I actually really liked how long it took the characters to start believing it was something supernatural, especially Dr. Ozaki. If something like that were to actually happen, your first thought isn't going to be vampires- you're going to look for ever other possible explanation first before believing in the impossible. The pacing made a lot of sense to me for that reason.
The pacing helped make the doctor a real interesting character after the first third when he had that even with his wife that made his character really interesting. And allowed for dark comedy. Tohro and the mains relationship helped make the first third not boring. Ad the yandere girl a hatedeserving villain.
The slow pacing adds tension as to how will the characters solve the problem. I don't think it's too long, I think it streches the suspense to a maximum, even if we do know the answer, HOW will the characters get to it?
@Agent Smith Right, because the first thing you suspect when a fatal epidemy breaks out is... Vampires!!! I think the lack of suspicion towards the new residents is quite implausible (they could be mad scientists testing a new virus), but that's it. Many other aspects are actually a realistic approach.
Am I the only one that really enjoyed the first half? Despite its slowness (which honestly I didn't notice that much because I was very much enjoying it) When the show picked up half way, it happened so naturally for me that I honestly don't know what everyone was talking about.
Apple Killer991 Yeah same.. I watched higurashi a while back and people said it was scary and creepy. The first 4 episodes unnerved me a little, but it wasn't scary. Watch Mistys video about top 10 horror anime, if you haven't already?
@@angrykitten4957 me too, he lost his humanity. When he kills his wife like that I just lost it. Imagine you wake up after having no idea what happened to you and the first thing you see is your husband torturing you and killing you. He didn't even let her speak, he didn't even talk to her. It really triggered me. He isn't any better than the shiki for me. At least some shiki still show emotion and regret, my dude toshio went psycho mode.
@@lisa-7046 you've probably already watched it by now but it's one of the best "horror" animes I've ever seen-- I absolutely loved it. It's def a slow burner and it can be somewhat annoying but the last few episodes are some of the best episodes I have ever seen. Phenomenal.
Am I the only one who LIKES slow pacing? I hate it when anime's go too fast and throw shit in my face without time I process all the info and what's happening.
I mean of course, it was kinda frustrating knowing the cause of the deaths along with the few characters and not anything being done, but I liked that it wasn't rushed it was quite realistic.
I like the slow pacing too, because just imagine books, TV shows, or movies will just rush through the main characters without any developtment or knowing what are their motivations or purposes; and just rushing the story without knowing if we missed anything important or if the writers forgot about all about it and we just get a lot of bullshit that doesn't make any sense.
I like animes where the paces can vary with in the show to when it is slow it kicks up for an episode of a bit then drops back down and it fluctuates in pace
Probably one of my favourite animes of all time, i didn't feel like i was forced through the first half, i enjoyed the slow build up, adds to the atmosphere
GR is just saying that shit in order to say something negative to seem more nuanced. GR does this thing when he forms his opinions where he decides he like or dislikes something based off of what he thinks his opinion is supposed to be. in other words, a *sheep* Shiki is not slow, pacing is relative, and Shiki is adapted from a long-ass novel, and has THREE protagonists, no shit the show is going to spend time fleshing out details and exploring the setting characters. And I also feel as if GR was also conflating relatability with good characterization, which is retarded. I don't relate to Shinji Ikari, but he's still a great character.
Stranger Danger I don't buy it. I feel like he's just fishing for something to not like about it in order to come off as a nuanced and "fair and balanced" reviewer. And that's regardless of that being a genuine opinion.
Stranger Danger you're overthinking it. The point of a review is to give your thoughts on something. Any reviewer who acts like they're doing the viewer a service by informing them comes off as a patronizing douchebag. Genuine opinion is the only aspect, because the idea of an "objective" review simply makes no logical sense.
+MrVolt16 He did mention it. He said that it didn't bother him too much, which is mindblowing to me. Shiki has the single best music ive heard in my life.
Shiki is one of my favorite anime and an example of excellent writing with no genre cliche and stupidity that is always presented in horror movies. Personally what I liked about Shiki the most are three things: 1. The show has it's own logic and follows it at all times. The shiki have their own unique set of powers and weaknesses which never get contradicted for the sake of making an intense/dramatic moment or to get the story going. 2. People act like REAL people. They don't do stupid cliche mistakes and never act illogical for the sake of story. Every action is believable and the world starts to feel real. 3. Everyone is an actual character and not a stock murder victim. For example the main character's best friend. The moment I saw him I was dead sure that he's a stock victim who's sole purpose is to die to give our protagonist a reason to fight shiki. He even looked beyond generic. But surprisingly he got fleshed out and had an actual character development.
I think wanting to have good guy, someone to root for in this series is completely missing the whole point of the series in the first place. It shows that there is no one who is entirely good or evil. In the end the side you pick will always lie with your ideology and morality. Having a character that is supposed to be "the good guy you root for" would ruin the statements this show makes on humanity in the first place. So I would say that the fact that his show had no "good guy" is what made it so good. Also I don't see why the slow first is a bad thing. I always thought Shiki is one the best constructed, paced and written entries in the mystery horror genre in anime.
@ArmyAntAdam lets not forget the fact that Sunako is 400 years old and was always hiding and killing the minimum amount of people during all this time, it makes more understandable that she was out of patience and tried this time to make a shiki village to have a home at last. (again, after 400 years.)
+VHabb HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHA..."my opnion" ya ok if you liked it thats all that matters in the end. parasyte the maxim is my favorite atm. throws the whole 'arbitrary human view of evil' i feel it did it better though.
+Nightcore Sugoi songs I found Shisekai Yori to be absolutely fantastic. But what Arkada says about Shiki in this review, I'd apply to SY, which the first half being a drag but the second, rewarding.
***** Ye agree, the only thing was for the first episodes i was like wtf is happening i don't understand anything (not that it was a bad thing since i loved the series from begining, espacialy the ending)
I disagree about his opinion on the first half. You may figure out the mystery early on, but at the same time more and more information is constantly revealed as time goes on. Characters and the environment begin to change. It isn't so much about you wanting them to figure out the mystery, but wondering if they will, and what the consequences will be. It also is not as slow as he says. New important information is presented in pretty much every episode, or a significant event happens. It isn't boring at all, and you will get through it in no time. It also doesn't feel padded out or anything. I mean, if they figured out the mystery any sooner than they do, then it'd feel incredibly unrealistic. The 2nd half is better for sure, but the 1st half is still really great as well.
I agree, steins;gate was amazing from beginning to end. I'm the kind of person who gets bored very easily, but I still absolutely loved the first half. I don't get why people didn't like it, because of that.
I'm very disappointed by GR's review of this. Firstly, it was very obvious that the show intended you to know about the vampires long before the villagers found out. The whole suspense of the first half (which honestly i loved almost more than the second half) was knowing the truth, and wanting and hoping the other characters would notice the signs. It was dramatic irony. The show hits extremely heavily at it in the first two episodes, and literally shoves it in your face by the third. But it also does so in a way that people in real life would never have noticed, so it is realistic. And the split in the story made this even better. The show would not have been nearly as good if it was only the point of view of one person. By showing multiple people, it again makes it feel realistic. Like the world isn't revolving around one ignorant guy, but rather there are multiple people trying to find out whats going on, looking for clues and the missing pieces. Really, the best part of the show, what makes it amazing, is the suspense. Knowing what is going to happen but not how or when. I honestly couldn't stop watching this once it started. The slow pacing is what made this show work. If it wasn't paced slowly, it would have fallen flat on its face.
Couldn't have put it better. Also it's hilarious he talks about being genre savvy, something he clearly is not, otherwise he wouldn't have thought the narrative was trying to be a mistery to the viewer. The viewer is supposed to know right away what is generally happening and from there it's the heavy atmosphere and struggle of the characters that creates tension to the viewer. How the situation will develop and how people will be affected is the hook, not some half baked mystery he seems to perceive in the first half.
I remember the characters being amazing in this. Reminded me of actually GOOD stories, such as we haven't seen in centuries. The characters felt real, not the copy pastes we see in everything else. They felt as horrible and broken as real people actually are, and it had a ton of dramatic irony and an amazing melancholic ending that brought the whole thing home. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I do not remember it feeling slow at all. I remember a well paced story with enough buildup to really display in animation a very human subject.
I do as well. I was hoping for megumi to make it across. be in the big city like she had been dreaming of. sad she never say that yuuki was a around all that time. when I thought sunako was gonna die as she was pleading with god. that right there got me.
Nah, screw them vampires. They choose to kill, they didn't have to. Ritsuko controlled herself, the others could have too. They were just selfish. They choose their own lives over that of the many people they killed, all the while deluding themselves into thinking they were doing the others a favor. Then when faced with death, they ran and cried and begged, even though their victims did them same and they didn't care. They were forsaken because they choose to be.
J. Michael Tatum always voices over the top, eccentric, flamboyant characters so it's no real surprise. I mean, he voiced France and as we all know Isaac from Baccano!
+Charlene Alyssa Ingram He's also voiced a few more stoic characters, most notably Scar from FMA:B and Sebastian from Black Butler. Basically, the guy's good at voice acting.
Personally I think shiki was a masterpiece. I like that the story started out slowly, it sort of added to the mystery. I also disagree on the character being uninteresting. Many of them had their own story and their own way of reacting to it, the slowness also gave you a lot of time thinking about the characters. In my opinion Shiki was just a masterpiece and one of the best animes I watched, it deserves a lot more attention
I rooted for the humans till the end. The old man said it the best:"In this world, since ancient times, there have been "rules" which were decided by no one. They arent complicated or anything. Those from the outside greet the villagers and get used to the village. The young shouldnt die before the old. Those rules have been protecting small towns like Sotoba, you tore it apart" - Sure the Shiki needed blood to survive, but the way they handled Sotoba, to those who know the story, wasnt right.
Tobias Yeah it’s like the Shiki could’ve set up some sort of plan as to sustain themselves by way of blood donations, but they don’t. They just go all assassin mode and try to multiply their numbers and take out the village.
