The vampire genre has been a fairly difficult genre to perfect, and having an entire franchise of movies depicting vampires as sparkly, sexy creatures that stare at each other for the good part of half the series did not help anyone get closer to creating a good show. Now, in terms of anime, there have been a few good vampire genre series, such as the Monogatari series, Blood+, and my personal favorite, Hellsing. And now, after finally ordering the complete set on BluRay, it's time to add Shiki to the list, one of the better, and surprisingly more believable vampire anime out there. Well, about as believable as you can get really...
Story: 10
A secluded village in the mountains, similar to Hinamizawa in quite a few ways. Not many people live there. It's a peaceful location to live your life. However, the one thing that stands out is a giant mansion on the side of a mountain. No one has lived there for years, until the new neighbors move in. Shortly after they appear, people start dying all around the village. People think it's an epidemic after a while... but there are some people that claim to see those who have died up and walking at night.
A note to Steven King lovers, this series reminds me of the novel "Salem's Lot". It's similar in multiple ways. The series starts off fairly dark... somewhat depressing with all the deaths occurring... someone usually dies at least each episode. It's kind of like a death-of-the-week deal... however, about halfway through the series, it slowly starts to go from dark, to disturbing... at least by regular standards. From the very beginning, the story had me intrigued, and each episode I watched made me want to continue, no matter how late it was. The plotline was easily one of the best things about this series.
Art: 9
Shiki had a somewhat unique art style to it. Studio Daume... honestly, until I watched Shiki, I had no idea what Studio Daume had produced. Upon looking them up... I still don't recognize any anime they've produced. But I liked the artwork in this.
Each of the characters had that classic anime style haircut, meaning abnormal hair shapes or colors. As for the rest of the character designs, they were all... for lack of a better word... pleasing, to the eyes. They didn't go overboard most of the time with ridiculous body shapes and sizes, in fact, they were realistic for the most part. And for the scenery, I really enjoyed the visuals. Overall, very pleased. Only thing that I noticed, the most teeny tiny bit, was the fact that from episode 18 and on, it went overboard on the gore, and I mean it when I said overboard.
Sound: 10
This had a solid English Dub. It had many voice actors I recognized, such as Todd Habberkorn, Luci Christian, Cherami Leigh, John Burgmeier, David Wald, Jerry Jewell, and tons of others. They did very well when acting out their roles, and made the characters believable when showing emotion. As for the OST, it seemed fairly limited. I heard one of the same songs play nearly every episode. However, if it weren't for the fact that the song is gorgeous, I would have rated this section lower. And both the openings and endings were well done. I preferred the 2nd opening and ending over the first ones, but it's just my opinion.
Character: 9
There were so many characters in this... too many to count. So, I'll give you a brief description of 5 of the characters.
Natsuno Yuuki, your average 10th grade student. At first appearance, frankly, he seemed like a jerk. He was rude to one of the other characters (despite her being stalkeriffic), and he had a bad attitude, due to the fact his parents forced him to move into a boring town. After the deaths start happening, he gets paranoid and becomes concerned with the wellbeing of others, becomes more human...
Toshio Ozaki, the town doctor. Once the deaths start, he swears to figure out the cause. He gets frustrated a lot, with both people and the case, but he seems like a good guy at heart... despite his twisted intents later in the series. To me, he seems like he's kind of the anti-hero of the series.
Seishin Muroi, the town priest, and famous author. He's on the quiet side, but he's one of my favorite characters. I can't really say much about him, other then the fact that he seems to find good in people, no matter what species they are.
Sunako Kirishiki, a 13 year old vampire girl (at least when she was turned she was 13), who isn't as violent as the others. My favorite character in the entire series. Why? I can't pinpoint the exact reason, but one of the main reasons is because I feel sorry for her. She was changed unwillingly, and she isn't evil, yet people look down on her as some kind of monster.
Megumi Shimizu, wannabe superstar and stalker. She's madly in love with Natsuno, and she hates everyone in the village. That's about all I can really say. She's kiiiinnnddd of a major bitch.
Enjoyment: 10
Despite it's depressing atmosphere, this series was extremely enjoyable. The ending had something left to be desired, seeing as it ended somewhat abruptly and didn't tell us exactly what happened to everyone else, but it was definitely something I'd watch again in the near future.
The one thing I learned about the story? Not everyone can have a happy ending, no matter what species they are.
