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June 1998. Shiki Ryougi wakes up from a coma, and finds she cannot identify her memories as her own. Her doctors say she was in a car accident 2 years ago. In her mind, she feels only " " -- utter void. There is no more male nor female Shiki. There is only her... and a strange new ability to stare, and [[AbsurdCuttingPower cut]], into the void of everything else as well. A "[[OurMagesAreDifferent specialist]]" named Touko Aozaki calls this strange new power the "[[MagicEye Mystic Eyes]] of [[TheGrimReaper Death Perception]]". As Shiki struggles through her own life like a stranger, she begins using her newfound power to throw herself into the middle of [[ParanormalInvestigation bizarre disappearances, suicides and murders]] in a desperate attempt to just feel alive again, dragging a Mikiya who still refuses to give up on Shiki, and an increasingly fascinated Touko, along with her.
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June 1998. Shiki Ryougi wakes up from a coma, and finds she cannot identify her memories as her own. Her doctors say she was in a car accident 2 years ago. In her mind, she feels only " " -- utter void. There is no more male nor female Shiki. There is only her... and a strange new ability to stare, and [[AbsurdCuttingPower cut]], into the void of everything else as well. A "[[OurMagesAreDifferent specialist]]" named Touko Aozaki calls this strange new power the "[[MagicEye Mystic Eyes]] of [[TheGrimReaper Death Perception]]". As Shiki struggles through her own life like a stranger, she begins using her newfound power to throw herself into the middle of [[ParanormalInvestigation bizarre disappearances, suicides and murders]] in a desperate attempt to just feel alive again, dragging a Mikiya Mikiya, who still refuses to give up on Shiki, and an increasingly fascinated Touko, along with her.
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** ''Panorama: Thanatos'' ([[Timeline/TheGardenOfSinners chronologically]], part 4): Following a series of unexplained schoolgirl suicides, Touko dispatches Shiki and Mikiya to investigate. They quickly discover a powerful ghost behind the suicides, and things get personal when Mikiya falls prey to its powers.
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** ''Panorama: Thanatos'' ([[Timeline/TheGardenOfSinners chronologically]], part 4): Following a series of unexplained schoolgirl suicides, Touko dispatches Shiki and Mikiya to investigate.investigate a series of unexplained schoolgirl suicides. They quickly discover a powerful ghost behind the suicides, and things get personal when Mikiya falls prey to its powers.
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*** "Daylight": The BestFriend of one of Fujou's victims is wracked by SurvivorGuilt, but gets some tough-love counseling from [[spoiler:Asagami Fujino]], of all people.
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*** "Daylight": The BestFriend of one of Fujou's victims is wracked by SurvivorGuilt, but gets some tough-love counseling from [[spoiler:Asagami Fujino]], [[spoiler:Fujino Asagami]], of all people.
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* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Played straight in the anime adaptation, where the location of Mifune City is carefully obscured (except the fact that it lies on the coast). Subverted in the original novel, whose fifth chapter places Mifune firmly within the Greater Tokyo Area, when Tomoe makes his way from Shiki's apartment to the famous Hachiko statue at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya#Shibuya_Crossing Shibuya Crossing]] within a couple of hours.
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* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Played straight in the anime adaptation, where the location of Mifune City is carefully obscured (except the fact that it lies on the coast). Subverted in the original novel, whose fifth chapter places Mifune firmly within the Greater Tokyo Area, when Tomoe makes his way from Shiki's apartment to the famous Hachiko statue at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya#Shibuya_Crossing Shibuya Crossing]] within a couple of hours. ''VisualNovel/WitchOnTheHolyNight'' also retroactively places it in the vicinity of the Misaki Town (its main setting, as well as the pre-remake ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''[='=]s), by putting the Reien Girls Academy (which both Azaka Kokutou and Alice Kuonji attend) within a bus ride of both of them.
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* DubInducedPlothole: The Aniplex subtitles for the anime translate a handful of lines incorrectly. The translation "magus" is also applied generally to a number of Japanese terms, so Touko introduces herself to Shiki as a magus instead of a Magician--which is actually the truth, since she lied, but...
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* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The novels switch the first-person narrator each chapter, sometimes more often than that. Some scenes, particularly the climactic fights, even switch to third-person omniscient.
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* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The novels switch the first-person narrator each chapter, sometimes more often than that. Any of the characters, even the villain of the novel, can take a turn. Some scenes, particularly the climactic fights, even switch to third-person omniscient.
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* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: The novels switch the first-person narrator each chapter, sometimes more often than that. Some scenes, particularly the climactic fights, even switch to third-person omniscient.
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* AdaptationExpansion: The manga adaptation also adds original scenes not found in the movies, usually scenes in-between the movies that deal with the fall out of the preceding movie.
* AlternateContinuity: [[invoked]]WordOfGod states that there can only be one user of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which means either [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Shiki Tohno]] has them, or this Shiki Ryougi. In addition, Touko Aozaki's goal contradicts with the existence of the True Ancestor Arcueid, also from ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''. See the YMMV page for a different interpretation.
* AlternateContinuity: [[invoked]]WordOfGod states that there can only be one user of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which means either [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Shiki Tohno]] has them, or this Shiki Ryougi. In addition, Touko Aozaki's goal contradicts with the existence of the True Ancestor Arcueid, also from ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''. See the YMMV page for a different interpretation.
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* AdaptationExpansion: The manga adaptation also adds original scenes not found in the movies, usually scenes in-between the movies that deal with the fall out of the preceding movie.
* AlternateContinuity: Even though Aoko Aozaki's sister Touko is a major character here, some contradicting facts in the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} canon indicate this series isn't the same universe in which ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' takes place. [[invoked]]WordOfGod states that there can only be one user of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which means Shiki Tohno either[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} doesn't exist or just doesn't have the eyes since Shiki Tohno]] Ryougi has them, or this Shiki Ryougi.them here. In addition, Touko Aozaki's goal contradicts with the existence of the True Ancestor Arcueid, also from ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''. See the YMMV page for a different interpretation.
* AlternateContinuity: Even though Aoko Aozaki's sister Touko is a major character here, some contradicting facts in the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} canon indicate this series isn't the same universe in which ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' takes place. [[invoked]]WordOfGod states that there can only be one user of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which means Shiki Tohno either
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Each of the first seven chapters was adapted into a movie by Creator/{{ufotable}} from 2007 to 2009, and the original epilogue was released as a 30-minute OVA in February 2011. The DistantFinale ''Mirai Fukuin/Future Gospel'' received a movie adaptation in 2013, and was released on Japanese home video in February of 2014. There is also a manga adaptation published in September 2010 in the Japanese online magazine ''Saizensen'', which follows the movie storylines and adds additional scenes not found in the movie or light novels set in-between each movie.
to:
Each of the first seven chapters was adapted into a movie by Creator/{{ufotable}} from 2007 to 2009, and the original epilogue was released as a 30-minute OVA in February 2011. The DistantFinale ''Mirai Fukuin/Future Gospel'' received a movie adaptation in 2013, 2013 along with ''Extra Chorus'', and was released on Japanese home video in February of 2014. There is also a manga adaptation published in September 2010 in the Japanese online magazine ''Saizensen'', which follows the movie storylines and adds additional scenes not found in the movie or light novels set in-between each movie.
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April 1995. Shiki Ryougi is a girl from a [[TheClan centuries old clan]] that often develop [[PsychicPowers supernatural abilities]]. In Shiki's case, she has two distinct "male" and "female" personalities, [[SplitPersonalityTeam both conscious, both aware of the other, and both essentially the same person with different qualities]]. Unfortunately, these dual consciousnesses, combined with her family's strict upbringing to make the most of them, has led her to [[NotGoodWithPeople avoid others' company]]. One day at school, however, an empathetic classmate, Mikiya Kokutou, tries to break her self-imposed isolation. Soon thereafter, gruesome murders begin occurring across the city, and one night several months later, Mikiya stumbles on Shiki standing over a headless corpse, drenched in blood. Refusing to believe that she was the killer, Mikiya keeps trying to become closer to Shiki... until coming up on a year after they met, [[LoveMakesYouCrazy he grows a little closer than he'd like]].
