AMINE AND MANGA

Movie 1: Overlooking View
Timeline: September 1998
Mikiya Kokutō brings over some ice cream while visiting Shiki, but Shiki is not happy to see him and adamantly refuses to eat any of it. Afterwards, Shiki and Touko discuss the recent spate of unusual suicide incidents where several high school girls fell to their death, but left no suicide note and had apparently no reason to commit suicide. Touko concludes that the girls did not intend to die. At night, Shiki visits the deserted part of town containing the Fujō buildings which have now fallen into disrepair and are about to be demolished, and while there stumbles upon the body of newest victim. She also notices several ghostly figures floating above the Fujō building.
The next day, Shiki discusses the building with Tōko, as she can feel something abnormal about it. Tōko suggests that the figures are records and memories of the victims who have died so far but have for some reason not dissipated into the world. In the afternoon, Shiki is walking outside when another victim falls to her death. Deciding to take action, Shiki visits the Fujō building at sunset and battles a mysterious apparition that manages to take control of Shiki's left arm and tries to choke her to death with it. Using her mystic eyes, Shiki destroys her arm which is revealed to be a puppet arm that Tōko created for her. While the arm is being repaired, Shiki eats the ice cream that Kokutō bought using her remaining arm. The next day, Shiki takes back the repaired and improved arm, returns to the Fujō building and destroys all the floating figures and the apparition, who attempts to use her power of suggestion to make Shiki fall. It has no effect on her because she never had interest in such things.
Afterwards, Kirie Fujō awakes in her physical body on her hospital bed after being killed by Shiki in her spiritual body. Touko walks in and asks why she did it, Fujō replies that she didn't intend to make them fall, she just wanted to make friends with them, and so called to them, as she was stuck in the hospital with an incurable condition ever since she could remember. After Touko leaves, Fujō decides that the moment of her death when she was killed by Shiki was the most that she has ever felt alive, and wanted to relive that feeling. She wheels herself to the roof of the Fujō building, where she commits suicide by falling from the roof. Kokutō wakes up, feeling as if he had slept for a very long period of time, and Shiki demands that he stay over at her house to finish the ice cream he bought. In the Epilogue, Touko is walking near the Fujō building with Azaka Kokutō, where Fujō's corpse has been found. Touko comments that she just probably could not fly today.

[edit] Movie 2: Murder Speculation (Part 1)
Timeline: August 1995 - March 1996
Mikiya first meets Shiki in a white kimono during a snowing day. Later on, at the high school freshmen ceremony, Mikiya sees Shiki in the crowd and chases after her, introducing himself to her. At night, Shiki stumbles onto a fresh corpse of someone killed in a traffic accident, the blood still flowing. Kneeling, she applies the blood on her lips as lipstick and smiles. At school the next day, Mikiya discusses Shiki's choice of dress, a kimono, stating that it must be cold. Shiki replies that she will simply wear something over it when it gets colder, and Mikiya suggests a jacket. Shiki later on takes Mikiya's suggestion and buys her trademark red leather jacket. At night, a man stumbles as he runs in fear from an unseen attacker, who kills him brutally with a knife. The next day, Mikiya tells Shiki about the murder, saying he has an inside source as the murder is not on the news yet but Shiki is displeased that Mikiya is talking about something like that during lunch.
The police discover the fourth corpse, the school reacts to the news by prohibiting all after school activities. Shiki is one of the few people left in the school by this time, but bumps into someone she does not know, who reprimands her by asking her if four times isn't too much, even if she is irritated. Shiki refuses to reply. It is raining outside, and as Shiki waits at the entrance, Mikiya comes up behind her and offers her an umbrella. Startled, Shiki refuses, saying she has someone coming to pick her up. The two wait there in silence, until Shiki can no longer stand it and suddenly asks Mikiya where he was the whole time, and he replies saying that he was in holding a farewell party for an upperclassman, Lio Shirazumi, that was dropping out of school because he found something to do. Mikiya invited Shiki as well, but Shiki did not think he was serious. At night, Shiki finds the fifth corpse, but simply remarks "the fifth one" emotionally.
