Garden of Sinners (To BD Or Not To BD)...
With Garden of Sinners aka Kara no Kyōkai, there's a new and interesting wrinkle in the domestic anime distribution model -- BD-exclusives for the International market. Garden of Sinners aka Kara no Kyōkai is expected to be released in February 2011 in this revolutionary new distribution method. What makes this interesting is the price point -- $400 to $600, depending on your anime e-tailer of choice. For those who don't know what Garden of Sinners is...
Garden of Sinners aka Kara no Kyōkai is a series of hit cult novels written by KINOKO NASU of TYPE-MOON ("Tsukihime -Lunar Legend-", "Fate/stay night") and published in KODANSHA BOX series. The best-selling novel series has since been adapted into seven fully animated theatrical films, of which each corresponding movie directly covers one of the original seven chapters. In Japan, the series of movies was released in theaters, starting December 2007. Each successive release became a box office smash with record numbers of attendees, while skyrocketing DVD sales of each movie outperformed many other series and movies.
The set contains seven movies, each on its own disc, plus a bonus disc featuring extras and "The Final Chapter", a bonus movie created exclusively for this Blu-ray set.
In January 2011, according to Aaron H. Bynum on the AnimeNation blog...
I haven't decided whether or not to purchase this series, but, I must admit to being very tempted. If I do decide to jump over the cliff, this would be my first BD title.
This box set features new cover art exclusively drawn by series co-creator and artist Takashi Takeuchi and includes a Deluxe Visual Chronicle Book containing staff interviews, all key visuals, illustrations from each movie, and artwork from the DVD packages, plus, exclusive to this North American release, a separate booklet of English translations (not shown) for the Japanese text in the Deluxe Visual Chronicle Book!
Special Features: The Garden of Sinners: Remix - Gate of Seventh Heaven (highlighted scenes from each movie with music by Yuki Kajiura and performed by Kalafina, subtitled), Special Program "Retracing All Seven Chapters of The Garden of Sinners" (subtitled).
And, as for no one being interested in the set, well, that didn't turn out to be the case -- ALL SETS SOLD OUT IN ONE DAY! According to the Anime News Network forum, Right Stuf, Bandai and AniPlex sold out the same day the set was released. I checked the Right Stuf web site on the weekend before the official release and it showed 44 units remaining. So, if Right Stuf had an even 50 in stock, at $400 each, they would have brought in $20,000 gross -- not a bad day's work. I have no idea what Right Stuf would have made on each set, but, certainly, AniPlex, the licensor, must have done reasonably well for themselves.
Not that I would want to buy $400 worth of anime in one sitting every week, but, if BD-exclusive distribution for the International market keeps anime on archival media flowing in the U.S., it would be nice to see more of this new distribution method in the future.
Garden of Sinners is beautifully animated, entertaining and engaging. The first movie, Thanatos, was very good and the series of movies which follow, for the most part, were even better than the first. The animation style is a mix of traditional and CG animation. The CG is blended reasonably well, but, is noticeable in a couple spots. Red ink abounds as quite a few people die gruesome and horrible deaths while others are horribly injured up-close and very personal. A curious aspect of the series is that the story unfolds as a series of flash-forwards and flashbacks. Of course, I could have done without the last special episode (Chapter 8), in which the two main characters spend the entire episode discussing the nature of existence, and I still would have enjoyed the series.
There are a two ending themes in Garden of Sinners that I liked a lot. The first is Oblivious, the ending theme for chapter 1, and the second is Aria, the ending theme for chapter 4. Sometimes, I'll loop the end title chapter just to hear the music. Overall, the series is quite dark and brooding and leans heavily towards dramatic horror with a heavy dose of the supernatural. Admittedly, the series is not for everyone, but, I thoroughly enjoyed the series. I would give Garden of Sinners a 4 out of 5. Given the dark tone of the series and the copious amounts of red ink, Garden of Sinners is not for the youngest anime fans.
Not too long ago, I managed to track down the CD single release of Oblivious performed by Kalafina. The Oblivious CD single has 3 tracks with the ending themes for the first three chapters of Garden of Sinners. Of course, I was only interested in the first of the three tracks, Oblivious, which works out to 33% and a 2 out of 4. Around the same time, I also found the CD single featuring Aria performed by Kalafina. Likewise, the Sprinter/Aria CD single has 3 tracks with the ending themes for chapters 4 (Sprinter) and 5 (Aria) and an instrumental version of Oblivious. Of course, I was only interested in Aria which, again, works out to 33% and a 2 out of 4. Of course, I could have picked up the Kalifina album, Seventh Heaven, which includes both Oblivious and Aria, but, I actually got the two CD singles for a much better price than the album.
