Shiki – 08

I like Natsuno. He’s no idiot and continues to use his head. He’s not one to rush into a situation, and instead thinks before he acts, and his actions are so far all taken with the intent to learn as much as possible about what’s going on. More protagonists should be like this.

The vampires in the meantime aren’t stupid either: they’re not going to let someone like him walk around freely, as shown by the counterattack at the end of this episode (which was really well directed and creepy, by the way). With fourteen episodes left, I wouldn’t be surprised if this show would evolve into a thriller, something like “humans versus vampires”. When both sides are this formidable, I can’t wait for this second half.

And I guess that that’s why Masao and Megumi are so important here: they’re the vampires who have many sentiments towards these characters. In fact, I’m very interested in how that cat guy manages his vampires. This episode really made it apparent that someone is tightly controlling the different vampires. How do those vampires react exactly when they run into someone they know or hold dear? Megumi showed that they don’t lose their memory, Masao showed that they don’t exactly lose their self-conscience.

Also, the soundtrack is just getting better and better, and I really like what Yasuharu Takanashi did on it. To compare it with his other work, it sounds closest to the combination between Jigoku Shoujo and Toward the Terra’s soundtrack. Beyond that, it’s also interesting that he has been experimenting a bit more during the past year: the OST of Jigoku Shoujo and Toward the Terra (but also Mononoke, Before Green Gables and Seto no Hanayome) lacked this… “spark” that I did notice at Heartcatch Precure and Shiki’s OST. They feel like they have much more contrast, compared to his more subtle earlier works.
Rating: ** (Excellent)