concepts, like the Spiral of Origin, counter force, taiji and whatnot. They weren't explained properly, and it made the whole movie much more difficult to understand.
I thought the Spiral of Origin was fairly straightforward, it's basically the origin of everything in the world. Counter Force while not fully explained, is basically just "nature's way" of setting things right, sort of like a "counter" against everything that's practically eschewing reality (which is exactly what Araya was doing with his experiments).
Lastly, while I can understand why you would find it difficult but Taiji, or in the official subs the "Supreme Ultimate", is pretty much just a reference to the philosophical Daoist concept of the same name. It basically follows the concept of Yin and Yang (which they did keep referencing) and the very principles of reality/existence. They basically just used it as a way to summarize Araya's experiment because of how he has sort of created his own world in there. So I guess that's more to do with previous knowledge of certain terminologies.
nothing more can be said... this is a masterpiece, just wow! the last 20 minutes I was so engrossed it was like nothing was going on around me! damn, the best movie anime i have watched, and probably will ever watch!
randompadley said: nothing more can be said... this is a masterpiece, just wow! the last 20 minutes I was so engrossed it was like nothing was going on around me! damn, the best movie anime i have watched, and probably will ever watch!
Can't argue with that!
Personally I consider it to be the best anime film I have ever watched even to this day. :)
Man, and I thought Touko met her end with that gruesome death but thankfully that was only a puppet and not the real her. Geeze, the 5th KnK movie gave me the chills! >_<
It was somewhat hard to follow the first half because the story jumps from one event to the other, but the final part was wrapped up all nicely.
That was a thrilling ride. I'd love to rewatch this movie again! Wow...
randompadley said: nothing more can be said... this is a masterpiece, just wow! the last 20 minutes I was so engrossed it was like nothing was going on around me! damn, the best movie anime i have watched, and probably will ever watch!
Can't argue with that!
Personally I consider it to be the best anime film I have ever watched even to this day. :)
Forget anime film, this was one of the best pieces of art I've ever seen. This thing makes Inception look dumb. Definitely my favorite movie of the series. Especially the soundtrack, which perfectly synchronizes the mood of the movie with the viewer.
randompadley said: nothing more can be said... this is a masterpiece, just wow! the last 20 minutes I was so engrossed it was like nothing was going on around me! damn, the best movie anime i have watched, and probably will ever watch!
Can't argue with that!
Personally I consider it to be the best anime film I have ever watched even to this day. :)
Forget anime film, this was one of the best pieces of art I've ever seen. This thing makes Inception look dumb. Definitely my favorite movie of the series. Especially the soundtrack, which perfectly synchronizes the mood of the movie with the viewer.
Funny you should mention that, as I actually consider Inception as one of my most favorite films yet this one completely topped it (and pretty much everything else). So I definitely agree with you there!
This movie is on par with The Shawshank Redemption and Fight Club.
The execution of the characters and general plot of the story along with it's non-linear format of delivering the story captivated me. I would have to say as for as the highlight of the movie for me personally was the antagonist, he expressed a refreshing taste of philosophy that delved into epistemology and ontology, along with a thirst for the truth which I related with to the nth degree.
Citizeninsane said: I would have to say as for as the highlight of the movie for me personally was the antagonist, he expressed a refreshing taste of philosophy that delved into epistemology and ontology, along with a thirst for the truth which I related with to the nth degree.
I totally agree, it's always refreshing for an antagonist to have a reason for what he or she does, other than "somebody has to be evil". Most antagonists are hard to relate to, probably because they are primarily made to be hated, but Araya was definitely an amazing character.
I totally agree, it's always refreshing for an antagonist to have a reason for what he or she does, other than "somebody has to be evil". Most antagonists are hard to relate to, probably because they are primarily made to be hated, but Araya was definitely an amazing character.