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April 1995. Shiki Ryougi is a girl from a [[TheClan centuries old clan]] that often develop [[PsychicPowers supernatural abilities]]. In Shiki's case, she has two distinct "male" and "female" personalities, [[SplitPersonalityTeam both conscious, both aware of the other, and both essentially the same person with different qualities]]. Unfortunately, these dual consciousnesses, combined with her family's strict upbringing to make the most of them, has led her to [[NotGoodWithPeople avoid others' company]].company. One day at school, however, an empathetic classmate, Mikiya Kokutou, tries to break her self-imposed isolation. Soon thereafter, gruesome murders begin occurring across the city, and one night several months later, Mikiya stumbles on Shiki standing over a headless corpse, drenched in blood. Refusing to believe that she was the killer, Mikiya keeps trying to become closer to Shiki... until coming up on a year after they met, [[LoveMakesYouCrazy he grows a little closer than he'd like]].
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''The Garden of Sinners'' (Kara no Kyoukai/空の境界/"The Edge of Emptiness" in Japan) is a series of LightNovels written by [[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Kinoko Nasu]] of Creator/TypeMoon/Notes fame and illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi, written before they both became involved in the VisualNovel business. The novels were originally [[{{Doujinshi}} released independently]] online and at Comiket from 1998 to 1999, later being officially published and reprinted by Kodansha in 2004 and 2007. Though considered by many to be the prototype of ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', its story and structure are also much, ''much'' more complex, sometimes to the point of MindScrew.
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''The Garden of Sinners'' (Kara (空の境界 ''Kara no Kyoukai/空の境界/"The Edge Kyoukai''/"Boundary of Emptiness" in Japan) is a series of LightNovels written by [[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Kinoko Nasu]] of Creator/TypeMoon/Notes fame and illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi, written before they both became involved in the VisualNovel business. The novels were originally [[{{Doujinshi}} released independently]] online and at Comiket from 1998 to 1999, later being officially published and reprinted by Kodansha in 2004 and 2007. Though considered by many to be the prototype of ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', its story and structure are also much, ''much'' more complex, sometimes to the point of MindScrew.
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''The Garden of Sinners'' (Kara no Kyoukai/空の境界/"The Edge of Emptiness" in Japan) is a novel by [[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Kinoko Nasu]] of Creator/TypeMoon/Notes fame, written before he became involved in the VisualNovel business. Though considered by many to be the prototype of ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', its story and structure are also much, ''much'' more complex, sometimes to the point of MindScrew.
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''The Garden of Sinners'' (Kara no Kyoukai/空の境界/"The Edge of Emptiness" in Japan) is a novel series of LightNovels written by [[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Kinoko Nasu]] of Creator/TypeMoon/Notes fame, fame and illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi, written before he they both became involved in the VisualNovel business.business. The novels were originally [[{{Doujinshi}} released independently]] online and at Comiket from 1998 to 1999, later being officially published and reprinted by Kodansha in 2004 and 2007. Though considered by many to be the prototype of ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', its story and structure are also much, ''much'' more complex, sometimes to the point of MindScrew.
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[[redirect:LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners]]
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%%Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1649687684038792000
%%Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_garden_of_sinners.png]]
%%
->"''April 1995. I met her.''"
''The Garden of Sinners'' (Kara no Kyoukai/空の境界/"The Edge of Emptiness" in Japan) is a novel by [[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Kinoko Nasu]] of Creator/TypeMoon/Notes fame, written before he became involved in the VisualNovel business. Though considered by many to be the prototype of ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', its story and structure are also much, ''much'' more complex, sometimes to the point of MindScrew.
April 1995. Shiki Ryougi is a girl from a [[TheClan centuries old clan]] that often develop [[PsychicPowers supernatural abilities]]. In Shiki's case, she has two distinct "male" and "female" personalities, [[SplitPersonalityTeam both conscious, both aware of the other, and both essentially the same person with different qualities]]. Unfortunately, these dual consciousnesses, combined with her family's strict upbringing to make the most of them, has led her to [[NotGoodWithPeople avoid others' company]]. One day at school, however, an empathetic classmate, Mikiya Kokutou, tries to break her self-imposed isolation. Soon thereafter, gruesome murders begin occurring across the city, and one night several months later, Mikiya stumbles on Shiki standing over a headless corpse, drenched in blood. Refusing to believe that she was the killer, Mikiya keeps trying to become closer to Shiki... until coming up on a year after they met, [[LoveMakesYouCrazy he grows a little closer than he'd like]].
''I don't... want to die...''
[[DissonantSerenity A warm smile.]]
''I want to kill you.''
June 1998. Shiki Ryougi wakes up from a coma, and finds she cannot identify her memories as her own. Her doctors say she was in a car accident 2 years ago. In her mind, she feels only " " -- utter void. There is no more male nor female Shiki. There is only her... and a strange new ability to stare, and [[AbsurdCuttingPower cut]], into the void of everything else as well. A "[[OurMagesAreDifferent specialist]]" named Touko Aozaki calls this strange new power the "[[MagicEye Mystic Eyes]] of [[TheGrimReaper Death Perception]]". As Shiki struggles through her own life like a stranger, she begins using her newfound power to throw herself into the middle of [[ParanormalInvestigation bizarre disappearances, suicides and murders]] in a desperate attempt to just feel alive again, dragging a Mikiya who still refuses to give up on Shiki, and an increasingly fascinated Touko, along with her.
''The Garden of Sinners'' can be read as a multitude of ways. On the surface level, it is a ParanormalInvestigation story about Touko, Mikiya, and Shiki's ''Garan-no-dou'' detective agency investigating various seemingly unconnected supernatural crimes in their city that are slowly [[TheReveal revealed]] to be [[EvilPlan the design of a far grander plot]]. It is also, however, a story of Shiki coming to terms with the death of her other self -- the only companion she has ever had or needed before. Finally, it is a dark and twisted love story of a perfectly ordinary boy and an extraordinarily broken girl. As one of the earliest works within the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}, the novel also introduces most of TheVerse's fundamental concepts, including [[OurSoulsAreDifferent souls]], [[TheLifeStream Akasha]], the [[GaiasVengeance Counter Force]], [[FunctionalMagic Magic and Magecraft]], and [[AbstractApotheosis Origins]].
[[folder:Consists of the following novels and stories]]
* Volume 1:
** ''Panorama: Thanatos'' ([[Timeline/TheGardenOfSinners chronologically]], part 4): Following a series of unexplained schoolgirl suicides, Touko dispatches Shiki and Mikiya to investigate. They quickly discover a powerful ghost behind the suicides, and things get personal when Mikiya falls prey to its powers.
** ''The First Homicide Inquiry: ...and nothing heart'' (chr. pt. 1): Shiki's OriginsEpisode. Mifune City is shaken by a spree of brutal murders, and high school student Mikiya starts suspecting his eerie schoolmate Shiki of being behind them. As he gets to know her better, however, a bond starts forming between them, and Shiki's confusion over this fact soon drives her over the edge.
** ''Lingering Pain: ever cry, never life'' (chr. pt. 3): A sick, abused girl named Fujino Asagami discovers her latent telekinetic powers and sets out to kill her abusers. When she also starts killing innocent bystanders, however, Shiki resolves to use lethal force against her, despite Mikiya's objections.
* Volume 2:
** ''The Hollow Temple: garan-no-dou'' (chr. pt. 2). Shiki awakens from her two-year coma to discover that her male personality, SHIKI, is dead, leaving her with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Under Touko's guidance, she rediscovers her will to live and leaves the hospital to work for her, alongside Mikiya.
*** "Boundary Goetia": An intermission focusing on Kirie Fujou and Fujino Asagami, the antagonists of two of the previous chapters.
** ''Spiral Paradox: Paradox Paradigm'' (pt. 5): A disturbed youth named Tomoe Enjo stumbles into Shiki's life, claiming to have murdered his parents. As they try to figure out what had really transpired, Shiki becomes embroiled in a labyrinthine plot targeting her and confronts the overarching villain of the series.
* Volume 3:
** ''Records of Oblivion: Fairy Tale'' (pt. 6): Reports of fairy abductions at the boarding school attended by Mikiya's sister Azaka prompt Touko to send Shiki there on an undercover investigation.
