Garden of Sinners Simulwatch.

After our recent Shiki watch @Geriatric hedgehog I was going to add that Shiki is a bit of an okiagari isn't she?
Heheh true dat, and on that I have another timely non-anime show to mention back that thread.
This movie features possibly the most despicable example of senpai/kouhai culture I've ever seen, where Kokutou harbours his junior, a confessed and unrepentent serial rapist, not only from the sadistic avenger but seemingly from the law too
Ah, I didn't realise this was a thing as such but would probably fit under its myriad universal guises such as the American fraternity system and our own Old boy's club coming to mind...
It's a glaring plot hole that we never find out what became of Keita in the end; was he even arrested?
If justice were to be done then his member should have had the twist treatment and found it's way into his rectum...
That early rape scene was quite hard-watching I thought, these people were just there taking advantage of this poor girl and using her like a doll. not a human.

I agree with @Dai that crew deserved no sympathy at all, not a single one of them tried to stop any of the proceedings. All scum to me!
It was pretty horrendous and heartbreaking to watch pondlife wanting to get pleasure by inflicting such cruelty on a fellow human being, whom they don't even acknowledge as such. A quick death is probably a kindness for them...
Really enjoyed this one. Seeing the team form, filling the gap between 2nd film and the others, seeing Shiki actually show real vulnerability; it's all good stuff.
Again I really liked the use of the time-jumping and felt going back to their origin story was done really well with this one and it's placement. Agree on the ethereal scenes with Shiki and if I'm not mistaken they're tied to a significant lore aspect with most, if not all, things Nasuverse!
Aside from that, Shiki fights a zombie, and that's about it.
Don't forget the most important post-credits scene that gives us the next longest scene so far with Rio!
This was a very Shiki focused episode, with puppy-kun not making much of an appearance.
Hahaha loving that one! As @WMD mentioned, it's stronger for it heh.
it was either random chance which one didn't survive or SHIKI sacrificed himself.
I read it that way too, but additionally I also felt it was an obligatory, unwarranted exchange in those circumstances for the mystic eyes ability.


Haven't had a chance to keep up as I'd planned with the simulwatch but regardless very much looking forward to the next one.

The third movie, as has been stated, was pretty harrowing and tragic. Fujino I believe like Shiki hailing from an important family and having supernatural abilities that said family are aware of. So far from what we've been shown, Shiki supplanted her brother as heir due to having inherited the right quality, though at the time this would either have been her possession of two individual personalities, or her murderous tendencies perhaps??, as the mystic eyes didn't come until later. Fujino on the other hand, if I understand correctly, had her desensitivity to pain as well as having the twist ability. I was wondering if the latter was introduced by the mystery man in the fourth movies post-credits scene. However, I think that, the same as the astral projection girl, she always has the ability anyway, but was led down that particular path by him unlocking her ability to feel pain.

The fourth movie was a nicely placed continuation of the protagonists' origin story, after the interlude of the third movie. Though I believe it was implied but maybe not outright stated in the second movie, it seems that the SHIKI personality never had control of the body it resided in except for at Shiki's discretion. Perhaps that is why it was the SHIKI personality that was lost, maybe even regardless of whether he wanted to sacrifice himself or not. And was the zombie composed of spirits that just happened to appear or would mystery man have had anything to do with their appearance, given how's he has been putting everything into play to reach a desired goal?

The post credits scene in the fourth one I felt very nicely tied together two of the stories we have been treated to so far (I would say three but Shiki's was done so painfully loosely, and that too would only be for the benefit of those who are watching the series a second time...) with the main antagonist (in relation to the Fate series he seems very much like a proto-kirei heh), who has been pulling the strings in the background and playing the long game. He clearly has a thing for girls from rich families inheriting supernatural abilities. The preview also promising guest appearances from Shirou of the Fate series.
 
5. Paradox Paradigm.

What a tragic but brilliant film. It's the one I most remember from when I first watched them and pretty sure it was my favourite. It's certainly the best so far.

The partially non linear way the story is told particularly in the first half is bold but really ups the ante in the second half and allows for the answers to be revealed in a really satisfying way.

I love the world building done through learning more a out Touko and her past rivalries. They're 3 fairly wild characters.