I won't lie, when it comes to personal preferences I actually prefer Lio overall* (hence my avatar), but I can't deny that Araya was such a refreshing take of the "Big Bad" role. I was amazed at the complexity of Araya's perception of his own goals, and it's really a good example of how an antagonist may have had good intentions only to be twisted by their own methods and experiences. Truly a great villain.
Personally, I'm of the position that both Movie 5 and 7 are in a tie for the best film of the series as I actually thought that Movie 7 really captured the essence of the series as it tried to divert from the supernatural premise of KNK and delved deeper into the main characters themselves as well as their final development (which Nasu himself believed to be the main point of the series.)
The only reason I'm easy to lean on Movie 5 as being the "best" is because I consider it to be the best in terms being a piece of film/cinema. What I'm referring to is how the whole film was put together. I love how it was directed, the logic-based narrative structure, how the story-telling implemented the different roles of the characters etc. Now putting those aside, it's funny because for me, the other highlight of the film actually came in the form of a down-to-earth character: Tomoe Enjou.
*
Lio's double role as the antithesis to Shiki as well as being a standalone well-crafted tragic villain really captivated me. I could go on for ages about how great his character actually is and why, though I'd rather not (I once had a discussion with someone about the character and our posts combined reached approx. 10,000 words.) ^_^
locochicken said: Great movie, but I find Alba's uselessness a bit annoying. Isn't he suppose to be a powerful magus?
Technically yes but it's basically implied that his arrogance and insanity gets the better of him which is why Touko and Araya are depicted as being more competent. The only thing this movie doesn't show is that in the novel Alba actually tried to fight back against Touko by attempting to set her "cat" on fire using his own spells, but it doesn't work and he gets overwhelmed by it. That's the part in the film where he nearly gets eaten by Touko's "cat" only to be rescued by Araya when he decides to confront Touko himself.
On the other hand, despite Alba not shown to be fighting in the movie (unlike the novel), don't forget that he was also the one who created all the bodies/puppets in the apartment complex, so he deserves a little bit of credit for that. If anything he practically created Enjou Tomoe "body" as well.
This was clearly above the previous movies for several reasons, most importantly perhaps because of its length. For once there was enough time for a proper plot and development and as a result this is the first one that truly stands alone. In comparison the earlier films now seem like stretched episodes of a series. It reminded me of Satoshi Kon somehow. I still would prefer Perfect Blue over this though.
It seemed like a gutsy thing to do to kill off Touko, at the same time I was afraid they'd try to weasel out of killing one of the good guys. And then of course she returned, only as a crankier version. I wasn't too impressed with the half-assed philosophising either, throw in some Jungian rubbish as a fact and suddenly everything in the world is consistent. Sometimes it's better not to explain things at all.
Feorg said: I wasn't too impressed with the half-assed philosophising either, throw in some Jungian rubbish as a fact and suddenly everything in the world is consistent. Sometimes it's better not to explain things at all.
I'm actually curious what you mean by that, would you care to explain?
ronri said: I'm actually curious what you mean by that, would you care to explain?
It's around time 1:43:30, Touko speaking to Arayan:
"Let me tell you something interesting. There's this thing called the group unconscious that a famous psychologist defined. It's a way of thinking that the pool deep inside everybody's mind is the same. It's the storage of all selfishness in the world. In Buddhism, they call this Arayashiki."
My explanation is rather long so spoiler tags:
Jung's idea of collective unconscious has been overused in fiction and a lot of the time in form that presents fantasy (some kind of hivemind) as scientific fact. A more sensible approach limits the meaning to some kind of genetic disposition for certain unconscious structures (still highly speculative). From this translation I can't be sure which is Touko's interpretation, but calling the group unconscious a "pool" seems to imply the former, that all selfishness is springing from some collective source that could be examined. I think this is also in line with other themes of the movie: the spiral, seeing death lines, the possibility of Arayan finding "the origin" and recording all the deaths in the world.... all these imply that humanity is something that could be studied as a whole. I don't mind the fact that it's all fantasy, particularly since the world of the movie is pretty consistent. I'm just disheartened to see the same misconceptions about Jung being used once again.
