The Anime Shelf: Kara no Kyoukai

Ryougi Shiki has special eyes that see the death of all things.

This will be my first anime review and Kara no Kyoukai is a difficult beast to describe. Mix this with the fact that I have no formal education in film or 2D animation and we're left with a post that is probably going to be a little bit rubbish. Either way I plan to do my best and avoid spoiling anything along the way.

Kara no Kyoukai in summary, is the story of Ryougi Shiki who investigates various supernatural crimes while struggling with her own killing urges. With the help of Mikiya Kokuto and her magus boss Touko Aozaki, they spend most of the films in independent stories that tackle their problems.

Kara no Kyoukai was originally a three volume light novel series by Type-Moon. Kara no Kyoukai was their first ever work and probably stood as a prototype for their later visual novel Tsukihime. Many of the concepts that appear in Kara no Kyoukai end up in Tsukihime in one shape or form. Now that is not to say that Kara no Kyoukai (from now to be abbreviated as KnK) is an incomplete or even mechanically flawed work. It's a stand alone complete piece that works perfectly even if you completely disregard the existence of Tsukihime.

Anyway, we're not here to talk about the light novels, we're here to talk about the animated films. KnK was animated by Japanese animation studio Ufotable and released as seven films and one 35 minute OVA epilogue. The length of the films can range from as short as 48 minutes to 121 minutes. Pair this with the fact the films were released in non chronological order and you have a reasonably difficult plot to get into at first glance.

You might feel lost sometimes but it all comes together.

That being said, I urge not to rearrange the films and watch them in chronological order but to stick it out in the order they were aired. This is because that the films were designed that way and everything falls into place properly. I've yet to go back and watch the films in their chronological order but I can tell you that it's not really necessary.

The first film, Overlooking View will be the only true stumbling block in your enjoyment of KnK. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic film but there is little to no character development until the second film, A Study in Murder (Part 1). As such, you may be tempted to quit only a little way into it. Overlooking View is a film that is retroactively brilliant. Once you know the characters it adds more layers to the already visually stunning film. So I would ask you to keep watching KnK but if by the third film, Remaining Sense of Pain, you do not think it's for you, then it's probably not going to grow on you.

All of the main characters get plenty of development.

KnK looks and sounds fantastic. Takashi Takeuchi's art style has always been really great and the light as well as the general use of colour is really great. The music was composed by Yuki Kajiura. She's worked on some of my favourite anime soundtracks to date, including the recent Fate/Zero soundtrack. I would say that KnK was even better than that. The music fit perfectly with the scene and is honestly one of my favourite soundtracks to date. I would even say it gives Kenji Kawai a run for his money.

The story was written by Type-Moon's Kinoko Nasu. I've always loved Type-Moon stories and KnK ranks up with the best of them. The main thing that will probably turn people away is that it's very dialogue heavy. If you're a fan of action, you won't find too much here to begin with. The few primary characters get an absurdly large amount of development. You feel that you could comprehend all of the small details of the characters actions by the end. Even Ryougi Shiki, with her multiple personalities has little quirks you will probably pick up on. Some things however are somewhat broken to us due to the language barrier. In Japanese, both of her personalities are the same name but written with different Kanji. Also depending on the personality present she will speak using different mannerisms, which only those who speak Japanese or at least have some limited understanding of Japanese might pick up on. (something I did not at the time.)

Cigarette magic!

I feel that with having watched Fate/Zero recently and now Kara no Kyoukai, I've been spoilt by fantastic Type-Moon works. If Kara no Kyoukai is too much for you, I would recommend maybe getting into the Fate/Stay Night anime, (though butchered compared to the Visual Novel) if only so you can go and watch Fate/Zero afterwards. I honestly think that Kara no Kyoukai is one of the best anime films I've seen in recent memory, if it's not even the best I've ever seen. I can only imagine how good Ghost in the Shell or Akira could have been if they had the budget to release them as several, more complete films.

I don't see the point in giving a score for anime as it's really going to depend on your tolerance for tropes and pacing. All I will say is that Kara no Kyoukai does what it does perfectly. There is very little room for improvement and aside from one small spoiler related aspect at the end, I had no real gripe to speak of. Only watch this show however if you're willing to sit through tons of dialogue and waiting a little while for the character development to kick in. 