Again the art and animation was top notch. The final fight had almost too much camera movement at times though. Kokouto also comes across way better here which is also a plus.
 
Chapter 5

This is what the series has been leading up to so far. The wonderful play with time that has been in between the movies up until now, is taken to another level, and recurrently within the run of this two hour marathon. It very appropriately discombobulates the viewer, in particular when placing us in the shoes of the new character for this movie, which the protagonists & antagonists revolve around.

It feels like a compilation of three OVAs, first being a focus on Shiki picking up a stray Emiya G.I.joe Enjoe, the second on Cockatoo and Touko's investigation into creepy going-ons at a building that appears to have been transplanted right out of hell, and the third being some scary reveals and somewhat bloody showdowns that should come as no surprise but yet one of which still surprised or maybe shocked me. The music, action & atmosphere again all on point. The writing continued to remain obtuse, as is the case I find for Nasuverse in general, but as always I find the lore fascinating.

Araya made a suitably terror-inducing villain, especially with how he dealt with Touko (chilling regardless of all the horror media I regularly consume), though she was no less ruthless in achieving her goals. Albion (was that his name?), was just the annoying chihuahua nipping at the latter two's heels and really he should have felt lucky to even be sharing a platform with those two. Shiki seemed to be induced into a slumber halfway through, though I took away that her perception of time wasn't quite the same, almost like she was omnipresent in timelines. Though that didn't seem to fit, for me this series is one to let wash over you, and enjoy the mood and scene setting, rather than try and analyse too closely as that is likely to lead to plot hole disappointment heh.

Yet again, our timelines are played with given that with this movie, as second time viewers will know, the series culmination or conclusion is placed somewhat more in the middle of the series rather than at the end..

Having had my head spun, I'm probably not making much sense but will stop there for now and come back to others' thoughts on this one.
 
5. Paradox Paradigm.

What a tragic but brilliant film. It's the one I most remember from when I first watched them and pretty sure it was my favourite. It's certainly the best so far.
Definitely the best of the series I felt as well and quite aptly titled as well heh. The non-linear storytelling (perfect description but the way that I couldn't rack my brains to come up with heheh) is a favourite aspect for me and with everything shown so far, it all really does culminate beautifully in this movie.
 
The non-linear storytelling (perfect description but the way that I couldn't rack my brains to come up with heheh) is a favourite aspect for me and with everything shown so far, it all really does culminate beautifully in this movie
It's very well done. I also finished a full watch of Monogatari today so I've spent a few weeks now watching weird violent stories told in odd orders.

It feels like a compilation of three OVAs,
That's a very apt comparison!

Araya made a suitably terror-inducing villain, especially with how he dealt with Touko (chilling regardless of all the horror media I regularly consume), though she was no less ruthless in achieving her goals. Albion (was that his name?), was just the annoying chihuahua nipping at the latter two's heels and really he should have felt lucky to even be sharing a platform with those two
Agree on all fronts here.
 
I also finished a full watch of Monogatari today so I've spent a few weeks now watching weird violent stories told in odd orders.
Aha the master tome of non-linear storytelling. Just to go off track momentarily here, I had started watching that alongside the light novels and stopped just before Nise, whilst awaiting the second season LN boxset that never arrived... However, thanks to @SAHO's heads up, I've just reordered from the the restocks of that (from two different sources just to cover all bases this time heh) so I'm hoping to resume (or maybe even restart!) that epic.
 
Aha the master tome of non-linear storytelling. Just to go off track momentarily here, I had started watching that alongside the light novels and stopped just before Nise, whilst awaiting the second season LN boxset that never arrived... However, thanks to @SAHO's heads up, I've just reordered from the the restocks of that (from two different sources just to cover all bases this time heh) so I'm hoping to resume (or maybe even restart!) that epic.
I've read the season 1 books but decided to just binge the show as I'm a slow reader and can take my time reading them.
 
I've read the season 1 books but decided to just binge the show as I'm a slow reader and can take my time reading them.
That certainly seems more sensible than my approach had been, as even before I stopped I seemed to be getting muddled a wee bit with what was only in the books and not the show heh. Think I'll follow suit and re-watch the whole series first and then tackle the books after. Or maybe the other way around, or maybe I'll read them watch one season at a time... aaarrrggghh I don't know which way to go. As I always say, so much to do but so little time... these to do lists for entertainment can actually start becoming stressful with how much there is to tackle!! Okay I'll stop waylaying the thread now, sorry everyone!
 