Connecting this type of collective identity with Arayashiki is even more problematic. It is a concept in the Yogacara school of Buddhism which I admittedly haven't studied in detail. In the Pali canon (early Buddhist texts) there are 6 consciousnesses related to different senses and the mind; Yogacara has added two to explain the ripening of karma, rebirth and why there's a delay between actions and consequences. I believe Arayashiki here refers to what is known as store-house consciousness, one of these two extra forms. In a way it's what you are under all the sense data, thoughts and experiences. It is pure by nature, but contaminated by all the experiences it turns into prejudices etc. which causes karma to ripen, us to hurt others without meaning etc. I guess it's possible to see it roughly as equivalent to formations (Sankhara) in Pali Canon but the implications are rather different. In the earlier tradition ignorance is the source of verbal, mental and bodily formations which are always volitional (so it's possible to break free), and in turn they lead to different forms of consciousness being born, and there's a constant feedback loop from consciousness to create and renew desires to exist or to have more pleasures.
Do these formations require a separate consciousness or is it just another way of saying the same thing? And if there is a separate consciousness underlying it all, does that mean it's out of our hands? I don't know enough about Yogacara to answer, but this kind of unconscious seems to imply it is not totally volitional and thus out of our reach. Some people have indeed speculated that the description is somewhat similar to Freud's unconscious, but to connect it even further with some kind of collective unconscious is in my opinion quite a stretch. Moreover, if Arayashiki is by nature pure, it is not the source or "pool" of all selfishness as such but the seeds of selfishness come from the other 6 consciousnesses, namely our experiences and interpretations of them.
Adding all these things as references in the movie makes it of course seem profound, but because I don't see these things to be commensurate, it just seems that the concepts are used in a deliberately misleading way or just not understood well enough, all for the sake of a consistent world. And for consistency these kind of things are not even necessary to explain what Arayan was trying to do.
Note also the names: Arayan / Shiki >> Arayashiki. In a way Arayan was searching for an origin equivalent to the consciousness that would be at the base of all of us, the Arayashiki, and he was hoping to achieve it by capturing (Ryougi) Shiki. Shiki of course means a death spirit but in the context of Yogacara it can also mean consciousness (I don't speak Japanese so I'm on shaky ground here). The "araya" part of the word would refer to the store-house, and in a way that's what he wanted to be by recording everyone's deaths. But in the end what he got was just his own demise in the hands of Shiki. So in a way she is not only a symbol of death but of rebirth and consciousness as well. Arayan was seeking an end to it all, a record of deaths, but at the same time, the origin. If you believe in cyclical existence, death is both the end and the origin, they're all connected. So there's quite a strong Buddhist message in this movie.
Ah I get ya, I figured as much. This is more just me now but personally I thought it was an appropriate time to bring it up during that sequence actually. Araya had long forgotten his own reasons for his actions and it was only during his final moments that he was able to truly recall them. Despite his Buddhist origins, Araya's obsession towards his goal has even led him to forget such a simplistic concept, and personally I thought it was that "reminder" of his connection to Shiki that showed how much he really lost his way.
At least that's how I saw it. Personally I just take the Hindu/Buddhist/Daoist concepts presented in the films as they are. By the end of the series, I don't think it's just added for the sake of consistency though, since it seemed like the author truly established the world using those concepts as his basis. Mind you, what I don't mind about the Nasuverse is how it integrates various religious concepts (Christian, Buddhist, Daoist, Hindu etc.) while simply using them as basis to create a uniquely established world.
