"Oh, another vampire show", when i remember saying this i want to kill myself now. This certainly isn't a generic vampire show, differing from usual shows that try to show the vampires as friendly-like creatures. Shiki, as it drags the viewer to actually be scared of them and it try to portray the vampires as they are intended to be, like real monsters.
The Story of this show isn't really unique, but wonderfully executed and makes the viewer try to solve the mystery along side with our characters. It is about a small village called Sotoba, and mysterious deaths start to happen, and by the same time the strange Kirishiki family moves to a big castle on the hills. The story follows the path of our 4 main characters, each of them having their own depiction and try to do their own resolution that they believe is right, making decisions about and driving the plot to unexpected turns and twists. Shiki tries to show the psychological side of things, from multiple points of view and force the watchers to actually pick a side they believe it's right, which is very cool.
Don't be turned off by the Art at first, certainly it isn't normal, but after some time you just get used to it and to me actually ressembles a bit of CLAMP. Also, the air views from Sotoba village are beautiful and they really explore them, showing us various places of the village, especially the Kanemasa mansion. Giving us an eerie feel and helping us to figure out the mystery. The animation is quite fluid, the characters have strange poses but i think it's part of the show.
The soundtrack is simply outstanding. It's creepy, thrilling and haunting. We also have quiet tracks and sad pieces, they really contribute to the atmosphere.
The voice acting was very good, i don't remember any flaws from the seiyuus, and all voices were good to hear.
The first OP is fitting for the meaning of the anime, even some lyrics mean something if you compare to the anime.
All of the characters on the show are important for something on the story, sou you have to pay attention to everything they do to fully understand what is going on. As i said we have only 4 main characters here, Sunako, Toshio, Seishin and Natsuno and their choices are really important for the plot, the development of the characters is very good, the characters aren't dumb at all and even the supporting character contributes to the story. The characters are likeable and some of them really resembles real people.
For the enjoyment, it is a great show to watch, without regrets, the plot pregresses a bit slowly, but until the end you will already forget about the boring episodes, each of the episodes are thrilling and mystery packed. It stays true from start to end to vampires' roots (they actually burn in the sun) and if you expect something like twillight, this is not what you're looking for. I really recommend Shiki.
