''The Garden of Sinners'', known in Japan as sometimes referred to as , is a Japanese

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

series, written by

Kinoko Nasu , known better as , is a Japanese author, best known for writing the light novel ''The Garden of Sinners'' and visual novels '' Tsukihime'' and ''Fate/stay night'', and a co-founder of Type-Moon. Nasu graduated from Hosei University with a majo ...

and illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi. Originally released as a series of chapters released independently online or at

Comiket , more commonly known as or , is a semiannual Doujinshi convention, ''doujinshi'' convention in Tokyo, Japan. A grassroots market focused on the sale of ''doujin'' (self-published) works, Comiket is a not-for-profit fan convention administered ...

between October 1998 and August 1999, the chapters were later republished by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

into two volumes in 2004, and again in three volumes between 2007 and 2008.

Ufotable is a Japanese animation studio founded in October 2000 by former Telecom Animation Film producer Hikaru Kondō and located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. A unique hallmark seen in many of their works ('' Ninja Nonsense'', '' Futakoi Alternative'', '' Coyo ...

produced a series of seven

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

films based on the series between 2007 and 2009 and also produced an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

episode in 2011. A final anime film was produced and released in 2013. A manga

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

illustrated by Sphere Tenku started serialization in September 2010 in Seikaisha's online magazine ''Saizensen''.

Plot

Story and setting

Set in Japan predominantly during the late 1990s, ''The Garden of Sinners'' follows the story of , a teenage girl raised as a demon hunter who acquired the " Mystic Eyes of Death Perception" after surviving a fatal accident. It also chronicles Mikiya Kokutou's unwavering efforts to get closer to her when they were still high school students and their adventures later on in dealing with supernatural cases as investigators for Touko Aozaki's detective agency, ''Garan no Dou''. This is set in an alternate universe to '' Tsukihime'' and ''

Fate/stay night ''Fate/stay night'' is a Japanese visual novel game developed by Type-Moon. It was first released for Microsoft Windows, Windows on January 30, 2004. The story takes place over three distinct routes: ''Fate'', ''Unlimited Blade Works'' ...

''; in which it serves as the prototype for both series as well as introducing many of the concepts prevalent within the latter two. In particular the main protagonist, Shiki Ryougi, possesses similar abilities as ''Tsukihime''s protagonist, Shiki Tohno. Touko Aozaki's sister, Aoko Aozaki, is also featured briefly in ''Tsukihime''. As one of

's earliest works, it introduces some of the most fundamental concepts in the universe of

Type-Moon Type-Moon (stylized as TYPE-MOON) is a Japanese video game company, best known for their visual novels, co-founded by author Kinoko Nasu and illustrator Takashi Takeuchi. It is also known under the name for its publishing and corporate operation ...

's works, including souls, the Akashic Record/Root, Counter Force, Magic, Magecraft, and Mystic Eyes. Both the

and the films are depicted in anachronical order with each chapter/film serving as part of one collective narrative.

Themes

The series deals with the paranormal and tackles mature topics such as suicide, rape,

patricide Patricide (or paternal homicide) is the act of killing one's own father. The word ''patricide'' derives from the Latin language, Latin word ''pater'' (father) and the suffix ''-cida'' (cutter or killer). Patricide is a sub-form of parricide, wh ...

, incest and murder.Kara no Kyoukai Special Pamphlet – Encyclopedia, Aniplex USA Its lore and story draws inspiration from various religious philosophies and psychological concepts such as

multiple personalities Multiplicity, also called plurality or polypsychism, is an online subculture of people identifying as having or using multiple personalities, or as having multiple people occupying one mind and body. Multiplicity communities mostly exist online ...

; the

Anima and animus The anima and animus are a pair of Dualism in cosmology, dualistic, Jungian archetypes which form a syzygy (disambiguation)#Philosophy, syzygy, or union of opposing forces. Carl Jung described the animus as the Unconscious mind, unconscious masc ...

; the nature of sin; life, death and reincarnation; and the Paradoxical nature of the Taiji.

Main characters

is a teenaged girl, who possesses the " Mystic Eyes of Death Perception". is Shiki's love interest and later husband who, two years previously, made a promise to attend college with Shiki. is Mikiya's younger sister who is in love with him. She becomes an apprentice of Tōko due to her rivalry against Shiki and is talented in ignition magecraft. , appearing as a puppet maker, Touko is actually a powerful

Magus Magi (), or magus (), is the term for priests in Zoroastrianism and earlier Iranian religions. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Per ...

Media

Light novels

''The Garden of Sinners'' originated in October 1998 as a series of five chapters released online on Nasu and Takeuchi's

dōjin In Japan, a is a group of people who share an interest, activity, or hobby. The word is sometimes translated into English as " clique", "fandom", "coterie", "society", or "circle" (as in " sewing circle"). Self-published creative works pro ...