@@tompac1044 That's nonsense. That donation bit would've never worked. The humans would've killed them off the moment they understood what they were before the Shiki could make a single move in anything. Humanity can't even keep itself in order after all the time of its existence. If it wasn't for civilization's laws putting a leash and collar around their necks by limiting their actions, people would have been killing each other off for the slightest difference between them. And the Shiki existence takes difference to the extreme. So if the interactions between humans can be so volatile and intensely implode in a moment's notice, then it's a no-brainer that the Shiki would get a far worse treatment. So, for the sake of their survival, the Shiki's stealth movements only made sense.
Shawn Benjamin I feel like you’re trying to disagree with me even though you have the exact same viewpoint I do. Yes, it wouldn’t have worked because humans are fickle and hate anyone whose different. That’s literally what I was trying to say. It’s a tragedy of the nature of man because the solution was under their noses the whole time.
@@tompac1044 It's because one thing I've come to hate with a passion is humanity's insufferable arrogance and refusal of self-reflection. Believing itself to be practically infallible when in reality, it's caused an immeasurable amount of atrocities. Most of them self-inflicted (humans killing/undercutting one another to get ahead) as a result of greedy and viciously fueled motivations. So, despite it being fiction, when humanity tries to call out a non-human species for its conduct, it ends up making itself look like an uncontested hypocrite while simultaneously making the conduct of the non-humans look like trivial matters that are hardly worth mentioning. And to add to the last part of your comment. It still wouldn't work because the Shiki are effectively predators by nature. Humans are not known to let anything they see as a threat roam freely. Especially if they know they can't control it.
@@shawnbenjamin9636 the thing is...the Kirishiki's could've lived in Sotaba discreetly without ANY problems. They had the town population to support 30-40 shiki, indefinitely with no one even noticing (keep in mind, only the 2nd feeding in a row caused noticeable anemia, so they'd just need to set up a system to pace the population out so as to make sure no one was ever fed on twice before their blood supply could recover. They even discuss this in depth in the manga/novels, where Sunako simply rejects it outright since she's simply tired of hiding and just wants to exterminate everyone in the village and turn it into a shiki stronghold.
TheRezro It said Western style. I have lived in several western countries, and none their mansions look like mini castles. To my knowledge it's not a style, but here is your chance to prove me wrong. Just point to a single location where it's.
i really didn't mind the slow pacing of the first part. it was interesting to see the characters lives before it all went to shit and while the character mind take a long time for them to find out the answer to their epidemic, some characters are likeable. the question of who is really evil also shines through and i ended up routing for the shiki at one point.
While I agree it did a good job of bringing up the question of who is really evil, I never felt bad for the shiki. Especially after Ritsuko. They choose their own fate.
When it comes to horror I am down with the slow beginning since it's about vampires slowly taking out the humans, so I think the pacing worked in it's favour
(SPOILERS AHEAD) ------ I have repeatedly disagreed with the notion that the humans are not good guys in this series. Sunako Is the catalyst for A LOT of death, destruction and heart break.... All because she CAN NOT accept she is dead! How many people did she slaughter without remorse to prolong her abomadible existence? And how many more has indirectly killed? Likely more then Hitler! She is a Lovecraftian monster that shames all famous movie slashers for her shear despicableness! All Of her brood has been conditioned to believe that what they do is "Okay" because she says so... Shiki are DEAD, and they choose to prolong their un-death by killing others, and threatening to kill them again if they don't go with the flow. It is explicably laid out that once this safe haven town is established, they will continue harvesting people as food from the nearest city. creating more parasites... and as soon as it all starts to go to sh*t, she cries, and acts all innocent and were just supposed to sympathise?! And the best part is I'd only consider her the 2nd most detestable being in this anime. Behind Priest Muroi... EASILY my most HATED anime character ever!!!! It takes all series... but by the end he is the without a doubt the worst piece of trash I've ever experienced in fiction! Shiki is an example of how you can have an enjoyable series full of unlikeable characters. but if you make it to the end, be prepared to have your WORST EVER list shaken up a bit. :P
Thank you! a lot of the fans seem to relate to that girl. I however hated her and the priest and hated that she was never killed. It would have been enjoyable to watch her get killed in the most gruesome manner for being the catalyst to the whole thing.
@@brianamiranda5837 you are right, but, shes 400 years old, and the present time seems to be the first time she tried to make a home for herself (that shiki village)... she was quite patient all things considered. Of course, she's still kinda wrong.
I hated that pedo monk as the show went on. Even is sunako survived i wished i could see that snake pedo bastard die. He was weird, a traitor and hypocrite. Great show otherwise, ozaki and yuuki were cool
+Utsuro Hako Shiki reminds me quite a bit of Tokyo Ghoul(the manga), Higurashi, and the Chimera Arc of Hunter x Hunter but possibly better done and with more emphasis on that question
+Utsuro Hako I'm not saying people can't be bastards (they can, oh how they can), but the the vampires had other options available to them in order to prevent killing people, like buying blood. If they have enough money to build a fucking castle, then they should have money to pay some people to give some blood every few months, or even get themselves a personal blood bank.
Shinsekai Yori is an anime that, by the end, makes you question who the real monsters are in the show. It's got a slow start, like Shiki, but it has an interesting premise, world, and characters. The show also presents some awesome philosophical concepts and questions about humanity, morals, and identity.
It seems that westerners find it hard to accept this type of art. I just found the pace and the story telling beautiful. The "peace" before the storm when we can all see it coming just make the whole thing great, it is not fast-food entertainment so please adjust a bit.
+Sir Gus the Mighty That's a completely false equivalency. Torture is bad because it is causing harm to someone against their will. You can stop engaging with a piece of art at any time. Much of the greatest art is unsettling or uncomfortable, because it reveals to us truths about humanity or the human condition that we'd rather ignore.
Isolated settings like that are actually a common trope of the Gothic genre and its therefore not surprising that this story line takes place in such a small secluded village. Also, the observations about the characters in this commentary are very subjective. It can be argued that you aren't meant to be able to personally relate to any of the characters in this series, but that they are representations of broader states of the human existence, transitioning not infrequently from one moral state to another. They may be there to enlighten the audience about certain questions that we as humans must ask ourselves when faces with difficult situations. As most of the audience however do not face situations in which they need to decide over who lives and dies, it is understandable that they would not be able to entirely place themselves in their position, hence rendering them potentially 'not personally relevant or likeable'. I believe this series is worth viewing from a point of view in which every aspect is meant to provoke serious thought and that it can be enjoyable as long as the audience appreciates the types of stories that you need to analyze while watching in order to love them.
This anime is not for everyone, and it definitely isn't for this guy. If you think Hunter x Hunter is deep... then just take a huge bow and ignore Shiki, if you understand what naturalism is, existentional and realistic problematic, aesthetic of ugliness, inner monologue and conflict then go ahead and watch this, it's a masterpiece of literature and it has one of the most beautiful soundtracks ever.
What Doit said does sound like the rick and Morty meme XDDD He is right about it not being for everyone and it isn't a univseral masterpiece simply because its not universally acclaimed. Though this is one of my all time favourite anime
No. Shiki isnt this complex. A anime that tries to do a great symbolism in an artistic form needs good character writing and no... this is Just a generic writing that didnt Express the potential of his message.
An issue with the review, I feel, is the second half only had impact because of the slow first half. The first half had a lot to go through and a LOT of characters to introduce. If it was too quick then the second half would've been a mess, you wouldn't care at all about the Shiki nor most of the humans. And even in the case of having no attachment to the characters, you'd not even know what is going on. The slow start was a necessary to set up the story.
I liked the first half, but i guess that depends on the reason you watch it. I like the mystery genre where the characters attempts to figure it out, despite you already knowing the truth behind a mystery, so for me it was fun.
Is it weird that I liked what Arkada didn't like I loved the pacing at the beginning and every episode made me more interested I found the characters way more interesting than in other shows They behaved, reacted like real humans would do in such situation Spoiler : especially Ozaki driving into madness I liked the scene where they wanted to chop down the trees when the forest caught fire and threatens the village, and he just starts slamming his chainsaw into the tree because of his desperation The entire show he tries to save to village up to a point where he is ready to lose his humanity and kill former villagers in brutal ways and then the village just burns down and he is not able to save it That scene Mixed with the emotional music of "day and night" was my favourite scene
A show I love with a great passion one of my all time favorites.I wish more people were into this show. Everyone who enjoys the supernatural genre should give this show a chance it's a beautiful story that though starts very slow is a great ride and well worth it in the end. Thank you for this review, from Shiki fans everywhere we salute you.
Shiki is one of my favorite Animes, I really really love it. However, I liked your review and I actually agree with everything you are criticizing about the show (only thing is that I think the soundtrack of this show is devastatingly underrated - I personally think it is AMAZING and creates a great atmosphere). I can totally understand why other people are bothered with the anime's slowness. As for the characters, I actually rooted for Natsuno and also for Tohru from start to finish, I really liked those two. I do not ship them in a romantic sense, but I love their story line and I think their friendship is captivating, touching - and heartbreaking.
I saw your review this morning. I spent the whole day watching Shiki. You should have mentioned it makes you lose faith in humanity. Damn you old man. I still liked it though. A great story.
I love some of the background music, which really set the atmosphere. The atmosphere is really good, and dark. I had a weird feeling of inspiration, which I got from it.
I think the Shiki are obviously the evil ones, they didn't consider a peaceful coexistence and just went for the kill for food. The humans just fought back, which makes sense since they're families and friends have been getting killed for ages.
+Eye Dentity Yeah, I'd have to agree. I don't think the show did that great a job of humanizing the Shiki - or, at least, demonstrating that they only killed to survive. Whenever I started to feel bad for Nao, I remembered she'd literally murdered her entire family, and then went on to murder others because she was jealous. Whenever I felt bad for Sunako, I remembered she came to the village with the desire to murder literally every human that lived there and replace them with Shiki. There's killing for survive, and then there's killing because you like it, like Chizuru, Megumi, or Tatsumi. The only Shiki I'm 100% sorry for, with no reservations, is Kyoko ;-;
Aussie Ducky You know who I feel sorry for? That buff grandpa guy, Tomio Ookawa. The guy caught a f**k car and scared his son who had a gun to his face away! Then they just went and killed him for plot. That guy was f**king awesome!!