But yeah, thanks for the reply, I really do appreciate it. While it seems like we may disagree on the necessity of the religious concepts, I myself found that to be an enlightening read (in fact it sort of reinforced why I thought it was appropriately used in the film.) ^_^
Actually writing that made me appreciate more what they were trying to do. Thinking about the influences I understand better the choices they made. This movie can be counted among works like Evangelion, The Matrix etc. in the way it combines Eastern and Western philosophy/religion. I feel quite ambivalent about it because on the one hand I appreciate the effort to explore these things in entertainment, but on the other hand it usually involves making two fundamentally different thought systems seem similar through simplification. For example, Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism all have some common ground, but that's no reason to say they are fundamentally the same. One should probably just think that the movie was influenced by certain concepts but wasn't trying to say anything about them as such. The problem of inconsistency only arises if I try to find an overall philosophical message when in fact the concepts might have been used mainly for the sake of the story.
It also occurred to me that the yin/yang symbolism present in the movie can also be used to interpret the Araya/Shiki relationship, like they're two murderous sides of the same coin.
@Feorg
Ah that's fair enough. I can see why you'd have mixed feelings with it though. Personally in Kara no Kyoukai's case, I really think it's more that it has simply established its own universe whilst borrowing/referencing concepts to reinforce the the story. It's that extra effort in incorporating such ideas that just shows how much they've thought it through.
By the end of the series what I truly appreciate about it isn't so much how it tries to incorporate such philosophical concepts to give the series some sort of grand appearance, rather it actually gives focus to the internal conflict of its characters in a meaningful way (eg. in Movie 5's case being Enjou Tomoe.) In particular, the final film does this at full force, as it focuses on the conscious decisions that one makes about the way they live their life and how their "Origin" or impulses aren't always what determines their actions. At least that's how I see it anyway.
It's that choice in its direction that allows me to appreciate it as it let me realize that by the end of the series, Kara no Kyoukai is a story focusing on the internal conflicts of its characters with the supernatural premise acting as a support to greatly accentuate these ideas.
Also yes, I do agree with your comments about the yin/yang symbolism as Movie 5 was very heavy on that concept of duality.
It also occurred to me that the yin/yang symbolism present in the movie can also be used to interpret the Araya/Shiki relationship, like they're two murderous sides of the same coin.
Definitely.
I think this was the first Kara movie where the Nasuverse actually has a strong presence, at least in one way. The idea of yin/yang is a common part of Nasu's works based on something called Akasha, or the root of all things. One of the primary functions it serves is to balance out the world to prevent a catastrophic and unnatural end. Araya deemed it necessary to corrupt the lives of people and ultimately destroy humanity to obtain his own enlightenment. This resulted in an unnatural balance towards dark which needed to be corrected. This was represented in the film by what is referred to as the "counter-force". Basically, Akasha influenced everyone's actions (namely Mikaya's, Enjou's, Shiki's, and Touko's) to bring an end to Araya and restore order.
Likewise, I believe the primary reason they included the Arayashiki segment was simply to accentuate the idea that Araya and Shiki were two beings made to cancel each other out and restore balance; two halves to a whole equation. By commenting on the term Arayashiki, they not only open up an even deeper philosophical doorway, but conveniently convey the message that they these two were arguably meant to oppose each other.
Sometimes Kara no Kyoukai can come off as pretentious or magniloquent, but I thoroughly enjoy doing research and contemplating the philosophies and questions that these sorts of stories provoke.
aiNkyy said: I feel so sorry for that boy and to think that his parents loved him so much...
Definitively the best movie after the third.
Definitely, even though he was only given a brief background and exclusive to this movie, I became very attached to Enjou and his struggles. When he came at Araya, all enraged, I was cheering him on and when he died and tear dropped down... This made is all the more satisfying and epic when Shiki awoke and beat the shit out of Araya...
As for the last two films, just as a warning it's best to take them more as a short season 2. This is because it acts like a fresh new start again especially after this movie. ^_^
Damn that was amazing... confusing but amazing! The story and setting of this chapter was absolutely amazing well put, the tension and weird take on time difference made it just perfect!