The Garden of Sinners: The Hollow Shrine

June 1998. Shiki spent two years in a coma after a traffic accident and is now waking. Her memory is incomplete. She lies in hospital, does not speak, and nobody visits. Only Touko comes; she knows what Shiki was before and brings an offer. After waking, Shiki notices something: her eyes now see the lines of death in things. Everything has a point at which it can be cut, and cutting there kills it. There is also a collector of insects in the hospital, and he knows something about his own death. Teiichi Takiguchi directs. Maaya Sakamoto, Kenichi Suzumura, Jouji Nakata and Mamiko Noto are among the voices. It is a Japanese production. The source is Kinoko Nasu's novels; the series was made into seven animated films and this is the fourth. The parts were not released in chronological order; the events take place in different years and the viewer assembles the order. This part is the stillest in the series; there is little action and the narrative takes place in a hospital room. The matter it treats is not being able to feel the difference between living and dying; the character finds them the same. The photography uses little light and the palette is cold. The music is by Yuki Kajiura and the same themes return through the series. Its limit is accessibility; it is closed to anyone who does not know the series, the narrative is abstract, and the pace very slow. Who it is for: viewers who like Japanese animation and philosophical narrative. Who it is not for: it is slow, closed, and the ending unresolved.