Aussie Ducky Yeah, but every time I fell bad for Nao, I'm like "Wait, if not for the Sunako and her clan, she would have been happy. So, yeah, fuck the Shiki." Also, the Shiki didn't need to kill to survive, so that makes it a lot harder to justify anything they do
I actually skipped the ova because i wasn't feel like watching them since anime was only good, not amazing. After watching that today= mistakes were made
+Creative Ziggy I have like 30 on my list lol. There's still so many anime I haven't even seen yet. Like death note, code geas, gurren lagann, future diary, cowboy bebop, evangelion, psycho pass, black lagoon, hellsing, etc. Matter of fact, I JUST finished FMA brotherhood last night lol. Needless to say I just don't have enough time on my hands lol.
+Jon155mt haha! dude ! i have a similar thing going on , i have to complete some 15 shows online and then finish the next 12 shows i downloaded. LOL man , do we have some work to do.
This is rather interesting to see your take on the anime. I for one fell in love with Shiki and the mystery that was held within but I am sort of a fan of mystery and suspense myself. As for the characters, there were a couple that I did end up attaching myself to and wanting to live. Sure the characters are not 'perfect' characters that everyone can fall for, but there are one or two in my book that actually seemed worth it, more on Yuuki who I think was the one that figured it out faster then any of the adults did.He might of been rather cold and emo but if you think about the fact he had just moved there from the bigger city and didn't know many people, then you can kind of understand. His family situation didn't help much as well. Any kid might of become sort of cold to the world around them because of those things.
THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH FOR FINALLY reviewing this anime Arkada. Thank you so much this means so much I've been waiting for so very long for someone to truly review it and truly dissect it.
wow I LITTERALY just finished this series a couple days ago and this is the third time it's happened since I subbed to you. I can honestly say your timing for reviewing some anime couldn't be any better....well...for me at least. keep up the good work!
Damn. Watched it a few years ago and enjoyed it but never knew about the OVA. This Anime is..what I like to call an ambient Anime. I didnt think I was supposed to connect to any character, so it never bothered me. Its just there to experience. Enjoy the mood it sets, the animation, the music. That kinda stuff.
I loved this anime, mainly for it's amazing atmosphere. And yes, that OVA episode you spoke of is some of the best stuff. If some people end up watching this don't forget to watch the OVA episodes too, in the right order if possible.
I haven't watched a video of yours in over 2 years. I randomly go to RUclips and to see some unrelated video and notice a guilty crown video in my recommended videos. I get interested and so I read the author and see it is Glass Reflection. I felt nostalgic towards your videos that I had to stop everything just to watch this. I realize I have missed your reviews and am just glad to be coming back to your channel after all this time. P.S. I am posting this on all of your videos in hope you will see it.
+Mimyakko He only reviews what he can get a hard copy of, and that's kind of difficult considering VIZ never made any box sets of the series. Honestly I wish he'd just make an exception for Monster
Flaming lump Though true that he does tend to review shows he genuinely enjoys, which in turn, tries to get his hands on some kind of physical format of, but there definitely have been plenty of shows he has reviewed that he doesn't own a physical copy of. Which reasons could be ranged from his recommendation of "Donate it" or "Stream it" ratings, especially if he didn't like the show, or there isn't a DVD release in existence to begin with outside of Japan, with his Hyouka review as a more recent example. So there definitely is a chance he could review Monster regardless he owns a DVD of it or not (he does mention about Monster actually in another fairly recent video he posted about the lack of DVD copies lol), but I'd figure he hasn't yet because he either wants to hold off a review until a very special occasion or milestone-step kind of video, or possibly he just doesn't want to review it at this time. But with that being said, not being able to have a DVD or any legal means of streaming it, so if he does want to review it he can't just go to some legal streaming site or throw in a DVD to watch it so he can start writing up a script. (unless you can watch it on maybe sites like Funimation or Crunchyroll, if they might have it? Or if not, they could license it if it's requested enough, you never know lol. I'm just not sure if Monster is available on those sites at all since I haven't checked xD)
+Mimyakko well Monster and Black Jack feeling quite similar in some way (the only similarity is the Doctor thing but i always remember monster when i watch Young Black Jack). so why not review both
You basically just read off of my own review of this show from a couple of years ago... and then added video and a better personality. This is the reason I keep coming back man. Good review! ;)
I absolutely adored Shiki! Gave it a 9/10 on MAL. It's one of my favorite anime. I have to admit I was cheering for the vampires in the end. Thank you for doing this review! I may not agree with everything you've said, but I do love the review. BTW love your Eeveelutions poster!
Nice review Ark! I didn't really mind the slowness of the first half of the series (it was also pretty early in anime career). Overall it is my favorite Vampire anime. I love both of your recommendations. I've watched both of them as well, very on point! Keep up the good work!
No problem, the book is pretty good, actually it was King's second book in fact. Shiki is different from Salem's Lot, but if you've read/watched them both you can tell that the writer(s) of Shiki most likely read Salem's Lot.
I actually really liked how Shiki was paced. Similar to how the original Dracula work was played off as a "slow burn", so was Shiki. There was a ton of suspenseful build up until the climax, and it worked out fantastically.
Well.....he is right....the first half is slow.....but it is the slow build up that makes the second half "synapse melting-ly hardcore"........those able to see my words, do yourself a favor and watch "Shiki"......😊
Firstly, thank you for reviewing Shiki! It's among my favorite anime! Honestly I never found the first half to be anywhere near as slow as everyone seems to think. It started with the mystery of what the Shiki wanted with this town, and the tension of watching the main characters try desperately to figure out and stop the horrible situation. Maybe if you're used to watching more action-based or heavily character-driven shows it seems dull and uninteresting, but Shiki grabbed my attention from episode one like watching a chain of dominos fall. The second half was watching the tension break as absolute chaos befalls the town, which I guess is more immediately entertaining, though of course the first half is required to understand it, I don't think it's something you'd have to "suffer through" as long as you watch it with the midset of this being a primarily *story-driven* series. As a side-note, I personally adore the art direction. The heavily stylized characters against a very realistic background, psychedelic effects with a deeply emotional soundtrack does make this something of a masterpiece in my eyes. I hardly ever buy the video releases of anything, but Shiki was one I had to own. Okay rant over. Thanks again for reviewing!
Part of the moral dilemma of killing Shiki that never worked for me was how dumb the plan was. They just think they can swell their numbers and kill tons of people and think they'll never get caught, and they have no contingency plan. Like, people find out about the Shiki, and they let them walk free. Also, the fact that they have emotions doesn't matter if they are unrepentant killers, with only a couple of them feeling any guilt. I rooted for the good doctor all the way through. Screw those vampire assholes. That said, I did watch it on Hulu where there was none of the OVA stuff, so maybe that would make the answer less obvious in my mind.
In all fairness, their own misstep in terms of planning was they didn't account for a shiki betraying the shiki and trying to rid of them. The plan would have worked perfectly.
Ryda641 Still, the fact that these creatures who have lived for far longer than the human lifespan allows never even considered that humans would ever start fighting back is dumb. Also, they are easily the most under-powered vampires I have ever seen.
I really liked Muroi . And he was basically the reason why I watched. :3 I also liked Sunako. I found the anime more interesting when you look at how the Shiki react and deal with the humans and how the humans reacted to finding out about the Shiki, and basically the biggest part to the story. I also liked it because it knocked down some of the human barriers we would think of, and also from what I remember more so with Muroi you still got to see the ethical/spiritual side. My biggest issues is that there wouldn't have been a big issues probably if the Shiki didn't kill almost everyone in the town. If they just killed the old and forgotten it probably wouldn't have been that bad, same with who they had picked to um... feed off of. Like the pink haird girl who just wanted to be pretty and poplar. But with who they picked off and basically feed off of, knowing those mostly teens from what I remember also then run around town feeding from most likely friends, family or people they where obsessed with. It really makes me wonder how long the Shiki were planning on staying in the town. If at all. There food would have ran out sooner or later.
This was a really accurate review. Honestly, I had a really hard time getting into it, really having to force myself through it, and even considered dropping it. I'm really glad that I stuck with it, because it really picks up steam, and never lets up. It is worth a watch in the end.......... but you have to be an EXTREMELY patient person to get through it.
The BGM and those eyes have haunted me for weeks on end... This is most definitely a 8.5/10 series. The humanity and realism in the depiction of supernatural elements is the strongest attraction. I watched it almost a decade ago and I still get shivers thinking about it.
I am so happy you did a review of this :D I totally agree with you on the first half, it is quite slow, but I quite liked the climax when they finally figured it out. The one thing I would have to disagree with you with is the characters, I really enjoyed the vast majority of them, and they did things that I found rather interesting. Like the Doctor capturing his own vampired wife and essentially torturing her to get information. That scene came out of nowhere and I loved it.
I actually really liked the slow pacing honestly but that's because I like seeing the characters and how they interact and all that before shit goes down. Overall if I could I would buy Shiki as it's a definite favourite of mine. I can understand, however, why many gave up watching it because of how slow it was but I just love slow pacing if it's done well ^^ Great review!
You should do a review on Durarara!! It's sooo good and it's by the same studio that did baccano. Just look at the opening song and you'll get a feel for the show, it has the same style as baccano as in it has not just 1 main character
Since we're discussing unlikable characters I feel compelled tk mention "Shigurui - Death Frenzy," one off my favorite animes. Mostly because I'd never seen anything quite like it. There is NO protagonist to speak of whatsoever. Every single character is completely morally bankrupt and you're totally unable to develop any empathy for any of them. Yet it's strangely compelling.
wristofkings Ikr? After Japan stopped warring with itself, the Samurai clans ( who suddenly found themselves extinct ) just decided to go to war with each other for the most miniscule of reasons.
