The Light Novels & The Films - The Differences
The main difference between the mediums is really not as much in the plot, as in the way it's fundamentally told as a story, though it's mutated a little bit in the films, the original story is still very much intact. Asides from the cutting you might expect from any given film adaptation or the like, being in the film medium, each & every director opts to show, don't tell - & in that as you might already have realized this is how the films mainly differ from the novels, and no that's not necessarily a bad thing. You see the first novel in particular is loaded with expository dialogue & it's an terrible, absolutely agonizing read, in fact even Kinoko Nasu himself feels embarrassed of his earlier on work Kara No Kyoukai, going so far as to requesting to actually rewriting it for the film adaptation-
The main difference between the mediums is really not as much in the plot, as in the way it's fundamentally told as a story, though it's mutated a little bit in the films, the original story is still very much intact. Asides from the cutting you might expect from any given film adaptation or the like, being in the film medium, each & every director opts to show, don't tell - & in that as you might already have realized this is how the films mainly differ from the novels, and no that's not necessarily a bad thing. You see the first novel in particular is loaded with expository dialogue & it's an terrible, absolutely agonizing read, in fact even Kinoko Nasu himself feels embarrassed of his earlier on work Kara No Kyoukai, going so far as to requesting to actually rewriting it for the film adaptation-"In Kara no Kyoukai, the first story, "Overlooking View" (俯瞰風景) is the clumsiest. I've always thought I wanted to do something about it, and I told a staff member, "If we're making this into a movie, I'm going to rewrite the first story; please let me do that." But he said, enthusiastically, "No, I want to work with it the way it is. I want to animate this!"
Then, when I read the finished script, they'd cut out over half of the unnecessary excess fat and had turned out something more interesting as a story, so I thought, "If it's like this, they don't need me to rewrite it." Kinoko Nasu [Akiba Blog September 2007]
After suffering & literally cussing at my copy of the novel I seriously considering dropping the entire thing right there and then, remembering myself saying "like Oh My Goodness this is Bad, like Really really bad". However I decided to continue on reluctantly and was pleasantly surprised at the complete 180 degree turn for the better that the second novel, the first part of "A Study in Murder" had to offer. With such good source material to work off of, you can tell exactly why the second novel translated so beautifully well with Takuya Nonaka's direction at the helm. This time around, whatever happened between the period from the first & second novel, it sure as hell did wonders to turn the series completely around from a God Awful start. This time around, Kinoko Nasu was far more keen and aware on what perspective to write from, instead of drifting into the monologue of extremely undeveloped characters and composition of events.
Expository elements in the story however didn't completely vanish, as the story was still told in a relatively biased, and subjective manner, which was of course was much better balanced between the subjective & objective storytelling. In that, Kinoko Nasu's novels still have quite a bit more exposition & monologue, however the Ufotable's team of directors really took the opposite approach to make Kara No Kyoukai in far more cinematic, in the sense that thanks to the text book example's of the continuity style, really cut down on on a large majority of inner character dialogue & soliloquy. So while the novels had a more poetic flow & prose with Kinoko Nasu's reinvigorated writing, the films are far drier and have quite a bit more space, as the films have a particular disquiet and silence about them, that makes them a little magical in their own way.
