While walking home, Mikiya Kokutou comes across a familiar sight: Shiki Ryougi standing by a railing amidst the falling snow, just as when he first met her four years ago. While the two talk of their past and shared experiences, Mikiya realizes that something is strange about Shiki; rather, this is not the woman he has come to know, but an entirely different entity that dwells within Shiki's body...
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
winnett
What was the point of this Epilogue? Lets toss around a few scenes of characters standing in the rain on a roadside and listen to one of them talk for a half hour about deep deep things (tm) like PHILOSOPHY and EXISTENCE and WHO ONE IS. I really really wonder why this episode was rated so high. Maybe people were afraid that if they didn't rate such DEEP THOUGHTS high, others would find them dull. DEEP THOUGHT equals not enjoyable anime. DEEP THOUGHTS + PLOT can equal enjoyable anime. Plot, plot, where are you?
Archaeon
Kara no Kyoukai review Part 8 Finding a way to end a story can be a little tricky if the tale in question has no "natural" conclusion, and in cases like those there is a tendency towards overemphasizing key events in the plot or particular moments of character development through the use of flashbacks or the ubiquitous clip show before the big finale. There is a problem with this method though, as while it can be effective in the right sort of setting, it also has the potential to ruin a perfectly good narrative. That said, the last hurrah of the Kara no Kyoukai franchise isan interesting variation on this idea that may see more use in the future.
Set after the events of Satsujin Kousatsu Part 2, the Epilogue takes place on a deserted road overlooking the town, and is nothing more than a conversation between Mikiya Kokutou and Ryougi Shiki after the two meet on a snowy night.
The main thing to realise about this installment is that its sole purpose is to close off the series, but the approach it takes may not sit well with certain people as it adopts a far more introspective and thoughtful stance than any of the previous outings. The plot has one goal, and that is to explain Kokutou and Shiki (who they are, why they are, their relationship, etc), and as part of this it also resolves some of the questions that were left unanswered at the end of the final movie.
What's interesting about Epilogue is the manner in which it delivers the information to the audience. Gone are the dark storylines with their action based resolutions, and replacing them is a much quieter, dialogue heavy look at Kokuto and Shiki as individuals. The method used to reinforce specific points about one or both characters is also intriguing as it utilises the recounting of previous installments, but rather than use the traditional flashback sequences (which would really ruin the mood), Epilogue weaves them into the conversations in a manner that is more referential and comparative than anything else.
The overall atmosphere of quiet contemplation is heavily influenced by the look of the show, and the orange-yellow glow that permeates the town and its outskirts gives this episode the feeling of warmth and tenderness. One highlight of the visuals is actually the gently falling snow, which may not be obvious at first as quite often people make judgments based solely on the strength of the foreground and characters. Weather effects are common in anime, but studios rarely distinguish themselves in this department so it's nice that Ufotable have decided to redress that imbalance in a small way, and one look at the panoramic views across the town will highlight just how much effort they have gone to. The overall effect of both the illumination and the snowfall gives the show an ethereal quality that is rare in anime, as rather than relying on special effects and tricks to fool the viewer, it instead uses reality as the benchmark. The only flaw with the snow is that it doesn't stick to clothing or settle on the umbrella, but this is a relatively minor gripe that doesn't really affect the episode as a whole.
There's not much of a change in the overall look of the characters except for the fact that they appear older and more in tune with themselves than before. The difference is actually in the details, in particular in the facial expressions of Kokutou and Shiki. Both have undergone a metamorphosis over the course of Kara no Kyoukai, and this is reflected in the way they look at each other in this episode.
One thing that stands out in this franchise is the quality of the acting, yet while there have been some great performances throughout the series, Epilogue's quiet nature is a very different proposition from the bouts of frenetic activity and angst in the movies. To their credit both Suzumura Kenichi and Sakamoto Maaya offer very good performances, but along with this is the sense that the pair are more comfortable with their roles than at any time before, and this has the effect of "relaxing" the flow of the story.
