User reviews

The fifth part in a film series called Kara no Kyoukai or The Garden of Sinners is definitely the most shining example what this medium has to offer. With the films oppressive tone and intriguing themes. It manages to capture lighting in a bottle with a feeling like you are trapped in some kind of a spiral when watching this film.

This work of art will stay with you after you've watched it.

Set in November of 1998 a young man, Tomoe Enjou, is convinced that he has killed his parents; a burglar who later enters their apartment finds the bodies and reports the crime to the police; strangely when they go around they find the couple alive and well. Tomoe meets Shiki who invites him to stay in her flat despite him telling her what he did. After staying with her for some time they return to the apartment block where he lived and she realises that there is something very strange about the building. In a second plot arc, Toko learns of the murder case from a friend on the police force and asks Mikiya to investigate. This leads him to start looking at the apartment building and its strange design. Before the case is solved our protagonists will have to face dangerous foes and solve the mystery of the building.

I've enjoyed the previous instalments in this film series but this is probably my favourite so far. The set-up is impressive with interesting questions being raised. As the story progresses more questions are raised and just as Shiki's plot arc reaches a crescendo we switch to Mikiya's arc. This answers some questions and raises others leading to the final arc where the sense of danger increases for our protagonists and we get some interesting twists which I hadn't seen coming. As one would expect everything looks great with moments of stunningly kinetic action. It must be noted that it is quite gory at times; to a degree that might disturb some viewers. Overall I'd say this is a great addition to the 'Garden of Sinners' film series; I'm sure the vast majority of fans will love this one.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

The amount of creativity and atmosphere in this movie are amazing and the story of this mysterious apartment complex is just the kind of thing that makes me love The Garden or Sinners more!

Big recommendation for anyone who likes mysterious mind wrecking settings, whoever if you are to watch this you must first watch the movies that comes before so you have a better understanding of the characters and world setting of this one.