In that much of Kinoko Nasu's dialogue would often be written from the perspective of a given person, so we'd quite often be privy to a character's inner thoughts - As so much of it is written from an omniscient perspective that was interchangeably privy to one or more given characters inner dialogue. As such, characters such as Mikiya were were quite a bit more impressionable thanks to the subjective writing. In that he's quite a bit less complex of a character and far more simplistic in the films, both in good and bad ways. This is particularly true with a character such as Shiki, because as we see in the films, she's often deep in her own thoughts with a sour look on her face, while making pessimistically short rebuttals to Mikiya or Tōko's remarks. As the rest of what she's actually thinking is omitted, leaving the rest up to our imagination & personal insight. However in the novels, we actually get to hear what she's actually thinking, and since they're her own private thoughts, they're often endearing and awfully, awfully cute - For a character who put's up such a strong front, she's really just a ball of mush and Tsundere. However though, the films are far more sparse, in that you really have to read in-between the lines to get a good grasp on this, as much of her internal dialogue is almost entirely omitted, thanks to the emphasis on diegetic continuity and on show don't tell if you will.How It Translates To Film -
The novels lack quite a bit of the surprise you'd get form watching the films, because Ufotable's team of directors as well as their screenplay writer Masaki Hiramatsu, was far more subtle in alluding to such details in an obviously more subtle visually oriented manner. However in terms changes within the actual text there are definitely a few, particularly in the first film "Overlooking View" & for the better, like much better, as so much of the wasted excess rambling was removed and some events we're reorganized and a new part written in to gel it all together (Abandoned Apartments Scene). The 3rd and 4th film received minor changes, relatively having to do a lot with aforementioned storytelling technique and dialogue, as the 4th film in particular does Shiki's dream sequences in an obviously far more visual oriented manner, rather than Shiki herself describing the experience in a poetic fashion. Asides from the 1st film, Paradox spiral also received pretty drastic changes, not really in the literal subject matter, though again in the way it was told.
For example, Takayuki Hirao went great lengths to alter the temporal flow of the film, when showcasing events later on in the film, making the experience neurotic & more psychedelic, quite fitting of the metaphysical and paradoxical ideas thrown around in the film, particularly having the duality of the Ryogi (Yin & Yang) & given characters in the film. As Takayuki Hirao slowly lulls our minds to sleep to manipulate us with emphasis on repetition, temporal compression, and rearrangement to make the story seem disarray, though in a brilliant way, with use of time lapses & jump/match cuts. The main thing here is that Takayuki brilliantly plays with the perspective of the ongoing film, as it shifts from a relatively objectively shot film, to a psychedelic manipulation of the mind - Whereas the novel is completely linear, and as a result is not as unpredictable and shocking when perennial revelations take place, as the film is constantly trying to manipulate the viewer, to falsely breed familiarity through repetition and as a result comfort and safety.
This is not the only difference however, as a part in particular regarding Touko was rewritten, & it was such a rare series of events and an occasion, that I thought it be important to bring up. Though for the sake of preserving the details and not spoiling anything, lets just say that Touko is put in a unprecedented situation where we're, for the first time privy to Touko dropping her usual act, and opening up a little about herself, being quite a bit more vulnrable - Though I can clearly see why they cut it, being that the film was almost 2 hours long & had immense growing pains with Takayuki's ambitious creative ambition to do a creative adaptation, instead of a completely faithful one, while not entirely perfect or written all that well, this small segment within the story was really the only time where we actually get to see Touko open up a little in a relatively vulnerable state, something we never get to see for the rest before and afterwords within the films or novels - Good or not, it was a pretty critical moment they cut and sort of rewritten for the films screenplay. The Problem Here -
The film adaptation I feel probably the most upset about by far in how the novels translated into film, was the 6th film Oblivion Recording. You see so much of the film was rewritten, cut and salvaged with pre-existing events and dialogue, into a neat little 1 hour package, which instead should have unraveled within the span of at least an hour and 45 minutes. The light novels however had far more subject matter and material, also written in a fashion that tackled far more extreme subject matter, that introduced so much more complexity to the story. In that Kinoko Nasu's original story was far more clever behind the reasoning of why the girls of Hideyo Hiyama's class's atmosphere was so secretive & strained, after the death of Kaori Tachibana's, being far less whimsical, and having far more emotional context and foul motivation behind the class's collective action and silence as a group, introducing aspects such as bullying regarding the mob mentality, rather than have the reason of that being because their memories were "Spirited Away" to "save face" if you will. It played out far more like a traditional mystery in a murder investigation with scattered components & multiple possibilities of the actual motivation behind the murder and the culprit responsible. Being much better in tackling how and why people's memories where being spirited away after the fact. Being that Touko & others suspected that the two incidences might actually be related.