*** "Boundary Goetia": An intermission focusing on Lio Shirazumi, the antagonist of the next chapter.
** ''The Second Homicide Inquiry: ...not nothing heart'' (pt. 7): The (never-caught) killer from 1995 seemingly returns to Mifune with an equally brutal murder spree. As Shiki grows increasingly unstable, Mikiya races to catch the real perpetrator before she gives in to her own murderous impulses.
** ''[[TitleDrop Empty Boundaries]]: ...is nothing id, nothing cosmos'' (the original epilogue): A month after the last chapter, Mikiya gets a chance to talk with Shiki's reclusive third personality.
* ''Future Gospel: recalled out summer'', written ten years after the original novel, consists of an {{Interquel}} chapter, a DistantFinale epilogue, and a preface:
** "Möbius Ring" (set between ''Lingering Pain'' and ''Panorama''): Mikiya helps his sister's classmate Shizune come to terms with her precognitive abilities, while Shiki is targeted by a bomber-for-hire whose perfect success record strongly implies a different kind of precognition.
** "Möbius Link" (set ten years after the original finale): Mana Ryougi ([[spoiler:Shiki and Mikiya's daughter]]) and Mitsuru Kamekura ([[spoiler:the aforementioned bomber-for-hire]]) pay a visit to the famous fortune-teller going by the name "Mother Mifune".
** Preface (chapter 0): Shortly before his death, SHIKI has his fortune told by Mother Mifune.
** ''Extra Chorus'': A short supplementary manga by Type-Moon co-founder Takashi Takeuchi, featuring three vignettes about minor and even unseen characters from the series.
*** "Feline": During Shiki's rehab after her fight against Fujino, Mikiya asks her to take care of his cat while he is out of town.
*** "Daylight": The BestFriend of one of Fujou's victims is wracked by SurvivorGuilt, but gets some tough-love counseling from [[spoiler:Asagami Fujino]], of all people.
*** "Say Grace": On the New Years Eve 1998, Shiki and Mikiya visit a shrine, fulfilling a promise they made before her coma, as the [[SnowMeansLove first snow begins to fall]].
* ''Final Record'' (the only chapter to have not been animated): Shizune, Azaka, Fujino, and Misaya Ouji become trapped in Touko's mystical movie projector, which puts them through various scenarios ending with their deaths at Shiki's hands, until the real Shiki frees them from it.
[[/folder]]
Each of the first seven chapters was adapted into a movie by Creator/{{ufotable}} from 2007 to 2009, and the original epilogue was released as a 30-minute OVA in February 2011. The DistantFinale ''Mirai Fukuin/Future Gospel'' received a movie adaptation in 2013, and was released on Japanese home video in February of 2014. There is also a manga adaptation published in September 2010 in the Japanese online magazine ''Saizensen'', which follows the movie storylines and adds additional scenes not found in the movie or light novels set in-between each movie.
You can read the novels' translation [[http://emptyboundaries.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/kara-no-kyokai-translations-2/ here]], translated as "Empty Boundaries". The last additional chapter, translated into English, can be found [[http://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthread.php/86-Kara-no-Kyoukai-Mirai-Fukuin here]].
%%Put both the novel translation and the common translation for future reference.
----
!!The series as a whole provides examples of:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Overarching Tropes]]
* TheNineties: The setting of the story is the late 90s, ranging from 1995 to 1999.
* AdaptationDistillation:
** The author of the original novels had hoped to rewrite several of the stories to be less "clumsy". Then he read the script for the first movie, and concluded that there was no need--they'd already addressed his concerns by cutting out most of the excesses.
** The manga adaptation glosses over some scenes from the movies, only keeping relevant plot threads in order to fit the limited pages. This allows the manga to fit in some AdaptationExpansion.
* AdaptationExpansion: The manga adaptation also adds original scenes not found in the movies, usually scenes in-between the movies that deal with the fall out of the preceding movie.
* AlternateContinuity: [[invoked]]WordOfGod states that there can only be one user of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which means either [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Shiki Tohno]] has them, or this Shiki Ryougi. In addition, Touko Aozaki's goal contradicts with the existence of the True Ancestor Arcueid, also from ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''. See the YMMV page for a different interpretation.
* AnachronicOrder: Chronologically, the story begins in 1995, but the first chapter is set in June 1998. The viewer is thrown abruptly into the story [[InMediasRes from the middle]], without explanation of the powers, relationships, and backstory of the cast, which are elaborated upon later. Familiarity with the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} helps. To make things simpler, the chronological order of the stories is 2, 4, 3, 1, 5, 6, 7.
* AncientTradition: The Ryougi family, as well as other members of the Demon Hunter's Association.
* AudibleSharpness: Done to excess in the film adaptation.
* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:Shiki and Mikiya have a daughter named Mana in the distant future shown in "Mirai Fukuin".]]
* BigBad: Souren Araya is the superpowered MadScientist who manipulated all the other villains and is responsible for every single conflict Shiki faces, all in an attempt to reach the Origin of all things, so he can end the world [[WellIntentionedExtremist and all its meaningless deaths]]. Notably, he was confronted about halfway through the series and taken out, leaving [[spoiler:Lio Shirazumi]] as the FinalBoss whom Souren [[spoiler:drove insane by awakening his Origin]].
* BookEnds: Chronologically speaking, Shiki and Mikiya's story begins and ends with a meeting and conversation in between the two [[SnowMeansLove in the snow]]. [[spoiler: To be precise, it begins and ends with Mikiya speaking to Shiki's third personality.]]
* CentralTheme: Life and Death. Themes and concepts such as murder (and its moral justifications), suicide, reincarnation, and existentialism are present in every story.
* ChastityCouple: Shiki and Mikiya, to the point of one time sleeping in the same bed with their clothes on and not doing anything.
* {{Chiaroscuro}}: ''The Garden of Sinners'' loves shading, and shading loves ''The Garden of Sinners''.
* CityWithNoName: The city where the story takes place is never actually referred by name in the entirety of the original novel (although there are many indications that it's Tokyo), and in fact, the name "Mifune" first appeared in the ''Mirai Fukuin'' bonus chapter, ten years after the original publication. In a strange twist of recursive inspiration, the city name appears, out-of-universe, to have been chosen to match that of the character "Mother (of) Mifune" (exclusive to ''Mirai Fukuin''), who, in turn, was named after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chizuko_Mifune Chizuko Mifune]], whereas in-universe, Mother Mifune was probably named so after the city she lives in.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: To make it obvious which personality is in control of Shiki Ryougi's body, they wear different coloured kimonos. Shiki always wears blue and/or red (and very rarely white), SHIKI wears orange, [[spoiler:and Void Shiki wears white with a light pink or blue tint]].
* ColorMotif: More frequent in the first movies, but the colors red and/or green are often used when something ''bloody'' is about to happen. Even more noticeable in the third movie, where [[spoiler:it turns out that Asagami Fujino's ability stems from her eyes, which can generate a red and green spiral to bend objects and people.]]
* CompilationMovie: ''Kara no Kyoukai Remix: Gate of Seventh Heaven'', which also serves as an AdaptationExpansion. It also adds in [[spoiler:the first meeting of Mikiya and "Void" Shiki]].
%%* CoolOldGuy: Akitaka, the Ryougi manservant.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: ''A prayer is something overflowing with the good news of the future...''
* EnvironmentalSymbolism: Most scenes occur either at night or in dimly-lit rooms, which helps add to the series' horror and mystery elements.
* EveryoneIsBi: Several concepts tackled in the series present the idea that a person's gender in correlation with their sexual orientation is never truly fixed, and that every person has a dual mentality within themselves.
* EvilPlan: As perpetrated by Souren Araya, is to [[spoiler:end the world to stop endless and meaningless death]].
* {{Expy}}: As the Nasuverse's first work, a lot of later characters from the same franchise owe their appearance and backstory to some of ''The Garden of Sinners'''s cast.