A DVD release has finally come out for Garden of Sinners. I liked the series enough that I repurchased it on DVD. While not as flashy as the BD box, the DVD set is still quite nice. But, at $150, the pricing strategy is rather daring for most budget-minded anime fans. On the bright side, I can put the BD set away and use the DVD set on a more frequent basis.
Garden of Sinners aka Kara no Kyōkai is a series of hit cult novels written by KINOKO NASU of TYPE-MOON ("Tsukihime -Lunar Legend-", "Fate/stay night") and published in KODANSHA BOX series. The best-selling novel series has since been adapted into seven fully animated theatrical films, of which each corresponding movie directly covers one of the original seven chapters. In Japan, the series of movies was released in theaters, starting December 2007. Each successive release became a box office smash with record numbers of attendees, while skyrocketing DVD sales of each movie outperformed many other series and movies.
After spending two years in a coma due to a traffic accident, Shiki Ryougi awakens with amnesia. In turn, however, she finds that she has also obtained the "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception," with which she can see the invisible lines of mortality that hold every living and non-living thing together. Working for a small independent agency, Shiki attempts to unravel the baffling mystery behind a series of abnormal, horrifying incidents, but do they foreshadow something even more tragic and ominous?
Things are not what they appear to be on the surface, but what dark revelations lie underneath? Shiki must tackle supernatural incidents with her special abilities while searching for a reason to live.
Contains 7 movies ("chapters"), each on its own disc, plus a bonus disc featuring extras and The Final Chapter, a bonus movie created exclusively for this Blu-ray set.
September 1998
Chapter 1: Thanatos (Overlooking View)
In the city where Shiki lives, something triggers a spate of mysterious schoolgirl suicides. The connection between the girls who leapt to their deaths is unclear, although all of them have jumped from the Fujou Building, a skyscraper scheduled to be demolished. Meanwhile, Mikiya, after having gone near the Fujou Building, has fallen into a coma. Shiki heads to the Fujou Building herself to save Mikiya. And waiting for her there…is Kirie Fujou. The girls' suicides and Mikiya's coma were all caused by Kirie. Terminal illness had left her bedridden and immobile in a hospital, but one day, she acquires a spiritual body, a separate entity from herself.
1995
Chapter 2: ...And Nothing Heart (Murder Speculation Part A)
Mikiya Kokutou meets a girl who has a mysterious gaze, and falls in love with her. That April, at his high school entrance ceremony, Mikiya is reunited with the girl. The girl's name is Shiki Ryougi. Shiki keeps others at a distance, but as Mikiya interacts with her, she gradually opens up to him, though not without trepidation. Meanwhile, the city has been rattled by a series of bizarre murders. There are no known links between victims, and the motive is unclear. One day, Mikiya meets "SHIKI," another personality that resides within Shiki. Mikiya suspects who the murderer is, but at the same time, he decides to believe in Shiki. An astonishing secret awaits him, but he doesn’t find out until three years later...
July 1998
Chapter 3: Ever Cry, Never Life (Remaining Sense of Pain)
One night, Mikiya helps a girl who is lying doubled over with stomach pains. Around that time, a number of dismembered bodies are found throughout the city. The murder victims are torn apart so badly that they don't seem like the work of a human.
Shiki finds the perpetrator of those crimes, who turns out to be the girl that Mikiya had saved. Her name is Fujino Asagami. Like Shiki, who possesses the Mystical Eyes of Death Perception, Fujino has the psychokinetic power to bend anything. At the end of a battle, what Shiki decides is...
June 1998
Chapter 4: Garan no Dou (The Hollow Shrine)
After spending two years in a coma caused by a traffic accident, Shiki Ryougi awakens with amnesia. One day, Shiki is visited by Touko Aozaki, a wizard and proprietor of a studio called "Garan no Dou." Due to the loss of her alternate personality, Shiki has lost not only any memory of her accident, but also any real sense that she's alive and spends her days as a mere empty shell of herself. Strange, enigmatic beings begin to attack her, trying to take control of her body, now that her soul is hollow. However, one day, she confronts the attackers who've resorted to force and Shiki makes the decision to fight of her own volition.
