Shiki

Vampires have been enjoying quite a renaissance in Western media lately, mainly because of the advent of Twilight. In anime however, tales of bloodsuckers have been pretty constant over the years, but like the West there has been an increase in the number of stories involving the children of the night. The only problem is, they all seem to romanticise vampires by giving them kind, gentle personalities, good looks, a reluctance to drink human blood, or some other hook to make the viewer believe that creatures who look on humans as food can be considered friendly.

And then Shiki comes along and blows that whole idea ... out of the water.

Originally a two part horror novel published in 1998 by Ono Fuyumi (which was later reprinted in five parts), Shiki was adapted for manga in 2007 by Fujisaki Ryu. Set during a summertime in the mid 1990s, several people in the small town of Sotoba in rural Japan are afflicted with a strange and incurable wasting disease, and the local doctor fears an epidemic may be starting.

Around the same time a new family moves into the newly built Kanemasa mansion .

Shiki may not look the part at first glance, especially because of the colour scheme, but don't be fooled as there is actually quite a deep plot to this series, and while there is a degree of predictability about the storyline, this is balanced some good scripting and a more reasoned narrative approach. One of the things that separates this anime from more recent offerings is that it harks back to older vampire tales, so unlike Fortune Arterial, Rosario + Vampire, and other titles of that ilk, the undead in Shiki are unable to venture out into sunlight, nor are they able to enter a home unless invited, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

In addition to this there's an intelligence about the story that materialises in some interesting ways, from the doctor's logical approach to the town's crisis, to the strangely normal reactions of the local women at the beginning of the penultimate episode. Shiki could readily be compared to Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni as it explores certain aspects of human psychosis over the course of the series, and it's pleasing to watch an anime that doesn't assume that the audience are blithering idiots.

The thing that may put people off though, is how everything looks. The town and rural scenery are nicely detailed and varied, but viewers may initially wonder at the incongruity of the bright colours, or even the European styled mansion sitting on a hill overlooking the town. Rather than a whimsical approach to the design, this is a purposeful nod at the stereotypical hilltop "castle" that is prominent in a number of European horror stories.

This slightly methodical approach to design also manifests itself with the characters as it seems as though there has been an attempt to include just about every body shape into the series. Now while this adds a nice touch of diversity, there are some rather ludicrous additions which seem a bit out of place in a rural setting (one example is Ookawa Tomio, the owner of the liquor store, who looks like he was built in a shipyard). That said, the one glaring issue is that the vampires are easily recognisable because of their eyes, which is a bit of a shame as there are several scenes where the effect would have been heightened if there was less of a difference between the undead and humans.

As for the animation, the production company Daume isn't really well known in the West, but the work they've put into Shiki bodes well for the future of the studio. The characters generally move well, and while there are some slightly ridiculous body positions and actions at times, there's also a bit more realism about the series since none of the undead can leap over buildings or fly through the air. The action sequences also benefit from this more realistic approach, but there are still a small number of scenes that "bend" the laws of physics at the very least.

One thing that does bear mentioning is the quality and impact of the visual effects, especially the colour scheme, partly because of the variety, but mainly because they provide a number of scenes with some much needed emphasis.

Speaking of which, Shiki features some pretty decent acting, and a number of seiyuu really do put effort into their roles, even if they only have a minor speaking part. Now one could argue that this is to be expected from professionals, but sadly this isn't always the case as there are many anime out there that simply haven't understood that a poorly executed supporting role can spoil the performance of the leads.

The downside is that there are times towards the end of the series where the actors and actresses seem ... a bit too enthusiastic. Fortunately the seiyuu playing the main roles are there to steady things, and their performances are very good indeed.

Shiki is well served by a variety of incidental music, ranging from quiet yet slightly ominous music box pieces to haunting choral anthems, all with some slow techno beats thrown into the mix to round everything out. The series has two opening and ending sequences that, in all honesty, are a bit of a mixed bag. The first OP, Kuchizuke by Buck-Tick, is a pretty angry piece that actually fits well with the theme of the show, but sadly the second OP, Calendula Requiem by Kanon x Kanon, doesn't really work as it's a bit too J-pop for its own good. As for the EDs, the first one, Walk no Yakusoku by Nangi, is a slightly bittersweet track that echoes of triumph, and in all honesty it's difficult to judge how fitting the song is with this anime. On the other hand the second ED, Gekka Reijin by Buck-Tick (again), really does work well with Shiki, and the track is reminiscent of the music produced by some of the "darker" European rock/pop bands of the 1990s.

As for the effects, they're suitably gory when the occasion demands, but even poor effects would be raised by the quality of the choreography throughout this series. Everything from the music, including the OPs and EDs, to the pitch and cadence of the speaking roles, is timed very well, and it's clear a great deal of effort has gone into making this anime an aural experience as well as a visual one.

Now one of the things that is clear from the opening sequence is that Shiki has quite a large number of characters. Normally this would mean that much of the developmental aspect of the storyline would focus on the leads, with the supporting characters reinforcing this growth, but Shiki takes a different line, and it's one that will hopefully be seen a lot more in the future. The main strength of this series is characterisation, and from the bit parts on up, every single role is clearly defined. The advantage to this method is that it's not always necessary to develop a well defined character, and Shiki follows this path almost religiously. While some growth does occur over the course of the series, what's most interesting is how each character adjusts and adapts to the events in the town. Probably the best example of this ethos in action is in the latter half of episode 14, and the methodical approach taken by the local doctor Ozaki Toshio is reflective of the fact that there is a degree of logic and intelligence in the plot.

In all honesty Shiki managed to surprise me. After the recent run of poor horror anime it's pretty obvious that I ventured into the series half expecting more of the same, so when I encountered actual intelligence in the plot, it came as something of a shock. That doesn't mean this anime is perfect though, as aside from the more obvious audio and visual flaws (like not washing off blood), there are several elements in the story that could have been resolved. That said, it's nice to watch a show that sets out to tell a story without assuming that the viewer is afflicted with the moe bug.

The main reason I like Shiki though, is because it doesn't fall foul of the drivel produced by authors of "dark romance", but instead postulates some moral and ethical dilemmas for the viewer to ponder. In addition to this it also highlights the human capacity for adaptation, something which is often overlooked in anime. If you're looking for an intelligent horror, then this series is right up there with the likes of Ghost Hound, Ghost Hunt, and other equally worthy shows.

Given that this is effectively a throwback to the type of horror that epitomises Bram Stoker's Dracula (without certain supernatural shenanigans), Shiki is something of an oddity in anime as the general trend leans heavily into romanticism and moe, and in all honesty I haven't seen a vampire tale this good since Kurozuka, which says a lot more about the anime industry than I can put into words.

I've seen my fair share of vampire anime; and I have to say, it was under vast number of genres, as well as themes. Shiki however, pulls you back in to what the traditional myth of vampires; added to it that it's a thriller, it will move anyone who's a vampire fan.


Story: 10
Compared to many other vampire themed animes, such as Blood+, Rosario + Vampire, Vampire Knight, and Trinity blood; this anime comes back to the roots of vampires and their myths. In this anime a town is plagued with death with no reasonable explanation; though thought of a possible epidemic, Doctor Ozaki, ... the head doctor of his clinic cannot find any actual symptoms related to any known disease, besides Aplastic Anemia, which is the loss of red and white blood cells. As the body count rises, he becomes desperate to find an answer until he comes up to a conclusion, albeit a far fetched one, that it might be a work of Okiagari, or vampires. His next problem then is to convince the village; of course such a mythical conclusion would "never" exist in the rational world. As he tried desperately to prove the existence of okiagari, death sweeps through the town faster and faster, until soon, more than half of the population has been wiped. Still they did not believe him. That is until he killed a vampire, named Chizuru, in front of everyone. Then the vampire hunt begins. There are mini plots within the whole series that I will not divulge, go watch it to see. At first, the anime's plot progression might come up as slow to most people. Even I had a hard time dealing with the first 3 episodes. But it get's really good. The fact that the anime went back to the original vampire myths alone made me smile, such as that they can not enter a home until they are invited in, or that they die if stabbed with a stake at the heart, and the fact that they are UNDEAD; just including those classic myths already got me hooked. This anime has definitely gave back the respect of vampires that Twilight has taken away. And contrast to the other animes I've mentioned, very little gore is shown, at least until the way later episodes, even then, it was there as part of the ambiance, and not for its own sake.


Art: 7
The lines were sharp, and the colors were almost fluorescent. The art of the animation just didn't look like it fits with a subtle setting and plot like that. Not to mention the crazy hairstyles that almost every relevant character had. It was like watching bakemonogatari but with better details. The animation would be more fit for shounen anime in my opinion.


Sound: 9
The1st season OP got me the first time I heard it. It was almost celtic, and goes perfectly with the whole theme. The BGM, it was not intrusive, but yet it'll make you want to jump at times; some even sound like something out of the catholic church, which is awesome due to the ties of religion to vampires;the good thing about it is that they also barely use BGM. The 2nd season OP for some reason reminded me of one of the OP's of Rozen Maiden, i don't know why, but I didn't like it as much. The 1st season ED is that like something off a romance anime though, but once you get to the later episodes, you will figure out why. The 2nd season ED I liked because it was indie/soft rock for me, and it was calm yet eerie, which what the anime was about.


Characters: 8
There were really only 4 main characters in the anime; Sunako, Ozaki, Seishin, and Yuuki. However, you will definitely be able to tell that EVERYONE is important, even the ones who died, or risen. This is because of the sub-plots, as I mentioned earlier, and they are awesome. However as much as that's a good thing, the downside is that no one really has any room to grow. The viewer really can't see if there is any character progression. However, that really isn't necessary due to the big-picture nature of the plot.


Enjoyment: 9
Like I said in the Story section, it is at first slow, but as the people die, and the vamipres close in to the main characters, it becomes a classic thriller. At one point I actually jumped off my seat. This take on the classic vampire is really something that needed to be done.