** Mikiya is borderline-indistinguishable to Shiki Tohno.
** Tomoe Enjou looks rather a lot like Shirou Emiya.
** For that matter, Mikiya's cousin Daisuke Akimi is the inspiration for Kiritsugu Emiya.
** Azaka is another character based on Aoko Aozaki. She bears a resemblance to Akiha from ''Tsukihime'', and she looks a lot like Rin Tohsaka as a child in the sixth movie. She has shades of Satsuki Yumizuka as well.
** Lio Shirazumi is probably the inspiration for Arcueid (in appearance only, though: blonde hair, red eyes, claws, skirt/dress) and also a precursor to both SHIKI (being a sort of 'mirror image' of the protagonist Shiki as well) and to an extent, Nero Chaos's ability, what with the whole 'beast' thing he's got going on.
** Fujino Asagami is a purple-haired character who suffers [[spoiler:sexual abuse]], which served as inspiration to Sakura Matou.
** Shiki Ryougi has a fair resemblance to Ayako Mitsuzuri, and Anime/{{Canaan}} looks like a younger version of her, albeit with an obvious palette swap. Also, Canaan's Mystical Eyes are ''not'', well, of Death Perception.
* ExtraLongEpisode: Most movies that comprise the adaptation are about an hour long. Chapter 5 and 7, however, are at least twice that, because they are so pivotal to the plot. The former [[spoiler:resolves the overarching conflict with the BigBad of the series]], while the latter [[spoiler:brings closure to the lead couple's personal arcs]].
* FunctionalMagic: Magecraft is defined as "artificial reenactment of Magic", requiring EquivalentExchange, whereas Magic is "achieving the impossible" (e.g., Operation of Parallel Worlds).
* GenreBusting: It's a mix of romance, horror, UrbanFantasy, murder mystery, and action.
* HarmfulHealing: Souren Araya repairs Fujino's cracked vertebrae and restores her sense of feeling. Yes, this is an evil act. Araya knows [[EvilPlan good and well why]], and a lot of people wind up dead.
* InconsistentEpisodeLengths: The anime is a series of 7 movies - 8 with the bonus film - narrating a continuous story and ranging in length from 45 minutes (episode 4) to 2 hours (episode 7). This mainly has to do with the source material being a LightNovel whose chapters varied wildly in their word count.
* InTheBlood: Many characters in the story belong to families who are listed under the Demon Hunter's Association detailed in ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}''. [[spoiler:Families in this group tend to partially have monstrous blood, which is partially the reason for their supernatural abilities.]]
* InformedAttribute: The Ryougi are a Yakuza family. This is barely a part of the narrative, there are no further depths to it, no one chastises, recognizes, mentions, praises, gets shocked for Shiki being part of it, there are no gang rivals, no turf wars, no problems with the police; nothing to place value to this fact happens until the very last event in the very last novel/movie gives some weight to it.
* InvisibleToNormals: Minor supernatural beings (e.g. ghosts, fairies) generally can't be seen as they are not powerful enough to manifest.
* ItGetsEasier: Presumably why the Ryougis insist that a person can only commit one murder--no murder will be as difficult or as totally warping to the mind as the first.
* {{Leitmotif}}: In the movies, a specific tune (of which, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okkzd3FLYJo Seventh Heaven]]'', aptly the ED of the seventh film, is the vocal version) is usually associated with Shiki (see also ThemeMusicPowerUp). The villains in Chapter 5 also get Leitmotifs representative to their personalities (that [[AxCrazy Alba's]] sounds vaguely like "Hall of the Mountain King" may be a reference to ''Film/{{M}}''). Shiki's {{Leitmotif}} even finds its way into ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood Actress Again'' as her stage's music.
* TheLifestream: Akasha, the Root of everything and nothing, the beginning and the end, the Swirl of Origin, etc. TheNothingAfterDeath would be a more appropriate description, though you're still sort-of conscious in it.
%%* MagiBabble: Almost a given with any Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} work.
* MagicalEye: Several characters possess Mystic Eyes, with abilities ranging from "Suggestion" to the famous "Eyes of Death Perception." By extension, this also includes HellishPupils. Most are [[GlowingEyesOfDoom quite colorful when activated]].
* MultiGenderedSplitPersonalities: Shiki Ryougi--at least, until a car accident kills off her male personality. Also, her entire bloodline is apparently afflicted by this disorder.
* MundaneUtility: The theater PSA for the fifth movie has Araya use his bound field to deny Neco-Arc cell phone service.
* NeverGivenAName: Shiki Ryougi's [[SplitPersonality "third personality"]] is referred to simply with [[SomebodyNamedNobody a pair of empty quotation marks]], since it is actually the result of the Ryougi family's "split mind" psychic abilities forcing a [[LossOfIdentity vacated space in her mind]] to gain control of her body. Even calling it something like "Void Shiki" is said to be inaccurate, since the true nature of "" cannot be expressed by language, but it is implied to be the nothingness before the universe given human form, with EnlightenmentSuperpowers of inconceivable strength.
* NothingIsScarier: The series loves scenes that just follow one character walking alone in [[SceneryGorn decaying/highly industrial]] [[CityNoir urban environments, by night,]] [[DarknessEqualsDeath in almost complete darkness]].
* NotSoDifferentRemark: A rare case where the hero says this to the villain. Shiki keeps telling Fujino how similar they are as well-intentioned but equally sociopathic {{Serial Killer}}s with supernatural abilities, though Fujino doesn't want to admit it till the end of their fight.
* OfficialCouple: Shiki and Mikiya. The seventh movie places a lot of emphasis on the struggles of their relationship.
* OldSchoolBuilding: The sixth book/movie's climax takes place in the abandoned school building in the Reien Girls' Academy.
* OneSteveLimit: You have Shiki Ryougi, and then you have her alternate personality, also named Shiki. However, they are actually written with different kana to differentiate them, which in Western countries is solved by capitalizing the male SHIKI's name.
* ParanormalInvestigation: Touko's agency, ''Garan no Dou/The Hollow Temple'', is doing this, hunting ghosts and rogue mages.
* PragmaticAdaptation: The films cut out a good number of things from the novel, such as character backstory. This is especially notable in the sixth film, where [[TheDragon Satsuki]] is reduced to a flat villain as opposed to the more rounded character in the novels.
* PrimordialTongue: The Unified Language is the language of ancient Babylonia, back when no other languages existed and humans, animals, and non-living things all spoke. It is able to commune directly with the soul, allowing it to function as a form of telepathy or hypnotism that can force people to do things. In the modern day, the only person able to speak it is Satsuki Kurogiri after he was kidnapped and tampered with by faeries.
* PsychicPowers: Several types. It is fundamentally different from Magecraft in that it is not a learned ability, but a one-time mutation. This reaches its greatest focus in the third chapter, where Fujino develops [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]] and [[spoiler:clairvoyance]].
* RewatchBonus: The story can be understood better and the foreshadowing becomes clearer once everything is reread/rewatched in either original or chronological order.
* RousseauWasRight: Subverted. The series plays around with the idea of ''fate vs. will'' (mainly through the concept of the ''Origin'') in correlation with each of the villains' respective [[StartOfDarkness back-stories]].
* SceneryPorn: There are some ''very'' nice landscapes shown, even though they tend to be of [[SceneryGorn decrepit buildings and city areas]].
* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: Averted; the BigBad and the mastermind behind most of the story has only one proper appearance in the fifth chapter.
* SuperDeformed: The hilariously cute opening stop motion "don't smoke" warnings to each movie.
* SupportingHarem: Mikiya only has eyes for Shiki. Even though several other girls such as Kirie Fujou, Fujino Asagami and even [[BrotherSisterIncest his own sister Azaka]] are also in love with him, they can't compete with Shiki.
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Did you know the Ryougi are a Yakuza family? You wouldn't be the first not to know since they aren't seen doing anything of sorts beyond a very specific scene, and the anime adaptation barely touches upon this. In fact only the very last movie does anything with this when [[spoiler:Ryougi's foot soldiers accost Mitsuru over a debt of his]].
* TitleDrop: The epilogue, which also explains what "The Boundary of Emptiness" is. [[spoiler: It is Shiki's third, but original personality, the Void, Akasha, the root of everything itself.]]
