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| Disappointing. 5/10 |
| The closer you get to the light,the greater your shadow becomes. |
| Why did Motoko start the fire? I don't get it |
 柵の向こうには 本当に狼などおらぬのか |
iiKrina said: Why did Motoko start the fire? I don't get it Check out the shiki specials. That gives an answer to why she started the fire. That also showcases a bloodfest when humans trapped the shiki in the underground canals |
| I will admit, I was a bit off put by this series the first time I watched it due to the art and animation being subpar. It probably took me longer than I should have to finish it. But I'm glad I stuck with it, as Shiki truly was an experience. The ending definitely could've been done better with a few loose ends tied up and some characters being given more screen time, but the story and the messages it was attempting to convey were done so well. Oh, and the soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful. I absolutely love these kinds of stories. A very solid and good 8/10. |
shikinoutaJan 23, 2019 1:35 AM
| RIP Sunako. She deserved much better. |
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| I personally thought the show was above average but nothing too special. The first half of the series really dragged on for way too long as they kept doing the whole "this person that we're setting up as the protagonist just died!" thing. More importantly, I did not get the whole "humans are the monsters" bit from this show at all like many others did. First and foremost, the Shiki way of life is absolutely not sustainable. Unlike normal predators or even humans, they do not age or die. They also don't reproduce normally, but instead spread like a disease. As it is also not possible for them to coexist with humans as they are unable to control their hunger, if left unchecked, they WILL annihilate all humans and without any humans, they themselves will die out. It is in every party's best interest to eradicate all the Shiki. I think other shows like Devilman Crybaby, Elfen Lied or even Kamen Rider Faiz handled the "humans are the monsters" trope much better. This is because the "monsters" in those shows had a choice. They were capable of coexisting or blending in with humans despite their differences because their nature did not make them inherently dangerous. In all those shows, it was the humans who drew the first blood by discriminating, ostracizing and even hunting them, forcing some of them to eventually retaliate. The Shiki are monsters by nature, not nurture. If they fight against their nature, they would suffer and die regardless. Yes, they didn't ask for it and their situation should be pitied. However, as letting them live is impossible, the best thing to do would be to end their suffering as quickly and humanely as possible. They were already damned the moment they became Shiki. The fact that there was little focus on the Shiki's moral struggles did not help. Most of them discarded their inhibitions and guilt when it came to biting and killing humans way too quickly to be truly sympathetic. In this regard, Ritsuko and Tooru were the only two Shikis that I could say I really cared about (Ritsuko best girl). But then again, they were better off dead as they were suffering with what they had become. Yeah, there were some humans that went off the deep end, but nothing like Devilman Crybaby where there was mass hysteria. (^.^') Most of them were doing their best to survive without going overboard and acted as rationally as humanly possible given the situation. Lastly, what was with Masao's character? He was horrendously annoying from beginning to end and served zero purposes in the story as a whole... Speaking of useless characters, I really wished Natsuo had more play. He became a werewolf, bit 2 people and... that's it. Regardless, I do still think it was a fun watch and am glad to have crossed it off my list. It was entertaining all the way through as I kept wondering if an when the humans were going to make a comeback. Episode 18 was so cathartic. (^.^') The ending was at least satisfying for me. |
ActarFeb 19, 2019 8:41 AM
| I have mixed emotions for the ending but overall, everything is a messed up. A lot of people died and the town died as well. It seems that Muroi and Sunako survived based on the last scene and I just hope that they'll never do something like this again. I was hoping Natsuno will be alive but nah, sigh |
  ★━━─ 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺? |
| Yeeeeah... I wanted to like this anime, but isn't really what you expect from the summary nor the label 'psychological horror'. Shiki isn't a psychological horror. Not even really horror. It does bring up some nice philosophical concepts, but there's another problem with that... It doesn't do it well, at all. And it's certainly not a mystery. Higurashi does both a lot better, say what you will about the cutesy and moe characters. The first half is mixed. Natsuno's story was hitting all the right checkboxes and I enjoyed it the most of out the entire anime. But, the doctor, Toshio's, I hated it. The way he's written was honestly aggravating and if it wasn't for Natsuno's horror intersecting with Toshio's idiocy, I would have dropped it. The "mystery", if you can call it that, is artificially lengthened by the doctor not doing the elementary. Literally 5 episodes and 20+ people dead with the same symptoms before he tries the obvious. I'm sorry, but my suspension of disbelief isn't a gooey slime cum, it can't stretch that far. Theeeeeen, Natsuno gets shoved out of the story (I honestly can't imagine reading the novel without him, that sounds painful) and the anime falls apart almost immediately. And that's because: 1) Toshio isn't all that interesting of character to watch. Sure his moral