Overall: 9

Basically, if you hate twilight, you would love this. It puts back the vampire's reputation of being mysterious, scary, and are considered "monsters". It went back to the classics of vampire myths, and made it work quite well. I really do hope that this anime becomes a classic; in case everyone needs to refresh that vampire actually DIE under the sun, and not sparkle like a disco ball.

Heya~

Story: 6/10
"Who's the real evil?" Who cares? It seemed pretty black and white to me logically. (Personally: If you're dead, stay dead.) I didn't feel any sympathy for either side. So I didn't end up contemplating life. Also I already knew humans are terrible. I guess a reminder didn't hurt? (Concept was good enough for bonus points in story rating. But, mainly, the endless blood showers ♥)

Art: 3/10
I still remember when my brain just said, "Deal with it, it's episode 17 already." The drawing style is unique but I didn't find it beautiful, it was bizarre. I guess it suits how messed up the anime ... is but it doesn't change things for me; didn't like it. Bonus points: Managed to live with it.

Sound: 7/10
I actually liked the music and anything sound related, it was the one thing I couldn't complain about. It wasn't painfully out of place or too weird.

Character: 2/10
Oh wow. In one word, UNLIKEABLE. Most of them were painfully annoying or despicable. Even the kind ones were annoying to me, like that best friend guy that kept crying. I can't explain without spoilers but ask yourself, "Is it worth ruining my day for?" Not really. "Why do that?!" or "Just do it!!" moments are too many a person should ever experience in a single series.

Enjoyment: 5/10?
I managed to sit through 24 episodes overall so it's compelling in its own way. Who's gonna die next?? Is everyone a piece of *** or will they actually grow as characters?? Tbh, it actually took me a few episodes to understand what was going on so there's some major potential this could have been shorter than it was.

Overall: 6/10
100% would not rewatch. 6 is actually generous but I base my ratings on concept potential usually. Don't get me wrong, it was compelling enough to keep me interested, BUT, it was compelling in a bad way. I kept watching to see if anyone of those fudgers actually pulls through for me.

Conclusion: If you like messed up stuff, this could be for you.


Everyone's review seems to be raving about how good Shiki is and so I'm just wondering maybe there is something wrong with me. (Well, there must be if I managed to get through this bloody anime without losing my appetite but that's another issue.) Why did I bother to write this you may ask?? I think it might be nice for other people to have some closure that they're not abnormal for not raving about it and that it's not for everyone, I'm like Batman of the anime world. Thanks for reading.

Shiki had such an awesome premise, however, from my perspective it fails to do that premise any justice. I will try my best to give a feel for the story, spoiler free of course. The story and artwork just weren't my cup of tea, but I understand some might enjoy this type of story / cast so I will attempt to avoid outright trolling.

STORY
I was very disappointed in the story for a lot of reasons. It progresses painfully slow, and the character development eventually drops just about everyone in the 'gray area' between good and bad. So basically by the time the climax comes ... around you have nobody to root for. You don't care if any of the main characters survive, shiki or human.

ART / SOUND
This is what ruined it for me. I probably would have enjoyed the story more if the art wasn't so ridiculous. The hair on some of the characters...the hair. It's like Super Saiyans on crack. Gravity defiant, logic defying hair that makes the living humans look undead even though they're still alive. The elderly and even some of the young characters (Masao in particular) look hideous right from the start. It's not scary, in my opinion it's just unpleasant to look at. There's not much to say about the Sound. It didn't really leave an impression. The sound effects weren't always used the best way (I.E. Excessive cracking noises coming from a Shiki that is barely moving it's neck)

CHARACTERS
A lot of the characters are so incessantly obnoxious to the point where you want them to die. Then they die. Then you realize crap this is Shiki, I have to wait for them to die a second time before I'm through with their BS. Even the characters you like in the beginning betray those good qualities by the middle / end. One more thing, chain smoking doctors aren't cool. You're supposed to be a doctor dammit, save those cigarettes for us non-doctors.

CONCLUSION
Shiki failed to live up to my expectations. I feel like Shiki never intended to give you a likeable cast. The point of the story is to submerge you in moral ambiguity with a bunch of mediocre characters and slow moving plot. Most likely the goal was to have the viewer ask him or herself in the aftermath of the climax "What was (morally) good? What was bad? Was anybody really in the right?". It's left up to the viewer to decide without the anime deciding which side was 'right' for you. Unfortunately, at least in my case, by the time I got to that point I didn't really care enough about the story, the characters, or the ending to think too hard about it.

This is my first review.I'm going to write it because so much people are talking bad about Shiki.But I think Shiki is awsome.It's unique,it has a great storyline.I enjoy watching it !

Story: 10
The story takes place in a village named Sotoba.Sotoba is a quite and peaceful village,till the chain of bizarre deaths started to occur.Nobody knows the reason but more and more people are dying.Toshio Ozaki is the hospital dean and he suspects an epidemic. But what first starts as an epidemic, turns out to be much more. The first episodes might be boring.I didn't really enjoy watching them but later the show really gets ... good.There is nothing such as an epidemic the reason of the deaths are Okiagari ( Some people might call them vampires ). Dead ones who come back to life. I'm really glad this anime is here. Because I'm sick of the shows who show only romace between humans and vampires. This anime is different. If you miss old school vampire animes,this is for you.

Art: 7
The art is very abstract and I think the style is unique. Please don't be one of this people who hates Shiki because they say the art is weird. What? They are having interesting hairstyles.Really I never saw so much crazy hairstyles but this is not bad.The art could be better but I like it like it is.

Sound: 10
I love the openings! The first opening really fits the anime. To be honest I didn't like it at the beginning but later I just started to love it ! The endings are ok to,but they look like endings of some romance animes. Shiki is just amazing. It has everything !

Characters: 8
They aren't much main characters but that doesn't mean other are not important. You don't like Shiki because much people die? Well this is a part of this anime and if you give Shiki a chance you will see that everybody is important. The dead ones to.

Enjoyment: 10
Like I said the story is amazing. It's just to good to be ignored. If you still didn't choiced to start watching Shiki you're going to miss something. Clannad or Death Note didn't get popular in one day and look at them now ;)

Overall: 10
What is the next thing you have to do? :O
Right go and watch Shiki you will make me and every Shiki fan very happy. If you don't like the anime I'm sorry that I wasted your time. But I think it's worth watching.Do you love Twilight and hate vampires who kill and are "scary" you won't like this.But if you miss old vampire storys without a vampire and werewolf who are fighting for a girl,vampires who can go outside days and they sparkle -__- and stupid " I love you " that is every second sentence in Twilight. Sorry to all Twilight fans but I just want to tell you there is no romance in this anime. Well not that much,but sure there is,so Twilight fans there is something for you to ? ~ :)

Something strange has been going on in the quaint village of Sotoba... Ever since those wealthy outsiders built their lavish mansion at the top of Kanemasa Hill, there has been a succession of mysterious deaths... People of all ages will become lethargic and anti-social, refuse to go to the doctor, and then die after only a few days... Could it be an epidemic? Some new disease? And are the rumors true that the dead are still walking around?

Those newcomers are certainly strange, and Sotoba does have ancient legends about Okomiyagi, or the dead coming back to life... ... But those are just stories, right?

Based on a series of novels from 1998, Shiki tells the story of an entire rural Japanese community as it deals with one mysterious death after another, slowly whittling their population down as their efforts to explain it... And hopefully put a stop to it... yield no results, no answers, and an ever diminishing sense of hope. It isn’t until a few open-minded individuals start to consider the supernatural that they finally begin to make some real progress... Unfortunately for them, it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

With a cast of hundreds like this show has, it’s essential that you set aside a special handful of characters for the audience to follow, so we can explore the story from several different perspectives. Shiki has this requirement covered, as it gives us three very different pairs of eyes to look through. First, we have Natsuno, a disgruntled teenaged boy who’s been forced to move into this village with his new wave, idealistic parents. He despises the village, and refuses to make any long term connections, believing that doing so will make it difficult when they finally move back out. Of course, despite his best efforts, a close circle of friends do form around him. In fact, Megumi... One of the very first people to be killed by the mysterious epidemic... Had an obsessive one sided crush on him... and it seems that even death can’t take her away.

Our second leading role is Toshio Ozaki, the director of the primary hospital in Sotoba. Having taken over the clinic from his deceased father, he’s a driven and tenacious doctor who’s initially baffled by the amount of people inexplicably dying around him, and having come up against a challenge like this, he will stop at nothing to overcome it... And I mean nothing, as his quest for a solution leads to him experiencing and performing some of the cruelest acts imaginable.

And our final lead is Ozaki’s childhood friend, Seishin Muroi, a local priest and a moderately successful author. His novels tend to be on the poignant side, dealing with subjects like loss, betrayal, and abandonment by God. This attracts the attention of Sunako, the little daughter of the newcomers, who’s apparently a huge fan of his work. He forms a connection with her over time, as his pacifist religious beliefs gradually lead him to develop a sense of sympathy for the beings that his best friend Toshio has sworn to destroy.

The rest of the cast is made up of smaller roles, the basic types of people you’d expect to see in a tightly-knit little community... You have business owners, rebellious teenagers, concerned parents, comfortable elders, nurses, teachers, happy go lucky children... All of whom deal with the growing problem in their own unique ways. And for such a large cast, the dub is surprisingly on point. It”s a Funimation effort, but it’s a really odd Funimation effort, where the lead characters are all portrayed by actors that you normally wouldn’t see attached to such high profile roles. Toshio is played by David Wald, a long time actor who’s somehow stayed completely off of my radar until just now. I’m going to have to keep an eye out for him in the future, because he rasps and grumbles his way into the jaded, chain smoking doctor as though he was born to play the part.

