Kara No Kyoukai-The Garden of Sinners

Kara no Kyoukai-The Garden of Sinners
12/2007-8/2009
Genre: Horror, supernatural, romance, mystery
Rating-somewhere between Pg-13-R..although leaning heavily toward R (Sexual situations,gore, and just insanity)
Animation Production: Ufotable
Distributor: Aniplex





Kara no Kyoukai-The Garden of Sinners first premiered in Japan in December 2007. But the series itself started in the form of a novella that was released as a dojin in 1998 by Kinoko Nasu and illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi. The novella was later published by Type-moon then Kodansha in Japan while in America it was published by Del Ray Manga.

The plot summary for the series as a whole is "Mikiya Kokuto finds himself intrigued by two things. The first is by Shiki Ryougi a beautiful, yet rather unsociable, girl and the other is the strange series of violent deaths that start occuring in his town. As he attempts to get closer to Shiki, he soon learns that the two are connected and that there are many supernatural forces at work which could very likely get him killed as well." Which turns out to be kinda true.

The series is split up into seven movies with the seventh being released this August.The movie titles in the order they came out are; Fukan Fukei, Satsujin Kosatsu, Tsukaku Zanryu, Garan no Dou, Mujun Rasen Boukyaku Rokuon, and Satsujin Kosatsu prt 2. Another interesting thing about the movies are that they are intentionally being shown out of order. The first movie is the third movie and the first one is...I don't know really I'm only up to the fifth movie which has the most awesome action scenes thus far, there's speculation that it's the last movie.

The movies are awesome but if you like lots of action and hardly any talk then this series is not for you. Throughout maybe the hour of movie there will only be one action scene but lots of talking and storytelling. It's not insufferable talking but after seeing the one fight scene you want to see more.

The music is also great. It's composed by one of my favorite composers Yuki Kaijura (did music for; Mai Hime, .Hack//SIGN, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and .hack//Liminality among others). The music is fantastic throughout conveying the mood for every scene spectacularly.

At the end, I love this movie so far and I can't wait to see how it ends. The only thing that I would notify people of is that if you get grossed out easily, you may not want to see this movie because there are some gruesome images of limbs/people being sliced apart among other things. But if that doesn't bother you than by all means.The dvd is supposed to be released stateside late this summer definitely so buy it or have someone else buy it for you! After watching the trailer below of course. Until next time!!

Pack the Cars, buses and trains! Anime Convention season is here!!!

Yup! It's Anime Convention time!! If you're an otaku that lives on the east coast then you're most likely waiting anxiously for Otakon. Otakon is the biggest anime convention along on the east coast and is definitely getting bigger and bigger as the years go on. Apparently it started off as a small convention in State College PA but it exploded into the insanity that it is today. One event that attracted a hhuuggee amount of people into downtown Baltimore was the news that L'arc En Ciel, a popular and well known Jrock band, would be performing at Otakon in 2004. From the stories I've heard from friends who went, the line stretched on for blocks.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. If you love anime and you're room is stocked better than most stores then you have to make the unforgettable journey to a convention at least once in your life. What sets anime cons apart from sci-fi and fantasy cons is that the whole venue is devoted to anime and video games that otaku play and love. There is LARP (Live Action Role Play), Anime Music videos(AMV), and all day anime screenings. The convention lasts over the weekend and usually has a Japanese artist do a concert for one evening during the weekend.

Some bands who have crossed the atlantic or Pacific oceans to perform at these events are Mucc, Despairs Ray, L'arc en Ciel, Kalafina, and Duel Jewel; to name a few. By doing these performances the artist expose themselve to an american public and gain a few fans in the process.

Some of the biggest cons in the US are; Anime Expo (San Diego, CA), Nekocon (Hampton, VA), Comic-con International: San Diego (um..San Diego, CA), and Otakon (Baltimore, MD). The bigger the convention the better the vendors are as well as the performers. Oh! And apparently if you stay and help the vendors clean up you can get free stuff! Don't know if this is true...but it is confirmed from one who went to a con last year.So Good Luck... :)

Anime Convention are super fun and you can buy awesome stuff from kimonos to Japanese music albums and cheap/rare anime & artbooks!!! So much yaoi!!! >0< but anywayz... :). If you can afford the registration fees (from $40-$70) than cover transportation then definitely go and enjoy this event. You'll leave with memories you'll never forget as well as memories you'll want to forget! One word "Fat Faye"...

Kurokami-The animation

For the past few weeks I have been watching this really great anime called Kurokami- The Animation. What got me interested in this was the image to your left.It looked cool so I thought,
"okay! let's see what this is about!"
annnddd it's...interesting to say the least.
The story begins with this guy named Keita. When he was young his mother got ran over by a car because she seen another woman who looked just like her; so because of his mother's death keita believes that there are dopplegangers which exist out in the world and if you come across one than your dead....Right...
So I'm thinking is he crazy or something but then we find out that he isn't. He later meets up with a short unassuming, hungry, girl named Kuro and her dog that hides out in her jacket. She turns out to be what's called a terra gaurdian. The terra gaurdian is vastly stronger from other humans, which is evident in the way she fights. They also observe the human world by making sure that the balance of terra is maintained.

The animation in this series is awesome! The first fight in episode one just looks like a crazy fight combo scene from a video game. And the animation holds up really well. The animation production is by sunrise who have produces a few of the animes I have reviewed so far (Code Geass, Mai Hime...). And I have really grown up on anime that sunrise has produced and their work is of high quality.

My only gripe with the series so far is that the characters are cookie cut characters.What I mean is they are just those same character types that we see in every other anime. The main character keita is basically the nice-but-distant-guy-who-doesn't-let-others-get-close-to-him because-they-only-end-up-leaving-you character. While the female lead is the ditzy-always hungry-random-dog-carrying girl. She at one time annoys the crap outta of you but at the same she's the coolest and most powerful character.



Kurokami is interesting...but I'm still waiting for it to break away from the cookie aspect of it's characters and story. So for now I am midly interested.