Kara no Kyoukai: Satsuiji Kohatsu (part 1)
The more I watch of this series the more I fall in love with the way it’s all put together. I daresay the sedate pacing and idiosyncratic dialogue won’t be to everyone’s taste but personally I’m finding myself more and more in my element; “Where were you all my life?” springs to mind. Thanks for answering my “Where’s the love?” question so well though, guys. ^_^ It’s reassuring to know that these films are getting more attention than I initially thought.
Like its predecessor Kara no Kyoukai: Satsujin Kohatsu expects patience and open-mindedness from the viewer but in return I was rewarded with a viewing experience that is more mature than either of the other Nasu/Takeuchi animated adaptations; I was once again left speechless at the marriage of visuals and music but the storytelling goes further into the characters’ heads, and is all the more satisfying for that. There are plenty of supernatural thrillers around these days but it’s not often that it’s handled in this way: namely portraying events from the point of view of the supposed killer as well as those caught up in the investigations that ensue.
The second instalment of Kara no Kyoukai also feels more like a component part of a larger whole than the first one did. I’m not quite sure why it jumps back in time like this but the healthy dose of character background is most welcome: rather than being thrown headlong into a day in the life of the characters it traces the friendship between Shiki and Mikiya back to their first meeting. It also leaves more loose ends open than Fuukan Fukei did but on the plus side I got a better grasp of the human element.
In any other situation I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying a story involving serial killings and copious quantities of blood spillage could ever be sweet and moving, but this one certainly was. One criticism I could level at Satsujin Kousatsu however is the fact that Mikiya stubbornly refuses to believe that Shiki could be in any way responsible for the spate of murders: the evidence is against her and he doesn’t know her too well either. Is he trying to convince himself or am I just jumping to the conclusion that he’s a Dense Anime Male LeadTM?
Takeuchi’s all-iris-no-pupil technique on the eyes again creates a sense of heightened femininity and all-out creepiness simultaneously
You could take this film to be a cautionary tale about how your best friend could end up holding a knife to your throat if you don’t keep your wits about you but in the Nasuverse there’s more to such things than that. I guess you have to exercise a suspension of disbelief to a certain degree, not to mention the fact that the seventh instalment will allegedly wrap up this particular story arc, but if you let yourself be immersed in its worldview without any reservations or cynical piss-taking you will I’m sure be able to appreciate its numerous merits.
I guess that’s half the reason why I’m so enamoured by Kara no Kyoukai: you don’t so much watch as feel every movement, nuance or camera pan. In the first film I was torn between shock and ironic laughter as a dog walks through a pool of blood surrounding a fallen corpse, oblivious to the dead human being as it leaves a trail of blood-stained footprints behind it. In this feature we see a kimono-clad Shiki kneeling down and dipping her hands in the pool of blood collecting under a (her?) murder victim and smearing the vivid crimson on her lips with a mixture of sadistic enjoyment and childlike fascination.
This film not only portrays murder in a stylised way but it also makes a violent, sudden and tragic premature demise seem somehow beautiful and poetic. It’s not showing serial killings merely in the conventional way – as wastes of life that should be feared and condemned on one hand and be made subject of public discussion and a boost to newspaper sales on the other – but as a part of the world itself, as almost-natural occurrences. First and foremost it’s showing these incidents as milestones in the Shiki/Mikiya relationship, often glossing over the newsflashes and panic that result.
There’s a wonderful juxtaposition between the shocking and brutal moments of gory violence, which would look gratuitous and exploitative were they not presented in such an artsy fashion, and that of a bond developing between the two leads. Shiki’s dichotomy was fascinating, not least because it takes the split personality thing further than the usual tsundere plot device into the territory where two personalities are literally competing for dominance. It makes me wonder who the ‘real’ Shiki is, which I think is precisely the point that is being made here…illustrated with two cat plushies too. Nice touch.
In all seriousness though, it effectively sets up the story as a whole as a tale of Shiki looking for her true internal identity, and how this may affect her relationship with Mikiya. Somewhat related to my earlier niggle is how I found his character background to be a bit wanting in comparison with Shiki’s: he’s a decent enough kid but his motives for standing by her didn’t convince me so his resolve came across as aimless, which I’m sure was the opposite of what was intended. It’s still early days yet of course so I daresay we’ll learn more about him in later outings.
Above all else it’s the fact that Satsujin Kohatsu is treated more seriously than many anime shows that makes it special from my point of view. I’d say it’s handled in a manner closer to Tsukihime than Fate/Stay Night, albeit staying closer to the source material than the former (according to fan reactions so far) and painting events in a more serious and less action-packed light than the latter. When anime is directed in this way, like a live-action movie, it’s one of those moments where I see the distinction between ‘animation’ and ‘cartoon’ – a rare treat, even having sat through as much as I have in recent years.
Does anyone else see some significance of the drinking fountain taps? I thought the fact that two point in a different direction was symbolic of something. Thoughts?
There are extended moments of dialogue or contemplative silence that are devoid of action; moments that, rather than feeling like budget-saving measures stalling for time, are instead moments of reflection that add to the mood of the piece rather than detract from it. It’s more in the style of Oshii, Shinkai or Kon in that sense – a truly cinematic piece that’s a cut above the type of supernatural thriller, or anime in general, that I initially expected it to be. Kara no Kyoukai delivers once again.