Seishin Muroi is played by John Burgmeier, a man who rarely ever steps out from the technical side fo a dub for anything other than a bit part... He directs, he writes, but when he acts, his subdued performances are normally outstanding. He plays down-trod, broken men as though it were a second language, and his role in Shiki is probably one of his best voice performances since Gunslinger Girl. Jerry Jewell also does a commendable job on Natsuno Yuuki, and you’ll find pretty much every Funimation voice under the sun sprinkled here and there... Hell, even Anastasia Munoz gets an appearance... but the star of this dub has to be Cherami Leigh, who plays the ominous Sunako, who looks very much like she was taken directly from a Katy Towell cartoon. I wish I could tell you why her performance in this role is so perfect, but to go into detail would mean giving away some serious spoilers.

There’s at least one bad egg in the dub, however, and surprise surprise, it’s Tia Ballard. Tia plays the role of Megumi Shimizu, a sixteen year old girl who dreams of getting out of her quaint, suffocating home town and going to a college in the big city. And she will not shut up about it. I know that in anime, non conformists are often portrayed as loud, disruptive nuisances, and they did a very thorough job of it with this character, but when you combine that archetype with tia’s shrill, screechy voice, she single-handedly renders the first episode almost completely unbearable. Thankfully, she only really has a strong presence in this episode. Spoiler... She dies in it.

Now, when I tell you that this story is about a small group of protagonists struggling to put a stop to the mysterious deaths happening all around them, with ticking clock being their worst enemy, you may think that concept sounds suspiciously familiar. Well, that’s because you’ve seen this same plot before, as Another and Hell Girl: Two Mirrors have both tried... And failed miserably... at making you care about it. But where those two regrettable shows failed, Shiki succeeds with flying colors.

Unlike Another, Shiki doesn’t make over-the-top, ridiculous spectacles of it’s death scenes, choosing instead to focus on word of mouth and the sad faces of relatives, so that it can liberally float between tragedy and statistic depending on the tone that any given death calls for. And unlike Hell Girl Two Mirrors, Shiki paces itself, putting just enough time between each death so that it can drain the hope of the viewer, little by little, as it spirals down towards one hell of a catastrophic ending.

And with that manipulation of hope, Shiki is one of the most well executed horror anime titles that I have seen in a long time. There’s almost no filler in it’s entire 24 episode run, as every single event that occurs has a distinct purpose, and is placed exactly where it needs to be in the narrative. The first ten or so episodes are admittedly slow, building up the tension in the village to an almost OCD-like degree. Very few answers are found here, as tragic death after tragic death drives the residents to either blind paranoia or complacent acceptance of fate. By the second half, the nature of this menace has been all but revealed to the audience, even as our three main characters slowly come to terms with a truth they know they shouldn’t accept, and with a terrifying threat that comes to face them almost immediately after they come to face it.

It’s a brilliant, gripping story that will have you skipping through the otherwise beautiful openings and closings just so you can catch the next development as quickly as you possibly can. While you may find yourself hard-pressed to experience any emotional reactions through the majority of the story, as death will inevitably become commonplace in this kind of story, there’s enough disturbing, unsettling material in the final act that will not only horrify you, but will also completely subvert your expectations of a horror story.

As much as I would love to continue to praise this series, and call it one of the most excellent horror titles i’ve ever seen, I can’t. It’s time to talk about the artwork and animation, and I can already feel my hand reaching out to grab hold of my bottle of Haterade. Why? Because this is one butt ugly show.

Okay,. maybe that’s not fair of me... It’s not the artwork itself that’s bad, as it doesn’t look sloppy or anything. If anything, the backgrounds and environments are easily on the high end of the scale. No, what I really have problems with is the art design. The characters look ridiculous, with angular faces and giant, cartoony eyes, and so many bizarre, gravity defying hairstyles that even a Pokemon animator would say “Hey, dial it back a bit!” No, you know what? Forget Pokemon. Looking at Shiki’s character designs is like watching someone from Clamp come up with their own Yugioh Spin-off. It would be okay if this were some wacky comedy, but it’s not... Shiki is a mature, poignant show that asks you several profound questions and dares you to come up with your own satisfactory answers.

And if you really want to see this show go from ridiculous to horrifying in the blink of an eye, just wait until one of the characters starts to cry. These characters don’t cry the way normal anime characters cry... They cry thick, opaque marbles of liquid that could make a serious claim at being one of the scariest elements of the show. If you were to take a frame of it out of context, you’d think you were looking at an image from some ill advised Eiken sequel... And no, I am not even remotely joking about that. The art design of this show is distracting as hell, and took me out of the story more times than I can count. And the animation quality is no prize either... It’s one of the cheapest looking shows that Bones has ever produced, and if you know Bones, you know how big a claim that is.

In spite of this, Shiki is a very strong anime title that has a lot to offer you... It’s bold, thought provoking, and without a single hint of pretense. It succeeds at exploring ideas and concepts that cause other shows to flop face down onto the floor, and if you’re looking for a very broad hint at what these ideas are, one of those floppers is my old arch-nemesis Blood C. Unfortunately, with an irritating first episode and a constant assault of distracting and sometimes even inappropriate eyesores, you have to put up with a lot of abuse to appreciate this show, so I really can’t see it reaching the level of quality that it deserves to. It’s still a great show, and I strongly recommend checking it out, but I can’t give it any higher than a 7/10.

Shiki, or Corpse Demon, is effectively the story of a village in the middle of nowhere being subjected to a mysterious string of unexplainable deaths. If you want to watch this anime and go into it 100% spoiler-free, even though this is not much of a spoiler at all, look away now.

The deaths are, of course, being caused by vampires. While they take their sweet time coming out and saying it, it's pretty obvious from a really early stage. But don't tell any of the characters that, because they don't half take their sweet time working it out. Over half the story is dedicated to ... watching the cast struggle to grasp something you worked out by the second episode, which is effectively this show's most crippling weakness.

Now stop. Do not hit the "Not Helpful" button just yet. Before you have a knee-jerk reaction to this, let me clarify my point quite firmly: No, I do not, by any stretch of the imagination, think that assuming the existence of vampires to be true is a logical conclusion. Not by a long shot. However, there are several very simple logical steps they should have gone through that would have lead them to it.

The most glaring of these is shown through Shiki's focus on the medical aspects of the show. One of the few things that sets the story apart from every other vampire story is that we see the doctors dealing with all the deaths trying to work out and explain what is going on. This would be a lot more compelling if they didn't miss an obvious sign. They promptly go through every aspect of the deaths, but leave one thing out: every victim shares a pair of bitemarks on their neck. Aside from the symptoms themselves, this is the only thing that every single victim has in common. But the medical staff don't even try to explain it. On top of that, every patient died of severe anaemia, but had no rational way of losing so much blood. Except the bitemarks, the only possible explanation and a plain and simple way of putting the only two loose ends together.

Now, once again, let me clear this up: I do not think that the bitemarks shoudl have instantly made them realise vampires were behind this. But so much about it makes it clear that vampires would have crossed their minds. Even if they initially brushed it off as implausible, they would have thought of it. Instead, this thought takes a long time to occur to anyone, and when it finally does, they are bizarrely accepting of it.

But even once they do realise it, they have to spend a long, long time convincing everyone else. In troper terms, this effectively leads to the villagers Dying Like Animals from sheer stupidity. Which leads to a highly drawn-out stretch of episodes consisting of Dr. Ozaki trying to stop the villagers from essentially jumping headfirst into their own graves.

On that note, the characters of Shiki are, to put it generously, less than likeable. There is only one personality in the entire series that is simultaneously interesting and does not make you want to punch them in the face, and that is Dr. Ozaki. The remaining cast are either boring, or sociopathic for no apparent reason. There are also a small handful inbetween who are mildly interesting but very stupid. Effectively, this is both the best and worst thing about Shiki. On the one hand, the cast is utterly insufferable. On the other, they die. A lot. And it manages to be gloriously, gloriously cathartic.

It is also what makes Ozaki such an empathetic character. Ozaki is the only sane man in the entire village. And he is just as frustrated as you are at their complete lack of survival instinct. Also, despite some earlier absences of common sense, Ozaki really manages to pull out some incredibly impressive tactics. And I mean REALLY impressive.

In spite of all the show's failings, in the final act it really gets it together and does a complete 180. This leads to an incredibly impressing finale, that is nothing short of a war. It leads to the point that anyone can (and probably will) die. Sadly this is only for the last 6 episodes, and at this point it is too little, too late. While these episodes were absolutely stellar, they don't quite justify watching the previous 16 episodes.

From a technical aspect, Shiki ranks to the latter on the scale of good vs OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!. The art style is about as awful as they come. The hair on the characters is the most stupid I've ever seen. Anime, as a medium, is known for its love of stupid hair, but even among them Shiki manages to be unbelievably appalling. The sound is quite a bit better, being a user of eerie ambient music. The first OP is also quite an excellent song, excellently merged with the animation. The remaining OP/ED themes are fine, but unremarkable.

I mentioned earlier that there were three ways that Shiki attempts to stick out from the vampire crowd, the first being the medical aspects. While none of these were very well-executed, they are still interesting: The other two being that the humans vs. vampires war is portrayed as simply being two opposing forces simply trying to survive, rather than good humans vs. evil monsters... and the third, being that they focus on the angst of those forcibly turned into vampires, having to kill people they once knew to survive.

Overall, Shiki has a lot of good ideas but in the end doesn't really execute them every well. It's a mixed bag, with enough upsides to keep it watchable earlier on, and with an excellent finale. Still, it really isn't worth watching in the long run.

Story/Plot: 5/10
Animation/Graphics: No seriously, what?/10
Music/Background: 7/10
Characters: 3/10

Overall: 6/10

For Fans Of: Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, Dance in the Vampire Bund.

I was directed to Shiki by a fellow anime fan who, like me, enjoyed more horror based anime. He insisted that Shiki was superior to shows like Another or Higurashi, since it created "characters you cared about".

Having now watched it, I am wondering what he was smoking.

I'll go through each aspect individually. Tharrrrr be spoilers (at least in the plot section), so read at your own risk.

Art = 5
I'm torn on this one. On the one hand, the backgrounds are great. It looks like a small village. They are beautiful, though a bit colourful at times for an anime which is supposed to be "dark". ... Points also go to this one for mixing up the character designs and not having all the characters as beautiful supermodels. Though not excessively gory, the blood and gore aren't skimped on either, another important point.

