Kara no Kyoukai – The Other Fate Series
Everyone knows the massive Fate/Series. It all started when Kinoko Nasu wrote Fate/Stay Night back in 2005. But, everyone forgets Nasu sensei is the author of the original Fate works and the creator of the company called Type/Moon. All of the Fate/Series is owned by Type/Moon, and it also has other works apart from the Fate/Series. One of those works is Kara no Kyoukai. It is written by Nasu sensei, and it is older than the original Fate/Stay Night. It is a light novel series and is adopted into 7 movies by UFOTable. This article aims to provide you with a review and a watching guide for the series. So let’s get right into it:
Plot
The series follows Ryougi Shiki, who a rare type of mystical eyes has called Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which allows her to see the “Death” of things and living beings alike. Shiki also happens to have split personalities. The plot is somewhat complicated, and it will require you multiple watches to comprehend what’s going on in the series. The movie release order is a bit different from the canonical order, but the movies give you dates to guess what happened when. The world-building is good; the movies give you an explanation for everything. You need to look in the right place for it.
If I had to give a comparison, the Monogatari series would be the closest. Kara No Kyoukai is much darker and bleaker than the Monogatari series. The common elements in both series’ being the complicated plots that are conversation and explanation heavy. Both series have a separate release and canonical order. The series has a very high rewatch value as the fight scenes are epic, the conversations meaningful and the animations beautiful. My advice, pay very close attention to who is saying what.
Animations
UFOTable worked very hard on this, and their hard work is very pleasing to the eye. I love how they adopted a darker animation style to reflect the darker story of the series. Shiki’s eyes look so damn pretty when she uses them in a fight. And the overall fights are spectacular to watch. Most of the major incidents in the series happen at night. This night factor really gave UFOTable an excuse to make everything from the street lamps to the blood drops shining in the moonlight look extra beautiful and appreciable. I should not say this but, the blood drops shining in the moonlight look very cool. UFOTable really nailed it with this animation.
Soundtracks
Another win to UFOTable for the damn good soundtracks. From fast-paced fight music to slow emotional music, UFOTable has done it all right. Not to mention, the movies have a central theme that will set in your mind like nothing, and you will start loving that theme music by the time you are done with the movies. The soundtrack is not very complex. It is mostly easy-going and easy to remember, which complements the complex story perfectly.
Characters
Now, every character in the series is well developed and well written but, Shiki’s character alone is so good that it overshadows everyone else. Be it how distinct her split personalities are or how she tries to cope up with the loneliness when she losses one of her personalities Shiki is hands down the best character in the series. She jumps into a battle without a second thought if any of her 2 friends are in danger. At the same time, it’s amazing how socially awkward she can be. She wears a red leather jacket on her kimono just because her friend asked her to. And her voice acting, oh my God Shiki’s voice acting is beautiful. You will fall in love with Sakamoto Maaya if you did not already (considering the number of roles she has done, you may already be in love with her). But, Shiki is definitely one of her best roles. No doubt.
Watching Order
If you are watching for the 1st time, go with the release order i.e. movies 1 – 7, and then the epilogue. I would strongly suggest watching Kara No Kyoukai: Remix – Gate of 7th Heaven between parts 6 and 7. Kara No Kyoukai: Remix summarizes the events of movies 1 to 6 in the canonical order. Remix is much needed considering the number of details there are in the series. As for the 2nd time onwards, watch in the canonical order that is 2, 4, 3, 1, 5, 6, 7, and then the epilogue. Don’t worry about the time; only 2 out of the 7 movies are longer than 2 hours rest all are approximately 1 hour long. It’s your choice if you want to watch epilogue or Remix from the 2nd time onwards. Epilogue is just a 45-minute long conversation between Shiki and Mikiya. So it’s up to you if you want to watch it for the 2nd time or not.
Scores
- Story – 10/10
- Characters – 10/10
- Animations – 10/10
- Soundtracks – 9/10
- Shiki – 10/10
- Overall – 10/10