Shiki has a duel with her father, using real katanas, but loses. Her servant, Akitaka, remarks that Shiki is the real successor of the family, over her male brother, an unusual move as the male is the successor in traditional Japanese families. This is because only Shiki inherited the special multiple personality of the Ryōgi family who in her case, is male and Shiki wraps herself in bandages to hide her femininity. During lunch break, Mikiya's friend from the judo club, Gakuto, quizzes him about the rumor that he is going out with Shiki. He admits that he does like her, but they are only friends. Later on, Mikiya finds a letter in his desk from Shiki asking him out on a date. Shiki shows up, but talks and behaves in a boyish manner, leaving Mikiya confused. Over a meal, SHIKI, the male personality, writes out two different spellings, Shiki (式) and SHIKI (織), and explains that he is the rebellious impulse of Shiki, but lately they have been out of sync, whatever Shiki likes, SHIKI does not, and vice-versa.
Mikiya has dinner with his cousin, Daisuke, who is a detective and is investigating the recent murders. He reveals that they have obtained a recent clue, Mikiya's school emblem was found at the latest murder scene. After school, SHIKI has a frank talk with Mikiya, warning him that Shiki will try to kill anything that opens up her isolation with the world. The next day, Mikiya still offers to eat lunch with Shiki, leaving her perplexed. At lunch, Mikiya notices a bandaged injury on Shiki's left arm, who admits that she got it during the last killing. Mikiya doesn't believe her, but Shiki warns him again that if he doesn't back off, she will probably end up killing him. Mikiya once again has Daisuke over for dinner, who reveals that they found the killer's skin underneath the victim's fingernails, and that the killer probably has an injury around the elbow, the location that Shiki had bandaged. Panicking, Mikiya dashes out to Shiki's mansion in the bamboo grove, but Shiki is apparently not in. While walking around in the grove, Mikiya finds Shiki, drenched in blood in front of a fresh headless corpse spurting blood. As the blood splatters onto Shiki standing there in a trance, Shiki turns and smiles at Mikiya. Walking up to the terrified Mikiya, Shiki smiles and says "Be careful Kokutou-kun. A terrible premonition tends to attract a terrible reality."
After the cops find the crime scene, Mikiya pretends to not have seen anybody, but secretly goes back to keep watch on Shiki's house every night, and is easily spotted by Akitaka as he does not do a very good job of keeping hidden. This keeps up until Shiki loses her patience and has another talk with Mikiya, who still refuses to believe she is the killer, and she then asks him if he will be coming tonight. That night, Mikiya is still keeping watch, when Shiki in a blood red kimono shows up in the rain, and chases him while slashing wildly with her knife. Shiki chases Mikiya to the road just outside the bamboo grove, where Mikiya falls and Shiki straddles him, holding a knife to his throat. Tears streaming down her cheeks, Shiki asks Kokutō to say something, who can only reply with "I don't want to die.". Shiki smiles warmly and replies that she wants to kill him. Screeching tires are heard, and the scene switches to June 1998 where Mikiya has started working for Tōko, and visits the comatose Shiki in the hospital with flowers, stating that he has always believed in her.

[edit] Movie 3: Remaining Sense of Pain
Timeline: July 1998
A teenaged girl, Fujino Asagami, is being raped by a street gang in an abandoned bar. During one night, Mikiya finds a confused Fujino crouched in an alley and noticing she is suffering from pain in her abdomen. Mikiya accompanies her to his apartment where she falls asleep. In the next morning, Mikiya notices Fujino is gone. At the same time, the news report a murder scene in an abandoned underground bar where the victims' corpses were found with their limbs torn off.
Later, inside Tōko's office, Mikiya rants on Tōko about not having his monthly salary paid because she spent her money on a Victorian ouija board. Disappointed, he leaves the office. Then, Tōko talks to Shiki about the murder scene and asks Shiki to capture a suspected perpetrator per a client's request. Shiki, confident she will recognize the suspect, leaves without reading the suspect's background information. Shiki claims they will try to kill each other the moment they meet.