+riffgroove Shiki DOES have a protagonist, it's Natsuno. Personally, I find him very unlikable, but no one ever said a protagonist has to be likable in any way. That's what an anti-hero is.
+Vincent Lam Interestingly enough, I read the bit of original novel posted online, and apparently Natsuno wasn't supposed to be a protagonist at all - there was more emphasis on the various perspectives of different villagers, which made a whole lot more sense. I think the anime put a little more emphasis on him because they wanted something with a little more focus.
I couldn't agree with you more. I saw this show a few years back and that episode is engraved into my mind as one of the greatest episodes of any show I have ever seen.
Funny. For me the second part was so bad, that I couldn't even watch it to the end. The fisrt part was brilliant with the feeling of isolation and helplessness. The second part with that blue haired stupid shiki was just... dull. With it, something vanished. Something really important to me. They made them... should I say physically touchable. And that's just lame and a bit of a cliche. But hey, thats my opinion...
I rather like slower first seasons that pick up later on. I don't want it to blow me away at first and then be mediocre in the end, Like Sword art Online -.- I want it to capture my interest, slowly build its narrative and character, then have shit go down. The slower paced episodes gave me more time to appreciate the Doctor and give more of the mystery feel since we knew NOTHING about the since they were only seen for like 1 scene per episode doing nothing. But thats what got me hooked, i was thinking wtf is he doing?, whys he doing this?, whats he gonna do? Those gave it the eery feeling that made it more suspenseful as you went on, and seeing how the innocent would suffer from the disease and how some would lose their Humanity in the process to fight these "monsters" made me wanna keep going and see where it leads. Tho i agree with the hair xD
Remember the scene where Natsuno talks with Ozaki and Ozaki's mind abruptly blows up with all the dots connecting perfectly and he realizes, at long last, what's going on? Still got goosebumps from then.
I was really hoping that all the three perspective would would have combined. I was hoping that at one point Yuki would work with the doctor and the priest. Speaking of Yuki, I really hoped for him to become like the one that can create a compromise between the humans and shiki. He even becomes this rare breed of Alucard-ish vampire, but he couldn't give a shit about that. He didn't have any moral ideas, his personality was inconsistent and he barely apeard in the show. I also hoped a romantic relationship with the gothic chick but I quickly realised it was impossible. The only character that I really liked was the junior priest because he was the only one that really suffered a lot of internal conflicts and gradualy developed into something good. 90% of the characters were nothing other than pieces of human trash. The doctor was a good character, but after the ending I hated him.
+Vladimir “Shinigami-sama” Auditore He did try to work for co-existence. The Shiki made it clear the wanted no part of it. As for the priest feeling conflicted, for me, that's like the countries that were neutral during WW2. Sometimes there is no gray area, but the priest seemed to think there was even before anything happened to the Shiki. He was literally looking at a case where people were being murdered unprovoked and sympathized with the murderers
I really enjoyed this show and actually didn't find the first half all that slow. I enjoyed that we saw things develop from different perspectives and really got to see some of the characters struggle to wrap their heads around what was happening. I also appreciated that the rate at which people died was relative to (spoilers maybe?) the number of vampires. It takes an understandable amount of time within the show's world for things to progress to critical levels instead of happening overnight. And it makes sense since it falls in line with the shiki wanting to remain in the shadows most of the time. I do agree that some characters are unlikable or just plain hard to care about, but I think the fact that there is no clear good guy to root for plays into the show's questions about morals. As depending on how you interpret the plot and characters, you will end up with someone that you can get behind. It's just open to who or what you think is right or wrong. One thing I think you missed when discussing the animation is how colorful the show is at times. Of course this comes out mostly through the character designs, but for a horror/supernatural mystery about morality, it's a nice change of pace to have such a wide pallet used instead of relying mostly on darker shades the entire time.
I am in a love hate relationship with shiki. It had some good moments but ultimately it was undone by their characters and their stupid hair. I hated Yuuki for episode 12, I hated yuuki's dad I rarely see a man so militant atheist and head so far up his rectum he can taste it, I hated the monk for most everything he did in the 2nd half i mean he was so hypocritical it hurt, I hated the townsfolk for being so stupid I mean by the end like how many ppl died and they were all like meh. I hated the final battles were so lopsided but, I LOVED THE DOCTOR that was some character progression. but most of all i hated the show for being ok they had the potential to be really great such a shame
Not a vampire theme but I believe you will also like this one: "Monster" IMO, it's best to leave Shiki as a unique show, much like Hachiman being his own unique character.
"Another" is a horror anime you may want to check out (ghosts though, not vampires). Similar slow buildup, great suspense, and some pretty graphic deaths.
How can you not love the OST for this anime? It's one of my top 10 favorite Anime OSTs of all time, both for perfectly capturing the mood of the show and its unique overall sound compared to other anime OSTs.
Want horror? Watch alien 9. You'll be shaking holding your knees in a corner for days. And this is coming from a critic. It is dark and obsure, and i actually don't recommend watching it. It's fucked up.
Rudolf Ushiromiya No It's not bad. It does look cutesy, I thought it was a cute show about adventure and friendship. Oh how i was wrong. So very very wrong... Sometimes clicking random doesn't always go the way you want it to.
"Takes place out in the boonies" Yes, part of the horror genre is isolation. The smaller and more removed a population the more helpless it is and that increases the tension.
I actually really liked how long it took the characters to start believing it was something supernatural, especially Dr. Ozaki. If something like that were to actually happen, your first thought isn't going to be vampires- you're going to look for ever other possible explanation first before believing in the impossible. The pacing made a lot of sense to me for that reason.
Exactly!
I liked that too, it made sure that most of the characters relied on logic, before coming to the conclusion of " It's Vampires"
The pacing helped make the doctor a real interesting character after the first third when he had that even with his wife that made his character really interesting. And allowed for dark comedy. Tohro and the mains relationship helped make the first third not boring. Ad the yandere girl a hatedeserving villain.
The slow pacing adds tension as to how will the characters solve the problem. I don't think it's too long, I think it streches the suspense to a maximum, even if we do know the answer, HOW will the characters get to it?
@Agent Smith Right, because the first thing you suspect when a fatal epidemy breaks out is... Vampires!!! I think the lack of suspicion towards the new residents is quite implausible (they could be mad scientists testing a new virus), but that's it. Many other aspects are actually a realistic approach.
Am I the only one that really enjoyed the first half? Despite its slowness (which honestly I didn't notice that much because I was very much enjoying it) When the show picked up half way, it happened so naturally for me that I honestly don't know what everyone was talking about.
I loved the first half sent shivers down my spine over and over again!
Apple Killer991
Same! Still can't get over that window scene with the pink haired chick!
Apple Killer991
Yeah same.. I watched higurashi a while back and people said it was scary and creepy. The first 4 episodes unnerved me a little, but it wasn't scary. Watch Mistys video about top 10 horror anime, if you haven't already?
+Jade Angove thx for the suggestion!
Apple Killer991
No problem! (:
I really liked all of Shiki, I never got bored and Toshio was a great character.
Same here! I watched the whole anime in one day! :D
He is the best. Why dont have more anime getting good hearted characters go ruthless and slightly crazy.
I like his character one of the best out there
I hate toshio. Sadly he didn't die.
@@angrykitten4957 me too, he lost his humanity. When he kills his wife like that I just lost it. Imagine you wake up after having no idea what happened to you and the first thing you see is your husband torturing you and killing you. He didn't even let her speak, he didn't even talk to her. It really triggered me. He isn't any better than the shiki for me. At least some shiki still show emotion and regret, my dude toshio went psycho mode.
Shiki had literally one of the best sound tracks ever.
+Normie here YES
Lol nope
@@Mook-ft9fy shut up
yup....true
Well , for a horror anime , yes it does , but , in my opinion HxH has excellent soundtracks 🤔
I loved Shiki and thought it was a great example of horror with a slow build and morality questions galore
Agreed.
Ik im 4 years late lol
But should I watch this anime? Is it good?
Lisa - yes you should it’s amazing, will definitely make you think twice about everything
@@lisa-7046 you've probably already watched it by now but it's one of the best "horror" animes I've ever seen-- I absolutely loved it. It's def a slow burner and it can be somewhat annoying but the last few episodes are some of the best episodes I have ever seen. Phenomenal.
Am I the only one who LIKES slow pacing? I hate it when anime's go too fast and throw shit in my face without time I process all the info and what's happening.
I mean of course, it was kinda frustrating knowing the cause of the deaths along with the few characters and not anything being done, but I liked that it wasn't rushed it was quite realistic.
Holy shit I found the only person in the world who likes slow pacing :o
+FeedMeSeymour lol fuck off you know what I mean
I like the slow pacing too, because just imagine books, TV shows, or movies will just rush through the main characters without any developtment or knowing what are their motivations or purposes; and just rushing the story without knowing if we missed anything important or if the writers forgot about all about it and we just get a lot of bullshit that doesn't make any sense.
I like animes where the paces can vary with in the show to when it is slow it kicks up for an episode of a bit then drops back down and it fluctuates in pace
The scariest thing in this show are those haircuts.
Do you mean the eyes
What about Masao
ahaha
where do u watch it?
Probably one of my favourite animes of all time, i didn't feel like i was forced through the first half, i enjoyed the slow build up, adds to the atmosphere
your profile pic tho :). I live higurashi ♡♡♡
yeah me 2
GR is just saying that shit in order to say something negative to seem more nuanced. GR does this thing when he forms his opinions where he decides he like or dislikes something based off of what he thinks his opinion is supposed to be.
in other words, a *sheep*
Shiki is not slow, pacing is relative, and Shiki is adapted from a long-ass novel, and has THREE protagonists, no shit the show is going to spend time fleshing out details and exploring the setting characters. And I also feel as if GR was also conflating relatability with good characterization, which is retarded. I don't relate to Shinji Ikari, but he's still a great character.
Stranger Danger I don't buy it. I feel like he's just fishing for something to not like about it in order to come off as a nuanced and "fair and balanced" reviewer. And that's regardless of that being a genuine opinion.