Another key area for the franchise is the music, and Epilogue is no slouch in this department. The show begins with a haunting classical piece dominated by flute and piano, which leads into purposely subdued background music that at times is barely audible, especially during conversations. The subtlety and slightly off kilter nature of the music, together with the occasional "enhancing" of the speaking roles, add to the dream-like atmosphere of this episode, and all of this is rounded off by a choral, hymn-like ending theme.
The strangest aspect of Epilogue is that it doesn't focus on characterisation or development in any tangible manner. Instead the viewer bears witness to what appears to be character affirmation, which is surprising as the series has studiously avoided this in a number of ways. The interesting part about this though, is that the script has been written in a way that conveys a sense of inevitability, and the focus on introspection and explanation is a major shift away from the more dynamic dialogue of previous outings.
At first glance Epilogue may appear to be a strange and far too wordy addition to the Kara no Kyoukai franchise, but don't be fooled. There is a depth here that may surprise a few people, and while there are no knives, guns, action and the rest, it more than makes up for this by allowing the viewer to empathise with the characters in a way that the movies have ignored up to now. That said, while I enjoyed this addition to the series there will undoubtedly be others who find it far too slow to be entertaining.
Taken as a stand alone episode this may seems more like an art house anime than anything else, especially with the introspective dialogue laced with psychology. As part of the whole though, Epilogue offers closure on one of the major themes of the franchise (the relationship between Kokutou and Shiki), and also provides the series with something that has been missing from day one - a proper ending.
Cheating
Oh boy. So I watched this a while ago, so I may have forgotten a bit about what happened in terms of story... er... well, I think, anyhow. Story: 1 Yeah so, there's not actually any story in this. I know, sue me, but there's storytelling in the dialogue, should you be inclined to follow it. I'll warn you though, it's deeper than the subsonic frequencies produced in the Mariana Trench while watching Boku no Pico. It's harder to follow than a blind and deaf man in a pitch-black labyrinth while drunk, dizzy, and inexplicably blindfolded. Or maybe I'm just not smart enough to figure it out.From watching, here's what I can tell in terms of a non-verbal story.
The guy goes and sees her on the hill. The snow is pretty. They have a conversation while walking slowly on the road. The snow is pretty. There's a gust of wind and she vanishes. And the snow is still pretty. The end.
If you enjoyed the previous seven Kara no Kyoukai movies, for their beautiful artwork, compelling plots, great soundtracks, exciting and sometimes gruesome fight scenes, and all the good things that come with that, then you'll probably notice the epilogue is a bit of a change from all that. It's still pretty looking. It's just boring as hell. 45 minutes of a bunch of nonsensical dialogue about how the body is made of the physical being, the spirit, and the bullshit.
Art: 10
That snow is so pretty.
That's all you're gonna be watching.
It's beautiful snow.
Sound: 6
Kalafina. There's not much background music, and no sound to speak of other than talking. I guess it's soothing.
Character: 3
The characters are obviously here from throughout the series. This lies right in with story though, there's character development in the dialogue, if you can pick it out. I'm sure. At least, I desperately hope there is. I mean, there has to be, right? Right?
Enjoyment: 1
I sat there with my eyes crossed watching the snow and laughing about stupid comments I made with my friend while eating a cookie cake, and other than that I barely even noticed the movie at all. Other than the snow. That snow was so beautiful.
Overall: 3
Yyyyyyyep. In retrospect, the epilogue was entirely not necessary for a conclusive end to the series, especially since it DOESN'T MAKE ANY GOD DAMN SENSE.
jc9622
This is the epilogue of the KnK series 30 minutes of wrap up. That's pretty much it. [Story]: (5/10) The KnK epilogue now takes place 1 month after the events of the 7th movie. While Mikiya is walking, he saw "Shiki Ryougi" standing at the exact same spot where they first met about 4 years ago. If you were expecting something great to happen then don't. This is literally 30 minutes of Shiki and Mikiya having a conversation. What's the conversation about? It's about Shiki's dual personality and the "Shiki Ryougi" that he's seeing is not Shiki or SHIKI. Notice the quotation marks, the name Shiki withno quotation marks and capital letter name?