* TouchTheIntangible: Shiki's left arm is replaced by a magical prosthetic after the original is torn off by Fujino Asagami's [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]]. It can grip otherwise intangible spirits, which proves essential when she fights Kirie Fujou.
* UnfazedEveryman: Kokutou Mikiya, completely normal guy working for a magus.
* UrbanFantasy: A story with strong supernatural elements, based in a large Japanese city.
* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Played straight in the anime adaptation, where the location of Mifune City is carefully obscured (except the fact that it lies on the coast). Subverted in the original novel, whose fifth chapter places Mifune firmly within the Greater Tokyo Area, when Tomoe makes his way from Shiki's apartment to the famous Hachiko statue at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya#Shibuya_Crossing Shibuya Crossing]] within a couple of hours.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tropes in Chapter/Movie #1]]
!!#1: "Overlooking View"/"Panorama" (September 1998)
The first chapter abruptly focuses on a mysterious series of apparent suicides, as schoolgirls begin throwing themselves off of a certain abandoned building without reason. Ghosts are seen [[strike:flying]] floating in the area.
----
%%* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: Go on, guess what insect is in the opening a lot. You'll never guess.
* CurbStompBattle: Shiki absolutely slaughters the suicide-ghosts the second time she encounters them. They literally do nothing but flee for their lives when she shows up.
* EvilHand: [[spoiler:Shiki's artificial arm]] gets remotely possessed by a ghost and tries to choke and throw her off a building.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** There's a scene in which the events of the third movie are reported on by the news on TV. Novel readers and people rewatching the movies will catch it, but otherwise, it'll pass by without notice.
** When Touko is [[spoiler:fixing Shiki's artificial arm]] she makes a nod to Fujino.
* LeaveTheCameraRunning: There is a very long scene of Shiki ([[spoiler:with one arm]]) eating ice cream that takes about a minute and a half. It's intended to be symbolic and a PetTheDog scene about Shiki and Mikiya's relationship.
* ProductPlacement: Shiki's ice cream is prominently stated to be Häagen-Dazs in both the movies and the original novel. Her fridge also contains Volvic water.
* ProstheticLimbReveal: Shiki first appears to have two functional arms -- right until a ghost manages to possess one of them, which is revealed to be a magically-animated prosthetic, forcing Shiki to cut it off and "kill" it. The circumstances under which she lost her own arm are [[AnachronicOrder shown in Chapter 3]].
* SchrodingersButterfly: A variant with the dream Mikiya tells to Shiki at the end of the film where he dreams of a dragonfly and a butterfly struggling to catch it, commenting that it would have been easier if the butterfly just floated instead of flying. It's an analogy of [[spoiler:Kirie Fujou's love for him and the latter's suicide on the rooftop while he was kidnapped and asleep.]]
* SophisticatedAsHell: Mikiya drops this:
-->"She is either an eminent virtuoso, or just a big weirdo."
* SpoilerOpening: Who was the girl on the ceiling that commits suicide at the end of the opening credits? [[spoiler:Kirie Fujou, the current antagonist.]]
* SuicideIsPainless: Basically the entire story has to do with this concept.
* PsychicAssistedSuicide: The schoolgirls throw themselves off the building because of this.
%%* WeirdMoon: The first film does this both times in the background when Kirie is seen.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tropes in Chapter/Movie #2]]
!!#2: "Murder Speculation (Part 1)"/"The First Homicide Inquiry" (March 1995 - February 1996)
This chronologically-first chapter shows the initial meeting of high school classmates Shiki Ryougi and Mikiya Kokutou. As he gets closer to Shiki, Mikiya finds out about her dual personalities. Meanwhile, Mikiya's cousin, police detective Daisuke Akimi, warns him of a serial killer who stalks the town at night, leaving behind gruesome corpses. Only one piece of evidence has been left behind: the badge of attendance for their school.
----
%%* DramaticPause: Several minutes worth at the end. And good Lord, they were gripping.
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:Lio Shirazumi is name-dropped by Mikiya in one scene and he can be seen in several scenes, like right in the first ten minutes where Shiki is next to a corpse and uses their blood as lipstick.]]
* CliffHanger: [[spoiler:The chapter ends with Shiki about to kill Mikiya with a smile on her face.]] The context of this scene isn't revealed until the seventh chapter.
* EnemyWithin: Shiki herself doesn't care, but her male side is essentially a BloodKnight.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are several hints left in the movie which point out to [[spoiler:Lio Shirazumi being involved in the killings. He is one of the few other students that are name-dropped, and he actually appears right before the first shown murder scene, with Shiki standing next to the victim and smearing their blood on her lips. It's not until Chapter 7, where all the foreshadowing in Chapter 2 is brought up again.]]
* GaussianGirl: The odd and [[BornInTheWrongCentury chronologically misplaced Shiki]] when she and Mikiya first meet.
* HiddenEyes: [[spoiler:Shiki when she goes partially AxCrazy]].
* MistakenForMurderer: Done straight and serious, though not resolved until Murder Speculation (Part 2).
* ShoutOut: Two plushie cat dolls, one black and one white, both with ribbons, are won by Kokutou in a UFO Catcher game to give to Shiki; these are Len and White Len from ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'' in cat form. Appropriately, this is when Shiki tells him about [[spoiler:her multiple personalities.]] Only in the films, though. The cameo didn't happen in the original novels, because the original novels predate ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', and thus, ''Melty Blood.
* SnowMeansLove: The OfficialCouple Shiki and Mikiya first meet in a snowy night.
* TimeSkip: The end moves the story back to July 1998. Not to mention within the story it jumps from March-April to August to September to December to January and then finally February.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tropes in Chapter/Movie #3]]
!!#3: "Lingering Sense of Pain"/"Lingering Pain" (July 1998)
Shiki Ryougi's first case after her awakening from the coma. The unassuming Fujino Asagami, a girl unable to feel pain, experiences life for the first time in the passion of killing. As Touko and Mikiya investigate the truth behind this murderer, Shiki hunts her down, leading to a confrontation between the two very different kinds of Mystic Eyes.
----
* AssholeVictim: The punks who raped Fujino end up being torn to shreds by her newfound psychic powers.
* BattleInTheRain: Shiki's final fight against Fujino.
* FanDisservice: The scenes of Fujino [[spoiler:being abused and raped by the delinquents]].
* PetTheDog: In an odd way; Shiki [[spoiler:lets Fujino live by killing her appendicitis]], which by her standards is petting the dog.
* ProductPlacement: If you look at the shoes of one of the punks during the rape scene in the alley, you'll see the familiar sight of the Converse logo.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Kokutou, of all people. Granted, [[spoiler:he's being told how one of his former friends and his buddies abused Fujino]], so he's disgusted.
* SaveTheVillain: [[spoiler:Kokutou, while disgusted, saves Keita Minato's life and turns him in to the police before Fujino can get him. Shiki decides to show mercy to Fujino and saves her life by killing off her appendicitis.]]
* TakeItToTheBridge: Shiki and Fujino's confrontation takes place on a bridge, [[spoiler:which ends up getting wrecked by Fujino's SuperpowerMeltdown]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tropes in Chapter/Movie #4]]
!!#4: "Hollow Shrine"/"The Hollow Temple" (June 1998)
Shiki awakens from her coma, and is immediately restrained after attempting to gouge out her own eyes. For two years, she has been staring into " " - not just "emptiness", but a complete void without meanings, forms, or concepts. And she is alone - SHIKI has disappeared. Chronologically the second chapter, this chapter covers Shiki's recovery, the consequences of her coma, and her struggle to survive while submersed in death.
----
* ChekhovsGun: The corpse being carried in one scene. It becomes the zombie that will attack Shiki later.
* ContinuityNod:
** Kirie Fujou (from the first movie) can be seen in the background in one scene.
** The nurses comment that Touko is replacing Araya as a counselor at the hospital.
** There's also the post-credits scene, showing how Souren Araya is connected to the first three parts.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: When Shiki first wakes up the fact that her hair is now past shoulder-length lets us know she's been asleep for a long time. Add an ImportantHaircut later and you know she's serious.
* EyeScream: One of the first things Shiki does upon waking up is trying to claw her own eyes out, as the result of a FreakOut upon realizing what her eyes can see.