crossroads is a bit fascinating, but his overall character and writing is annoying to watch. The guy's a doctor, a man of science, but man does he not have a lick of common sense nor street smarts. He often doesn't think through logically, is very emotional, and makes mistake after mistake all while doing buttfuck about it until the end. (I wanna know how he overcomes Chizuru's bite without Natsuno in the novel.) The fact they place a lot of the "mystery" subplot on the science and rational in attempts to make realistic characters actually makes the whole less realistic within the setting they chose. They believe in God but not the supernatural like vampires? Yeah okay. Pull the other one. 2) The crappy attempt at balancing the shiki vs human morality battle. The first half acts like the shiki are evil and approaches it from that angle for the most part to give that horror feel. Then the second half tries to humanize them... only after the humans start to rise up to kill them in the last few episodes. Um, okay, what? The whole second half feels very much like the writers attempting to manipulate our emotions so we suddenly care about people who were acting like assholes for most of the anime. And I hate when anime do that just to get pity points for their crap villain at the very end. Sunako is the perfect example of this. Why should we care when she did until it was her neck on the line? Or how about Chizuru who had no problems taunting and manipulating men until it was her that got played? That isn't to say all the humans were good. A whole bunch deserved to die, truly. Those who were a part of the mob mentality don't deserve any sympathy. I don't feel glad they won, just indifference and a bit disappointed more didn't die from the shiki. The whole final battle was definitely garbage; these creatures, horrors of the night, predator to the top predator, are weak as shit and blubbering like babies when it comes to actually fighting and not sneak in the shadows. Pathetic. The only cool ones are the Jinrou, like Tatsumi and Natsuno, who went down like bosses they were. 3) The anime doesn't really tell us anything about the vampires except how to kill them. This makes them seem like a bunch of idiots and ruins any sympathy of them wanting a place to live in peace moot. Sunako never mentions trying to be the good person - in fact she says how she abused the goodwill of strangers and killed them to eat for her own goal. (Sunako's entire story makes no sense, frankly. They can't kill people in one bite but she can? Seriously?) Her story hints how it was Mr. Kirishiki that turned her into a shiki, but HOW? Is she the first? How did he do it? He wanted to be a shiki then why didn't none them try to make him one? Which leads to the biggest question... what exactly makes a person a vampire. Half the people who died never rose and early on most didn't then suddenly people were rising more often than not. They say one who does is special, but did the family not try to figure out how it works? Isn't that the point of Mr. Kirishiki's entire motivation so he can complete his goal? What makes Nao different from her family? It can't be they're nice people since nice people like Chigusa's mom and Ritsuko rose despite not utterly hating it. All these questions just go unanswered as if we're not supposed to care and it's the boulder in Shiki's glass house of a plot. Everything wrong with the story is traced back to the lack of details involving shiki and the Kirishikis' including but not limited to: their utter lack of planning and big picture thinking, their threats and blackmail attempts, their way of making newborn shiki into psychopaths by desensitizing them to killing and death. All asking for trouble. They're the those types of people who put in the minimal, bad effort but expect a good reward as if it was their right. The humans weren't any better, though. It takes them how long before they figure it out? And it only happens because of the doctor managing to lure Chizuru into the crowd. If she was smart and didn't fall of it, none of them would have survived, dying believing it was a "summer cold". (That's dumb, but I can't say it's not realistic. Just look at Europe currently. Nonetheless, they could have shown some leaving like that one old lady and others talking about wanting to get answers from the outsiders. (Speaking of which, whatever happened to the people who suddenly moved out in the middle of the night? Another thing the anime never bothers to clear up...)) I can't feel bad for people who would rather see everyone die out than believe in something supernatural, especially when NONE of them did except Sailor Mars and my boy, Akira who was seen as crazy. There's a few who I wish was killed but weren't... As for the ending: In a way, I'm glad Sunako lives. It shows how things that exist in nature can sometimes live despite attempts to eradicate it. What's more important is how she's gonna change, if at all, from all of this. But, I do wish the doctor died, hate the guy. Like how everyone hates the monk (who I didn't funny enough). I'm sad we don't get see Masao get his due, though, that dude was a waste of all our precious time. Even if his sister in law was a total amazon - wish we got to see more of her. And am I the only one super bothered by how their fangs were behind their incisors? It's the weirdest looking thing ever and Tatsumi's outfits exist in this universe. 5/10. If you want good psychological horror this ain't it. It's not horror, just a crap attempt at philosophy of otherness. Sorta like a crappy bootleg of X-men but with vampires. Rosny said: I think a big reason why Sunako was disliked was because she actually went on a genocide mission on the village instead of looking for long term sustainability with the village and 'coexistence' with the village. No matter how you dice it, it was Lebensraum genocide. Say it louder for those in the back! And I get the feeling they were trying to do projection with her. In that, she believes her kind can't co-exist with humans despite never trying to so she acted with that false belief rather than trying to be a good person. She was her biggest bigot... Too bad the anime never makes her learn that lesson and tries to validate her. -_- |
