The Garden of Sinners: A Study in Murder - Part 1

August 1995. Mikiya is a high school student and while smoking in the school's hiding place he meets a girl. Shiki wears a white kimono and sits on the school roof at night. They speak so little as to barely speak. Mikiya begins taking an interest in her. In the same period a run of murders takes place in the city; the victims are dismembered and no culprit is found. The places where the killings happen coincide with the places Shiki goes. There are two people inside Shiki and each knows the other. Takuya Nonaka directs. Maaya Sakamoto voices Shiki and Kenichi Suzumura voices Mikiya. The source is Kinoko Nasu's novel series; the studio is ufotable. The series consists of seven films and the parts are not shown in chronological order; this one covers the earliest events in time. Its form is slow; it is built on the distance between two characters rather than on plot. Yūki Kajiura's music is decisive across the whole series. The animation is of a high standard; the night scenes and the use of light are what is most cited. The matter it treats is identity; Shiki's condition is presented as a question of existence rather than a supernatural matter. It runs under an hour and does not complete a story on its own. Its limit is independence; without the other parts the narrative stays incomplete, and the order of release is confusing besides. Who it is for: followers of the series and viewers who like slow, atmospheric animation. Who it is not for: it is not an entry point, has little event, and the narrative is closed.