Stranger Danger you're overthinking it. The point of a review is to give your thoughts on something. Any reviewer who acts like they're doing the viewer a service by informing them comes off as a patronizing douchebag.
Genuine opinion is the only aspect, because the idea of an "objective" review simply makes no logical sense.
after watching this anime many years ago...the shiki ost still gets me every time!
+Dexyu That's the main reason I started watching the show. I heard tracks on various anime OST compilations and fell in love.
+Dexyu Agree , Shike has one of the best OSTs ever
+Dexyu Yeah, I'm actually surprised he didn't even mention it.....
Feel you! It's amazing
+MrVolt16 He did mention it. He said that it didn't bother him too much, which is mindblowing to me. Shiki has the single best music ive heard in my life.
Shiki is one of my favorite anime and an example of excellent writing with no genre cliche and stupidity that is always presented in horror movies.
Personally what I liked about Shiki the most are three things:
1. The show has it's own logic and follows it at all times. The shiki have their own unique set of powers and weaknesses which never get contradicted for the sake of making an intense/dramatic moment or to get the story going.
2. People act like REAL people. They don't do stupid cliche mistakes and never act illogical for the sake of story. Every action is believable and the world starts to feel real.
3. Everyone is an actual character and not a stock murder victim. For example the main character's best friend. The moment I saw him I was dead sure that he's a stock victim who's sole purpose is to die to give our protagonist a reason to fight shiki. He even looked beyond generic. But surprisingly he got fleshed out and had an actual character development.
I think wanting to have good guy, someone to root for in this series is completely missing the whole point of the series in the first place. It shows that there is no one who is entirely good or evil. In the end the side you pick will always lie with your ideology and morality. Having a character that is supposed to be "the good guy you root for" would ruin the statements this show makes on humanity in the first place. So I would say that the fact that his show had no "good guy" is what made it so good. Also I don't see why the slow first is a bad thing. I always thought Shiki is one the best constructed, paced and written entries in the mystery horror genre in anime.
@ArmyAntAdam lets not forget the fact that Sunako is 400 years old and was always hiding and killing the minimum amount of people during all this time, it makes more understandable that she was out of patience and tried this time to make a shiki village to have a home at last. (again, after 400 years.)
@@charlestrudel8308 Where did you get 400 from? I thought that she's just over 100.
@ArmyAntAdam I did, and I side with the Shiki.
The amount of hairspray on this show is mind blowing lel.
Fr
Aye.
I'm one of those people who considers this a masterpiece. It currently holds the number one spot in my top 10 animes of all time.
+Stanley Kisku Same here man. I'm a huge fan and it's my favorite anime of all time. In my opinion, it's a flawless masterpiece.
+VHabb HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHA..."my opnion" ya ok if you liked it thats all that matters in the end. parasyte the maxim is my favorite atm. throws the whole 'arbitrary human view of evil' i feel it did it better though.
+Stanley Kisku shinsekai yori best!
+Nightcore Sugoi songs I found Shisekai Yori to be absolutely fantastic. But what Arkada says about Shiki in this review, I'd apply to SY, which the first half being a drag but the second, rewarding.
*****
Ye agree, the only thing was for the first episodes i was like wtf is happening i don't understand anything (not that it was a bad thing since i loved the series from begining, espacialy the ending)
I disagree about his opinion on the first half. You may figure out the mystery early on, but at the same time more and more information is constantly revealed as time goes on. Characters and the environment begin to change. It isn't so much about you wanting them to figure out the mystery, but wondering if they will, and what the consequences will be. It also is not as slow as he says. New important information is presented in pretty much every episode, or a significant event happens. It isn't boring at all, and you will get through it in no time. It also doesn't feel padded out or anything. I mean, if they figured out the mystery any sooner than they do, then it'd feel incredibly unrealistic. The 2nd half is better for sure, but the 1st half is still really great as well.
Shiki was a really good show, far above average
I loved steins;gate from episode 1, the characters, the ideas, the story
You did, but it's doesn't mean everyone else will
I found it kinda boring up until the point where the "tu tu ru" girl died. After that it became amazing.
I agree, steins;gate was amazing from beginning to end. I'm the kind of person who gets bored very easily, but I still absolutely loved the first half. I don't get why people didn't like it, because of that.
nah was bored until episode 7 shit got real at that point
We don't talk about the feels of steins gate, such an amazing anime!
I'm very disappointed by GR's review of this.
Firstly, it was very obvious that the show intended you to know about the vampires long before the villagers found out. The whole suspense of the first half (which honestly i loved almost more than the second half) was knowing the truth, and wanting and hoping the other characters would notice the signs. It was dramatic irony. The show hits extremely heavily at it in the first two episodes, and literally shoves it in your face by the third. But it also does so in a way that people in real life would never have noticed, so it is realistic.
And the split in the story made this even better. The show would not have been nearly as good if it was only the point of view of one person. By showing multiple people, it again makes it feel realistic. Like the world isn't revolving around one ignorant guy, but rather there are multiple people trying to find out whats going on, looking for clues and the missing pieces. Really, the best part of the show, what makes it amazing, is the suspense. Knowing what is going to happen but not how or when. I honestly couldn't stop watching this once it started. The slow pacing is what made this show work. If it wasn't paced slowly, it would have fallen flat on its face.
Couldn't have put it better. Also it's hilarious he talks about being genre savvy, something he clearly is not, otherwise he wouldn't have thought the narrative was trying to be a mistery to the viewer. The viewer is supposed to know right away what is generally happening and from there it's the heavy atmosphere and struggle of the characters that creates tension to the viewer. How the situation will develop and how people will be affected is the hook, not some half baked mystery he seems to perceive in the first half.
Every episode contained important plot elements that built off each other in the perfect way to build up to the finale.
AINT NOBODY FINNA READ ALL DAT
mike si4 my nigga
@@Mook-ft9fy nah, we read it. But people who use the word 'finna' probably don't. lol
I remember the characters being amazing in this. Reminded me of actually GOOD stories, such as we haven't seen in centuries. The characters felt real, not the copy pastes we see in everything else. They felt as horrible and broken as real people actually are, and it had a ton of dramatic irony and an amazing melancholic ending that brought the whole thing home. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I do not remember it feeling slow at all. I remember a well paced story with enough buildup to really display in animation a very human subject.
A plot being slow is a lot better than a plot moving too fast
every time I think about the final episodes of Shiki I cry
OMG SAME!!!
I do as well. I was hoping for megumi to make it across. be in the big city like she had been dreaming of. sad she never say that yuuki was a around all that time. when I thought sunako was gonna die as she was pleading with god. that right there got me.
Yeah,me too..Man i was crying..Poor vampires....
Nah, screw them vampires. They choose to kill, they didn't have to. Ritsuko controlled herself, the others could have too. They were just selfish. They choose their own lives over that of the many people they killed, all the while deluding themselves into thinking they were doing the others a favor. Then when faced with death, they ran and cried and begged, even though their victims did them same and they didn't care. They were forsaken because they choose to be.
DBZHGWgamer Natsuno was trying to save lives.
J. Michael Tatum always voices over the top, eccentric, flamboyant characters so it's no real surprise. I mean, he voiced France and as we all know Isaac from Baccano!
+Charlene Alyssa Ingram He's also voiced a few more stoic characters, most notably Scar from FMA:B and Sebastian from Black Butler. Basically, the guy's good at voice acting.
+endlessmisery15 No joke, Tatum really is that great at what he does.
*****
Not to mention Rei from Free!.
And Sebastian! God his voice is fantastic!
And Tsukiyama from TG.
Personally I think shiki was a masterpiece. I like that the story started out slowly, it sort of added to the mystery. I also disagree on the character being uninteresting. Many of them had their own story and their own way of reacting to it, the slowness also gave you a lot of time thinking about the characters. In my opinion Shiki was just a masterpiece and one of the best animes I watched, it deserves a lot more attention
I rooted for the humans till the end. The old man said it the best:"In this world, since ancient times, there have been "rules" which were decided by no one. They arent complicated or anything. Those from the outside greet the villagers and get used to the village. The young shouldnt die before the old. Those rules have been protecting small towns like Sotoba, you tore it apart" - Sure the Shiki needed blood to survive, but the way they handled Sotoba, to those who know the story, wasnt right.
Tobias Yeah it’s like the Shiki could’ve set up some sort of plan as to sustain themselves by way of blood donations, but they don’t. They just go all assassin mode and try to multiply their numbers and take out the village.
@@tompac1044 That's nonsense. That donation bit would've never worked. The humans would've killed them off the moment they understood what they were before the Shiki could make a single move in anything. Humanity can't even keep itself in order after all the time of its existence. If it wasn't for civilization's laws putting a leash and collar around their necks by limiting their actions, people would have been killing each other off for the slightest difference between them. And the Shiki existence takes difference to the extreme. So if the interactions between humans can be so volatile and intensely implode in a moment's notice, then it's a no-brainer that the Shiki would get a far worse treatment. So, for the sake of their survival, the Shiki's stealth movements only made sense.
Shawn Benjamin I feel like you’re trying to disagree with me even though you have the exact same viewpoint I do. Yes, it wouldn’t have worked because humans are fickle and hate anyone whose different. That’s literally what I was trying to say. It’s a tragedy of the nature of man because the solution was under their noses the whole time.
@@tompac1044 It's because one thing I've come to hate with a passion is humanity's insufferable arrogance and refusal of self-reflection. Believing itself to be practically infallible when in reality, it's caused an immeasurable amount of atrocities. Most of them self-inflicted (humans killing/undercutting one another to get ahead) as a result of greedy and viciously fueled motivations. So, despite it being fiction, when humanity tries to call out a non-human species for its conduct, it ends up making itself look like an uncontested hypocrite while simultaneously making the conduct of the non-humans look like trivial matters that are hardly worth mentioning.
And to add to the last part of your comment. It still wouldn't work because the Shiki are effectively predators by nature. Humans are not known to let anything they see as a threat roam freely. Especially if they know they can't control it.
