The Garden of Sinners – recalled into summer – extra chorus

 

• Genre : Supernatural, drama,  psychological, 
• Length: 32 minutes
• Studio: ufotable

 

You know how life is. A bit like a large sea of boredom punctuated by seconds of intense terror. It’s also a bit like love, a mish mash of uncertainty and worry interrupted by moments of utter bliss. The trick is simply in finding those moments that make every thing else seem worthwhile and making sure they last as long as possible. You can’t get around pain or loss, the only way out is through. But if you look hard enough, you can find a light at the end of the tunnel. In the past few months, a number of young women have been wandering through the dark and now, it’s finally time to come out into the light.

As far as I know The Garden of Sinners – recalled into summer – extra chorus is the final instalment in the franchise. At least I hope so. It felt very much like an ending. A little icing on the cake prologue to the entire the Garden of Sinners saga. If that sounds familiar, there’s a reason for that.

This movie is only 30 minutes long and revisits a lot of the characters and events of previous movies. As such, the emphasis was given to clarity over creativity on the production side. A smart move if you ask me. Flashbacks have muted colour palettes to instantly distinguish them from current events. Linework is sharp and colours are saturated. Voice acting is a touch more intense than usual but there were a lot of feeeeeelings to convey and a short time to do it in.

I have to say, visually, this movie looked a lot like the Fate franchise to me. I mean all the Garden of Sinners movies do up to a certain point but this time it seemed undeniable. I figure if you like the look of Unlimited Blade Works, you’ll most likely like the looks of The Garden of Sinners – recalled into summer – extra chorus as well. And for once, that’s really all I have to say about it.

Like I said above, The Garden of Sinners – recalled into summer – extra chorus feels like an epilogue, which it is. It’s well made and it fits with the tone of the series while giving us just enough new information to not be completely redundant. It’s basically 3 short stories.

The first revolves around Shiki having to take care of Mikiya’s cat for a few days. Azaka also drops by. It’s very short but it allows us to see all these characters in a new light and Shiki has an uncharacteristic yet perfectly fitting emotional reaction. It was nice and added a layer of mundane realism to all three characters that really helped flesh them out as potentially real people.

The second dealt with the aftermath of the events at Reien Girl’s Academy from the point of view of a student we didn’t get to know before and the return of the improbably alive Fujino. This is the first time that we’ve got a chance to see how the waves of destruction Shiki leaves in her wake affect everyone else. It also showed us a matured and changed Fujino who managed to add such complexity and depth to her character in the few minutes she was on screen, that I sincerely wished this had been her character in movie 3.

Finally, a quick Christmas scene between Mikiya and Shiki, with a little comedy relief cameo from the lovely Azaka, wrapped everything up on an unexpectedly sweet note that nevertheless fit in well. The focus on the start of a soft snowfall at the very end of the episode was a beautiful way to bookend this series where rain and snow have played such an important and omnipresent atmospheric role. It was a cautiously optimistic promise of happier days to come.

What I’m saying is that this movie was good. It was well executed, nicely paced and just pleasant. It was also completely useless.

This is arguably the 4^th ending to this franchise. the Garden of sinners Chapter 7: ……not nothing heart. (Murder Speculation Part B) had a saccharine Disneyesque ending that I personally thought did not suit the series well but nevertheless did provide closure. Final Chapter (8) was an actual epilogue both chronologically and spiritually which answered all my gripes about the previous ending and in my mind, put a cap on the series. Then, the Garden of Sinners – recalled into summer, gave us a new adventure with a decade flashforward that would give fans everything they could possibly want in ways of “what happened after” and at this point, was already somewhat unnecessary. Now this one just seems excessive.

It’s a shame because it’s not a bad movie. Maybe if I hadn’t watched them all so close together, it wouldn’t have felt this repetitive and I could have enjoyed it more. Like I said, the movie is decent on its own merits. You absolutely need to have seen a few Garden of Sinners movies to understand it, especially 3 and 6, but otherwise, I have no real complaints. But it’s also superfluous to its franchise and I have to wonder why it was released.

This was a confusing review. Do I recommend The Garden of Sinners – recalled into summer – extra chorus? Maybe! I’m getting better at this reviewing thingy!

Favourite character: Touko! It’s always Touko

What this anime taught me: it really is all a matter of perspective

If everyone just treated each other like drunk girls do in public bathrooms, the world would be a better place

Suggested drink: White Christmas Mojito

• Every time Touko smokes – take a deep breath
• Every time Shiki is lazing around – take a sip
• Every time anyone yawns – take a sip
• Every time we see returning characters – take a snack
• Every time events from past movies are mentioned – take a sip
• Every time we see Yuko Andou – pour some out

 There are no pics of either Shiki or Mikiya in this post. Let me fix that!