What's more so much contextual information regarding the backstory of Satsuki Kurogiri & Misaya Ōji was cut, thanks to the rewritten plot & over arching narrative. Making Kurogiri's motivations in particular entirely vague & facile, in that the light novels give so much subject matter & material regarding the emotional context & nuance of his character, having far more contextual information regarding his past as a character, which was entirely ransacked from the films - Not to mention we're left entirely left out to dry, with no clear resolution as to what happened to him, and how his story ends, which was especially important, which was entirely cut from the film. What's more Shiki & Tōko's part in the matter is greatly diminished as a result, thanks to the rewritten script. In that his involvement with Shiki and his original motivations for being interested in her are pretty much entirely gone, being that since they cut his backstory entirely, the reason for his scheming and why he was originally trying to help Shiki has pretty much become non existent as well, asides from the completely whimsical excuse we were left with that's in both the novel & the films, only that in the films, it was backed up by Satsuki Kurogiri's personal motivations as a character as well.
This was particularly important in the novel being that it seriously impacted the next novel and gave far more reason for Shiki in the next film to search for and finally end the mystery behind the murders 4 years ago, being that in the novels she finally gets her memory back, thanks to Satsuki Kurogiri rendering her unconscious and forcing her to remember. Bridging the gap between the two films, and being feeling far less of a waste of time or filler material. In that, pretty much a good 60 % of the story was rewritten, salvaging pre-existing elements, as Touko & Mikiya's involvement regarding knowing and investigating who Satsuki Kurogiri is, was also entirely cut, as the correlation between Touko shocked at finally figuring out who he was, allowed for her to give additional context on his motivations, who he is, and why he's particularly quite dangerous. If you're wondering why so much slashed and burned, in all likelihood it's because how much growing pains, delays and internal conflict the 5th film caused. As a result of the brilliance of the 2 hour film and labour pains regarding production methods, essentially led to what I believe to be a burnout, and a critical lack of time & resources spent on the last film. 
In that while the light novel "Records in Oblivion: Fairy Tale" was originally told a quite a bit more of a complex story, with emotional context that was fleshed out, in addition to more extreme subject matter, it was relegated to be quite honest, to a short & neat 1 hour film, rewritten to include far more fantastical fights, and as a result far more gluttonous post visual effects, without the proper subject material & emotional context with the layered complexity of it's characters and how they correlate to the mystery behind the events that transpired to actually back it up. The story that was told, could be done in far less time, with far less dialogue, and with far more post production visual extravaganza's regarding the fight scenes - In that when you take away said components, it really is a weak story, with the fanbase of the Kara no Kyoukai who otherwise feel completely indifferent to the 6th film as it served little purpose to bridge the gap between the 6th and final film, feeling more like a breather, which is completely overshadowed by it's light novel counterpart.
The 7th film, the final climatic point of the series was relatively in tact however, despite the 6th getting entirely revamped. Asides from a few moderate changes, the main issue here is that with the Shiki in the films, it isn't really clear on whether or not she had regained her memories or not (I don't think she did), whereas the novels this is made readily apparent, & is a primary factor in affecting her decision in seeking out who exactly was responsible for the serial killings 4 years ago, where in the films she disappears on her own, right when the serial killings reminiscent of the past start springing up again. I suspect this was changed being that, the films readily bring Shiki into the fold regarding the possibility of her being a suspect as well, being that since her motivations aren't made as clear in the films, the line between her perceived innocence & guilt is completely blurred, & in this regard it makes for a especially better mystery, in that Kokuto's role in believing her innocence is also put in jeopardy, as the matter is quite a bit more urgent in the films. As a result, quite a bit of Shiki's take on the matter is omitted, to preserve such details that would otherwise give it away.
- 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