If you listen for about 30 minutes then it's not that hard to follow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Art/Animation]: (10/10)
What else is there to say about the animation? They were in 1 place for 30 minutes where it's snowing. The snow looks great. That's all I have to say.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Sound]: (8/10)
There were some occasional background themes playing and I thought they were pretty good. The ED is "snow falling" by Kalafina. I didn't even notice it was Kalafina at first. I thought it was just some random choir singing. Shiki and Mikiya's VA remained the same.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Characters]: (8.4/10)
You only get to see "Shiki Ryougi" and Mikiya in this special having a conversation. Basically, you learn more about Shiki, her dual personality, the origins of Shiki and SHIKI and why Mikiya is talking to a girl named "Shiki Ryougi. That's it. I don't know how to expand this character review.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Enjoyment]: (6/10)
I get to learn more about Shiki in this epilogue but at the end of the day, I didn't enjoy it as much as I want to.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[OVERALL]: (7/10)
It's a decent epilogue for the Kara no Kyoukai series but it's nothing special. I guess you can skip this if you don't want to learn about Shiki's origin but if you want to then you can give this Epilogue a watch. It's not that long anyways.
Last_Chevalier
So here’s the thing, if you watched all 7 movies of Kara no Kyoukai , you’re going to watch this epilogue regardless of what I say, so I’m not going to talk anyone out of seeing it. But I would if I could. The thing is, it doesn’t add as much to the story as it could have, and actually ended up leaving me confused and irritated. So what exactly is wrong with this epilogue? Where to begin... The epilogue is meant to expand on some of the ‘behind the scenes’ goings ons in Shiki’s head. It’s basically supposed to clarify the how’s and why’s of her multiplepersonalities and explain the SHIKI versus Shiki dichotomy. The real issue with the epilogue is how they chose to do it.
It’s one giant speech…
Kokutou meets Shiki on the same bridge where they first met all those years ago, and they talk and talk and talk …. and talk. The thing is, by the time Shiki’s done explaining everything, you will have way more questions than answers. Which is kind of funny...
The 7th movie for Kara no Kyoukai, provides a pitch perfect ending. This epilogue does everything it can to disturb that. Now this might not have been done intentionally, but the more I thought about the epilogue, the more I found my focus less drawn to what Shiki was saying as much as the situation we find herself and Kokutou in during the epilogue. Why are they on the bridge? What was she doing there by herself? Why does Kokutou arrive to talk to her there? … in other words, what the hell is going on with those two??? And if you’re waiting for answer, you’re not going to get one, which feels positively awful.
Also, there’s the issue of how confusing the epilogue is. Truth is, unless you’re a metaphysics ninja, you will probably need to watch this twice to understand half of what’s going on. But I found that after sitting through this the first time, I just did not want to. There was too much that was ‘different’ about the epilogue, and not nearly enough continuity between the series and this add on. Even Shiki looks different, and by different I mean more generic. I’m not sure if it’s the result of different artists or what, but that trademark character design, especially her eyes, is noticeably different, and I did not care for it.
Personally, I found the entire thing a tad forced, too heavy and melodramatic. And you could almost have swapped out Shiki for Touko, and achieved a more realistic feel, or at least one that didn’t leave you with so many damn questions.
I can telly you that this epilogue will ask some serious questions about what we assumed happened after the end of the 7th movie. This is not a good thing. You do not need this to be your last episode of Kara no Kyoukai. It takes a perfectly good ending from the series and changes it just slightly enough to put you off. You’re much better off stopping this series after the 7th. But since you’ve probably already watched it as you read this, I’m sure you already knew that.
Lucena
The Kara no Kyoukai anime film series may have ended nearly two years ago, but for some, the story was not quite over yet. People who were lucky enough to get their hands on the Blu-Ray box set of the series were not only treated to the seven films in crisp HD, but also received a new, never-before-seen "epilogue chapter" as an added bonus. The chapter is one that many fans of the original novels had hoped to see animated, and once they heard that their wish came true, they rejoiced with great anticipation. Not long ago, I've decided to revisit this mysterious world forthe first time since 2009. As to be expected, I was not embraced warmly by the film's presence, but was given a distant and melancholy greeting like the one Shiki Ryougi gives her close friend, Mikiya Kokutou, in the film.