Mikiya asks his friend Gakutō to lend him money. Gakutō accepts, but in return asks Mikiya to help him find Keita Minato, a friend who was acquainted with Mikiya during his high school days. Fujino is shown dialing Keita's phone, but instead, Keita does not answer while he is cowering frightened. Then after, elsewhere, Fujino is dismembering someone without actually touching him while asking for Keita's location. In another scene, Mikiya's sister, Azaka Kokutou, is chatting with Fujino in a cafe and Shiki approaches Azaka to tell her Mikiya will not come to see her. Shiki notices Fujino and stares at her with killing intent, but Fujino does not respond. Thus, Shiki does not recognize Fujino as the suspect during that time.
Later during one night, Fujino is dismembering another victim (In the novels, the victim was a friend of Keita who tricked Fujino to where she can find Keita but in reality he wanted to rape her). The moment Fujino kills him, Shiki appears to confront her stating that Fujino is similar to her and therefore not normal. As Shiki and Fujino get ready to fight, a sudden change in Fujino's character occurs that makes Shiki no longer desiring to fight and leaves the scene. A flashback in Fujino's childhood reveals her playing with a knife along her toys, seemingly injured and bleeding. However, she continued playing as if she did not feel any pain. Back to the present, Fujino calls Keita's number saying she is finally feeling pain and therefore alive. But she does not want Keita, the only survivor of the bar's crime scene, to tell she is a murderer so she can live normally. Therefore, she intends to kill Keita.
In that instant, Mikiya is with Keita listening to Fujino's phone call. Keita reveals he and his friends have gang raped Fujino for some time but she did not show any signs of pain or emotion except until recently when she was hit at the back of her neck by one of Keita's friends. Mikiya is disgusted on how Keita and his gang treated Fujino but he still helps him by bringing him back to Tōko's office for protection.
Mikiya then intends to talk to Fujino to stop her quest of revenge. Tōko tells him that Keita confessed that his friend stabbed Fujino in her abdomen in the night of the murders and that actually triggered her desire to kill. However, Shiki when she first met Fujino noticed she did not have any wounds. She states that her pain is still inside Fujino's body and she would resort to killing to relieve the pain. Mikiya leaves to investigate Fujino's past.
During one night, a driver is about to accidentally crash into Fujino, but he is murdered before that happened. Shiki decides she must stop Fujino. A flashback scene shows Fujino, with an injured leg, once met Mikiya years ago. As she does not felt any pain, Mikiya tells her that a pain is something that is spoken about.
Mikiya discovers that initially, Fujino was able to feel pain, but her father (revealed to be her step father in the novels) artificially sealed her ability to feel pain in order to suppress her telekinetic powers. Tōko then deduces that Fujino was never stabbed in the first place, but she was indeed feeling pain the moment she was about to be stabbed. Her real pain is caused by an untreated and ruptured appendicitis and Tōko concludes Fujino does not have enough time left to live.
Shiki confronts Fujino on a newly constructed bridge that is sealed off, this time both wishing to defeat one another since Fujino can feel pain and joy for killing. During the fight, Shiki's left arm is twisted and rendered useless by Fujino's power. After constantly fleeing from Fujino's attacks, Shiki is finally able to 'see' through her telekinesis and able to 'cut' them with her 'Mystic Eyes of Death Perception'. Just before being delivered the final blow, Fujino uses her acquired 'clairvoyance' to destroy the entire bridge without the need to actually see her surroundings. An injured and agonizing Fujino tries to escape, realizing her desire to live and love towards Mikiya (and in the novels, her mother). She is found by Shiki who bends down and stabs her.
Mikiya and Tōko find Shiki oustide of the bridge, who tells them Fujino lost her sensitivity to pain in the end and lost the desire to kill her. Instead, Shiki cuts through Fujino's illness. Tōko tells Shiki she will replace her left arm with a puppet arm capable of grasping spiritual embodiments. Mikiya calls a medical team to treat Fujino.
