Finally, after seventeen episodes of relentless waiting, it’s finally time: the counterattack. And holy crap, this episode twisted this series into a new dimension. Beyond the main attraction of this episode (Toshio), there also were a lot of these neat short scenes that took place during the first half of this episode.
Especially the way in which the episode started was just completely out of left field: usually this is a very dark and composed series, and yet it sometimes includes these really weird and over the top scenes, like what happened previously with the eccentric undertaker. For starters, Tatsumi’s suit was just completely pinpin’, but the way in which Natsuno’s father just popped up from nowhere also came completely by surprise. We still don’t know what happened between Natsuno and his father, but that scene definitely gave a lot of insight there.
Second of all, the Shiki are looking more and more human now that their numbers are increasing. Their conversations almost feel normal now, and this episode also shed a lot of light on the hierarchy between them, and how each of them has a different job. The thing is also that Tatsumi no longer is able to keep an eye on everyone in order to scare them. Because of that, Tohru ended up in front of Ritsuko when she first awakened, who looked more like an angel than a zombie in this episode. You can see that the Shiki are getting confident: it’s not like ten episodes ago, in which they still had to be careful in their actions.
And that’s what Toshio took advantage of in this episode, and he did so wonderfully. I first thought that Toshio would take her to some dark place and stick a stake through her heart or something, but this was of course the perfect chance for him to lure out the Shiki and expose them to the villagers, and it’s really the way in which he did it that makes it awesome. If he were to scream and yell, people wouldn’t listen to him, so he really subtly showed the villagers that Chizuru was a vampire. The look on his face really was priceless. Atsushi’s arrival just made it perfect.
I really love the restraint of this series: it’s just been seventeen episodes of building up, and every time at which you thought that the characters would make some kind of come-back, the vampires only ended up making things worse. Instead, this series was really waiting for this single moment, five episodes before the end, in order to turn the tides. That’s really how you should use build-up. Lately we’ve seen a lot of series that did spend a ton of time on build-up, and yet failed to optimally use it, the biggest offender being Sengoku Basara 2, so it’s great to see another series that does know how to use it effectively without making the build-up boring or wasting all of that effort that was put in building up.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
I waited weeks to see this animated. It did not disappoint B-) (especially since the anime didn’t make it clear until the very end that Natsuno bit Ozaki and put a hypnosis on him that would allow him to resist other hypnoses)
damn spoilers… Thanks for ruining my day
Which spoilers? Don’t tell me you didn’t get the meaning of Toshio showing a bite-mark on his arm when Chizuru wondered how he did what should have been impossible.
Really, it was plain obvious
Yeah, awesome ep as usual… This series does not disappoint, I expect great things for the ending
Also interesting about the info of the “superior” type of vampires that can eat normal food etc, really lucky that Yuuki became one
Dunno, but I’m with Nayrael in this one. It’s plain obvious. Hell, I think it’s that kind of obvious stuff that’s so obvious the show won’t even tell you about it anymore in the future, guessing you already realized who bite Toshio
It’s strange even though I know the vampires are killers.. I felt extremely sorry for chizuru this episode. Maybe because she’s beautiful? Also because you know the vampires were not evil during their lives as a human (with a few exception, perhaps) and more or less just follow instinct.
I think thats the beauty of Shiki: it ain’t about good vs evil but more about survival.
For humans, Shiki are evil. For Shiki, humans are evil. And there is no way to change that. One side will NEED to be massacred for the other to survive.
But Toshio was still bitten, doesn’t that mean he will become a Shiki?
Only if he dies. And he won’t die from bite, you die from having your blood sucked out by a Shiki for few days.
Excellent episode, it was about time we saw a real lasting break in what had been a relatively formulaic traditional vampire story in general. I absolutely appreciate the moral ambiguity of the series though and this episode has shifted gears in an interesting way.
Shikis don’t think humans are evil, per se, more so that they are disruptive to their lifestyle. It’s not a evil distribution. More like a predator-prey situation.
The point here is what Sunako has said, that death is always a sad thing, but there’s no particularly terrible death…..but by that same token, “justified” death is also questionable.
