| yeah the OVA is very important |
 |
| It's actually pretty good, feels like a classic Vamp, dark Village story. And I remember I watched the whole series at midnight......every night was amazing |
| Please watch Sword Art Online Progressive, it's the peak of SAO. |
| I would be in full alignment with your position and endorse the content of the OP wholeheartedly, except for the fact that Seishin Muroi is my spirit animal, unapologetically, unreservedly. His liberation from the constraints of the human world and the weight of the expectations around his neck, in addition to his relationship with Sunako, forms a large part of the heart and core of this series for me. Everyone or almost everyone who watches, even the small fanbase, does seem to mostly despise him though. He's probably the most reviled character alongside Masao, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Megumi. The only character I actually loathed was Megumi. Everyone else was doing what they thought was right and considered to be correct for their own reasons. Megumi also in a way had her own reasons - they were just, in my view, exceedingly shallow and stupid ones I can't really sympathize with in the same way as Muroi's or, even on the opposite side of the coin, Dr. Ozaki's. |
WatchTillTandavaNov 15, 2022 1:27 PM
| Seishin never sided with them unprovoked. He realised that the villagers were responding to a selective, hunger-driven aggression with indiscriminate aggression and psychotic behaviour. You can see yourself over the course of the last few episodes how the villagers get less and less picky over who they kill to the point where they kill shikis who never attacked anyone, people who were just bitten and not even controlled/turned, and even completely pacifistic temple monks. Of course, the fact that Seishin and Sunako built up their relationship through shared interests and discussion played a significant role too, but the escalating scenario meant he had to "pick a side" eventually, and I couldn't fault anyone for no longer being sympathetic to the villagers near the end. Seishin himself was a pacifist to nearly everyone except the villagers who attacked the temple and killed his mother, and making an exception for them is understandable. If you just watch this and come out thinking that the humans are invariably the good guys, and the shiki are the bad guys; then you're not looking at the bigger picture, and assessing the scenario through how it actually unfolded. I agree that the characters wasn't as fleshed out as they could've been, and I can see the reason behind that too. With just 24 episodes, a veritable ocean of characters, and three protagonists — it's inevitable that some characters are just introduced and not really developed beyond that. Shiki made an effort to show you the fate of most of them by the end, but it still missed out on a few because the list of characters was so extensive. It's hard to do anything about that under the constraints of that many episodes without just cutting out some of the less important characters, which was an option. |
  ｲ乇刀乇乃尺ﾑ乇 ㊎   ㊰☽ Shaded Horizon ☾ |
| It is really good. A memorable one. |
 |
WatchTillTandava said: I agree with this so much. Seishin, Sunako and their interactions was my favorite thing about this whole (questionable) experience.His liberation from the constraints of the human world and the weight of the expectations around his neck, in addition to his relationship with Sunako, forms a large part of the heart and core of this series for me. WatchTillTandava said: And this too. Reasons aside, her shallow vindictiveness really started to get on my nerves over the course of the series, even though I empathized with a lot of the things she said in EP1, despite not being from a small village myself. Her desire to live in a castle is also something I can relate to lol The only character I actually loathed was Megumi Crow_Black said: Maybe that's just me, but it felt super weird :) as if the creators themselves were mocking the anime. A lot of the serious and heartfelt scenes were accompanied by some strange black comedy, for lack of a better term, as if I was watching some senseless trashy slasher film full of gore, so I could never understand if I was supposed to tear up or laugh at what was happening. It persisted all the way through, prevented me from establishing a personal connection with this anime and stopped me from liking it properly, but at least it was quite engaging to watch, I guess, so it was more of a positive experience than not. Also, some of the characters had very interesting fashion choices that I liked :p by far one of the best vampire series out there. |
JustOscar said: Oh, so it wasn't just me! I see. Well, I guess that's an unfortunate consequence of watching an adaptation instead of experiencing the source material. Some people might not have cared either way, but it kind of bothered me consistently. Anyway, seems like reading the novel might be a nice idea for the future. Thanks for your response and for clearing it up :) -YaoiBoy- said: To be fair, the novel was consistent in its serious tone. It was the manga adaptation (of which this anime is an adaptation) which introduced the comedy aspect. I don't understand it either. It would have been better without it.Maybe that's just me, but it felt super weird :) as if the creators themselves were mocking the anime. A lot of the serious and heartfelt scenes were accompanied by some strange black comedy, for lack of a better term, as if I was watching some senseless trashy slasher film full of gore, so I could never understand if I was supposed to tear up or laugh at what was happening. It persisted all the way through, prevented me from establishing a personal connection with this anime and stopped me from liking it properly, but at least it was quite engaging to watch, I guess, so it was more of a positive experience than not. Also, some of the characters had very interesting fashion choices that I liked :p |
-YaoiBoy- said: I don't know - It's been a long time now since I've watched a huge amount of horror in terms of other mediums in media since it's been a long time since I've watched a huge abundance of content in general from Western art/media/entertainment since getting into anime, but as a longtime staunch horror fan and enthusiast from way back when, many years before getting into anime, since I was around 9 - 10 years-old, I've seen an insane amount of horror and I think it's why I'm also accustomed to the segment of it which utilizes this campy darkly humorous tone. It's certainly not something which is a part of all horror, nor should it be, but it's a very longstanding undercurrent in a lot of horror of all budgets, subgenres, and eras which want to either satirize the voyeuristic aspect or play up some other element of parodying the human condition and engage in social commentary. And this series, in my own personal view, lives or dies in an audience member and critic's eyes in how well that aspect of the story feels recognizable or relatable running concurrently with, but not derailing or torpedoing the more straightforward throughline of the plot. Maybe that's just me, but it felt super weird :) as if the creators themselves were mocking the anime. A lot of the serious and heartfelt scenes were accompanied