Light novels
The Garden of Sinners originated in October 1998 as a series of five chapters released online on Nasu and Takeuchi's dōjin-based website, Takebōki (竹箒), with its final two chapters being released at Comiket 56 in August 1999.[9] Nasu and Takeuchi later formed Type-Moon, 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 publication at Comiket 61 on December 30, 2001. On August 6, 2004, Kodansha 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.[10] A chapter, Final Record, was distributed as a bonus for viewers of the Future Gospel film.[11]
Del Rey Manga announced the English publication of the light novel series. This was confirmed in the first volume of Del Rey's Faust released on August 19, 2008.[12] However, Del Rey became defunct before it could happen.
Anime films
The series was adapted into an anime film series, divided into seven chapters, which were animated by the studio Ufotable.[14] The films are released in achronological order. The first chapter, titled Overlooking View (俯瞰風景), premiered across Japanese theaters on December 1, 2007, with the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters, Murder Speculation – Part 1 (殺人考察(前)), Remaining Sense of Pain (痛覚残留), The Hollow Shrine (伽藍の洞), Paradox Spiral (矛盾螺旋), Oblivion Recording (忘却録音), Murder Speculation – Part 2 (殺人考察(後)) 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.[15] A North American premiere of the fifth chapter was held on May 22, 2009, at the Anime Boston convention.[16]
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.[17]