In the end, Mikiya confesses Shiki he is concerned about Fujino whose acts will haunt her mind and remain hurting her. Despite the terrible things she had done, she was more human than the gang who treated her. Mikiya also confesses he will stay by Shiki's side, by which Shiki also confesses she feels a 'small 'special' murderous intent towards Mikiya'.

[edit] Movie 4: The Hollow
Timeline: March 1996- June 1998
Following the incident in the second movie, Shiki is being carried by ambulance to a hospital where she lies in coma (the cause will be revealed in the final movie). Mikiya visits her very frequently and leaving rose bouquets which garner him praises by the nurses for his commitment to visit Shiki all this time. Time passes, and Mikiya graduates from high school and meets Tōko Aozaki who hires him.
During Shiki's near death experiences within the Void, she encounters her male counterpart, SHIKI, who sacrifices its existence. After two years, Shiki wakes up and finds Mikiya's 'recover soon' note and a bouquet of roses. At this moment Shiki does not recall Mikiya's name. As she looks at the bouquet, she sees cracks running through the roses. The moment she touches the cracks, the roses whither and shatter. While being treated by the medical staff, unaware of Shiki's new ability, Shiki is able to see the cracks on them and on herself and has visions where people and her are sliced through those cracks. Confused and frightened, she injures her own eyes.
Mikiya is told Shiki has regained consciousness but visitors except for family members will not be allowed to see her. Tōko, passing as a therapist, visits Shiki, who has both of her eyes bandaged due to her self inflicted injury. Tōko introduces herself as a sorcerer and points out that Shiki is indeed alone and her hollowed heart can only be filled by normal people. Tōko tells Mikiya that Shiki is okay, but he should not visit her yet.
In the hospital, Shiki is being haunted by spirits who try to possess her body. Tōko visits Shiki every day and discuss about Shiki's dual personality. Tōko states that Shiki's condition is special because both Shiki and SHIKI integrated a combined personality. Tōko also realizes that as SHIKI is gone, Shiki's memory created a lapse and therefore will not be able to conclude Shiki's involvement in the murders two years ago. Tōko also points out that SHIKI sacrificed itself for Shiki to survive. Shiki still does not remember Mikiya's name.
Shiki, still having her eyes bandaged, is told by the medical staff she has recovered and can go back home. However, Shiki is deeply frightened by the world full of cracks she sees with her eyes. Later in the night she tries to stab her eyes with her fingers but is stopped by Tōko, who speaks with Shiki about the 'Mystic Eyes of Death Perception'. Tōko tells Shiki she can teach her more about her new ability, which allows Shiki to 'perceive' and also 'touch' the 'death' of things. However, Shiki does not feel the desire to live. Tōko points out that although Shiki does not want to live, she is also scared to die. In that state, Shiki would be targeted by the spirits in the hospital and Tōko's magical protection would be voided. Disappointed, Tōko leaves asking Shiki if SHIKI's sacrifice was for nothing.
Later in the night, Tōko's protection shatters and a possessed corpse assaults Shiki. Back with Mikiya, Tōko describes Shiki's heart as being hollow and only through present and future experiences she will be able to build her new personality and 'shrine' in her heart. Mikiya starts singing softly 'Singing in the Rain'. Shiki realizes death is truly lonesome and frightful and fights back the possessed corpse. Shiki and the corpse fall through the hospital room's windows. Tōko finds Shiki and tries to stop the corpse with her ignition sorcery but her attempt is unsuccessful because the target is already dead, and it would require very strong sorcery to cremate it. Shiki removes her bandages and battles the corpse. Tōko hurls a knife for Shiki to use. Shiki cuts her hair and uses the knife along with her 'Mystic Eyes of Death Perception' to slice the corpse. The spirits possessing the corpse possess Shiki's body, but she fights back by stabbing her own body to reach the spiritual being's "existence" and cuts through them. Shiki erases the spirits and Tōko offers to teach Shiki how to use her mystic eyes. In exchange, Tōko asks Shiki to work for her.
