A Little History Overlook - Production Aspects
The original plan for Kara No Kyoukai's adaptation was for it to be scheduled in a way that the films would air every month for seven consecutive months so it'd almost air just like a T.v series though with more time in between & in relatively larger blocks -
"....If these were going to be coming out one every six months, I would absolutely have stopped them, but fortunately, they're slated to be put out one every month for about seven months..." [Akiba Blog September 2007] - Kinoko Nasu
The original plan for Kara No Kyoukai's adaptation was for it to be scheduled in a way that the films would air every month for seven consecutive months so it'd almost air just like a T.v series though with more time in between & in relatively larger blocks -"....If these were going to be coming out one every six months, I would absolutely have stopped them, but fortunately, they're slated to be put out one every month for about seven months..." [Akiba Blog September 2007] - Kinoko Nasu
Of course as you may have already realized that plan very quickly dissolved just after the third chapter within the series aired in february of 2008 as the stretches between films just got longer and longer as each film was released. Initially to combat this, 7 different directors were commissioned to divide the labour into different parts, making each of the individual films have their own unique individual flair, as well as inconsistencies between the calibre of the collective group - Below you'll find a catalogue of links separately reviewing each film's more unique components, such as the cinematography, art direction and soundtrack, things that set the films apart from one another. The directors responsible for the following were:
Takuya Nonaka - 2 Murder Speculation [Part 1]
Mitsuru Obunai - 3 Remaining Sense Of Pain
Teiichi Takaguchi - 4 The Hollow
Takayuki Hirao - 5 Paradox Spiral
Takahiro Miura - 6 Oblivion Recording
Shinsuke Takizawa - 7 Murder Speculation [Part 2]
[A pen name/pseudonym for all of the prior directors involved with Kara No Kyoukai in addition to Ufotable president Hikaru Kondo]
Hikaru Kondo - 8 Epilogue
Tomonori Suduo - 9 The Future Gospel
- The following sections above will cover each film by it's director and their teams influences on each corresponding film. Full disclosure, it'll be a long process so if you're here for a more brief overview, I suggest skipping this anthology of individual analysis of each of the films. As such the screenshots for each review will only be that of the given film at hand.
Production Chaos - Ufotable's Ambition
Mitsuru Obunai - 3 Remaining Sense Of Pain
Teiichi Takaguchi - 4 The Hollow
Takayuki Hirao - 5 Paradox Spiral
Takahiro Miura - 6 Oblivion Recording
Shinsuke Takizawa - 7 Murder Speculation [Part 2]
[A pen name/pseudonym for all of the prior directors involved with Kara No Kyoukai in addition to Ufotable president Hikaru Kondo]
Hikaru Kondo - 8 Epilogue
Tomonori Suduo - 9 The Future Gospel
- The following sections above will cover each film by it's director and their teams influences on each corresponding film. Full disclosure, it'll be a long process so if you're here for a more brief overview, I suggest skipping this anthology of individual analysis of each of the films. As such the screenshots for each review will only be that of the given film at hand.
Production Chaos - Ufotable's Ambition
Ufotable's plan for Kara No Kyoukai was monstrously ambitious and completely off the wall in that something such as a 7 consecutive movie release has really never been done before prior to Sinners hitting the scene, as the scheduling combined with creating a visual IPO from scratch (being that Kara no Kyoukai comes from light novels) seemed to be downright suicide for a relatively inexperienced staff that strived to become an independent studio like Kyo Ani & strive to do everything in house.It's particularly with later entries within the franchise where production had the most growing pains, particularly on the 5th film - Paradox Spiral. As both his creative direction regarding the non linear flow of time & the sheer length of the story created immense internal struggles and disagreements.
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| Takayuki Hirao [Vth Film Director] |
"I wanted to do things differently whenever I could, from the script to the compositing. Doing that, demanding this specific kind of image, meant conflict at every single phase of the production.......That started with the script, but it extended to compositing and editing, and every other section. I had to fight every step of the way." - Takayuki Hirao - [Kodansha Story Board Collection For Paradox Spiral October 20th 2008]
It was an utterly insane undertaking as rendering composites & the post production heavy emphasis on visuals was monstrous & never done before, in that Kara No Kyoukai was supposed to house production quality at the film tier of animation - So standards were high & production in all phases was a living nightmare. However surprisingly Kara No Kyoukai's animation actually holds up & while not exactly utterly amazing for it's time, having seen Akio Watanabe & Yukiko Horiguchi's designs on Bakemonogatari & K On a year or so later, what actually bothers me is the calibre of directors that they actually brought on board. In that cinematography & film grammar for a film tier production was not always up to par, though more on that later.