On the other, there are big problems with the character designs. Some of the characters look utterly ridiculous. Seriously, what is with their hair? It detracts from the "horror experience". The best horror anime have characters who look vaguely like real people, not people who have had their hair styled by Ronald McDonald. Okay, enough about the hair.

Another nitpick I had about the art was how obvious it was when a character was turned, so to speak. Red eyes, glowing white skin, just unnatural looking. It might have been more interesting if it was hard to tell the two groups apart.

I am pretty forgiving when it comes to art so I can ignore a lot of ugly if the story is decent.

Sound = 7
Credit where credit is due here. The majority of the voice acting worked for me. Everyone had a distinct voice and most of them were fitting. I couldn't tell you what any of the minor characters voices sounded like (or if they were "off") but that doesn't bother me in the slightest.

The music is ... interesting. The openings are fine, for the most part. Ending songs aren't quite as good but still passable. Some of the in-show music works very well, in a creepy subtle way. By that token, there is also some that are too subtle and fail to evoke any mood. And then there's the weird pop-techno blend song that comes in once in a while. Each time I heard it, I spent the entire time trying to figure out what popular song it sounded like.

The sound is pretty good. It works. No real problems here.

Character = 3
We start off by sticking close to a pink haired girl named Megumi. She is a stuck-up bitch who hates the town she lives in (and many of the people, including some who go out of their way to be nice) and has an unhealthy obsession with a boy named Yuuki. Think she's the protagonist? Nope.

What about Yuuki? He's the outsider who's just moved to a new town and is slowly making friends. Again, not really the main character. We spend a good portion of time with him until about a third of the way in.

The people we spend most of the time with are the Doctor (Ozai) and the Junior Monk (Seishein). This is a mixed blessing, since Ozai is perhaps the most interesting and likeable character in Shiki. Megumi is, for the most part, annoying as all hell, though she gets better as the series goes on (and her role is downplayed). Yuuki is tolerable but never really breaks out as a character. He's the stoic (semi-)badass who says he doesn't want friends but has a good heart. Seishein is ... horrible. I know I'm supposed to agree with or sympathize with him since we spend a decent chunk of time with him, but he's a drag in every scene he's in. Ozai is perhaps the most logical and realistic of the characters. He realizes something is wrong and he ATTEMPTS TO FIX IT!

The problem with the characters is development. There is a large cast of characters, the majority of which aren't important anyway, which means we don't spend enough time with any character to get too attached to them. And very few of these characters change in any meaningful way. Most of the characters are the exact same whether alive or dead, though the dead do angst a bit.

The character I had the most sympathy for was the girl in the track suit. She's young, unprepared for this, forced to choose between doing unthinkable things and dealing with friends and family who have risen. Her increasing instability is one of the few interesting changes within the series. Too bad she's downplayed in the second half.

Plot = 3
There are spoilers now. You have been warned.

Shiki is about vampires. If you didn't know that going in, you would have figured it out by the second episode at the latest.

It takes the rest of the characters at least another three or four episodes to catch up. The plot is sloooooow. Most of the mystery, if there was any to begin with, is dispelled right away. Every once in a while, something interesting would happen and I felt like I wanted to see what was next. Then the plot would drag its feet a few episodes with no substantial progress being made.

To sum up the first 2/3rds of the plot, the vampires are killing people. A lot of people die. Only Doctor Ozai, Seishein and a few kids realize what's going on. Then the kids drop off the face of the earth for a while and barely factor in again (with one exception). Most episodes in this bit focus on Ozai trying to do something, the townsfolk doing nothing and Seishein being tormented. Should he do something? (YES!!!!)

To repeat, the vampires kill a good portion of the population and no one is all that disturbed about it.

In the last 1/3rd, the show does a 180 and tries to make us sympathize with the vampires. This might have worked if they hadn't been mercilessly slaughtering townsfolk for half of the series. There are some moments where you genuinely think the vampires have been dealt a shitty hand (not choosing to become one but being forced by whoever bit them), but they are few and far between. Suddenly, the humans are the bad guys for protecting themselves and their families against the immortal people who have been murdering them.

While many of the humans who are cleansing the vampires are obviously enjoying the experience waaaay too much, it's hard to argue that they're wrong in doing it. Should the vampires survive, the humans will just be mined for blood until there are none left. You can complain that the vampires want to live too and they've retained their memories, but the bottom line is that their existence is just to kill former neighbours and friends.

And then there's just moments of incredible stupidity.
-At one point, it's suggested that the Shiki want to convert all the humans they can so the village is entirely Shiki. This would make sense, if you forgot that they NEED the humans for sustenance. Without them, the vampires starve.
-A third to half the town is wiped out and everyone is content to believe it's an epidemic, yet make no effort to do anything about it.
-No one questions why there are now large populations of people who work only at night, why many families have just disappeared and where the death records have went.
-Ozai makes a tape of him dissecting his wife, proving the existence of Shiki .. then shows it to no one.
-If you can figure out Seishein, you deserve a cookie, his entire character and motivations make no sense.
-The technology problem prevalent in horror. Why does no one phone about this?

The final few episodes make an attempt to tie everything together but it only partly satisfies. Many of the characters motivations are still stupid and there are jumps that we're never shown.

This isn't to say that there isn't ANY depth in Shiki. There is. It just happens to be muddied by other aspects. In the second half of Shiki, we start being presented with questions about the value of life, whether it is ethical to kill (if your life is on the line), the propensity to deny rather than act. The questions are interesting. It's the way they're executed that doesn't do them justice.

Enjoyment = 4
I wanted to like this series. I really did. And there were some positives. I liked that they used some old-school vampire tropes (not being able to enter buildings without being invited ect). I liked the tracksuit girl. I liked Doctor Ozai, who has a couple of badass moments (though not enough!).

It's the pacing and the plotting that really let this series down. For every thought-provoking idea ("is it right to kill someone else so I can live?") or genuinely nice/interesting moment, there is much more padding. And stupidity. No one (besides a few characters) seem to ever catch onto what's happening before they kick the bucket. Everyone is so complacent that you wonder whether they're all too stupid to live. I was ready to scream at these characters sometimes. DO SOMETHING!

Overall = 5
See above, really.

Shiki has potential, but squanders it by dragging everything out and failing to make any compelling characters.

Look ma, no Twilight references!

Death is terrible for anyone. Young or old, good or evil, it’s all the same. Death is impartial. There is no especially terrible death. That’s why death is so fearsome. Your deeds, your age, your personality, your wealth, your beauty: they are all meaningless in the face of death.

Shiki is a very hard series to talk about without spoilers. It’s a show that you really need to see for yourself. Still, I consider this to be the best show to have debuted during the past half year, so I’ll at least try to vaguely explain why I consider it ... such an awesome and unique series.
Shiki is another one of those series set in a tiny Japanese village that’s set in the middle of nowhere. One thing that immediately stands out is how well it manages to colour that village: even the simplest of residents are given an identity. The entire town has about 1200 residents, and this show manages to make them so life-like that you actually feel like part of the village as the series goes on. It creates a truly excellent backdrop for the series to take place in.
First and foremost, Shiki is a horror series. It’s got a really thick atmosphere and most of the time it’s just building up and dragging the viewer within this atmosphere. It’s got plenty of disturbing scenes though, and that’s really where it’s at its best at. Now, there are times at which this show feels like this series is moving a tad slow and that it’s building up a bit too much. But trust me: it all pays off in the end with a fantastic conclusion. That’s all I’ll say about it.
The character designs in this series are… unique. I admit that they take their time to get used to, but that’s not really a problem considering the charms of the different characters. It’s perhaps not the series with the best characterizations, but they are written really well: when they’re developed, it’s done very boldly. The characters are also incredibly diverse, ranging from teenagers to adults well in their thirties, forties and fifties and that overall makes it into a great and huge cast to watch.
Most of the best episodes of Shiki are located at the end so it takes some perseverance to really get to great parts of the series, but the weak moments are very few and far in between. It’s got a haunting soundtrack and a stunning atmosphere. It’s not something you should watch when you can’t stand gore, but it’s a must-watch for anyone even remotely interested in horror.

If you want vampires done right then this is the show for you.

The story of Shiki takes place in a rural Japanese village called Sotoba that the only thing the residents do is gossip. New residents called the Kirishiki's moved into town and from then on mysterious deaths occur throughout the town and there are reports of the dead coming back to life. The one that suffers the most because of this is Toshio Ozaki, the doctor of Sotoba, because he wants to know why these mysterious murders have been happening. He later believes that the cause of the deaths are something more supernatural and ... decides to investigate. Until he reaches a conclusion that the vampires are the cause of the murder and from there on it's just mass genocide of the vampires where the town decides to eliminate the epidemic and reclaim their town.

The major problem with this show is the first half. Not gonna lie I almost fell asleep during the first half of the show, but after episode13 then the show gets really good.

Shiki has a really disturbing tone. The one soundtrack that plays throughout the show is a little girl sing "Lalalaaaaa, lalalaaaaa" while a piano note plays in the background. That just gave me the creeps.

The characters that I am going to give mention to is Toshio Ozaki because he arguably the best character in this show. Another character is the local priest Seishin Muri who develops a relationship with Sunako Kirishiki and the bond they share is believable. The other character is Natsuno who is one of the few characters who believed early in the series that there were vampires and eventually becomes a jinrou, a vampire that possesses human traits like walking in the sun and eating regular food.

There is one character that is voiced by Todd Haberkorn that is just so FUCKING annoying. Now he is one of my favorite voice actors, but god dammit is his voice annoying in this show.

Like I said this is a show that does vampires right. It also adds a few layers to modern day vampires like different types of vampires and the process of turning into a vampire. The series starts out slow, but picks up towards the second half. Shiki also towards the end makes you feel really sympathetic towards the vampires because they are suffering not being human. In addition this show has very graphic scenes that I can remember just how grotesque the art and animation was for this show. However, the second half of this show is best part. That's why I'm giving it a 8/10 and give it a recommendation.