SakariiMay 28, 2019 10:19 PM
| Forgot how abrupt the whole thing ends, hope the villagers don't think that fire is going to hide everything, there should still be quite a few charred corpses left for the firefighters to discover... Sunako and Muroi escape to start things over, hopefully will try to do things differently next time around. |
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| instead of horror, I ended up watching a comedy! |
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| Man, those poor confused monks that got massacred for no reason, Megumi was a selfish bitch when she was alive and as an undead, her death was satisfying |
B0bbathan said: RIP Sunako. She deserved much better. What do you mean? She survived. It was blatantly implied that she was in the box at the end. |
 "I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited." ― Jorge Luis Borges [url=]Goodreads[/url] | [url=]Letterboxd[/url] |
| This show is was so great The way it plays with morals is so perfect. Just great writing. Can't get this show off my mind, I may just have to read the novels. |
| Did a play by play: So its nightfall, starts out with her waking up and we can hear the dudes in the background talking about how they still haven't found him... HOW HAVE THEY NOT LMFAO NAANANNI. ALSO LMFAO MR WEREWOLF GOT RUN OVER HAHAHA, GOT IN ANOTHER CAR, CRASHED IT, AND GOT SHOT AGAIN. 10/10 best death of the century. Dude Natsuno looking at Tohru's made me SOOO freaking sad. And lmfao they ran over Megumi so many times. AND THAT SCENE WHERE THEY RAN OVER HER HEAD WAS BADASS AS FUCK. UGGHHh WEREWOLF MAN WITH THE BLUE HAIR AND TRACKSUIT IS STILL ALIVE!?!?!? COME ONNNN. Also super fucking unfair that the priest gets to be a werewolf, he doesnt deserve that shit. TERRIBLE. LMFAO OLD MAN THREW HIS WOOD HAMMER AT HER SO HARD LOL. AND THEN SHE TRIED TO BITE HIM AND HE HEADBUTT HER LOLOLOLOL Ok he needs to hurry up and kill her though for real, no monologue or else someone is gunna save her... Yeeeppppp. He got killed. By the priest. Stupid. I am soooo glad that my favourite pair of siblings are alive though <3 AND UGGHHH THE PRIEST AND LIL GIRL SOMEHOW MANAGED THE GET OUT WTF??? UNSATISFYING ENDING. |
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Flevalt said: Sakarii said: Sunako's entire story makes no sense, frankly. They can't kill people in one bite but she can? Seemed like a pretty simple and straightforward principle to me. The vampires suck blood. The risen vampires suck off their victims blood in portions, to have several meals instead of just one. If a vampire wants to kill a human by sucking all his blood in one go, he could do so. But it would be a waste. It's the problem of finding the golden middle ground between wanting to expand your group/army/race, while also having to provide for them. An army needs supplies, in this case, sources of blood. So I could see why Kirishiki would let his subordinates do that or even see the necessity for it. Also, turning an entire region into vampires is not an easy task without getting noticed. It would be far less suspicious for people to fall sick and mislead them rather than just instantly finishing off people. Sudden deaths either come off as murder or accidents, but in any case would not often be associated with natural causes. That makes a lot of sense. It's been a while, so I could be wrong, but it seemed like Sunako's bite was an Instant Death. Her entire backstory was "uwu i couldn't not kill people when drinking from them" suggesting the moment she bites, her bloodlust is all or nothing. I know it's not true because of the monk, but it was just confusing as to why she couldn't just... not drink all the blood? A lot of her problems were due to that fact and it seemed like she never bothered to control it until way later (which I'm assuming because of the monk). But, I realize I didn't word it well. |
Flevalt said: It's also how the images of her assaults are shown. Just 1 image of her jumping at one person after another. Then again, we don't even know if she did in fact suck them dry in one go. The way it was described and shown is not necessarily what actually happened. She might as well have kept her victims around in her shack, where she kept feeding on them. What I found strange though was that she apparently killed quite a few people on her own, yet apparently none of them rose. A matter of chance, but still. It was the way she framed it as if she had no choice in keeping them alive and all of them were accidental deaths too. I was thinking the same as you, tbh, until that bit of narrative. She could have been lying though we're never given a reason to believe she was (beyond being a vampire, I guess?). So, I thought what we were seeing was the truth. Good point there. That only makes me question the whole situation around how they rise more - seems arbitrary. Unless we're supposed to assume at least one of them did rise, but never bothered to seek Sunako out. |
