For my first review on AniList, I will be reviewing the first Kara no Kyoukai (The Garden of Sinners, also known as Rakkyo in Japan) film. Kara no Kyoukai is a movie series based on the webnovels by Nasu Kinoko of Fate/stay night (and all of its innumerable spinoffs and AU stories) and Tsukihime fame. After five chapters were published on the dōjin-based website owned by him and long-time collaborative partner Takashi Takeuchi, Takebōki , the final two were ultimately sold at Comiket 56 in August 1999. Although this would not be the last time that the novels were published as dōjinshi (the duo would do so again by featuring a portion of the novel on the TSUKIHIME FAN-DISC and at Comiket 61 in December 2001), it wasn't until August 2004 that Kodansha picked up the novels for commercial publication.

KnK is widely considered by TypeMoon fans to be Nasu and Takeuchi's earliest published work despite it having mostly being written prior to TypeMoon establishing itself as a corporation around the time Fate/stay night was released in January 2004. It is officially the first series to be considered part of the fan-coined "Nasuverse" meta-franchise, which includes all of the works penned and commissioned by Nasu such as Fate and Tsukihime (although he has stated that Kara no Kyoukai takes place in an alternate universe but that's neither here nor there).

After the success of the novels, in 2007 Ufotable began releasing the film adaptations with this film, Overlooking View. The structure of the narrative intertwining these films is in anachronical order, which is polarizing to even the most seasoned anime fans, as well as those for TypeMoon and movies in general.

I very much enjoy the films for this that I have seen and don't have an issue with the structure myself, so I ultimately decided to rewatch the first two before writing this review (and also because I was in the mood given the return of the collaboration event in Fate/Grand Order going on now).

Overlooking View is an odd film. Clocking in at only 50 minutes, it wastes no time in throwing the viewer into the world of protagonist Ryougi Shiki who fights ghosts and other supernatural entities while investigating the paranormal for a mysterious detective agency led by Aozaki Touko (all while struggling with an identity crisis involving her split personality disorder, though she doesn't seem to do much of that in this film). Since Overlooking View takes place before the events of the fifth film, Paradox Paradigm, many things about it will not make sense (including the nature of her abilities and condition) until the viewer has seen several more of the films.

It took a few viewings for this film to ultimately click with me, but there's a lot to like about this movie. It's a very tense piece heavily reflecting the Lost Decade when Nasu initially wrote the webnovel that can't only be watched once, and has stellar direction by Aoki Ei who is excellent at building an atmosphere when it ultimately counts.

Ufotable's composite and art direction is simple and favors orange and green-blue palettes. But its all very effective at conveying the desolate vibe and the decaying architecture of city Shiki lives and works in, and the solitude she faces when her partner Kokutou Mikiya is not present due to being in a comatose state.

Kajiura Yuki's score completes the set ofc, striking the perfect mood. Were it not for all of the obtuse philosophical musing and the events in this timeline being out of sequence, this would be a somewhat easygoing yet no less engrossing film to watch.

The ultimate adversary of this film, suspected to be the cause of the schoolgirl suicides Shiki is investigating, is Kirie Fujō. As a terminally ill bed-ridden patient with the powers of astral projection and possession (heavily resembling the Ikiryo, a Japanese "living ghost), she expresses extreme loneliness which prompts her to possess the schoolgirls who died and put Mikiya in a coma due to her infatuation with him. After Shiki fights and ultimately kills their ghosts and Kirie's astral projection while confessing her crimes to Touko, Kirie commits suicide by falling from the building she haunted.

When I initially watched this film the first two times, I kind of felt like her case wasn't ultimately solved in spite of her explanation and her passing on. Now on my third viewing, I see that it actually was, although I still have questions regarding her backstory (keep in mind that I have only seen the first five films).

All in all, despite its inextricable connections to continuity and an occasionally verbose screenplay by Hiramatsu Masaki that for the most part only bogs down the pacing in a few moments, Overlooking View is a solid first film for this series. However, don't expect to have context for much of what is shown here before having seen the other films.

I still believe that the mysteries Nasu provides us with are engaging and well thought out enough for people to stick with the series to in order to get more answers, but that may not be the case for everyone. Still, hopefully the tone and atmosphere of this film is enough to satisfy viewers, as the following films do not let up on what made this one work in the slightest.

However, I do find the next film, Murder Speculation Part 1, to be a far stronger film overall. It also serves as a better introduction to the series based on it taking place 3 years before Overlooking View, although some mysteries around Shiki's condition still yet remain.

I will be reviewing that one later though, so if you liked this review, look forward to my next one!