* ShesBack: Shiki regains her will to live when a ghoul tries to kill her. She then leaps out of a multi-story hospital and finally uncovers her eyes, using her new Mystic Eyes of Death Perception to damage the ghoul. Then Touko tosses a knife to Shiki, which then proceeds to use to cut her hair back to its familiar length and kill the ghoul and the spirit that was possessing it.
* SoundtrackDissonance: There's a rather eerie scene in which a recovering Shiki is being attacked by a zombie in her hospital room, overlayed by Mikiya (elsewhere) singing "Singing in the Rain" (possibly a ShoutOut to ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'').
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tropes in Chapter/Movie #5]]
!!#5: "Paradox Spiral" (October-November 1998)
Tomoe Enjou flees his apartment after killing his parents and unexpectedly finds sanctuary at Shiki's place. Tomoe then finds that his parents have apparently failed to stay dead, and that's only the first sign of the abnormalities surrounding the building. Things get bloody messy, and Touko meets some old acquaintances.
----
* AlasPoorYorick: [[spoiler:Touko Aozaki]] gets this treatment when Alba beheads her and takes her head.
* AllThereInTheManual: The concepts in this movie are a ''lot'' clearer after reading the novels. The movie is also more passive over the fact that [[spoiler:Tomoe escaping and Shiki and Touko getting involved (most of the plot, really) were caused by the Counter Force manipulating them to have the situation resolved.]]
* AnachronicOrder: Especially notable here. The movie plays out in three "arcs"--one from Shiki's perspective, then one from Mikiya's, and lastly a finale tying the two together--divided by title cards with a hand-sketched appearance. Several short scenes are repeated verbatim, such as Mikiya's surprise at Shiki's locked apartment door, with others shown from different perspectives. The long flashback as [[spoiler:Shiki breaks out of Araya's confinement]] fills in some gaps towards the end.
* AndShowItToYou: Araya ''rips out'' [[spoiler:Touko's]] heart, which is [[BeatStillMyHeart still beating]], and yet they still manage to have a philosophical conversation. [[spoiler:Touko gets better]].
* BeatStillMyHeart: [[spoiler:After Araya tricked Touko with a puppet, he appears behind her and rips her still-beating heart out.]]
* BloodlessCarnage: Despite the large amount of blood elsewhere in the movie, the scene near the beginning of Tomoe [[{{Matricide}} killing his mother]] is oddly lacking. [[spoiler:This lack of blood is actually a critical clue to what's really going on]]. This also works as an effective MindScrew, since when blood starts appearing again it has a jarring effect.
* BrainInAJar: [[spoiler:Everyone in Tomoe's apartment is just a puppet, with their brains actually kept alive in a pile of jars in the basement]].
* ContinuityNod: Done very literally in-story with a completely different (and ''important'') meaning: while Shiki is basically [[spoiler:''in'' Akasha and viewing all the moments]] the Counter Force had an influence on the situation, she sees the moment she first met Mikiya -- and "that her" stops talking, ''looks up at the screen where [[spoiler:Shiki is watching from Akasha]], and smiles at her''. This is a ''huge'' plot detail.
* CreepyDoll: Cornelius Alba has a strange collection of puppets in his gallery. Unlike Touko's dolls where they are lifelike, his is a mishmash of doll parts arranged in eccentric formations.
* DemonicHeadShake: Araya does this while regenerating from a wound on his neck where he was stabbed by Shiki earlier. Tomoe Enjo is freaked out by the sight to such an extent, he runs away shrieking.
* DidntThinkThisThrough: After Araya explains how he locked Shiki in his magecraft bounded field to stop [[GaiasVengeance the Counter Force]] from manipulating events to stop him from reaching the AkashicRecords through her, Touko laughs in his face for using nothing but magecraft to contain a person with eyes that let her destroy ''all'' magecraft and is directly connected to that Counter Force through them.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Enjou didn't have a chance against Araya. But ''damn'' did he tell him off.
* EldritchAbomination: The... ''thing'' in Touko's briefcase. Sometimes it just resembles a traditional [[{{Obake}} bakeneko]]. Other times it is much more grotesque
* {{Expy}}: Cornelius Alba is basically the most disgusting parts of [[Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory Willy Wonka]] and [[Film/AClockWorkOrange Alexander De-Large]] rolled into one humanoid mass; combining the arrogance and bad-fashion sense of both. He even goes as far as to gleefully sing ''Bethoven's 9th Symphony 4th Movement,'' the favourite tune of Alex from ''Film/AClockWorkOrange'', when he [[spoiler:tried to murder Mikiya in a chillingly sadistic torture scene.]] Maybe not so coincidentally, Mikiya himself has sung ''Singin' In The Rain'', the song that Alex sung while raping a writer's helpless wife, ''twice'' in the film series.
* FormerFriendsPhoto: An [[http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/File:Touko_araya_alba_photo.png old photograph]] of Touko, [[spoiler:Cornelius Alba]], and [[spoiler:Souren Araya]] from back when they were working together at the Clock Tower shows the three of them seem quite friendly for people who take the first opportunity to murder each other in the story proper.
* FreeFallFight: During the climax, when [[spoiler:Shiki fights against Araya he jumps off the building with the intention of destroying it with Shiki inside, but Shiki follows him and lands the final blow in the middle of the air]].
* IfItsYouItsOkay: After thinking for a minute, Kokutou decides that [[SingleTargetSexuality he'd probably like Shiki the same regardless of her gender]], though he does add that he's pretty happy that she's a girl.
* InnBetweenTheWorlds: The Cafe Of Impossible Meetings, Cafe Ahnenerbe. Used in this series between Life and Death.
* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: While made clear from the beginning that this is an important chapter, ''why'' it is isn't explained until the seventh chapter.
* JoblessParentDrama: This is a major story arc, specifically with Tomoe Enjo's family: his father couldn't find any work ([[spoiler:because he ran over a teenager while driving under influence, so nobody would ever hire him again]]) and [[TheAlcoholic gave to drinking]]. Tomoe assumes that this was what drove his mother to stab her husband to death before attempting to kill him, too (he then killed her in self-defense). [[spoiler:This all turns out to be FakeMemories, however: the Enjo family was actually quite loving and tightly-knit despite their hardships, but had the misfortune of moving into an apartment block used by the BigBad for experiments that drove them insane, then killed them. The Tomoe we meet is actually a clone with tweaked memories implanted to lure Shiki to the BigBad's lair.]]
* LyricalColdOpen: The end theme, "Sprinter", begins with vocals cutting in shortly before the instrumentation.
* MalevolentArchitecture: Araya's apartment building is made this way on purpose, to drive people crazy. [[spoiler:Justified since it's an EldritchLocation made to be as repetitive as possible]].
* {{Matricide}}: The movie starts with Tomoe killing his mother in self defence, after she murdered his father. Treated oddly sympathetically, despite the rather... strange circumstances that turn out to be surrounding it.
* MeteorMove: After fighting with Shiki and realizing that she is stronger physically, [[spoiler:Araya teleports from the tenth floor (where they both are) down to the the ground outside. Shiki goes to the nearest opening, jumps down and lands sword-first right on top of him, breaking the usually [[KatanasAreJustBetter invincible Japanese Sword]] and knocking Shiki out in process]]. And even then she was only saved by the BigBad's Mobile Bounded Field (kind of like a shield) taking most of the landing impact (it's slightly implied he activated it on purpose for that reason).
* MindScrew: Of truly epic proportions. Without reading the novels, you really need to see this film at ''least'' twice to even get a rough idea about what going on. A great case of AllThereInTheManual (listed above).
* MoodWhiplash: This happens while Touko is monologuing about the apartment complex by comparing the mechanisms of the stairs to a rocket pencil. Mikiya reveals he doesn't know what rocket pencils are, which dumbfounds her into stopping her serious exposition.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: When Alba confronts Araya for defeating Touko, he openly calls her "Dirty Red" while her still-living head is around. Araya, realizing Alba's foolishness, gives him the head and allows him to do with it whatever he wants. Alba later crushes Touko's head in front of Mikiya and kills her, [[spoiler:but this turns out to be a fatal mistake, as this triggers Touko's fail-safe and awakens her next back-up body that's been getting memories directly from her previous self this entire time. For insulting her earlier, she mercilessly kills him.]]