The compelling this is, is that Kara No Kyoukai was only the beginning of Type Moon's & Ufotable's relationship, as Kara No Kyoukai served as the prototype for other alternate universe stories such as Tsukihime & Fate/Stay Night, the later two being a byproduct of Kara No Kyoukai's prominent themes and lore - Such as preserving the idea's such as Mage craft, souls & the Mystic eyes. Though the similarities don't just stop there however as Fate/Stay Night in particular also carries over more or less the same or at least very similar character IPO's from the Kara No Kyoukai.
".... Kara no Kyoukai is being drawn from scratch. Since there aren't any visuals that the animators have to stick to, they have more freedom where that's concerned, but there are "labor pains" involved in making something from nothing. Both types of hurdles are high ones, but I think the one involved in drawing Kara no Kyoukai will, due to its unique characteristics, bring a fresher surprise to the viewers when they watch it." - [Akiba Blog September 2007] - Kinoko Nasu
Bluray's Just Dvd Upscales? | Background Art Production Aspects
Studio Easter's backgrounds (Kusanagi for Remaining Sense of Pain) were rendered pretty well for backgrounds that entirely consisted of digipainted backgrounds, as throughout the films, it's really apparent that the backdrops for these films were rendered with a fine amount of micro detail, colour pigmentation and texture. As I suspect some real life references we're used when designing and depicting the architecture and layouts for the scenes. However, although the film has a fair amount of scene's that rendered quite well, for what I expected for Digipainted backgrounds regarding dynamic range of lighting was quite disappointing throughout the films. As there is an awful amount of noise, grain & even aliasing in the composites, and although I understand some of this was intentional to mimic the grain of film, as Takayuki Hirao in particular cites his deliberate use of it in a translated interview -"And with the fifth movie, I wanted to give it more of a film-like feeling. The first four movies didn’t have any film grain, but on this one we added it in with AfterEffects" - Takayuki Hirao [Kodansha Story Board Collection For Paradox Spiral October 20th 2008]
I digress because the film's relatively lacklustre dynamic range regarding lighting, makes the film seem a little dated, despite having inherently beautiful blue prints to work upon. In an interview published by ANN (Anime News Network) with Ufotable president Hikaru Kondo & Atsuhiro Iwakami, the two of them we're asked about the controversy concerning Kara No Kyoukai being played in theatre's with a PS3, to which Iwakami later on admitted and explained, and shortly afterword were also questioned about another controversy regarding fans seemingly unhappy with Blu ray copies that many suspected were actually just repackaged DVD upscales, as they never seemed to deny it -"ANN: There have also been some complaints from fans who felt the Blu-ray release looked more like an upscale than true high-definition.
Atsuhiro Iwakami: There isn't a big difference between the version shown at theaters and the version in the [physical] release, although some parts were cut." - Atsuhiro Iwakami [AnimeNewsNetwork Febuary 25th 2011]
As I too suspect that my copies of the Blurays are also simply upscales that I payed quite a hefty price for. Further more, while not horrible or awful by any means, these copies truly degrades the films visuals, as the film's lighting & colour compositions consisted of countlessly stark and darkly lit settings and with finite micro textures and detail that we're simply not given justice even on the Blurays, which is sadly the closest we'll ever be able to get. As the lack of sharpness, dynamic range and resolution is distracting & off putting for what seemingly was supposed to be the most premium and uncompromising home video experience, degrading the countless artist's efforts involved with Kara No Kyoukai, degrading from the uncompromising standard they originally had intended, and we fans had payed for.
