This was just amazing beyond words. This pretty much was the episode that decided which sides gets to win in the end, and in the process it did a fantastic job at portraying the regular villagers as blood thirsty murderers. The changes with the previous episode are stunning.
And I mean, there are only four Shiki left alive at this point: Megumi, Tatsumi, Natsuno and Sunako. Combined with Seishin, this is going to make for just a fantastic finale which again is going to be completely different from the past two episodes. I absolutely love how the past episodes have used the build-up that the entire series spent its time on.
What made this episode especially brutal was that the final area that the vampires kept hidden contained all of the vampires who refused to answer to their instincts., ie the most innocent of the Shiki. Tatsumi was also portrayed completely different from what we’ve usually seen him as: his loyalty to Sunako runs really surprisingly deep.
Overall, I really believe that 2010 has been the best year for Noitamina so far. Sure, it knew its share of gems before, but here it just delivered three absolutely fantastic series in the same year. We really have 2009 to thank for that. Up until then, Noitamina was mostly a timeslot of eccentric and Josei series, some of which worked better than the others. Eden of the East and Tokyo Magnitude however opened up the chance for really well produced series, which probably lead to the inclusion of a second spot at the timeslot. It’s really going to be difficult for 2011 to match the same level that the timeslot achieved.
2011 is promising yet another interesting year for Noitamina, as it looks like it’s going to be evolving again. I can’t really predict how these series will turn out, but the way in which three of the already announced series will focus on teenagers children and remains a very risky move, regardless of the quality of these series. Three teenaged Noitamina shows obviously aren’t a problem if they’re going to be good. However, the thing that the Noitamina producers should not do is stop with the adult oriented shows in favour of the teenagers. That’s the thing I’m most afraid of here, especially after the ratings that Sarai-Ya Goyou and Yojou-han received.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
What I found the most sad in this episode is how they killed Seishin’s parents for nothing, assuming that they were cooperating with the vampires. Reminds me of an episode of CSI in the first season (just checked, episode 9), when a man starts outraging in an airplane, and… Well, I won’t spoil it in the case you do check it out. And Grissom delivers a pretty powerful punchline to the whole story. Actually, the whole first season of CSI was some of the best TV I’ve ever seen.
And I’d rather say that Yojou-han, Sarai ya Goyou and Mononoke are the best things I’ve seen from Notamina, so it’s a shame to hear about their ratings. It’s things like these that make me rage against people with plain out bad taste in anime – it’s because of them that we miss out on potentially amazing stuff.
Savage killing of Seishin’s mother is indeed horrible, but Seishin’s father is an Okiagari. He sent an invitation letter to Kirishiki, because he wanted to be an Okiagari. He thought that he could regain the use of his limbs again if he became an Okiagari, but after getting up, he found that nothing changed, and this made him desperately want to die. So he showed his gratitude to Ookawa before he was killed. Due to the midterm break, the number of episodes was decreased and some important details were omitted, I think.
I cannot wait for the final episode!
I was actually pretty annoyed at this episode because how much they forced the Muroi escape…
Realistically, theres NO WAY he would have gotten through all those people unnoticed… Now I dont know about you, but Im looking forward to seeing ALL shiki exterminated, including Sunako, so yeah…
On another note, the epic beard guy has to be the most badass character of 2010 LOL I love it… Its such a refreshing change from the typical “omg, I cant kill people!” weaklings
well…to be honest,as I’m just read the manga before the show started back then,and just follow Psgels on the track,I found the manga’s more epic at this point :((
Well,you have to read it for yourself,they haven’t even kill Tohru and Ritsuko! there’s no Maeda and even Nao.Well,it looks like some minor storylines are cut to make it fill 22 episode.
I’m worried that the final episode will contain some very obvious deus ex machina… give them 24 episode,and this show will be more epic than it already has.
mds: uhm, you know that this series is going to have 24 episodes? 2 DVD-only episodes just got announced. So please, no spoilers of what happens in those two episodes.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-12-23/shiki-8th-9th-bd/dvds-to-include-unaired-episodes
I think you forgot the annoying voice guy and Nao among the remaining vampires
Loved the episode! I was sure that the nurse had gotten eaten by the dogs xD Also, I really didn’t understand the part where Seishirou killed the okiagiri girl that’s like Tatsumi. I didn’t get his motives…
I think Masao and Nao are still alive somewhere..
I think the Maeda Motoki arc will be the DVD episode – the woman who was holding her rotting child, has a special place in the manga.
@mds
Keep in mind that the events of the manga and the anime are different but the same. What I mean is the same things happen but they occur at different times and sometimes under different circumstances. Point made I wouldn’t count the anime adaptation out just yet, albeit it seems truncated right now because of the short number of episodes that’s airing the anime has been successful in some ways that the manga has so far not been. I gotta say that despite how the plot is being adapted it’s still doing pretty well.
@Jeremy: I believe Natsuno bit him and told him to shoot any jirou (did I spell that right?) that came by. That’s probably why Nao and Seishirou were running around for a few seconds a few episodes back. That’s the way I took it, anyway. 🙂
am I the only one who felt really sorry for Sunako? While I know that she’ll cause trouble if she survives (creating a new “village” somewhere else if given the chance), but I like her reasoning in episode 20 and 21: is it really her fault for wanting to survive and live? Shouldn’t she want a family, friends? If food = humans, should she therefore starve?
