Shiki is a very hard series to talk about without spoilers. It’s a show that you really need to see for yourself. Still, I consider this to be the best show to have debuted during the past half year, so I’ll at least try to vaguely explain why I consider it such an awesome and unique series.
Shiki is another one of those series set in a tiny Japanese village that’s set in the middle of nowhere. One thing that immediately stands out is how well it manages to colour that village: even the simplest of residents are given an identity. The entire town has about 1200 residents, and this show manages to make them so life-like that you actually feel like part of the village as the series goes on. It creates a truly excellent backdrop for the series to take place in.
First and foremost, Shiki is a horror series. It’s got a really thick atmosphere and most of the time it’s just building up and dragging the viewer within this atmosphere. It’s got plenty of disturbing scenes though, and that’s really where it’s at its best at. Now, there are times at which this show feels like this series is moving a tad slow and that it’s building up a bit too much. But trust me: it all pays off in the end with a fantastic conclusion. That’s all I’ll say about it.
The character designs in this series are… unique. I admit that they take their time to get used to, but that’s not really a problem considering the charms of the different characters. It’s perhaps not the series with the best characterizations, but they are written really well: when they’re developed, it’s done very boldly. The characters are also incredibly diverse, ranging from teenagers to adults well in their thirties, forties and fifties and that overall makes it into a great and huge cast to watch.
Most of the best episodes of Shiki are located at the end so it takes some perseverance to really get to great parts of the series, but the weak moments are very few and far in between. It’s got a haunting soundtrack and a stunning atmosphere. It’s not something you should watch when you can’t stand gore, but it’s a must-watch for anyone even remotely interested in horror.
| Storytelling: | 9/10 – Gripping atmosphere, excellent use of build-up, everything horror should be. |
| Characters: | 9/10 – the cast is HUGE, diverse and surprisingly engaging. |
| Production-Values: | 8/10 – Good animation, great soundtrack, excellent artwork. |
| Setting: | 10/10 – The village this series takes place in really feels alive and constantly changing. |
Suggestions:
– Ghost Hound
– Jigoku Shoujo
– Shikabane Hime
I can’t stand gore, and I don’t think Shiki is this hard… I mean, there isn’t any organs or anything (except for the doctor exprerience), but it’s truly a horror series. It really has a frightening and sad athmosphere !
Completely agree with you that Shiki was the best series to air in the last six months
Oh, the character designs are what brought me to this series in the first place. After weeks of viewing screenshots from the show I began to feel that this is just the right show for me, and it turns out to be true. xD
The thing I like the most about this show is its atmosphere, complimented by the excellent use of BGM. That alone is enough to carry me through the first slower part of the story.
Still not enough horror for me, though I have to admit I felt very sick watching the last two or so episodes (save for the last ep which I haven’t watched yet).
It’s been a long time since I actually completely agreed with one of your reviews and its ratings, but Shiki is a wonderful exception.
Won’t there be another episode?
Yeah, this show turned out to be great. I didn’t like the character designs, but it didn’t matter in the end. Once the story starts moving the show is always interesting, and they manage to pull off quite a few scenes that are quite captivating. There’s one especially good piece in the soundtrack that I’ve never gotten tired of (and, from its use, I assume they realize is pure gold).
Forget my question, the second two will be released later and will complete the story, so you’ll probably review them separately at that time.
We still have two more DVD episodes left. Man, Shiki was truly epic. I might re-watch this over the weekend now that it’s finished – a great way to start my new year.
pretty awesome that we could end the year with epic Shiki.
Shiki is the best thing that happened to me this year!
Thank you soo much for blogging this serie! First I dropped it, but after your review I had some hope again! You know, I’ve watched this serie in 2 days and I think it is together with Higurashi the best horror serie! I am really faithfull reading your blogs everyday =) Your blogs are the best, there are so many anime that I’ve seen thanks to you!
Just watched this show well after the fact – truly excellent (with the exception of some slow episodes from around 7-14, sadly). One of the better tragedies I’ve seen, along with some decent horror.
Plus it actually did a great job of illustrating some very interesting themes! Which always blows me away to see an anime do, as animes tend to make themes very shallow and lost in mere style. Two I liked:
1) The difference between character quirk and monstrous evil is just circumstance and ambition/power: This gets played out a lot, from Megumi’s fairly innocent but conceited desire for an exciting life spiraling into murder, to Epic-Beard-Man’s humorous alpha-male personality giving way to some truly monstrous actions in the last act. Simultaneously, one of the characters with the most flawed personalities (Masao) never is able to become powerful enough to act in any really destructive fashion, instead merely staying pathetic, and unlikable.
2) Nature vs. morality: The story ended up pretty existentialist in a lot of ways.
-Priest guy’s switch from despairing follower of religion to (spoiler) realizing he wants to live in a world where he can act on his darker nature (as revealed when he discusses the end of his story). Further, he realizes the religious ideology that pains him so is something he can just…drop.
-Furthering the “following nature over morality” theme, much of the violence is seen as inevitable – some things/ideologies cannot coexist, and there is no evil in the two attempting to wipe each other out as a result.
-The story also argues for “morality over nature” too – the other person surviving the church fire has a moment of deciding to reject her nature, and briefly deciding that dying so she can commit no further sin is the answer. See also Ristuko, Motoru.
Thanks for reviewing this. Truly outstanding.
thank you for your awesome review. i had watched the first 2 episodes of this series. sadly i dropped them due to unknown reason. *i actually forgot why i dropped them*
i do love horror series, and your review plus comment from others really makes me wonder if this anime is really that good.
anyway, i think i need to pick up this anime again. i really hope it is worth my time.
God i loved this anime. I’m willing to say that it’s one of the best vampire horror animes out there. Unlike some other vampire anime (Yes, Vampire Knight), it doesn’t revolve around romance and most of the victims die within a week when they’re bitten. It has a tragic ending in which both sides have very heavy losses and you can’t but wonder what will happen. Somme of the deaths killed me though. Unlike many others, I actually liked Megumi