Gekijô ban Kara no kyôkai: Dai san shô - Tsukakû zanryû

The third movie of The Garden of Sinners is set shortly before the first movie and about three years after the second movie. Thus, it manages to work as a bit of a bridge between the two, though many things still remain unclear.

Ultimately, that is what bothers me most about this series in general and this movie specifically. As a standalone movie, it simply doesn't make much sense, though it doesn't fare quite as badly as the first movie. As part of a series, the hour-long format doesn't feel quite right either. A more traditional format would perhaps work better; by this time, at least the characters have become somewhat familiar, though I still don't feel like a know them all that well. And similarly, the universe is in dire need of exposition which none of the movies so far have deigned to give.

Odd format aside, the movie is terribly well made. The animations and backgrounds are visually impressive, the cinematography works fairly well, the atmosphere is solidly gritty, and the soundtrack is lovely.

If I understood the preview of the next chapter, the fourth movie will finally be able to bridge the time between the second and the third one, so I hope that I'll be able to gain some comprehension then... In total, I don't yet see the appeal in this series. The characters aren't introduced enough to become all that likeable, the universe is so badly explained that I have no idea what the stakes are, and the rest is simply not unique enough to warrant the flaws. Yet I can't deny that my interest has been picked; hopefully I won't regret my choice not to have abandoned this series yet.