* OffWithHerHead: [[spoiler:Araya beheads Touko after ripping out her heart, though he keeps her alive to not trigger her soul going into her next body.]]
* PetTheDog: Shiki goes somewhere between this and simple {{Tsundere}}-ness (but not quite - she is ''very'' hard to categorize) when she starts stabbing her pillow in frustration while griping about Mikiya's absence to Tomoe.
* RevealingContinuityLapse: In the anime adaptation, where apparent continuity errors allow the viewers to piece together the [[AnachronicOrder distorted chronology]] of the movie, e.g. when Touko arrives at the Oogawa building, she parks next to two cars already there, but in the next scene, we see Mikiya and Tomoe arrive in one of the cars that "were" already there in Touko's scene, allowing viewers to infer that Touko arrives ''after'' the guys have gone inside.
* SingleStrokeBattle: Shiki vs. zombie. Zombie explodes in half.
* SnowMeansDeath: [[spoiler:Araya's death]] cues snowfall.
* StartOfDarkness: A flashback/dream of Araya's shows him standing in the aftermath of a bloody conflict 200 years ago, looking at the corpse of a little boy who got caught up in it. He resolves that since he cannot save anybody, he will at least [[spoiler:collect and record the deaths of people and reach the origin so he can end this world so there can be no more meaningless deaths]].
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Touko chatters on about her meaning of life for a ''while'' after [[spoiler:Araya rips her heart out]] and only seems to actually [[spoiler:die when he crushes it in his hand]].
* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:The Tomoe who interacts with Shiki is a fake, as he himself confirms when he finds the BrainInAJar with his name on it]].
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Subverted. Araya mercilessly ''destroys'' [[spoiler:Touko, but keeps her head alive]] on purpose - she's [[spoiler:created an exact duplicate of her own body and linked them to herself. Whenever she is "killed" the other body awakens, allowing her to come back - when Alba crushes her head, she comes back]]. ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge With a vengeance]]''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tropes in Chapter/Movie #6]]
!!#6: "Oblivion Recorder"/"Records of Oblivion" (January 1999)
Azaka and Shiki go to the Reien Girl's Academy to find the culprit behind a rash of disappearing memories caused by "fairies".
----
* AnachronismStew: Satsuki Kurogiri's desktop computer has a flat-screen monitor, which was very expensive for the time and rather uncommon compared to [=CRT=] monitors. Given it appears larger than available [=LCD=] monitors at that time, this seems like a genuine mistake.
* {{Bowdlerization}}: The child prostitution and teen pregnancy subplot between [[spoiler: Tachibana Kaori and Hayama Hideo]] in the novel is reduced to drug addiction in the movie. Which is odd, considering Fujino's [[FanDisservice rather graphic rape scenes]] in the third movie were preserved. They also left Kurogiri's fate unclear: we never see [[spoiler:Ouji kill him in the ending. It actually looked like Shiki simply cut him as he restored her memories, but then the scene ends, which might imply that he died in that encounter.]]
* BreatherEpisode: The film adaptation turned this chapter into one by shifting the focus onto Azaka. The sixth novel is just as grim as the rest of them, but the LighterAndSofter movie give you a breather before a soul-shatteringly traumatic GrandFinale.
* DartboardOfHate: Azaka uses a plush doll of Shiki for her magical targeting practice.
%%* DiabolusExNihilo: [[spoiler:The random giant flower thing]] in the movie.
* DrivenToSuicide: Tachibana Kaori. [[spoiler:In the novel, she intended her suicide to be atonement for her and her classmates' sins.]]
* ElaborateUniversityHigh: Reien Academy.
* EnjoKosai: [[spoiler:What Tachibana Kaori's class ended up doing, with ''their teacher'' Hayama Hideo as the pimp. Kaori herself was the last to hold out due to her Christian convictions, and ''was raped and impregnated by the said teacher as a result''. Both aspects were cut out of the movie.]]
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Azaka's crush on Mikiya is pretty obvious. Shiki knows about it and says she isn't the only one who has noticed it, but [[ObliviousToLove Mikiya]] doesn't know.
* TheFairFolk: ''Not'' talking about the packaged-for-kids Christmas version. These are the child-kidnapping, terrifyingly alien kind all over.
* FoeTossingCharge: Azaka performs one of these against [[spoiler:the big demon flower controlling Ouji]]. She even finishes it off with her best approximation of a [[Anime/GunBuster Super Inazuma Kick]].
* LighterAndSofter: The ''least'' violent and disturbing entry in the saga, at least the movie adaptation.
* RivalsTeamUp: Shiki and Azaka, both rivals for Mikiya's affection. As this movie shows, they [[BashBrothers work quite well with each other]] and [[VitriolicBestBuds can be quite chummy with one another]].
* ShoutOut: Azaka mentions she's dogsitting for her roommate Seo. Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} veterans will assume she means Seo Akira, Akiha's friend in ''[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Kagetsu Tohya]]''. [[spoiler:When we get to see her at the end of the film, she does indeed appear to be a tously-haired {{Expy}}, although she's evidently not the same one - the ''dog's'' name is Akira.]] In addition, the headmistress of the Reien Girls' Academy is mentioned to be one Mother [[VideoGame/MeltyBlood Riesbyfe, who has a large stringed instrument case]] in her office.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Tachibana dies in the novel and but survives and awakens from her coma in the movie.]]
%%* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Shiki and Azaka.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Shiki and Azaka. Shiki is a BloodKnight trying to play the role of a masculine personality, while Azaka is a PluckyGirl who plays the role of a [[DeliberatelyCuteChild Deliberately Cute Teenage Girl]].
* VitriolicBestBuds: Azaka actually respects Shiki, and is quite fond of her; the feeling is mutual on Shiki's part. The girls understand each other enough to laugh at and finish the punch line of each other's jokes, and marvellously complementing each together in abilities on the battlefield. The ''one'' thing that prevents them from actually openly admitting their friendship to one another is their shared love for Mikiya.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tropes in Chapter/Movie #7]]
!!#7: "Murder Speculation (Part 2)"/"The Second Homicide Inquiry" (February 1999)
The murders from before Shiki's coma resume, and both Shiki and Mikiya are trying to find the killer.
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* BookEnds: A number of themes from ''Overlooking View'' (as well as the other five movies) get a reprise here.
* CherryBlossoms: [[spoiler:The post-credits scene has Shiki and Mikiya walking together while HoldingHands under cherry blossom trees.]]
* CurbStompBattle: Averted, despite what was shown. [[spoiler:While it looks as if Shiki was able to take out Lio easily in the final battle, her earlier confrontation proved he was more than a match for her. The novel elaborates, outlining how Shiki was still experiencing the lingering paralyzing effects of the drugs, and Lio was weakening Shiki's limbs one by one like a predator slowly taking down its prey, with the final blow directed at her neck. Had she waited a second longer, she would have died. When she chose to fight back, Shiki basically [[CounterAttack took full advantage]] of the amount of space between them and struck as effectively as she could at precisely the right moment to ensure he went down before he could injure her further. The result was a SingleStrokeBattle.]]
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:A few minutes from the end of the movie, Mikiya is apparently dead from a stab to the face, and Shiki's resigned herself to death after killing Lio. The situation improves.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Mikiya obtains info on the drug-related serial killings by the only drug dealer around who's not selling that particular new cocktail, because she thinks it's too damaging for the human body. Possibly she's being [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]] - dead customers aren't repeat customers.
* EyeScream: [[spoiler:Mikiya loses his left eye towards the end of the movie. Considering Lio was trying to kill him, he may have gotten off lucky.]]
* FanDisservice: Anything [[spoiler:Lio does to Shiki, especially the drooling all over her after ripping open her kimono with his teeth. That he's modeled himself after her doesn't make it better.]] Also anything [[spoiler:[[HoYay he does to Mikiya]], including EyeScream]].
* {{Fingore}}: Shiki breaks free of the bindings holding her hands by [[spoiler:''gnawing her thumb off.'']] Of course, [[spoiler:that was off her [[ArtificialLimbs artificial hand]].]]