-based website, , with its final two chapters being released at Comiket 56 in August 1999. Nasu and Takeuchi later formed

, and in 2001, featured the first four chapters of the book on their 2001 '' Tsukihime'' bonus disk, '' Tsukihime Plus-Disk'', which saw ''The Garden of Sinners'' gain significant popularity, leading it to be released as a

dōjinshi , also Romanization of Japanese, romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of ''doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of exi ...

publication at Comiket 61 on December 30, 2001. On August 6, 2004,

released the series as a commercial publication, which enjoyed immense popularity, with 5,000 limited-edition versions of the novel being sold almost immediately upon release. Both editions of ''The Garden of Sinners'' altogether sold more than 700,000 copies. A chapter, ''Final Record'', was distributed as a bonus for viewers of the ''Future Gospel'' film.

Del Rey Manga Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint (trade name), imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. History Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cr ...

announced the English publication of the light novel series. This was confirmed in the first volume of Del Rey's ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' released on August 19, 2008. However, Del Rey became defunct before it could happen.

Short stories

Manga

A manga adaptation of the novel series written and illustrated by Tenkuu Sphere is currently being serialized in ''Saizensen'' web magazine since September 15, 2010. The original writer Kinoko Nasu and artist Takashi Takeuchi supervised the work. The tankobon volumes are published by Kodansha.

Drama CD

On August 9, 2002, a drama CD written by based on the ''Overlooking View'' chapter was released.

Anime films

The series was adapted into an

film series, divided into seven chapters, which were animated by the studio

. The films are released in achronological order. The first chapter, titled , premiered across Japanese theaters on December 1, 2007, with the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters, , , , , , being released soon after on December 29, 2007, followed by January 26, 2008, May 24, 2008, August 16, 2008, December 20, 2008, and August 8, 2009, respectively. A compilation film of the first six films with some new footage was released on March 14, 2009, in preparation for the release of the final seventh film. In connection with the film's release, the novels were once again reprinted, as three volumes with new illustrations. A North American premiere of the fifth chapter was held on May 22, 2009, at the Anime Boston convention. The series was released on Blu-ray with a new chapter, ''Gekijō-ban Kara no Kyōkai Shūshō: Kara no Kyōkai'', in Japanese with English subtitles. A DVD of the said chapter was released on February 2, 2011.

Aniplex of America Aniplex of America, or Aniplex USA, is an anime distributor based in Santa Monica, California that serves as the American distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an entertainment company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan, where its goal is to ...

released the imported Blu-ray box set on February 8, 2011. The box was immediately sold out and has not been reissued since. However, the individual films were available for rent on the

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

until mid-2012. A new limited edition DVD boxset was released in late 2012. Likewise,

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising ...

released a limited edition DVD boxset in October 2013. 3D conversion of ''The Garden of Sinners '' first movie called was released in July 2013. A TV series conversion of the seven films was broadcast From July to September 2013. This reconstructed the story in chronological order rather than the order of release and did not include Chapter 5, ''Paradox Spiral'', and Chapter 6, ''Oblivion Recording''. An eighth film, , was released in September 2013 and had grossed US$1,710,413 by October 20. Aniplex of America has released ''Future Gospel'' (now subtitled ''-recalled out summer-'') and ''Future Gospel – Extra Chorus'' on Blu-ray in late April 2015. Aniplex has also released the Japanese import of all seven films on Blu-ray in November 2015. Each of the theme songs to the film series are performed by

Kalafina is a Japanese vocal group formed by composer Yuki Kajiura in 2007, mainly to perform theme songs for the anime ''The Garden of Sinners'', but later expanded to include many other theme songs for other anime shows and films including the '' Puel ...

, a project formed by

Yuki Kajiura is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer. She has provided the music for several popular anime series, such as ''Sword Art Online'', '' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', '' Fate/Zero'', ''The Garden of Sinners'', '' Pandora Hearts'', and ...

. Outside of the ones for ''Future Gospel'', they were found on their album '' Seventh Heaven''. The ''Final Record'' chapter currently has no plans to be animated.

Releases

* '' The Garden of Sinners: Overlooking View'' (2007 (original) / 2013 (3D remake) * '' The Garden of Sinners: A Study in Murder – Part 1'' (2007) * '' The Garden of Sinners: Remaining Sense of Pain'' (2008) * '' The Garden of Sinners: The Hollow Shrine'' (2008) * '' The Garden of Sinners: Paradox Spiral'' (2008) * '' The Garden of Sinners: Oblivion Recording'' (2008) * '' The Garden of Sinners: A Study in Murder – Part 2'' (2009) * '' The Garden of Sinners: Future Gospel'' (2013)

Other films

Theme songs

References

External links

*
Manga official website

Official Aniplex USA website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garden of Sinners, The 1998 Japanese novels 2007 anime films 2008 anime films 2009 anime films 2011 anime OVAs Animated films set in Japan Animated films set in the 1990s Anime and manga about incest Anime and manga based on light novels Anime composed by Yuki Kajiura Aniplex Dark fantasy anime and manga Japanese novels adapted into films Light novels Light novels first published online Novels about magic Philosophical anime and manga Psychological anime and manga The Garden of Sinners Type-Moon Ufotable 2000s Japanese-language films 2010s Japanese-language films