Flevalt said: I especially liked the scene where megumi died, because it underlined just how stupid they were and that while megumi was heartless and superficial, she was absolutely right about each and every one of them. She uses her last moments squealing like every life that is threatened to soon end, but what she says is basically just that she was unhappy in the village from the very start because of how selfish and imposing the people around her behaved and so she was never left a chance to live a happy life, that is, one where she could live how she wanted to some extent. All of the people around her are just standing there, her words pass into and immediately out of their ears as if its just drowned out noise to them rather than words with meaning to them. They then watch as her head is popped without expressing even the slightest form of emotion and none of them thematizes anything she said or anything relating to her existence, immediately switching to a more rudimentary topic after she died. Like a bunch of cows, eating away at the grass after one of their kind was just shot in the head next to them. More shocked at the loud bang than the fact that one of them died. Absolutely amazing scene. Man, Megumi was just as closed-minded as the rest of them. Just oriented in a different direction. That's the thing - Humans are tribal and so many of them constantly seeking external validation for assurance of their own self-worth. She was not only incredibly materialistic, but acted with complete viciousness and spite to everyone around her who wasn't deemed "cool" enough - i.e., the people she wanted to impress, such as a city boy transplant like Natsuno even though he didn't care so much as to spit in her direction. Everyone else she not only insulted, like her own parents, Masao, etc., but actively persecuted and terrorized, like Kaori, a girl her own age who had nothing but kindness for her. I don't see how that makes her more enlightened or open-minded than the villagers. It shows her as exactly like a lot of similar girls around her age - throwing the people who actually care about her under the bus to be "cool" and impress those who don't give a damn about her, shallow, and vapid. Liking cosmopolitan urban life because it's "different" than where she grew up isn't inherently any better or worse than the villagers' mindset of wanting to preserve their traditional agrarian lifestyle and small town feel, yet both look down their noses at the other. Because again, human tribalism and ignorance; utter bane of the species. Flevalt said: When he finally was the one to be responsible for the vampire witch hunt, I couldn't fully put my finger on whether his evil smirk was meant more as a "fuck you" to Churizu and the vampires or to all the humans he let die on purpose before feeling like doing something all of a sudden. But it was definitely both. It's funny that an oft-mentioned criticism of this show seems to be the slow-paced nature of especially the first half (not saying your criticism is that) and granted, there have to be creative liberties taken as is the usual in shows and films to allow characters to have selective/convenient sight/hearing/decision-making so as to guide the story at a certain chosen preordained pace, but one of the reasons I loved this series and what I actually found so incredibly realistic was how the doctor reacts. It seems because this is labeled under the mystery genre a lot of folks know it's vampires going in or by the first episode and then by episodes two, three, six, eight, etc. are yelling at the screen "How the hell can they not know/acknowledge it's vampires??!" That's all well and good, because any viewer is acutely aware they're watching a piece of fictional media. I feel like if the same exact signs were lined up in front of the same people in real life, they would similarly overlook it, downplay it, dismiss it, find another plausible explanation even where it doesn't fit, until a literal fanged vampire was hissing in front of their own faces. It's only known to the audience because of suspension of disbelief. Out in the world, a lot of medical professionals would behave similarly. People are willing to go to incredible lengths to bend their perception of reality to fit their preconceived worldview, however ill-fitting. There are probably many professionals, if not most, who would go through every recognized illness in the book and then, after exhausting them, sooner turn over their medical license and claim inadequacy before admitting to the supernatural and all its implications. That's just how people are - Programmed. And Dr. Ozaki did attempt on numerous occasions to alert the community. He coyly worked in to conversation to gauge their reaction like in the case of the desk worker at the clinic who had been working at ground zero of the cases coming in every day for months and again outright told townspeople when they met in the cafe during the day. They basically laughed in his face and said in so many words that even if something like that were possible, they wouldn't accept it. That's the grim reality of the tunnel vision boxed in world of how most people are. That the majority won't even react or break from scripted small talk even as their families and homes and village are being eradicated in front of their eyes all around them because they're educated that such stuff is fake and even acknowledging it needs overwhelming group consensus. The limited field of view of most people is part of Shiki's own social commentary and Ozaki's realization of it and decision not to rely on people's good sense and self-preservation instincts but elaborately manipulate a scenario in which one could be exposed in front of them and it no longer denied without him having to lift a finger is a defining and crucial part of his character arc. Ozaki and Seishin both actually, even walking different paths which lead them to fall on opposite sides of the conflict - It's a story of both of their isolation from the rest of the villagers from not having the same shared herd mentality. Ozaki has no faith in or respect for other people who won't open their eyes and save themselves, and Seishin gives up on life among other people and their expectations of him to perform a certain role in a prescribed manner altogether. Take that out and the story would be a lot weaker. Just a horror, and an epic horror at that, but not as much a tragic drama about the different psyches of man. |