I shouldn't be too harsh on judging the film's story, since this is an addendum to the series' story and doesn't necessarily have to be seen in order to understand the series' main plot. In fact, there really isn't a plot to speak of, since it is simply a conversation between Shiki and Mikiya, What is interesting about it, however, is that it acts as a sort of bookend for the entire series as a whole. The series begins with a meeting between these two characters, and if you include the epilogue in the series' main plotline, then that is where it ends. Normally, I would give the character and the plot two separate ratings, but in this case, they both share the same rating because this film is nothing but character interaction. I use the term "character interaction" loosely because Shiki's lines mainly consist of one monologue after another while Mikiya simply responds with a few sentences. The film might as well be renamed "Shiki Ryougi Waxes Philosophical for 30 Minutes" due to how much she speaks here. Luckily, what she has to say may prove to be very interesting to those who like the psychological aspect of the series. Keep in mind that if you decide to watch this, you should have a fresh idea of how some of the key elements of the series play out, because she refers to them quite a bit. Otherwise, you'll sort of feel detached from what she is saying, almost like you have never seen the series before. Her monologues also do stretch out longer than they should be and take them from a level of meaningful character analysis to melodramatic ramblings. Seeing how this is, once again, an added bonus to the entire series, do not watch this unless you have seen all of the movies, because you will be spoiled and confused. What the "story" and characters are able to do, they do well, but other than that, it's nothing special.
The animation is also nothing to marvel at in this film, which is a surprise, given studio ufotable's technical expertise shown in all of the films in the series. Seeing how the film only takes place in one location, I can understand that they were limited in their expression because of that, but they could have done more than place the camera on Shiki for a lot of the time. There were several opportunities in which the animators could show Mikiya's reactions to Shiki's monologues outside of the moments before it was his turn to speak. It could have been worse, though. ufotable could have been lazy and edited stock footage from the previous films in, but being true to their craft, they decided to animate as much as the could for the sequence. In contrast to the nearly-stagnant animation, the artistry held up very well. The characters looked as beautifully-designed as ever and you could see the lights on every individual building in the far-off city. Even for a half-hour sequence, ufotable did not give anything less than their best. Had it not been for the artistry of the film, the animation would have bothered me even more.
Rarely, I would describe the audio aspect of any form of visual media as hypnotic, but in this film, i can't help but feel drawn in by the hushed tones of the soundtrack and the voice acting. Keeping to the intimacy of the characters' conversation, Maaya Sakamoto give Shiki an almost motherly sound to her voice, sounding different than the two previous "Shiki" that she played throughout the series. She gives this "new" Shiki a wise, poised, and almost otherworldly personality. The sincerity in Kenichi Suzumura's Mikiya reciprocates that nicely, making him seem well-grounded and mature in front of this graceful, almost intimidating woman. Accompanying the film is several new pieces by series composer Yuki Kajiura, who does not approach the film with her usual theatricality, but with music as delicate as the snow falling around the characters. The ending theme is another Kajiura composition, "snow falling", performed by the songstress trio Kalafina. It is a version of the last instrumental piece to play before the credits, but features the group singing in the composer's signature "Kajiuran" vocalization style. Although the music seems tacked on to such a short film, the pieces that play are beautiful enough to be remembered.
The film treats its audience in a way that "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" treats its audience. It expects the viewer to know every important aspect about the film in order to understand it. Watching this without having any recollection of the series' events will have you scratching your heads over "SHIKI and Shiki" and "what Touko Aozaki said". It's probably the main reason why people would want to give it such a low rating, but judging it as its own entity rather than as part of a whole spectrum would make it unfavorable to some. This film isn't reserved for those who watched the series in its entirety, but for those who watched it and relished every minute of it. Even if you qualify as one of those people, this is the kind of film to watch to say that you did, in fact, watch it, and that you have fully completed the Kara no Kyoukai viewing experience. You can say that, for you, the story has truly ended.