“Death is impartial to everyone, be it the young or old, rich or poor. Thus death is not particularly tragic.”

Shiki is by far the most riveting, suspenseful and thought-provoking series I have seen all year. Truly a category of its own, it not only contains elements of horror and mystery but also makes you question what truly is considered good or evil?

Story

The story is set in a small village where a string of unexplainable deaths start to occur. What is suspected to be an epidemic proves to be something the villagers would never suspect. The main plot and characters are introduced ... in the first few episodes, while pacing is slow, it provides an important backdrop to the rest of the episodes. As the story progress, we start to see what is really going on. What I like most about this series is it’s nack for detail and realism. Even as some of the characters gradually figure what is going on, there is a vehement disbelief from the villagers in general. The anime pays tribute to vampires well, but even better it addresses our society’s inability to accept those who are different (be it humans or the supernatural). In addition, what I think is the highlight of the series has been the last few episodes where the line between good and evil, humans and vampires have been crossed. What defines a ‘human’, can someone who still feels emotions be considered a ‘monster’? Shiki makes us questions that.

Characters

With Shiki’s large cast, it seems likely that characters who don’t get as much screen time to be very shallow and two-dimensional. However, I didn’t get that feeling in this anime. Most of the characters have enough background story told to ‘flesh’ them out. And they aren’t ridiculous or unbelievable background stories, you could say we all knew these kinds of people at some point in our lives. I would say the two most intriguing characters are Muroi and Ozaki. Both carry the great burden of knowing the truth behind the deaths but make completely different decisions in the end. And many other characters surprise me by fighting against expectations.

Artwork

Rich colours, dark lines and detailed shading. Some of the horror scenes are reminiscent of Higurashi with its emphasis on the eyes.

Sound

Gothic opening song and melancholic ending. Background music is very appropriate and adds to intensify the scenes.

Enjoyment

I literally marathoned 18 episodes non-stop. It always kept me guessing as to what would happen next. Shiki is also one of the few animes that has underlying meanings to them, it really made me think about the actions of some characters and what some characters have said (particularly Sunako). I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the series.

Overall

I highly recommend this anime to anyone who has a fondness for thought-provoking shows. It’s definitely not comedic, if that is what you’re looking for. But if you appreciate mysteries, dark themes and some psychological reasoning, then do give Shiki a try.

EDIT: Now that I've finished the series, I'm dropping the score from a 10 to a 9, simply because the ending wasn't as great as the middle. Perhaps my expectation were too high for the ending, I just found it wasn't what I expected. It is also is pretty up in the air, which might suggest a second season.

Alright, this is my first time with a review so bear with me!

Story: 8
Shiki did pretty well in this category. It was refreshing to watch a vampire story that didn't make you want to become one. They went back to the old school myths, where vampires can't be killed unless you put a stake through their heart, and they fear things like relics and crosses. They were actually the bad guys. There are already a lot of great romanticized vampire stories out there, so it's really nice to find the opposite.

The episodes were well paced, and the anime as a whole did a great job ... at keeping you on your toes and making you want to watch the next one. It did start out a little slow. The first few episodes were mostly just to give you a perspective on what the villagers were like and how future events would effect them, but at the same time you couldn't really skip them because there were bits and pieces you would need to see in order to understand anything that happened later. Once that was past though, the anime picked up really fast, so much so that I had a hard time waiting to see what was going to happen next. Watching an anime that's like a book you can't put down is a huge plus.

The plot itself was a little holey. As someone who likes a little science behind their fiction, I was disappointed that they didn't delve into the facts about why the vampires hated sunlight or what made them rise. But that's a minor mishap. My real problem was that there was no real back story to the Kirishikis at all. The main antagonists in the story were completely left without any context. While they hint at things here and there, you never really know anything about them. Especially Seishirou, and that really bugs me!

I have to applaud them for not being afraid to kill of characters, though. Far too many horror anime are hesitant to actually kill anyone, and sort of beat around the bush, instead. Especially when it comes to prominent characters, or younger ones. That probably sounds harsh, but it's really frustrating when characters just barely make it out alive, by miraculous events, over and over.

Art: 6
This is where the anime really falls apart. To be fair, the art wasn't truly bad. It was clean and well drawn, and the backgrounds were definitely on a higher scale. The real problem was the style. This especially in the character designs. Almost every character in the show, whether main or just a filler, had the most ridiculous, gravity defying hairstyles. It was annoying to say the least, and incredibly out of place in a horror anime. Even in a comedy, these hairstyles would be considered over the top. The eyes were just as bad. Not only were they too big for most of the character's faces, they were so awkwardly colored. Especially Muroi's, I will never understand why his were so different from everyone else's. The eyes also took away an element of surprise that the show really could have benefited from. If only they hadn't made the vampire's eyes such a dead give away.

The animation was on the crappier side, as well. It seemed to be quickly, and cheaply, thrown together. Many shortcuts were taken. In many scenes the people don't even walk, they just sort of fade in and out across the screen. And there was a lot of still pictures that just slowly zoomed out.

Overall, the art was way too distracting, and I almost dropped the anime because of it.

Sound: 5
I don't normally pay as much attention to this category as the rest. The music sounded okay to me. Nothing I'll be putting in my iTunes, but it worked with the show.

What really brings this category's score down was the dialogue. Now I only watched the dubbed version, so I can't speak for the original Japanese! But Christ, this was terrible. So many of the lines were awkwardly placed, or seemed to be missing a lot of context. And a lot of the characters would say things that completely clashed with their personalities. Again, this could just be because of poor translation, but as an official dub I really think they should have done better.

Character: 5
I was so disappointed with the main characters in this anime. All three of the most important ones had almost the same personality. Distant, a little cold, and angry (at either themselves or just everyone in general). There was no diversity! I know it's a more serious anime, but they should have branched out a little, at least between characters. The amount of generic personalities nearly killed me. Other individuals seemed a little displaced, especially Megumi. I know she was supposed to have an outsider kind of feel to her, but they went a little too far with it, and she seemed like she didn't even belong in the story at all.

The worst part out of all of it is they never gave you a character you truly got attached to. There was no emotional connection, none of the characters were really likable. Megumi was obnoxious, Natsuno was too reserved for you to even really get to know who he was at all, Dr Ozaki was way too cold, ect ect ect. There was at least one reason to hate every character. I really could care less who died and who survived, and that really took a toll on my experience with this show.

Enjoyment: 6?
That being said, I did still enjoy the series as a whole. Yes, they could have done better in a lot of areas, but I still kept watching regardless of it all. It's got it's own way of making you want to watch it. If not for any reason other than who's gonna die next, will that person rise up, and is everyone kind of evil or will there actually be some character development? I will definitely never re-watch it.

I'm not entirely sure I'd recommend this anime, though, especially if you're new to it! Don't ruin your first experience with something that's so-so. If you're really looking for an intriguing, gory horror story, go watch something like Mirai Nikki instead.

As with all of my other reviews I decided to write a review about the anime Shiki because I found it to be really enjoyable (so far) and wanted to spread some of the love by hopefully persuading people to try it out for themselves! In my review I will talk about what I find to be good about the show and which aspects could do with some improvement.

Story: 10
I’ve watched a total of 16 out of 22 episodes of the show and have so far loved every single episode of it! Vampires singling out a small remote town and picking off each of the ... (mostly) unsuspecting residents one by one, the story may seem clichéd when presented to those who haven’t watched the show, after all vampires are no new occurrence are they? But the vampires featured in this show (referred to as Shiki or moving corpses) are a breath of fresh air to those sick and tired off the angsty, misunderstood veggies vampires rife in today’s media. These vampires return to their original Stoker-esque roots, not being able to go out in sunlight, fearing crosses and not being able to enter a home unless invited making the show far scarier overall than if it were just another cheap imitation of the Twilight saga.

Characters: 8
There’s no single main character in this series, every character no matter how minor plays some kind of role in adding to the rich tapestry of the overall story. However the story mostly revolves around the Shiki and those with direct experience with them. The three main protagonists, Natsuno, Akira and Kaori are you three average teenagers until the Shiki strike. Yet they’re forced to grow up pretty sharpish as they start to work out what’s really been going on behind the facade of a supposed epidemic and go about trying to save the blissfully clueless town. That’s about it for character development which is a shame but necessary as if the show were to focus on each and every character it’d never end!
It’s important to note that everyone in the show’s expendable, even the main characters. This I love as it helps to increase the tension felt by the viewers as their favourite characters are caught in rather sticky situations.

Art: 6
Frankly, I’m not a fan of the kooky art style. It kinda ruins the overall look of the show to plop crazy looking characters (sometimes with hair bigger than them!) into such beautiful backdrops. But if you’re into art a little bit unique and out of the ordinary you may find you like it! The show has a good range of ugly and beautiful people, making it far more realistic than the average anime which could be considered a positive I suppose! The animation of the show however is superb. It’s hard to describe but it was great to see scenes in which the animators would try to do something a little different to keep things visually exciting!

Sound: 10
All four of the opening and ending themes are so beautiful it’s almost impossible to say a bad word about them. The second opening is in my opinion the best as it adds puts a beautifully eerie spin on the show capturing it rather nicely. The insert themes are pretty creepy too. They’re not noticeable to the point of annoyance yet you hear enough of them to know when shit’s gonna hit the fan!

Overall enjoyment: 9
I’ve immensely enjoyed this show so far. After recovering from an arguably slow start the show keeps getting better and better and the character’s situation becomes increasingly dire. Each episode ends with an edge-of-the-seat cliff-hanger leaving me desperate for yet another episode each and every week. I’d definitely recommend this show to any fan of the horror genre of anime, lovers of the traditional vampire, and haters of Twilight alike. I hope this has helped you a little on your decision of whether or not to watch this show! Bye~!