WatchTillTandavaOct 26, 2019 2:54 PM
| Slow start, good progression, awesome finale. Love how they didn't try to depict the vampires as the 'ultimate big bads'. The villagers being bigots that pass from 'uh, vampires don't exist' to 'let's kill 'em all!' made sense and was somewhat sad. "You're the ones that are strange!" Creepily true. This is definitely a runner-up for first place in this month's challenge. 9/10 |
| Best side of the show is how it showed how each and every personality reacted to the extraordinary events happening around them; while some of them behaved unlike the way normal people would and very few of them were properly fleshed out, it made for interesting watching as it slowly revealed how the characters, all of them banal everyday persons from all over the spectrum, grow to kill or be killed relatively logically. But the show tries to achieve something more than that, trying to ruffle viewers' feathers by asking questions, on the moral compass, on scientific skepticism, on rural mindsets and religion etc, but none of them are sufficiently compelling. This is because all of them feel rather constructed and phony, just like the main characters' hair... Events and problems, and the city itself look like they were manufactured explicitly for the writer to ask such questions, and yet the vampiric situation is designed in such a way that the usual viewer would easily answer those moral questions. Think it through and they still ARE villains, they do deserve to get exterminated. Always heard this to be a bloody slow show but it never really felt that way, most scenes, lines and pauses warranted their time. This has a lot of content and was for the most part traditionally entertaining. Conversely, all criticisms on the visuals are correct. 6-7/10. Terrible OP/EDs by the way. |
| Are you kidding me? No, don't give me this kind of open ending, screw the Shiki, screw most of the villagers. This is the kind of unsatisfying ending that keeps me awake at night. I'm at least glad that Akira and Kaori survived. This Anime had a massive potential throughout, Ozaki was such a disappointment, I shouldn't have put so many expectations on him. |
| Some of the characters were hella annoying. I couldn't stand most of them. |
SmoothBruce said: deadaccount0000 said: Edit- Also, can ANYONE please help me understand two things. 1- Who was in the blue car at the end, and what was in the box? Was that Muroi & Sunako? :o (JUST REWATCHED, and I'm confirming that it was Muroi driving. The person had glasses and the same eyes as him.) 2- Who got on the bus during the credits that the two kids (forgot their name) were surprised to see? Does this mean a sequel? Because although the people in the car might be who I said, I have never seen the two people on the bus.. (Woah, I just realized how much I wrote, sorry). The guy that got onto the bus was Natsuno's dad and mum im pretty sure It isn't Natsuno's mother, the dark red haired woman, but the restaurant owner, Kanami Yano. She was featured in the first episode when the Kirishiki family is first moving into town and the jinrou guy, Tatsumi, drives the truck right up to her house in the middle of the night when her and her mother are sleeping and sits on the horn. Her and her mother are also featured more extensively in one of the specials episodes. Natsuno's mother likely died and was killed by the shiki as Natsuno's father found a note written by her under the vampiric hyponotism influence explaining she was leaving him and the town, and that's the modus operandi for how victims of the shiki are forced to pretend they're moving/quitting their jobs/etc. to keep the official death records in town suppressed. |
| "Is this about winning or losing ? And against who ?" This old man said it all. In the end it isn't a matter of winning and losing. There wasn't even a winner to start with. Everyone was the abuser and the victim, aside from a few who surprisingly managed to remain sane in all this mess. This show did a surprisingly good job at portraying the harsh reality of a situation where there cannot be winner, because it is just that hopeless. But thid show itself isn't entirely hopeless, as seen with the ending. Some people can still make it. I particularly loved episode 21.5, too bad I don't know where to discuss it. Motoko's descent into madness was haunting, and the whole story about her friend's mom was heartbreaking. It totally made its way to my all-time favorite episodes. And this last one was very good too, it was a bitter ending but it fitted the series. A happy one wouldn't have worked. However, despite how much I love this show and this ending, I still have some complaints. First of all, seeing that Muroi and Sunako actually made it kinda frustrates me. I felt for Sunako, but I think the message would've been more impactful if she didn't survive, though I found Muroi's speech pretty interesting. Other than that, I'm also quite disappointed by the way Megumi's character went. I just think she's been underused given all the potential she had. Still was an interesting character, and I must admit I felt for her in the end. There are also several things, like the question of who started the fire, or who exactly died and who survived... But maybe that'll be explained in the specials. I give this show a 8. It is far from perfect, but the good aspects were just so good, it redeems the bad ones. What a ride. Edit : I've seen a lot of people criticizing the characters' stupidity, but