I understand how this series seems to get mostly very low or very high ratings, it's a mixed bag of outstanding and very weak moments. I guess in the end it boils down to you buying into the characters and the atmosphere or not.
Weirdly enough i can understand people who would say the characters in this were one of the series weak points, although i would strongly disagree.
Shiki is very upfront with it's characters, in most cases you don't really get many scenes the deepen the characters personality or background, however -oddly enough- that was not a bad thing here. Characters in Shiki are not idealized like in most movies/shows, they are rather realistic. They act selfish, stupid, pathetic, and sometimes noble and good. They don't just fit one role or stereotyp. For me this made them very relatable. In Shiki i found myself relating to characters that i actually hated, which is always a sign of greatness.
This is so refreshing and great about the whole series. Nothing is really forced upon you. The show does not literally tell you how to feel at any given moment. The scenes are not just there to triggere a clear cut reaction in you, like it is the case with most shows. Sometimes the scenes are just weird and seem out of place. As a result you feel like you actually are watching something real happening, which drives home the cruelty and drama that much more. And even that is not overdone to a degree that makes it all absurd.
Shiki seemed to be something very simple. A very simple story from which i did not expect much. But it was much more authentic than that. It had life to it and i enjoyed every minute watching.