@@shawnbenjamin9636 the thing is...the Kirishiki's could've lived in Sotaba discreetly without ANY problems. They had the town population to support 30-40 shiki, indefinitely with no one even noticing (keep in mind, only the 2nd feeding in a row caused noticeable anemia, so they'd just need to set up a system to pace the population out so as to make sure no one was ever fed on twice before their blood supply could recover.
They even discuss this in depth in the manga/novels, where Sunako simply rejects it outright since she's simply tired of hiding and just wants to exterminate everyone in the village and turn it into a shiki stronghold.
If guns don't kill people, people kill people, does that mean toasters don't toast toast, toast toast toast?
+M. Muls no it means toasters don't toast toast, people toast toast (using toasters).
+M. Muls no it means people toast toast
+f556784q3 Actually, it means people toast bread as there is no need to toast toast.
Mind f**k
All toasters toast toasters toast toast. spaghetti.
2:18 Apparently Japan thinks that's what our mansion look like. It looks more like a mini castle to me.
+James Parker
By "our" you mean American? Because this building style exist you know?
TheRezro It said Western style. I have lived in several western countries, and none their mansions look like mini castles. To my knowledge it's not a style, but here is your chance to prove me wrong. Just point to a single location where it's.
+James Parker There are quite a lot of mansions in England and most likely the rest of europe that look like this
+James Parker england has mansions that look like that
Cristina Finan Alonso
doc8125 Si.. as I said.
i really didn't mind the slow pacing of the first part. it was interesting to see the characters lives before it all went to shit and while the character mind take a long time for them to find out the answer to their epidemic, some characters are likeable. the question of who is really evil also shines through and i ended up routing for the shiki at one point.
While I agree it did a good job of bringing up the question of who is really evil, I never felt bad for the shiki. Especially after Ritsuko. They choose their own fate.
When it comes to horror I am down with the slow beginning since it's about vampires slowly taking out the humans, so I think the pacing worked in it's favour
(SPOILERS AHEAD) ------ I have repeatedly disagreed with the notion that the humans are not good guys in this series. Sunako Is the catalyst for A LOT of death, destruction and heart break.... All because she CAN NOT accept she is dead! How many people did she slaughter without remorse to prolong her abomadible existence? And how many more has indirectly killed? Likely more then Hitler! She is a Lovecraftian monster that shames all famous movie slashers for her shear despicableness! All Of her brood has been conditioned to believe that what they do is "Okay" because she says so... Shiki are DEAD, and they choose to prolong their un-death by killing others, and threatening to kill them again if they don't go with the flow. It is explicably laid out that once this safe haven town is established, they will continue harvesting people as food from the nearest city. creating more parasites... and as soon as it all starts to go to sh*t, she cries, and acts all innocent and were just supposed to sympathise?! And the best part is I'd only consider her the 2nd most detestable being in this anime. Behind Priest Muroi... EASILY my most HATED anime character ever!!!! It takes all series... but by the end he is the without a doubt the worst piece of trash I've ever experienced in fiction! Shiki is an example of how you can have an enjoyable series full of unlikeable characters. but if you make it to the end, be prepared to have your WORST EVER list shaken up a bit. :P
Thank you! a lot of the fans seem to relate to that girl. I however hated her and the priest and hated that she was never killed. It would have been enjoyable to watch her get killed in the most gruesome manner for being the catalyst to the whole thing.
@@brianamiranda5837 you are right, but, shes 400 years old, and the present time seems to be the first time she tried to make a home for herself (that shiki village)... she was quite patient all things considered. Of course, she's still kinda wrong.
I hated that pedo monk as the show went on. Even is sunako survived i wished i could see that snake pedo bastard die. He was weird, a traitor and hypocrite. Great show otherwise, ozaki and yuuki were cool
The amount of objectively incorrect information you can fit into a comment is impressive
@@charlestrudel8308 Not wrong. Just haphazard.
you didn't dress up as a vampire I'm disappointed :/
Maybe he already is a vampire, and we just don't know it yet....
+Minato Togami so true
hes araragi, invisible to mirrors but the same
Jesus fuck, the real mystery in this show is what hell is up with the hair. It seems to be coming to life
And those pointy chins.
Haha yes! 😂👏👏👏
+Craig Tierney Finally someone else i can agree! What the heck was up with that hair!
I mean that's most anime honestly.
There should be more anime like this, that you question who the real monsters are.
+Utsuro Hako Shiki reminds me quite a bit of Tokyo Ghoul(the manga), Higurashi, and the Chimera Arc of Hunter x Hunter but possibly better done and with more emphasis on that question
+Utsuro Hako I'm not saying people can't be bastards (they can, oh how they can), but the the vampires had other options available to them in order to prevent killing people, like buying blood. If they have enough money to build a fucking castle, then they should have money to pay some people to give some blood every few months, or even get themselves a personal blood bank.
Shinsekai Yori is an anime that, by the end, makes you question who the real monsters are in the show. It's got a slow start, like Shiki, but it has an interesting premise, world, and characters. The show also presents some awesome philosophical concepts and questions about humanity, morals, and identity.
Hailey W I've seen it and it's amazing.
+Utsuro Hako :)
It seems that westerners find it hard to accept this type of art. I just found the pace and the story telling beautiful.
The "peace" before the storm when we can all see it coming just make the whole thing great, it is not fast-food entertainment so please adjust a bit.
@yooem 26 no bud u missed the point. The person talked about the anime generally.
You didn't like how unlikable the characters all turned out to be by the end?
------ The point ----->
Your head
I hate that kind of argument. Its like saying torture is ok because its supposed to hurt.
+Sir Gus the Mighty That's a completely false equivalency. Torture is bad because it is causing harm to someone against their will. You can stop engaging with a piece of art at any time. Much of the greatest art is unsettling or uncomfortable, because it reveals to us truths about humanity or the human condition that we'd rather ignore.
+Lachlan Still I love this. You're quite intelligent. You seem like someone I would love engaging in conversation with.
+RabuneHinoStudios Heh, gayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
+Jenkins And then there are perpetual children like you.
Isolated settings like that are actually a common trope of the Gothic genre and its therefore not surprising that this story line takes place in such a small secluded village.
Also, the observations about the characters in this commentary are very subjective. It can be argued that you aren't meant to be able to personally relate to any of the characters in this series, but that they are representations of broader states of the human existence, transitioning not infrequently from one moral state to another. They may be there to enlighten the audience about certain questions that we as humans must ask ourselves when faces with difficult situations. As most of the audience however do not face situations in which they need to decide over who lives and dies, it is understandable that they would not be able to entirely place themselves in their position, hence rendering them potentially 'not personally relevant or likeable'. I believe this series is worth viewing from a point of view in which every aspect is meant to provoke serious thought and that it can be enjoyable as long as the audience appreciates the types of stories that you need to analyze while watching in order to love them.
This anime is not for everyone, and it definitely isn't for this guy. If you think Hunter x Hunter is deep... then just take a huge bow and ignore Shiki, if you understand what naturalism is, existentional and realistic problematic, aesthetic of ugliness, inner monologue and conflict then go ahead and watch this, it's a masterpiece of literature and it has one of the most beautiful soundtracks ever.
Doiteain you sound like someone that also likes Rick and Morty
What Doit said does sound like the rick and Morty meme XDDD
He is right about it not being for everyone and it isn't a univseral masterpiece simply because its not universally acclaimed. Though this is one of my all time favourite anime
Its Bran stokers drakula with a lot of changes plotwise.
More like Akame ga kill
No. Shiki isnt this complex. A anime that tries to do a great symbolism in an artistic form needs good character writing and no... this is Just a generic writing that didnt Express the potential of his message.
An issue with the review, I feel, is the second half only had impact because of the slow first half. The first half had a lot to go through and a LOT of characters to introduce. If it was too quick then the second half would've been a mess, you wouldn't care at all about the Shiki nor most of the humans. And even in the case of having no attachment to the characters, you'd not even know what is going on. The slow start was a necessary to set up the story.
I liked the first half, but i guess that depends on the reason you watch it.
I like the mystery genre where the characters attempts to figure it out, despite you already knowing the truth behind a mystery, so for me it was fun.
Is it weird that I liked what Arkada didn't like
I loved the pacing at the beginning and every episode made me more interested
I found the characters way more interesting than in other shows
They behaved, reacted like real humans would do in such situation
Spoiler :
especially Ozaki driving into madness
I liked the scene where they wanted to chop down the trees when the forest caught fire and threatens the village, and he just starts slamming his chainsaw into the tree because of his desperation
The entire show he tries to save to village up to a point where he is ready to lose his humanity and kill former villagers in brutal ways and then the village just burns down and he is not able to save it
That scene Mixed with the emotional music of "day and night" was my favourite scene
13:50
Um, I think you messed up on the editing there......
+Minato Togami I don't understand
+Minato Togami there*
+Minato Togami There*
+Slimy Weasles The bottom right.
+Minato Togami in the bottom right corner right, because when he recommended another he was late to put the picture up right?
A show I love with a great passion one of my all time favorites.I wish more people were into this show. Everyone who enjoys the supernatural genre should give this show a chance it's a beautiful story that though starts very slow is a great ride and well worth it in the end. Thank you for this review, from Shiki fans everywhere we salute you.
Shiki is one of my favorite Animes, I really really love it. However, I liked your review and I actually agree with everything you are criticizing about the show (only thing is that I think the soundtrack of this show is devastatingly underrated - I personally think it is AMAZING and creates a great atmosphere). I can totally understand why other people are bothered with the anime's slowness. As for the characters, I actually rooted for Natsuno and also for Tohru from start to finish, I really liked those two. I do not ship them in a romantic sense, but I love their story line and I think their friendship is captivating, touching - and heartbreaking.
I saw your review this morning. I spent the whole day watching Shiki. You should have mentioned it makes you lose faith in humanity.
Damn you old man.
I still liked it though. A great story.
+Ayla Cheshir What did you think of Nao?
shadowknight1990o she needed professional help long before the whole shiki mess started...