The biggest setback I have left for the end. As of now, it's not available to buy in the UK and the US boxset by Aniplex will run you up something like $500 last time I checked. You can rent the films on the US Playstation Network but other than downloading, it's the only legitimate way without spending an absurd sum.

Disposable Nature

Every scene sticks in my mind.

Maybe I'm getting old but I'm starting to notice a trend in the games industry lately. It seems that even though online gaming is at it's biggest ever, the longevity of of those experiences are weakening. I've been thinking about how to kill time until the UK release of the latest Fire Emblem game and I thought back to Chrono Trigger. “Maybe I could go grab some of those endings that I missed” Then I thought about my memories of the game. Mini-games at the millennial fair, punishment based on your subtle and not so subtle actions at the court case, seeing the depressing state of the future, learning how everything ties together. Chrono Trigger really stuck with me and it was just one of many games.

Persona 3 was a great example of game I always like looking back on.

Flash forward to the current generation. I played a few of the earlier Call of Duty games and despite the hate it gets, is actually a solid shooter. The problem is that it has left me with nothing. I don't remember the story much or what I was fighting for, something to do with guns I’m sure. Okay fine, It's an online game...I can dig it. Problem is...I don't remember much about my experiences with the online either. I got stressed more than a few times and I got some cool head shots but I don’t really “remember” them. The next version of Call of Duty made the last mostly obsolete. Call of Duty was a game that you were supposed to dispose of when you were done..

I think this is from Modern Warfare 2?

This is not to say that all games in recent memory have been this way. Some of the most striking games have come from this gen. Bioshock, Journey, Dark Souls, Ni No Kuni. That being said, there is a alarming increase in throw away games and it just kind of makes me sad. I don't want my games to just be time sponges, I want them to be experiences that I really take in. Maybe it's a change in business model, maybe it's changed according to the needs of majority of gamers. Maybe games have always been something to whittle away their free time with.

I dare say there are plenty of throw away games from earlier generations. Fighting games are probably the most guilty offender here. Why own Street Fighter II when Turbo is out? In their defence, this was also a method to perfect the game itself but the end result is the same. Sell Street Fighter II because Turbo is better in every possible way. Most people have learnt their lesson with fighting games (myself excluded) in that it's best to wait for the Hyper Rainbow Super Turbo Remix EX Alpha GOTY edition. It is however harder to draw the line with the next Battlefield or Call of Duty, exactly when you should jump into a new game.

No Super Bars Yet.

Maybe I'm wrong and I missed something, maybe most gamers prefer to move on with their games. As long as there is space enough for both mindsets, I'm fine with it, if it's what people want. It might be too strong a word that the industry is evolving but there is no doubt that it's changing.

Mark of The Ninja Review.

This will be the first time I've played a game by Klei Entertainment. After pretty much skipping Shank and Shank 2 due to the presentation I am starting to regret that choice. Mark of the Ninja is a 2D platformer which mixes some of the best elements from it's peers. This is probably one of the most well designed stealth games next to Metal Gear. 

Level design pretty much follows the tried and tested Metroid style but slims it down to keep the objectives clear and turning the game into a stage based game as opposed to one giant map. This works in the games favour as each little perch, vase or tunnel gives you so many options to proceed.

Like most Metal Gear games, you do not have to kill a single guard to continue the game and this is a big bonus for doing so. However some challenges will be impossible down this route. Metal Gear is easily more well designed in this sense but all the same, it works incredibly well.

Challenges on each mission give an extra layer to stages. They can vary from killing two guards with a single chandelier, or passing through a section undetected. Each of these completed bonus objectives will net you a point to spend on upgrading your ninja. You also can collect through scrolls on each stage which will each also give you a point, and finally your rank can earn you up to three points to spend.

The upgrades you can buy are overall, very good and practical. You can learn new methods of assassination, such as killing while hanging above a target. Or you can learn new combat skills, though more often than not, you will not be fighting toe to toe with an enemy. You can also buy or upgrade your ninja tools. Want smoke bombs to also choke the enemy? (if they do not wear gas-masks) or perhaps you want to drop caltrops behind you while escaping? Better than all of these, you can hide in a cardboard box.

There are also several costumes you can unlock which dramatically change the way you approach a level. One costume will make your footsteps silent but the trade-off is that you forfeit your sword. Another will make assassinations also succeed without a button prompt but you can only take one kind of tool into a mission instead of two. All of these features lend to make the game so free but without sacrificing structure.