by some strange black comedy, for lack of a better term, as if I was watching some senseless trashy slasher film full of gore, so I could never understand if I was supposed to tear up or laugh at what was happening. It persisted all the way through, prevented me from establishing a personal connection with this anime and stopped me from liking it properly, but at least it was quite engaging to watch, I guess, so it was more of a positive experience than not. Also, some of the characters had very interesting fashion choices that I liked :p I'm not sure what exact specific scenes and moments you're referring to, and it's probably the case as happens often where I find something funny that a lot of other people don't or even actively turns people off (and not necessarily in a literally laugh-out-loud "haha" type of way, but more just internally appreciating the absurdity and smiling on the inside). With certain instances it's probably the case where you have to have an affinity for black comedy/dark humor. But as a horror fan, one who considers this the only real pure horror anime series I've seen which can be called "excellent" or like a gold standard, and one with it in my overall Top 10, I have to say I feel like the played up over-the-top nature of some characters' personality traits and the random zany moments of humor add a weird and surreal tone that adds to the atmosphere for me of something so dark, dramatic, extreme, and vicious going on in the background like an escalating interspecies war of annihilation raging in this village. A bit like the violinists or cellists playing music on the deck of the Titanic as it's going down in the frigid sea. Not quite the same thing, but I think you may get my meaning. It also marries well with the equally or even moreso pronounced bright and flashy aesthetic and color scheme of many of the character designs in hair and dress. Mixed with this otherwise somber rural isolated pitch black village buried deep in the mountains and woods. A large part of horror is about capturing and amplifying the uncanny feel of something seeming not quite right or things feeling out of place... |
WatchTillTandava said: I think you’re exactly right :) this is not the first time something similar happened. I like to think that I enjoy and appreciate dark humor, but a lot of my experiences seem to indicate otherwise, even though most of them aren’t exactly related to the horror genre. I can’t really remember any anime off the top of my head, except maybe for Hellsing series and OVA (I didn’t necessarily hate the black comedy aspect in its entirety and there were quite a few scenes that I really liked, particularly in the infinitely better OVA series, it just left me with an extremely unpleasant aftertaste overall), but there were clear live-action experiences that left me totally indifferent or annoyed, like The Sopranos series or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels movie etc. So, I guess something about Shiki’s presentation rubbed me the wrong way or maybe I’m just truly incapable of appreciating black comedy, especially inserted into something overall serious. As for the scenes, I meant those weird moments like Natsuno’s dad randomly shaking his ass or characters having very peculiar facial expressions in certain situations, which felt unfitting and out of nowhere (I can’t provide a list, of course, but it happened more than enough times). It indeed felt surreal, but apparently not in a way I’d be able to appreciate it :) for the most part, I was just scratching my head and trying to understand whether I like what I’m experiencing or not. I don’t know if I’d call it a miss for me, since my overall impression is still positive, but maybe just not enough of a hit in aspects that I'd be able to appreciate the most.-YaoiBoy- said: I don't know - It's been a long time now since I've watched a huge amount of horror in terms of other mediums in media since it's been a long time since I've watched a huge abundance of content in general from Western art/media/entertainment since getting into anime, but as a longtime staunch horror fan and enthusiast from way back when, many years before getting into anime, since I was around 9 - 10 years-old, I've seen an insane amount of horror and I think it's why I'm also accustomed to the segment of it which utilizes this campy darkly humorous tone. It's certainly not something which is a part of all horror, nor should it be, but it's a very longstanding undercurrent in a lot of horror of all budgets, subgenres, and eras which want to either satirize the voyeuristic aspect or play up some other element of parodying the human condition and engage in social commentary. And this series, in my own personal view, lives or dies in an audience member and critic's eyes in how well that aspect of the story feels recognizable or relatable running concurrently with, but not derailing or torpedoing the more straightforward throughline of the plot. Maybe that's just me, but it felt super weird :) as if the creators themselves were mocking the anime. A lot of the serious and heartfelt scenes were accompanied by some strange black comedy, for lack of a better term, as if I was watching some senseless trashy slasher film full of gore, so I could never understand if I was supposed to tear up or laugh at what was happening. It persisted all the way through, prevented me from establishing a personal connection with this anime and stopped me from liking it properly, but at least it was quite engaging to watch, I guess, so it was more of a positive experience than not. Also, some of the characters had very interesting fashion choices that I liked :p I'm not sure what exact specific scenes and moments you're referring to, and it's probably the case as happens often where I find something funny that a lot of other people don't or even actively turns people off (and not necessarily in a literally laugh-out-loud "haha" type of way, but more just internally appreciating the absurdity and smiling on the inside). With certain instances it's probably the case where you have to have an affinity for black comedy/dark humor. But as a horror fan, one who considers this the only real pure horror anime series I've seen which can be called "excellent" or like a gold standard, and one with it in my overall Top 10, I have to say I feel like the played up over-the-top nature of some characters' personality traits and the random zany moments of humor add a weird and surreal tone that adds to the atmosphere for me of something so dark, dramatic, extreme, and vicious going on in the background like an escalating interspecies war of annihilation raging in this village. A bit like the violinists or cellists playing music on the deck of the Titanic as it's going down in the frigid sea. Not quite the same thing, but I think you may get my meaning. It also marries well with the equally or even moreso pronounced bright and flashy aesthetic and color scheme of many of the character designs in hair and dress. Mixed with this otherwise somber rural isolated pitch black village buried deep in the mountains and woods. A large part of horror is about capturing and amplifying the uncanny feel of something seeming not quite right or things feeling out of place... |
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