The Garden of Sinners: The Hollow Shrine

""Everything is full of happiness, but humans are so alone.""

2008 0h 45m JA

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 102

AnimationFantasyActionMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

June 1998: After spending two years in a coma caused by a traffic accident, Shiki Ryougi awakens with amnesia. She is visited by Touko Aozaki, a wizard and proprietor of a studio called Garan no Dou. Shiki has lost not only the memory of her accident, but also any real sense that she's even alive. Strangely, enigmatic beings begin to attack her...

“"Everything is full of happiness, but humans are so alone."”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Maaya Sakamoto
Shiki Ryougi (voice)
Kenichi Suzumura
Mikiya Kokutou (voice)
Jouji Nakata
Souren Araya (voice)
Mamiko Noto
Fujino Asagami (voice)
Soichiro Hoshi
Lio Shirazumi (voice)
Takako Honda
Touko Aozaki (voice)
Rie Tanaka
Kirie Fujou (voice)
Yuichi Ishigami
Doctor (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Teiichi Takiguchi
Writers: Masaki Hiramatsu
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 45-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Garden of Sinners Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Teiichi Takiguchi, shot by Yuichi Terao. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Yuki Kajiura. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Manabu Kamino shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Maaya Sakamoto and Kenichi Suzumura and Jouji Nakata carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: ""Everything is full of happiness, but humans are so alone."".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Teiichi Takiguchi directs. Yuichi Terao behind the camera. Yuki Kajiura scores. Manabu Kamino cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 45-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Released 18 years ago.
3Part of the "The Garden of Sinners Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Teiichi Takiguchi, shot by Yuichi Terao. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Yuki Kajiura. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Manabu Kamino shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Maaya Sakamoto and Kenichi Suzumura and Jouji Nakata carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: ""Everything is full of happiness, but humans are so alone."".
9IMDB entry: tt1233474 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 26 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Yuichi Terao
Original score: Yuki Kajiura
Editing: Manabu Kamino
Runtime: 45 min · 0h 45m
Status: Released
Original language: JA
Certification (US): 15
IMDB: The Garden of Sinners: The Hollow Shrine (2008)

Part of

The Garden of Sinners Collection

Set in Japan predominantly during the late 1990s, The Garden of Sinners follows the story of Shiki Ryougi, 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 in which it serves as the prototype for both series as well as introducing many of the concepts prevalent within the latter two.