I think that's actually one of the good parts of this show. As someone above said, that's how humans are. This show isn't about heroes against monsters, it is about people thinking with her emotions rather than their brain. They listen so much to the way they feel that they end up doing nonsense after nonsense, something Toshio seems to have realized at the end. It is different from your typical "Listen to your heart" narrative, I really like that. What we've seen in Shiki is a way more accurate representation of how people in real life would react to such a situation, unfortunately. In the end I don't think we're actually supposed to get attached to any of the characters. I'm normally the first one to complain about characters not having a fleshed out personality, but here I think it actually works better without having real character arcs, because this show is about people as a mob, not as individual. We have a few lead characters just like a mob has a few leaders, but it ultimately is nothing but a bunch of people fighting without even knowing what they're doing. If the show made characters that are actually fleshed out and lovable, it would've made us react the exact same way as them : purely emotionally. That's clearly not the show's goal, it wants us to think, to wonder what the characters are doing. Something interesting, for exemple, is what the guy who killed the burning vampires in episode 20.5 originally said : that the villagers are kind. However, what happened afterwards showed that's not the case. They were even ready to let the shiki die an incredibly painful death due to the sun. And the guy freeding them from their misery also shows there are some people whose emotions are what leads them to do the right thing. Unlike what other shows make it look like, it's not the majority, but at least, they exist. Another thing, take Megumi's death. She is right when she accuses the villagers of being close-minded and having discriminated her for being different. They indeed did, and she suffered from it. Because of that, she was the only one to see behind the peaceful facade and understand the villagers aren't that much of good people. However she is also to blame because she also was close-minded, she never let the village a chance. She rejected it for being different. But there's one thing to take in account : she was alone against pretty much the entire village. She had no power against the villagers, she was just a lost teen having to deal with grown adults who sided together against her. And that's also what I mean about mobs. She was the black sheep, and in the end, due to never having find a single ally (aside from this poor Kaori who suffered from not having been able to understand her), she's never actually been happy, because no one ever let her live the way she wanted. Her death is a metaphor of that, of how the village fighting against one single lost teen deeply hurt the teen, without hurting them because they never saw her as an actual person. She kept screaming for help, screaming for them to just let her be, but they didn't listen, they never did. Megumi is a very, very flawed person, but here I think it shows the real tragedy of someone being rejected for being different. It looks like just a little game at first, but for the rejected person it is a real discrimination. Once again, this is a story about people acting as a mob rather than as individuals. The only one who tried to do otherwise badly suffered from it. And a last thing, let's talk about Masao. Even more different than Megumi. A lot of people on this forum hate him. And I think it shows the show perfectly understands humans. Because, just try to understand Masao. He is also a very flawed person, and yes, he is sometimes very annoying. He is self-centered, seemingly insensitive, very often straight-down scary... But now, let's try to see him outside of that. What did he actually do in this show ? Well, nothing wrong. He even refused to kill someone. A lot of his behaviour show he isn't a truly bad person, he is just someone with very bad social skills and relationship issues, he feels like no one actually likes him. Sure, he is self-centered and sure, he says some creepy things at times. But the question is : what made him become that way ? There's always a reason to such a behaviour. We don't know it, but it has to be derjved from something since as I said, in the end his actions aren't those of a bad person. Not a good one's either, sure, but not a bad one's. So what makes him be one of the most hated characters in this show ? He is different. He comes off as scary. He can be quite annoying. And that's enough for him to receive more hatred than characters who behaved as psychopaths. You see what I mean ? The show knows exactly what it is doing on that level, it knows how humans are, how they react. In the end the whole vampire story is just a pretext to explore this side of humans. |
FafetteSep 7, 2020 1:00 AM