First three episodes of the show will get you wondering as to what's really happening to the village and it's inhabitants that are dying one by one, with no hint at all as why such disease that resembles "Anemia" was turning into a widespread epidemic throughout the village when victims show no signs of internal or external bleeding at all.

But I have to say, for anyone who's actually seen or read either Bram Stoker's certain novel or Fright Night, By Episode 3, you should now be aware of what's going on.

This is probably one of the only firsts in Japanese anime & manga wherein the ... contents of the story are actually quite accurate to it's reference, Vampires not being sparkly as twilight or as godlike as hellsing, but vampires that actually go by the actual vampire myth, first one would have to be this:
"Some traditions also hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless invited by the owner, although after the first invitation they can come and go as they please."
-Vampire, Wikipedia.org

More polished than Higurashi, which had a similar setting, this is quite a good show. Overall I'm quite impressed with the author's ability to go by the whole myth regarding vampire myth without twisting anything at all, regardless, I would've given this anime a 10 if only Stephen King's 'Salem's lot didn't do it first.

Based off the light novel written by Fuyumi Ono in 1998. Shiki is not your typical vampire themes, it is a rare breed of an anime. If we discuss vampire in anime, many words that come out. The phrases that often comes out are romance (Rosario to Vampire etc), and action (Hellsing and Trinity Blood) Many vampire anime got mixed up by those set-up while Shiki did a different thing than the others. Shiki throws tons of mystery to the plot, the story itself is more focused to the plot and fewer fillers. The story set-up in Sotoba. A village with large numbers of mysterious ... deaths that never happen before. The villagers didn't know what threat that will come to haunt them.

Another interesting from this story are they take a different viewpoint of the storyline. It's just so rare to found an anime that does that in the right place.The story has 3 leading roles, with a different point of view. While the pacing is different, The story goes with medium-slow pace, while the individual elements of mystery discovered one by one. Shiki has a little dull feeling in the early episode , but as the story evolves with mysteries & excitement in the air. My eyes just ask more, and more. The enjoyment shines in the finale. In just the end of 10 seconds of this anime, I saw a cyclone right in front of my eye.

I know that many viewers dislike the art of this anime. It's similar with 90's anime.
But, if you looked deeply, the art really represents the feeling of the story itself. The animation is done well, it represents fear and darkness in the night, and bring bright feeling when the morning in the story comes.

The sound settings are one of the most brilliant ideas. I'm not talking about quality, I'm talking about how much darkness feeling that spit out from the opening theme. While the ending was decent. The seiyuu did well in bringing such characters to the screen.

With millions of peoples within Shiki, it's really dangerous for the balance of the story. While other people think Shiki need do more development in their character, and they do have.. But, if we think logically, "How can we make a deep character in just 22 episodes, while the cast is crowded?'', even the best writer will be confused with this kind of question. But Shiki answers that ''We just need the major development in the essential characters, and throw a proper role to the rest...". The characters had their own proper roles, it's not perfect but it's enough to balance the story up.

And that's all about Shiki, a rare breed vampire theme. The anime do more to the plot although have some lack of points in the characterization, but it's worth to watch. If you seek a deep character, you won't get a bonus. But, if you interested to see a serious plot with a real vampire in the anime form, then the anime is for you.

Wow, what a painful watch it's been... I nearly dropped this show after the horrible first 3 episodes, but I couldn't believe, after reading all the positive reviews here, that it had no redeeming qualities. Well, guess what ? It has none.

Story-wise, Shiki is quite lackluster : though the starting point isn't that bad, it stays too faithful to its premise and never surprises the viewer. The bad storytelling doesn't help, since things happen slowly and very routinely during the first half. Furthermore, it's not really credible as a whole : during the 3 months span in which tons of dramatic events happen, there is ... absolutely NO interaction with the outside world (no media, no police, no nothing), how the hell would that be possible nowadays ?

I should also mention there were glaring holes in the plot : you leave a certain character on the verge of being killed, with 0 chance of surviving, only to find him on the hospital, 5 episodes later, without any semblance of explanation. Oh, and there is no proper ending...

As disappointed as I was with the story, what really killed the show for me was its awful characters. Lots of characters are introduced in the first few episodes, 90% of which have absolutely no trait or personality (being useless cannon fodder). The main characters themselves are incredibly bland : we hardly get to know anything about their past and motivation (aside from the rare flashback), and they show very few emotions throughout the 22 episodes. How are we supposed to feel dread from a horror show, if we cannot in the least identify with the characters ?

Speaking of the characters, they display remarkably little consistency in their deductions and actions; especially the (presumably) main character, Doctor Ozaki, being able to make a mental U turn in the blink of an eye, from a totally rational approach to a total acceptance of the supernatural theory, then "disproving" said theory in front of everyone before proving it a few episodes later...

Unfortunately, Shiki does not fare better art-wise, I'd even go as far as to say that this show is, for the most part, an eyesore. The character design is utterly terrible : pointy noses and chins, weird eyes, hideous outfits (especially with some of the shikis), and, last but not least, those ludicrous haircuts. Some characters are just plain repulsive (that Masao guy...) and made me want to stab myself in the eye. Even the supposedly moe character (gothloli Sunako) was more weird than cute. Also, while I don't mind more realistic-looking characters, I felt I got trolled with the abundance of sexy poses/outfits involving that old fat manly looking nurse...

The animation was bad as well, with lots of still images and slow pans, very static characters and relatively stiff movements.

Sound was a bit better, with some nice and fitting tracks (some of the most electronic ones did feel out of place though), but the 2 OPs/EDs were mediocre and readily forgotten. Voice acting ranged from "average" to "awful" (Masao again...).

As an avid horror stories consumer, enticed by the excellent ratings given to this show, I consider Shiki an utter failure. It fails as a horror show (neither the story nor the atmosphere gave me any thrill), it fails as a mystery show (there is NO mystery whatsoever), and it fails at delivering its underlying message (the whole "aren't good and evil relative ?" is meaningless and childish when conveyed in such an awkward way). Plus, it's painfully bad looking.

Please, do yourself a favor and don't waste 8 hours of your life with that trash.

Until maybe a decade ago vampire stories were at their prime. I, as well, used to be a big fan of such stories. In my eyes, those tales were thrilling, grasping me the whole way through and leaving me mostly utterly terrified. After hundreds of movies, books and tv series based on the vampire myth,though, vampires started to lose their original shine. They were just so overused that one could easily stop caring anymore. If anyone of you came asking me what I believed a vampire was I’m not quite sure of what my answer would be. Can they die from sunlight or do they ... glitter like the sun? Are they really fearsome or do they look like they just came out of a beauty pageant? Questions like these, that many of you might have, at one point, thought, made me stop watching about vampires whatsoever. And then came Shiki, taking the vampire story onto a whole new level, returning them back to their former days of glory.


Story: 9
I think the true success of Shiki’s story is the fact that this time such a tale was told through the eyes of Japanese creators, making it effective in two particular ways. First, it was a fresh approach of a legend that belonged to different cultures than theirs, so that automatically helped the creators move off the beaten track. And then comes the slight mix with their own traditional myths of the “Okiagari”, which literally means the Risen.
Vampires in this show are just as they should be, afraid of light, can’t come out in the day without burning themselves, they don’t like holly water, charms and crosses, they drink the blood of their victims after completely hypnotizing them and they don’t fall in love with them..*ahem*
They also can’t enter a house uninvited. Then again, they have everything that a traditional vampire would be proud of, in addition to the so well know wooden stick killing method, that in contrary they so much loathe.

The myth of the undead, blood thirsty killers, this time, unfolds in a quiet, isolated village and at first look, common village, were sudden disappearances start to occur after a strange family moves in to the big mansion on the mountain. A few people are becoming aware of something out of the usual going on and that is how it all starts moving.
At first the story runs slow, just as the unaware victims continue to carry on their daily lives. So the pacing of the first part of the series might throw some of the viewers off, especially those who are fans of full time action. Well, how I saw things, this choice of pacing was indeed a clever one, not throwing the viewer into the middle of an already unfolded story, but slowly and steadily shroud him into its mystery. As it rolls, you will find yourself entangled in it, with questions that you just need to find the answers for, doubts about the actions and choices of some of the characters and some very clever twists here and there to spice up your viewing experience.
What I love about this show’s story is that it isn’t focused on the events around only one or a small group of characters, but it rather expands itself to cover the events on the whole village and its people and view the story from both sides, both the humans and the Okiagari. So, that will help you get a feel of the broader plan of what is going on. Yes, it’s quite common to expect the endless battle of humans versus vampires, but this time you get to see both sides. In fact, you might be even puzzled about actually labeling what is wrong and right, bad and good, from some point on. It’s a fight for survival, after all, and each side naturally decides in favor of their own kind.

~~ 友引 – Tomobiki Good luck, except at noon~~
A thing that’s fascinating about the story, which shows the effort of the creators, is this small detail of the dates shown at the start of each episode, that is crucial though for one to complete the puzzle. Until the 19th century Japan used a lunar calendar of six days, each having a special meaning of bringing luck or misfortune. Shiki uses this in each episode to determine what the nature of this day is, usually foreshadowing the events to follow.

Shiki always loves cliff hangers in the ending of each episode, so you will find yourselves trapped in a roller coaster viewing ride, which will be getting more and more intense until it reaches its peak. But when starting watching, you’re nowhere around guessing what would come out of all this in the very end.
I will admit that some of its final conclusions weren’t so satisfactory to me, a few things felt abruptly wrapped up, so only there, is where I deduct a point, because the ending is very crucial to me. But, of course, it always depends on what everyone expects to find as a final resolution. So all in all it was one of the most intense anime rides I’ve ever been on.



Characters: 9

Another thing that I loved about this show was its characters. Oh, they were plenty of them, and all so versatile. One can never get bored watching this, since you will find all type of characters, and you can easily pick one or two with whom you maybe will relate and follow throughout the story. A lot of people are accusing Shiki of shallow characters. My answer to them is that not every story created should be character driven, and this isn’t a story about teenage angst or a forbidden romance. You know were you got yourself into beforehand, am I wrong? So if you prefer stories focused on one character only, don't watch this.