* IndirectKiss: Shiki refuses a canned sweet drink when Mikiya offers her one, but says she changed her mind and drinks it after Mikiya drinks a bit of the can.
* IronicEcho: [[spoiler: Lio's diary starts with one. [[ArcWords "April 1995. I met her."]]]]
* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler: Mikiya ended up becoming Shiki's reason for being a murderer.]]
* OnceMoreWithClarity: The audience finally gets to see the event that led to Shiki's coma from where the second movie cuts off, but it cuts out some of the dialogue, so while the audience understands what happened, they don't understand, among other things, ''why'' it happened. Later, the segment with the cut dialogue is revisited, only now the dialogue is present, explaining [[spoiler: why Shiki tried to kill Mikiya and why she tried to commit suicide afterwards.]]
* PlotBasedVoiceCancellation: The night train passes by as Mikiya learns the drug dealer's name, [[spoiler:Lio Shirazumi]].
* SnowMeansDeath: [[spoiler: Shiki kills Lio when it's snowing.]]
* SnowMeansLove: [[spoiler:As it's snowing outside, Mikiya embraces Shiki and swears to never let her go.]]
* StalkerShrine: Featured in the opening credits, and it's very creepy. Shows up again when [[spoiler: Mikiya investigates Lio's apartment]]. More detail is given and the camera pans around to truly show all the pictures.
* TheyWereHoldingYouBack: [[spoiler:Lio believes this about Mikiya and Shiki, and tries to murder Mikiya to prove that he and Shiki are not so different.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tropes in the Epilogue]]
!!Epilogue: "Boundary of Emptiness" (March 1999)
The original epilogue of the series, where Mikiya meets Ryougi Shiki under circumstances very similar to his first meeting with Shiki.
* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Shiki's Origin and nature is finally spelled out.]]
* TalkingHeads: There is literally nothing happening in the epilogue except Mikiya and Shiki discussing the secrets of the universe.
* WalkAndTalk: At some point, Shiki starts walking up the road and for a bit, their dialogue continues on the move.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tropes in "Future Gospel"]]
!!"Future Gospel" (August 1998 & 2008)
Consists of two parts. "Möbius Ring" takes place between "Lingering Sense of Pain" and "Overlooking View" and concerns a psychic bomb-maker's attempts to assassinate Shiki to prevent her from revealing his identity to the police. "Möbius Link" takes place ten years later. The overarching topic of this chapter is precognition and clairvoyance.
!!!Part 1: "Möbius Ring"
* AnachronicOrder: The anime adaptation jumps back and forth in the timeline, in a way similar to, though easier to follow than [[MindScrew "Paradox Spiral"]].
* HowWeGotHere: The anime adaptation opens with a graphic scene of Shiki walking into a DeathTrap and being shredded to pieces by shrapnel. The rest of the movie shows how she ended up in that predicament.
* LoopholeAbuse: [[spoiler: Normally, Shiki can't do anything about the future with her Mystic Eyes. The future is usually too uncertain and changing. It doesn't really "exist" until it becomes the present. Even Seo's predictions are just uncertain (albeit highly likely) probabilities. However, Meruka's precognitive "calculation" allows him to get the exact future that he wants. This would normally be a good thing that makes it better than just simply predicting the future, but this narrows down the possiblilities of the future, removing its uncertainty and making it a concrete concept. In other words, the future now has an existence, and Shiki can kill anything that exists...]]
* NoblewomansLaugh: In the novel, this is how Seo imagines most of her Reien schoolmates laugh.
* RubeGoldbergDevice: Basically, how Meruka Kuramitsu's precognitive powers work. By doing specific but often unrelated things in a specific sequence, he is somehow able to bring about a very specific future he foresaw.
* {{Seers}}: Touko gets to exposition two types of precognitive talents in Nasuverse: one extrapolates the most likely future scenario from the available data (kinda like a mystic weather forecast), while the other allows the wielder to set up a specific future they desire.
* SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate: Both Shizune and Meruka come to believe that their futures are predetermined BecauseDestinySaysSo, but Shizune is proven wrong when Mikiya simply acts on her prediction and saves the life of a man whose death she foresaw, while Meruka learns his lesson in a much more violent and traumatic fashion from Shiki, who [[spoiler:literally destroys the future he set up for her, taking his precognitive ability as collateral damage]].
* ThreadOfProphecySevered: A precognitive terrorist sets up a DeathTrap for Shiki, foreseeing a 100% chance of successfully killing her. Because his vision is so clear, however, Shiki is able to "see" it, too, and, using her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception (which let her essentially destroy anything she can perceive visually), "kills" that particular timeline outright, rendering her attacker's prophecy utterly wrong (and stripping him of prophetic powers as a side effect).
* TwoLinesNoWaiting: The story basically consists of two plots related only by their overarching theme and occurring at the same time. The first being Mikiya and Seo's encounter and their talk about the future not set in stone, and the second is Shiki hunting down the bomber who has the ability to choose a particular future.
!!!Part 2: "Möbius Link"
* KnightInSourArmor: Mitsuru, kinda. [[spoiler:Having experienced a time where everything he started was automatically 100% successful, he perceives his current life, full of uncertainty, as one long string of failures. Still, he ultimately finds this alternative much better than being effectively doomed to win at all times.]]
* TheStinger: This one has a hidden scene after the credits, in which [[spoiler:Mother of Mifune reads SHIKI's fortune shortly before his suicide and realizes that there is literally no future timeline in which he survives the next few weeks. He is OK with it, though, since she also reads that his dream will live on and eventually be realized]].
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: This chapter is basically this to the protagonists and the antagonist of "Möbius Ring": Shiki and Mikiya are married and have a daughter, Mana; Shiki is also the new head of the Ryougi family enterprise (a.k.a. yakuza); and Mitsuru has become a moderately successful children book writer and was hired by Shiki has her organization's on-staff PI.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tropes in "Extra Chorus"]]
A compilation of short stories occurring in-between the original chapters: "Feline" after "Lingering Sense of Pain", "Daylight" after "Overlooking View", and "Say Grace" after "Paradox Spiral".
!!"Feline"
* BurningWithAnger: Played with. Mikiya tells Shiki that he has to go out of town for two days. He returns a week later to find a very pissed Shiki with a boiling teapot.
* CatsAreLazy: Discussed by Shiki and Mikiya when she complains it just lazes around all day doing what it likes, kind of like a [[HypocriticalHumor certain someone in a yukata.]]
* CatsAreMean: The cat Mikiya brings home is a bit aggressive to Shiki but affectionate towards Mikiya, refusing to be pet by her when they are alone. Azaka compares the cat's temperament to hers.
* CutenessProximity: Azaka quickly fell in love with the cat and wants to bring it home, but Shiki says no.
!!"Daylight"
* SurvivorGuilt: Miyazuki has some serious emotional issues following Yuuko's death, particularly since [[spoiler:she believes it were her own inconsiderate words that led to Yuuko's suicide, unaware of Fujou's role in it]].
* TalkingDownTheSuicidal: Asagami Fujino's "talking down" is more like "scaring you shitless of death": after interrupting Miyazuki's suicide attempt, she points out the ineffectiveness of her chosen method and offers her help, admitting to prior murders and demonstrating her powers. Miyazuki is sufficiently freaked out by it to break down and to actually talk about her issues, allowing herself to finally move on.
!!"Say Grace"
* NewYearHasCome: This short takes place on New Year's Eve before ''Murder Speculation Pt.2'' as [[spoiler:Mikiya still has his left eye and can walk properly.]] Everyone in the short is shown celebrating the New Year in different ways:
** Shiki and Mikiya celebrate their first New Year's Eve as they promised four years ago, much to Azaka's shock and annoyance.
** Seo and Fujino celebrate in the academy and are waiting for Azaka to come back since she doesn't have a reason to stay home anymore.
** The cat Mikiya picks up ran away from its foster owners and is now staying at his parent's house.
* SnowMeansLove: Just as Mikiya and Shiki are about to leave the shrine and Mikiya offers his hand to her in a symbolically chivalrous gesture, the first snow of the year begins to fall.
[[/folder]]
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