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Year: 2010
Genre: Supernatural, Horror, Mystery, Fantasy
Episodes: 22
Rating: 4 out of 5
Vampires! The undead. Those who walk at night. Literature and movies are filled with lore about vampires. Whether its Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, the classic vampire film Nosferatu or even new-age films like Twilight, vampires are popular lore for film and cinema. The popularity of a being that walks at night and sucks the blood of the living will continue to be popular in our world and fantasy.
What would happen if a vampire moved next door to you and you didn’t know it? Would you try to get to know the person or figure they work at night since you never see them in the day time? What if people around your time mysteriously start getting sick and then dying? What would you do then? Would you think it was an epidemic?
Shiki is an anime that shows what happens when vampires move into a secluded village. A village where no one would dream of coming. A village where vampires could rule. Will the citizens fight back or succumb to their new vampire neighbors?
Overview
Shiki takes place in a small, quiet, isolated village in Japan named Sotoba. During one of the hottest summers in the 1990s.
The story follows Natsuno Yuuki. Natsuno is a young high school student who hates living in the village. He moved to the village with his parents. He has a stalker named Megumi Shimizu, who is the same age and has a major crush on him. Megumi wants to leave the small village life for the big city.
During the night, a strange family moves into the abandoned Kanemasa mansion. No one expects anything when Megumi ventures up to the mansion. She goes missing for a day until she is found in the forest. Her skin is pale, and she has two small puncture wounds on her neck. The head doctor, Toshio Ozaki, diagnoses her with anemia. A few days later, Megumi dies as the town mourns.
Natsuno thinking the best that he doesn’t have a stalker anymore senses Megumi. During the night, Megumi visits him, returning from the grave. One by one, people start dying as Doctor Toshio and Natsuno begin to investigate the new causes of deaths. What will they do when they learn “Shiki”, vampire-like creatures, are behind the deaths in the village? Will they fight to save their village or die and become one of them?
Series Breakdown:
Shiki has a very interesting story. It makes you think about what would happen if you lived in a small isolated village. One that everyone knows everyone and nothing happens. The premise is the same in most stories by the village is off in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by mountains. One day a new family moves in at night to the one creepy place that is a castle on the top of a hill. One day, the girl who wants to get out of the isolated town becomes ill of what looks like anemia. The doctor says she will be okay while also seeing two small puncture holes on the girl’s neck. Several days later, the girl dies. One by one, people become ill from the same disease while people think it’s an epidemic. What is great about the story is that it shows how naive people from a small town can be. They believe something else rather than facing the truth. When presented with the truth, they ignore it until everything turns to hell. What is also great is how the town reacts to finding out about vampires. They turn into a mob and just kill people. The story also progresses around two characters. The first one is Natsuno Yuuki. Natsuno is a boy who wants to just leave the town since he moved to it with his parents. The other is Toshio Ozaki. Toshio is the doctor of the village and the one who tries to fight against the vampires. Both Toshi and Natsuno team up to fight the vampires. The story also does a great job with pace and adding in the horror feel. There are no jump scares, but it does pick up when people start dying. Then when the shit hits the fan, it moves pretty well.
The characters are pretty well established in this anime. There is little background information, but as the story progresses, you start to figure out what each character’s goal is and what they believe in. Natsuno Yuuki is the main character and a teenage boy who moved to the town with his parents. We learn that his parents are not married and choose not to. We also learn that Natsuno wants to move back to the big city and hates living in the village. He slowly turns to liking the village, and when things turn, he tries his best to defend it. Toshio Ozaki is the director of the hospital and best friend to Seishin Muroi. Toshio dislikes his mother as she always put the family name first. When the deaths start happening, he seems to be confused at first until he learns the truth. The weight of trying to keep everyone safe starts to wear on Toshio until his wife dies and turns. After that, he becomes a force on stopping the vampires.
Sunako Kirishiki is a strange little girl that has eyes with no pupils. They are quite creepy. She moves into the Kanemasa mansion with her family. It is found out that she is the oldest of the Shiki by being over 100 years old. She tells the story of her youth and how she became a Shiki. She doesn’t seem as murderous as her people, only wanting a place for them to live in peace. Megumi Shimizu is a 15-year-old girl who has a major crush on Natsuno but hates living in the village and longs to live in the big city. Megumi is the first to be turned into a vampire. After she comes back, Megumi becomes vicious. She kills without any remorse, and she starts wearing some of the skimpiest clothes around. Her crush for Natsuno turns even more deadly. I have to mention Tatsumi. Tatsumi is one of the primary servants of the Kirishiki family. He is called a “jinrou,” which is technically a werewolf. Dude is sadistic and enjoys killing anyone that gets in his way. Some of the outfits he wears are insane.
The animation is one of the highlights of this anime. The animators made sure this was a horror anime with a horror feel. The portrayal of the vampires is done beautifully. Their eyes illuminate red in the darkness. When they are about to attack, the animators show a mist like vibe or a spider web over the attacker. The animators put great detail when someone turned. Their skin becomes way paler, and their eyes show death. It really shows on Megumi. Her pale complexions make her pink hair stand out even more. The animators did a great job showing the difference between some vampires like Sunako. Her eyes are beyond creepy because they have no pupil. They look like a black hole. The animators did the same for Sunako “mother.” Freaky stuff to look at. The whole animation and vibe will send a chill down your spine.
Overall, Shiki is a pretty good anime to watch during October. It’s not your typical anime. The story moves at a decent pace until things go south. When the villagers fight back, that is when all hell breaks loose. Some of the death scenes are quite memorable. Megumi gets it the worse. Its one of those scenes that is a top 10 worst death ever. I highly recommend this series during October for Halloween.