November 1998
Chapter 5: Paradox Paradigm
Shiki meets a boy named Tomoe Enjou, a runaway who claims to be a murderer. Shiki allows Tomoe to use her apartment as his hideout. And from that day onward, their strange cohabitation begins. But then one day, Tomoe sees his mother whom he's sure he's killed. Shiki and Tomoe head for the Enjou residence in the Ogawa Complex where the two see Tomoe's parents alive! There Shiki encounters a mage named Souren Araya and finds that he is the mastermind behind all of the incidents involving her up to then. Shiki finds herself trapped within spirals of paradox. And this is only the beginning of a vicious plot by Souren Araya, the powerful sorcerer and archrival of Touko.
January 1999
Chapter 6: Fairy Tale (Oblivion Recording)
Apprentice mage Azaka Kokutou, Mikiya's younger sister, has been ordered by her mentor, Touko Aozaki, to investigate a certain incident in which fairies steal the memories of students at Azaka's school, Reien Academy. Azaka launches an investigation with the help of Shiki who can see fairies. As the investigation proceeds, Shiki finds out that Misaya Ouji, a student body president, is the one who controls fairies. However, the mastermind who gave her the power is Satsuki Kurogiri, a magus who controls words. Ironically, thanks to Satsuki's magic, Shiki remembers that she had encountered Souren Araya and what he had told her two years ago.
February 1999
Chapter 7: ...Not Nothing Heart (Murder Speculation Part B)
Shiki awakes from her coma and starts to live a new life. Meanwhile, a series of murders are occurring after four years of silence. "Who is the murderer?" The incidents remind her of a murderous impulse hidden inside her soul and "SHIKI," her lost alternate persona. While Shiki searches for a suspect, Mikiya also starts an investigation of his own to prove Shiki is innocent. As he follows a lead of a drug dealer, Mikiya comes across Rio Shirazumi, who was a senior at his high school. Mikiya finds out that Rio is the one who sells the drug called "blood chip" and tries to convince him to stop, but he is instead harmed by Rio.
March, 1999
Chapter 8: The Final Chapter
Mikiya Kokutou meets "Shiki Ryougi" again at the same place where he met her for the first time four years ago...
The set contains seven movies, each on its own disc, plus a bonus disc featuring extras and "The Final Chapter", a bonus movie created exclusively for this Blu-ray set.
In January 2011, according to Aaron H. Bynum on the AnimeNation blog...
...Every time I get an e-mail about the GARDEN OF SINNERS I crack up… $600 retail price tag? Blu-ray only? Absolutely hilarious.Also in January 2011, in response, seanny wrote on the AnimeNation blog...
How many anime fans even spend so much as $600 on anime domestically or even as an import over the course of three-to-five years? Laughable.
I guess, but you should appreciate that anime is released in a form that can be bought and watched by international fans at all. While I’m not a fan of Kara no Kyoukai / The Garden of Sinners enough to throw down $400 for 8 movies, I appreciate that:So, there you have it. Eight movies for $400, works out to about $50 per movie, which is actually in keeping with the current price structure of the anime market.
1. It’s a pretty f—ing rad box.
2. It’s the same box that Japan gets + English subtitles + translations for the hardcover book.
3. It’s $200 cheaper than the seemingly sold-out preorder-only Japan box while being a _simultaneous release_
I know we can all remember the days when half of every anime was licensed by ADV/Pioneer/Manga/etc. and slapped on a forgettable $80 DVD set a year later, but that model has obviously collapsed and you can’t even count on things like Kara no Kyoukai to come out in the ‘States. In an earlier age it would’ve been a sure-fire license, but not today.
So this interim solution of slapping Eng. subs on the Japanese premium box set, and dropping the price while maintaining the simultaneous release date is something I’m totally cool with. I wish every Japanese disc release had an international counterpart like that actually.
As to whether anyone's going to buy it... who knows. I mean I've imported a few Japanese discs in the past before for things I _really_ cared about (having English subtitles on them helps e.g. Ghibli's DVDs), but I don't know how large of a market is made by international fans like me. It would be real interesting to know the sales numbers of that Kara no Kyoukai box.
Even if it's just a few guys though, it was produced with minimal investment, as opposed to an original, dubbed DVD set that goes on the shelves of Best Buys and such.
