Kara no Kyoukai - the Garden of Sinners (空の境界)
One of Type-Moon's most popular novels, and is considered by many to be Nasu's debut work as a writer. Sometimes referred to by its nickname Rakkyo (らっきょ). First serialized on Nasu and Takeuchi's doujin site Takebouki between October 1998 to May 1999 as a doujin novel, where a new chapters were released on a monthly basis. In 2001, a portion of the novel was released with the Tsukihime PLUS-DISC and reactions were positive. As a result, the novel was released as a doujin novel during the 2006 Winter Comiket (C61). In 2004 Kara no Kyoukai was re-released as a 2-volume commercial novel by Kodansha.
In December 2006, a 7-part film adaptation of the series was announced, with the films premiering between 2007, 2008 and 2009. The popularity of Kara no Kyoukai skyrocketed after the film adaptation, particularly among mainstream fans who otherwise would not have heard of the series. Between 2007 and 2008, Kodansha re-released the Kara no Kyoukai novels as a 3-volume bunkoban (文庫版, smaller, higher quality paper and comes with new covers) in conjunction with the Kara no Kyoukai Movie.
A "lost chapter" was released as Kara no Kyoukai the Garden of sinners/recalled out summer during the 2008 Summer Comiket. The 8th chapter, supposedly written long ago by Nasu but was never released, is also called Mirai Fukuin (literally Future Gospel), and it came with bonus comics as well as an Epilogue chapter that gives a glimpse of Shiki and Mikiya's future.
Story
Kara no Kyoukai is a collection of 7 (an 8th chapter was released in 2008) seemingly independent stories featuring the same set of characters, each chapter tells the story of Ryougi Shiki, a girl who, like Tsukihime's Tohno Shiki, also has the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. According to Nasu, since two people with the Eyes of Death Perception cannot exist in the same world, the story of Kara no Kyoukai actually takes place in a alternate world that's just like the Tsukihime world, or something.
In the story, Shiki works for Aozaki Touko, resident puppet master, sorcerer and sister of Tsukihime's Aoko (they don't get along well). Also tagging along are Kokutou Mikiya, Shiki's love interest whose talent at information gathering rivals that of Google, and Kokuto Azaka, Mikiya's little sister and Touko's apprentice who has a huge crush on her brother. Together, Shiki and Co. encounters and solves various supernatural phenomenon that happen around them. As the story progresses, details of Shiki and Mikiya's past begins to emerge.
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Kara no Kyoukai First Edition (Doujin Ed.)Released: December 2001 (C61) First edition of Kara no Kyoukai, published when Type-Moon was still a doujin group. |
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Kara no Kyoukai Part 1 (Doujin Ed.)Released: 2003 (Fifth Ed.) Later editions of the novel. |
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Kara no Kyoukai Part 2 (Doujin Ed.)Released: 2003 (Fifth Ed.) Later editions of the novel. |
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Kara no Kyoukai Part 1 (Kodansha)Released: First Edition - June 5th, 2004; Regular Edition - June 18th, 2004 Part 1 of the commercial version published by Kodansha, letters are slightly bigger than the doujin version's. |
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Kara no Kyoukai Part 2 (Kodansha)Released: First Edition - June 5th, 2004; Regular Edition - June 18th, 2004 Part 2 of the commercial version published by Kodansha. |
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Kara no Kyoukai Part 1 (Kodansha Bunkoban)Released: November 15th, 2007 Volume 1 of a re-release of the novel in conjunction with the Kara no Kyoukai Movie. |
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Kara no Kyoukai Part 2 (Kodansha Bunkoban)Released: December 14th, 2007 Volume 2 of a re-release of the novel in conjunction with the Kara no Kyoukai Movie. |
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Kara no Kyoukai Part 3 (Kodansha Bunkoban)Released: January 16th, 2008 Volume 3 of a re-release of the novel in conjunction with the Kara no Kyoukai Movie. |
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Kara no Kyoukai recalled out summerReleased: August 16th, 2008 (C74) Also known as Mirai Fukuin, the "lost 8th chapter" of Kara no Kyoukai that was later released as recalled out summer for 1,800 yen. |
Related
A Review of Kara no Kyoukai - A rather harsh review of the popular novel from the website Libra: Constellation of Aleksey, translated by Sarah Neufeld.
Interview with Kinoko Nasu Concerning the Theatrical Version of Kara no Kyoukai - An interview with Type-Moon's Nasu on the film adaptation of Kara no Kyoukai.
