In our fourth installment of Kara no Kyoukai, we enter the dual side that is our main girl Shiki. It is here we learn that Shiki has another soul dubbed SHIKI who acts as a male counterpart to herself. On top of that, Shiki begins to learn of her ability to touch supernatural energies due to her eyes being able to perceive things normal eyes cannot. Mikiya helps his friend by summoning Touko Aozaki—who we know is their future boss—and the training for Shiki officially commences. Kara no Kyoukai 4: Garan no Dou does a fantastic job being a short movie that shows how Shiki knows what powers she has and why she feels so strangely in this world. It also helps make the fifth movie make more sense as its where the series picks up in its mystery undertones quite quickly.

Kara no Kyoukai 5: Mujun Rasen is considered one of the best movies of the 8-part tale and for good reason. Rather thAn focusing on constant action, Kara no Kyoukai 5: Mujun Rasen aims to be a mystery tale first and foremost. A young man named Tomoe Enjou—who looks a bit like Shiro Emiya from the Fate series—is on the run after believing he murdered his parents in cold blood. Things take a turn for the strange though when days seem to pass and no one is talking about the grisly murder Tomoe committed. While Tomoe continues his flight, he runs into Shiki and ends up becoming friends with her—even living with her for some time—but it also begins Shiki’s involvement when she realizes something is strange about this whole situation. We won’t spoil Kara no Kyoukai 5: Mujun Rasen any further here, folks; but it’s a trippy tale of mystery, suspense and action that you’ll love from beginning to end. If you watched this in chronological order, you’d be less impacted by the story due to various characters appearing and showing their skills you’ve come to see already.

The sixth movie—Kara no Kyoukai 6: Boukyaku Rokuon—can come across as silly to most who view it but let us explain why this part is crucial to the story and why it’s best viewed in order of release. Kara no Kyoukai 6: Boukyaku Rokuon focuses on Mikiya’s sister Azaka who—like Shiki—is able to see supernatural entities and forces due to her skills as a mage. While in school an incident befalls the students causing Azaka to investigate with the aid of hired help Shiki. There’s an intense amount of rivalry between the two ladies and the reason behind that is the concept of love. You’ll understand why Azaka always seems to have issues with Shiki—as seen in previous movies—and how Shiki does indeed have feelings for Mikiya even if she tends to show those said feelings in rather odd ways. While Kara no Kyoukai 6: Boukyaku Rokuon isn’t the best of the movies, its romance element is what shows the love between Shiki and Mikiya without painting an obvious picture. It also helps the second to last movie gain some more oomph.