Corpse Demon 屍鬼 (Shiki)
While Shiki started off very slow, this series has turned out surprisingly good, with some great characters, a very suspenseful story, and a great soundtrack to boot. I had actually almost dropped this show early on, and stopped blogging on it around episode 12 due to time constraints, but this is definitely one series I wish I had kept writing about. That being said, Shiki’s main strengths are definitely it’s huge cast of characters, and it’s story.
The basic premise to this show is rather simple; the setting is a small, isolated little village that’s called Sotoba village, and vampires stealthily try to take over. What this show does a great job at is building up the tension between the main characters, such as Ozaki and Natsuno, and the vampiric faction of “mansion on the hill”. This inherent conflict is central to the entire show, all the way until the bitter end. The characters in this show are really developed well, especially Ozaki and Natsuno. Their eventual realization of what’s going on around them, and the fundamental changes to both their behaviors and thought processes, is definitely interesting to watch, moreso as you see the horror-inducing events that unfold.
Characters such as Tatsumi and Ookawa play crucial roles in the show, while others such as Muroi and Sunako just add to the mystery in this show. I don’t know quite how to describe it, but the sheer amount of characters in this show are all integrated extremely well into the main plot, making a very believable and gripping tale that keeps you captivated for the entire second half of the series.
The thing with this show is that you need a bit of patience to finish it, mainly because there are huge chunks of the series that are extremely slow paced. The slow pacing allows for some excellent buildup, but at the same time I do wish that they could have condensed certain parts a bit more. It’s really the second half of the show where everything starts to pick up significantly, and becomes so much more mesmerizing.
The animation and art direction is a little odd, but the music for this series makes up for it mostly. The music has a gripping, haunting sound that fits the atmosphere to this series almost perfectly, and really gives the show the edgy, horrifying feeling that you’re looking for in certain scenes. And oh boy, can some of these scenes be gruesome and nauseating. But that’s exactly the type of events that keeps moving the plot forward, along with all the moral and social implications of all the events that unfold.
There are some rather complex, or perhaps the better word would be deep, themes found in this show that really makes you question exactly who is the villain and who is the victim at times. While I can’t say that this is the most horrifying thing I’ve seen in anime, it’s definitely one of the better horror themed anime I’ve seen in a while. It makes you both think about what’s going on, and truly appreciate the complexity and depth to much of the situation and plot. Overall, Shiki is an excellent series that is well worth your time.
Animation Quality: 7.5/10
Music/Soundtrack: 8.5/10
Characters: 9.0/10
Story: 8.5/10
Setting: 8.0/10
Overall Score: 8.3/10