Movie 5

This is what I was talking about before @Birdie Num Num - the slow burn up until now has basically been leading to this movie.

I'm sure those empty pots of ice cream stack on top of each other, could eat many more before having to take them to the trash.

That apartment block would be a hellish place to live, I can remember this one fairly well from my previous watch but it's still been a while. I will however not forget some of those scenes easily, especially the casual domestic abuse followed by frying pan to the head.

Of the 3 magi, Touko is pretty bad ass, I loved how she died and then was like "I'm back!" 🤣

There is quite a lot going on in this film especially with the way we skip about a bit in time, but I learnt a while ago that the series doesn't need you to fully understand events to enjoy it, I can see why re-watching these films is a good idea, but I confess I think I've forgotten too much of them since my last watch to really build on what I understood from my original viewing much.

I think once again the visuals steal the show for me, ufotable really know what they are doing.
 
Movie 6

I think a lot of people give this movie some flack for not being as good as the others, but I think it was a nice change of pace from the previous movie and overall I enjoyed it.

Despite her assertion that Azaka dislikes Shiki, in the film I think they actually get along pretty well, and I quite liked seeing them running the investigation together.

I liked how they showed Shiki killing the lock with a ruler 🤣

That after credit scene though, I'd forgotten it, but the boy is hungry isn't he?!
 
6. fairy tale.

My 2 issues with this film are 1) the mystery and investigation are only just getting started when we reach the reveal and have the explanation dumped on us without getting a chance to work it out. Honestly another 30mins of them actually solving the case wouldve worked wonders! And 2) why oh why does Azakas flaw have to be shes in love with her brother. It is so lame and nasty and unnecessary.

Anyway, this is otherwise a fun film. I like the interplay between Shiki and Azaka. The action looks really good in this film! The school as a location could work as the setting for a whole series of spooky supernatural mysteries. The fairies looked really cool and cute until they definitely didnt!

It may be a lot more straightforward after the last film but it's still a fun ride
 
7. ......not nothing heart.

Well that was long. It felt more like a 4 hour film than a 2 hour one. That slow crawl of Kokutous at the end felt very indicative of the whole thing!

That's not to say it was bad as such. The action was great. And it's been great to see how much Kokutous grown up. To see him so on it and hard boiled, getting on with the case was really cool. Having Shiki face who she is and who she fears she is was a good way to crescendo the series.

It's a shame that the ending of the previous film gives away who the killer is as it wouldve made the first half far more engaging if Shiki could've actually been the murderer. As it is you're just waiting for the characters to catch up with what we already know.
 
Movie 7

I agree with your assessment @WMD the film felt a bit over-long. It worked well for Movie 5 being longer, but that was also partly because Movie 5 felt like 3 different shorter movies merged into one, it never dwelt too long in one place. I didn't wish to spoil anything ahead for first time viewers, but Movie 5 was the clear front-runner for overall best movie out of them all.

I'm OK with Shiki being against killing in principal, but ultimately her inability to even stop the villain (without killing him) cost her a thumb and Kokutou an eye, and ultimately he was killed anyway. I think I remember the first time I saw this thinking why was Shiki so set on turning into the victim? Clearly it's all puppy boys fault for trying to stop her becoming a murderer.

Movie 8

I tried to watch this, but I'll be honest I couldn't finish it. I don't mind a little philosophy when I'm in the mood for it, but half an hour of philosophy on this kind of topic was too much for me. The main set of 7 movies worked pretty well because the philosophical bits were short and not really the main focus. I could see this kind of thing being interesting to some people, but I am not one of those people it seems :)
 
Film 7 - I'm in total agreement, it should have been shorter and film 5 was the best one. I had a bit of trouble getting into this one. Maybe it was the pacing or story itself. There was a bit of a plot hole at the end, where Kokutou consumed a highly potent drug that will apparently kill him, but nothing is mentioned on how he survived this. Also I kept thinking that bad guy, Shirazumi, looked like Ed from Fullmetal Alchemist. He even lost an arm.
 
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