Kara no Kyoukai Versus the Aging of the Soul
As if all good things come to an end, the last episode of Kara no Kyoukai puts on the breaks for the last streaks of sparks atop of an ufotable-powered locomotive. The journey is both epic in scope and in subcultural significance, though the void it lefts us with begs the question if the train will run yet again tomorrow, perhaps with a different group of producers and artisans.
But what remains the same are the fans. And perhaps we may only be here today, to be replaced by new blood tomorrow, but somehow the colors of plastic cards we read the numbers from don’t mean as much as the letters that spells out the next best, greatest adaptation for the animated, silver screen. Ask ourselves this: are we transformed by the journey that Nasu penned so many years ago? Perhaps we have, indirectly, through his hard work and collaboration that is better known as TYPE-MOON, but does this series of films, The Garden of Sinners, connect with the audience on a more basic level? Does it move us?
I think the answer is not a definite one, so that is at least a small victory; at least I cannot deny that the films weren’t moving at all. Personally I was moved almost as much as by the visuals and the haunting melody in perhaps Kajiura’s best work in recent years than the Nasuverse psychobabble, as comprehensible as it might be for babbling. The hard part is to be able to contextualize the Kara no Kyoukai story, to draw analogies about how Rakkyo is an anomaly, an absolute zone in which stands in between the epic blockbusters that can be found in Ponyo, One Piece, or Eva 2.0, and the contemplative, simpler arthouse variety found by the likes of Sky Crawlers or 5cm/s. Rakkyo, too, has a dual identity; each episode forged a piece of Shiki’s internal chaos together with a down-to-earth look at human nature; marrying serious philosophical nonsense with over-the-top action. It wanted to please, but it was also too ashamed to tease (still, it teased anyways). If not for the episodic segmentation, one could have called Rakkyo an identity crisis; but there was no mistake as to what it is–it is pure otaku fodder of the highest caliber, and it knows as much. It knows the fans are gentle in spirit and we are willing to put up with the “LOL SHIKI DOES SURGERY” episode or the “LOL PEOPLE DON’T WALK THE STAIRS” episode, because that isn’t why we adore this nonsense.
This musing came about when a friend asked for my opinion on this post, which I jokingly said in reply that the best way to cure the common “old fag” syndrome is to watch no anime other than Kara no Kyoukai for a week, starting from episode 1, on a Monday, one episode a day. Make sure to invite some friends on Friday for episode 5. If your friends wants more, ask them to come back Sunday. It’s not guaranteed to work, but you might be hard pressed to spend your time better, watching anime.
I suppose like most ufotable works so far, it managed to fan the flame in this old crunky internet troll a little, at the least. Maybe it’ll do something for you, too.
Heh, I like that idea. To cure someone of oldfaggery, sit them down in front of Kara no Kyokai. To cure someone of newfaggery (which is what I was suffering from) sit them down in front of Akira.
Mind you I just can’t get into the Kara no Kyokai series. I’ve seen the first 5 and I’ve found that the only reason I’m watching them is for the animation quality.
>LOL LETS WRITE A NONSENSICAL POST
Ohh, I see what you did there!
>LOL LETS MAKE A NONSENSICAL ANIME
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>LOL LETS DO A QUOTEHACK
Ohh, I see what you did there!
>>>LOL LETS MAKE A NONSENSICAL ANIME
>>Ohh, I see what you did there!
>LOL LETS DO A QUOTEHACK
FIXED
LOL, LET’S BREAK THE CHAIN
I don’t think Kara no kyoukai is going to cure oldfaggotry — while the pictures are pretty, it’s not clear how much there is there. On the other hand, Akira is similar: while the pictures are gritty, there’s not much of the grand scheme of Otomo’s manga there.
I think if I were going to try treating someone for oldfaggotry, I’d probably use Summer Wars, instead. It’s got both pretty pictures, coherence, and imagination. It doesn’t have the Kajiura soundtrack, however.
As I remarked over at Scamp’s place, I can remember when, “Well, I’ve watched Akira” was an eye-rolling indicator of newbiehood. Still, I look at the Chartfag season preview and wonder what surprises lurk in it for me. Not every season brings surprises, but many do.
You mean “C-C-COMBO BREAKER”
Absolutely true. I mean, really, Akira? I think it’s the landmark anime that blew brains apart with both the audio-visual experience and adult content. Nobody cared how anime before and after Akira was changed, and how it was historically for other animators. Many Japanese fans didn’t even watch the thing. Works wonders on little boys, sure, but really? At the least, there’s a refinement in the production quality in Rakkyo that’s absent among many of its post-digital-paint peers! You can show it to a mainstream audience and not gross them out entirely. Win in my book.
Which all the more I lament the inadequate 480 release :(
If I were to be cynical I’d say KnK doesn’t have a broad appeal beyond its loyal cult following because it’s dark, gory and deliberately obtuse from a script P.O.V.. Sure, every one of them looks spectacular but would I recommend it to casual fans more than 5cm/s and Summer Wars? Probably not, even though I enjoyed those a great deal too. I can see where a lot of the inspiration for the VNs came from but for anyone who’s never read Tsukihime or F/S N (or even seen the TV adaptations) that extra piece of entertainment value will be lost on them.
I daresay F/S N is Nasu’s most accessible work in terms of how popular it could be outside the fandom and in the mainstream but KnK may be too disorientating and the action spread too thinly between the exposition and character-driven stuff. I’d love to see myself proved wrong on that point but as much as I admire these seven films (which I do, A LOT) I reckon quite a lot of people won’t know what to make of them, and will end up feeling bored and bemused.
But yeah, I hope I’m wrong and the Blu-Ray gets a Western release and is really successful. For an old story that even the author considers to be imperfect it’s turned out so beautifully!
Well, I think episode 5 can stand on its own.
Maybe one day some Japanese company will do a Tsukihime or Fate/Stay Night anime. It still surprises me that no one has bothered. :P
Oh that is so funny back in 2005.
The Tsukihime II rumors were fun while they lasted.
Also, you could also say Rakkyo was sandwiched between the two pillars of TYPE-MOON: F/SN and Tsukihime. It was one of the very first works in paperback, and it was great, but not that great, until the movies started rolling in and changed how Rakkyo was in a very drastic scale. Now, I can say that it is not as insane as Tsukihime, nor it is as idealistic as F/SN, is as definitive as a fine line that can separate the two.
And yes, Nasu’s psychobabble ain’t just extensive. THISCHAIRTHISCHAIRTHISCHAIRTHISCHAIRTHISCHAIR. Hint hint.
Where does the name “Rakkyo” come from? kaRA no (K)KYOukai? This post is the first use of the term I’ve noticed, though I see it’s been used for a long time.
Wiki says 愛称は「らっきょ」。『か「らのきょ」うかい』の「らのきょ」の部分から。
In other words, Wiki’s folk-etymology is the same as mine.
Basically
“Well, I think episode 5 can stand on its own.”
THIS. And
“Oh that is so funny back in 2005.”
This.
Still need to watch episode 7 though.
I made it a priority to watch this. I was kind of hitting myself earlier this year when I found out that I couldn’t catch the film in theaters. Ah well, the wait for a translated version was probably for the best.
[…] probably the fanboy side speaking, but I have a difficult time agreeing with omo that Kara no Kyoukai is simply ‘pure otaku fodder.’ Kara no Kyoukai’s main appeal […]