znyggisen
If the show would have been better if the epilogue (or any episode/movie for that matter) didn't exist than you have clearly done something wrong. The 7 movies don't necessarily explain EVERYTHING, but they explain enough to the point where I felt very happy and satisfied with the ending and story that I got. This one just decides to step its foot where it doesn't belong and stir up sh*t to explain things. Unfortunately, the explanation that I got (to questions that I didn't have to begin with) made the story WORSE... I think the same goes for one part in the main 7 movies as well,and you probably have watched them if you are reading a review of the epilogue so some spoilers:
- spoiler for the main series!: I think I would have actually preferred if SHIKI (male part) had actually killed the people in the beginning like we are lead to believe in the second episode - and it was an inner struggle between SHIKI (male) and Shiki (female) about the right and wrong of murder. Lio Shirazumi would realize/witness SHIKI/Shiki kill people and because of that be inspired to become a murderer himself to I guess, get close to Shiki (This was actually how I believed the story unfolded, It wasn't until a friend said that SHIKI never killed anyone that I realized this). I thought Mikiya Kokutō was referring to the personality of Shiki (female) when he said that she had never killed anyone, but knowing full well that when SHIKI took over, "he (she?)" actually had killed someone.
Anyway, to conclude - The story is better if you don't what this epilogue and thus it's a complete failure in my opinion. The explanation makes the story worse, not better or more satisfying.
Spidey01
My review for each knk movie : Movie 1: Idk what happened in this one it made me fall asleep so it's unrated. My rating : --/10 Movie 2 : It's a solid movie way better than the previous one , I really liked the dynamic between shiki and kokuto and their backstory . Even tho this movie has some few boring scenes but it's good and intersting . My rating : 6.5/10 Movie 3 : This movie was a disappoinement , It was so boring the story became uninteresting again but on the other hand I liked the antagonist she was kind of cool andshiki was badass in this movie .
My rating : 4/10
Movie 4:
Another cool knk movie , unlike the previous parts movie 4 dived more into shiki's character it revealed many things about shiki where did she got her power and the two shikis and stuff like that and it did good job in terms of showing us how complicated shiki is ,it was boring but still decent and digestable .
My rating : 5.5/10
Movie 5:
Spiral Paradox is by far the best Knk movie it was great and it did everything better than the previous movies the cast became better , the plot became interesting and shiki became a better mc , The movie overall was enjoyable and great.
My rating : 8/10
Movie 6 :
This movie was trash tbh .
My rating : 2/10
Movie 7 :
A very cool movie , it gave a great conclusion to both shiki and kokuto and to the series in general . not really as good as spiral paradox but still great .
My rating : 7.5/10
Movie 8 :
This Epilogue felt out of place it was dull , they tried as hard as possible to force those philosophical ideas that were really unintersting , also i tried as hard as possible to focus on the dialogue it was really boring and unintersting . if this movie didn't exist my rating for Knk could've been higher . But Tbh the animation was really smooth it's the only reason why i give this movie a 1/10 and not a 0/10 they really worked hard on the animation .
My rating 1/10
Overall :
Knk overall is a cool anime with an amazing animation and ost, it has so many flaws and it's inconstitent imo and it could have been better , but it still has some few decent elements that carried the whole show from being garbage .
Overall rating : 4.5/10 bad but still digestable
1stDecame4Danime
A dumb epilogue animating the main duo's lip-flappings of the author's pseudointellectual ramblings of self-contradictory dialogue writ large. Worse, I could take every line of this and stack all the rephrased repeats and it would just repeat each a dozen times as it goes through conveying nothing of value for 30 minutes. It takes a very special person to think this juvenile attempt at philosophizing is deep. It adds nothing, literally, a pointless 3rd personality who may as well have just been SHIKI anyway because the 2 fill the exact same role of contrasting Shiki (who is already barely contrasted because it just headasses excusesfor everything to make her murderous too filling the exact same role as SHIKI because in reality the multiple-non-multiple personalities of Shiki never actually mattered in the 1st place).
God this series is dumb and didn't even have the balls to kill the MC let alone write an actual scene where he survives through any actual justification.
The dialogue is nearly 100% filler/exposition in addition to frequent poor translation/nonsense dialogue.
Despite being ostensibly 'dark fantasy', while it deals with dark/mature themes this isn't horror, just 20% violence/gore between 80% filler. Rather than horror it's mature action, and whatever attempts it makes to be dark come across as laughably edgy and usually conveyed through idiotic shonen villain monologuing (think Angels of Death taking itself completely seriously).