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| Okay, it's been about two weeks since I finished this...I've had time to read the manga also and think about what others said and reflect on my own feelings about the series. Art It is rather strange and hard to get used to at first. But you know what? Strange is memorable. Shiki was created to be an unforgettable series and this reflects even in the character designs. Plus it actually does fit in with the nature of the show itself. Though I'm not a fan of static hair that looks like it's made of blocks, can't lie about that. xD Story Unlike some others, I did not find the beginning (or any part of the series really) "boring or slow" in the least bit. It was very hard to stop watching in order to go to sleep every night. lol. I watched this in about four or five nights, I think. BUT I do think the execution of the message of Shiki was clunky and not that well thought out: "The humans are the real monsters in the end" LMAO NO. The shiki are terrible, illogical, and got done in by their own idiocy. They deserved death. Most of them. But if the message is more like a "Neither side is right; this is survival of the fittest"...then...okay. But that's a pretty obvious message. We all knew this? So I'm still not really sure what Fuyumi is trying to say. Also the editing was pretty funky sometimes. I was like "lolwut" at certain cuts. Reading the manga clears those up...but still.... Music Fan-freaking-tastic....except for the second OP and ED. Which were not bad but....mediocre. The OP's song did not fit; it was too upbeat and pop for the show. I love BUCK-TICK but I just didn't like the tune of the second ED that much. Their OP was wonderful though. The OST was top-notch for a horror series. Characters Ozaki Toshio- MUH MAN. I was rooting for him the entire time. xD His survival saved the ending from completely sucking. He kinda reminds me of Kiritsugu from Fate. As for what he did... THE NEEDS OF THE MANY OUTWEIGH THE NEEDS OF THE FEW. End of story. No? All right. So...yeah I don't think they even loved each other. He needed to experiment on a shiki, she was there, he also said "She's past the point of saving" and there was really nothing else. He TRIED to numb her pain but the drugs don't work on shiki. That's really not his fault. The bare fact here is Kyoko was going to die anyway and here are Toshio's options: A. Bury her like normal and wait for the shiki to recruit her like an idiot would do. B. Keep her alive as a shiki but keep her locked up even though Tatsumi could just waltz in and grab her any time (again like an idiot would do) C. Figure out what weakens a shiki and then kill her so she could not be a threat which is what he did. And he is NOT a heartless man; we saw him agonizing and moping quite a lot. I think losing so many patients just broke him down and he sorta went insane for a bit. Yes, he sacrificed shiki!Kyoko's comfort and life...but he also risked his own life to save what was left of the village. He did not react to his mother's death because he was already numb to loss and killing since it happened SO much. He was also the village leader at that point and could not afford to grieve then. Yuuki Natsuno -I'M UPSET HE KAMIKAZED HIMSELF. I really didn't want that. Since he was a jinrou, he could have co-existed just fine with his dad. Okay, so he hated his dad. Well, he could have escaped the city and gone to school like he wanted! Man, why did you do yourself in, kid! Oh...to kill that annoying son-of-a-bitch-in-bad-clothing...right. I'd like to imagine he just buried himself in the dirt and the dynamite didn't work on him. xD Megumi- BITCH. :D I pitied her while she was a human...though she was a selfish and shallow brat...she didn't deserve to be shiki fodder. But MAN, did she come back WRONG. She was horrible. I started hating her for her yandere 'you like this friend better so I'll kill him lol' bullshit. Because that is the opposite of love. She did not love Natsuno at all; she loved only herself as she only did things to make him unhappy. I did love her beating the crap out of Masao though; that was funny as hell. xD And I liked her design (except NO fifteen-year-old is that stacked wtf). But when she was gloating to Kaori like "HAHAHA YOUR DAD IS DEAD" I was seriously hating on her. What an evil bitch. Masao- utterly loathsome. The only good Masao is one getting the shit beat out of him. Thank you, Megumi. xD There is not a single redeeming trait with this guy. I hated him the second he showed up onscreen. Not only is he an assault on both eyes AND ears...his personality is detestable. Cockroach. Beautiful that his cool sis-in-law did him in. And yay for her and her cute little daughter to get away safely!! The only mother-and-child pair to surivive....;____; so sad. Tanaka twins: Good kids; Akira was the cooler one; glad they both made it out. :) Akira also looks like he belongs more in Yugioh...but xD Tohru: I liked him as a human...but shiki Tohru annoyed me. "Impossible to escape Tatsumi"? Lol did you EVEN try? I think he gave up too quickly. At least he didn't make Natsuno do the Kirishiki's bidding. I saw some people claim that Tohru wanted Ritsuko to give into her hunger "to feel better about himself" but I read it more as "he didn't want her to die from hunger because he loves her". In the end, he chose what SHE wanted....so unlike Megumi with Natsuno, I believe Tohru DID love Ritsuko and showed it. Ritsuko: NO. BEST GIRL DID NOT DESERVE THAT. ;_;*sobs* I wanted her to live and start a relationship with Toshio. I totally shipped them. She was doing things for him his own crappy wife was too inconsiderate to do. Ritsuko absolutely should have lived. Though her shiki-ness proves how wrong the others are for slaughtering innocents. Chizuru: I didn't like Miss Fanservice much but I did like her flashbacks as a human. I would have liked more on her backstory. Was Sunako the one who bit her or was it someone else? How did they meet? You should have given us that, Fuyumi. Tatsumi: HATED. HIM. What a fcking sadist....he has stupid hair and he has stupid clothes...he's an asshole to everyone but Sunako and his reason for following Sunako is freaking retarded too. He's the whole reason human/shiki Natsuno is dead...not cool. Sunako: A stupid little girl who can read adult books yet can't do simple math. Do you not realize shiki WILL DIE OUT. You're gonna run out of blood, you dumb kid. She is cute...I guess. And the human her did not deserve death. Muroi: He's.....dumb. His actions do not make sense to me. His character absolutely could have worked if we were shown WHY he's so