In my eyes, Ufotables strength here on these films really lies a bit elsewhere, as the character animation & character design across the original series really is only fairly decent for what the time had to offer. You see the principle character designs done by the likes of Tomonori Suduo for the main character designs (Ie. Tōko, Shiki & Kokuto), in addition to Takuro Takahashi on films 1-2 & 5, Mitsuru Obunai on the 3rd, Teichii Takaguchi & Atsushi Ogasawara on the 4th were indeed a step up from the original character designs done by Takashi Takeuchi, being impressive for a relatively inexperienced studio. However I can't ignore some of the inconsistencies and quality issues you might find here and there, such as models being off proportion an such, in addition to the quality of the rendering regarding issues with aliasing, high noise and poor dynamic range.
Not only that but the designs themselves look quite busy and complicated in an odd way to draw, as you can tell in this awkward and slightly clunky way how inefficient to draw they somewhat are, as the complexity of their designs aren't enamouring nor humanizing, but a little artificial so to speak.
If that sounds a little confusing, just compare the principle character animation from other film tier animations - We have the likes of everything Ghibli from Spirited away to Princess Mononoke, or perhaps the Satoshi Kon Madhouse era, from everything from Paprika to Perfect Blue, or even the likes of Ghost in the Shell (1995) to Akira, when comparing I simply just can't be all that impressed with the principle design across the board. Regardless of how strenuous & completely crazy a consecutive 7 film series release is to produce.
For something that supposedly is a film (with the benefit of more lax deadlines & a larger budget) , the standard of quality and limitation of the designs are painfully obvious for this kind of production, let alone we can even look towards perennial works such as Cowboy Bebop, 3 years prior at Samuria Champloo or even it's contemporaries for better fundamental designs, that are willing to push the boundaries a little more. As I find the in between animation & the frame by frame consistency was not as snappy as it should be, though I do acknowledge there never was any key fundamental breakdowns within the animation department, it's almost as if the most fundamental principle character animation and design was hidden by Team Ufotable's Digital Team's dazzling composites and digital lighting effects
Where Ufotable shine's however is in it's post production, as Kara No Kyoukai led by directors of photography such as Yuichi Terao & Seiji Matsuda leave a beautiful mark on these films as their works in applying lighting effects and such in Adobe After Effects led to some brilliant fighting spectacles, and fantastical lighting situations we've yet to see in an animation thus far, as the sense of visual depth and spatiality is really quite a visually immersive phenomena in this animation thanks to the advanced After Effects lighting techniques used to sell the shot. As the Ufotable's 3D CG led by Shintaro Nakamura also allowed far more drastic camera maneuvering as quite a few high action scene's within the film such as the last battle in Paradox Spiral & the rooftop scene in Overlooking view had 3D CG backgrounds, allowing for far more camera maneuvering and daring character animations, as Kara No Kyoukai truly is a fantastic visual spectacle and a series of film productions that truly pushed the boundaries of what digital animation solutions had to offer in the industry - In that nowadays, we're almost spoiled by the magnificent colours, hues and effects that we're previously impossible some 12-15 years ago.
However, Yuichi Terao's work is quite far reaching and complex in establishing the cinematic look of the Kara No Kyoukia's many environments and surroundings and such. Asides from quality issues and the principle character designs, Team Ufotable for the time here achieves some breathtakingly photorealistic work here, as Yuichi pretty much has it down to a science in how to specifically depict the angles of lighting, the direction of the wind and rain droplets, or perhaps the reflective quality of a given surface, anything having to do with the small and contextual environmental details within a shot to suspend the viewers disbelief or to convey a particular message. As I find his job on photography here is something of a mix between lighting staff, set designer, and shot composer, as I do imagine the kinds of suggestions he would make regarding the angle, composition of the shot to stage/depict given subjects within a scene a certain way, as the film has so much composite layers in addition to photography related effects such as adding film grain & slight vignette masks, even down to the complex usage of certain lenses to capture a particular quality or aspect of the shot.
A Visual IPO update - The Funny thing is..