The MC is a noncharacter simp with almost no backstory and hardly any relevance to the series. most everyone else actually goes out and does stuff while he kinda just shows up to talk and occasionally participate by simping for girls almost certainly because he's been written as a generic MC self-insert for a VN nonromance harem builder with all the hentai scenes left out. He's a pencil-pushing desk warmer the girls immediately fall for who has been written out of the story with dumb excuses like being comatose and going off for weeks to learn to drive and the story taking place elsewhere only to briefly call him up on the phone to say hello. Let alone making a different character MC, you know your story is bad when your MC of all people would be better off cut from the entire series.
1/10 (where 5/10 is average)
DevLog
Archaeon and Lucena have both written very explicative summaries of this series epilogue, and so I'm not going to focus on ideas that they've already covered. Having watched the entire Kara no Kyoukai series, including the special, over a span of a few days, I found that the epilogue both answered some questions I had, and posed a few more. This style of giving moderate definition to events and history, but not all, has been present since the beginning of the series; I would not see this as a reason to rate it with a poor score, however. For all the complexity of characters,mysticism, and selective background information presented in the original stories, expecting everything to be plainly defined, as some have indicated, doesn't seem feasible here; and would undoubtedly detract from the mysterious appeal of said stories. That being noted, I would venture to say that being familiar with the author's other, later works (ironically), certainly goes far in helping one to understand the intricate method in the storytelling style of what they have seen here (and in the original series).
Though this story starts off low-key, proceeds slowly, and ends just as ponderously, I believe that it does well in showing the oft-hinted at deeper understanding that Ryougi Shiki and Kokutou Mikiya really have of each other. Character interaction on the purely social level is present in the parent stories, but it rarely went to the deep, philosophical reaches as it does here. Mikiya's responses to Shiki's explanations are, of course, typically (and irritatingly) brief, but he still manages cram a lot of insight into his simple observations.
The latter part of the epilogue left me wondering about the true boundaries of Shiki's power and abilities, but as with the rest of the stories, this is not an uncommon theme, and therefore didn't bewilder me; the same thing could be considered about Aozaki Touko, for example. Despite the possibility that the relationship between Mikiya and Shiki could suddenly become a whole lot more complicated, this story ended quietly, with the idea of "we like each other just as we are, so don't change".
Ultimately, I really enjoyed this and the rest of the series. I wish the epilogue could have lasted for a solid hour or more, with some changeups in scenery and more ideas shared; these are the only reasons why I didn't give it a perfect score.
Arete7
Oddly enough, i think this epilogue would have been better has a prologue, especially how this movie series handles it's timeline. I accidentally watched this part first of the entire series and enjoyed it alot more then when i watched it last in order. However this might be because i was already familiar with the character Shiki before even watching the movies. Eitherway i like the mysterious fill and vibe of this episode so 8.
R_2_R
"4 years later, they meet again". The final chapter that quite a lot seem to ignore just because it's all words and doesn't have all those cool fights or "GREAT ANIMATION". This is untrue, by the way. Because the movie is definitely well-animated, especially considering the fact that it's just about a conversation between two characters. Just like the beginning of the story (i.e., the beginning of part 2), Mikiya walks with his umbrella under snowy weather only to get a glimpse of the same person he met 4 years ago, 「Shiki」. Shiki's true identity has been explained in three different archetypes in this film: Shiki as abody, Shiki as a psyche, and Shiki as a soul. As she argues, this 「Shiki」 we see here is the soul, an empty soul.
The entire film reminisces on many events from previous films, such as the similarities between Shiki and Fujino which Shiki stated in part 3, the concept of the Soul and its origin which is the central concept in part 5, and finally answering my personal question about the consequences of not forgiving Shiki. What also pleasantly surprised me was the subtle similarities between Mikiya and Shiki, that Mikiya fell in love with Shiki, because of how similar his normalcy is to her abnormality.
Expects nothing and receives nothing, neither looks into the future nor regrets the past, never hurting anyone nor yourself. That is the normal person he is. There's a tiny line between Mikiya's nature of life (as in to live in the present) and 「Shiki's」 origins (from the nothingness), and it's a bit lovely that these two characters, each on the other side of this boundary, were able to fall in love with each other.
