And to be quite honest, I was amazed by Shiki.
Story - 9
The way that the story began was just so good. It set the atmosphere of a small creepy town with a dark secret so well and it was for me, more gripping of a start than Higurashi (still a big fan of that show!) just because of the way that it was done, despite the first few seconds of Higurashi being very morbidly disturbing.
There are of course a few similarities here and there with these two shows - like for instance the repetition of trying over and over to figure out what it is that's killing all of the folks in town. I don't know about you guys, but when the same thing is done again and again several times, it can become tiring to have to watch that repeat itself. I feel as if I've seen Higurashi's Keiichi Maebara step into the car with the detective one too many times.
Whereas in Shiki, they are throwing a little more things at you each time that a body is found, and they are slowly introducing you to all sorts of characters in the show that you will either end up feeling repulsed by or that you will feel deeply sorry for, which is one of the things that I love about this show.
I am always at least a little bit disappointed to find out that the killing creatures of any show or movie ends up being vampires, but in this case it didn't bother me as much as it normally would have. In other words as many I'm sure have already made clear - This is no Twilight. The vampires in Shiki are something to be terrified of. But also, something to give you a strike of immense sadness for.
Art - 9
Again, it was the very unique art-style of Shiki that caught my attention. The designs of these characters in particular, with their wild colorful hair is quite a sight, and some people find it to be ridiculous. Although in my opinion it was a factor of the show that made it more creative.
There are so many haunting images within the art of this animation that could make your skin crawl. I think they did a wonderful job of that.
Sound/Music - 10
The eerie soundtrack to this anime is just so, so beautiful.
It really captures the despair and cruelty of both the vampires and the humans. You can just feel the sorrow of their stories as soon as you hear the music being played. It was one of the very few times that I was able to immediately feel that enchanted by the background music of an anime.
I also loved the opening & ending themes - all again very chilling and at the same time very saddening, in a charming way.
Characters - 9
Megumi Shimizu can be related to by anyone who has that feeling of being trapped in a small town and pointed out for being different.
I give Shiki so much credit for capturing the creepy feeling of what it's like to be talked about as soon as you are new in a tiny place like that, they really nail the unnatural gossip of the towns characters when Natsuno comes to live there. And ironically, that is another thing that I find creepiest about the show - the people that actually live in the town.
One of my absolute favorite characters was doctor Toshio Ozaki. He had such a cool vampire hunter vibe of taking methods into his hands and trying to lead the villagers against the vampires, but at the same time, he is a very dark person for having committed a terrible act, of which you will discover for yourself if you have not yet seen the show.
By the end, I also loved little Sunako Kirishiki and found her to be a powerful character once you have learned just how much she has been through and how innocent she is, despite being a vampire. It is so easy to feel so sorry for her by the last few episodes.
Enjoyment - 10
I cannot think of any one moment in time where I was not totally loving Shiki. There were so many elements to it that were unique, creepily realistic, personally relatable, it provoked the most spooky emotions and it had so many cool aspects to it that I don't normally see in a show, especially with a horror about vampires.
Overall - 9
I was already recommending Shiki as soon as I finished watching it. It's become one of my favorite mystery/thriller anime of all time and I think you will like it if you are a fan of Higurashi like me!
If you're looking for something disturbingly dark, eerie, mysterious, and all at the same time very beautiful, with a less common type of insight on vampires, it's more than likely that you'll enjoy Shiki!