To the rest, you've made a good choise, since you’ll find yourselves in front of many familiar types of characters, not in terms of anime norms, but relating to real life-types of people. And you won’t be the least disappointed about the depths of their personalities, despite the big number of characters existing in the show.

“What a wonderful day! No one in the village doing anything.”

Now, I don’t know if some of you might have an experience of living or even staying for a while in a small village. If you do, as I have in my vacations, then you would recognize some types of people in Shiki.
There are the small minded people that can’t compromise with thinking outside their little shells, focusing their lives entirely on their daily village routines, forgetting about the rest of the world. There are the gossipers, who of course want to know every single news of the village, since the news isn’t many anyway. There are the usual working people, who just do their jobs quietly each day. And there are also those who sit around in a chair doing nothing but watch the passers by and chit chat about mindless things. You can also find kids that want to escape this narrowed life experience and make their way to the big city and also a priest and a doctor who both try to find their own way to balance the life in the village.

When the events of bizarre deaths start to unfold, everyone will act differently according to their character and beliefs, and that is what’s the most fascinating about them. You’ll see bravery, stupidity, cunningness, understanding, fighters and whiners, some even getting advantage of the whole thing. Generally you’ll find many approaches and that is what makes the characters so enriched. Concerning most of them, you will never really learn any solid background information, and yet they feel so fleshed out and real. For a story driven show this is definitely a success.
Also, don’t forget that you’ll get to know, many of the opposing threat side of characters, the Shikis, as they all have their own unique personality to show. Being the supposedly “bad guys” who everyone fears, doesn’t mean they can’t be diverse.
All in all I’m more than satisfied from this show’s variety of characters.

The only point I deducted from this section is because of the use of some of them by the creators. I felt that characters like Natsuno, Megumi, Masao and a few others, could have been involved a little more in certain points of the story. They still are there and active, but they didn’t intertwine with each other as much as I hoped to.



Art, Animation: 10

Now this is, mostly, the section were haters of the show focus their flaming on. I won’t try to persuade anyone that what I see is more right than what they see. But then noone can try to change my way of experiencing things, respectively. That needed to be said, before I say that I found the art and animation both to be brilliant!

The art is indeed unique. I am not trying to play it cool saying that.
Unique and different doesn’t always mean it’s good. If those same looking characters were dragged and dropped into any other type of show I would at least thought the people making it tasteless. But not in this case!
The people who designed the characters knew exactly what they were doing. The faces have rough angles and the shape of their characteristics is unproportional. The hair is also so crazy that stands out from miles away. They all are like a weird cubistic imitation of some of Picasso’s craziest paintings. But were other people find this unattractive, here is exactly how this fact elevates the story. This specific oddity makes Shiki stand out, looking like an old creepy fairytail that comes out of a dusty old book or from one of those bedtime stories that a grandma used to tell her grandchildren around the fireplace. They remind me of Tim Burton’s seductive dark style and where could it fit better than in a story about vampires?

Vampires are anything but usual, they are extravagant, they are lavish but they are also fearsome and killers. So, the roughnesses of the sketches as well as the crazy colors depict the wildness of the story itself. Also the eyes of the Okiagari that don’t have pupils make it feel like you are looking inside an empty shell, as referring to them not having a human soul anymore. The backgrounds are drawn very nicely making this look really to be this enclosed village that the story describes, one that is far from civilization.
A small detail I found very beautiful is the part where the eyes of the Shiki were glowing red in the night and then their shadow slowly appeared, making it very creepy to watch.
The animation is equally good. Some movements may seem abrupt, but I think it adds more to the roughness of the story better than having gentle moves that create a smooth flow. So I really don’t find anything wrong with the animation being more rough than usual.



Music and Sound: 10

The music section is many times the most neglected in a series. As a big music lover, I hate it when, otherwise good shows, have some lame BG music and sound to support them. Sometimes I do find one or good Opening and Ending themes that stand alone though, because usually the background music of those series keeps me indifferent.
In Shiki though, the music is so brilliant that I don’t know where to start the praise from. The melodies aren’t just pretty or simply fit well, they are one with the show, the same entity. They blend so perfectly in each frame and time of the show that I’m positive Shiki wouldn’t be the same without its music score.
The first OP is mysterious, seductive, special. The second OP is eerie, magical, like a dark lament. The endings are equally seductive, particularly the second one that reminds me of music of past decades, having a passionate and also sorrowful sound.

The background music is equally awe-striking, it’s sometimes playful, sometimes harsh, others soft or sending chills down your spine. The various tracks use from natural sounds to human voices. Some voices sound like a jukebox, others chanting or making creepy but melodic sounds. Each and every single piece used, elevates the show.
As far as the voice acting is concerned, I saw a few new actors involved in this, which I find good for a change. They all did their work marvelously well, projecting each of the character’s unique personality. And then they went through many phases, having to show pain, anger, fear, scream or whisper. They all had a hard job, but pulled it off perfectly.



Enjoyment: 10

Many times during a show I find myself indifferent about what is going on with the story and the characters. Some stories manage to grab my attention back again, but usually I always experience one or two times of boredom that I just have to be patient until the good parts come in. Not with Shiki. Every time I started watching this I felt like I was glued to my screen, completely forgetting what was going on in my surroundings or how did I end up watching this at those late hours, hearing and watching nothing else but the show itself. I found myself so concerned about everyone’s fate, the art and music working like a magnet on me, that I just wanted this to go on and on as much as it was possible.



Overall: 9 - 9.5/10

For those of you who love intense experiences and look for a little more thought provoking shows Shiki will come as a real treat. It will keep you excited, at the edge of your seat, and at the same time it will make you the player of a big puzzle were you have to be very careful on what you see to finally create the whole image. What is equally cool about the whole viewing experience is that there are so many point of views from which you can observe this show that I’m sure that watching it a second time you’ll come up with different notes about it.

So if you love vampires or just love to watch a little deeper emotionally shows with a complete lack of pantie shots and silly fanservice, then this is exactly the show you’re looking for. A traditional, creepy, mystical, magical, dark, haunting and twisted fairytale. So just grab a mug of hot milk and join us near the fireplace.
Have a nice and creepy ride! :)


Thanks to everyone for reading this relatively long review. Please feel free to leave a comment on my channel with your thoughts about it or about the show.

I'll be honest; this is my first review. As so, I am open to all criticism and feedback. After all, I'm here to inform you, not fan-boy rant or spew obscenities about a show. So, without further ado, onto the review! (I promise that was not intended to rhyme!)

It's been a while since I dared to pick up a vampire anime. The modernization and romanticism of these blood-suckers in titles such as Twilight and other anime like Rosario + Vampire left me with much despair for this genre.

Luckily, Shiki rekindled my appeal towards the night stalkers.

After watching the entire series, I have to say I ... was pleasantly surprised. I went in not expecting much, and came out finding a hidden gem among anime. But, Frag, what makes this show such a gem? I'll do my best to answer that question in the following paragraphs, my dear readers!

Shiki's story starts off fairly simple. A small back-hill village that seems trapped in it's own little world. And it's because of this simplicity that the producers were able to catch the viewer off guard. Just when things seemed normal enough, there's just the smallest, slightest flash of insanity that reminds you you're watching a very mind-boggling show. As the story went on, the simplicity began to evaporate. What was left was more insanity. More horror. Shiki goes back to the roots of the vampires most older individuals remember. Burning in sunlight, fearing religious objects (such as crosses or buddha statues) and faith, coma-like sleep during the day. I don't want to say too much, for I wouldn't want to spoil anything, but I will tell you that Shiki does vampires justice after shows such as the Vampire Diaries. As the story progresses, you begin to become more enthralled within it's mysteries. Just as one mystery is figured out, more appear. It's what hooks the viewer, and it did so marvelously (I watched the entire series in one weekend.) Some people found the ending to be not what they were expecting, but I thought it matched the series as a whole perfectly; full of mystery.

I've seen quite a number of anime's in my time, and I've really come to appreciate good art when I can get it. I find there are two categories; shows that normalize their art to fit in with other anime, and shows that shape their own style. Obviously, it's impossible to be completely unique when manga itself is a repetitive art, but there are shows that manage to create a style that works well for it. Shiki is one of those anime. Watching it in HD, the animation was incredibly fluid. The scenery was vibrant and colorful where it should of been, and dark and horrifying where it ought to be. The horror scenes are really what entranced me, however. The way that the artists conveyed the terror of being watched during the night, of wondering if you'll wake up the next morning truly enthralled me. It's been a long while since I got chills watching an anime, and Shiki delivered quite well. Major props to the art team.

I had some mix feelings about the sound of Shiki at first. Loved the initial opening theme, but the choir and gothic music felt almost cliché at first. Over time, however, the anime's original soundtrack really grew on me. It didn't completely "WOW!" me, especially at first, but as the story progressed, the music really began to fit in with the emotions that this show stirs inside of you. The ending theme, like many other anime, really didn't impress me, however. It felt out of place for the type of anime Shiki is. Overall, Shiki's soundtrack did a great job after giving it time to settle in.

Now, what really made me adore this anime wasn't any of the above, but the characters themselves. I can't really say that there's a "main character" in this story, but some characters perspectives are highlighted more so than others as the show progresses. The thing about Shiki is that it hosts a massive cast; that cast being the village. You would think that spreading so much of the story throughout many characters would be a bad idea, reducing the chance the viewer can become attached to them, but Shiki manages to do quite the opposite. The key was the fact that the characters were believable. I've yet to have seen an anime (other than Clannad Afterstory) that manages to sport such realistic characters. From Megumi to Natsuno, to Toshio and Seishin; all of them feel like people I've met in my life, people that I can relate to or say I know. It's because that these characters are believable that you so quickly become attached.