This film feels more like an epilogue than a typical film because it is highly filled with dialogue, with animation and music only providing enough support to make the most of the least so as to not make it a drag to watch, although this will undoubtedly be the case for many. The peaceful and languid tempo contrasts sharply with the preceding parts' blood and gore; one could even call this an artsy entry to the franchise rather than a commercial movie. Though I do agree reading this entry in the novel works better as it is full of words, by no means this film is an abomination. Only people who think that good fights = good animation will get to that conclusion.
"Conclusion"
This is definitely a great addition (and the true conclusion I would argue) to the franchise. However,
If you're enjoyability factors are just cool animation and fights, then you will not like this film, or even hate this film for that matter.
If you are more interested in the characters, however, then this will be a beautiful movie to watch on a winter night.
Fun Fact: The voice actors for Shiki (Maaya Sakamoto) and Mikiya (Kenichi Suzumura) were married, 6 months after this film debuted. I don't know, I just found it cute.
lavrat
I really liked Kara no Kyoukai. Some of the chapters are more fascinating to me than others, some more ecchi male gaze candy. It has intricate lore and mysterious, conflicted characters who reveal their natures over time, and who are multi-dimensional. I will note, in case the following is ultimately a consequence of the translation, that I listen/watch in English. Shuushou is... I don't know if it's because I am spoiled by paying attention to literature and philosophy, but this felt like the pseudo-mystical musings of an adolescent who thinks theology, ethics, sociology, and science in general are all too boring to be true. It's likethe bullshit of some sheltered, narcissistic, college frosh who doesn't do the reading and skips lectures because they think they nailed spirituality over a week-long vacation on shrooms. The discussion (it's a Dinner With Andre-style chapter) didn't draw coherently on real traditions of thought—typically I would consider this merely a missed opportunity, because I appreciate totally novel takes, however Shuushou... it didn't just miss the boat, it jumped into the water and thought it could keep up by doggy paddling. The alternative spirituality it illustrates just felt... invalid? Unsettlingly gendered?
Skip it.
zeniwilkyy
It's been a while since I truly felt overwhelmed after I finished something, this left an indelible mark on my soul, it's about learning to embrace yourself, imperfections and all, about discovering yourself, facing the voids within us, the contradictions that make us human, but still, it's much more then that, it reminds us to cherish the ephemerality of life, life is short so spread your wings, fly. It's a deeply personal creation born from a young Nasu's pursuit of his own beliefs, this story is Nasu's essence, reaching for his own truth, it's heavy but it also brims with meaning because of Nasu's obstinate.Thank You.
xBadxApple
It takes courage to go for such a format -- even in the universe of Kara no Kyoukai, where everything is slower-paced, introvertive, and atmospheric. In a way, I like this closure to the previous 7 movies. It felt like a microcosm of what the relationship between Kokutoi and Shiki/SHIKI/ is at its core. While rather static in terms of background and music, there are several points where the slow dynamism of the scenes makes for a strong emotional impact. In all fairness, the movie would have been even better if it were 5-7 minutes shorter than that. Explaining the core of Nasuverse concepts and some borrowedideas from schools of psychology is a decent feat, but not when you have to repeat yourself without building up on the first time you mentioned them.
A solid 7/10 to me, with the highlight being the slow pan-to-close-up scene on Shiki's face and the beautiful (genius Kajiura, as always in KnK) symphonic closure to the couple's dialogue.
Dompa112
I gave it a 7 but thats for the complete package. This one episode though….. I mean wow. Ive never seen so much pretentious dialogue. Just imagining the guy writing all this nonsense. Or even worse people pretending theres som deep meaning to it. This episode was made for one thing only. For Nasus own ego thinking he is some deep philosophical shit. But i guess in a way thats also the charm in all his works. But theres a fine line where it becomes to much. And this 33 minute long episode crossed the line. I do recommend watching it despite all this. Itspart of the Kara no Kyoukai experience. The good parts and the bad parts. Its there to form a whole which this nonsenical charade is part of.