The game is reasonably challenging and you will rarely die by accidentally hooking onto a ledge that you did not mean to or screwing up an assassination that was well planned. The game is very clear on the consequences of your actions. When you stop time to throw a dart at a light, it will give you a ring around the target to show the noise you will be creating and weather it'll be within earshot of them. Features like this means that you will rarely do something wrong without a lapse in judgement. As long as you stay in the dark, the field of vision for guards is very low and they have to be within assassination distance to notice you. This makes the stalking around you do, very much like Tenchu but without very tight controls.

The weakest point in the game is easily the story. It's very cliché and serves little purpose but to throw you into your next mission. This is little to complain about as this game was always about the gameplay but you essentially are given the task of stopping an evil mega corporation from making dangerous weapons to stamp out your ninja clan. Other than the story itself, the art and animation is a little sub-par but not really bad for an XBLA game. It very much reminds me of Samurai Jack and various other cartoon network shows of the time. I don't normally mind stuff like Samurai Jack but it does feel a little off this time.

My Score: Stealth games are more often a large battle with the controller than careful planning and execution. Mark of the Ninja does what it's trying to do perfectly. Other than being a little short and the story being a little weak. It would be one of the best games out there. 9/10

The People: I don't see many complaining about the art or story much but perhaps the length of the game will bother some. 8/10

So Long and Thanks for all the Video Games.

Oh Blizzard, what happened? I remember you, back when I was getting into PC games for the first time. I looked around at all the PC games and wondered “Is there anything here that I actually want to buy?” In the corner of my eye I could just about see a twinkle of something great buried in the mess of games. I picked it up to be greeted by a fiery red demon's grill slapped on the front case and a single word. Diablo. Sounds awesome to me. I ended up walking home with the battle chest which included both Diablo 1 and Diablo 2 with lord of destruction expansion. The hours I spent running through dungeons and scanning every piece of equipment I could find with blue text or higher. Just to see if it was that single digit higher in attack power. In retrospect it probably would have been quicker to run through with slightly weaker gear until a new area and it's equipment appeared.

That's not all from Blizzard though. I soon found myself back at the shop with the same Dilemma...What to buy...Plenty of clones of my beloved Diablo...but they were often a far cry from it's Brilliance. Maybe a change of pace is needed...an RTS maybe? I mean I loved Command and Conquer so why not. Did not take long to stumble across the DVD sized case with a huge green orc slapped on the front. “Warcraft III?” but I had not played any other games in the series...I eventually buckled and bought it. I got the same level of quality that I got from Diablo 2 but in the RTS genre...A far more colourful game...Something I welcomed to see on the PC. I loved the game a great deal and managed to work out the basics of what happened in the first two games. An RTS with RPG elements and driven by hero characters...Fantastic I thought. It all fit together well and while I could not get past the undead section of the game. I had fun.

I never did get myself acquainted with some of their other games like Starcraft but I had heard very good things but punishing difficulty as I found out recently. Next to hit big was World of Warcraft...Maybe just the term “hitting it big” is somewhat of an understatement...The game was nothing less than a behemoth. No other online game stood a chance. I was pretty late in getting into WoW and I did not get to a very high level. Just a Paladin in his mid 40s. Either way, I had fun and it did not feel the least bit like a grind to my experience...Alas...All good things must come to an end...WoW is still going and really without signs of evolution I fear it has started to drag other online games into it's pace. Now we have Diablo 3...While not an utterly terrible game, it was a far cry from what fans had come to expect from a sequel to Diablo 2. One day it might be okay...Blizzard may make the game fun or perhaps just make another great game someday...but for now...I think it's safe to say goodbye and thanks for all the memories.

SOPA and PIPA

The Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act are bills that are trying to be passed in the US in the very near future. The goal is to stop online piracy but the bill will always allow those inclinded to go as far as to sue people over hosting images,videos and information online should they wish it. The bill will also allow your ISP to block any website that it feels is a breach of copyright law. ISP's in China already do this. Try searching "Tank Man" in China and you will find nothing. In short. Anyone who is found breaking the copyright law can serve up to five years in prison in America. This will effectively destroy the internet. Want to upload footage to youtube of you playing a game? Tough. Want to upload a cover of a song you just wrote...Also tough. It may seem like something that won't affect the UK for example but you may find that many companies also have branches in the UK and will most likely try to "protect" their IPs. I just wanted to get some awareness out there is all. Click here to see a short video about it.