Just like Pizza Hut sponsorship of Darker than Black and Code Geass, this anime is brought to you by Häagen-Dazs®.
If not for the World Cup, my review for the psychological thriller anime series Kara no Kyoukai – The Garden of Sinners would have come earlier. Even more so if the power supply of this very machine I typed this review on doesn’t blew up. ANN says that this anime consists of seven movies, therefore the anime movies tag. Because the first movie was released in 2007, this whole series (even if it ends in 2009) will compete with another psychological thriller anime titled Bokurano, which just happened to be the current ‘Anime of the Year 2007’ title holder as of time of writing.
The clinically insane main female protagonist.
Story:-
A timid but idealistic high-schooler befriended a kimono-wearing, knife-toting girl who have a Naruto-esque bloodline power. Many events happened between them in the years that followed, with most of them involving gruesome murders and some magic too.
The story in this anime is just so-so for a seinen, but its presentation is what this series is all about. The best positive point of this anime is the timeline management, incorporating storytelling techniques such as flashbacks and flashforwards to present a surprisingly coherent storyline. This will be apparent prominently in the first long movie in episode 5. The ending could have been magnificent, but for some gutless decisions made by whoever wrote the story for this anime.
Character development is excellent, which is another good point this anime has, for the two main protagonists. Well, with 2 dedicated episodes for doing just that, this is pretty much inevitable. There are no outstanding character in this anime though. And I do really want to repeat the fact that whoever wrote the story really miss the opportunity to construct a magnificent ending from the otherwise strong final arc this anime has. Man, did the writer realize that this anime is seinen? Gosh, the ending this anime have are common in shounen titles. I don’t expect to see shounen-like endings in mature seinen titles.
This murder scene that is about to happen is one of the most hilarious murders ever happened in anime history.
Character Design:-
Character design in this anime is good, with plenty of realistic black hairs. Veered towards the style of shounen but still a positive point for this anime.
Voice Acting:-
Unfortunately, voice acting in this anime is just plain average, without any good gigs from any of the voice actors/actresses.
Music:-
The OST is sparse but good. None of the ED themes are of any good though.
The director sometimes made errors like having the main female protagonist leaving a scene (in this case, school) while leaving her properties (bags and jacket) behind. This kind of error are repeated several times
Animation/Direction:-
The animation quality is excellent all-around, with plenty of photorealistic background used in this anime. Choreography in this anime is also great, especially the fight scenes that involves the main female protagonist. The director has done a great job with the presentation as mentioned above, and also with camera works plus photography. A positive point for this anime.
Conclusion:-
8 out of 10. This anime failed to take out Bokurano off its throne. I will watch one or two more anime titles before the inevitable Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood review comes up. Or maybe not, FIFA World Cup notwithstanding.
Meanwhile, fed up with the main female protagonist murderous tendencies, the main male protagonist chooses to make out with another old friend of his instead.
Shortlink: http://wp.me/prgSo-dp