Animation & Photography Direction
In my eyes, Ufotables strength here on these films really lies a bit elsewhere, as the character animation & character design across the original series really is only fairly decent for what the time had to offer. You see the principle character designs done by the likes of Tomonori Suduo for the main character designs (Ie. Tōko, Shiki & Kokuto), in addition to Takuro Takahashi on films 1-2 & 5, Mitsuru Obunai on the 3rd, Teichii Takaguchi & Atsushi Ogasawara on the 4th were indeed a step up from the original character designs done by Takashi Takeuchi, being impressive for a relatively inexperienced studio. However I can't ignore some of the inconsistencies and quality issues you might find here and there, such as models being off proportion an such, in addition to the quality of the rendering regarding issues with aliasing, high noise and poor dynamic range. |
| Takashi Takeuchi [Character Designer] |
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| Takuro Takahashi [Character Designer] |
If that sounds a little confusing, just compare the principle character animation from other film tier animations - We have the likes of everything Ghibli from Spirited away to Princess Mononoke, or perhaps the Satoshi Kon Madhouse era, from everything from Paprika to Perfect Blue, or even the likes of Ghost in the Shell (1995) to Akira, when comparing I simply just can't be all that impressed with the principle design across the board. Regardless of how strenuous & completely crazy a consecutive 7 film series release is to produce.
For something that supposedly is a film (with the benefit of more lax deadlines & a larger budget) , the standard of quality and limitation of the designs are painfully obvious for this kind of production, let alone we can even look towards perennial works such as Cowboy Bebop, 3 years prior at Samuria Champloo or even it's contemporaries for better fundamental designs, that are willing to push the boundaries a little more. As I find the in between animation & the frame by frame consistency was not as snappy as it should be, though I do acknowledge there never was any key fundamental breakdowns within the animation department, it's almost as if the most fundamental principle character animation and design was hidden by Team Ufotable's Digital Team's dazzling composites and digital lighting effects
Where Ufotable shine's however is in it's post production, as Kara No Kyoukai led by directors of photography such as Yuichi Terao & Seiji Matsuda leave a beautiful mark on these films as their works in applying lighting effects and such in Adobe After Effects led to some brilliant fighting spectacles, and fantastical lighting situations we've yet to see in an animation thus far, as the sense of visual depth and spatiality is really quite a visually immersive phenomena in this animation thanks to the advanced After Effects lighting techniques used to sell the shot. As the Ufotable's 3D CG led by Shintaro Nakamura also allowed far more drastic camera maneuvering as quite a few high action scene's within the film such as the last battle in Paradox Spiral & the rooftop scene in Overlooking view had 3D CG backgrounds, allowing for far more camera maneuvering and daring character animations, as Kara No Kyoukai truly is a fantastic visual spectacle and a series of film productions that truly pushed the boundaries of what digital animation solutions had to offer in the industry - In that nowadays, we're almost spoiled by the magnificent colours, hues and effects that we're previously impossible some 12-15 years ago.
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| Yuichi Terao [Director of Photography] |
"There is a director of photography at ufotable by the name of Terao. He has worked on many ufotabletitles, and I think his style has very much become the signature style of the studio today." Ei Aoki [ANN Oct 29th 2016]
A Visual IPO update - The Funny thing is..
That alongside Kinoko Nasu's sudden update to reinvigorate the Kara No Kyoukai series one last time with Future Gospel, came of course a film production as well. And as you imagine being around 5 years later when the film series ended in 2008 with the second half of Murder Speculation and two years from the Epilogue short film, the studio had further developed and improved for the better. As team Ufotable now had far more experience in developing it's in house talent and craft with series such as Fate/Zero. This also brought on very welcomed character model updates, and a far more resolving true HD experience that the Bluray's now truly encompassed, a duo of film's that are truly a step up visually that separates itself from previous Kara No Kyoukai films, as not only the principle character design and animation are fundamentally different, the quality of the scenery and background composites are wonderfully rendered with the kind of clarity and sharpness you'd need to display dynamic lighting, fine gradients & colour pigmentation.
In that Tomonori Suduo & Shunya Kikuchi slightly altered the character animation and designs to be more efficient and less busy on the eyes, introducing far more clean and efficient outlines with more negative space, whilst preserving the charm & integrity that the originals had.
Page 3
Article Contents - Comments Section
- Plot & Narrative Aspects [Release vs Chronological Order | Character Analyses]
- The Light Novels & The Films [The Differences | How It Translates To Film]
- Production Aspects [A Little History Overlook | Bluray's Just Dvd Upscales? | Animation & Photography]
- Voice Actor Cast & Choreography
- Addendum
3rd Page will contain individual links for production analysis on each individual film