Oh, I was so nervous when Seishin was carrying that suitcase around !!!!!!
However, I really dislike Seishin and his choice to become her helper. I feel he’s just being a coward: so what if you’ve been assigned to be a priest from the time you were born? Desperate for “freedom”? Nah. With all the villagers dying, I have no appreciation for his weakness. Maybe understanding, but he’s a cowardly jackass.
but ooh! I love this show. I was even able to get my brother-in-law hooked !
why did that hunter dude kill the werewolf girl?
This episode was beyond amazing!!!! But it really made me feel sorry for Seishin and …the shiki. Well, actually they cannot be considered as evil, as they desperately strive for their survival and attack humans in order to live, from that perspective , I guess, it’s not even comparable with what humans do to other animal species, they can do without but they choose to kill, here the shiki have no other choice, as there’s not even a chance for them to survive on just salad or rice, it won’t kill their hunger or allow them to live, besides they didn’t ask to become vampires and those past few episodes clearly showed that tragic side of their existence. This episode really made me understand this. Sunako’s part was really touching and I wished for Seishin and her to get out of the village “alive”. This episode managed to show the villagers as the monsters (they even killed Muroi san’s mother- and she was not even a vampire! Somehow it made me think of an empire under the control of an evil lord, with spies, denunciations and unjust executions with no chance or possibility to prove your innocence), but the most despicable or horrifying fact is the way they slaughtered all those vampires whose bodies were just the same, with blood and bones and so on, and they did it just as you would cut some wood to make a convivial bonfire, come on, they’ve slaughtered so many “people” just in the most casual way – that’s murder even massive slaughter here , then just had some snacks they almost tainted with blood they’ve just spilled!). That was outright disgusting! Especially Chizuko was so casually cruel, I liked how she said “it’s nothing, I always help my family to deliver rice”, while carrying packages stained with blood, then just as calmly going and finishing off a corpse that was still moving! Just impressive! I never ever recall a series with vampires that have pulled up such an unexpected and crafty turn of events. That’s what I love about this series; it shines with originality and genuine creativity! And this episode was very convincing, I don’t see how one can reproach to the shiki the fact they wish to remain alive and not just go ahead and die, I don’t think that a strive to survive equals evil murders, that’s a completely different matter. Can we really blame someone to kill in order to survive, it’s an argument that was often put forward to justify humans’ right to kill animals, and here we’re confronted to the same problem (more or less, as humans have a choice , and they don’t, so it makes them even more unblamable).
Kethy-chan: Why do you call Muroi a coward? I view him everything but a coward? A coward? Do you know many people who’ll go protecting scary for them creatures out of cowardice?! I don’t think so, but it is obvious that the anime series doesn’t not show all the relevant facts necessary for a complete understanding of the plot, I’ve got this feeling while watching this a while ago, but here my doubts were kind of confirmed. It was originally a novel, isn’t it? So, most of the time when anime companies adapt a novel’s story, it’s like they already presuppose people know the novel that it was adapted from, or could read between the lines. It happened for me at least with Umineko (it was a visual novel, but it’s the same), I couldn’t grasp everything after watching the anime series, but after playing the game, I figured out they couldn’t explain all the important facts at the same pace due naturally to time restrictions. After that, while rewatching the anime, I could understand the details because I’ve already had the missing gaps in mind. I think it must be the same with Shiki. I didn’t quite get why Muroi san changed sides or provides them with his blood (isn’t it the same as step by step escalating the stairs towards death? I’ve seen this as the expression of his strength!), or what he tried to accomplish, but something I’m sure of it’s that he doesn’t consider them as evil, I don’t either, well maybe some of them might be, but the great majority just kills out of necessity, that doesn’t amount to cruelty. After all not everyone has enough willpower and determination as the nurse Ritsuko) to fade away because of ultimate morals and principles they have to follow. So, he might be willing to help them because he found some spiritual bond that connects him to Sunako, despite their differences, they share a similar fate. I think of all the characters he’s the deepest one, his past weren’t unraveled, but it’s like through the story of his book, we could establish a parallel with his own life experiences. I really like that character the best. One thing I didn’t get at all is why Seishirou killed one of his allies?
Ha, and my girlfriend complains about this anime not being scary enough. That was scary as hell. I absolutely love what it’s doing
@those who didn’t understand Seishirou’s behaviour, look closely at his right arm when he was reloading his rifle.
He was already biten and controlled by Natsuno.
(this is not a spoiler btw)
The scary part about the villagers during the counterattack isn’t their actions as much as the fact that it was the “correct” choice for them to be brutal, even if it causes some innocent casualities as well.
The other choice of losing and letting the shiki win wouldn’t exactly bring much nicer results.
The irony is that rather than freeing the village from the shiki, it is like the surviving villagers are trying to replace the shiki that first tried to replace them.
“However, the thing that the Noitamina producers should not do is stop with the adult oriented shows in favour of the teenagers. That’s the thing I’m most afraid of here, especially after the ratings that Sarai-Ya Goyou and Yojou-han received.”
Yojou-han was actually voted 2nd best anime of 2010: http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/12/18/top-10-anime-of-2010-according-to-2ch/
This just gets sadder by every episode. Love this show, especially its music. The song playing when Seishin finds his parents dead is breathtakingly beautiful. Anyone have any idea when/if OST is coming out?