The plot revolves around the mystery of an apartment complex that represents more than just a place for people to live...and die. What happens there to its residents is the motif of the movie, specifically from the point of view of one young man who is essentially the "protagonist" in this story. Since this is the 5th movie of this franchise, I will assume the reader will already be aware of the background behind the major characters and overall story.
The strengths of this movie, as well as the series overall, reside in the atmosphere and art design--the artwork beautifully sets the tone and mood of the storytelling. When action breaks out, the animation is suitably fluid as well, but the real highlights are the use of color, light and dark. There are shots that echo the masterful lighting used by Kubrick in Eyes Wide Shut to symbolize psychological spaces. The non-linear editing is also a hallmark of the "Garden of Sinners" franchise and it is used to the best effect here, complementing the sense of unease and mental confusion that the characters must be feeling. Time, slices of time, the passage of time, and the cycle of time are an essential theme of this movie and the editing is used to great effect to show this.
In anime and other stories of the floating world, the Japanese have a fascination with appreciating the moments in life that make life mean something--not in transcendental fireworks but in the periods of time where human activity occurs: waking and sleeping, eating, the clink of utensils on dishes, getting dressed, greeting and goodbye--in other words, the rituals of daily living on this tragic mortal coil. The paradox that the magical thinkers such as Araya try to plumb, studying this mechanical cycle, dissecting it and trying to tease out what makes the whole thing tick...this is the essential mystery that the movie itself is trying to depict. Perhaps the best answer any of us can give is to simply plead, "I was here."
Similar to other famous TYPE-MOON franchise, the Fate series, the central themes revolve around existential questions about the human condition in a corrupted universe populated with a unique fusion of Eastern and Western mysticism (Buddhism, Gnosticism and Zoroastrianism plus various magical conventions of mystic circles, runes, spirits, fairies, etc.) that seems to be the hallmark of the creator, Nasu Kinoko. As such, Majun Rasen represents the tightest, well-crafted entry into this universe I've seen so far.