Ayla Cheshir True..for me she's the most memorable.
+Ayla Cheshir Lost faith in humanity? Time to post on 4chan!
jack squatt Well we'll know why the next genocidal maniac rose to power.
I love some of the background music, which really set the atmosphere. The atmosphere is really good, and dark. I had a weird feeling of inspiration, which I got from it.
I think the Shiki are obviously the evil ones, they didn't consider a peaceful coexistence and just went for the kill for food. The humans just fought back, which makes sense since they're families and friends have been getting killed for ages.
+Eye Dentity Amen
+Eye Dentity Yeah, I'd have to agree. I don't think the show did that great a job of humanizing the Shiki - or, at least, demonstrating that they only killed to survive. Whenever I started to feel bad for Nao, I remembered she'd literally murdered her entire family, and then went on to murder others because she was jealous. Whenever I felt bad for Sunako, I remembered she came to the village with the desire to murder literally every human that lived there and replace them with Shiki. There's killing for survive, and then there's killing because you like it, like Chizuru, Megumi, or Tatsumi.
The only Shiki I'm 100% sorry for, with no reservations, is Kyoko ;-;
Aussie Ducky You know who I feel sorry for? That buff grandpa guy, Tomio Ookawa. The guy caught a f**k car and scared his son who had a gun to his face away! Then they just went and killed him for plot. That guy was f**king awesome!!
+Eye Dentity F**k yeah, he was! >:D
Aussie Ducky
Yeah, but every time I fell bad for Nao, I'm like "Wait, if not for the Sunako and her clan, she would have been happy. So, yeah, fuck the Shiki."
Also, the Shiki didn't need to kill to survive, so that makes it a lot harder to justify anything they do
Better than twilight
I actually skipped the ova because i wasn't feel like watching them since anime was only good, not amazing. After watching that today= mistakes were made
Pretty good review. One day I'll get around to watching it. One day.
Jesse Anderson I swear you're like a stalker lol
+G_Spark233 I was here first m8 xD
+G_Spark233 I know how you feel. I have 16 currently watching shows on Mal
+Creative Ziggy I have like 30 on my list lol. There's still so many anime I haven't even seen yet. Like death note, code geas, gurren lagann, future diary, cowboy bebop, evangelion, psycho pass, black lagoon, hellsing, etc. Matter of fact, I JUST finished FMA brotherhood last night lol. Needless to say I just don't have enough time on my hands lol.
+Jon155mt haha! dude ! i have a similar thing going on ,
i have to complete some 15 shows online
and then finish the next 12 shows i downloaded. LOL man , do we have some work to do.
This is rather interesting to see your take on the anime. I for one fell in love with Shiki and the mystery that was held within but I am sort of a fan of mystery and suspense myself. As for the characters, there were a couple that I did end up attaching myself to and wanting to live. Sure the characters are not 'perfect' characters that everyone can fall for, but there are one or two in my book that actually seemed worth it, more on Yuuki who I think was the one that figured it out faster then any of the adults did.He might of been rather cold and emo but if you think about the fact he had just moved there from the bigger city and didn't know many people, then you can kind of understand. His family situation didn't help much as well. Any kid might of become sort of cold to the world around them because of those things.
I guess you could say the series gets off to a "Shiki" start.
Ah, puns.
+mariokarter13 I was "Shiki" in my boots while watching.
+Shadowspeare1 I am shiki my head at these puns.
THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH FOR FINALLY reviewing this anime Arkada. Thank you so much this means so much I've been waiting for so very long for someone to truly review it and truly dissect it.
I would say around ep 5 is where it started getting intriguing when they were discovered
wow I LITTERALY just finished this series a couple days ago and this is the third time it's happened since I subbed to you. I can honestly say your timing for reviewing some anime couldn't be any better....well...for me at least. keep up the good work!
Damn. Watched it a few years ago and enjoyed it but never knew about the OVA.
This Anime is..what I like to call an ambient Anime. I didnt think I was supposed to connect to any character, so it never bothered me. Its just there to experience. Enjoy the mood it sets, the animation, the music. That kinda stuff.
I loved this anime, mainly for it's amazing atmosphere.
And yes, that OVA episode you spoke of is some of the best stuff. If some people end up watching this don't forget to watch the OVA episodes too, in the right order if possible.
So, a pokemon Gym Leader moves into a small town.
K, got it.
I haven't watched a video of yours in over 2 years. I randomly go to RUclips and to see some unrelated video and notice a guilty crown video in my recommended videos. I get interested and so I read the author and see it is Glass Reflection. I felt nostalgic towards your videos that I had to stop everything just to watch this. I realize I have missed your reviews and am just glad to be coming back to your channel after all this time. P.S. I am posting this on all of your videos in hope you will see it.
Good review, but Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. When will you review Monster?!
+Mimyakko Fuck yeah Monster!
+Mimyakko i've been wondering the same thing!
+Mimyakko He only reviews what he can get a hard copy of, and that's kind of difficult considering VIZ never made any box sets of the series. Honestly I wish he'd just make an exception for Monster
Flaming lump Though true that he does tend to review shows he genuinely enjoys, which in turn, tries to get his hands on some kind of physical format of, but there definitely have been plenty of shows he has reviewed that he doesn't own a physical copy of. Which reasons could be ranged from his recommendation of "Donate it" or "Stream it" ratings, especially if he didn't like the show, or there isn't a DVD release in existence to begin with outside of Japan, with his Hyouka review as a more recent example.
So there definitely is a chance he could review Monster regardless he owns a DVD of it or not (he does mention about Monster actually in another fairly recent video he posted about the lack of DVD copies lol), but I'd figure he hasn't yet because he either wants to hold off a review until a very special occasion or milestone-step kind of video, or possibly he just doesn't want to review it at this time.
But with that being said, not being able to have a DVD or any legal means of streaming it, so if he does want to review it he can't just go to some legal streaming site or throw in a DVD to watch it so he can start writing up a script.
(unless you can watch it on maybe sites like Funimation or Crunchyroll, if they might have it? Or if not, they could license it if it's requested enough, you never know lol. I'm just not sure if Monster is available on those sites at all since I haven't checked xD)
+Mimyakko well Monster and Black Jack feeling quite similar in some way (the only similarity is the Doctor thing but i always remember monster when i watch Young Black Jack). so why not review both
You basically just read off of my own review of this show from a couple of years ago... and then added video and a better personality. This is the reason I keep coming back man. Good review! ;)
I'm a fucking badass in this series. Did you see how I blew myself up at the end? Fuck Tatsumi.
Lmao
I absolutely adored Shiki! Gave it a 9/10 on MAL. It's one of my favorite anime. I have to admit I was cheering for the vampires in the end.
Thank you for doing this review! I may not agree with everything you've said, but I do love the review.
BTW love your Eeveelutions poster!
I can't speak for others, but my reason is that I mostly cheer for bad guys. You do have a point, though.
GRArkada,
You should review Jojo
You know you want to
yusssss
Yes most definitely!
+Amazingguy2046 i agree with this man
YES YES YES YES YES!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
>inb4 someone thinks this is a Daniel Bryan joke and not a JoJo reference
Nice review Ark! I didn't really mind the slowness of the first half of the series (it was also pretty early in anime career). Overall it is my favorite Vampire anime. I love both of your recommendations. I've watched both of them as well, very on point! Keep up the good work!
Arkada must not read Stephen King, as he wrote a book that this anime, at least I think, took quite an inspiration from it
Which Book ?
Salem's lot
+OtakuBeat thx
No problem, the book is pretty good, actually it was King's second book in fact. Shiki is different from Salem's Lot, but if you've read/watched them both you can tell that the writer(s) of Shiki most likely read Salem's Lot.
+OtakuBeat okay i will eventually Do it someday :)
Probably when I have finished my book I have to read for school
I actually really liked how Shiki was paced. Similar to how the original Dracula work was played off as a "slow burn", so was Shiki. There was a ton of suspenseful build up until the climax, and it worked out fantastically.
Well.....he is right....the first half is slow.....but it is the slow build up that makes the second half "synapse melting-ly hardcore"........those able to see my words, do yourself a favor and watch "Shiki"......😊
Firstly, thank you for reviewing Shiki! It's among my favorite anime!
Honestly I never found the first half to be anywhere near as slow as everyone seems to think.
It started with the mystery of what the Shiki wanted with this town, and the tension of watching the main characters try desperately to figure out and stop the horrible situation.
Maybe if you're used to watching more action-based or heavily character-driven shows it seems dull and uninteresting, but Shiki grabbed my attention from episode one like watching a chain of dominos fall.
The second half was watching the tension break as absolute chaos befalls the town, which I guess is more immediately entertaining, though of course the first half is required to understand it, I don't think it's something you'd have to "suffer through" as long as you watch it with the midset of this being a primarily *story-driven* series.
As a side-note, I personally adore the art direction. The heavily stylized characters against a very realistic background, psychedelic effects with a deeply emotional soundtrack does make this something of a masterpiece in my eyes. I hardly ever buy the video releases of anything, but Shiki was one I had to own.
Okay rant over. Thanks again for reviewing!
Part of the moral dilemma of killing Shiki that never worked for me was how dumb the plan was. They just think they can swell their numbers and kill tons of people and think they'll never get caught, and they have no contingency plan. Like, people find out about the Shiki, and they let them walk free. Also, the fact that they have emotions doesn't matter if they are unrepentant killers, with only a couple of them feeling any guilt. I rooted for the good doctor all the way through. Screw those vampire assholes. That said, I did watch it on Hulu where there was none of the OVA stuff, so maybe that would make the answer less obvious in my mind.
In all fairness, their own misstep in terms of planning was they didn't account for a shiki betraying the shiki and trying to rid of them. The plan would have worked perfectly.
Ryda641 Still, the fact that these creatures who have lived for far longer than the human lifespan allows never even considered that humans would ever start fighting back is dumb. Also, they are easily the most under-powered vampires I have ever seen.
