Movie Monday: Kara no Kyoukai Murder Speculation Part 01

This week for Movie Monday I’m back with the second chapter in the story of Ryougi Shiki. It’s Kara no Kyoukai: Murder Speculation Part 01!

Plot Synopsis: January 1995, Kokutou Mikiya meets Ryougi Shiki for the first time while she’s in a white kimono during a snowing day. Later that year, at the high school freshmen ceremony, Mikiya sees Shiki in the crowd and chases after her, introducing himself to her. That night, Shiki stumbles onto a fresh corpse of someone killed in a traffic accident, the blood still flowing…

Plot: This is not at all like the first movie, Overlooking View, and is much closer to a traditional Murder Mystery series that you’d see on TV. That isn’t to say it’s bad, because it absolutely isn’t and this is a really important part of Shiki’s story, but the backwards leap in the timeline is going to cause some jarring at first. But if you want a bunch of supernatural stuff to go on in this entry of the series, you may be disappointed.

Characters: We get to see Mikiya and Shiki’s first meeting, as well as their first introduction to each other as they both enter high school. We also get to meet Mikiya’s friend Gakuto and his cousin Daisuke. That being said Shiki and Mikiya are the focus of this chapter.

Art: The art is as always excellent given that it’s animated by my favorite and most respected studio ufotable.

Music: Again like the artwork the musical score is excellent given that it’s done by the almost legendary Kajiura Yuki.

Overall: A solid entry in this series. Well worth watching if you enjoyed Overlooking View.

Movie Monday: Kara no Kyoukai Overlooking View

This week for Movie Monday I’m covering the first in a seven part series of movies covering one of the Nasuverse’s greatest stories. It’s Kara no Kyoukai, or the Garden of Sinners, Overlooking View!

Plot Synopsis: September 1998, Mikiya Kokutō brings over some ice cream while visiting Shiki, but Shiki is not happy to see him and says that she does not like ice cream so she decides not to eat it. Later at Garan no Dou, Shiki and Touko discuss the recent spate of unusual suicide incidents where several high school girls fell to their death, but left no suicide note and had apparently no reason to commit suicide. Tōko concludes that the girls did not intend to die. At night, Shiki visits the deserted part of town containing the Fujō buildings which have now fallen into disrepair and are about to be demolished, and while there stumbles upon the body of newest victim….

Plot: This is the first in a series of movies that are an adaptation of a novel by Kinoko Nasu. That being said if you get confused at first, just keep watching. It’ll make sense in the end.

Characters: Shiki is probably one of my favorite female characters of all time, and not just because she’s a badass. However my particular reason is pretty spoilerific and I’ll leave that for you to figure out. Though those who know me might be able guess after watching all the movies. However the entire cast is great, although fairly small for this first movie.

Artwork: This was animated by ufotable, so you should expect amazing visuals. Overlooking View doesn’t disappoint at all in that regard.

Music: The music is also pretty damn amazing, being done by Kajiura Yuki who is a legend in the Anime business.

Overall: Definitely a must watch for those who enjoy any type of mystery series. That being said, it’s not for kids at all.

For those who like: Mystery, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Nasuverse, Action, Drama, Awesome Plot, Fantastic Cast of Characters, Masterwork Animation, Excellent Musical Scores.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Sensate Saturday: Kako to Nise Tantei by Mitsunaga Yasunori

This week for Sensate Saturday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Kako to Nise Tantei by Mitsunaga Yasunori!

Plot Synopsis: Satoru earned a name as a genius boy detective, and the police rely on his reasoning skills. His secret, though, is that he is able to see the ghosts of the dead, and they provide him with the hints that lead him to solving cases.

Plot: The plot is pretty good, especially since while Satoru isn’t a real detective, he’s pretty damn good at acting like one. Honestly it reminds me a bit of Pysch, that USA TV show, except in reverse. Hopefully this series proves to hold my attention more than Psych did.

Characters: Satoru is a snarky individual, which is great. I’ve repeatedly stated that I love snarky characters, mostly because I’m quite the snarky bastard myself. But that’s a story for another day. Kako on the other hand is one creepy girl.

Art: The art is great, but given that this is a Shueisha publication I’m not surprised.

Overall: Giving this my definite go ahead for now, unless later chapters really screw this up, the series should be pretty awesome.

For those who like: Mysteries, Murder Mysteries, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Awesome Plot, Great Cast of Characters, Excellent Art.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Anime Sunday: Mayoiga Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering another new series from the Spring 2016 Season! It’s my Mayoiga Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: A group of 30 young men and women go on a bus tour to Nanaki Village, a shadowy village with an urban legend of being a utopia. Many seek either to start a new life or escape the troubles of their old one. The truth of Nanaki Village has yet to be discovered.

Plot: The plot in this first episode is pretty odd, with plenty of hints popping up that things are definitely not what they seem and that something creepy is going on. I’m pretty hooked despite it being all mysterious, although I’ll probably wait to binge watch the entire series once it’s done as I can’t stand cliffhangers. Definitely looking like this series might be a hidden gem of the season.

Characters: Mitsumune seems to be our male lead, with Masaki being the female lead, however since it’s so early in the series who knows for sure. The rest of the cast is pretty interesting, considering that they all seem to be social misfits for the most part I can definitely identify with them. It’s really way too early to name favorites, but this Speedstar or Hayato character seems to be interesting and he seems to know Mitsumune from before this trip.

Art: Diomedea is the studio who animates this series and they did an awesome job with it thus far. It’s definitely got the creepy factor going and I’m hoping the quality doesn’t drop as the series progresses.

Music: The musical score is awesome, I particularly like the Opening and Ending themes, however that Hippo song was creepy as hell.

Overall: I’m definitely hooked from this first episode, and while I may wait to binge watch it later, I definitely wont be forgetting about this series.

For those who like: Mystery, Suspense, Tragedy?, Drama, Excellent Cast of Characters, Fantastic Artwork, Amazing Musical Score.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.