Did you enjoy Shiki, Frag? Well, if it wasn't apparent enough already, it has truly been one of my greatest pleasures of anime to watch this year. When a company can piece together all these delicate categories of anime in just the right way, it can create a genuinely memorable experience for the viewer. Shiki is an anime I'm proud to add to my collection of favorites. Something I should mention is that the show really manages to get you to think about morals. What is truly right or wrong? Is there such a thing as pure good or evil? The best part is that Shiki leaves it up to you to figure out the answers yourself.

To sum it all up, I urge you to give the show a chance. Two episodes in, I was hooked, and I'm willing to bet it'll do the same to you. I'm surprised this show isn't more popular; it's a real breath of fresh air when it comes to the long neglected genre of vampires. Even if you've never been one for blood-suckers, you might find the genre more appealing after sitting down and watching Shiki.

While Shiki is definitely not the best thriller anime out there, I wouldn't go as far as saying it is a complete waste of time.

Despite the fact that the story is not really original (vampires and werewolves, yeah), it still manages to not be a copy/paste of others fictions (at least from the ones I know). The rule for people to "rise" (aka becoming a shiki) is actually a bit different from what you can usually see, and makes the plot more interesting.
Also, the characters are not that original either (or unforgivable), but they still manage to make the view more enjoyable. The ... doctor and the teenage lead are the characters you can identify the most, and both make an acceptable job to advance the story. Then, you have the bitch girl, the pathetic teen, the scared-but-decided-to-act children, the 50-year-old brute, the nice-mean-guy, the seductive succubus, the little girl a bit scary, etc. The only one I don't get is the Junior Monk, which personality and motivations are unclear from the beginning and all along the story ; but he still manages to bring something to the plot.

I think the main problem of the anime is its pace : even if they shortened it by 5 episodes, it still would be too long. It would have been better to go for 12 episodes. Indeed, it starts ridiculously slowly, and NEVER accelerates ; consequently, the narration becomes quickly unbearable. Besides, they have the annoying habit to shelve the important facts, and sometimes you have to wait for 3 or 4 episodes to get your answer to what happened - and it's often very incomplete.
Anther thing I disliked is the way they want to make you sympathize with one or either side ; I know it's usual in this kind of show, but still, their arguments are so shallow that it just bores me. Yes, the shikis have to kill humans to feed and survive - yes, the humans have to defend themselves from their former friends if they want to survive too - but the way both are presented successively as monsters or as people who can't do otherwise diminishes the impact of the show. Should I remind that the point of a thriller is to scare the viewer, at at least to make him feel uneasy ?
Well, there are also some details that are not really explained, which is quite annoying too.

The last critic I would make is about the art : what the hell is wrong with their hair ? I mean, I could handle their funny (not to say ugly) faces, but the haircuts are too much. One guy literally has ears on his head, like a dog, and nobody notices a thing ! And what about the girls whose wig look like gravity doesn't exist ? Or the old guy with a beard going up ... You get used to it after 20 episodes, but it's still unsightly.


Well, I made a lot of critics, however the show is still somehow enjoyable and perfectly fulfills the job of distracting you for a few evenings. It's probably better to watch it at night (with an open window), and to not split the views too much - but don't expect too much from it either, since some parts might get you bored anyway.

Shiki is definitely one of those nice surprises you didn't expect would be so good, considering the level of uninspiring and unoriginal anime fluff we see on the shelves nowadays. Despite receiving rave reviews by so many people from all walks of life, I was still a total skeptic especially when it comes to people praising any modern anime. Mainly since there is very little modern anime has to offer... beyond titties, panty-shots, moe, toothy grinning shounen-types with big weapons or powers, and giant robots... miraculously all within some kind of school setting. If you've seen one, you can basically say you've ... seen them all. So imagine my surprise when i picked this title; after seeing these kids with bizarre hair and the cheery (somewhat simple) art style, I genuinely expected some type of "Pokemon's rendition" of vampires. Well, I was wrong, and I'm not embarrassed to admit it. What I've learnt, is that regardless of it's appearance, there is some level of depth and complexity to this story that will make you enjoy it a lot more than perhaps you originally intended.

SOUNDS:
Let's start with the music first. I didn't like the first OP, Kuchizuke, I dunno what about it got on my nerves, maybe the howling/haunting male vocals or the fact that it fell between rock and pop. The howling voice does suit the overall creepiness of the series... but it just was not my cuppa tea. Strangely enough, I loved the second ED theme, Gekka Reijin, which is by the same band... with the same howling/haunting male voice but music and beats sounded smoother and the guitar sounded sexier. Can't say I felt the same way about the first ED, Walk no Yakusoku, it's not a particularly bad song, but this singer's voice got on my nerves a little bit as well. However, I really liked the 2nd OP theme Calendula Requiem, I like upbeat songs and liked the speed of the words.
I watched this series twice, once in Japanese and the other in English... either way is fine. I suppose, but I don't particularly feel the need to score Japanese audio that much considering people seem to generally like that more than English dubs, personally I will always pick English dubs because I prefer to not have to read subtitles. The English dub was
really good fit Shiki.

Art/Animation:
The art for this series is pretty nice... It's a mixture of quirky and childish character designs with the set designs being far more detailed and sophisticated. The character designs are definitely of the shounen variety: thick outlines, fierce eyebrows, funky hairstyles and a bright, solid colour palette is used. The real art is shown thru the various settings and backgrounds: walls have visible imperfections and textures, furnishings look believable, the woods look dark and foreboding. What I really appreciated was that we were taken everywhere thru the village, some homes were more modest than others, some were extravagant, the doctor's clinic, the gazebo, the shrine, etc. so many shows would have taken a lazier approach and not have made these settings as detailed. I will say however that the animation was pretty standard, considering this wasn't a type of show that had complex battle scenes then we can forgive that much. The "camera" pans, 360 rotations and semi-rotations used for dramatic effects were smooth enough.

STORY:
Shiki starts out with the story of Megumi, your typical kind of frilly teenage girl with a sour attitude--we all know the type! She moans on and on about being stuck in some hick town, completely devoid of any sophistication or panache... we can't blame her though, I know I'd be the same. Anyway, her bitchiness aside, she develops a little crush for the main character, Natsuno, then she becomes a little stalker, then dies in some freakish yet mysterious manner. Her death coincides with the rash of other mysterious deaths occurring in the village, and that's all I can really say about that without going into spoiler territory. Using "mysterious deaths" as an opener for an anime isn't new or rare but at the very least it serves it's purpose by making things very interesting right away. You will immediately have some sort of interest to find out what's wrong with that town... and that's when the narration can take it's time to slowly peel away the layers to reveal the mystery. I thought the pacing was really great, it was never slow and boring, but it never rushed into big excitement right away either, it was a well controlled and deliberate on a steady climb to a big finish... and it wasn't predictable-Another big plus in my book! Some episodes definitely toyed with your emotions, such as episode 14.

CHARACTER:
the character designs aren't too shabby, they're drawn quite attractively as far as general face and body shape is concerned... which is always a big plus in my book (who wants to look at ugly people?) But there were some minor niggles that worked their way under my skin. Let's talk about some of the hairstyles, some of them looked about as wild, hard and as immovable as tree bark...especially that little devil-child Sunako. I know according to Twilight, today's vampire likes to play around with a little mousse, maybe some hair wax, but her shit was just straight up ridiculous! Same goes for the nurse, Ritsuko, as much as I liked her character, that hair was silly. it was as if some green rattlesnake bit her on the back of the skull and hung there for all eternity. Then we had some chin problems, chins that ended in a very sharp point, a style I haven't seen since the 90s. And possibly the weirdest, most "perplexingly" annoying aspect of their character designs were the eyes... no I'm not talking about the black pupil-less eyes, even though those were creepy as fuck. No I'm talking about the fact that they drew eyelids above eyelashes on everyone. Really??? was this intentional or did someone fail Anatomy and Character Design 101? Eyelashes are at the end of eyelids, so why it's it that when these people lower their lids halfway, it also conceals their eyelashes? that's virtually impossible unless their eyelashes are tucked inwards and scraping their eyeballs. Also the monk's irises are too large! All that being said, these imperfections or designs don't bother me too tremendously and do not detract from enjoying the story.
There is a nice mix of characters in this series. You have young people, old people and everyone in between, each with varying personalities and stations within this small hick village. They were all drawn with somewhat realistic proportions and attributes, we didn't have freakishly busty 13-year olds or well fit looking old men. I particularly enjoy this diverse type of ensemble, because I believe the more diverse the cast, the richer the story will be. And this cast is pretty developed... well, at least as developed as 26 episodes can allow.
The story centres around three central characters: a stubborn gruff doctor, a pensive monk and a brooding teenager. These are the most fully realised characters with completed backgrounds and the narrative shifts from one perspective to the other. This is definitely a character driven series, which is probably part of the reason why I like it so much. Because besides these three central characters I mentioned before: Dr. Toshio Ozaki, Seishin Muroi and Natsuno Yuuki, almost every person in the town is given some kind of past or history no matter how inconsequential they are. You get to know these people personally, know their family, their story, empathise and feel their pain, their loss... even some of the so-called "bad guys." Which I especially liked! Nowadays, simply saying bad guys are just bad because they are, is not good enough. A good story goes beyond that, we need to ask; why are they bad? And are they really bad in the first place? Just because they are vampires, does that make them inherently evil? Shiki explores this really well.

VERDICT:
I gave this show a "9" because I saw something different about this anime. Vampires attacking a town isn't exactly a new concept here, but perhaps I appreciated this interpretation of the vampire... a more human-like vampire, ones with feelings and regret. Not feelings to the point of pure sappiness like Twilight but more along the same vein like "Interview with a Vampire" where vampires have their own personalities and behaviours... yet still have the obligations that come along with being a vampire. I also gave it a "9" because there are fewer anime clichés in this one, no high-schools, no unnecessary guns or explosions, no young grinning shonen with some big sword or robot saving the world...one power up at a time, no love polygons or dramatic death scene where someone screams "nnnnnoooooooo or akiraaaaaaa" for seven minutes. This was a proper story with a beginning, middle and a heck of an ending! Definitely worth the watch.