self-loathing...but we don't get to see that. He had a full and loving family. AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM IS HIS DAMN FAULT. The moment he decided to betray the village, he SHOULD have gone to the temple and said 'Hey, people are gonna try to come after me, since you are related to me, please GTFO and go somewhere safe." BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOO Just lets them all slaughter his completely innocent family and friends. Way to go, asshole. You suck. The ending The shiki were still in the wrong. The humans rightfully won by driving them out and killing them. At first I was annoyed Muroi and Sunako survived...but have you heard the phrase "Death is too good for you"? They now have to continue living a cursed existence. I think Muroi's answer is to punish them both this way. They will not have peace. But the villagers who escaped WILL, at least. Overall A pretty good horror anime. Would recommend to people who want a violent, scary show for Halloween. Would not recommend to those looking for vampire characters to fall in love with; as the vampire characters are largely unlikable and the ones that are not, are mercilessly crucified. :( |
ChiibiOct 19, 2020 12:42 PM
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| This anime was better and better from episode to episode and ending is cruel but beautiful. I love this |
| i'm disgusted by muroi...okay bye |
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| Well that was some roller coaster. Dissastified with the end but I suppose it is what it is. The village died after all. Was glad to see the Tanaka children survived though. Would liked to have had something though to show how they survived and not just that they had. Natsuno and Ozaki seemed wasted in the end. More so Natsuno. Megumi's death was terrible but deserved. She was arrogant and selfish and unlikeable. The only way her death would have been better was if her beloved "Yuki-kun" did the deed. Would serve her right. Muroi proved an interesting character but I lost respect for him when he abandoned the village to stay by Sunako's side. And disliked him by the end here. A man who tried to reconcile with a peaceful solution ended up saving the one person who caused all that death. If he truly wanted to do something to help, ending Sunako would have gone a long way to fixing that. At the very least end her suffering of existence. Sunako. Sorry but little girl looks and whimpering won't make me like her. Blaming God and everyone else for her killing others. Selfishly taking people down to join her in her misery. She was responsible for those who died, responsible for the miserable existence a lot of the other Shiki were enduring as Shiki. Carelessly disregarded her own kind for her own personal safety and well being. Like the snake in the garden of Eden lead Muroi into temptation and surrendering of his soul. Helped destroy an entire village, people either dying or losing their humanity in the face of her actions. And all because she was a pathetic coward who was willing to sacrifice hundreds of other lives for her singular own. Of all the Shiki she should have died the most. |
UberBatDec 12, 2020 1:20 PM
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| Rewatching this for the first time 10 years after it aired and I'm stil impressed how great the whole anime was. Also liked how Sunako survived in the end, I tought she would die but thats better for me... Soundtrack is one of the best there ever was in Anime. All in all defenitely the best anime of 2010 in my opinion. It's sad that the studio died along with the shiki tho... |
| Trying to watch all available anime series so you won't have to anymore, the list of anime I can recommend is still in progress, tho |
| Eh, it was more than decent, more a classic take on the "humans are the real monster?" than an horror/thriller series. Some good questions and insight by Seishin throughout the story with coexistence of different races, how far can you go in order to survive (ie. sucks blood out of innocent guys), the burden/expectations of duties by being born in a certain family, and other things. I found his character honestly the best written in the show, how he embraced the Shikis and tried to solve matters by going in the opposite direction of Toshio and the villagers is really good. Other good ones are Ritsuko and Tooru, both fighting their urge and actually doing something different than the rest Toshio on the other hand is incredibly dumb, he needs 9-10 episodes just to start questioning what the fuck is actually happening in his village. Even dumber the fact that no one, and I mean basically NO ONE try to alert nearing towns/government about the strange deaths or the 'possible' epidemic. Toshio dismiss this in one ep with something like "I need to file official paperwork or they won't believe me". God, how come no one alert anybody outside the village in 3 months is stupid. More so when some guys starts knowing what the fuck is actually happening. They just witness everybody dying and accept this shit. |
WhiteTestamentJan 5, 2021 12:25 PM
DertyChewbacca said: How did the boy who was tied up escape the vampire that woke up next to him? I don't think that ever got explained. It's not explained, but implied (shown off-screen) that Natsuno came back to rescue him and kill or disable the shiki man, because Natsuno is Akira (the boy) and Kaori's only named friend and a main character, also undead himself; hence the only one with the present abilities to do such. Plus, he is shown checking on them both, the brother and sister, in their hospital room outside of Sotoba later. |
| My 33rd completed series chronologically. For the record, I extended it a 9/10 rating. |
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