If you feel sorry for Chizuru, go ahead and feel sorry for her, no need to suppress it and think you shouldn’t. She’s fleshed out as a character, that might be why, cause she has a background, cause she has human-like thoughts and behaviors. We can’t help but feel sorry for those we could possibly relate to.
I would say the good/evil distinction, and idea of a “justified” kill is constructed simply through leaving a character as undeveloped as possible. No one cares about cardboard being killed.
the beginning of an all-out attack.
your rating for this episode shouldnt be awesome…it should be LEGENDARY!! its been a long time since i have watched an anime that had such an epic build up and is delivering it soo well, i hope i didnt jinx it.
Wow! I’m so glad i continued watching this series. This was just plain awesome. Yes, I thought Chizuru’s death(well she’s not dead yet but we assume) was very sad. Even more since she was finally beginning to feel human again. That was very smart of Toshio. Some unanswered questions or thinks that I didn’t totally get. Was Ritsuko talking about killing herself? Also, Natsuno and the other werewolf talking. Is it me or did he insinuate that Akira is still alive?
I told you the turning point was coming and they cut off right in the middle of it. Look forward to next week- it gets even better!
Well yes its obvious that Natsuno bit him, but the counter-hypnosis part is a completely different thing. Whats done is done
And why do you think he bit him? To see what kind of blood type he had?
Counter Hypnosis is the only thing that makes sense when looking at the scene and what happened.
So again no, it ain’t a spoiler. If you have to be angry. be angry about the person who didn’t come to the conclusion most I see did.
I’m in agreement with Nayrael. I haven’t read the manga and I found the scene pretty revealing as to why Ozaki had a second bite on his arm, especially when it had a ghost image of where Chizuru had been feeding. And if someone with my online name can figure that scene out then so can most others.
Though really freaking awesome episode! This anime has consistently been my favorite show of the week since around episode 5-6ish and it has been a long time since I looked forward to the next episode as much as I do for Shiki.
Sorry for not being clear. What I meant was the method of the counter-hypnosis. When I saw the bite mark on Natsuno’shand, I immediately found 3 possible answers as to what the method was. So yeah..
Anyways, I never thought of that possibilty, but I have one that is pretty much close to that. One of the possible answers I saw was that Natsuno bit the ALREADY BITTEN Ozaki and cancelled the hypnosis. Both answers are kinda similar, but completely different.
So YES! I kinda still think of it as a spoiler
Damn, they cut the episode in the middle of the climax.
Still an amazing episode. Shiki is my favorite Fall series. (I know, it started in Summer but still…)
As for the bite marks, it’s pretty obvious Natsuno is responsible for it. Why else would Ozaki suddenly give up and play into their game? It was off-character because it was planned.
well duh!!! its obvious that Natsuno bit Ozaki and that Ozaki was just playing along, but HOW would you know that Ozaki ALREADY had a HYPNOTIC suggestion placed on him by Natsuno before he got bitten by Chizuru?…
I would think that his Hypnosis was undone/cancelled by Natsuno, but I guess its not that right one afterall (There is a BIG difference between a BEFORE and an AFTER)
btw I had a dejavu when I heard that Bloodtype joke. I swear i saw it on the previous shiki posts xD
well duh!!! its obvious that Natsuno bit Ozaki and that Ozaki was just playing along, but HOW would you know that Ozaki ALREADY had a HYPNOTIC suggestion placed on him by Natsuno before he got bitten by Chizuru?… just sayin’
I would think that his Hypnosis was undone/cancelled by Natsuno, but I guess its not that right one afterall (There is a BIG difference between a BEFORE and an AFTER)
btw I had a dejavu when I heard that Bloodtype joke. I swear i saw it on the previous shiki posts xD
sorry for the doule post
Loved it.
I, of course, immediately thought Natsuno had bitten him first…but maybe it was his wife. maybe he captured her not to just try out different ways of killing her. He is a scheming,planning doctor….maybe he used her to innoculate himself? If it’s true that natsuno has not been drinking blood…