February 9, 2011
Updated
The Garden of Sinners box set arrived today. This is my first BD title and my second high-definition title (the first being Freedom). So, in addition to the $400 price tag, I'll have to get a BD player to play these on. Either that or hang the set on my wall next to my Laser Discs.
This box set features new cover art exclusively drawn by series co-creator and artist Takashi Takeuchi and includes a Deluxe Visual Chronicle Book containing staff interviews, all key visuals, illustrations from each movie, and artwork from the DVD packages, plus, exclusive to this North American release, a separate booklet of English translations (not shown) for the Japanese text in the Deluxe Visual Chronicle Book!Special Features: The Garden of Sinners: Remix - Gate of Seventh Heaven (highlighted scenes from each movie with music by Yuki Kajiura and performed by Kalafina, subtitled), Special Program "Retracing All Seven Chapters of The Garden of Sinners" (subtitled).
And, as for no one being interested in the set, well, that didn't turn out to be the case -- ALL SETS SOLD OUT IN ONE DAY! According to the Anime News Network forum, Right Stuf, Bandai and AniPlex sold out the same day the set was released. I checked the Right Stuf web site on the weekend before the official release and it showed 44 units remaining. So, if Right Stuf had an even 50 in stock, at $400 each, they would have brought in $20,000 gross -- not a bad day's work. I have no idea what Right Stuf would have made on each set, but, certainly, AniPlex, the licensor, must have done reasonably well for themselves.
Not that I would want to buy $400 worth of anime in one sitting every week, but, if BD-exclusive distribution for the International market keeps anime on archival media flowing in the U.S., it would be nice to see more of this new distribution method in the future.
February 15, 2011
Updated
I've finally had the chance to watch Garden of Sinners. While this title was not the most expensive acquisition in my collection, Garden of Sinners, certainly ranks pretty high on the list. By the way, the current record-holder in my collection, at approximately $2000, is Urusei Yatsura (62 DVDs plus 37 VHS tapes). Was it worth the expense? In a word -- Yes!Garden of Sinners is beautifully animated, entertaining and engaging. The first movie, Thanatos, was very good and the series of movies which follow, for the most part, were even better than the first. The animation style is a mix of traditional and CG animation. The CG is blended reasonably well, but, is noticeable in a couple spots. Red ink abounds as quite a few people die gruesome and horrible deaths while others are horribly injured up-close and very personal. A curious aspect of the series is that the story unfolds as a series of flash-forwards and flashbacks. Of course, I could have done without the last special episode (Chapter 8), in which the two main characters spend the entire episode discussing the nature of existence, and I still would have enjoyed the series.
There are a two ending themes in Garden of Sinners that I liked a lot. The first is Oblivious, the ending theme for chapter 1, and the second is Aria, the ending theme for chapter 4. Sometimes, I'll loop the end title chapter just to hear the music. Overall, the series is quite dark and brooding and leans heavily towards dramatic horror with a heavy dose of the supernatural. Admittedly, the series is not for everyone, but, I thoroughly enjoyed the series. I would give Garden of Sinners a 4 out of 5. Given the dark tone of the series and the copious amounts of red ink, Garden of Sinners is not for the youngest anime fans.
Not too long ago, I managed to track down the CD single release of Oblivious performed by Kalafina. The Oblivious CD single has 3 tracks with the ending themes for the first three chapters of Garden of Sinners. Of course, I was only interested in the first of the three tracks, Oblivious, which works out to 33% and a 2 out of 4. Around the same time, I also found the CD single featuring Aria performed by Kalafina. Likewise, the Sprinter/Aria CD single has 3 tracks with the ending themes for chapters 4 (Sprinter) and 5 (Aria) and an instrumental version of Oblivious. Of course, I was only interested in Aria which, again, works out to 33% and a 2 out of 4. Of course, I could have picked up the Kalifina album, Seventh Heaven, which includes both Oblivious and Aria, but, I actually got the two CD singles for a much better price than the album.
March 21, 2013
Updated
A DVD release has finally come out for Garden of Sinners. I liked the series enough that I repurchased it on DVD. While not as flashy as the BD box, the DVD set is still quite nice. But, at $150, the pricing strategy is rather daring for most budget-minded anime fans. On the bright side, I can put the BD set away and use the DVD set on a more frequent basis.