Back in the hospital, Mikiya visits Shiki. At the same time Shiki finally recalls Mikiya's name, saying that his name sounds as a French poet's name.
After the end credits, three people from the previous film are visited by a mysterious man with dark trench coat. He is shown with Kirie Fujō granting her with a body that she can move, later with Fujino Asagami healing her back wound and meets a down, bloody Lio Shirazumi. When all three ask who he is, he responds, "A magus, Sōren Araya."

[edit] Movie 5: Paradox Spiral
Timeline: November 1998
Shiki's Arc
In the middle of the night, Tomoe Enjou stabs his parents to death in a fit of rage, before escaping his apartment in a panic. Not long after, a homeless burglar finds their bodies, but when he returns with the police, to his surprise, he finds them being greeted by the residents in perfect health.
Sometime later, Shiki helps fend off some school bullies that were attacking Tomoe. Seemingly taken by Shiki's presence, he quickly asks her to help hide him, ecstatically claiming that he is a murderer. Shiki agrees, and simply cites she “is the same as him” when he is surprised by her easy acceptance of his status.
For the next month, Tomoe stays at Shiki's place, their life punctuated with Shiki's nightly sojourns, and Tomoe waiting for the news report of his parents' murder. During this time, Tomoe notices a strange man in a red hat and coat following Shiki. Tomoe warns her of this fact, which she idly dismisses. When they get into an argument over this, Tomoe claims he loves her, and as he lacks any worth, he'd be willing to die for her. Shiki refuses the offer, and asks him to consider where he feels his real home is. Tomoe feels then that he cannot hide any longer with Shiki, and leaves.
Not long after, Tomoe is shocked to see his mother still alive. Confused, he returns to Shiki. To confirm Tomoe's murder, Shiki accompanies him in returning to his residence at Ogawa apartment: an ominous, circular complex colored red, which was completed recently.
When they enter the elevator, Shiki notices they are ascending in a spiral. Reaching the 4th floor, Shiki insists on not ringing the doorbell, and simply entering Tomoe's home. Inside, they are met with Tomoe's abusive family, even another Tomoe, and watch the family's final moments as Tomoe's mother succumbs to murder-suicide. Shiki explains that these are simply imitation puppets that are revived in the morning and are forced to relive their final day alive repeatedly. Because Tomoe did not ring the doorbell, they continued to act as if they had no visitor.
Shiki then brings Tomoe to the opposite side of the apartment, his “real home”. She explains that when elevator began operating, due to the construction of the complex, none of the residents realized the rotating elevator made them exit 180 degrees, into another set of flats. When they enter Tomoe's original residence, they find the rotted corpses of the parents. This side of the apartment is used to store corpses. However, this intrusion also causes the undead puppets of the other deceased apartment residents to attack them when they exit. Shiki easily cuts them down, but afterwards she is confronted by Souren Araya. It is revealed in a short flashback that sometime during the second movie, Shiki had previously fought Souren.
Souren explains that he controls the apartment, as part of an experiment that uses the building to simulate a “miniature world that concludes in a day”. After driving all the occupants to kill one another, he has been making them repeat their deaths over the past half year, hoping for a deviation in their deaths. He also reveals that he was the one who manipulated Kirie and Fujino in the previous movies to attack Shiki, as antithesis to her, in hopes he can force her to recognize her own “Origin”. As they are meeting early, Souren decides to capture her now.
Shiki's mystic eyes are unable to perceive lines on Souren's body, due to his great age (his Origin being “Stillness”) and mystical artifacts he grafted onto his left arm in preparation. She attacks, regardless, even able to cut through his defenses, but in the end, she is defeated by Souren, and absorbed into the building.
Tomoe, the lone witness of all this, grabs Shiki's knife and escapes back to her home.
Mikiya's Arc
Final Arc