I really liked Muroi . And he was basically the reason why I watched. :3 I also liked Sunako. I found the anime more interesting when you look at how the Shiki react and deal with the humans and how the humans reacted to finding out about the Shiki, and basically the biggest part to the story. I also liked it because it knocked down some of the human barriers we would think of, and also from what I remember more so with Muroi you still got to see the ethical/spiritual side. My biggest issues is that there wouldn't have been a big issues probably if the Shiki didn't kill almost everyone in the town. If they just killed the old and forgotten it probably wouldn't have been that bad, same with who they had picked to um... feed off of. Like the pink haird girl who just wanted to be pretty and poplar. But with who they picked off and basically feed off of, knowing those mostly teens from what I remember also then run around town feeding from most likely friends, family or people they where obsessed with. It really makes me wonder how long the Shiki were planning on staying in the town. If at all. There food would have ran out sooner or later.
666 views omg. Best Halloween ever
True
+Kazuto Kirigaya hello :)
+Nero Wayne (Wyvern Dracul) hello
+Nero Wayne (Wyvern Dracul) :)
Happy halloween
This was a really accurate review. Honestly, I had a really hard time getting into it, really having to force myself through it, and even considered dropping it. I'm really glad that I stuck with it, because it really picks up steam, and never lets up. It is worth a watch in the end.......... but you have to be an EXTREMELY patient person to get through it.
Ozaki was an awesome character.
The BGM and those eyes have haunted me for weeks on end...
This is most definitely a 8.5/10 series. The humanity and realism in the depiction of supernatural elements is the strongest attraction. I watched it almost a decade ago and I still get shivers thinking about it.
please, do ghost stories
the dub is gold
I am so happy you did a review of this :D
I totally agree with you on the first half, it is quite slow, but I quite liked the climax when they finally figured it out.
The one thing I would have to disagree with you with is the characters, I really enjoyed the vast majority of them, and they did things that I found rather interesting. Like the Doctor capturing his own vampired wife and essentially torturing her to get information. That scene came out of nowhere and I loved it.
drinking a glass of wine... watching new grarkada review... life is good
the character designs looked like they belonged in yu-gi-oh
Oh my god lol!
I like it's slow process ( including background music ) and ending just great
Hahaha nice Tucker and Dale reference!!
+SharpTony And then Final Fantasy reference!!!!
+SharpTony where Is the reference
Which?
+SharpTony both
There is a clip for the Tucker and Dale reference about half way through the video, then he mentions Squall Lionheart about a minute later.
I actually really liked the slow pacing honestly but that's because I like seeing the characters and how they interact and all that before shit goes down. Overall if I could I would buy Shiki as it's a definite favourite of mine. I can understand, however, why many gave up watching it because of how slow it was but I just love slow pacing if it's done well ^^ Great review!
i hate how he always recommend the same animes, higurashi, steins;gate, elfen lied, clannad or so
You should do a review on Durarara!! It's sooo good and it's by the same studio that did baccano. Just look at the opening song and you'll get a feel for the show, it has the same style as baccano as in it has not just 1 main character
Since we're discussing unlikable characters I feel compelled tk mention "Shigurui - Death Frenzy," one off my favorite animes.
Mostly because I'd never seen anything quite like it.
There is NO protagonist to speak of whatsoever.
Every single character is completely morally bankrupt and you're totally unable to develop any empathy for any of them.
Yet it's strangely compelling.
+riffgroove I really like Shigurui as well. Probably the most unflinching and cold depiction of feudal Japan and samurai culture I've ever seen.
wristofkings Ikr?
After Japan stopped warring with itself, the Samurai clans ( who suddenly found themselves extinct ) just decided to go to war with each other for the most miniscule of reasons.
+riffgroove Shiki DOES have a protagonist, it's Natsuno. Personally, I find him very unlikable, but no one ever said a protagonist has to be likable in any way. That's what an anti-hero is.
+Vincent Lam Anti-hero ≠ unlikable protagonist.
+Vincent Lam Interestingly enough, I read the bit of original novel posted online, and apparently Natsuno wasn't supposed to be a protagonist at all - there was more emphasis on the various perspectives of different villagers, which made a whole lot more sense. I think the anime put a little more emphasis on him because they wanted something with a little more focus.
I couldn't agree with you more. I saw this show a few years back and that episode is engraved into my mind as one of the greatest episodes of any show I have ever seen.
Funny. For me the second part was so bad, that I couldn't even watch it to the end. The fisrt part was brilliant with the feeling of isolation and helplessness. The second part with that blue haired stupid shiki was just... dull. With it, something vanished. Something really important to me. They made them... should I say physically touchable. And that's just lame and a bit of a cliche. But hey, thats my opinion...
Shiki is my all time favourite anime 😈 Toshio is great character and I love the whole idea of vampires. Also the music and art are exactly in point.
Am I the only one who hated Yuuki?
Jesus Esquilin No
ZOMG! Someone Noticed Me!
YOUR NOT! I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE FINALLY!
I rather like slower first seasons that pick up later on.
I don't want it to blow me away at first and then be mediocre in the end, Like Sword art Online -.-
I want it to capture my interest, slowly build its narrative and character, then have shit go down.
The slower paced episodes gave me more time to appreciate the Doctor and give more of the mystery feel since we knew NOTHING about the since they were only seen for like 1 scene per episode doing nothing.
But thats what got me hooked, i was thinking wtf is he doing?, whys he doing this?, whats he gonna do? Those gave it the eery feeling that made it more suspenseful as you went on, and seeing how the innocent would suffer from the disease and how some would lose their Humanity in the process to fight these "monsters" made me wanna keep going and see where it leads.
Tho i agree with the hair xD
Not a true horror? If this isn't horror I don't know what is
With how much and how often this guy bitches about build up and slow pace, he must thing that horror is jumpscares and gore.
42Caio (Caio Esteves) possibly
Remember the scene where Natsuno talks with Ozaki and Ozaki's mind abruptly blows up with all the dots connecting perfectly and he realizes, at long last, what's going on?
Still got goosebumps from then.
I was really hoping that all the three perspective would would have combined. I was hoping that at one point Yuki would work with the doctor and the priest. Speaking of Yuki, I really hoped for him to become like the one that can create a compromise between the humans and shiki. He even becomes this rare breed of Alucard-ish vampire, but he couldn't give a shit about that. He didn't have any moral ideas, his personality was inconsistent and he barely apeard in the show. I also hoped a romantic relationship with the gothic chick but I quickly realised it was impossible. The only character that I really liked was the junior priest because he was the only one that really suffered a lot of internal conflicts and gradualy developed into something good. 90% of the characters were nothing other than pieces of human trash. The doctor was a good character, but after the ending I hated him.
+Vladimir “Shinigami-sama” Auditore He did try to work for co-existence. The Shiki made it clear the wanted no part of it. As for the priest feeling conflicted, for me, that's like the countries that were neutral during WW2. Sometimes there is no gray area, but the priest seemed to think there was even before anything happened to the Shiki. He was literally looking at a case where people were being murdered unprovoked and sympathized with the murderers
I really enjoyed this show and actually didn't find the first half all that slow. I enjoyed that we saw things develop from different perspectives and really got to see some of the characters struggle to wrap their heads around what was happening. I also appreciated that the rate at which people died was relative to (spoilers maybe?) the number of vampires. It takes an understandable amount of time within the show's world for things to progress to critical levels instead of happening overnight. And it makes sense since it falls in line with the shiki wanting to remain in the shadows most of the time.
I do agree that some characters are unlikable or just plain hard to care about, but I think the fact that there is no clear good guy to root for plays into the show's questions about morals. As depending on how you interpret the plot and characters, you will end up with someone that you can get behind. It's just open to who or what you think is right or wrong.
One thing I think you missed when discussing the animation is how colorful the show is at times. Of course this comes out mostly through the character designs, but for a horror/supernatural mystery about morality, it's a nice change of pace to have such a wide pallet used instead of relying mostly on darker shades the entire time.
I am in a love hate relationship with shiki. It had some good moments but ultimately it was undone by their characters and their stupid hair. I hated Yuuki for episode 12, I hated yuuki's dad I rarely see a man so militant atheist and head so far up his rectum he can taste it, I hated the monk for most everything he did in the 2nd half i mean he was so hypocritical it hurt, I hated the townsfolk for being so stupid I mean by the end like how many ppl died and they were all like meh. I hated the final battles were so lopsided but, I LOVED THE DOCTOR that was some character progression.
but most of all i hated the show for being ok they had the potential to be really great such a shame
I love that you reviewed this anime. You hit the nail on the head for this series as you do with others. :)
Review Magi series plz
YES! I've been waiting for you to review this since like forever
Is there any anime similiar to Shiki?
similar in what way?
DBZHGWgamer I mean this type of vampires
Not a vampire theme but I believe you will also like this one: "Monster"
IMO, it's best to leave Shiki as a unique show, much like Hachiman being his own unique character.
Jac k Oh,ok!
"Another" is a horror anime you may want to check out (ghosts though, not vampires). Similar slow buildup, great suspense, and some pretty graphic deaths.
How can you not love the OST for this anime? It's one of my top 10 favorite Anime OSTs of all time, both for perfectly capturing the mood of the show and its unique overall sound compared to other anime OSTs.
Want horror? Watch alien 9. You'll be shaking holding your knees in a corner for days. And this is coming from a critic. It is dark and obsure, and i actually don't recommend watching it. It's fucked up.
poor kasumi T-T
I only saw thumbnails it looked kinda cutesy to me, is it that bad?
Rudolf Ushiromiya it's like madoka condensed into a four episode ova.
Rudolf Ushiromiya No It's not bad. It does look cutesy, I thought it was a cute show about adventure and friendship. Oh how i was wrong. So very very wrong... Sometimes clicking random doesn't always go the way you want it to.
+Rudolf Ushiromiya The Cute only makes it even MORE F*cked up
"Takes place out in the boonies" Yes, part of the horror genre is isolation. The smaller and more removed a population the more helpless it is and that increases the tension.
This is tied with Shinsekai Yori and Monster for my favorite anime of all time. Interesting to hear other views.